The Kevin Sheehan Show - WFT Trade + Draft Talk

Episode Date: April 27, 2021

Cooley and Kevin today on the trade Washington made with Miami to bring Erick Flowers back along with plenty of NFL Draft discussion. Kevin recapped the Wizards' loss to the Spurs to finish up the show.  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 Cheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Cool, he's with me today. And the only way I can describe his condition is that he sent me a picture before we started recording this podcast of his knee, which was operated on last week. And the level of swelling is unlike.

anything I've ever seen before. It would appear as if he has two basketballs on his knee. Seriously, that's what it is. It's a men's size basketball on the top. No, it wasn't that. And a women's size basketball

on the bottom. What is going on? Is this a normal reaction to your surgery? Fairly, yes. Really? How long is it going to take for that to go down? It's better. I sent you a picture from two nights ago when I was actually very concerned.

Oh, yeah, this would have been concerning. Now, I would also say, like, we have a personal care physician who I've, who's been great with this, but getting a hold of the surgeons or anyone that was in charge of it or even having a fucking discussion in the last three days with anyone that did the surgery would have been nice. I mean, it's small town. I don't want to say too much. Everyone knows who everyone is.

Well, they're not listening to this podcast. Seriously, but seriously, I went to physical therapy again yesterday, but I was basically told, wait, as long as it's not too bad, you can deal with the pain over the weekend, wait, go see him on Monday. So I go in Monday, doctors that did surgery. Well, doctors are in surgery. You can see the tech, though. Like, this is amazing. Oh, my God. I mean

So the tech says And this is all this would have took Okay This is a 29 second Fucking phone call on Friday Or Saturday Tech says And he's not just a tech

Like he's higher than that He's just below surgeon Whatever it is You had stage four arthritis When you have arthritis The fluid in your joint Is like watery It's watery

normal knee fluid would be thick oily help it slide be smooth your fluid is thin and watered which means when you do in a surgery where they went in and cleaned out a lot of the stuff that fluid really it can just balloon well I'm ballooned so I'm like thank you for explaining that he said we could we don't like to put a needle in it right after surgery drain it if we don't have to. If it's starting to make it so you can't do physical therapy next week, then we'll talk about it. Cool.

Monday, 10 o'clock, thanks. That would have been good to know. All day, Friday, more like all day Saturday and all day Sunday, when I could not get off the couch. Dude, I couldn't move out of one position for two days. I talked to you on Friday. No, no pain. All good.

This is going to be easy. Friday night about 9 o'clock, what the fuck is happening to my leg? And then I hate pain medicine, but I had to take my, they prescribed oxy, which I had to take Friday and Sunday, in which I just basically slept for two straight days. And in one position on my back. Thank God I bought this game ready machine. It's called Game Ready.

They're what every NFL team uses as an ice machine. They're expensive. 2,800 bucks, but you fill it with ice and it's got this compression sleeve that wraps your knee. And then it icees and does compression on your knee. It's been a lifesaver. Without this thing, it would have been a hard three days. Anyways, you know, you're probably like me. It just needed like a two-minute phone call Saturday.

How you feeling? just in FYI, your knee's probably going to really swell up. That's all. I mean, you need it. Don't be alarmed. You needed old Dr. Stone from Grady, you know, Doc Hollywood. You needed old Doc Hollywood to give you a call because the old guy was just going to get, just tell him to drink a Coke and he'll be fine.

You need it old Michael. They're not old guys. I just need a phone call. I just like, hey, when your knee looks like there's a woman's basketball inside of it, you'll be okay. Just keep taking the anti-inflammatory. Oh, it's,

it's two basketballs inside your name. It's not too basketball. But it's as big as I've seen. I've never seen swelling like that, ever. That's actually a, it's a deformity. It looks like elephantitis in my knee. It does.

I mean, I think you should, oh, oh, here's, oh, my fault. I didn't realize this was a video. I thought it was a still. I just played the video of you trying to turn your knee. So, can I tweet this out?

No. Okay. It's sort of disgusting, so I don't want to discuss people. I will just describe it as truly, truly that looks like a massive knee, you know, leg deformity. It's not a, just so everyone take, that takes you for your word, it's not a woman's basketball. No, to me, it appears as if there's two portions of the swelling. There's a men's basketball. on the top of your knee moving up to your, you know, to your thigh.

And then there's a women's basketball below the knee heading towards your shin. Yeah, it's not that big. Okay. Well, the picture then distorts it a little bit. It's not, it's not. It was not meant to distort anything, but it wasn't, it was big. It was like those kids basketballs that you, when you put the hoop up on your door. No, it's bigger than that.

No. Maybe my full new knee, but the swelling on top of my knee may have been the size of one of those kid basketball. So tell me about the oxy. How did it make you feel? Tired and groggy, like a zombie. Did it make you feel painless? Did it take the way to pay?

No. No. Didn't. I mean, why oxy and not, you know, codeine or fentanyl or something else? I mean, I don't want you taking fentanyl. I mean, that shouldn't be, that's the one that's, you know, ridiculously lethal. It's like oxycodone. Yeah.

That's what it's called. Oxycodone. So it's, they prescribed it in like their five milligram fills. So I was taking, and I took the first one Friday night. I finally bowed down and said I have to, which I hate, because I hate it. Well, yeah, because, well, go ahead. I mean. And so Saturday I called them.

Saturday was crippled. I couldn't. I couldn't crawl onto the couch, dude. Every time I'd move my leg, it would take me to get my leg lifted on a pillow like 30 seconds, and I'd have to use my other foot to get my leg up. So I finally called and they're like, that's not enough for you.

You need to take two of those at once. So then I took two of those, and then I was like, hi. You're going to wake up in four hours, take long. I've taken pain killers in the past for various things. You know, I had all those back issues for a while and ended up with multiple surgeries, and I was taking a lot. I mean, and I will tell you that, you know, what you're going through is awful.

I think the worst pain I've ever had in my life is my lower back because it's nerve pain, and nerve pain is different. It's debilitating, but what you had looked awful. But I can remember thinking to myself back in those days, and I think the last surgery, you know, lower back surgery I had, it was my second was 10 years ago, something like that now, knock on wood, that there's no other one coming. But I remember just how it worked and how I realized how addictive these drugs were.

Recently, I think I may have told you about this, but I had a root canal that I got home afterwards, and I was in worse pain than I was when I went in. And so they prescribed Percocet. And I was like, whoa, this is the best stuff ever. Boys and girls do not take painkillers. They are highly addictive, but they do work for the most part. But as it turns out...

Mine made it, I guess, possible to sleep. That's the key. I mean, you just want to get comfortable and be able to sleep. But the Percocet took that nerve pain in my tooth, away and it was just one of the more wonderful feelings. I've taken Perkisset for a bad high ankle sprain before too, but

do you remember me telling you about this root canal? I'm pretty sure he did the wrong tooth because I went back in there and he said, oh, you need another one. And I just said, excuse me? Well, that's where the pain's coming from. You have

that you had the need for two root canals. I thought we took care of the one tooth. We got to take care of the other. I think he did wrong tooth. That's what I think he did the wrong tooth. But, you know, how am I going to prove that? And he was such a nice guy, and he wasn't my regular dentist. He was a recommendation of my regular dentist. But I remember, you know, root canals aren't a big deal anymore. I think way back in the day, and I never had him back in the day, they were really, really painful. But they're not anymore. I mean, really, they numb you up and you're fine, you know. And a, a, toothache is incredibly painful because it's nerve pain. And what, you know, what got me to the dentist

and then ultimately to the root canal guy, and I'm forgetting the dental name for a root canal dentist, but I was in terrible pain and then I just continued to be in pain after the numbness sort of warm out. And I'm like, I shouldn't be in pain right now. No, you shouldn't. But I'll prescribe Perkissette. Oh man, that thing went away. God, Perkissette. I can, you know, all of the end or the oxycontin and the morphines and the percocets and the vicodins and all of these you know pain killers people who really are in pain and a lot of people live in pain with various things i i mean if you've ever taken pain meds you can just see how addicting they they can become and quickly quickly yeah i haven't figured that out yet i was i quit taking mine i granted i went through my whole bottle

which wasn't like, I think it was like 20 pills. I quit taking mine yesterday, Monday morning, and I was like, I'm not refilling that. And then I still felt like crap all day, Monday. Right. I mean, I had to lay on the couch all day, Monday not. And I'm not in nearly as much pain. I mean, I'm just taking Advil.

I'm just taking Advil. When do they think you'll be back up and being able to move around normally? You know, I'd really like to tell you that. I mean, I talk to anybody. So here's what I think, just so you know, in doing a lot of research on this. One, if I'm not up and moving pretty normally in six weeks, two months, it's really going to be stupid that I didn't just get a new knee. Or go to a better surgeon.

No, no. I'm sure they did a good job with my scope. Cody White. That's not the concern. Okay. The concern is that if I have stage four threat, isn't it, never really? gets any better at all. Which I think it will.

Then I should have just done a new knee, especially if this is a big time recovery. Now that said, I'd lost a ton of muscle in my leg over the last six months with the hurt. I just limped around for six months. And I've started trying to work out in January. And I'm laying there in pain trying to work out. Well, you're lucky you haven't developed other injuries because of it. Yeah. You know, when you're limping around like that, I mean, it can cause all sorts of other injuries.

It can cause back injuries and other leg injuries and whatever. Okay. So you know what you did today, though? You manned up. We needed you. It's a big game. We got a couple of big games coming up prior to Thursday night, which is the biggest game. And, you know, I appreciate it, you know, and you go as long as you can.

You go as long as again. We're going to limit your play count today. and then, you know, we're going to try to pre-s it tomorrow and Thursday. You're not that kind of coach. You are not that kind of coach. Well, I like to win. This is who you are. I know this.

You're like, you're here. It means you're ready to play. You showed up. You're playing. So it's what it is. And I might even tell you that we're going to limit your play count, but we're not. We're really not. It's just to ease your mind going into it.

But I'm going to grind you. I mean, I've got, I've got Kislowski, like he's ready to go. I need to get a, you know, I got to submit the inactive list right now. Are you good? I'm good. Okay. You didn't let me finish my thing. What?

Let me say my thing. I think I should be walking around, okay, in two weeks. In which case, then I'll continue to do physical therapy and rehab this thing, really single leg, bang it out, do it the right way. I might make it. After, I made six weeks, I should be. be normal. All right.

That's what I think. And then hopefully, hopefully that normal, which is still stage four arthritis, I got enough balls to make it for five more years. Yeah. And hopefully the pain is much less than it was prior to the surgery. Because that's- But according to you, if not, just show up work, take percocet, deal with it. No, that's not my recommendation.

That is not my recommendation. All right. Let me tell you what happened four years ago today. four years ago today was the draft of 2017. And on that day, four years ago today, the Kansas City Chiefs moved up 17 spots from 27 to 10 and selected Patrick Mahomes. Nobody saw that coming. Patrick Mahomes, I don't even think, was the next quarterback on the board. Deshawn Watson probably was in that particular draft. but Andy Reid traded number 27, a third rounder, the following year's first rounder to Buffalo for the 10th pick and drafted Patrick Mahomes.

This is a case of being aggressive and it working out. What do you think with the five quarterbacks in this draft, you've done film breakdowns on all of the first round quarterbacks and even the potential second third round quarterbacks? What do you think the chance is somebody goes up and tries to, you know, pull an Andy Reed and strike gold, with a Trey Lance or a Mac Jones or a Justin Fields in the top 10. High. I think that the chances are incredibly high that somebody goes up into the top 10 to get one of these guys, especially at, let's say, eight or nine, if they're to fall to eight or nine.

I don't know if someone goes up to get any of these dudes at five or six. Or four. And I think it, or four. Yeah, no, I think Or four would be the other question is, does somebody think they need to move ahead of Atlanta? And even what's more is, like, you got to go in. Not ahead of it, not ahead of Atlanta. Up to Atlanta. But you got to go, yes, you got to go big to get that spot from Atlanta, though, because they want fits.

Now, they might decide that they can't get a deal done or something restructured with Matt Ryan. probably should be having that conversation this week or last week or before. To know if the guy that has the highest franchise or the highest salary cap number in history of the league when next year ends, you're either going to get a new deal done or move on right now. Are any of these guys worth it, in your opinion? Who the fuck knows? Okay. Well, Andy Reid knew.

Yeah, Andy Reid did know. I think that you just, it's crazy, right? I watched Justin Field so much more over the last week. Had a lot of free time. Watch that championship game. Watch some of the stuff from Alabama game again. There's some stuff to love. I agree.

But it's so limited. And you're watching Northwestern. And then you're watching one of the other games that I watch. You're like, who are you? And why aren't you? always a little bit better. I mean, I know that you don't always have to be perfect, but why do you go from a A at Ohio State to a C? Like, your bad game at Ohio State should be a B plus. Fields, I mean, I'm not sure. Is he going to stay consistent? But there's going to

be teams that love it. Lance, I think, is a little bit the same as fields. There's such a small body work. I would love to see Lance in another season. I mean, I don't know if playing this year was the right thing for him, per se. I think that makes it tough to have played in the FCS. He'd be playing right now. Yeah. Can you put, and that's it, that's an interesting deal. Do you, do you finish if you get drafted? Excuse me? Do you finish the FCF's playoffs if you get drafted? Yeah, you would. They only have your rights. What do you mean finish the FCS play?

If Trey Lance played in the FCS. Yeah. He'd be playing in the playoffs right now. Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah, because they've played this schedule in the spring. That's why he opted out because he didn't want to play a spring schedule together. He's not being a bitch. You mean like once they drafted him on Thursday night, would he have the right to play?

like North Dakota State is playing in the FCS playoffs. And I don't know who they're playing, but I know they're in the FCS playoffs. So would he be able to play? I mean, if I picked him, the answer would be absolutely not. You're done. You're our property. Sorry, we can't risk you, you know,

in a game against James Madison or South Dakota State or whomever is in these playoff games. You know, Truman State University. So it's going to happen to someone's getting drafted. out of the playoffs this year. Good point. Somebody will over the weekend. When are those playoff games?

I don't know when they are. It's the first round because I know my guy, Wachandheim, just took VMI to their first winning season in 40 years and put up a hell of a fight against JMU this weekend. Oh, he did? Okay, so it's a 16-team team playoff. So they're down to eight now. Is that what you're saying?

Was that last weekend? Yeah. Okay, so this upcoming weekend is probably the quarterfinals. Right. Yeah, so somebody's going to be playing this weekend that will likely get drafted on Thursday or Friday night. I don't know when these games are. Maybe they're all on Thursday night or Friday night or whatever. But yeah, that's a really good point. I mean, if I were a general manager and a team, I would say, sorry, you're not playing in this game. I'm not risking it. I mean, you know, part of me would, it'd be hard to do, but it's just the nature of this weird year.

I mean, what if you draft the guy? I mean, I guess you could draft the guy and he could get hurt lifting weights. He could get hurt in your mini camp, in your rookie minicamp. What's more likely to get hurt, you know, playing against Jacksonville State, though. Is that a real team in the thing? Yeah, they're a four-seed. They played Delaware. You just looked it up.

No. I already know. Who else is in it? Is North Dakota State in it? North Dakota is Tray Lance's team. They actually play James Madison this weekend. South Dakota State and Southern Illinois play on that side of the bracket. And then North Dakota State and plays Sam Houston on the other side of the bracket. There's a lot of... North Dakota. Just see, you know, North Dakota State is Trey Lancaster. Yeah, you're right. North Dakota is the three...

Yes, you're right. So North Dakota is in... Correct. So North Dakota is in it. James Madison's in it. North Dakota State is also in it. Yeah, there's some good football. And you said Jacksonville State is in it, and who do they play? Delaware. Okay, so do you have the matchups in front of you just, when are they playing the games? The second of May.

The second of May. Today's the draft is 29th, 30th, first. That would be Sunday. So they're going to play, are all the games on May 2nd? Yeah, well, and it's not just the draft. Like, they could sign as a free agent. Here, I've got it. No, I just found it. If you signed as a free agent, you cannot play because you just took a signing of us.

Couldn't play. Right. That's right. You'd be ineligible. Well, I bet they, first of all, they probably changed the rules because they've already put their names into the draft. draft and gotten drafted. And I bet they were able to sign. I bet you the FCS said you can sign with

an agent. If, you know, this is a COVID year. I don't know. I have no idea. Why are we wrapped up into this? It's an interesting question, I guess. But really, whatever. Because we were talking about, somehow we were talking about Lance, and it would have been nice to see him play another season. Yeah. There's enough unknown with Lance. And I think that even their offense played out that they knew that there was enough unknown. They made a lot of that offense really, really easy for him. How's the quarterback that replaced him must be pretty good. But they just had, they were so much better than almost everybody else.

I mean, that's the thing, more than anything else. I think about Trey Lance, and I watched, you know, we talked about him when you did your film breakdown, and you like him. And I mean, it's, it's easy to see why somebody and a lot of these teams really like them. I just come back to the same thing. 17 college football games at the FCS level where he's throwing touchdown passes into the end zone that said penguins in it. And they had probably at times, more times than not, the same level of talent disparity that Ohio State had in a lot of their games. So you're not

even getting super tested maybe. I mean, I may be wrong about that. I think I had a guest on this week that talked about how, you know, North Dakota State has some pros on their team. And, well, that would speak to the talent disparity. But a lot of people saying, you know, that, that Trey Lance, you know, had a lot of talent as well in the same way that Mack Jones did and the same way that Justin Fields did. Obviously not first round NFL talent like Mac Jones did at receiver. But anyway, you know, back to what started this. I am all for if you as a franchise evaluate the quarterbacks and you say this is a guy that we may have a chance to get, but we're going to have to be aggressive, we think he is a person.

potential elite quarterback. We love them. We have them evaluated very high. I have no problem with my franchise being aggressive and going for it. I didn't have any problem with the RG3 deal back in 2012. A lot of people did. I remember getting into arguments with people like Zabe. Zave, like, is said it's way too much. And I said, this organization's been looking for a starting quarterback at that point, you know, for, you know, 30 years, 20 years. And, And, you know, all these picks might amount to nothing as well. If they really like, you know, RG3, go for it. And I feel the same way.

Personally, if, you know, I don't think Washington's moving to four. I think Denver could move to four. I don't think Washington would move to four. I don't think New England would move to four. I don't think Chicago would move to four. It would be cost prohibitive. But if the 49ers select, let's say, Mac Jones, and, you know, the reports yesterday were it's Mac Jones or Trey Lance,

and then Kyle had all this stuff that he said yesterday that was weird, but whatever. And let's just say then somebody trades up to four with Atlanta and takes Lance, or the Falcons take Lance. Then it's a race for Fields. My personal preference is I would be much happier if they trade it up for Fields than Lance or Jones. I know you feel differently. I like Justin Fields. I don't, it's not that I love him, but I like him as much as the other guys.

And I see, especially hearing about what he is as a leader and a teammate, as long as the due diligence checks out, I think the guy has a real future. And he's potentially Deshawn Watson. I think someone will trade up for Justin Fields. I think that trading up for fields at 10, 9 might be. fine. I think someone might like him at four or five. I think the same for Lance. I really put them at like 2A, 2B out of these quarterbacks. Two A to B, probably 2C. Because I, that's not what you've said before. You had Fields fit. No, I said, yeah, I did, but I, there's a tier. To me, Lawrence and Wilson are on the first tier. The next three dudes are on the second tier. Right. And,

It doesn't mean that they couldn't be first-tiered guys. And it also doesn't mean that whoever goes to play for San Francisco probably won't because of the weapons and that offense. But in that second tier, do you still have Fields as 2C? Yeah. I think I would take the other two before I would take Field. Okay. But there's just so much on the – I like the traits that Lance possesses more than I like the traits that Fields possesses. And there's naturally, I think Lance is a better quarterback than Fields.

And then there's the Mack Jones thing where you just see the dude gets it in a bigger picture way more than these guys. Right. Understood. And I like that. And a lot of NFL coaches like that, that you just see big picture, get it. You don't. And Max Jones gets knocked for his ability to throw the ball. a little bit and his athletic ability.

Kyle Trask isn't getting dogged because he's not an athlete. Mac Jones is the same amount of athlete as Kyle. Yeah, but Mac Jones is being said to be the third pick in the draft. Kyle Trask isn't. Yeah, I know, but no one gives a shit in one year. One of them comes in and starts making throws. Understood. So I don't want to talk about someone's arm angle.

I don't know. I think when I watch Fields play, I see him as the least developed or the most work out of the five. But doesn't mean he doesn't have the most upside. You might be right on that. Raw potential, he might have the most upside. Well, I don't know if that's true. Of the second tier guys, I'm saying that. Yes.

You're right. So I think, first of all, this is a fascinating draft. everybody's into this draft. I have this sense that everybody's into this draft. It's usually because of big-name quarterbacks. And in this particular case, not only do you have big-name quarterbacks, you have potentially five going. You could have five going the top seven, which would be all-time, probably four, no less than four are going in the top nine. Now, if San Francisco takes Trey Lance or Justin Fields, but the reporting yesterday was Trey Lance or Mack Jones, If they take Trey Lance, then Mac Jones, there's a real decent chance Mac Jones could start to slide big.

I saw a mock draft here recently, like in the last few hours. I think it was Bucky Brooks, had Mac Jones going to 19 to Washington. I'm looking at it. Yeah. So it was Bucky Brooks, right? Uh-huh. Yeah. So to me, Justin Fields, I know you think that he's the one that could

slide and maybe you don't feel strongly about that now, but you also assume that Mac Jones gets taken at three. If Mac Jones doesn't get taken at three and Trey Lance does, don't you agree that more likely than not Justin Fields is the next quarterback taken and Jones is the one that slides? No. Okay. Who takes Jones? I agree that it seems that it seems that it would be that only San Francisco that's in love with him. But why wouldn't someone like Denver like Jones? I. Why wouldn't someone like New England like Jones?

Would Washington like Jones? Why wouldn't, why wouldn't Philly? I get it that they, that they have, that they have Flacco and that they drafted the Hertz last year. But if one of these guys fell to 12, they'll probably, they got to take one. those receivers, but why wouldn't, I wouldn't put it past them? Look, I think you're, I think you're right in that we don't know and it's possible. Hell, it's possible Atlanta likes Jones.

And maybe the quarterback that they would draft it for is Jones. It's not Lance or Fields. Right. But, you know, and so I'm not discounting it as like impossible. I'm just saying the more likely of the two to fall if Lance goes three. I think is Jones, but I don't know. I don't think anybody knows. Maybe all these NFL guys think the way you think,

which is that Fields is the 2C. But you've also said that while the floor is much higher for Jones than any of these guys in the second tier, the ceiling isn't as high as it is for Lance or Fields, and maybe somebody's going for the ceiling here. Do you think Washington would be interested in Jones? Yeah. More than fields?

I also don't think it's fair. I also don't think it's fair to say that someone like Jones would have a low seat. I would say the expected ceiling would be maybe lower. But I didn't say low ceiling, lower ceiling than Lance. Lower, but it doesn't mean that he couldn't have the highest ceiling of anybody. Of course, we don't know. Yeah, we don't. So we're just projecting here like we do every year.

And we're in the quarterback things, the people who get paid millions of dollars a year to do. this are wrong 75% of the time. If he's got the lowest floor, if he's got the highest ceiling, coaches want to play players they trust. And if there's a low floor, you're not getting played enough or you're getting Dwayne type reps or that, then you're done quick. You have a low floor, you have more time to grow. I think San Francisco is taking Mack Jones. I think what I believe what you've thought all along. I believe Schaefter is a reporter. I don't understand why San Francisco

would go from 12 to 3. We both know Mike and Kyle a little bit. They're not Wofflers. They're decisive. They made this move because they wanted somebody. I don't think that they're... I don't think they're debating right now, you know,

54 hours before the draft begins or whatever. Between two guys. We like all five quarterbacks. Whoever's there, we'll flip a point to take them. I don't believe that. Okay. No chance they moved up to three for that. How about this story that came out yesterday?

Atlanta considering moving Julio Jones in his contract. I sat there and I listened to one of these shows on NFL Network or it may have been the ESPN show, the NFL live show, which I don't know, whatever you want to say about it. They kept saying, well, if they trade Julio Jones and they've got to take a receiver, they've got to take a receiver. or they've got to take pits. No, no, no, no. If they trade Julio Jones, they're giving up on 2021 in the near future. They're punting and they are starting from scratch. They're going to draft the quarterback. If you trade Julio Jones in your Atlanta, doesn't it say to you that you're moving on and you're starting over that you're going to try to build from scratch and you're you're going to get your quarterback in this draft while you have the fourth pick in the

first round where you may never have this chance again. I don't, trading Julio, if you're going to win now, you keep Julio Jones on the field with Calvin Ridley and Kyle Pitts, period. And Matt Ryan. And you go for it. And I know they've got a lot of work defensively and you focus the rest of your draft on defense and shit, you know what I would do if I were Atlanta, and I was looking at this earlier, and I just want to pull it up again, if I drafted Pitts and kept Ryan, kept Julio Jones,

etc., I would then, they have, oh no, they, well, they have an early second round pick, obviously, at 35, and an early third round pick at 68. I would think about trying to trade back into the first round for one of the two running backs, Harris or E.T.N. And can you imagine if they put a deal together to get back into the, now I don't think these running backs are getting by Pittsburgh. So you'd have to go to, I think, 23 or whatever. And now you've added Pitts and Najee Harris to go with Jones, Ridley, Haydenhurst, and Matt Ryan. We're scoring 30 a game. And we'll work on the defense with the rest of the draft and next year's draft. But, you know, one of the things we learned from this Orlando Brown trade the other day, and I don't know if you followed it because you were

certainly in pain coming up that surgery, the Orlando Brown trade to Kansas City. I think it's very interesting what Kansas City did in trading for Orlando Brown. Kansas City got their ass kicked in the Super Bowl because they could not protect Patrick Mahomes. And they played a phenomenal defense, and it was the first team they couldn't outscore. Well, they had two. Both their tackles were hurt. I understand. that. I understand that. So they didn't decide, you know, hey, we're going to go in a different direction. They decided, you know what, if we had Joe Thune and we trade for Orlando Brown, we're still going to outscore everybody over a 17 game season. We're going to be 15 and 2 or 14

and 3. And then we'll let Steve Spagnullo try to, you know, coach up the defense to average in two playoff games at Arrowhead. And then we'll take our chances with a healthy offensive line in a Super Bowl, even against a team like Tampa. I thought of this coolly the other day, maybe over the weekend, I just thought Kansas City and Andy Reid are interesting because they haven't had a great defense. They've had a good defense,

and they've pressured the passer in key games, and they've got a really good coordinator now in Spagnulu versus the guy they had there forever, whose name is escaping. me here. And Andy Reid is one of the first guys that essentially said maybe Sean Payton said it too for a while. You know, I don't have to have a good defense. I just have, if I've got a great offense and I've got the best offense and the best quarterback in the NFL, I just need to play decent defense a couple of games in January and February. It's all about offense for them.

So true. All about offense. Well, keep in mind, both of them are. offensive play callers. I know. If you want to have fun as an offensive play caller, you're like, I'm not my dudes. If we're going to lose, it's going to be defense, and I'm going to blame it on somebody else.

Yeah. But, you know, they've had, you know, decent pass rushers, you know, Frank Clark and, you know, in a couple of others in recent years. But, you know, they've been a team you could move the ball against. And they just outscored you in regular season games.

Playoffs, you know, things tighten up a little bit. It gets to be pressure time. But in those games at Arrowhead, they still pretty much could outscore everybody. Last year, with their offensive line in Tatters, if they had been healthy, they probably still would have

had a chance. And Andy Reed does not give a shit about defense. With Patrick Mahomes and Tareke Hill and Kelsey and all the rest of them, you know, we just

have to block up, you know, the pass rush a little bit, and we're putting up 30 plus in these games, and we're going to win 14, 15 in the regular season, and we're going to have two games at Arrowhead, and then we're going to be back in the Super Bowl, and we'll take our swing next year with a mediocre defense, but with a healthy offensive line. And I'll let it. You know, it's actually, no, this is a fascinating argument for building an NFL roster. I know. The Orlando Brown, they focused only on.

offense here in the in the off season and they yeah the argument is is essentially with free agency intact the way it is and as hard as it is to maintain any kind of continuity to retain your guys on both sides of the ball Kansas City said fuck it let's be number one in offense and try to be number 20 at as long as we can be around 20 in defense yeah if I can have it really is like that indie mentality. We have Peyton Manning. So let's get Mathis and Dwight Freeney and play cover two all day, all day. And if someone makes two mistakes, they lose their game.

Like if you beat yourself a couple times, you lose the game. If you just punt a couple times, now Friedman Mathis are going to rush you all day. Now, if you run the ball and you get out ahead of us, we're in trouble. They're in real trouble in that situation. But at least they can make a shootout. That's right. I do think that there's some fascinating. aspect to this.

But it's so hard to build both sides of the ball, which is what I think Washington's trying to do and whatever one wants them to do. It's really hard. But I think it's impossible to be good enough on defense to just win games like the Ravens were because of the rules in today's football. I think it's just, I think it's way too hard to just allow less than 10 points a game now. I think that that is true over a 16 or 17 game regular season. I think if you're just great on defense, over a 17 game regular season,

you're going to be 9 and 8 and you may or may not make the postseason. But I think if you're great on defense, you've got a better chance in a postseason game. And, you know, whether it's because of weather or outdoor games, and not all of them are outdoors and not all of them are bad weather. I understand that. But I think great defense can still get you through, you know, to a Super Bowl. But it can't probably win a Super Bowl without, you know, a quarterback on the other end. Look, you know, you mentioned the, you know, the formula to beating teams like Kansas City has always been, we got to run the football.

We got to keep the ball out of Mahomes' hands. Like the Browns did. The Browns nearly did. Yeah. Yes. But I don't know. That trade and just the fact that he just said, you know what? I mean, even if you go back to last year's draft when they drafted Clyde Edwards-Alair at the end of the first round.

I mean, they had a need there. But it's like we're just going to keep adding in these off seasons to the best quarterback in the NFL. And if we keep doing that with the best quarterback in the NFL, we're going to win. now in a 17 game schedule. We're going to go 14 and 3 or 15 and 2 every year. We're going to have home field advantage. And then I got a really good defensive coordinator and a really good defensive coordinator, like Steve Spagnullo, like, you know,

in terms of the head coaches who are really good defensive coordinators, Vic Fangio and Mike Zimmer. You know, that game that Kirk won in New Orleans, a couple years ago in the postseason. The underrated part, and I'm a Kirk guy, as everybody knows. Kirk played great in that game and engineered the overtime drive and made all the big plays. The dominant player in that game was Daniel Hunter, and Mike Zimmer's scheme, who had

Drew Brees looking like the 25th best quarterback in the NFL. So you get really good defensive minds around Patrick Mahomes and average talent or even sub-average talent, then all you're asking him to do is coach him up for like one neutral field game in February. I mean, would the chiefs have won the Super Bowl with a healthy offensive line? I don't know. Tampa really got after him. And Tampa moved the football.

Yes, they would have, it wasn't a game because they didn't because they couldn't, they could not drop back and throw the ball. They couldn't, even with him. Now, that said, they did a shitty. job of not watching Washington run basic cross 29 times with Heineke and probably a better offensive line but not great.

So, yeah, they were better on the offensive line. But I mean, you can't evaluate whether they would have won or lost because they couldn't operate their offense. And that ended it. I just think that this is one of the ongoing debates arguments that NFL fans have. Look, it's so hard to find the elite quarterback, so your chances of actually getting the elite quarterback are a long shot anyway.

You know, Kyle in that story, and I haven't told you about this, I forget if I texted you the story or not over the weekend. I don't think I did. You didn't. Seth Wickersham's story on the Shanahan's was really good, and you should read that. And I'll text it to you so it's easy to read. But basically, parts of the story was about, you know, Kyle. you know, Mike having the two Super Bowls with Shanna, with Elway, and then going 13 and 3 in 2005 with Jake Plummer, getting to the AFC championship game, we're Plummer through four interceptions. And he realized at that moment, I got to keep going for the quarterback because that's, that gives me the best chance. And they traded, you know, they went for Cutler, thinking that Cutler was the answer. Well, that's what, you know, Kyle's doing right now. They got close with Garapolo, two years ago, but, you know, Kyle essentially said, you got to have a top five quarterback

to be sure. And I still think that that's true. I think a top five quarterback and elite quarterback, whether that's top five, top six, top seven, whatever it is, that gives you the best chance of being in it every year and having a chance to win it. Putting together a great team around a mediocre quarterback might actually produce a really good season. or two, but it's not going to give you the best chance long term to win a Super Bowl and to keep getting swings year and year out at the Super Bowl. But it's too hard, it's really hard to find the quarterback. So what choice do you have if you don't have that quarterback? You got to try to build around whatever you have left. So, you know, you said,

you know, the distributor description that you use with certain quarterbacks, and you sort of described Mac Jones that way. And you said, there's nothing wrong with being a really good distributor. It's not Mahomes. It's not Josh Allen. It's not Aaron Rogers. It's not Russell Wilson. It's not Deshawn Watson. But it's hard to find those guys. So the next best thing would be to have like a phenomenal distributor and build around them.

I don't know. That is a great thing. It's just not easy to find a phenomenal distributor. That's a hard thing to find. That's hard. That's easier to find than the elite. But yes, it's still not. Easy to find.

I mean, and then when you do find one, you can't have him be a significant part of your cap. Like you have to manage that somehow. You know, I bring him up again. It's the issue Minnesota's having. They have a phenomenal distributor. He's not elite, but he's a phenomenal distributor. But he's way too much of their cap. Yeah.

So now he doesn't have weapons to distribute the ball to. Well, he does, actually, but they don't have an offensive line or a defense. defense. He does, but he was a lot better when they had digs. Right. And they got, I mean, they got the guy Jefferson in the draft. I mean, that was as good as, I mean, great scouting. And maybe they, they, no one really knows that you're going to get Jefferson as good as he is. Well, no, the Eagles screwed up and took Rager the pick before. I realized that. But, I mean, it wasn't like Jefferson was the overall number one receiver that he was supposed to go higher than or wherever he went, though.

Fair enough. Fair enough. But he didn't. And no rookie receiver has had that type of year. So, yeah, you got rid of digs. But, like, you're getting rid of getting, you're going to be able to pay Kirk, but not be able to pay guys down the line. And that also goes for the offensive line.

Well, Cooley, you know what the Chiefs did? The Chiefs got Mahomes to restructure so they could sign Thune and make the trade for Brown because they're going to have to pay Brown. By the way, would you have traded 19 for Orlando Brown and like, you know, the Ravens, I don't know. Would you have just traded 19 for Orlando Brown? Yeah. I would. Remember what I heard of Orlando Brown so bad was that workout.

And everyone, you're like the number one lineman that was going to be taken and then you ran a 5-940 or whatever he ran. Right. Orlando Brown's a good player. Really good player. it'll be interesting to see what Orlando Brown is not in the Ravens offense. Right. But I think Orlando Brown can really play. Yeah, I'd trade 19 for Brown.

All right. There were two Washington stories that came out. I want to present those to you. And then we can talk about some of the players in the draft. Coolies with me today. I'm going to end with the Wizards game today. So for the four of you that are interested, that was a phenomenal basketball game last night. the Wizards

Winstreet came to an end last night. Cooley doesn't even know this, but they had won eight games in a row. I did. I did actually see that. We'll do football talk right after this word from one of our sponsors. Coolie's with me today, and literally right when we

took that break, we found out the news that just broke moments ago that Washington has made a trade. Eric Flowers is coming back to Washington in a deal, according to Ian Ravis. Papport that will involve a swap of late round picks.

The deal's being finalized. Miami needed some money freed up. Remember, Washington passed on resigning Flowers after he became a free agent, and now Eric Flowers is back. He played guard here, Cooley. He played guard in Miami. I would assume that he's going to step in and play the other guard position opposite Brandon Sheriff, and he's insurance in case they lose Sheriff next year.

Yeah, this is a great deal for them. He goes, signs a big deal with Miami. They eat the guaranteed and then you get him back for the remainder. Right. Worst case, he's going to compete with West Switzer, who I thought had a pretty good year. The deal that he signed with Miami was a three-year $30 million contract, included $9 million in signing bonus and 19, basically 20 million guaranteed. He's due.

He's going to count nine million bucks on the cap this year. It's all been sell. Huh? I said, why would Miami make that trade? Money? That's what Rappaport said. All right. Why would they sign him a year ago?

Wanted him for a one-year run? Yeah. I mean, did he play well? I don't know if he played well or not in Miami. Do you? I don't know. If he didn't, he had one good year in his career so far. And it was a contract year.

And it was a contract year for Washington. And it was a good year. It wasn't an elite type year. And he still got $10 million a year. Good for him, though. All right. So, you know, they, they, you thought Schweitzer was, was decent at times. You know, I think this is about,

the other guard position and this year. But I also think it's about, you know, perhaps a bit of a bet. But, you know, he's only under contract for one more year after this year. But it's at least, you know, a hedge against potentially losing Sheriff after this year. You're for sure going to hedge in 2022. If Brandon Sheriff leaves, which it's gas, it seems likely, at least goes and test the market pending a good year, then you don't have to go

acquire someone, pay someone in the free agency market next year, truck full of money, because you've got to pay guards now a truck full. And you have Martin, Switzer, and Eric Flowers, three guys that you think can play guard for you.

Maybe they don't think Martin can. I do. He didn't play well with us. Flowers is going to start. They're not bringing them back at $9 million bucks. What are they giving up for him? Well, I don't, it's a swap a late round picks. I don't know what that means. You know, we'll find out.

I mean, he doesn't have to start. It's a new staff. This isn't Bill Callahan with flowers. Well, but they put this new staff just traded for him. And they're bringing a back. And he was well liked and well received in that room, and he played well. So he could start. I'm not good.

I wouldn't be guaranteed that. It's likely. Wouldn't surprise me. Miami doesn't have a sixth rounder. but they've got two sevenths. Maybe Washington, well, Washington doesn't have a sixth rounder either. They've got just two seventh as well. So I don't know.

Maybe it's some sort of, you know, fifth for a seventh or something. We'll find out. Bottom line is, you know, the other part of this is that I think Elijah Verit Tucker, the combo guard tackle from USC, I think I've probably seen him mocked to Washington. as much as any player, Dara saw's, you know, another one mocked, you know, to Washington. Verrett Tucker, you know, there's been debate as to whether or not he's a tackle or a guard. All right. Now, what he is is he was the most highly respected offensive lineman in the Pac-12 last year.

It was the offensive lineman in the Pac-12 best. The conversation about Verrett Tucker from every other team they played is this guy was the toughest to beat. So if he's their best player on the board, I don't think it means that they don't draft Vera Tucker because Veritaker played a lot of games of tackle as well. And the bottom line is Eric Flowers may not be Verit Tucker. And maybe Verit Tucker is the replacement for Sheriff. But you would have to think that they just added a guard in part because they didn't think they were going to be able to add a guard in the draft in Veritucker.

You don't know you're adding the guard. What do you think you're adding in Flowers? attack you no no in the draft you don't know what you're going to get so no all i'm saying is i wonder you're right i wonder if it means that that that vera tucker now they it's less likely that they would take him i would say no it's maybe a little bit less likely but if he's their best player on the board at 19 and he's there they would take him because eric flowers is just okay It's not, you know, if this guy is a potential star and you're going to lose share, if you're going to need another one in 2022 anyway.

So, anyway, all right, well, there you go. Not big trade news, but they bring Eric Flowers back into your point. They didn't have to pay the signing bonus to keep them. They've got them for a base salary of $9,000, 8.99 something for the next two years for a guard. Of course, they're paying Brandon Sheriff the highest guard contract in the league on the franchise tag. Chris Sims thinks Washington's trading up to eight to take Trey Lance. Todd McShay thinks Washington is one of the teams very much interested in drafting Davis Mills in the second round. Those were two of the reports that came out last night.

We're going to continue to hear all of this speculation and reporting. You know, I think McShay is on it. I think Sims is just guessing. But, you know, I think one thing is very clear to me, Cooley. Both could be true. Sure. Could be. Both could be completely true.

They could be trying to trade up to eight right now, and it could be for Lance. It could be fulfilled. They're not going to do it until. I mean, we've heard only Lance coming out of there. A lot of it we've said is probably a guess. I've heard Fields. That was the first one I heard too much. months ago. So I'm sticking with, I think there are people in the organization that like Fields.

But whatever. And in Kime, by the way, I think, I think it was Kime or maybe, no, it was Standing, who was on radio with me yesterday, said he also talked to a general manager that thought that Washington had interest in fields. Anyway. Of course they have interest in it. They should. I know what you're saying. But yeah, both could be true. I don't know if Davis Mills if I'd take him in a second, but they might be interested in taking them and might think about it in a second,

depending on what's happening at the position. Like if no one's taking any of the guys, I guess Mills could be the first of the third tier. So if you get through the seconds and the 19th pick or 20th picket of a second and all three are there, you might feel like you have to. Clinton, Portis brought something up on radio with me this morning

that I had sort of forgotten about. and I think it was a really, really interesting point. There's been conversation recently where Ron Rivera didn't, you know, didn't, you know, knock it down about landing Collins moving to linebacker. And Clinton said, you know, he definitely sees that as a possibility because that's exactly what happened with Thomas Davis. Thomas Davis was drafted as a safety, as a phenomenal athletic safety out of Georgia, and he converted to a linebacker and ended

up having, you know, a borderline Hall of Fame career, much of it. Well, all of it with Carolina and a lot of it with Ron Rivera at linebacker. And so Rivera's seen this before. You know, a safety to linebacker. What do you think about landing Collins

to linebacker? I think he is a linebacker. I think he would better playing in the box. I think the league's changed enough that he would be fine in the box. I don't think he'll want to do that. He doesn't want to do it. He's already said that. But he's under contract. I mean, what are you going to do?

Well, what do they all these guys do? They sit out or cry or wine or pass for trades. Problem is you're not going to get what you want out of him as a safety position in the trade right now. Right. I mean, play well enough. I don't play well enough to get an $80 million contract, my opinion. It wasn't ever a playmaker.

A good player, though. Like, that's the thing. You can't say he's a bad, he's not a playmaker. He's tiring Matthew. Matthew. Right. So he would be a good fit at linebacker. And honestly, Kev, like, I don't know how hard this would be for certain guys,

but let's just say in your base defense, you want to play him in the box more as a strong safety, then play him in base as a strong safety. And when you go to Nickel, then you're going to play him in nickel as a linebacker. They go to 11 personnel, he goes inside. they go to 12 or 21 and you play them at safety it would be interesting if they were thinking about that and if that's what they were going to do because then you know safety and travon morrig

the safety from tCU who i've only watched the highlights of and trust me i'm not getting hung up on a tc u player because my oldest son went to tcc like i did dockson but morrig can really play and he's a playmaker and a lot of of people have him now really shooting up the boards. He's the safety. He's pretty much the only safety, you know, early. And he could go anywhere from, you know, 15 to 25. And so if they've made the decision with Collins to move him to more of a linebacker, they could be in the market at 19 for a safety. I also just wanted to just get your thoughts, not that we haven't had this conversation

in the past. But let's just say you get to 19. And by the way, Kooley's going to be ready to roll with more, you know, evaluations on Thursday's draft show that he and I will do and we'll get it out, you know,

as early as we can on Thursday after my radio show. So you guys have it in plenty of time before the draft starts Thursday night. But if the highest rated player on their board at 19, let's say they don't trade up, is a player that isn't at a need position, but he is much higher rated than your next highest rated player.

What do you do as a general manager? If you can't trade back. Let me give you an example, okay? Let's just say that Quitty Pay, who is a defensive end out of Michigan that a lot of people really, really like. He's probably more of a three-four outside line, but he's a four three defensive end.

Let's just say that he is the highest rated player on their board by miles at 19. And you can't trade back. What would you do? In the first round, I think you have to take the next best player, even in the first round. In the second and third round, you just take the best player on your board where you need them. I do not subscribe fully to best player available no matter what. I like scheme fit position of need as much as I like best player available. So then now all of a sudden you're looking at like, let's say you didn't want an offensive

lineman, right, which there will probably be a run of right there. And you don't like receivers. You drafted Najee Harris? Well, that was going to be my next example. Because if Nogh Harris, believe it or not, and I think it's very possible for teams that are drafting, say in the 18 to 28 range, that he could be their highest rated player on their board by a lot.

And Washington has Gibson, and I like Gibson. But I've already said this, and we had this conversation on the air, when Peter Schroger mocked Travis E.T.N. to Washington at 19. would not want ETN because he's more like Gibson. But if you told me that Najee Harris was the highest rated player on Washington's board at 19, and the next highest rated player was just say an 83 compared to Harris, who was a 90, and that player was Jamin Davis, the linebacker from Kentucky.

I'm taking Harris, period, and not even thinking twice. You and I have had the conversation about blue chippers or A players. they haven't had enough of them. I'm not passing on an A player because I like my running backs currently. Najee Harris could be a total impact player at that position with much bigger upside than Gibson. And I like Gibson, and I think Gibson's got a chance to be a really good back. No, I'm with you. I'm totally with you.

I think if you look at this in the first, like the first round, you almost divide into two rounds. It's like in the top 10, unless it's a quarterback or top 15, you can you can sacrifice about two spots for need. Like you can go about two spots out of the way for need. Like if you're seven and you really need a linebacker, but don't think Michael Parsons is going to go until 10, 9, then take them at 7. I'm fine with that.

After 15, I think you can go about five spots for need. if you don't need a D-Lineman or an O-Lignment, and those are clearly the next five players, take your running back five spots later. Second round, I think you can go 10 picks. Third round, I think you can go 20 picks. Fourth round, I think you can go a full round out of the way. Get your guy you want.

And if you really like someone, they're there, fourth round, I think you can go full round out of the way. So I think that's how I would kind of evaluate it. I'm a big need and scheme fit guy. I want guys that fit my team, my style, my staff. my chemistry, my attitude, all those things. Okay. More than I want, the random best dude on the board.

Okay, but what if that best player on the board is all of those things that you just described except for a top level need? Perfect scheme fit, best player on the board by Miles, perfect guy for the culture, all those things, but it's nowhere near your biggest need. Like you're saying we've drafted five D-Linman in the first round in the last five years. Kind of like that. Well, it's not five, but it's several. It's four. Yeah.

It's four in the last four years. It's four. It's Allen, sweat, pain, and young. Yep. I think that you can draft him and there's always the potential to trade, move one of your guys to move him, which almost never happens. I don't know. You could change your style of defense to some extent. Like you could say we're best 11 and we're going to play five down linemen and rush all five every time.

Like we're going to play five down front with all five of these guys and they're just all going to rush every time. You can adapt with that. I think it's interesting. You don't take a crap player there just because you don't need him. You don't sacrifice more than a few. these thoughts. I, in my conversations over the years, whether it was with Bobby Bethard or Charlie Casserly, they've always said, once you draft for need and reach for need, that's when you make your biggest mistakes. This morning I had Andrew Brandt on the show, who was the high-level executive

with the Packers during the Aaron Rogers 2005 draft. Aaron Rogers is falling rapidly. He said that year they had 18 first-round grades. And the last, player on their board that had a first round grade when they got to number 24 overall was Aaron Rogers. But they didn't want to pick Aaron Rogers because they had Brett Farrf, who never missed any games and still had many productive years left. And they said they would have taken, they were waiting and waiting for anybody to offer anything to move up and for them to move down. They said all would have taken is just two number twos from somebody and they could have moved into 24 and we would have moved back and had, you know, more picks in the second round.

Nobody offered. And they took Aaron Rogers because their philosophy was, it doesn't matter, we're trusting the board. And he is the only first round graded player we have left on our board and we've got to make a selection at 24. We're not going to take a guy that's got a second round grade at 24. And enough, but would you have traded down, would he have went five spots? for need if you had another player that they had evaluated at 31, that 30? Well, they didn't have anybody else evaluated in the first round. I know that, but I'm saying like, I'm not, I don't want to sacrifice. I told you my sacrifice in the first round, second round.

Yeah, I got it. I'm not going to, like, I'm not going to blow my team up. I'm not, I'm not staying on 14 against the 20. I might have a special feeling every once in a while on 16 that I just. Oh, don't. Don't have special feelings. It's the worst thing you can. Oh, wait a minute.

This time, actually, he's got the 10 and he's got a 4. He's got a 10 and he's got a 4 under there. Actually, there's only one time I really ever do that. When Joey down at the other end of the table stays on a 12 against a 6. And you're like. So you're going to get his 10. The hand before and you're like, the whole thing's crazy. Let's just let it be chaos.

Well, the only time that you should do it is if you, have in your mind, oh my God, that's a lot of face, that's a lot of tens that have come up in the last two deals. There probably aren't many tens left. I know. That's the only thing I would do it, but yes. What was I was going to say, oh, so the D-Linman thing is, what about the running back, though? If Najee Harris was there at 19, I'll tell you what, to be honest with you,

the more I think about it, if he was the highest rated guy and there wasn't lineman there like Darisaw and Verit Tucker and Slater and Sewell, they're all gone and they don't like Jenkins, the kid from Oklahoma State, and the linebackers are Wuso Coromoan, Parsons, they're gone. You know what? I think Harris is going to be spectacular. I think he's going to be one of those massive impact running backs in the NFL. Derek Henry, you know, a real, I mean, I think he plays more like Marshaun Lynch. just a bigger version.

But I really like Harris. And I just think that he's going to make a big difference on a team. And imagine, I mean, Gibson's nice. I like Gibson. I don't know that he's Najee Harris. But anyway. No, I hear you. I mean, like, here's an example.

Can you name any of the offensive linemen for the Tennessee Titans? Yeah, they've got Taylor Luan, right? anybody else he's popular has blog does a lot of stuff anybody else yeah they added somebody didn't they add somebody last year um who'd they add last year the point is i know what the point is Derek henry makes them all great yeah or they make him I mean they like he

when you have that guy at back and I don't know why this is so underrate like you're drafting essentially for like a solid five years of play. You don't know if you're going to resign that guy. You hope that you're drafting a franchise player forever. And if it's a quarterback you are, you're committed. You're going to pay him. But if it's another position, you hope you're going to pay him,

but you don't know. A running back, if you get the right guy, is going to touch the ball more times than anybody on your team, besides the quarterback. Right. Where this whole thing fell because of their longevity, and their inability to touch the ball 30 times a game. And this whole craziness about, man, we got to prolong a running back's career.

We don't want to over carry him. Fuck that, man. If I got Najee Harris, he's getting 30 carries a game right now. Right. Tell he can't. Maybe not 30, but he's getting 24. You get the point. You get the point.

And that's any player that I have. Like, you draft, like two years ago, John Allen, Duran Payne these guys, they're rotating series and they're playing 60% of plays and it's like you realize you just drafted all these guys on the first round of play half the game. My first rounder plays all game, every play, until he can't. I don't give a shit if he might not play 12 years. Yeah.

Sorry. It's, I played in the NFL. I understand. It's a tough business, but winning is the only thing that matters. Maybe they find a way to make it that long. But this craziness on great backs. and a lot of it's the Shanahan stuff. Like there's definitely tier two of backs.

You can, its scheme makes a difference. But that first tier of backs, man, when Gurley was good for the Rams before he was hurt, you know, the Ezekiel when he wants to be good when he wants to run hard. Derek Henry, like some of these backs. Henry went in the second round. A lot of people would make the case, and I understand it. By the way, for those of you saying,

you don't draft running backs in the first round. Okay. Well, Christian McCaffrey and Zeke Elliott, and I think Sequin Barclay are going to be worth, you know, that trend is turned a little bit here in recent years. There was a long stretch of time where we didn't have running backs taken very high. It was almost like, you know, viewed as very much like we can find these guys anywhere, which is true. And there's some guys in this draft at running back that I would like in the third, fourth round. But Harris is, is Saquan Barkley, Zeke Elliott, you know. Derek Henry should have been taken higher, but whatever. That was the height of we don't draft guys in the first round. Yeah, 2016. God, that was the other player. I wanted Josh Doxon, though, so I was dead wrong. All right, go take care of your name.

I know. Go get your knee down to something looking more normal, and we will talk on Thursday. We will do everything in our power to get a really good draft show out on Thursday as early as possible, so you've got all day to consume it before the draft. Tommy will be with me and maybe another guest tomorrow. Coolie's gone. I'm going to talk real quickly after this break about the Wizards lost last night to San Antonio,

how the two stars played and why it was their fault that they lost the game. That's next right after this word from one of our sponsors. 146 to 143 in overtime. Spurs over the Wizards last night. the Wizards win streak ends at eight games in one of the wildest games of the season. I tweeted out towards the end of regulation. This is the best ABA game of the year. Many people didn't understand what I was talking about.

They said, you meant NBA? No, I actually meant ABA. For those of you old enough to remember the ABA, you remember a league in which no defense was played, and there were 146 to 143 games every night. There was no defense in this game. I'm going to start with a compliment for the Wizards. They were coming off a win over Cleveland the night before, so this was the back half, second of a back-to-back.

It was a very physical grind of a game against Cleveland that they won. San Antonio had a night's rest. They've been playing well. They had won four or five. They came in a little bit more rested. By the way, whenever you're playing a team that's won eight games in a row, you're a little bit more up for that game. We can't say that a lot about the Wizards in recent years, that the opponent's actually up for them. looking to knock them off, but the Wizards had won eight in a row,

and they got San Antonio's best last night, a team that had been playing well anyway. My point on this is that typically in the NBA, in these particular situations, the team that's coming off that game the night before that was physical and a grind, even if it was a win, isn't prepared the next night and they lose. San Antonio was favored last night. They went off as a three, three and a half point favorite, depending on when you got it or where you got it. because Vegas understood that San Antonio had the advantage last night.

With that said, man, the Wizards, like they have all year long in these spots, have sort of pushed back on what is typical in the NBA. They've won some of these games. They had that win over Utah, and then a couple nights later, they played Sacramento, and it should have been in one of those letdown games after beating Utah and being the first team to win on the road. and they hammered the Kings after the win over Utah. And I credit their two stars, Westbrook and Beale,

for not letting them fall into the typical mediocre to bad NBA team rhythm of maybe a big win but they can't possibly back it up. That's what they've done here recently. Eight wins in a row, 10 of their last 11. They were beating teams in spots where they could have let down. Last night, they really were ready to play. not defensively. It was an unbelievable offensive game. By the way, a mid-range offensive game. The Spurs made six threes. Fifty-five made shots, just six made threes for the Spurs.

Demard de Rosen led him with 37 points. He did not shoot a three-pointer. They're starting five for San Antonio, zero for five. The zero is a startling number, but five's even more surprising. Five attempts. on three-pointers. The Wizards last night made just six three-pointers, 58 field goal attempts from the floor, and their starters were two for 11, just 11 three-point attempts by their starters. This was like a mid-range game. Now, part of the reason was there was no resistance to getting to the rim by either team. It was not a good defensive game. Now, I want to fast forward to the end. all, Bradley Beale had 45 points, 20 of 37, didn't make a three. He's a prolific score. He's really

hard to stay in front of. He's really good at getting to the rim and finishing at the rim. He creates space on his step back like nobody does. He's really, really having, you know, he's in the prime of his career right now. Enjoy it. The next three, four, five years, he's going to be averaging over 30 a game. He's going to be one of the top scores in the game for the next, you know, several years. Westbrook had another triple double. He's six short now of the all-time mark. He also got his 12th in the month of April. That broke Wilts Chamberlain's mark for the most triple doubles in one month in NBA history. The dude is a badass. He's a relentless competitor. We know that 22 points, 14 assists, 13 rebounds. They lost the game, however, for a couple of reasons. Number one, they didn't guard. But it was a high-level offensive game. Number two is that They had one of those nights where the bad possessions and the bad turnovers by Russ in particular, which you're going to have to put up with, just like we did with John Wall. He was 9 of 26 from the floor.

He had six turnovers last night. Also had a tech in the game, technical foul. They all came at the wrong time. Two horrible turnovers in overtime, unforced, on big possessions. and some bad shot selection. Look, I'm a Russell Westbrook fan going way back. I understand what you get with Westbrook. You're not going to win a title, okay, with Russell Westbrook.

I think we can all say that now pretty clearly. You're going to get one of the greatest players of all time, one of the greatest teammates maybe of all time, one of the greatest, you know, making people better kind of players, but he has only one speed, and mentally. And the problem is in key moments in games, when you've got to slow it down a little bit, he's incapable of doing that. Two terrible turnovers in overtime really cost him. Bradley Beale had 45 points last night. He only had one assist. There was way too much ISO. There was

way too much trying to force it. The irony there is, even when he forced it, he's still scored because he's really good. But I thought there were opportunities for passes to guys that were open like Bertons, you know, who could have shot, you know, a wide open three or even, you know, easier buckets. My criticism of Beal is I don't want him to have one assist. I'd like him to have more than that. He didn't turn the ball over last night, which he's prone to do. But he had a technical foul in overtime. Now, Scott Brooks said it wasn't, and he thought that both, you know, Westbrook's tech and

Beale's techs were bullshit. Okay, fine. But you know what Beal and Westbrook do constant? they complain and argue and expect to get calls all game long every single night. Beal didn't used to be this way. When Wall got hurt and he became the alpha, he changed. He is a complainer. Now, there are a lot of them in the NBA.

I'm not singling him out as if he's unique. But he didn't used to be this way. and now Beal spends a significant amount of energy, and maybe it motivates him. I'm not saying that it doesn't, but he spends a significant amount of energy bitching about missed calls. He had a bucket latent regulation last night

where he wasn't touched and he was complaining. So he is looking for superstar treatment, and maybe there's, you know, a point in which he's going to get it more. And the Wizards last night had 25 free throw attempts, and the Spurs had 35. And I thought the Wizards attacked the rim just as much as San Antonio did. So there's a bit of a disparity. And maybe the game wasn't well-officiated. Maybe these two techs weren't deserved.

Stop bitching constantly. My God, it's annoying to watch, as it is with any of the players in the NBA that do it just incessantly. Beale has become just a chronic complainer. Now, I'll take the chronic complaining, 31 a night, 20 or 37 from the floor, 45 points, you know, last night. And in the player that he's become, I just wish I could have both. I wish I could have the player that he's become without the just over-the-top, constant whining and complaining about missed calls or calls against him.

You know, there are times when Beal misses getting back down on defense because he's arguing. They're not a good defensive team. Maybe they'd be a better defensive team if they'd stop complaining and whining and bitching with officials after a shot that he makes, but he doesn't get the end one as the other team's going back down five on four. Westbrook bitches too much too. But bottom line is, you know, there's sort of the quid pro quo there, I guess. I just would rather have at all. I'd rather have the dynamic players that they are, two true, you know, superstar kind of players. None of them, not, you know, Beal's not a top 10 player, in my opinion. I think he's certainly close to a top 15 player now. He's an elite score, but two really high level players playing

together, playing well together. Um, uh, but they, they spend a lot of time bitching and complaining. I mean, I love the way they're playing together. I think the Wizards are playing awfully well. I think last night there was more that was impressive about that loss than unimpressive, but they lost it at the end because they lost their poise. Westbrook couldn't slow it down, made two terrible turnovers, and Beale ended up, whether he deserved it or not. He complains constantly, ended up with a crucial technical foul in overtime.

Can't have that. Can't have that from your two best players. They get the Lakers tomorrow night, probably without LeBron, but 80s back. They're a game ahead of the 11th and 12th place teams in the east, both of whom won last night, Chicago and Toronto. Still, fun watch these days. Just frustrating that it ended the way it ended last night because it was a winnable game. Back tomorrow with Tommy.