The Kevin Sheehan Show - Washington's Mock Schedule "Season Opener"

Episode Date: May 6, 2024

Kevin solo today opened with some follow-up to Cooley's film on Ben Sinnott. The show also included more talk than you would've ever imagined about Houston QB Davis Mills. Kevin's Washington Mock Schedule comes out on Wednesday but he revealed the Commanders' "mock season opener" on the show today. Download the PrizePicks app today and use code Sheehan for a first deposit match up to $100! 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.

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. Wind Donation is the presenting sponsor of the podcast. Call them at 86690 Nation. Or head to windonation.com.

Mention my name for a free, no-obligation, in-home estimate. Hope to see you at Shelley's tonight, 6 to 8 p.m. For Tom's Cigars and Curve Balls Event, $100. Get you three cigars. appetizers. You get to participate in the auction. It's for a great cause. All of us will be out there. No guests on the show today. I'm going to try to knock this out pretty quickly today so I can get to Tom's event. On the show today, my mock schedule, yes, I'm going to do it again this year, my mock schedule, which I will have out on Wednesday's show, I'm going to milk it a little bit this year. I think I did the same thing last year.

I'm going to have my mock schedule season opener for Washington in the next segment of the show. The whole mock schedule on Wednesday, I think the actual schedule comes out Thursday night. That's not definite as of the recording of this podcast, but I think it's a pretty good bet that it will be out on Thursday night. So my mock schedule season opener coming up in the next segment. If you missed Cooley from Friday's show, this was the line that seemed to get so many of you. He was talking about Ben Cinnett, the tight end that they drafted 53 overall, the third pick for Washington in the second round. Cooley did an in-depth film breakdown of Cinnett, liked them a lot. And he really, you could tell, and many of you agreed, he was into the film on Ben Cinnett.

watched several games. He liked Ben Sennett a lot. But this was Cooley's line that seemed to, I don't know, move some of you. This is what he said on Friday's show. I'll tell you right now, though, Joe Gibbs would love Ben Cinnett. This would be his guy. Like he would, this is, he would draft this guy. So many of you loved hearing Cooley say that Joe Gibbs would have drafted Ben Cinnett, that he would have been Joe's guy. I don't know. it is, man. When Joe's name gets mentioned by guys that played for him, it's very nostalgic for many of you. Me too, though. This came from Stephen. Stephen wrote, Cooley saying that Gibbs would have loved the K-State tight end. It makes me feel so much better about a pick that seemed too

early for the second round. But if Gibbs would have picked him, I'm good. By the way, Coolly said that he was more of a third or a fourth-run guy until he ran 4-6-8 and jumped 40 inches, and that moved him into the second round. If you didn't listen to Cooley's film breakdown from Friday's show, it's very good. Cooley was really into it. It's 25 to 30 minutes tops.

This came from Lake. Lake wrote, I love it when Chris Cooley and other players, and other players, who played for Joe in his second term, second term. Talk about Joe Gibbs. Many of the players of that era that you've had on your show genuinely seem to have loved playing for Gibbs. I agree with that. I know that I've talked to some of those players about Joe. I bet we've brought it up about how much they respected him. I can't think of

anything that specifically jumps to mind. But when I read this email, I know how some of you feel when Joe's name gets mentioned at all. But when people genuinely talk about him in a way that is respectful, that is, you know, complimentary. And Cooley was really just talking about Ben Cinnett in that particular situation being a guy. He knows Joe well enough to know how much Joe would like that player. But, yeah, no, I've sensed with, you know, Cooley and Santana and Clinton, London.

You know, keep in mind, some of these guys, well, actually, these guys, most of these guys didn't. But I was going to say some of these guys played for Spurrier. Some of them did before Gibbs got there in 2004. But a lot of these guys that I have on from the Gibbs era, they did play for Jim Zorn afterwards. And Zorn was, you know, they really find the Zorn tenure to be very, very, you know, amateurish. You know, the other thing, too, about those 2004 to 2007 coach Joe's second term teams, the defensive players, Smoot, you know, London, they Springs, they loved Greg Williams.

Just like the guys in the 80s and early 90s loved Richie Pettabone. The guys from 2004 to 2007 really loved Greg Williams. But, yeah, I feel that too when they talk about Joe. Look, that team, those teams during Joe's 2004 to 2007 tenure, they went to the playoffs twice with late season runs. Those are memorable. There are some memorable games involved during Joe's second term, you know, the version 2O Joe Gibbs teams. Certainly the Monday Night Miracle game in Dallas in 2005, incredibly memorable. you know, the games that ended that 2005 season that got them into the postseason, you know,

they won a playoff game. The last time this franchise won a playoff game was with that group in January of 2006 in Tampa Bay. And, you know, they also, you know, went through a very tragic time together, you know, with the passing of Sean Taylor in 2007. You know, the other thing, too, that pops to mind when I read this email. A lot of those guys understood that offensively, they weren't playing on the most innovative of offensive football teams, but they respected the toughness and team first. Remember, some of these guys did not think that they should have brought in Al Saunders.

Joe was the one that kind of lost some confidence about, you know, how much of the game had changed. But a lot of those guys were fine with what Gibbs and, you know, the rest of the geriatric guys that he brought back with them, Bugues and Rome, et cetera. But, yeah, no, I get that sense, like, from those guys as well. And it makes me feel good talking about that, too, talking about those teams. So I get that. All right, I wanted to read another email or two that I got, and I was reading before

the show. This came from Dave. Dave wrote, you mentioned on your show that you don't see any reason on paper the commanders couldn't win eight games or maybe even compete for a playoff spot. And I'm sure many fans feel the same. I have 43 million reasons, which is their current cap space according to over the cap. That's more than any team except New England. This is not a team pushing to compete. This is not a desperate franchise like the Giants where it's win or get the F out. This is year one of the process. Last year was year zero. This is the year to build a competent enough team to begin evaluating the key positions. All that cap space gets rolled over and after the coaches have a year with all of these players, they'll be ready to pounce if Jaden Daniels shows promise.

Dave continues to write about a number of things, but he's writing from Sacramento, California. Dave, I appreciate it. And I think I agree actually with almost everything. I think that when I said that they could double their win total from last year, I mean, I think a lot of teams sometimes when they, you know, have an influx of new with a new regime and a new coaching staff, etc., can go from really bad to mediocre. And that's really what I'm describing. I don't think that they're going to legitimately compete for a playoff spot. I'm not. predicting the playoffs for Washington in 2024. It just doesn't happen. You know, those that have this feeling that Washington could be the 2024 version of Houston, keep in mind, Houston played last year in the AFC South. I know Jacksonville was in it. Washington's got Dallas and Philly. No matter what, you know, no matter what you think Dallas has done, which is very little in the offseason, they still have a double-digit win roster. Philadelphia, may have had, you know, the best offseason in the division.

So, no, I don't expect them to compete for a playoff spot. I expect that it will be a better season. I think last year's roster, actually with, you know, more attention from a more engaged staff, wouldn't have won four games. You know, maybe it would have only been six. But Ron Rivera was a lame duck head coach. you know, he hired an Eric B. Enemy, a guy that created more sort of dysfunction within the ranks. And I think that last year was just a shitty year all the way around. And it probably was doomed,

as I've spoken to earlier, doomed from the start, you know, essentially having, you know, a lame duck head coach. I'm not suggesting that Josh Harris should have done something on August 3rd when he took over the team. It was too late. I mean, they got the team when they got the team. There was nothing they could do. They had to live through last year. And, you know, describing it as year zero is probably the right description. Year one is this year.

Now, when you say of the process, it's not going to be the Philadelphia 76ers process. You don't do it that way in the NBA. But, yeah, I think that this is a team that should be better. and if the quarterback plays really well, could be in that 7 to 8, you know, doubling the win total from last year. Still concerns about them defensively, but I bet they'll be better coached defensively than they were last year. I think they'll be better coached offensively than they were last year.

I want to read another email here. This one was a doozy, and I've got to read this one, and we've got to talk about this one because John emails me and he starts off by writing, Kevin, you never respond to anything I say. I've written to you many times. John, let me apologize for that. I don't read every single email that comes into the show, but I try to get to a lot of them,

typically right before my radio show begins or right before I record the podcast, just because many times it gives me, you know, things to talk about, good ideas for the show, and sometimes they're just nice to read. But John, you know, writes, you never respond to anything I say. I've written to you many times. I told you I wasn't a big fan of the Howl trade. Hal got beat up last year and barely played. Well, the only Howl I know would be Sam Hal. He got traded and he played 17 games last year, John. He started and played 17 games last year. John writes, he's also around six feet tall and pretty stocky, but he's tough as nails, man.

Lombardi might be right about Daniels not lasting past three games. I'm assuming he's talking about Mike Lombardi. It's not Vince Lombardi. Mike Lombardi passing, saying that Daniels wouldn't last past three games. I didn't see that. I don't see a lot of Mike Lombardi stuff, not necessarily the biggest fan. I mean, if he says something super provocative, you know, we'll probably bring into the show. But I didn't catch that if he said that Daniels wouldn't last past three games.

But John continues. That trade, as in the Howl trade, is already done. And once again, John Schneider, he is the Seattle GM, seems to have gotten the better of the Washington team he used to work for under Marty back in 2001. Yeah, John Schneider worked for Marty Schottnheimer. Marty basically gave him his first real gig in 2001 here in Washington. John continues. Look, I like Daniels. I think he deserves a shot. I'm not questioning the commander's decision making. I don't know more than they do. There has to be some logic behind it. Lombardi could be wrong. But football is a rough game, especially at the professional level. Yes, it is. And then John writes, listen, I've been telling you for a long time to keep an eye on this quarterback, Davis Mills from Stanford. He's a lefty with good skills. Reminds me of Steve Young. The Texans, have another good quarterback besides Mills. Yeah, I think his name is C.J. Stroud, right?

By the way, Davis Mills is a right-hander, if we're talking about the same Davis Mills from Stanford, and doesn't remind anybody of Steve Young, because he's not much of a runner. Then John continues, if Washington is set on Daniels and wants to solidify their future quarterback, they should strongly consider trading John Allen.

Allen's a great player, but he's in the latter stages of his career. The commanders drafted another defensive tackle in the second round, showing they're looking towards the future. They need to get the most value out of Allen now. This isn't a knock on him, but teams like the Texans are holding onto young quarterbacks like Davis Mills for a reason. Let's be clear. Mills doesn't have a winning record at 12 and 23,

but here's the thing. He's played meaningful snaps and gained very much. valuable experience compared to a rookie like Hal. Hal wasn't a rookie last year. He was in the second season. He's a solid backup option, someone who can come in and manage the game if needed. Remember those rumors about him going to Denver? I don't. There's a reason teams are interested. Mills, a franchise guy? No, probably not. He's kind of like Kirk Cousins, talented enough to keep you competitive, but maybe not the guy to win you a Super Bowl. He's only 25, though, with plenty of room to grow. Plus, the black belt tells you he's taking training seriously and has the

toughness to handle the NFL grind. I guess he's a black belt. I didn't know that. Washington needs a long-term solution at quarterback. This is where it gets so interesting. I don't know. Maybe I'm getting trolled here. Maybe John's just a little bit, you know, all over the place. I'm not sure. Washington needs a long-term solution at quarterback. A higher ceiling than Mills, but having a guy like him as a reliable backup, someone who's proven he can play in this league would be a huge asset. Don't be surprised if they make a move for him this season.

By the way, who knows? I mean, I actually kind of like Davis Mills as a backup quarterback as a low-end starter. He was QB number three last year in Houston. Case Keenham was the backup quarterback, C.J. proud the starter. John continues. I'm just saying I feel like Washington needs that guy. Yeah, I mean, John is into Davis Mills. Who knew Davis Mills would be a feature of the show today? He's an intriguing option. He's not the biggest guy, but he takes punishment well. Remember that game against the Titans where he got drilled but kept getting back up? I don't. He's already

taken his share of hits in the NFL. He understands what it takes to survive in this league. Washington needs a reliable backup who can step in and manage the game if needed. Mills fits that bill perfectly. Don't get me wrong. I'm excited to see Daniels play, but having a veteran like Mills on the roster would be a huge advantage. Then he writes, remember Chris Cooley liked Davis Mills coming out of college.

I do remember that, actually. And then John finishes up the email. Here's the thing. Even if acquiring Davis Mills isn't an option, wouldn't it be a good idea to talk? to someone like Chris Cooley about the Washington QB strategy and what they might be planning and building for. Daniels will get injured at some point.

What is plan B? That's so good. We're on to plan B. Daniels hasn't taken the first snap yet. Thank you, John. And I'm sorry I haven't read your emails before. though you've written many times. So Davis Mills, a right-hander from Stanford, who's played in the NFL for a few years,

actually he's played some decent football here and there. You know, he played 15 games in 2022, 17 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, 3,118 yards. Then they drafted Stroud. They signed Keenham. Keenham was the backup. Keenham started a couple of games, critical games for Houston when Stroud got banged up late in the season. I do remember Cooley's saying that he liked him. He is only

25 years old. He was a third round pick in 2021. He's one of those guys that went in that 2021 draft after all those guys got picked early. Where did he go? How many quarterbacks were picked in that draft?

In 2021, I can't believe I'm still here talking about Davis Mills. After Lawrence Wilson, Lance Fields Mack Jones in the first round, Kyle Trask, then Kellyn Monde, Davis Mills, Ian Book, Sam Aylinger. Sam Aylinger was on the Colts last year. I don't know if he still is. The plan John is Jaden Daniels.

That's the plan. That's the long-term solution. They may not be right about it, but that's the plan right now. As far as Plan B goes, I don't think you draft Jaden Daniels at number two overall. sign Marcus Marietta and start with your plan B. Maybe they should. Maybe you should, you know, and this is, this goes to kind of a philosophy I've talked about for many years, going back to, by the way, 2012, when I was the guy screaming, it's okay that they drafted Kirk Cousins, he can play and you need two, you know, and it didn't work out so well for RG3, but they did the right thing ultimately by drafting Kirk Cousins in the fourth round of that draft. I don't know if Davis

Mills is that guy or not. I don't know if it's Marcus Mariotta who's still, you know, fairly young as well relative to, you know, where quarterbacks really start to get it going and enter their problem. I mean, Mario daughter is what, 29? He will turn 31 during the season. I mean, that's not old for a quarterback. I'm not suggesting that Marioita is the answer either. But I'm just not really into plan B thinking. right now. And I don't know that they are either. Maybe next year they'll draft a quarterback in the third or fourth round. See how it goes with Jaden Daniels. Maybe next year there will be a free agent that will make a lot of sense like a Davis Mills, who I guess next year after a rookie deal that's third rounder would be an unrestricted free agent, right? Three years, four years. Next year is this fourth year? A wild email. But thank you for the entertainment, John. I appreciate it. Oh, I wanted to mention this. So there were a couple of stories that broke after my recording with Cooley on Thursday night, which was the show you heard on Friday, that I thought were interesting.

This from James Palmer, who's with the NFL Network, he reported the other day that Seattle, New Orleans and the Raiders, all tried to trade into the top 10 for Michael Pennock's charge. Jr. They had him higher on their board than they had J.J. McCarthy. So the Raiders, we knew we're trying to trade up. They don't really have an answer to quarterback. The Saints have Derek Carr, but they apparently are looking for the next quarterback. And Seattle's got Gino Smith, and they have Sam Howell, but they were interested in trading up for Michael Pennock, Jr. as well. Penix Jr. really gained some momentum there at the end, and obviously, shockingly was picked at number eight by Atlanta. Todd McShay had this report. Multiple sources

tell Todd McShay, the Broncos were the only team who had a round one grade on Bo Nix. Everyone else had a backup caliber grade on him. Yeah. I mean, I didn't think of F. O'Nix is a first round pick, but I think that there's a lot that's always a bit confusing about the guy in the system that is truly a college system that's truly, you know, lots of line of scrimmage throws, et cetera. And then I think I may have talked about this prior to the end of last week's shows, but Daniel Jeremiah NFL Network reported that the Giants, the Giants, the Giants, basically were interested in Williams, Daniels, and May, not McCarthy, not Pennix. They considered those quarterbacks to be worse than Drew Locke.

Drew Locke, it's been reported, may be given a legitimate chance to compete for the starting job with Daniel Jones. Oh, the other thing, too, just about Bo Nix here for a second. Adam Schaefter, I guess, reported that Sean Payton feels as strongly about Bo Nix as he did about Patrick Mahomes. You know, in the 2017 draft Kansas City traded right in front of New Orleans and took Patrick Mahomes. And the story goes that Sean Payton wanted to draft Patrick Mahomes and have him as the heir apparent

to Drew Breeze. So I thought there's some interesting things that came out. Jaden Daniels, I think I've said this a few times. it's been now, you know, talked about multiple times that Jaden Daniels was the number one player on Washington's overall board, including Caleb Williams. And then, you know, John Kheim, along with Schaeftor and others, reported that McCarthy was two. John actually wrote a really good story over the weekend about sort of the Jaden Daniels saga, and I will get to some of that on the show today.

But up next, I get into my first reveal of my mock schedule. I'm going to do the entire mock schedule Wednesday, but I'm going to give you a reveal each day leading up to Wednesday. That would be today and tomorrow. The reveal today is the season opener. I'll have that for you when we come back right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, guys, now with the NFL draft behind us, it's time to focus on springtime games like we.

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So I think that Thursday night, and it may already be out there as you're listening to this podcast, but I'm guessing that Thursday night is the NFL schedule release. Last year it was May 11th, the year before that, it was May 12th. They seemed to like to do it on Thursday nights. So this Thursday night would be May 9th. Next Thursday night would be May 16th. That would be the latest that. they've ever released this schedule.

So I think we're going to get it on Thursday night, May 9th. They're weird about, you know, announcing that. Sometimes they don't announce it until the day before. But Thursday night, I think, is going to be the night of the schedule release. If it isn't, then I'm wrong. But I'm going to do my mock schedule on Wednesday in its entirety. But today and tomorrow, I'm going to reveal two games, one today and one tomorrow. And today I'm going to reveal this season opener.

Jaden Daniels' first game, because I do expect him to start. I do. I think if he's not ready to start the opener, might be a bit concerned. Certainly he should be ready to play in that first portion of the season. You know, that first four or five games he should be in there. But I think he'll be the starter on opening day. So here's what I have come up with, all right? And just bear with me because I will give you the season opener mock schedule game here in a moment.

But first things first, because this is how I put together the mock schedule and thinking about things like the season opener and whether or not they'll play Monday night games or Sunday night games. You know, everybody's got to play one Thursday night game, whether or not they'll play on Thanksgiving, who they'll open with, who they'll close with. So for the season opener last year, the reason I got it right is because it was pretty logical that the NFL, who was also in celebration mode that Snyder had finally sold the team, wanted Washington to be able to treat that first game as a celebratory event. And Arizona was pretty much the one team more than any other on their home slate that doesn't have fans that travel to Roeastern. games, and we know what Washington is as a home venue. If they had given Dallas or Philly as the season opener last year, that would not have been celebratory. You know, A, they probably would have lost the game. B, there would have been more of the opponent's fans in the stadium than home fans. Arizona was the perfect celebration opponent for the first game without Dan Snyder last year,

which is why I guessed it to be that. And I thought, because Snyder's going to They're going to want Washington fans to celebrate. They would give them a home opener. Now, this year, I look at, first of all, will they open at home or on the road? They've actually played four straight home openers. Philly in 2020, the COVID year. They won that game. Dwayne Haskins started that game.

The Chargers in 2020, one-word home. Jacksonville was at home to open up the 2022 season, and last year the Cardinals opened up the 2023 season. Four straight years of home openers, season openers. So I immediately go to, are they really going to give them five straight home openers, season openers at home? So I look at their road schedule and think about them opening on the road. Now, one thing that gets in the way of that a little bit is that this is the year that the NFC has nine home games and eight road games. So if you open on the road, now you've only got six.

seven left over the next 16 games on the road, but it doesn't matter. They'll figure it out. I think they're going to open on the road. So here are their eight road opponents. Dallas, Philly and the Giants, of course, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Arizona, and Cincinnati. Those are the road games Washington has on their schedule in 2024. Just so everybody knows, knows, and I think most of you know this, the opponents are already set. It's the dates and the times that aren't set yet. So that, you know, you know who their road opponents are. And once again, the road opponents are Dallas, Giants, Eagles, of course, and then the Saints, Bucks, Ravens, Cardinals, and Bengals. So because they've opened four straight years at home, I think they're going to

open on the road this year. So I got to pick one of those eight games. Well, I can cross a few teams out. Philadelphia's week one opponent and location is already set. They're playing in Brazil on Friday night, September 6th, the night after Kansas City opens up the season at Arrowhead, they're playing the Packers in Brazil. So it won't be Philadelphia. Won't be Philadelphia at home or on the road. I don't think it'll be Arizona. They've got the Cardinals on the road. I don't think it'll be Arizona. They've got the Cardinals on the They've opened up with Arizona twice in the last. If you go back to 2018, they opened with Arizona. Last year they opened up with Arizona.

So are they going to really open up with Arizona three times in seven years? I don't think so. So I crossed Arizona off the list. And then I got to Dallas. Dallas has an incredible home schedule this year and road schedule. Dallas has a really good overall schedule. Let me give you some of their games at AT&T. the division opponents.

They also play Baltimore in Dallas. They play Cincinnati in Dallas. They play Detroit in Dallas, Houston, the Saints, and Tampa in Dallas. Start thinking about some of those games for the Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game because I don't think it's going to be Washington this year. I don't. But Dallas pretty much opens up on national television, whether it's the Thursday night opener a few years ago

against the defending Super Bowl champion bucketeers. There's always Sunday night games involving Dallas last year against the Giants, a lot against the Giants, in fact. I think Dallas is going to open on Sunday night football. It could be Washington. It could be. But I think it's going to be like a big-time opponent. They have so many big-time opponents.

I think NBC for their Sunday night opener is going to want, you know, Cowboys Ravens or Cowboys Bengals. or Cowboys Lions. You know, I don't know that they're going to want for that one Cowboys Commanders. So I crossed Dallas off the list. I did that hesitantly, but I've got Dallas off the list. So that leaves the Giants, the Saints, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Cincinnati

as potential season opening opponents for Washington based on my mock schedule logic. So New Orleans, a lot of you would say, hey, RG3, 20, 12, shock and awe, that's the game. They should open up in New Orleans with Jaden Daniels going back to it, not just because of that, but Jaden Daniels going back to the state of Louisiana to play his first pro game after he finished up at LSU.

You know, Kansas City has four opponents that Washington has at home that could be their season opening opponent. New Orleans is one of them, Tampa is one of them, Baltimore is one of them, and Cincinnati is one of them. By the way, when you think about this season opener, it happens September 5th, Kansas City at Arrowhead. They never need it to be a big-time heavyweight matchup. If they wanted that, they would have had Kansas City open with Philadelphia

in a rematch of the Super Bowl last year. or Kansas City and Cincinnati. They had Kansas City in Detroit. I mean, Detroit was supposed to be an improved team, but nobody was counting on them to be in the NFC championship game. I mean, it was a game that they knew would draw no matter who's in it. So don't be surprised if Kansas City's season opening opponent is somebody that Washington faces on the road.

New Orleans, Tampa, Baltimore, or Cincinnati. It also could be one of their division teams. So I had to pick between New Orleans, Tampa, Baltimore, and Cincinnati. I don't like Baltimore as an opener. I see Baltimore being a game that they'll have somewhere down the road, 1 o'clock up at M&T Bank. I don't see that as a season opener, a season road opener for Washington, Cincinnati. I don't know.

I kind of crossed out the AFC teams. I shouldn't do that. They opened up with the Chargers in Jacksonville in back-to-be. back years, both of those at home. I went with the New York Giants. I went with the New York Giants as part of like a Fox week one doubleheader. It won't be the primary game of the doubleheader. There will be a big, big game, but there will be two or three other games that go off at the same time. I've got Washington at Giants in my mock schedule season opener. I consider New Orleans because of the Daniels going back to LSU, the RG3 first game.

Tampa, I don't know, Baltimore, Cincinnati, crossed Philly out, crossed Arizona out, crossed Dallas out. Washington's open with the Giants many times before. They've opened with them on the road at home. Giants, East Rutherford season opener. I've already, because I did this on radio this morning, I've already gotten emails about this. this one from Kerry. Your NFL mock schedule opening prediction of the New York Giants playing in the Meadowlands on Sunday, September 8th is wrong.

And here's why the U.S. Open finals are Sunday, and I think that's going to eliminate the game being in the New York area. Now, the Giants have opened up at home many times before Giants, Jets. The U.S. Open does not impact that at all. The U.S. Open, by the way, is an ESPN event. it's not on CBS like it was for all of those years. Yeah, both of those teams have opened up at home many times. The Giants, in fact, opened up at home last year on Sunday night football against the Cowboys

and got blown out 40 to nothing. So Giants is my week one season opener prediction on the road. All right, a few other things to finish up with when we come back, including a really good in-depth story. some interesting tidbits from John Kime on how the whole Jaden Daniels picket number two came together for Washington. I'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, most of us are interested in our mental and physical well-being to a certain degree. And with that in mind, I'd like to welcome and introduce a new sponsor to the podcast.

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Before I get to John Kimes, really good story and some reveals about the process that led Washington to Jaden Daniels. I wanted to read this from Rob H. Hey, Kevin, I keep hearing from guests on the show that one of the knocks on Jaden Daniels is that he played with a great supporting cast. I don't remember this being a knock for Joe Burrow when he played with Jemar Chase. Justin Jefferson, Clyde Edwards-Alaire, and multiple NFL offensive linemen. Why do you think the narrative is so different? So I think Rob the narrative is different because Burrow did most of his damage through the air. I mean, he was a record-setting college quarterback as a passer,

while Daniels was highlighted more for his running ability. Although my producer Denton, who's a Big Joe Burrow fan, says there was a lot of criticism of Burrow in his one year. of greatness and that it was because of Jamar Chase in Justin Jefferson and Edwards Allaire. So I remembered it more like you did, Rob, but my producer Denton remembers, as a Big Joe Burrow fan, some of the same criticisms of Burrow, or some of the same concerns of Burrow that the supporting cast, you know, lifted him rather than him lifting the supporting

cast. You know, Pennix Jr. this year at Washington had multiple NFL receivers, a great offensive line, a great running back. I don't think people discussed it as much with him. I did on occasion. I mentioned Pennix Jr. also has NFL receivers, but I viewed Pennix Jr. in the same way that I viewed Daniels. I think they elevated the talent around them more than were being lifted by the talent around them. Look, both things are true. They both helped out each other. In the case of LSU, just so everybody's clear on this, Malit Neighbors was always going to be a super high draft choice. But Brian Thomas Jr. wasn't guaranteed to be that before the year started.

But he had great talent around them. You know, Brian Thomas Jr., Malik Neighbors, Mason Taylor, NFL offensive linemen that'll get picked next year. He did, but so did Pennix Jr. I think that Tua back in 2020 in the Burrow draft had Devonte Smith, Jalen Waddle, multiple NFL offensive of lineman, Nadejah Harris in the backfield. I think it's because Jaden has been perceived as a run-first quarterback by so many people, and those people kind of pawn off the passing numbers as, you know, kind of a byproduct of the weapons he had around him more than the others. So I do agree, Rob, that he was more elevated by the players around him than any quarterback

in this draft or any quarterback in recent drafts with that kind of top two, top three potential. So I want to finish up the show, not with NBA. Let me tell you why I haven't talked at all about the NBA on the show today. And I should have talked about Anthony Edwards and that performance that he had in game one against Denver. And I will watch game two tonight. Maybe it's Shelley's, some of it anyway. I didn't watch any of the NBA this weekend. I had to go out of town.

there were family-related events and then actually Saturday night and Sunday I was in New York with friends and my son who lives up there and I didn't see any of the NBA but I did get caught up on all the football stuff which is most important for the majority of you and I read the story that John wrote

I guess it came out on Saturday titled Why Commanders selected Jaden Daniels number two in the NFL draft and it's pretty revealing about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that went on I wanted to read some of it to you. I would urge all of you to go read this story at ESPN.com or go to John underscore Kime and get linked to it.

But it starts off with this opening paragraph. With the Chicago Bears on the clock holding the first pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Washington GM Adam Peters gathered scouts, coaches, executives, and other commanders personnel in the team's makeshift war room to share the announcement, many had long anticipated. Many in the organization had expected they would select LSU quarterback Jaden Daniels, but nobody knew for certain. And now, after telling members of the ownership group separately earlier in the day, Peters made it official. He told them, according to one person in the room, they are getting a young man who loves football and would help them change this franchise forever.

Then according to the source, Kime writes, Peters finally said it. were going with Jaden. The room erupted with cheers, clapping in high fives. It was like a room of joy, said a person who was there. It put everybody at ease, closed quote. So I think it's interesting just how buttoned up this organization was up until the very last minute with Chicago on the clock. We talked a lot during the months about how nothing was getting out. National reporters talked about how Washington, nobody's hearing anything from Washington. Locally, you've heard that from so many of us over the last few months. I mean, it's a different organization.

Now, trust me, don't think that for a moment I think Adam Peters was revealing this to everybody in the organization. Of course, Josh Harris knew. Of course, Lance Newmark and Dan Quinn and Cliff Kingsbury and, you know, the key decision makers knew. But when Kime writes, scouts, coaches, executives, other personnel in that room, and he makes that announcement and the room erupts with cheers and clapping and high fives, and it's a room of joy.

It put everybody at ease. I mean, a lot of people in the organization didn't know what they were going to do until Chicago was on the clock. It's, this is probably the way they will do business, certainly when they have something this coveted in terms of a decision to make and then information to keep among a small group of them. There was more on this. John wrote, at the scouting combine in February, Peters told an assembled group that included offensive coordinator Cliff Kingsbury, Josh Harris, front office consultant Bob Myers, and Dan Quinn,

that, quote, something has to happen to not be Jaden, close quote. So they went to the combine knowing that it was Jaden Daniels. We've heard that. But there was something that happened that was interesting, and Kime writes about it. During the team's 15-minute interview session with Daniels at the Combine, those in the room said that the laid-back Daniels was not oozing excitement until they turned on the game film. And then, quote, he sat up in his chair and he was dialed in, one person in the room said.

He knows his stuff. It was his body language. He perked up. Another person said, you could see Jaden just lights up when the tape comes on. You can't fake that. He just goes, yeah, let's talk football. It was authentic, closed quote. So that tells you, you know, they went to the combine in February.

They had Jaden number one, but they hadn't yet met with him. And they sat down with him and maybe it wasn't super impressive to start. but Jaden, what you're hearing there is Jaden likes to talk ball. That's what he's interested in. And he is shy. He is laid back. There's no doubt about that. Here's something else from Kime's story.

Daniels had advocates outside of Washington as well. Former Arizona State coach Herm Edwards recruited Daniels and coached him for three years, told Peters, quote, Daniels was a man. Don't let his youth fool you. One source said San Francisco receiver Brandon Iyuk, a close friend of Daniels's, sang his pals praises to Peters. And San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan, with whom Peters worked for seven years, also gave Daniels a glowing review. That's interesting, right?

Peters went to Kyle to say, will you tell me what you think of Jaden Daniels? And he got a glowing review. One source checked out his high school transcripts. They asked about his character. Peters also liked that Daniels had the pass code changed at an LSU facility so he could enter after hours for more work. He also organized 5 a.m. workouts with his receivers. Washington's officials were impressed that he could cajole his teammates to attend at that hour. That is impressive.

One source said resonated as much as anything with Peters. that he could get his receivers to 5 a.m. workouts. Kime writes, the boxes kept getting checked in Daniel's favor. But still the interest went back to his on-field exploits. Like Peters, Quinn said Washington liked the level of competition. Daniels played in the SEC and the sophistication of the defenses he faced.

A little bit more from Kimes' story. This is more about McCarthy. According to multiple sources in Washington, Peters was also high on McCarthy. Others in the building were too. The 2023 national champion was efficient, had a strong arm, and moved well. Washington's decision makers also loved how personable he was. Many in the NFL said McCarthy had untapped potential because of Michigan's run-heavy offensive approach, but many in the organization thought he needed more experience.

Washington also heavily scouted May as well as Michael Pennix Jr. In the end, McCarthy was second on its list of options. So there you go. Look, I think they brought in McCarthy, and I thought at the time maybe even Pennix Jr. In the event that somebody gave them some crazy offer. But clearly, you know, when we talked about this on Friday show, I believe, during the interview that Adam Peters did on Big 100, he said there was only one offer and it wasn't anywhere close. and my guess is that offer came from Minnesota. Anyway, good insight from Kime.

I would suggest you go read the whole story. There's even more in there that's interesting. All right, that's it for the day. Back tomorrow. I'm not sure if it'll be with Tommy yet. It depends on his recovery from tonight. Hope to see you guys out there tonight.