The Kevin Sheehan Show - Two Votes For Drake Maye

Episode Date: March 30, 2024

Kevin opened with some comments from Drake Maye about the Commanders' and LSU coach Brian Kelly's "for Washington" slip. He talked "Sweet 16" games and had an "Elite 8" smell test pick for tonight. Then it was back to back guests who shared their Washington QB preference. Al Galdi jumped on to discuss his thoughts on Washington's big draft day decision and then Chris Cillizza was a guest to talk about his newest ventures which includes writing a ton about sports.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Give them a call at 86690 Nation or head to Windonation.com. Mention my name for a free, no obligation in-home estimate. You've got nothing to lose by giving them a call at 86690 Nation or going to Windonation.com. Two guests on the show today. Al Galdi's going to be on with us in the next segment. and then Chris Saliza will be on with me. No politics, all sports. Chris is writing a lot about sports these days. I'll get to the Sweet 16 games from last night. I've got a smell test pick for one of the two Elite 8 games coming up here momentarily. But I wanted to start with this. So Sam 48 from the Washington Post tweeted out an interview from the Drake May Pro Day.

He asked Drake May how it went with the commanders after he had met with the commanders, because he actually met with the commanders before the pro day. The meeting with Jaden Daniels on Wednesday came after his pro day workout. But Drake May had just finished up answering a question about his meeting with the Patriots, which he said went very well. And he talked about them being a historic franchise and all of that. And then Sam 48 asked Drake May about how it went with Washington. Here's what Drake May said. The audio is not great, but I think you'll be able to hear what he says. Here it is.

Commander, yeah, it was good. And there with Mr. Peters and Coach Quinn, obviously just great dudes, great people. And excited to see what's in store. I think they got a great thing going up there. So, you know, really close, pretty close to home. And, you know, then commanders is another historic kind of ball club. They've had some good years. Well, there haven't been many good years while you've been alive, Drake May.

But good job acknowledging the past. Somebody coached him up and said, hey, you know, these guys back in the day, they were actually pretty good long before you were born, but they were actually pretty good. Mr. Peters, coach Quinn, great guys, great people. Look, we didn't learn anything from that soundbite, but I played it for two primary reasons. One is if he can play quarterback, if he's really good, he is that guy, I think, as a communicator in front of a mic. I'm not digging deep into his personality, but I've watched some interviews with him over the last couple of years. I've done the same with Jaden Daniels, J.J. McCarthy as well.

I've seen enough of Caleb Williams that I didn't need to go back and look at some of those. But he is a guy that I would imagine interviews pretty well. He is much more of an extrovert than Daniels as an example. He can communicate. He exudes a lot of confidence. If he can play the position, you know, he'll be a face of the franchise type of guy. I don't think there's any doubt about it. But you do have to get the other part right, which is being really good at playing quarterback.

But the other reason I played it was what I initially said in my reaction. For many, many years, the pitch. to anybody new outside of this organization, especially during the Snyder era, even in the last four years during Rivera. And now I have a sense that it's continuing with the Josh Harris regime. And I'm not knocking it. I'm just highlighting it. And that is that a big part of the pitch has always been the history of the franchise, that the franchise is one of the marquee brands in the NFL. You know, we have three Super Bowl trophies in our lobby. You can see them.

Three Lombardi trophies right here. We've got plenty of Hall of Famers. We got a Hall of Fame coach. I mean, we had Doug Williams. We had Mark Rippen. We had Joe Thysman. You ever heard of John Riggins, Darrell Green, Art Monk? Like, there's just always been because there's nothing to pitch about the present.

They have turned back the clock over and over again. And even for a guy like me who, and you'll hear Chris Saliz and I actually talk about this a little bit, a guy like me who gets nostalgic and has talked a lot about the past, I just don't care as much about that anymore. We just have to move on from that. I'm not saying that they shouldn't use it as part of the pitch, you know, and the three Lombardi Trophy shouldn't be out. Although, to be honest with you, I don't really care about seeing them anymore.

I remember it. I'll be fond of it for the rest of my life. There will be stories about those teams to be told. But it's been such a wretched quarter century. It just seems like too much of the go-to move. Like Snyder's go-to move with bringing Joe into the box. Like that just got tired and old as well. Like I've said recently, I don't even need Joe Gibbs to sign off on Josh Harris or on Adam Peters or on Dan Quinn. I I want, you know, the new regime to approach it in a new age way. But there's no doubt in my mind that they are presenting the franchise with the past being a big part of the pitch. Now, they're also presenting, which they should. Hey, don't pay attention what's happened here recently because it's a whole new group. You know, Ms. Josh Harris is a phenomenal guy. the ownership group has Magic Johnson in it. We've got a first-rate ownership group, and then Adam can pitch himself,

and Dan Quinn doesn't even really need to pitch himself, but they can talk about the big changes in all of the good things that are happening now. Anyway, there was another soundbite that I did not play on Thursday show because I had not seen it or heard it at that point. but I am assuming most of you have heard this at this point. But did you hear LSU coach Brian Kelly's slip up at the end of talking about Jaden Daniels specifically about his thin frame and whether or not it can hold up? Here's what it sounded like on Jaden Daniels Pro Day on Wednesday.

He is going to be so committed to taking care of himself that you're going to have to worry about size or he doesn't weigh enough. Lamar's done a pretty good job with his size. I think Mahomes, I wouldn't consider him a giant because he's going to get the ball out to the playmakers and make plays for Washington. For Washington, Brian Kelly just slipped. Did he slip because he knows something,

or did he mention that because he's hoping it into existence because, I don't know, maybe it's better that his college quarterback that he just coached for two years goes number two overall rather than later than number two. I have no idea if he knows something at this point. I did something on radio yesterday following the four pro days now of the top four perceived top four guys, Jaden Daniels, Caleb Williams, Drake May, J.J. McCarthy. Just asking people, and we put a Twitter poll out there as well,

if people have now a gut feeling or a hunch as to what Washington is thinking. We had 48% plus say they have a hunch that Washington's going to take Jaden Daniels. It may be off of the Brian Kelly comment. 38% said, you know, May. And only 5% said McCarthy. 8% said trade back. I don't know anything. This organization's buttoned up.

listened to everything just like you guys have. I've read everything. I don't think there are any tells at this point. The only tell, honestly, is just the insistence on mobility being a big deal. The comment that Dan Quinn made when he was on with the junkies a month ago now, when they, you know, played word association with names and with Drake May, he said athletic with Jaden Daniels, he said, game changer. I still don't have any clue. I don't have any clue on the direction they are going to go. And I still, even after the pro days, would suggest that they're not in consensus at this

point. You still have top 30 visits, and those are more intense than anything that happens at the combine or anything that happens at the pro day. I think the pro days really were just to see what these guys look like close up, to see how they interact with people around them. But on a top 30 visit day, you're going to get them in the classroom. Cliff Kingsbury is going to be able to grill J.J. McCarthy and all of these guys, Jaden Daniels, Drake May, on, you know, what do you do if you see this kind of coverage?

And we've got this called. That's going to be a big learning experience for all of them as well. All of the tape, a lot of the due diligence stuff, that's complete now. But this top 30 visit day, you know, I don't know if it'll be a mind changer if they've made up their mind, but I think it could be impactful. And at this point, I have no idea which way they're leaning. I did want to mention, though, I have mentioned this before, but there was a story after the pro day on Thursday, not for Drake May, but for Michael Pennix, Jr. that he had a really good pro day, and he ran the 40 in sub 4-6. Now, he's not been a big-time running quarterback, although he was more so at Indiana before

the injuries, but he ran the 40 just so people knew that he's an athlete. I like Michael Pennix Jr. a lot. I think Michael Pennix Jr. processes pre-snap, post-snap, better than any of these quarterbacks. I'm just talking about it at a college level. I mean, he got sacked 11 times in 15 games last year. And if you watched Washington, you know why, because he sees everything and he anticipates everything so well.

And he throws a great ball, he throws a great deep ball. I think Jaden Daniels throws the best deep ball, but Pennix Jr. probably throws the second best deep ball. I think he's going in the first round. I would be at this point stunned if Michael Pennix Jr. isn't picked. in the first round. And I guess people are settling in on the top four, but we got a month to go and things could change.

I think Pennix Jr. maybe turned some heads at his pro day by running the 40 and running it in sub 4-6. He says, by the way, he thinks he can run 4-4 and that it wasn't even a good time for him. You know, we're talking about something that doesn't really matter that much, but because of his injuries at Indiana and because of the... the lack of scrambling a lot as a college quarterback. I think people wanted to know what he would run and he did it for them. I like Pennix Jr. I like Pennix Jr. a lot. All right. Before we get to Galdi, I'll get to a smell test pick here momentarily for the one

elite eight game tonight. But man, the sweet 16 games last night, Purdue, super impressive. I think they're going to have a much tougher time against Tennessee tomorrow. NC State continued this incredible run that they've been on. I mean, think back to that Virginia game. They're down three, and O'Connell knocks in, a banks in, a three-pointer at the buzzer when Virginia fails to use one of the three fouls they had to give to foul and force them to inbound again. I mean, they're done at that point. Kevin Keats is probably fired at that point.

Winning the ACC tournament gave him, I didn't even realize this, gave him an automatic two-year extension, good for him. But NC State continuing this magical run. I mean, Marquette really never had a chance. Missed a ton of free throws. They were four for 31 from behind the arc. And DJ Horn was outstanding. Their point guard last night, NC State's point guard. And they won a game without DJ Burns being a major factor as a score. but NC states moved on and then Tennessee beat Creighton last night. Dalton Connect, if you haven't watched him, he's a big time pro for Tennessee. They're well-coached with Rick Barnes, but then the game of the night was Duke Houston. I gave Duke out as a smell test pick and it came through, but it may not have come through

had shed their outstanding, Houston's outstanding point guard, not gotten hurt. Jamal Shed rolled an ankle with about 13 minutes to go. 13 minutes, excuse me, into the first half, which was a brutally physical and intense defensive first half. When he left the game with his rolled ankle, the score was 16 to 10 with like 6.50 to go. in the first half. Houston had a six-point lead. He was everything for Houston, the heart and soul of that team, one of the best players in the country, and losing him. And apparently, even if they had survived last night, he was not going to be available for the rest of the tournament. He didn't

break the ankle, but those of you that have had high ankle sprains, you know a high ankle sprain is actually worse than a break in terms of how long sometimes it takes to get back to normal off of it. But man, I have to give Duke some credit. Houston is an incredible defensive team, especially on the perimeter. And Duke was struggling early. They got hit in the mouth early. This was before Shed left the game. It was 8 to nothing.

And I thought they gave it back at Houston all night long defensively on their own, on the glass. They outrebounded Houston last night. They had 13 offensive rebounds in the game. And then the guy that really came up big for them was Jeremy Roach. You know, a DMVer, a WCACer, Jeremy Roach, he seems like he's been there forever now, all 14 of his points and big ones in the second half. And Duke beats Houston 54 to 51. Would Houston have won the game with Shed?

Probably would they have covered? maybe, but I'll tell you what, Duke was ready for the Rumble last night. I give them and Shire a lot of credit. They knew what was coming. Houston is just an overwhelmingly physical and defensive first team, and they don't let you make forward progress in your half court. That's how good they are on the perimeter. And Duke gave it right back to them.

They really did. Houston missed a bunch of free throws in the game. That's been a theme here recently. The missed free throws in the Sweet 16. I mentioned Marquette last night. Same with Houston. And then on Thursday night, you had Iowa State just, I'm sorry, Illinois, horrendous from the free throw line. And they survived 14 missed free throws in that game.

I think the Sweet 16 games have been great. I thought that Houston Duke game was for an ugly offensive game, it was very entertaining defensively. It's a shame for Kelvin Sampson and Houston because they've been such a good team. And they, I think, would have been the best test for Yukon. Although I think some of the other Big East teams, both of them gone now in Marquette and Creighton because they're used to playing Yukon perhaps would have been a good match for them as well. but I don't know, man.

Yukon looks like an absolute freight train. I don't know who beats them. All right, one smell test pick for the Elite 8 games tonight. I'll tweet this out, and then I'll tweet out a pick or picks for tomorrow's two Elite Eight games on Twitter tomorrow. But I like Clemson tonight plus three and a half against Alabama. Bama in that game against Carolina. That may have been the most entertaining game of the tournament.

the up and down nature, the runs in that game, outstanding. Clemson's so well-coached. Brad Brownell's doing a phenomenal job. He's always done a great job. They've just always had a key mistake or a key injury along the way. This is his first Elite 8 appearance. It was only his second Sweet 16 appearance for the longest tenured Clemson basketball coach ever, which was surprising to me.

But he has been there for a long time. Clemson plus the three and a half in the second of the two elite eight games tonight against Bama. The public's on Bama. There's some sharp money on Clemson. I'll take Clemson to cover and perhaps get to their first ever final four. We will see some ACC presence for sure because Duke's playing NC State in an elite eight game. But Clemson is the pick plus the three and a half. 12 and 10 overall so far in the tournament. All right, Al Galdi next, right after these words from a few of our

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You can get his podcast wherever you get a podcast. So let's get to it, the number one story in town, and it will be for the next month. what will they do at number two? Let's fast forward to the night of April 25th and assume that Caleb Williams has gone number one to Chicago. Washington's on the clock. Who will they take? Who should they take?

I think they take Drake May. I think they should take Drake May. But as I keep saying on my show, I reserve the right to change my stance because I think this is tough. I think this is tricky. I think there's a lot to like with May. with Jaden Daniels and with J.J. McCarthy.

Look, we have no idea how this quarterback class is going to turn out, but this does appear to be a good one. And I think there's just so much to like with each guy. You know, I'm leaning toward May because I have real concerns about Daniels. I think there are some things that jump out that make you wonder if he might be a bust. And, you know, I'm starting to look at it from that perspective of, we know they're not all going to hit, right? We know how it goes with these first round quarterbacks,

like a 30, 40% hit rate. So it's almost like who has the most bus potential. Like if we concede that at least a few are not going to work out, who are most likely to not work out? And I think there are things about Daniels that stand out in that regard. Principle among them, you know, the stature, he's thin. He runs with a reckless style, at least some of the time. And I think he's an injury waiting to happen.

I worry about him in that way. But look, May is not a perfect prospect. There's an inconsistency with him that a lot of people point out. and McCarthy is so raw that I think there's real upside there, but I think you kind of want to see more before you really buy into it. So I would lean May, but I don't yell at anyone who says any of the other two because I think this is a tricky one. So why do you think they'll go May?

Because I think as things stand now, he feels like the safest of the three. But, you know, I say that even acknowledging like there's risk with him. And the other thing is, you know, we're hearing, oh, they like Daniels, oh, they like McCarthy. And I think this time of year, when you hear things like that, it's almost like safe to assume the exact opposite of what you're hearing. So I would, to me, it feels like, especially when we get these reports of Daniels and McCarthy and not so much May, that makes me think that May might in fact be the lean. So if we consider history to be a predictor of the future, then we all know as football fans that there's risk, as you discussed. And let's just say two

out of the four quarterbacks that get selected are going to turn out to be bad picks in hindsight, in retrospect. Are you one of those that would like to eliminate that possibility of failing big time on the quarterback and instead build out the roster, trade back, accumulate picks, and address quarterback at a later time? Do you buy into that being a viable, path? I really don't. The only way that I'm really open to trading down is if Adam Peters and company don't like any of these quarterbacks and have major concerns about all of them. But I think the guiding light, the North Star, is quarterback. And I'm not a big believer in build up the rest of the team and then drop in the quarterback unless, like I said, you really don't have a quarterback

who you like. I think this is a draft that it's hard to know. not like at least one of these people. I mean, I think there's enough to like with each guy to where I'd be really surprised if Adam Peters and his people aren't in on any of these guys. You're never going to have another opportunity like this, or at least you can't assume that you're going to have another opportunity like this. The number two overall pick in an NFL draft that is perceived to be quarterback rich. And, you know, not that would happen four years ago should dictate what happens now, but if there's one thing from the Ron Rivera era era that we could undo, it would be what was done with that number two overall pick in the

2020 draft. Like, I think it's obvious there. Like, you wouldn't take Chase Young, you'd take Justin Herbert, and who knows how different the last four years would be. Or we're really going to make that same mistake again, not take a quarterback with a number two overall pick in a draft like this. So, you know, again, unless they just really don't like any of these guys, I think you say it to, or maybe, you know, you make a minimal trade down with the idea that you know

that you can get the guy who you do like. But quarterback leads the way. And then I think you worry about everything else after that, because I think we all know if you hit on the quarterback, everything else looks better. There is a rising tide nature to having a great quarterback. And if they hit on this, that changes everything with this team. You really can't overstate the importance of what is done with this fit. Yeah. All right. So how did you describe on your show, or how have you been describing on your show, how they've handled free agency. I think they've done a good job.

I think it's been a smart approach from a standpoint of diversifying the risk. You know, free agency in a lot of ways is a sucker game because, you know, many times if you're a great player, you don't make it to free agency. So it's almost like there's a flaw with everyone in free agency, and it's just a matter of detecting the flaws and identifying the people who will work out for you and for whom the flaws can be minimized. So I think when you spread out the money like they have, I think that's a good way to go because you don't have to hit on any singular guy to make it a successful free agent class.

You know, if you hit on, you know, half of these guys or two-thirds of these guys, it's a really good class. A lot of money has not been spent on anyone player, and they're still positioned to have a lot of cap-space for next off season, which I think is smart, because, as we all know, you can carry over cap-space. And I think a year from now, the team will have a much better sense of where it's at in the rebuild, in the recalibration, you know, where we are at quarterback, is it? defense, in fact, better than we anticipated. So you can really go even harder on free agency next offseason with a better understanding of what you have. But, you know, I think it's also interesting in this way. The team is, or at least in free agency, and I think this is a smart way to do it.

You have in the NFL premium positions and non-premium positions. And I think an intelligent way to do player personnel is you address the premium positions in the draft and you address the non-premium positions. positions in free agency. And if you look at the positions that have been addressed in free agency in terms of, like, likely starters who have been acquired, interior offensive line, linebacker, safety, these are what are known as non-premium positions in football. Not that they don't matter, but they don't matter as much as quarterback, offensive tackle,

receiver, corner. Now, the team did sign three ed defenders, and that's a premium spot. So this isn't like a perfect summation of what's been done. but I think by and large, because non-premium positions, you can tend to get better value and better players in free agency. I think that's a good route to go. And then you use the NFL draft to get the guys at those other spots where, again, usually the really good guys at those spots don't make it free agency.

That does not bode well for You Know Who in Atlanta. I give you all the credit in the world for coming up. You said it on my show like a year and a half ago or something, and I love that description of Kirk Cousins. You know who. Because you know who got the bag again. And, you know, it's funny because as you were talking, I'm like, yeah, I think a lot of that is true except for, you know, Denver with Peyton Manning,

Tampa with Tom Brady. You know, there are certain examples where teams have literally been just that quarterback away. and have nailed it in free agency and gotten to a Super Bowl and won a Super Bowl. But, no, I think for the most part, that's true. How do you think you know who will do in Atlanta? Have we talked about this? I'm sure we have. I'll see her, I think we have, yeah.

Look, I will always have a special place in my heart for you know who, in part, because it drives so many people crazy. And there is a triggering nature to you know who that, to me, will never not be hysterical. How if, you know, if you say his name, which is why we don't say his name, it sends people off in all kinds of directions. But the fact that here we are, you know, it's been now, I mean, you think about this, right? It's been 12 years since that 2012 draft. I mean, a decade plus. And it's been almost 10 years now since you know who got the starting quarterback job here.

Like a lot of time has passed since all of that drama. Yet here we are years later, and this guy is still cashing in like crazy. He's coming off a rupture to killies. He's in his mid-30s, and he still gets a contract like that. If there is a business-slash-contract slash financial sports Hall of Fame, this guy is like a first ballot inductee without question. It really is something. All right.

Let's switch subjects quickly before we lose half of the audience. What did you make of Ted's journey to Virginia back? Yeah, that really was amazing. I mean, you start with the poetry slash irony, slash whatever you want to call it. We went through this with the Redskins years ago, and now like almost a carbon copy of it happens, you know, in 20, 23, 2024. So I think you start with that. You know, obviously this was not managed and finagled well. Clearly there was a disconnect between Glenn Yonkin and the Virginia Senate. I don't know how much of that was politics versus how much of that was just, you know, a bad job that was done by Yonkin and, you know, getting the Senate on board.

But, you know, this was a situation where I think D.C. fumbled. Okay, D.C. was asleep at the wheel on this and didn't take the threat of Ted to leave D.C. seriously enough. But clearly, Ted did not have his duct in a row, didn't have, you know, the eyes dotted and the T's crossed to where this thing was even close to a done deal. and it's embarrassing how it fell apart. Now, you know, I think there's a perspective of, well, it's embarrassing, yes, the deal didn't happen, yes, and yet still he got $515 million from D.C., so at the end of the day, like, was Ted really embarrassed by all this? Like, at the end of the day, he got more money out of the city. So I guess, you know, you could say, well, Ted safe face to that degree. But, you know, when you look at what was announced in December, all the pomp and circumstance to that press time,

to where we are now, it is something. I mean, this thing really fell apart and quickly, and that doesn't make anyone look good. Yeah, I got this tweet, and I just found it, because I wanted to read it with you on the air. It came from Scott. He writes, Why do you guys in the media seem to hate Ted Leonis so much?

Why does it seem to Scott and others, I think, that people in the media dislike Ted? Well, I mean, I think some people do. I think there's a lot of mocking of Ted that goes on. And I think what we've seen over the last year since Dan sold the football team is that the spotlight is shining on Ted and the learners like never before. I mean, I don't think it's at all coincidence that Ted and the learners have taken as much criticism as I think they've ever taken during their time as owners in D.C. over the last year because that spotlight has shifted. But, you know, I think with Ted, like, it's a little complicated, okay?

So he owns the Wizards and the Cap. I think when it comes to owning the caps, there are nits to pick, but, you know, the overall body of work is pretty good. The ownership of the Wizards has been abysmal. And so I think you have to sort of assess it in that way. Like, it's not about whether you like them personally or not. It's just you look at it as two teams, and one team has been a complete failure, the Wizards. You know, no appearance passed the second round of the playoffs since 1979.

and a good chunk of that now has come with Ted as the owner. So it's not a personal thing like it became with Dan because of all of the off-the-field screw-ups. But I just think if you're looking at this in a sober way, you know, from a purely sports perspective, I don't know how you could be doing cartwheels over Ted as an owner when he, you know, his NBA team is one of the worst run franchises in not just the NBA, but in sports over the last 40 years. And that's not all on Ted, but a lot of that now has come with Teddy. own the team for well over a decade now. Yeah, first of all, I would never categorize it as hate.

I don't put it in those terms. I'm sure I felt that way about Dan to a certain degree because he ruined something so sacred to so many of us. The two franchises that Ted owns, I'm not saying it's not sacred to many people. I've been a massive Bullets Wizards fan my whole life, but it's just, it's a lot less that are impacted by his ownership. I think you're right. I think Capps fans have a different perspective than Wizards fans.

I think it's the personality, though. I think it's this, I'm the smartest guy in the room just ask me attitude, that I think people in the media have had maybe more access to or have been closer to and maybe have just paid attention to it more over the years. But you're 100% right with Dan being gone. The focus is now on the other own. like it's never been before, and they all benefited from Dan being here, because none of the ownership for any of the teams has been outstanding.

But I think it's personality. You know, I just think there's a guy in Ted where a lot of people who pay more attention to it, and those are media people who may have more access to it, have seen, you know, over and over again, especially in his public-facing events, how willing he is to tell you how smart he is, you know, and how savvy he is and how edgy he is and how ahead of the trends he tends to be. And what a big gold star brand builder he is. And I think that kind of thing sometimes just gets a little bit too much for people.

In fairness, though, I think he's built a great consumer experience. He comes out of that environment with AOL. And, you know, he's done a lot of things well. But anyway, let's move on. Tell me about the Nats. What kind of season are they going to have? Well, I think this is a really big year in the rebuild. I think to this point, it's hard to say whether the rebuild is working.

There are reasons to say yes. There are reasons to say not so fast on that. I think by the end of this season, we're going to have real clarity on if this thing is working or not, because it is this season that we're anticipating the majorly debuts of these great prospects, guys like Dylan Cruz and James Wood and Brady House. We're now multiple seasons into guys like CJ Abrams and Josiah Gray and Mackenzie Gore and Cape Irouise being at the Major League level.

And so I think we're going to have a real sense on where this thing is at. One of the, I think, encouraging things, but also in some ways maybe frightening things, is that when a rebuild works in baseball now, you know it. Like, it is announced in a very clear and declarative way. And what you'll see is the team will go from really bad, it's actually pretty good, a season or two sooner than you think.

The Orioles two years ago were a perfect example of this, not last year, but in 2022. The Cubs in 2015 are an example of this, making the NLCS a year or two, maybe even more, before people thought would happen. So when the rebuild works, it kind of all comes together in this great way sooner than you think. And so what I'm hoping with that, and who knows how likely this is, But what I'm hoping is that we get something like that this year, not necessarily a playoff-making season, but maybe a winning season. You know, maybe like an 82 and 80 type season where you're in wildcard contention well into the season. That's the kind of year that would I think proclaim, hey, this thing is working.

Because it's funny with an ad, there still are real big picture questions to me. I still think there's an ownership question. I know that the learners are no longer exploring selling the team, but, you know, I still think if the right offer came along, the team would be sold. And, you know, I think it's really tricky why the team was taken off the market. I just don't think they got the offer they wanted. I've also been told that all of the learners were not on the same page with selling the team. So I think there are questions there. And there are questions with the front office.

The Nats in September, October, November, revamped the front office, well, at the same time, extending my grizzah, which is such a weird thing to do, A, where you keep the head of the front office, but you revamp everything beneath them, and B, that you do that in the middle of a rebuild that you keep telling people is working. So if the rebuild is working,

why did you essentially blow up your baseball ops beneath the guy in charge of your baseball ops? And if you thought so little of the baseball ops, then why do you keep the guy in charge of the baseball off? So that, to me, is strange. So I still have big picture questions, but there is talent with this team. There is promising young talent,

and if the talent hits, this can be a successful rebuild. So I think this season's a big one. Which of the young prospects, you know, Wood, Cruz, et cetera, are you most excited to see? Right now, I actually would say Wood, because he had such a good spring training season.

And, you know, Wood is a really big kid. He's like six, seven. So there is this, like, you know, Aaron Judge's quality to him, this like Ruthian quality to him to where he looks apart. Now, the more regarded prospect is Cruz, although not by much. Like each guy is like a top 15 prospect in the sport. But I think right now there actually might be more excitement for Wood.

And, you know, it is telling Wood has started the season at AAA. Cruz has started the season at AA. So at least as things stand right now, we probably will see Wood before we see Cruz. But make no mistake, I mean, each guy is one of the top prospects in the sports. board. And each guy has superstar potential. And that's what's so exciting here. Like, you could have another Soto, another Harper, uh, in the mix with these guys, which would be huge for this team. Galdi also does a Nats podcast with Mark Zuckerman from Masson. Uh, it's called Natch chat. And you can get that wherever you get podcasts. Uh, great catching up. Thanks for doing this.

Yep. Thank you very much. Up next, Chris Salizzo will jump on with me. We will talk sports, not politics. We'll find out what Chris has been up to. It's been a while. I spent a lot of time with Chris on Tony's radio show for many years. That's next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Two rounds are in the books, guys. Round of 16 coming up on Thursday, Friday, then the round of eight. And by the time we get to late Sunday night, we will be down to the last four team standing in the tournament. If you're looking to combine daily fantasy sports and the tournament, I've got the app for you. Prize Picks.

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is brought to you by Windonation. Just give Wind Donation a shot. if you've been thinking about new windows. There's no cost, no risk to just getting an estimate at Wind Donation. Free, no obligation quotes from Window Nation. If you mention my name at 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation. March is a time where the weather is changing. April is as well.

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and you will have already realized the benefit of lower energy bills and a better looking home. Call them at 86690 Nation or head to windonation.com. All right. Jumping on with us right now is a friend who I haven't seen or talked to in a long time until very recently, but Chris Saliza, of course, was with CNN forever and was a big part and probably still is, although I don't listen as much as I used to, the Tony Cornheiser podcast, the Tony Kornhizer show. Chris and I spent many a day in Tony's studio together over

many years. And Chris is now doing a bunch of stuff on his own. He's writing for substack. He's writing politics, but he's also writing about sports. You can follow Chris on Twitter on X. At Chris Saliza, that's C-I-L-L-I-Z-A. How have you been? It's been a while. I always say that I feel like my friendships improve the less people see me. You know, like, I feel like I have kind of an expiration date. You know, it's like you can only take so much of me. But if you haven't seen me a while, you're like, eh, that guy is not a bad guy. So I feel like fondness has made our hearts grow fonder.

Yeah, well. And I'm well, thank you for asking. I'm enjoying your company already because it's been so long. So it's great. Exactly. So tell everybody what you're up to. Yeah. So, I, you know, obviously I mostly have written in my life about politics.

And I continue to do that. I have a newsletter every day. If you want to subscribe to it, I love to have you. But I am also, as you mentioned, working with Tony and you and you know, I've always been sort of a sports guy. I actually, growing up, I always thought I was going to be a sports reporter, and then I wanted to be a political reporter. So it's kind of divergent. but I'm trying to get back to that.

So I'm writing every day. Content is free, so just subscribe. It's free. Like you said, go to my Twitter feet and you can see it right there. It's called The Replay. The idea of it is, it came from this. I think you'll appreciate this, Kevin. So I have two boys who are 15 and 11.

Oh, my God. A ninth grade, I know. I kind of remember when they were born at this point. Yes, I know. We've known each other too long. A ninth grader and a sixth grader. They're both really interested. to sports. They like playing them. They like following them, et cetera. So I, like, probably six

ish months ago, they were arguing about who the best athlete in the world was. So it was like all the names you would think about Mahomes, Shoahotani, right? Like, you know, the debate that kids that we had when we were kids, and I said to them, you know, I made me feel 200 years old, but I said to them, you guys ever heard of Bo Jackson? And they were like, no, who's that? You And again, like, in a way, it made me feel really old because, you know, I'm 48. Bo Jackson was like one of the central figures of my childhood. So I pulled up, thank that for YouTube. I pulled up YouTube, and I showed them the, you know, for people who follow this, of course, you'll know this,

the footage of when Bo is on the Royals and he catches the fly ball in left center and he runs up the wall. Right. And then I showed him like just a little bit of like a compilation of like, best Bo Jackson clips when he's like at Auburn, you know, in his prime running through tackles and stuff. I showed them the Bo knows commercials. We've probably spent, this is amazing for my kids because they have no attention span. We probably spent 20 minutes like going through YouTube clips of Bo Jackson. And it occurred to me like, you know, there's something, there's value in looking back

to look forward, right? And so the replay really tries to say, We're going to look at what's happening in everyday sports life through the lens of history, through the lens of what's happened before. So, like, I did on last Thursday, I did a best buzzer-beaters in the history of March Madness. And I did, you know, some of them I had, like off the top of my head, I remember watching late in 1990s, Bunk, Kentucky, and Jamal Bashburn. I remember watching Lorenzo Charles dropped that ball in NC State

to beat by Slamma Jim in Houston some of them like 19777 Marquette I didn't, you know, I was like doing my research so I'm learning stuff too, but that's the goal. The goal is to kind of like, there's so much coverage of sports, it's like, who are the commander's going to draft a number two?

You know, what I would do with that is say, well, let's look at the history of, you know, the number one or number two QB picks. Like, how many times has it worked out? How many times does it not work out? These are a common thread there, right? So be in the news, but not just this is exactly what's happening.

Like, is it Jaden Daniels? Is it Drake May? Is it maybe Cal Williams? Like, try to find an angle that is historical and kind of informs you looking back to look forward. Does that make sense? Yeah, of course it does, especially for somebody like me. and I get accused of being overly nostalgic at times.

I get accused of going down memory lane too much. You know, it's funny because there are listeners that are like, okay, but, you know, we do have a draft coming up. And look, this time of year I'm focused on what the important stories are. But I think the majority of listeners to this podcast love when Tommy and I on the podcast talk about, you know, what you just said, going through the greatest buzzer beaters or talking about the greatest athletes. Look, I think one of the real interesting conversations,

Tommy and I have it occasionally, although not as much anymore because he's unmovable on this. And that is, because I have three boys. And two of my three boys are just massive sports fans. And they laugh when I say, oh, no, no, no, no. No, Dominique Wilkins, Carl Malone, these are two athletic types, Jordan, of course, that would translate to today's game. And so, you know, we're always on a text thread. I would bet that I've sent them more Dominique Wilkins' highlight reels that get, you know, tweeted out.

Because I actually think there are certain athletes from back then that would, if you dropped them into today's game, they would completely assimilate. It would be, you know, they would look like today's players and they'd be great. But I also think, and I'm curious as to what you think, I think like basketball in particular, has evolved to the point where the game today at the NBA level, it's so much higher quality in terms of athleticism and skill than it was even 20 years ago. I absolutely agree. I mean, I grew up, I grew up in Connecticut, and while the Celtics played, this is, if it talked about a thing that feels like 200 years ago, the Celtics used to play for people don't know, they probably played 20 games a year at the Hartford Civic Center. Yeah, I remember. They would come and play home games there, right? So a lot of people I knew rooted for the Celtics.

I rooted for the 76ers. This was the 76ers of Bobby Jones and Andrew Tony and obviously Dr. Jay, Moses Moor's Cheek, Moses, Moines, and, like, they were a great team in the mid-1980s. But the way the game has changed, those guys, like, Moses Malone was sort of like an undersized big. You know, I mean, he was a great player. I loved him. I don't know how much success Moses Malone would have in the modern game. To your first point, and to your second point, there are just more good people

in the NBA than we've ever had before. I mean, I don't think, like, any team I have NBA a week past, so I watch a fair number of kind of random games, every team has two or three incredibly good basketball players. You know, and I actually, I wrote about this last week on the replay on the sports newsletter I do. One of the things, and I wonder what you think of this, I remember in the 80s and 90s, Monday night was appointment viewing for me.

big Monday, right? Dick Vidal, Biggerfeld, you know, a big East game and then a big 10 game usually, college basketball was so relevant. And this year and the last couple years, man, I have struggled. Even during the tournament, I mean, I watched the games, but even during the tournament, I'm like, eh, like, I don't even Duke, like, I used to hate Duke, Leitner, and Bobby Hurley, you know, Cherokee parks. You live Duke now, I'm like, I don't really know any of these guys. You can't hate people you don't know. You know, and I just think whether it's the transfer portal, whether it's conference realignment because of football.

Like, to me, pro basketball is far better than it's ever been in talent. College basketball, to me, is less appealing and entertaining than it's ever been, which is a huge statement for someone like me. I grew in Connecticut, right? We didn't have any pro teams. We had Yukon men's basketball and Yukon women's basketball. That's it. And I just find myself really struggling to watch.

Now, I will say, as a caveat, I'm a Georgetown basketball fan. Obviously, we are horrendous. We've won four Biggie's games in the last three years. So that also hurts. But I'm just a fan of college basketball, and I'm just not, like, there's not, is there anyone who's like must-see TV other than Caitlin Clark on the women's side? It doesn't really feel like there is. I mean, there are people listening to this right now that are saying to themselves,

Shan, he's doing your show from the last three weeks when you were talking about college basketball. And I did not know how Chris felt about anything. The only difference is he's a Georgetown guy. I'm a Maryland guy. But the feeling is the same. And I've said, I'm not into it. College basketball is so much less relevant than it's ever been. And I caveat it with, I understand how I feel because when Maryland's not in the tournament, it is a slightly different feeling for me. And this was as bad of a season that Maryland basketball's had in 30-some years. years. I mean, they ended up with a losing record, which hasn't happened for 30-something years, except for the interim year with Danny Manning. But I'm totally with you. Now, let me just say, when the tournament started last week, I've watched a lot of it. I have certainly bet a lot of it. And I'm into it, and I was into it last night watching, I thought Carolina, Alabama was as close to an NBA style of game. But there's no doubt. See, it's become a one-month

First of all, for 15 years, going back 15 years, it had become a one month of the year calendar sport. You're right. Big Monday used to be a big deal. I used to remember big heavyweight non-conference matchups in November and December that I would, you know, get into. But I think there are many reasons. I think number one is the NFL has basically covered up everything in its off season. It has made everything less relevant than it used to be because the NFL has figured out a way to capture our, attention pretty much 12 months out of the year.

I don't know, here's something to think about, by the way. They're going to run a triple header the NFL is on December 21st, up against the first round of these college football playoff games. I can't believe they're going to do that. I saw that. Remarkable. Well, if some is good, more is better, right? Right.

That's the NFL theory of the case. And then transfer portal, NIL, conference, realignment. You've mentioned it all. And certainly, you know, the quality of play, although actually now with players staying in the game a little bit longer with NIL, we should see an increase in quality. But my God, back to the NBA, it's the level of skill and talent, you know, people like Tommy don't love the game. He's like, oh, the 60, the 67 76ers with, you know, would kill these teams. No, they wouldn't. They would lose in four straight by an average of 35 points a game, right?

The shooting is just, I do this all the time and it annoys the crap out of my wife. She'll be like on her computer or something and I'll have an NBA game on. And I'll say, like I say this probably once in a night. Do you know how hard it is what they just did? Like, like, as a pickup basketball player, you know, as a good basketball player in my town of 5,000 people growing up, like I know more, like when the whole thing, does something amazing. I'm like, wow, that's amazing.

I never played football, so it's harder to, you know, it's harder to translate. I played basketball. And watching what some of these people do and the athleticism and the kind of routineness, which with they are making shot, the shot making, I mean, I, like, I always, the one I always come back to is, and he's not the biggest star in the league, and he's not even the best score in the league, but is Kyrie Irving. like his ability for up someone of his size to score and to finish around the rim, I've never seen that before. And again, I know everything that goes with Kyrie and, you know, he's probably his own worst enemy and, you know, all those things.

But that level of skill, whether it's dribbling or finishing for a guy who, you know, let's give him a charitable six foot two, I have never seen that before. I mean, I just, and I just feel like there are just so many good people, right? It's like a debate over the 10 best NBA players right now. There are, there are 25 guys that are, that do things on a regular basis that are, what I would call as a very amateur basketball player astounding. And I'm not, as a fan of the NBA for a very long time, and look, I know, look, that doesn't mean that Larry Bird wasn't great, and that Magic Johnson wasn't great.

And I think Magic Johnson would be fine in this league, and I think Bird probably would do because shooting translates. But the number, I'm all about, like, is the best player of, is whoever we think the best player today, is that person better than Michael George? Probably not. Are the next 25 people from 1985 that we could name worse than the next 25 people we could name today? Absolutely.

way. Yeah, that's an interesting way to look at it. And the skill thing, we talked about this the other day on the show because of Kyrie Irving's left-handed hook shot over Yokic at the buzzer last week. And I said to Tommy, I go, look, I'm not a Kyrie Irving guy. I can't stand him. I think he is, he sabotages everything that he gets himself involved in. But to ignore the fact that he is among the top five most skilled players of all time, you just aren't watching closely enough. I don't know. About Steph Curry, I don't think I've ever seen a better ball handler and shooter in one body than Steph Curry. But the ball handling, shooting, and then shot making in one body for his size, it's probably Kyrie. And Tommy said, well, what about Iverson? Iverson's a good comp. You know, Isaiah, you know, if they had, if teams shot the three back in Isaiah,

Day like they do now. I think Isaiah we'd look at in a different way because he had that kind of range. But yeah, Kyrie is spectacular. Kevin Durant's skill level for his size is outrageous. He's outrageous.

He's 70 tall. You know, I mean, I just, I would always urge people that if you are skeptical about the modern NBA, just go, and it's not cheap, but I'm not saying you should go a lot, but just go to a game and try to get decent seats. and watch how big these people.

It doesn't translate on TV. How big these people are and how skilled they are. I mean, it would be amazing of them doing things, the things they do at 6 foot 1, but at 7 foot 1, I mean, again, like we talk to, if you talk ad nauseum about this, and who knows if his health will hold.

But the skill set that a Wemba Jama possesses we've never seen before, not in someone that height, we just haven't. You know, and maybe in 25 years we'll be saying, man, the NBA is so much better now than it was. But I don't, to me, and I've spent a lot of times thinking about this and looking at it, there are absolutely guys from the 1980s who would prosper in this environment and might even do better, just because of the openness of the game. But the average NBA player today is clearly better than the average NBA player of 1985.

Yeah, and look, you could say the same thing about 1985 and 1955, clearly. And it's evolution, it's diet, it's training, it's all of those things. But I think you nailed it. And it is today the shot making. It's the dimensions of the floor that have changed because it's not just a three-point shot. It's a three-point shot that has to be guarded out to 35 feet. Exactly right. And that changes and creates a much different open floor.

The hand-checking rule that they went out, that they barred and, 2006, 2007, whatever year that was, that created a more free-flowing game, and we got away from, you know, net spurs 78-76, you know, in the NBA finals or Piston Spurs. But it's the shot making. These guys, they're impossible to stay in front of defensively. And then, you know, if you try to, if you back off, they'll knock it down from 30 feet consistently. So it's also just a more, The one thing I'd add, it's a more fun game. I grew up in the kind of like bad boy. In 1990, I was 14.

And like the Bill Lamb Beer, Rick Mahorn, Isaiah, Mark Aguier, Dennis Rodman, like, that was not fun basketball to watch. It just wasn't. This is fun basketball to watch. I had fun watching that basketball, the intensity of those games, and we didn't know any better. Yes, they were intense.

Yeah. So what's the college basketball? basketball thing you've already addressed, and I read through your thing quickly, and I was going to talk to you about college basketball, but I think we've covered that. So what is a good replay top five that you and I can do together right now? Well, why don't we do, let's see if we could do, should we do, well, let's do NFL, because like you said, people care about it the most. Can we do a biggest number one pick bus? in the NFL draft?

Can we do that? Marcus Russell? Is he won? Are you saying number one, number one overall? I think one, should we do that? Sure. Are there enough?

My question is there are enough. I don't know. There's probably more in the NBA. Right. So why don't we do the NBA? Because I think the NBA is easier. We'll do the NBA. So I would say one, one in the NBA has to be Anthony Bennett.

Greg Oden was number one overall, wasn't he? He was, yes, because Durant was two. Quami, was Quami, was number one? Quami's got to be number one, right? But he played in the NBA. Quamay Brown had a better NBA career than Anthony Bennett. He's great on social media. And I'm not saying Quamay Brown had a good NBA career.

Yeah. He had a bad NBA career. Right. Anthony Bennett, by the way, I liked him coming out. I actually thought he was going to be good. Was he at Nevada? Is that where he went to college? He went to, it was UNLV, right?

UNLV, I think that's right. I think it was UNLV. But that's the draft that, which year was Kauai Leonard? 12? Is Kaui Leonard? He was like the eighth or ninth pick, right? No, Kauai was later than that. It was the 12th or 13th pick.

Oh, my gosh. He might have been, hold on. and pulling up right now. The other one to throw in there that's worth a conversation is wasn't local boy makes good Markell Fultz one one overall? Yeah, he was one one overall. Kauai Leonard was 15 in 2011.

That was the Yon Vesley draft and I was screaming at Ernie to draft Kauai Leonard. But whatever. Yes. Did we just hit on four or five of them already? Yes. Who are we forgetting? I don't know. Who are we forgetting?

The big one always. Odin popped right into my mind just because... Mine always is... Yeah. He barely... He just could... The injuries. Quami's a good one.

Can I make a quick... Can I make a quick plug for Greg Oden? So in 2006, Georgetown made the final four. It was in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome. Right. I went. I figured we wouldn't make it again. I wouldn't make it and went to make it again a long time.

And I was right about that. And Odin was on that Ohio State team. It was Mike Conn. with the point card, and Odin was the center. And we, Georgetown played Ohio State in the national semifinals. And we had Ray Hibbert then, as our big guy, who was 7-2 or something, but not. And I will say Odin in that game was absolutely outstanding. He was a big, athletic, burly guy.

Like, I could see the potential there. Like, I think a lot of people when they think of it was like, oh, he always looked like he was 70 years old, and he was never good. He was good. Like, there was a moment. I remember watching him in person. He was amazing. And, uh, he had great, he had skill. Yeah. Noah, Noah was on, Noah was on that team, was on that Florida team. Yes. That was, that was, Horford. No, they went back-to-back national. They went back to back. They went back to back. That was Horford and Noah. Yeah. That was Billy Dunnman. You know, the other, the other team in the final four that year was UCLA.

And I remember... They went to the final. And, yeah, UCLA came out. Their cheerleaders came out. Then the Ohio State cheerleaders came out. And then the Florida cheerleaders came out. And then the Georgetown cheerleaders came out. I just say there was a significant, significant difference.

Yeah. Just leaving at that. I can imagine. The one thing I did want to do in starting this newsletter is sound like the old crank, being like, things were always better back in the day. And I don't believe that. But I do think, like, if you look at college basketball in particular, it is radically different than it was even 15 years ago. I mean, it's just it.

With talent level, it's hard to, I mean, you're a Maryland guy. I'm a Georgetown guy. I find it hard to even follow sometimes who's on the team because I know this year all five of Georgetown starters were transfers. And my guess is a bunch next year will be trans. I mean, it's just hard to sort of keep up, and I'm an ardent, die-hard fan. Yeah. We could do this for another hour, but we can't today. I don't take too much your time.

But we can do it at another time because when you come out with a really good list, I, I'd love to have you on again to talk about it, but I have to get you to weigh in on the single biggest question in our town, which is who should they take at number two? Okay, so I'm assuming that Caleb Williams is off the board. Let's assume that's a safe assumption, right? Yes. Okay. So I think in terms of size, arm strength, and accuracy, which I think accuracy is underrated, right? Maybe it's properly rated now, but underrated for a long time. I think they should take Drake May.

Okay. I think he is the safest bet. I think Jaden Daniels probably has a higher upside. Like the best Jaden Daniels is probably better than the best Drake May. but I think Drake May has the potential to be, I think Drake May is safer. And maybe you don't go safe. I get it. It's a number two pick. Maybe you swing, you know, you try to hit a grand slam rather than a single up the middle. But I think Drake May is a little safer.

What do you think? I'm all in on Jaden Daniels, but I'm also all in on trusting the people that actually do this for a living, but also have so much more information with respect. to the people that they're drafting. Like, I think right now I am all in on benefit of the doubt. They have all the information. And I don't see so much of a difference between any of these guys and watching them. But for me, Jaden Daniels was as spectacular, a college football quarterback as I've seen in a long time.

I couldn't agree more. I mean, again, I think, and I would say even maybe we include put Caleb Williams in there, the running and passing combo, if he, I just, I know this is terrible, but I do think of the like, kind of spindly build, and I think of Robert Griffin the third. Is that bad? I mean, I just think of like, and Robert Griffin the third was absolutely brilliant for the time he was brilliant, right, before injury. I just wonder about that with, like, James Daniels, the one thing that I have seen repeatedly is that dude takes huge hits. Now, maybe he just is able to kind of withstand it.

You know, I mean, like, there are other people who can do that. Russell Wilson did take some hits and kind of learned over time how to take fewer. But, man, I just worry about that because those guys are, like, the NFL guys are so big and so strong and so fast that I just worry about sustainability and availability. Yeah, I'm with you. That's the one concern I have is his frame and whether or not it can hold up. Not so much in the open field, but even in the pocket. I think the big difference between, well, there are two big differences between Daniels and Griffin.

Griffin was a true straight line track athlete. He didn't have the peripheral vision. Jaden Daniels may not be Michael Vick or Russell Wilson, but he's got great vision and great feel. You know, you can tell he's a basketball player too, you know. And Griffin wasn't that way. So Griffin was always going to take not only big shots, but awkward. shots because he didn't see him coming. And then, of course, Griffin entered an organization with Dan Snyder owning it. And, you know, the quarterback coming into this one won't, and that's a

big difference. Because can you imagine the number two quarterback coming in to an organization still owned by Dan? I mean, the first thing he'd have to fend off is Dan wanting to be his best friend, you know, with a 40-year difference in age. And it is amazing. It is amazing. But like, the, Like, who knows about this current crew, but at a minimum, they seem like they're going to be competent, at a minimum, right? And that is a significant improvement from where we fit. No doubt. Which is a remarkable thing to say about a pro football franchise, a massive money-making franchise. That Dan Snyder got rich off.

I mean, he was already rich, but it got even richer off of despite the obvious mismanagement. Nobody can mess up the NFL. Great job. I really enjoyed this. Let's do it again soon. I would love to. Thank you for having me. Always good. Maybe we will see each other in person. That sounds like a great idea. Let's do that soon. Chris Saliza, everybody. Everything that he's working on, you can get access to by just following him on Twitter on X. At Chris Saliza. C-I-L-L-I-Z-A. Thanks to Chris. Thanks to Galdi. Have a great weekend. Happy Easter. I'll be back on Monday. With the first pick in the 2013 NBA draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select Anthony Bennett of Toronto, Canada, out of Las Vegas.