The Kevin Sheehan Show - Tunsil Talk + A DB Add

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Kevin and Thom with more on the Laremy Tunsil trade, the Javon Kinlaw signing, and the Will Harris addition. The guys discussed the Commanders' off-season approach and also talked other NFL Free Agency, Ovechkin, Terps, Deni Avdija, and more.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Chean Show. Here's Kevin. Tommy is here. Actually, here here. In studio with me today.

The show's presenting sponsor, as always, Window Nation, 86690 Nation or WindowNation. Orwindonation.com for new windows. Reach out to them soon. Mention my name. They'll come out and provide you with an in-home hour or less free estimate. Tommy, we've got some email. to open up the show.

You ready? Well, wait a minute. What? I just want to say, whenever I come into the studio, I'm always impressed with the upgrades that you've made. What upgrades have I made? You know? None.

Why are you bleeding from your right index finger right now? I don't know. Wow. Yes. You're bleeding. It looks like dry blood. Here, hold on. Give me a tissue here.

Yep. Here you go. Okay. You see, I bleed for this show. show. You apparently do. For crying out loud. It looks like dry blood, so maybe you just leave it there and let it, you know, coagulate or whatever they call that.

Well, you know what? I'm looking around the studio, looking for anything of an improvement. And I see on the bottom shelf here of this wire shelving, something from blue wire. Right. And a ward.

I know. Kevin Sheehan won an award. And he's got it laying on on the bottom shelf of this stand. First of all, I don't handle my studio and or office the same way you did. No, I guess not. Tommy used to build, you know, he did. He built a shrine to himself.

You know, if he had passed on the air, we would have just been able to walk into his office and just feel Tommy forever. Because it was nothing but trophies, plaques, you know, and pictures with famous people. Um, that, that is not me. I usually hide things. I'm very much a minimalist. You know that about me, right? Like my wife is the same too. We throw everything out. But that was nice of Blue Wire to send the plaque, uh, recognizing a good year that we had, uh, in the podcast world. Blue Wire, by the way, is the company that sells a lot of the ads for, uh, the podcast. Uh, and they've done a great job. And, um, yeah, uh, it, it's, even though it is on the bottom shelf where only someone like you could see it because you can spot a trophy or a plaque with the best of them, regardless of where they're hidden. But I'm proud of it. We should be proud of it.

So that's... I can tell how proud you are. By the way, you display this trophy that you've won. All right. Let me read this email to start this show. It comes from Yale. Yale writes, by the way, I actually know a Yale. I know a Yale, too.

Who's your Yale? My Yale smokes with me up at quartermasters and Frederick. Okay, I don't think this would be the same Yale. How old's your Yale? I'd say early 50s, maybe, late 40s. Is he an athlete? I don't know. Okay, well, the Yale that I know, I don't, he might listen to this.

I don't know. Let me read this. I don't think it's this Yale. My Yale is a big commanders fan. Okay. The Yale I know, I played baseball. basketball with for years at Bethesda Sport and Health, but I think he's like a lacrosse coach in town somewhere. Anyway, Kevin Tom, I say this with full knowledge of what's out there in our

market on sports talk radio shows. Nobody does it better than the combo of Sheehan and Laverro. Last Thursday's show was why many of us listen to you guys. There's nobody on local airwaves that talk sports in the way you guys do. Information is a commodity, smart opinion is a luxury, and you guys have delivered it for years. Well, we are really complimenting ourselves here early in the show. You know what?

There is a comeback for this. Somebody should give us an award. We should get an award. Yes. Kevin, I actually think you could have been a basketball GM or a football time management coach if you had chosen that road. Oh, this guy's just sucking up to you now.

But the best shows are when you, you guys move from sports to St. Louis Chamber of Commerce Talk, to sewing circle discussion about former bosses like Simple Jack, to knock hockey and Superballs, to Tom's independent contractor status, to Josh Gibson's days in D.C. during the 1930s, to what tailgating might look like at RFK in the 2030s. This guy, this is going to You guys went seamlessly from Terps basketball for five minutes, right into Cedric the entertainer and famous comedians from the Midwest for the next five minutes. And then from minor characters on Sanford & Son to Ovechkin's scoring goals too quickly for Tom. Yes, you complained about that.

Yes, I did. I'm still upset about that, by the way. Then back to NFL Free Agency for a few minutes before ending with late-night diners that. both of you stumbled into and out of. The Thursday March 6th show was perfection, guys. Love those shows the most. Go skins, go Terps. Oh, now I know it's not the Yale that I,

because he was a UVA guy. Okay. I think he was. I don't think he was a Maryland guy. So Tommy, Yale has his opinion, but mex, well, he has a different opinion. Really? Yes.

So he's not giving us an award? Mex is not about to give us an award for last Thursday's show. It does not appear. Mex writes, Kevin, the show yesterday, I'm assuming he's talking about the Thursday show, because I got this on Friday, was just too much. I had to fast forward looking for anything good, and I didn't find it. Please stick to sports, guys. Previewing NFL free agency should have been the priority of the show. I would have loved to have gotten your free agent picks, Kevin.

Well, Max, you want my free agency picks? I think they're going to sign Javon Kinlaw, all right, from the Jets. And by the way, the shocker, you're not going to believe this. They're going to trade for Laramie Tunsell. I don't think Diommy Brown's sticking around either. And I wouldn't be surprised that Jeremy Chin leaves too. I'm sorry, Max. We probably should have done more on NFL free agents.

Well, that was the late night show. That was the late night show. Yeah. We let that one sort of veer off the rails at times. Like I said, it was like a menu at a Greek diner. It had a thousand things on it. It was a menu at a Greek diner. There was a lot of pita stuff on there.

You know, this time of year is fun. Like, I do like the action of yesterday. Oh, yeah. Of course it's fun. You know, to me it's, I mean, of course. Of course, the NBA thing to me sometimes is just way too much. I mean... Because the NBA has a soap operish quality to it. It is a soap opera quality.

And I don't get into Major League Baseball Free Agency. You do more than I. But I'll tell you what, man, over the years, these few days have become really exciting days. It didn't used to be this way. You know, I mean, you didn't. But, you know, you've got obviously social media all day long and all night long. You've got the NFL network and ESPN all day long, all night long. And there is, I saw this this morning on one of the morning shows. I think it may have been Greenberg's show on ESPN.

They put up a graphic that unlike maybe a decade or so ago, there's now proof that the biggest spenders actually, it pays off for them in net gains and win totals. I think it's nine years running the team that spent the most money in free agency gained at least three wins. Now, some of those situations are really bad teams that have a lot of salary cap space.

I just think while I'm enjoying this time of year and I like the action of it, I also I think am realistic as to what we know and what we don't know. Like, if you think the people you're following on Twitter, on X, or that you're listening to on podcasts like this one, or sports talk radio shows,

if you think they're actually providing you with, like, flawless analysis of these signings, you haven't paid attention over the years. Like, Javon Kinlaw yesterday, and I said, seemed like a lot of money because they didn't project he'd make that much money. But we have no idea how he fits with, you know, what Dan Quinn's scheme and what they're planning to do with him. And, you know, obviously Adam Peters knows the player.

Right, because they drafted him in San Francisco. If you go back to last. Yeah. But that said, it's perfectly reasonable to make judgments based on the knowledge we have. Yes, I'm just saying that the knowledge we have isn't anywhere near enough. No, it's not, but you've got to play to hand your doubt. Absolutely. You know, this is actually a suspension of reality conversation this time of year.

Because the reality is we don't know. And last year, here's a perfect example. Remember the free agency class, the first Adam Peters, you know, offseason, people are like, what are they doing? Yeah, it was all these one-year deals. Like shopping at Costco. I mean, Zach hurts? What are you talking?

Zakeas? He stinks. Oh, the best one was Marcus Marioita. Are you? Oh, my God. He's awful. Why would you waste money on him? I mean, look, I'm not talking about the Jaden Daniels selection, which, by the way,

there was a lot of debate on as well. I just think that scheme, fit, knowledge of the player, the kind of person the player is, how he'll fit in your locker room. A lot of that plays into these calls this time of year. And we don't have all that information. We don't have that knowledge. We don't have that knowledge. You know, clearly, now, the Laramie Tunsell deal, that's a big deal.

Yeah. You know, and there is a resume there that something would have to go south to change. change the direction we expect him to go with this team? I mean, I said yesterday, I don't, like, Laramie Tunsell's a really good player. I don't consider him to be anywhere near the elite left tackles like Worf's or Trent Williams or even a guy like Jordan Milata now. I think he's always been a really good player. Keep in mind, this is the second time, okay?

in his career, he was drafted in 2016, that he's been traded. On yesterday's show, I'm like, I don't know why Houston would trade him, but then they trade Kenyon Green today. I mean, they're clearly trying to revamp and redo their offensive line, and Tunsell was going to want to get paid, and Washington's going to have to pay him. Yeah. You know, they're going to have to pay him, and so they probably said, but for whatever reason, they didn't view him as Trent, the way San Francisco viewed Trent Williams

a year younger, like, no, it's worth paying him. We got to keep him. Left tackles are hard to find. Great left tackles are hard to find. No, they traded him. For four picks, net three, when they send the other one back. And they chose not to pay him. I mean, but then I look at, you know, Adam Peters and Dan Quinn, and I'm like, they've earned my trust.

Like, they see him maybe as a great pass protector, which he has been. He's not been a great run blocker, but he's been a really good left tackle pass protector. So they clearly didn't see Brandon Coleman as their future left tackle. You know, more than anything what we learned, especially if you also believe that they were interested in Ronnie Stanley before, Ronnie Stanley before he resigned in Baltimore. They were looking to move Brandon Coleman to where, I'm not sure, either right tackle or inside. Yeah. But they needed a left tackle. And they went out and they traded for left tackle.

And we'll see if the player's great. But it's like having a definitive opinion on these things, the only thing you can really evaluate at this point is did they overpay? Did they get a good deal? But even in those cases, Tommy, we don't know how much competition there legitimately was for the players. Right. You know, that drives the market sometimes higher or lower. Yeah, I want to get your thoughts on, you know, what they've done so far.

They did add another player today, Will Harris from New Orleans. I'll talk about him here in a moment. As of the recording of this podcast, that's what's happened. John Allen signed a three-year $60 million deal in Minnesota. I've not seen the guaranteed money on that deal. That's the most important number, you know. But, all right, so what did you think? or what do you think of what they've done?

And obviously the headliner, by far, at this point, is the trading for Laramie Tunsell. Well, I was, I think, more excited about the trade than you are, apparently. I'm not, oh, I'm excited about it. I trust that what they're doing. He's a Hall of Fame tackle. No, he's not. No, he's not. Not yet. Oh, I think he is.

Oh, he is not. What's his resume? Trent Williams is. I know Trent Williams is. He's made five Pro Bowls. He's not made one all pro team, not one. Not the first team or second team, not once. I think he's a Hall of Fame tackle.

Oh, he could be eventually. He's not today. I disagree. Tommy, you don't make the Hall of Fame. When you get traded twice and you've made five Pro Bowls in nine seasons, eight seasons, it never made one all pro team? Not one? I think he is.

He's an average run blocker, has been an exceptional pass blocker. Apparently, they're really. in Houston, like, what did we do this for? He's a really good player. He's not, Trent Williams is a Locke Hall of Fame. Yes. First ballot. Hall of Famer, more likely than not, I'm guessing. I do not. Laramie Tunsell is on his way to having a Hall of Fame career. If he continues to make Pro Bowl after Pro Bowl and maybe makes an all pro team at least once. But at this point, like if he got injured and it ended his career, he's not a Hall of Fame tackle. Well, he's not at the end. Trent Williams is near the end of his career. Yeah.

You know, this guy isn't. Right. Yeah. I mean, I think what we said when we, when Trent Williams was traded to San Francisco, you know, he's on his way if he ends up having more Trent Williams seasons to being a Hall of Fame. But Trent Williams was a better player when we trade. Yes, he was. There was just more questions about him because of the cancer. Right. And he had missed the season before. And that's why the compensation was low also because we were a stupid organization. Yes. Yeah.

I think, I thought it was a tremendous trait. And the fact that they didn't have to give up a first round draft pick for him, I thought was great. It was absolutely tremendous. He wasn't going to get a first rounder. He got two first rounders in 2019 as part of a big package. Right. It depends on how much you need a left tackle.

Yeah. I like, yeah. I like the, I like the, I like the, trade. I like the trade a lot. Yeah. I don't get. I mean, I'm just telling you that he's not for me and hasn't been, when I thought about Laramie Tunsell over the years, I thought he's a really good left tackle, but he's not, you know, in elite, elite level at the way we've talked about other guys in recent years. But he's right below that. You know, he's been right below that. He's been excellent.

It's five-time pro bowler. Yeah. Five times in the last six. years. Yeah. What else? The Kinlaw one is the one that is the head scratcher for me. This is the one that really requires the leap of faith in Adam Peters, who was there in San Francisco when they drafted him in the 2020 draft. He, in a way, was the 49ers Chase Young.

He was at first round pick. He was the 14th, not the second guy picking the draft. draft, but he was the first round pick that had a good rookie season, was named to the Pro Football Writers Association, all rookie team, and then never matched that season since. Had some injuries, didn't play up to par, and wound up playing his way out of San Francisco, you know, signed with the Jets, had a mediocre season with the Jets, I think, and now it's getting the three-year, what's the guaranteeing money on that? $30 million.

Okay. $30 million on a $45 million deal. You know, is he a starter on this team? Probably not, right? Well, I think that the thing... I mean, he's part of the rotation. Yeah, the thing that's interesting about Kinlaw, and this is where we don't know what they have planned for him.

He's played a lot of defensive end snaps. he played almost 50% of his snaps last year with the Jets. In the most snaps he's ever had in his career, 697, he played 48, 49% of them at defensive end. They really need defensive end run stoppers more than anything else. In the scheme that they employ, they probably have a vision for him having incredible versatility. Remember, they moved Duran Payne over the last couple of games at times to defensive end. Allen saw some snaps at defensive and they had a major problem with stopping the run because of their edge setters. They just could not stop the run, you know, in that gap,

to see gap and outside. And so maybe they believe he's that guy because he's not a dominant pass rusher. He's never been that. So I don't. He's a big boy. Yeah, he's, well, they're all big, yeah. He didn't have a good year, you know, per PFF anyway. The jet fans. I read some things about, they're thrilled that he's gone. Can't believe that he got the money that he got. Who cares what they say? Right. But this is a, this is, you think, well, Adam Peters knows the player. Yes. You know, and Dan Quinn has an idea of how to use him. I don't think Peters just adds Kinlaw without Dan Quinn and his defensive staff saying, we've got a vision for this player, if you can go get him. But he's not here now. So that, you know, that vision may not

work. Which work? The player. He's not here now. It might not work. Right. Yeah. Right.

Right. So that's a little bit of a head scratcher to me. Still sitting out there like a big matzo ball is a pass rusher. You know? Still sitting right out there. And they're not going to trade for Hendrickson from the Bengals now because they won't have any draft fix left. Well, they still have their second rounder. I know.

They could. Yeah, they could. I don't know that they will. I mean, there was reporting from Diana Rusini and others that Washington was one of the teams sniffing around. Hendrickson has not. But was that before the tonsil trade? Yes.

Yeah. But they still have a second rounder for this year, which is probably what it would cost to get Hendrickson. But then you got to pay him. But you're going to, I think they're at 17th or 18th in cap space right now, 34 million, you know, under the cap. But they're going to restructure Terry McCorn. then they're going to probably sign

Tunsel, I think, to a long-term deal. That may not happen before the season. That could happen during this season, I guess, or maybe next off-season. Yeah. You know, on yesterday's show, I had been standing on the show, and we had a debate,

a spirited debate about what this signals. Like, to me, it's very obvious what all of this. what's going on. You go back to the move for Latimore. They've traded eight draft choices for three players since November. This is a front office that went from recalibration to we're ready to win now. That's the mindset they're in. Ben kind of disagreed and pushed back on that. I think any time you trade and you had a guy that came in it that, that talked about draft choices and how Fondi was building a team.

And that's how, in many cases, you know, you build the foundation for the future of your team. They're not, you know, thinking as much about the future. They're thinking about the now. Yes, they are. I agree with that. Yeah. And 100%. And I like that.

This is a go-for-it situation. Yeah. This is a recognition of what they have at quarterback and the opportunity that no one saw coming. Right. Really. Yeah. You know, if they had a process in place a year ago, they threw that out the window. Yeah.

Yeah, they, the recalibration got recalibrated when they got to seven and two. And they, and really, it wasn't even the record. It was number five. Yeah. It was like, oh, my God, he is one of those few. Yeah. We have one. And, you know, I think some of what Ben and I talked.

about yesterday, sometimes that win now mode doesn't necessarily manifest itself in being the biggest spender because sometimes there's not enough out there in a given year to spend on. You know, this was not perceived as a strong free agency class, but they've shifted that to trading. They've made three trades now. Who knows? There may be another one, you know, to come. And they are, you know, not only are they trading? They're trading two of the three players they traded for are, you know, entering age 31 and age 30. You know, they've been around in Debo's case. He's also been very banged up. Like they, like, I said this to Ben yesterday. If they had a different mindset, they would have never traded for Latimore at the deadline. They would have never traded for Debo Samuel. And the Laramie Tunsell deal in many ways does make sense because it's also an investment

in Jaden Daniels. Right. But, you know, you probably would have been looking at the draft a little bit more. Yeah. I got this from Kevin. Actually, this is Kevin from Blue Wire. Oh, okay. Kevin's actually a friend.

Is it another award? It's not another award. Okay. But Kevin is actually the founder and CEO of Blue Wire. He's a great dude. grew up in this area, now out in the Bay Area, and he's a huge fan of the team. And he sent me something, and he texted me. He said, I'm going to send you an email. Subject, not thrilled with the approach. Hey, Kevin. I'm concerned with Adam Peters approach this offseason. Washington

had the oldest roster in the playoffs last year, and the team keeps wasting draft capital on players who seem to have peaked, Marshawn Latimore, Debo Samuel, and now Laron Remy Tunsell. The roster is better in 2025, no doubt, but these moves seem really short-sighted. I get that you've been calling for the team to go all in, but the reality is these trades could be seriously damaging moves and at the expense of adding desperately needed young core pieces. He goes on to talk about what San Francisco did in the trade for McCaffrey and for Trent Williams, But, you know, those were big splashy trades, but they had already drafted well with the likes of Fred Warner and George Kittle and later rounds, Joanne Jennings. But they didn't have a quarterback.

Yeah, well, they had Jimmy Garoppola. Big difference. Yeah. The Garoppel and then Purdy. Yeah. And then he ends it with the commanders aren't giving themselves many opportunities to build, you know, in parentheses, in quotes, homegrown talent. Bringing back Ertz and Wagner feels like the team's approach. is too heavily reliant on aging veterans, add the Javan Kinlaw deal on top of this.

And I think the team could miss the playoffs next season unless they really nailed the draft. Let's hope Tunsel and Debo don't play like Marshawn Lattimore did last year. Yeah, that Lattimore deal is kind of hanging out there as... Yeah, it is. But to be fair, you can't judge it. I can't judge it yet. No. I don't think you could...

You know, I don't get this about fans. Baseball fans are the same way. Fans love invisible players. Players who haven't failed yet, I call them. Invisible players, draft picks, prospects. You know, they fall in love with the idea that you're going to have, you're going to grow this, you know, left tackle into an all pro. So much so that they don't want to hear that you can get one already grown.

You know, this is like going into a restaurant and ordering off the menu and the waiter says, okay that's going to take about six months because we have to grow it outside in the back and chop up the cow and all that but you can order off this menu and we have it right in the kitchen right now and you can eat that so I this is a fascination this is part of the the fan base that believes their general managers because they have more information they have they've watched these guys at the combine for crying out out. You know, they've watched the senior ball. They have scouting reports

on all these college players. So they think they know who to draft. So there's an infatuation with these invisible players. I think that a guy like Adam Peters he's very close to the vest.

I don't know Adam Peters from Adam. Okay. But he seems pretty conservative. We certainly didn't. They are certainly stealth. There's no information. Nobody had Laramie Tunsell on the car. He's not he's not wowing them at these press conferences. You know, he he has no inclination to be the star

out there. So I think he's generally cautious and I don't think it's Josh Harris putting the thumb on him saying you better make this trade. I think that you know, I don't think there's any indication that that's the case. I think it all again, Jane Daniels is the sun and everything else is a planet revolving around them. That's what it is. Yeah, the only thing is that draft choices over the years have proven to be, if you're good at it, the way to build both economically and physical roster construction-wise,

the way to build a football team. I understand that, you know, in recent years, adding a big piece has mattered. You only have to go back to Sequin Barclay a year ago. Not that he was signed for a lot of money, but still they went and got a running back and paid him, you know, a big deal. But I think, Kevin, just when you write, the roster is better in 2025, no doubt, that's what they're trying to do. They're trying to chase down the Philadelphia Eagles. They're trying to chase down the Philadelphia Eagles. They're trying to close the gap on the best team in football, the best roster in football, and the defending Super Bowl champion. And they want to do it right now. They were one game away

from the Super Bowl, and they think if they can close the gap, even if they grab older players. Remember, their quarterback's very young. That's the most important thing, is that their quarterback is very young. You know, you could argue as well that, their best defensive player, Frankie Louvo, is just kind of entering or, you know, hitting his prime years. You know, Terry is going to get a contract extension here, and he is in the prime of his career right now. I don't know how much longer he'll be in the prime of his career. Wide receivers are interesting. You know, bottom line is you've got to have a quarterback. Because if you don't, you look older, quicker. But I think the, first of all, the Debo Samuel,

deal. I'd toss that one out. A fifth rounder for Debo Samuel, giving him another weapon potentially that is unique, especially given that they thought there was a good chance they were going to lose Diami Brown because they did. I don't have any issue with that. I don't have any issue with that roll of the dice. To me, that is super low risk. Again, with me, everything you said, plus they're getting Debo at a time where he needs to play well to get paid. Yeah, the timing of it could be perfect. Yes. The Latimore and Tunsel, you know, deals if they don't contribute significantly in 2025

and also 2026 because both of them are under contract at the very least for the next two years, then, yeah, like, you know, this is not a Sean McVeigh, you know, just allergic to draft choice situation, but it kind of reeks a little bit of it with eight picks. dealt in a four-month period. But they're going for it now. That's what they're doing. They'll worry about getting younger after they've got a Lombardi trophy, another one in their lobby.

You know, that's what they're trying to accomplish now. And you, it's not even about the money spent because the truth is, you know, they've just acquired a couple of big contracts. They'll have to extend Tunsell. And Debo Samuel for one year and then choose to pay. am or not. They still have plenty of cap space. But I do understand, though, even though what you said about draft choices, you know, they have a lot of roster spots to fill out. Yeah, they do. They had a lot of free agents. A lot of those guys, I'm telling you, are going to come back on

one-year deals. You know, guys like Zakias and Noah Brown and Noah I and, you know, several of those guys are coming back on one-year, you know, deals again. But you, you, you know, supplement, you know, some of those bigger salaries, bigger, you know, cap eaters with rookies, you know, and rookies that end up making your team and then have a chance to be big contributors and grow with Jaden. Like, who do we have that's really growing with Jaden on this team? At this point, Brandon Coleman. That's it. I mean, to a certain degree, Sam Cosmi, maybe. but that's it. You know, so there is part of that, but the thing is... And the Senate?

Well, we don't know about Senate, you know? We're not sure about Senate. But here's the thing. Your mindset changed from, we're going to build this thing out, we're going to recalibrate, we're going to find guys that'll be able to, you know, fit with Jaden and grow with Jaden. That changed when you went 12. and five and one two playoff games. And now it's like, let's put the best possible group we can possibly put together for 2025.

Again, you hit the lottery. This guy has, I'm sure their plan going into last year was probably, you know, draft picks, build the right way. you know, we'll build with prospects, we'll build with young players. And then the quarterback, who they thought was good, was much better than everybody thought he was. And it changed everything.

Yeah. I mean, people, you need to go back and remember how people who analyzed the NFL talked about Jane Daniels last year. It was all time. Yes. Yeah.

So, I mean, you have to throw out the play. playbook and react to the circumstances you're in. And the circumstances you're in right now, you're watching the NFL network or ESPN, you're watching the quarterback carousel, and you're beaming from ear to ear knowing that you don't have to be part of it. You know, seriously, when you think about what Tommy just said,

there's, you know, we're always going to have these debates this time of year. But it used to be all about, you know, did they improve enough where they could win eight or nine games and backdoor their way in as a wild card team into the playoffs? And, you know, 60 to maybe 80% of the conversation depending on the year was all about quarterback. Because the quarterback that you had or that you were thinking of, if you did everything else right might get you at eight or nine. But you're not going to contend for a Super Bowl. But we were just having those conversations because those were realistic, the most realistic, even though a lot of people would view it as reach conversations. We were suspending reality the entire time, as we've talked about in the past. But the best part about Washington's situation is they got one of those five or six guys.

Yeah, and you're watching these teams, you know, pick guys up off the street and hoping that they'll, you know, They'll be decent enough to maybe. Daniel Jones just signed a one-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts, and that was a big lynch pinned to whatever else is going to happen. We would have, our team for all those years, we would have been having conversations about Daniel Jones or Kenny Pickett. Yes. Or, well, this year, because there are some big names like Aaron Rogers and Russell Wilson

at the very ends of their careers that are debatable as to whether or not you should. I don't know. I think it looks like Rogers is going to end up in Pittsburgh. At least that seems to be the case. It hasn't happened as of the recording of this podcast. But yeah, no, we don't have to have those conversations anymore. That's a beautiful thing. Yeah. It is. Washington, D.C., no longer a town in which you obsess over the quarterback position. Chamber of Commerce just put that out. Did they? Yeah. It's a good quality of life thing. Because it was unhealthy for all those years. Yes, it was. All right.

They added another player. Lots happening around the league. This is Mex, this is a show for you, brother. This is all sports, all football, although we could veer off at any moment. We'll get to all of that and more after these words from a few of our sponsors.

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windownation.com. All right, Washington, as of the recording of this podcast, did sign a player today. He is safety slash corner slash, you know, very versatile defensive back, Will Harris. He played for the Saints last year, but played for the Lions in his first five years of his career, was drafted by Detroit. So Lance Newmark, very familiar with Will Harris. By the way, his one year in New Orleans, the DB's coach was Marcus Robertson. I didn't pick up on this during the Latimore trading period, but I just looked up to see who he played for in New Orleans to see if there were any ties there.

Marcus Robertson, the DB's coach for the Saints, was Cliff Kingsbury's D.B.'s coach when he was the head coach in Arizona. So you've got a lot of people in the building that are familiar with the player, 6-1, 206 pounds, not as big as Chin, but a bit quicker. He's 29 years old. Here's what I think, you know, you got to know, because Chin had, some of the same qualities. He's incredible when it comes to versatility. He's played free safety. He's played strong safety. He's played corner, slot corner in particular, nickel corner in particular. He's even lined up in Ron Rivera's favorite Buffalo Nickel position as a linebacker. He is a good tackler. He had a good game against Washington, remember in December,

was second on the team that day in tackles, had I think two TFL's tackles for loss. Missed four games last year for a hamstring injury, but it's a two-year, $8 million deal, $10 million max with incentives. They had to add a safety. Javon Holland had signed elsewhere, I think either late last night or earlier this morning. And it looks like you can kind of plug Will Harris at the very least, into the rotation with Kwan Martin

and somebody like Percy Butler. But I would imagine that Will Harris is going to be given every opportunity to basically fill the role that Jeremy Chin had. Are you sorry to lose Chin? Yeah, I thought Chin played really well.

Yeah. I kind of think of Chin in the same way that I thought of Diami Brown at the end. It's like, yeah, I'd like to have those guys back. They're good players. Chin was, you know, really thought to be an exceptional player early in his career. It was just injuries, and he stayed healthy last year.

And you saw that he's a good player and very versatile. That's why there was at least a decent market, not a red hot market for him, but a decent market for him. I'm going to be interested to see what they do at Corner. Like it doesn't seem like they have chased down any corners in free agency that we know of. They made the trade for Latimore, obviously. you know, are they going to re-sign Noah Igben O'Gennie? Because if they do, then that tells you that they see Mikey Sanders still as an outside corner in 2025.

That at least in 2025, that's their best chance to win. You know, they're trying to win now. It wouldn't shock me, though. One of the things I talked about with the Tunsell deal is that you can now, you know, eliminate tackle at 29 in the first round. They're not going to draft a left tackle at 29 in the first round. So the draft is deep in pass rushers. So if they don't address it with a Joey Bosa who, you know, or a Trey Hendrickson, they could draft it at 29. The draft is very deep at running back. Not so deep at wide receiver, but it's fairly decent at corner. I think right now I could see

corner or pass rush or D-end, you know, could be run-stopper too, run-stopper pass-rusher combo, that that's where they'd be looking at 29, but they've already proven with the selection of Johnny Newton last year with their first pick in the second round that they'll go best player available. It just won't be a quarterback at 29. We know that. But I think you can cancel out left tackle. Yes. You know, they have their left tackle for the next They hope four years, you know, taking Jaden Daniels, you know, through his first big contract into the early portion of it. What about running back? I think they need a running back.

Yeah, they do. I think they need at least one more playmaker offensively, whether that is a wide receiver or a running back. Because Debo is going to play some running back for this group. It's a very deep running back draft, but they're running out of draft choices. I don't think they're going to use a first or a second round pick on a back. And they have the fourth rounder that came back as part of the tonsill deal. And then they've got seventh rounders. Two of them left, right?

They have five total picks left, I think. I think so. So, you know, I keep forgetting to mention Luke McCaffrey because maybe they have a lot of belief in Luke McCaffrey in year two. Now, we didn't see it in the way of production, but we did see. it in the way of snap counts. He was on the field enough. So they certainly were confident enough in him

to be on the field. But right now, the three receivers under contractor, Terry McLorn, Luke McCaffrey, and Debo Samuel, I think, and I've said this, you know, going back several weeks now, I know that they love

Zakias. They absolutely love him as a locker room guy. They like him as a receiver. I don't think there's a big market for Zekees. I think he comes back and maybe Noah Brown does too and maybe that's all you need. Remember, they schemed up everybody last year for Jaden. They've added one weapon in Debo Samuel. Maybe they'll focus on the running back, adding a back. You know, they tendered Chris Rodriguez. I saw that. So, you know, even though there were times during the season where it's like, why don't they like him more? I think some of the

reasons they weren't in love with Chris Rodriguez didn't have to do with the kind of runner that he was, the kind of talent that he had. I don't know that he was the perfect, you know, football is everything, whatever it takes, but maybe he's come around to that culture because they tendered him. So that's, that's a good sign. Brian Robinson, Jr. I mean, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's under contract. Yeah. So we'll see. They need some explosion out of the backfield.

I think they do. They got Eccler. They got Robinson Jr. They got Rodriguez right now and they'll use Debo Samuel. You know what, Tommy? Like every time I start to talk about those positions, I get jarred back into, number one, they've got to get better on defense. You've got to close the gap with Philadelphia, with Detroit, with the rents,

Rams now. You've got to look at the Rams as a legit threat, bringing Stafford back, adding Devante Adams, Adams, Adams, and Nukuwa. They've gotten better along the offensive line. They had such great young defensive talent. You've got to get better defensively. And so far, it is Kinlaw and Will Harris. Yeah. And Latimore, from the trade, hopefully we're going to get the real Marshawn Latimore in 2025. Now, maybe, you know, there's still something out there. I do know they were interested in Khalil Mack. That was a player that they were certainly interested in. I think Joey Bosa might end up in San Francisco, but man,

there isn't, when he's healthy, a better just pure pass rusher. Obviously the Miles Garrett thing, I mean, he took the money to stay in Cleveland. In a way, I mean, part of that was good news for commanders fans because you knew at least he didn't wind up in Philly. Yes. Or Detroit. Yes. That's 100% true.

They got a lot left to do. They still have so many free agent players from the team last year, and they've got 30-something spots, and they have fewer draft choices to fill those spots with. So there are going to be an S-load of one-year deals coming over the next several months. And the draft, of course. By the way, you could trade back. from 29 and fill this you know some of the you know the third rounder that you just got rid of

but you only do that if there isn't a player there that you deem to be first round worthy yeah you know there are other players too we haven't talked about they really liked jordan mcgee last year in camp before he got hurt he could be more of a factor yes they uh they uh They liked Jalen Holmes, 96, who played well at the end of the... Do they like Dante Fowler? He's been making a lot of noise on social media. Yeah, he has. Yeah.

That does not, what he tweeted out, does not seem to be an indication that they're, you know, giving him something that makes him want to stay here. No, they're not showing him the proper respect, apparently. Well, they didn't... Once Saquan Barkley took the first handoff and went 60 yards, and they got that lead. He played, like, what, 17? snaps in that game. He was not a very good run

defender. He was their best sack guy. I think, I actually think Wagner and Louvo were really their best pass rushers. And Armstrong was good, but Fowler Jr. had a good year rushing the passer. There's no doubt. Yeah. All right. What else? Let me just make sure we're not missing any news because, you know,

it's been breaking here the last couple of days. Let's see if anything's happened. What about within the NFC East, you think the Eagles have been hurt by their free agent defections? Williams sweat. You know, C.J. Gardner Johnson got dealt today. No, they're so deep. They're so deep. You know, and, you know, they, they're a team that's really done it super well, you know, with the draft.

But like, we talked about this. I think the most important thing was them resigning Zach Bond. That was crucial. They have NKobi Dean, who we didn't even play against in the NFC championship game because he got hurt in the first playoff game against who'd they play first? They beat the Rams in the divisional round. They beat, who'd they beat in that first round? I'm forgetting who they beat. I don't remember.

The Eagles opened up with a, it was 22 to 10. I remember that was the score of the Packers. Okay. They beat the Packers in that first round. They have so much talent. So much talent. But they lost some on defense. Yeah, they did.

But Milton Williams barely even played for them at times. Yeah, he was really good when he played, but they had, they got Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter. You know, they didn't have Dean play. You know, Huff, you know, is still there. I don't, like I feel now about Adam Peters, if I were a Philly fan, I'd feel even more. strongly that whatever how he does, I think it'll work out. There's a gap there that Washington has to close. They'll have, you know, the NFC is interesting.

You know, there was a segment this morning on the Greenberg show, Get Up. I didn't see it, but my son sent me a text of like the back and forth and just said, they basically said who's the Eagles biggest competitor, who is the biggest threat to the Eagles in the NFC? And there were two Rams and two Lions selections. The Rams are going to be an interesting team, no doubt. The Lions had all those injuries. They've got to get better on defense.

They've got to get deeper. And they really, the big thing with Detroit is they lost their offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator. They lost coaches more than anything else. I still, for whatever reason, I'm not throwing the 49ers out. Part of it is because... They lost the lot. I mean, I'm going to pull it up right now to see if my bookies changed the odds for the

NFC next year based on anything that's happened here recently. Washington was the fourth selection in the NFC behind Philly, Detroit, and San Francisco. That's the way it's been. Philly is the favorite still at plus 300 at MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. They'll give you a cash bonus on your initial deposit. The Eagles are plus 300 to win the NFC championship in 2025. Detroit's plus 430.

San Francisco is still plus 750, followed by Washington at plus 900. By the way, the Packers are plus 900, and the Rams are plus 1,000. Now, those teams are bunched up there, and then you get a drop off to Tampa Bay, who I think has had a pretty good off-stri-agency period here with some of the players they've re-signed, David and Godwin, etc. I still, I'm not throwing in the towel on the 49ers. Okay, let me ask you something about the Eagles. There's a gap, a talent gap between the rosters. But wouldn't you say that Washington,

is ahead on the quarterback. Yes. Yes. Okay. Yeah. That's where they have the advantage in that gap. And I would say that I like Washington's coaching staff, at least as much as Philadelphia's coaching staff.

But we did this thing leading into the game. You know, how many of our players would start for their team? And the answer, really, when it came down to it, was definitively one. Quarterback. Even Terry McClureen, you'd probably start him in front of Devon. Vante Smith. So it's probably two, but after that, that's the list. Yeah. Yeah, it is. But, you know, the best rosters don't always win the Super Bowl. Sometimes it's the team with the best quarterback. And I still look at the NFC and I see Washington is having the best quarterback in the conference.

You know, what's going on with the quarterback stuff right now, like I just think it's funny that like the Daniel Jones joining the Colts to battle Anthony Richardson for the starting job in Indy. Indy's roster is not terrible. That that's like this linchpin to what happens next. You've got Pittsburgh and you've got the Giants. Atlanta apparently came out again today and said they are not trading Kirk Cousins. They're keeping him. he's going to be the most expensive backup quarterback in the history of the game.

I mean, he will be. It's unbelievable, but they're going to do that. And by the way, they should do that. They don't owe him anything. You know, they paid him all that money last year, and they ended up having to bench him, whether it was because of injury, whatever. His performance dipped dramatically.

But this Aaron Rogers, where is he going to go now? He is right now, you know, he's the, the most sought out. This is turned out to after Matt Stafford, the most interested teams are and a quarterback is Aaron Rogers. And I told you this all during the season. I don't think so. Oh, yeah. Why is he still sitting there then? Because he can play. Oh, why is he still sitting there? Because he's deciding between Pittsburgh and the Giants. You got two teams. He wouldn't want to go to the Vikings. The Vikings thing is interesting too. That's a. wild card, and they were talking about this this morning, that if Daniel Jones stays in Minnesota,

then it's Pittsburgh for Aaron Rogers. If he goes to Indy, then Minnesota might be in play for Rogers. To me, if I'm Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota, and I believe in J.J. McCarthy, which it seems like they do, they let Sam Darnold go after the season that he had. By the way, I'm kind of with them on Sam Darnold. At the end of the year, you saw a guy that just couldn't get you to where you want to go. Boy, he cost himself a lot of money in the last few years. Although he ended up getting a deal worth $100 million with 55 of a guaranteed, but it wasn't the $50 million a year that people were talking about.

But why would you want the distractions that come with Aaron Rogers? That's what I say. When you've got a rookie quarterback in Pittsburgh, you don't have anybody. Oh, in Pittsburgh, it's a team full distractions. Anyway. What do you mean? You got D.K. McCaff. Oh, yeah.

You've got George Pickens. Oh, my God. People will wait until, like, game 10 and Aaron Rogers has left the team to go sit on a mountain in Western Maryland. And Western. Because he's in Pittsburgh. He's going to Whisp. He's going to Deep Creek Lake. To hibernate.

So, I mean, I mean, Pittsburgh is. I don't know. Pittsburgh, I think, is going to be an interesting team for all the wrong reasons. You know, they're still, if they get Aaron Rogers, they're still the third best team in their division. They're not better into Ravens,

and not better into Bengals. They have to upgrade their offensive line, but a quarterback like Rogers makes your line better because of his quickness. But Pickens and D.K. Metcalfe. And they've got the big tight end, that they don't have a running back, although I liked Jalen Warren at times

more than I like Nadja Harris. But they've got, what's his face, the tight end from Penn State, Friermouth. And they've got a great defense. And, you know, I would think they're not putting up with his shit in Pittsburgh,

with Mike Tomlin. I think the issue with Pittsburgh is more about Arthur Smith and the offense that he's always run. It's not, I don't think it's conducive. Now, Kevin O'Connell's perfect for Aaron Rogers. Yes.

And he's got, you know, he's got Justin Jefferson. Yeah. Weapons everywhere. But are they going to bring him in to start for how long? Like, let's say it really works out well. Now you're... No, I don't think they're bringing in. I don't think so either.

Again, because I don't think there's this great market for Aaron Rogers. I think that's why he's finding... He found himself between Pittsburgh. and the Giants. You know, you may be right. Certainly listening to the NFL guys that are true insiders, they're telling you there's a market for Aaron Rogers and that it's kind of his call on Giants, Pittsburgh,

and then Russell Wilson will fall to the team that doesn't get Aaron Rogers. He played, he just looked like Aaron Rogers at times last year. That's the problem. But all of the other stuff wasn't conducive to winning with an organization like the Jets. Would Pittsburgh be a better situation organizationally? Yes. Would the Giants?

Probably not. But the Giants also have a superstar talent at wide receiver. Yes. In Malik neighbors. And maybe a better offensive line than Pittsburgh has, and better running backs than Pittsburgh has. But anyway, all right. We got other things to talk about.

We'll finish up the show with some hoops and anything else Tommy's got right after these words from a few of our sponsors. I introduced many of you to Goldbelly a few months back, and I want to keep talking about it today because Goldbelly has the most iconic famous foods from restaurants all across the United States aggregated on one amazing site, and they ship it free to your door anywhere in the country. They'll ship you iconic Chicago deep dish pizza from Lumal Nottis. Had that. They'll ship you New York's best most famous cheesecake from juniors.

Had that delivered. If you're craving barbecue, they ship the legendary Franklin's barbecue straight from Texas to your door. And you have to try the one and only world-renowned stone crab delivered from Joe's in Miami. So if you're looking for that perfect gift or want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal, next time you host, go to goldbelly.com and get free shipping and 20% off your first order with promo code Sheehan. That's goldbelly.com code sheen for free shipping and 20% off your first order. All right, Tommy, tell us about Shelly's. Well, Shelly's specials this week. You know, look, every day is special with Shelly's.

They have the top liquor that you can buy. They have the best to go. bars you can smoke. And you can find all this at Shelley's backroom at 1331 F Street Northwest. But we tend to sometimes concentrate on the menu because the menu is so good. And in particular, when they have the Shelley specials. And this week, there's a geographical theme to their Shelley specials. Toasted ravioli from St. Louis? No.

A Tex-Mex burger, a half a pound of Shelley's custom blend beef. with pepper jack cheese salsa and southwestern ranch. Also, a buffalo chicken tender sandwich. You love chicken tenders. Yes. I do too. Who doesn't? And finally, a Mexican taco salad with chicken.

That sounds really good. This is like, if you had walked into the Shellies with a map and you pointed to, I'll have one of those and I'll have one of these and I'll have someplace from this. Shellies will fix that for you. They have great food, guys. Seriously. They really do. I mean, go smoke all the cigars you want and meet all the famous people you want.

But get some food from Shelly's because the food's great there. Listen, I've taken my wife and family to eat at Shelly's, and they've walked away pleasantly surprised. They didn't expect how good the food was going to be. Shelly's Backroom. You can find out more at shelley's backroom.com. So a couple of things here. Number one, you just saw it. Washington is re-signed.

Jeremy McNichols, all right? I'm sure that's a one-year deal. Played well for them last year. Yes. That's one. Just a lot of, this is a pot-peri segment. We got a lot of different things to touch on. This is a cleanup on aisle three.

We got a lot of, we got a mess on aisle three. Last night, the Golden State Warriors beat Portland, 130 to 120. Now, I've kind of been following Golden State because I actually put a wager on them to win the Western Conference when they traded for me by me by. A reason you were paying attention to the NBA C-State. Yes. When they signed Jamie Butler, they were plus 900 after they won a couple games, and I put a wager on them to win the Western Conference finals.

They're 12 and 2 since the Butler trade. And by the way, the loss, one of the two losses, he didn't play in that game. Okay. But that's not why I'm going to talk about last night's Golden State Portland game. This has a wizard's twist. Uh-oh, I shouldn't have told people it's got a wizard's twist. Denny Avdia last night for Portland, 34 points, 16 rebounds,

six assists, two steals. Wow. Over the last couple of years, when I was paying more attention to the Wizards, I said many times, I think Avdia is going to develop into at least a third legitimate option on a contending team, and it would not surprise me if one day he makes an all-star team.

That may have been a reach. I'll concede that. He's averaging 15 and 6 in Portland, terrible team this year. He's still only 24 years old, just turned 24. That dude has so much skill. He's big. I mean, 6-9, 610, 250 or whatever can handle the ball. The big issue in Washington was that, you know, he didn't shoot it consistently enough.

This year, actually last year in Washington, I'm looking at it right now. He actually shot 50.6% from the floor. This year he's shooting 46.7% from the floor, which is his second best field goal percentage. And he's got his second best three-point shooting a percentage. There has been, every time watching Denny Abdiya, I always said that dude's got talent. That was a good pick. They got a bunch for them and they're, you know, to keep throwing into the kitty to try to get a Cooper Flag or somebody like that, you know, eventually.

But Denny Avdiya's had some big games, including last night. Last week, he had a triple double. He had 30, 12, and 10 against Cleveland, you know, and they lost that game in overtime. He's had some really good games, again, not playing on a particularly good NBA team. But I think Denny Avdia really does have a future. And the other thing I was going to mention is, that since trading Kyle Kuzma to the Bucks, he's playing well for Milwaukee. I think Kyle Kuzma is a good player, but he's had some really good games,

and he's been in their starting lineup. You know, Milwaukee still has Janice and Lillard. You know, they've got, you know, but he's had a game last week. I think it was something like 19, 13, and 9 or something like that, you know, on a good team. Okay, that's enough about former wizards. I also just wanted to mention that Alex Ovechkin is within now eight goals of tying, nine of passing Gretzky, because he added to his goal total with an empty netter against the Seattle Cracken over the weekend. They play in Anaheim tonight, so we're getting close.

We are three goals away from Gretzky and the commissioner. following Ovechkin and the caps to every single game. And I don't know what your deal is. I know he's going too quickly for you, but when will you be on the road waiting to write about the record breaker? Well, I don't know if I'll ever be on the road. Oh, okay.

Okay. If it happens on the road, I may be watching it on TV. Okay. Kind of like when you come, the Sydney Olympics. Yes. Yes. Yes. But, you know, I mean, I have them on my schedule because I'm going out of town this week to, I think I'll start going to home games on March the 20th. Hopefully he won't break the record before then. Well, that would be pretty amazing if he got nine goals in the next three games. Yes. It's possible, though. I guess. I mean, but yeah. So I would think, you know, like the third week in March, I'll start picking up the Ovechkin watch while he's home.

Okay. Very good. Is that good enough for you? I think that makes a lot of sense to me. Okay. So we're now, you know, NFL free agency has kind of masked the beginning of March Madness, which is conference championship week. Yeah. You know, it really has.

Like, it didn't always do that. This used to be a big week, you know, with the ACC. tournament, the Big East tournament. Now, this is not that significant. I'll just tell you, though, it's significant for me with Maryland. Maryland, since entering the Big Ten, has not been to a Big Ten final in the Big Ten conference tournament. They've only been to the semifinals twice, despite finishing, you know, pretty consistently in the top four or five in the league. This is their third, I think second place finish, but they've only been to the semifinals twice. It was their first two years in the league, and they lost back-to-back years to Michigan State.

They'll play Friday night in the quarterfinal game as a two-seed. They'll play the 7-10 winner. I'm sorry, they'll play the seven-seed Illinois versus it's Ohio State or Iowa. They'll play the night before. It's not going to be an easy game. Big 10 just is deep. but I want them to do well in this big 10 tournament. The NCAA tournament is everything, clearly.

That's what you're gearing for. But I used to feel this way about the ACC tournament. I have not really felt this way about the Big 10 tournament, but this year I feel that way. I feel like I want to see them in some of those high-profile this coming weekend games against a Purdue in the semi-few. finals against a Michigan State and the finals of the Big Ten tournament. Will it help their seeding?

Potentially, I think they're locked into a four no matter what happens. They could probably get to a three seed if they went on to the tournament finals or won the tournament. But I really want to see this weekend pan out for them because this is where the fan base has really come down on Turgeon and Willard. You know, Willard at Seton Hall never, you know, got out of the second round of the first round or first weekend of the NCAA tournament. He didn't have a lot of Big East tournament success. Maryland under Turgeon didn't have Big Ten tournament success.

Didn't get out of the first weekend other than just one time. They were in the Sweet 16. So, I don't know, I'm into the games right now. We got real games if you're a college basketball fan. Right. And the free agency stuff is exciting. There's a lot of action. But I'm really looking forward to this weekend and then next week.

The Big Ten announced all of their postseason honors. Derek Queen was the unanimous freshman of the year in the Big Ten. So, you know, that is huge, huge honor. Joe Smith was the last player to win freshman of the year for Maryland. Right? Mellow Trimble didn't. I should know the answer to that. I don't know why I don't know the answer to that. I can tell you that in my circle, there's a lot of interest in Maryland basketball right now.

Right. Yeah. And mine too, clearly. But I know yours, but for mine, it's unusual. People are asking me about Maryland a lot more than they normally would. Tommy, you and I have seen this over the years. When Maryland's good in basketball, like they have a chance to really make a deep run, They're ranked 11th in the country right now.

There is a huge market for them. You know, there's a bandwagon effect, no doubt, but there's also a core, super passionate group. Why don't I know Maryland's fresh, I mean, Joe Smith was, Buck Williams was, was Melo Trimble, freshman of the year? Where do you keep the staff?

I don't see any staff. There's no staff here. Will you keep in another office? Is that proprietary information? Mello was not. Joe Smith was the last time Maryland had a freshman when freshman of the year honors. And they've had some really good freshmen, you know, over the years.

And Buck Williams was freshman of the year. God, Buck Williams was a good. He's so good. I used to love to hear Lefty talk about Buck Williams. Oh, he loved Buck. He loved Buck because Buck was an enforcer of the first. order. Oh my God. He ruled with an iron fist that the teams that he was on. I think lefties favorite players in order would be Len Byes followed by Buck Williams. He loved Buck Williams.

He loved Buck. And Buck was the one player in the league that dominated Ralph Samson. He gave Ralph Samson so much trouble. So Derek Queen freshman of the year, he also made first team all Big Ten, which most people saw coming. Then Marilyn had Jacoby Gillespie. Kobe Gillespie makes third team all Big Ten. Julian Reese, honorable mention. Here's where I have a problem. The all defensive team, I thought for sure, would include Juju, you know, Reese.

And it doesn't. He was not among the five players listed on the all defensive team. I think that's an omission. I'm going to tell you, I didn't see a lot of Nate Biddle or T.J. Bombat, Oregon. I thought Julian was one of the best defensive players in the league. But, you know, Derek Queen, not only freshman of the year, but first team all Big Ten this year. The player of the year was Braden Smith at Purdue, and he's a great college point guard. There's no doubt about it.

But, man, Purdue kind of fell off there at the end. But I wouldn't be surprised if they've got a run in them starting next week. All right. anything else i got nothing else for you boss it was glad it's great to see you in person again it's always good to see you in person i will be back tomorrow with the show and then we won't actually be together on thursday you are going away for a few days yes so i will talk to you next week at some point okay boss because you know what we have to do we have to fill out brackets you got to fill out a bracket before the tournament starts we'll do that uh next week all right

All right, back tomorrow, everybody.