The Kevin Sheehan Show - What If Washington Had Picked First?

Episode Date: September 26, 2024

Kevin and Thom today opened the show talking about the reaction to Jayden Daniels' playing so well on Monday night in Cincinnati and wondering if it's too early to declare that the Commanders got the pick right. And then, Thom asked Kevin who he thinks Washington would've selected had they held the first pick in the April NFL Draft. Thom made his Commanders-Cards prediction and then the guys talked a bit about the UNLV QB leaving because of an NIL $100,000 dispute.  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. All right, Tommy's here. I am here. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Window Nation.

Give them a call. 86690 Nation or go to Window Nation.com if you need new windows. Tommy will have his Washington, Arizona pick. As Washington tries to get to three and one, Tommy, on Sunday in Arizona, with the whole world talking about this team after Monday night. I mean, I was thinking about just how Jaden Daniels has become not just the biggest topic in our town, but because that game was nationally televised Monday night football and it was one of the great performances by a rookie quarterback of all time, it's basically the number one NFL topic this week.

And so I think there will be a lot of attention on this Arizona game Sunday. I think you're right. I think normally nobody would be paying attention to the commanders and the Cardinals this early in the season. But you're right, he picked the best moment on a big stage to have a great game. He really did. He had the intention of the football world, and then it evolved into the sports world. And I think it even went beyond that in some instances, because so many people were talking about what a remarkable performance he had.

So, you know what? We talk about can players rise to the moment? You know, as much as a moment the third week in the season can be, that was a moment. It was a moment. It definitely was a moment. And you know, the rankings, the power rankings that you love to do every week, which we don't do anymore because you love them so much, but that every website does, every, you know, sports and NFL website does, I mean, Washington took a massive jump. You know, ESPN.com's NFL power rankings, they went from 27 to 19 in one week. I saw another one where they went from 29 to 18 in one week. So there's some belief in the team as well.

Now, I think everybody recognizes that defensively it's a bit of a struggle right now. It's really putting it kindly, I think. So I wanted to start with this. So I'm a big believer, as you know, in Jaden Daniels. and everybody listening knows that I'm a big fan of Jane Daniels, and I wanted them to pick him. Yes, you're not a latecomer to this. You were on board with Jane Daniels very early into last college season.

Yeah, whatever. A lot of people were to. But here's the question that I want to get to, because it's amazing the reaction that he's gotten after Monday night. I mean, we've got, you know, pundits out there. former players, film experts. Everybody seems to think it's over. Jaden was the right selection.

You know, he should have been number one overall. And I would say that three games is, it's ridiculous to think that you know for sure that he's going to be great. It's ridiculous that you know for sure that he's even going to be good. It's ridiculous, if you think you know for sure, that he's going to be even good enough. And it's ridiculous three games into his career and Caleb Williams' career to think that you're absolutely sure that Washington got it right and Chicago got it wrong. And yeah, the game he played Monday night was spectacular. It's one of the great rookie performances in an NFL game ever. everybody's weighing in now that Jaden's the guy.

A lot of people were doing it beforehand, but now everybody seems to be doing it. The question I have for you, and I'll answer it as well, but I'm going to ask you the question first is, if you agree with me that it's too early and maybe you don't, when will you know? When would it be appropriate, maybe the wrong word? When would it be the right time? What would you need to see to feel like, okay, now I know. Maybe it's a number of games. Maybe it's a year or two.

Maybe it's winning something that matters. Maybe whatever it is, what do you need to see? And by when do you think you'll know that he was the right pick and he is a legitimate, you know, quarterback and maybe a really good one in the NFL? Well, that's an interesting question because I'm not necessarily afraid to be wrong because it happens so rarely. You know, it doesn't really bother me that much. Right.

Yeah. So in other words, I'd be willing to jump on the bandwagon and say, like another two games saying, this is it, this is the guy, he's great, and then wind up being wrong. Okay. but if I wanted to be careful and cautious about it, I would need to see, A, how he performs under duress when he's not playing well, how he acts, how he handled himself, and then B, a whole offseason after a season in the NFL. How does he handle?

Does he do with Chase Young? Is he on family feud before going to O.J? Yeah, does he skip OTAs for all the commercials that he could have probably scheduled at a different time? Yeah. I think I need to, if I need to be cautious to feel real confident about it, I need to see that entire picture, including an off-season and how he handles what comes his way. But I think it's okay today to realize that you've got tremendous potential for greatness. a lot more than you felt before the draft.

I think people were divided because there were so many quarterback options before the draft. You know, you had four guys who people were in one camp or the other as to, you know, who was the best quarterback in the draft. And so I think that kind of diluted the lining up behind this guy, lining up behind that. guy. But I think it's okay to get on board early. So what if you're wrong? But it's... My God. It's not about, you know, getting, going out on a limb and going with a hunch. That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking, when will you know for sure? I mean, you can guess now and not care about being wrong, but when will you know for sure that they got it right for the first time and forever?

Two big steps, how he handles adversity. How does he handle when he has a poor game, when he's not playing well? Does he stand up there and say, well, I can only do so much I need help from my teammates? Does he do that? Or does he take it all upon himself? You mean, like Aaron Rogers and Peyton Manning, you know, they need help from their teammates. Yeah. Yeah, a famous line, by the way, from RG3, and we have some RG3 to talk about.

about on the show today. Yes. And then again, the off season, how he handled the attention that comes his way. Because look, he has a whole now public relations team behind him. Okay. So they're expecting big things for Jaden Daniels off the field. The Jaden Daniels camp. You've heard from their PR people. Oh, yes, I did. Yes, I did. So they're expecting off the field attention. let's see how they handle it. Wow. So when you got around to answering the question, you got it right. I mean, I know you know you got it right, but that's my answer too.

My answer is I'm not going to know for sure until I see how he handles adversity. when he has and he will likely have. I mean, it's not a guarantee that'll have. I mean, after the other night, it certainly seems like it'd be really hard to see him playing poorly. But if he has a couple of rough games, and look, the sports world we live in right now as fans and as media people is so reactionary.

I mean, if he goes out and throws three picks and fumbles twice and they get blown out in Arizona. And Caleb Williams lights up the Colts, I think they play this weekend. There will be people saying, yeah, we were a little bit too early to jump on Jaden. Caleb looks really good. Looks like he did at USC. Jaden is kind of, he's kind of thin and slight. And, you know, he's got some processing issues.

He's got a high pressure to sack percentage rate. All this stuff would come back. But I think for me, even though I have a strong hunch, strong, hunch. I had it before I saw him play a regular season game, before I saw him play on Monday night against the Bengals. For me, I want to see how he handles, you know, what will come when he doesn't play well and the team doesn't win. And it looks like maybe it was because of him. Because that will happen. Now, I was doing this on radio this morning, Tommy, and I was thinking about quarterbacks that essentially started fast and have never really had to face adversity,

never really faced criticism. Now, Patrick Mahomes did not start his rookie year, but when he started in his second season, I mean, it started fast and it's remained fast. Like there's never been a dip. You know, I went back and looked at his first four games. His first four games as a starter in 2018, he threw 14 touchdown passes with no interceptions, averaged over 300 yards per game, and over 70% completion percentage, and they were 4-0. And it just, you know, he ended up that rookie,

that, not rookie year, his second year, throwing 50 touchdown passes and for well over 5,000 yards, and it just hasn't stopped. Dan Marino was the other one that came to mind, And basically, when he became the full-time starter, he was great. And it never relented. And the only criticism he faced was after six or seven years, why haven't you won a Super Bowl?

But, you know, he was already established at that point as a Hall of Fame quarterback. Everybody else, I mean, maybe you can think of other examples of people that started fast and they never really had to face professional adversity. But almost every quarterback, young quarterback, is going to face a tough period. So I agree with you. I think I will know for sure when I see that part of kind of the intangible, you know, picture. You know, we've heard some really good things about him. All summer long we heard great things about him.

You know, he's a key guy. He wants the key so he can show up first in the building and he's the last to leave and he's a gym rat. and he loves football and all of that stuff. And it all sounds great. And then he gets on the field and he plays really well. He played okay in the opener. He played much better in the second game. And the third game, he had one of the greatest rookie performances for a quarterback

of all time. And so if he has a dip here at some point, and it's a couple of rough games, and the criticisms start coming his way, I want to see how he handles that, both on and off the field. You know, like you said, how he handles that in his press conferences. Does he do what, you know, RG3 did, which is throw his team under the bus, you know, after not playing well? I don't think he will. Like, I think this everything I've heard, everything I'm observing tells me that he's got the it factor.

He's got the intangibles. He's got the humility, which is so important that he's a team first guy, all of that. And I think he's got the football stuff. But I want to see him go through that and see how he handles it. And by the way, I also want to see him play once people start to understand what he does great and what he doesn't do well. And when they start to take certain things away from him, defensive coordinators, I want to see him play some really good teams. I want to see how he plays in some really big games before I officially declare what I think I'm going to be able to officially declare right now, but I wouldn't be willing to do that. It's really absurd after three games the reaction he's gotten.

And then, you know, as a comparison, the reaction Caleb Williams is getting. I mean, there's no chance in my mind that Caleb Williams is done yet. He was an extraordinary talent. Speaking of Caleb Williams, since he was an extraordinary talent, what of the commanders had had to first pick in the 2024 draft? Jaden Danes. What have they had to first? Really?

I think so. Over Caleb Williams? I think so. I mean, Caleb Williams, even though there were different camps for the four quarterbacks, including McCarthy and Bo Nix and and, you know. Michael Panics Jr., Drake May, yes. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, there was a lot of division about that, you know. But Caleb Williams was considered the number one pick. That's why the Bears picked them. That's why they didn't pick Jane Daniels. Local kid, right, went to Damascus, didn't he? He went to Gonzaga, yes. But not. Okay.

Yeah. It's not exactly DeMatha. Gonzaga people wouldn't want me to say that the two are equivalent. And DeMatha people wouldn't want me to say that, you know, they're equivalent with Gonzaggy either. So he was a local kid. I mean, you know, if Snyder's here. Snyder was here. He definitely would have been the choice. No doubt. It would have been Caleb, yeah. I don't think this administration would be prone to overruling their football got people. If their football people wasn't dated Daniels, because, uh,

of a local marketing employee. That's really interesting. I don't know that I'm right. I mean, it's an interesting question because of the start here. And I'm not even basing it on the start. Okay, it's not, I'm basing it on what Adam Peters said, what Dan Quinn said, and I take them at their word because I believe, based on the conversations with people I've had, And I mentioned it specific to some of the analytics pushbacks to Jaden Daniels during the run-up to the draft.

And I shared with this with everybody that I understood from some conversations that people did not think a lot of the analytics concerns were concerns for them, that the organization as a whole fell in love with Jaden Daniels that. Adam Peters, the first time he turned the tape on, said, you know, let's pray to God that when we sit down and talk to him, that he's got all the other stuff because I want this guy that I'm watching on tape. I believe all that. I think the entire organization was all in on Jaden Daniels. But what we don't know is because we don't know if they were operating under the impression that we're not even going to have a chance at the other. guy because he's going to be the number one pick. I understand. I understand that.

I think, though, he was asked at one point, and it may not have been direct, but I think the implication was Jaden was the number one guy on our board, on our board. So, you know, again, maybe their board didn't include Caleb Williams because it was a foregone conclusion. Would it have taken some guts to have picked Jason Danans over Caleb. You know, there were plenty of people, and I'm talking about some of the, you know, NFL pundits out there. Lewis Riddick said Daniels is the best quarterback in this draft in Chicago. Yeah, I know.

Dan Orlovsky said the same thing. There were a couple of them. And, you know, the run-up to the draft, it was very much, you know, January, February, March. It's Caleb won, and then there's a debate about who's two. Drake May, Jane Daniels. There were some J.J. McCarthy people out there. Jay J.J. McCarthy, he rose quickly before the draft. But I think as we got closer to mid-April, early to mid-April,

I think the separation between Jaden and number three was there. And I think at that point there was a belief that Jaden Daniels was either the second best quarterback or maybe right there with Caleb Williams, that it was almost a coin flip. But interesting, interesting thought. Yeah, that would be my answer to you. And by the way, it would have been kind of controversial had they had the number one pick

and not taking Caleb Williams. Yeah? To have passed on Caleb Williams. It would have been a lot of second-guessing. What do you think? Do you have an opinion on the question that you asked me if they had had number one? I don't have a strong opinion.

I think that there's a possibility they would have taken the consensus number one, Caleb Williams. I think if they knew they had an equal shot at him at all the guys, I think they would have taken the consensus. I'm not going to give them credit yet for being clairvoyant enough to realize that the other guy, their guy, Jane Daniels, would have been their number one pick. Right. So, I mean, I tend to think they would have taken Williams. All right.

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with the code Kevin D.C. at Manscape.com. That's 20% off plus free shipping with the code Kevin D.C. at Manscape.com. Stay on top of your grooming game and be ready for anything this season throws your way. All right, Tommy. Tell us about Shelley's. Well, Shelley's back room is a special place. I'm sure everybody who listens knows that, in part because they have such great weekly food specials. And you can find that on their website at shelley's backroom.com. You can find all their menus, their drink menu, their food menu, their cigar menu at Shelley's back.

I'm going to be there tonight, Thursday night here at Shelley's Backroom, after my class to watch the Thursday night football game between the Cowboys and the Giants. because Shelly's is a great place to watch football. I mean, you're there with smart people, you know, who are there to have a good time. What's interesting about Shelly's is there's a good chance you'll meet somebody from out of town because a lot of people coming through D.C. looking for a place to have a cigar. The only place to go is Shelly's back room to do that. You like meeting people from out of town, don't you?

Well, yeah, I do. Yeah. I do. I like talking to those people. because they're usually interesting people who travel for a living are usually pretty interesting people I find. Do you like having a conversation with somebody visiting your town, or do you like being in someone else's town at a bar or a cigar bar and having a conversation with them about their hometown? Well, I like to both, but if I had to pick one, I like to be the visitor rather than to visitee. Yeah. That's interesting.

But you have both at Shelly's, yes. You have that at Shelly's. You have the eight high-definition TVs spread all throughout, you know, the bar and restaurant. You've got great comfortable seating at Shelly's, you know, beautiful couches, beautiful leather chairs. You've got tables that seat four people, you know, high-level tables, low-level tables, a great bar with a great bar tender. and great help. It's just, it's a great place to watch football.

And you know what? It's a great place to watch anything. Okay, I think you've gotten that message from me before. And I can't say it enough because when, sometimes on Twitter, whatever you call it, we'll hear from people who say,

took a year of your advice, went to Shelley's, no one has ever come back and said, I took your advice to went to Shelley's. It was terrible. Right. No, no, no. Nobody has.

Just the opposite. It's a place where you win Conval. So be a convert. Head for Shelly's backroom. And if you're in town visiting, Hope Tommy's there because he loves conversations with people who travel.

They're going to buy more drinks since they're on an expense account. Yeah, that's true. All right. So Mike Silver is a former, I don't even say former. He's a current NFL insider. I think he writes now for the San Francisco Chronicle.

but for years he was with the NFL network and he worked for actually the Washington football team in 2021. He was hired to contribute to the team's website. He was on the sidelines for the preseason games as the sideline reporter. He was a really good friend of Ron Rivera's. He had spent a lot of time over the years with Rivera. They were both Cal guys, Cal Berkeley guys. He was on a podcast yesterday, the Barstool Pardon My Take,

podcast. And the conversation turned towards Mike Shanahan's days in Washington, specifically in 2012, with the Robert Griffin III rookie season. And he started to talk about some of the things that went on that year. Now, a lot of what he said is kind of on repeat for us. We've known a lot of this stuff for many, many years. But there was a big revivation. that surprised me, forced me to actually follow up on it. But I want you to listen to this, you know, minute and a half of Mike Silver talking about the RG3 Mike Shanahan days in 2012 on a barstool, Pardon My Take podcast. You'll remember the Cleveland game that year.

RG3 gets hurt and now Kirk Cousins, who they'd also drafted that year, year. It's got to play in Cleveland, and they run a more traditional Shannahan offense game plan with a lot of boots, the fake handoff and the rollout, and Kirk Cousins goes wild in that game, and they win. So now, here's the postgame scene. Dan Snyder barrels through the locker room, goes right past Kirk Cousins, who is having this glorious moment, almost steps on him to get to Robert Griffin and say, hey, don't worry, it's okay, you're still my guy. And, Kirk is just standing there. It's super awkward.

While this is happening, RG2, Robert's father, who was very involved, has managed to somehow get in the locker room, and he's all over Mike Shanahan. Man, why didn't you call any running plays? And Mike's like, he can run on those boots. He just chose to throw out. We want to run those plays with Robert. And Robert comes back too early, probably, because he's threatened by that. All in for year two, I remember that.

Yeah, you know, that playoff game where he ends up tear it up the knee and that's the beginning of the end was horrible. But in most people's minds, well, he'll get surgery and they'll come back and they'll build on this and it'll be amazing. At the end of that season, Mike Shanahan ends up recommending to Dan Snyder, Bruce Allen, the GM, and the other owners. We should trade Robert now. We know he's not really what people think he is. the league's going to catch up, and it's not going to work out the way you think. His value is amazing. We might get back the three ones we gave up, and we can play with Kirk.

And Mike Shanahan has it all figured out. He's like, this is the best idea ever. And it did not go over well. So that last part, Tommy, Mike went to Dan and Bruce and said, let's trade him. that one was a big shock to me when I heard this yesterday. Now, the first part, you know, the Cleveland game, I mean, how many times have we discussed the Cleveland game? You know, Kirk doesn't run any read options. You know, Robert has a press conference on his own after the game.

Dan busts into the locker room, tramples Kirk to get to RG3 to tell him, you're still my guy. By the way, the one part of that Cleveland story he didn't tell was the story that Mike told us years ago, which was before the game started, Dan came onto the field with Robert, went to Mike and said, he's fine. He can play. Look, he's running around. Remember, he was doing his big warm-up routine.

And Mike said, well, the doctor didn't clear him, and he didn't practice this week, so he's not playing. and that's what really set, you know, Dan and Robert off is Robert tried to convince Dan he was fine, he could play the game, and, you know, that would have been a disaster, by the way. Look at what he looked like when he finally did come back. And he tried to get into that game. But he held the press conference, which was really our first clue that something wasn't right. Like, you don't hold a press conference. The dad was in the locker room. The dad was in the locker room, as Mike Silver said.

But holy shit. Are you kidding me? Mike went to Dan and Bruce after the season and said, let's trade him. We know he's really not what people think he is. The league's going to catch up, and it's not going to work out the way you think. His value is amazing. We might get back three ones, the ones that we gave up, and we can play Kirk. I was skeptical when I heard this.

yesterday. And the reason I was skeptical was how many conversations have the two of us had with Mike on the air? I've had with Mike on the air, off the air, and I've never heard this. So I asked Mike yesterday. I said, did you see this? He said, I didn't. And I said, is it true? He said, it is true. And then I said to him, why didn't you tell me that at one point? And he just said, I never really wanted to say that. You know, it's not something I really ever wanted to disclose, but I think in the Bay Area where Mike, look, Mike's kind of a part of the 49ers organization in many ways.

Very much plugged in there. Yeah, and I think he knows Mike Silver very well, and so I have a feeling that maybe it was sort of told to him to Mike in passing or whatever, and he shared the story. But anyway, I couldn't care less. A hell of a story. But here's the thing, Tommy. there's no way that Dan would have ever done it, obviously, and that was the answer.

Bruce wouldn't have done it either. They both thought Robert was the greatest thing they had ever seen. And by the way, he had just had one of the great rookie seasons of all time. Can you imagine the shit storm? Oh, my. That would have followed that. I mean, my God, there would have been people with pitchforks out at Redskins Park. Exactly.

And not only that, it would have been very divisive from a racial standpoint. This would have been in 2012, two years after, let me remind everybody, when people thought that there was racial insensitivity with the handling of McNabb when they benched McNabb in that Detroit game. And because of it, they had to give them this phony baloney contract before the Philadelphia. Philadelphia Monday night game, the one that Vic came in and threw a bomb to Deshawn Jackson over Loran Landry on the first play of the game in what, you know, has been referred to as the Monday night massacre, 59 to 28.

No, even if Bruce and Dan knew what Mike and Kyle and Matt Lafleur and everybody else knew, which is this guy's probably not going to be what, you know, people. think he's going to be. And we should strike while the iron's hot right now and get back all of these picks and Kirk will be great. There's no way, even if Dan and Bruce knew that,

that all of them could have collectively come to the decision to do it because of what you said the shit storm it would have created. It just would have been. You know, when I run things back, what if situations? To me, the ultimate

scenario is what if the NFL salary cap penalty had come down two days before. Before the trade. Before the trade. Yeah. They would not have made that trade. That's what Mike says. Mike's told us that before.

They wouldn't have made that trade after losing $18 million a year in salary cap penalty. They would have gone into the draft with all their draft. There's a good chance they would have drafted Russell Wilson. and if not him, Kirk, at some point. So, I mean, how dramatically different if the penalty, the punishment, had been a few days before

they actually handed it down. Yeah. It would change everything. John Mara just screwed Washington. I mean, there are a couple of things in the dysfunction days, the suspend reality days of the organization. 95% was, you,

you know, self-inflicted. But, you know, Mike swears to the, and Bruce has too, they never saw that coming. It was never about restructuring contracts to fit under the salary cap during the uncapped year or to fit into the uncapped year. It was about going out and signing players to big contracts. That was the collusion part, you know. and it wasn't just Washington. Washington got hit with the biggest penalty, but I think Dallas got dinged, and New Orleans got dinged. But yeah, I think it was Dallas. Dallas, Dallas got,

Washington got a $36 million penalty. Dallas got $10 million. Exactly. I'm not sure if there was anybody else. I thought it was New Orleans. Yeah, regardless. But to your point, if they had, I mean, there are two things here. One, if that had happened, yeah, they would have ended up with more likely than not Russell Wilson because he was ahead on their board of Kirk. But Kirk was right behind Russell Wilson. And not only that, all of them would have continued to coach for years here. Maybe. Yeah.

I mean, you know, you're right. One thing that we've talked about, Dan Snyder would have found a way to screw it up. He would have found a way to screw it up. But here's the thing about this suggestion that Mike made to them. it would have been the right football decision. Well, yeah. I mean... Because they knew, at least he knew,

that he was going to be exposed as an NFL quarterback. That, you know, they couldn't keep running what they were running, particularly him coming off surgery. And he was proven right by the fact that he failed every place he went after that. I'll never forget a conversation that this was, It was Gruden's first year, which was 2014, right? Mike leaves after the next year. And they're playing Cleveland.

I remember they were playing Cleveland in the preseason. And I was driving out to do the pregame show. And there was some issue with Kirk, with cousins and Griffin. And I can't remember exactly what it is. But I get a text from Mike, and so I call them. And I'm driving out to land. And he made a comment to me. He said, this upcoming season will be Robert Griffin's final season in the NFL.

He'll get an opportunity because that's why Jay got hired because he committed to giving RG3 a chance because that's what Dan wanted. That's what Bruce wanted. But he said, this will be the final year in the league for Griffin. and I said, the final year in the league, what are you talking about? Like he'll be a backup somewhere. He's like, nope. Now, he was a year or two off, you know,

and Griffin came back, remember, and was with the Steelers, with the Ravens, excuse me, as Lamar Jackson's backup. But he was certainly right about getting a legitimate opportunity to play. Cleveland gave him that, you know, one chance. Interesting. That was a surprise. And Robert, and Robert, even up until last year, was still going on social media, like lobbying for a chance to play in the NFL again.

Yeah. Well, you know what? Enough about yesteryear. You know, we don't have to suspend reality anymore to have conversations about this team. They're playing the Arizona Cardinals Sunday in Arizona. three and a half point underdogs. If they win, they're three and one, they're in first place. They may be in sole possession of first place by the end of the day.

The Eagles play at Tampa, which will be a tough game. So let's get to your prediction. Who do you got Sunday, Washington or the Cardinals? You know, I'd love to get on board and be at Northwest Stadium next week. for the three-and-one Washington commanders coming home for a home game. I would love to be part of that atmosphere, but I just can't do it. I think the defense is maybe even worse than we thought. I think Kyle or Murray this week with Arizona is really going to take them apart.

You know, it may not be a high-scoring, because I think there'll be, you know, some mistakes on both sides. But the defense for Washington is just too much of a liability for quarterback like Murray. But it'll be a close game. I've got a Cardinals win in 24 to 23. 2423 Cardinals. Do you have a footnote? Do you have a footnote for the game? Yeah, 24, 23, that's probably the under of the total.

It would be. The total's 50. Very good. Yeah, the total's 50. that. And this will be where Jane Daniels throws his first interception will be this Sunday in Arizona. So that's my footnote. And look, I mean, they could be able to, if it's an offensive shootout, Washington may be able to match up with Arizona, you know, but I just think that, and Arizona's defense is not that good, but they held it the line for 20 points.

I don't think the Washington defense could do that. No Austin Echler Sunday. That'll hurt. I think he's been the second best player on the team through three games after Jaden. You know, what's interesting about your turnover, your interception, is that, as we know, the team has not turned the ball over once in the first three games. They haven't punted in the last. two games, the two games that they won.

You know, just one punt in the giant game, one punt in the Cincinnati game, or one turnover in the giant game, or one turnover in the Cincinnati game, and they'd be 0 in 3. But the turnovers are always, you know, everybody knows influential on the outcome. But just think about the two games. If they had punted one time in the giant game, they would have probably lost the game. If they had punted one time in the Cincinnati game, they probably would have lost the game. They have scored on 13 straight possessions. That's insane.

It's actually 14 if you count the last one in the Tampa game. But they can't afford to punt. I was saying this to Denton this morning on radio. And I probably mentioned this to you the other day. You know, the best friend of a young quarterback is a running game and a defense. They've got a running game. They have no defense. And last year, there were so many people that said, well, if he's so good, why weren't they in the playoffs?

Why did they only win eight games or whatever it was they won? How did they lose three, four games? Well, because he literally played on a team in college football last year that had one of the three, worst defenses in Power 5 college football. It was so bad that LSU couldn't afford to punt in, you know, games against teams that could beat them. And he's right back in the same situation. He can't punt.

If they had punted in either game, they would have lost. Yeah. So the one interception and you've got it 24, 23, that'd probably be the difference in the game. Yeah, you're right. He has a razor-thin edge of basically, you know, errors right now because they're defensively. I mean, the offense can't afford to make errors. I mean, I hope that changes.

I really do. I hope that somehow they get, you know, used to the scheme, they get more comfortable, they get more chemistry because it is a new team. you know, a lot of new players. I don't know whether or not the personnel can get much better. You know, I think we knew before the season started, Corner was a problem. You know, outside pass rusher was a problem.

But there's so much of an, there are issues everywhere. And we don't know if Joe Witt can coach him up or not. Yeah, I'm actually interested. This afternoon he'll have the course. coordinators press conference. The last few weeks I've looked forward to hearing from Cliff, and I'm going to look forward to hearing from him as well. But I'm interested to see how he handles the questions about what is right now

one of the worst defenses in the history of the game over the first three weeks of an NFL season. It's so bad, and I talked about where they were DVOA-W-wise and where they were historically on yesterday's show. They're 32nd right now in the league, Tommy. And the second worst team is so far ahead of them. Like it would take probably two to three solid defensive games in a row for them to move out of the 30 second spot. That's how bad they've been in the first three games defensively. So that's going to, look, that's going to have to improve.

because I have, on Monday night, in addition to being super excited about Jaden Daniels and his performance, I also started to get this thought that I might be right about 10 and 7. But I got to dial that back until I see massive improvement on the other side of the ball. It's really hard to win more games than you lose if the defense. ends up being the 32nd ranked defense in the league. So, and yet, the power rankings, you know, now keep moving them up. You know, CBS Sports, 17th, ESPN, 19th. If they beat Arizona, they're going to move into the top 14 or 15, like those things matter.

It's hard to get healthy for a defense when you're playing a quarterback like Kyle or Murray, who's played very well so far. Yeah. And then, you know, next week, look, the Browns are a mess right now on offense with Deshawn Watson. But imagine this defense against Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry in two weeks. Oh, boy. You're going to, you can't punt in that game. That's a game you can't pun in, for sure.

All right. We got a couple of other things to finish up this show on, including the situation in college football at UNLV. We'll get to that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, I feel healthier, younger, and full of energy, all things being said about mitopure, the newest sponsor on the podcast, and the first product to offer a precise dose of urolithin A. What's urolithin A? It's a postbiotic.

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That's promo code Sheean at navage.com slash Sheen. This segment of the show brought to you by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C., and MyBooky will give you up to a $1,000 cash bonus on your initial deposit. No one's giving that kind of bonus out. You should take advantage of it, even if you have another place where you're wagering on sports right now. My Booky's got everything you need. Tonight's game, the Cowboys currently minus five and a half in the Metal against the Giants. I've seen some sixes out there. Five and a half is a good number if you like Dallas tonight. No smell test pick tonight. I know a lot of you thought I might give the Giants out. I'm not giving the Giants out. There's actually a lot of public money on Dallas, but there's some sharp money on Dallas as well. So I am off that game. Right now, Washington is a three and a half-point underdog at my bookie in Arizona. And it's the largest total of the week. The total is 50. So that's the highest over-under total on the board. Man, Washington went from

a team that people didn't think would score much at the beginning of the year to now a team that the books don't think can be stopped offensively. And Arizona, same thing facing Washington's defense. Everything you need for Saturday right now, Georgia minus two in the biggest game of the year so far at Alabama on Saturday night. Man, that should be a good one. It looks like the hurricane, which is really going to be devastating for parts of Florida and then inland, Tommy, heading into Georgia. But it looks like a lot of that for the south will be cleared out by Saturday and certainly by Saturday night. But that game Saturday night, can't wait to see that.

Georgia and Bama, they've got plenty of prop bet opportunities on that game. So go to mybooky.ag or mybooky.com. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C., if you want to bet on football and get access to up to $1,000 into your account as a cash bonus. So college football, the big story here over the last couple of days as we enter into late September is UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka, who left UNLV on Tuesday night over a claim that he did not get paid his NIL money that was promised to him. $100,000 was promised to him by an assistant coach to transfer via the transfer portal. from Holy Cross to UNLV, and UNLV is 3 and O, and they are in the mix for the guaranteed playoff spot that will go to the highest ranked non-power conference team.

This is UNLV football we're talking about, not Jerry Tarkhanian. Tarkhanian's probably rolling in his grave saying, I can get him the 100 grand. That's easy. There's a lot here that is he said, she said. You know, UNLV is saying that the assistant coach did not have the authority to verbally offer $100,000 to this player. The player says that it was verbally offered. They all admit that there was nothing in writing.

He had an agent, Marcus Cromartie. I can't believe that if he's got an NIL agent, that this guy didn't get something in writing. That's not a very good agent. I would start with that. Some of the stories that are coming out from the university now are that there was an agreement, but really he is coming back to the table to double dip because of the start that the team's gotten off to. It's hard to know what's true and what isn't.

But I think, Tommy, the bottom line here is everybody gets hurt in this thing. First of all, this is NIL transfer portal run wild, and this is the beginning, man. It's not even the beginning. This is high profile because UNLV is 3 and O. We've already heard a lot of stories about players not getting paid what they were told they would get paid by universities. But it doesn't look good for the kid who's quitting on his team. It doesn't look good for the university. The perception is that they didn't fulfill a promise.

And quite honestly, it looks really bad on the NCAA because these are the things that really turn fans off. They're not going to stop watching Bama Georgia on Saturday night or Ohio State, Michigan. College football is still number two in this country. But, you know, it's the thought that the college sports in particular is now truly professional sports. and I don't think that's good for college sports. But what do you think? Well, I think you're right. Nobody comes out looking good in this, including the NCAA.

It really is another illustration of what a cesspool college sports has become, and what a turnoff it is. Not enough of a turn off, like you said, to turn a television channel to the Lawrence Welk show instead of watching the Bama game. Jesus. Google that one. Who knows what that show is? A couple of people listening.

But that's worse a YouTube, sir. No, it isn't. It's not worth a YouTube. No, it isn't. Yes, just for laugh. That was terrible. It's worth a YouTube, sir. I mean, the people that you referred to the other day that saw Sammy Ballplay knew the reference.

Nobody else did. Well, anyway, I think you're spot on. I mean, nobody looks good. this. And if I were Maryland football, I'd go give this guy $100,000 to come play at Maryland. I like Maryland's quarterback right now, Billy Edwards Jr. It's also one of those. Whenever these stories pop up, I always think, what would my advice to the kid be if I were, you know, his father or his uncle or his coach? My advice would be go play football. Go play football because there will be too many people that will basically come to the conclusion, including people that

will be able to help you in your football career and beyond football that will think and remember you quit on your team at 3-0. You know, for a hundred grand. The money will be there. If he's as good as he seems to be, the money will be there for him at some point. Well, this may be the most money he'll ever have a chance to make, too. I mean, by redshirting and then going into the pool again. But if he was really screwed and lied to and he's been expecting this money and they didn't pay it,

I understand. I mean, you know, you were promised something. They're not fulfilling it. The only way you can get him to pay is to say, my services aren't going to be rendered moving forward. I just think it's tough, man. That's a bad job by the agent, by the NIL agent. You've got to get that in writing. And by the way, you've got to get half of it up front on signature.

Seriously. Like if this guy was as sought after as it appears he may have been in the portal last year because he was a pretty good quarterback at Holy Cross, and he had other options, maybe not to play, but he had money options, they should have had more leverage with UNL. V. And by the way, if it's an assistant coach that makes the offer, at this point, you've got to be smart enough to understand that, yes, the coaches are very much involved in picking the players, but these things, you know, the money handling is handled by these collectives and the people

running those collectives. Like, this may be a tough lesson to learn for him, but it may prevent something in the future, although I doubt it. But how do you go into something like that, not having it in writing and not, you know, demanding, you know, some sort of payment upon signature, you know, we're getting 20 to 30 percent up front. If you're the family, how do you have these conversations without somebody having the phone recording device on the whole time? Well, that's what you would recommend. Look, in many ways, these are very unsophisticated people, you know? I mean, we don't know what his family's like. We don't know what this kid's like, but he had an agent.

The agent, I mean, there are a lot of agents out there. This agent did not do his player any kind of good here with the way it was handled. All right, you wanted to talk about something that you did over the weekend. I know you were coming down to my neck of the woods. I wasn't here. Right, I was at the Palisades Hub to see the Soul Crackers. saw a lot of people who were fans at a podcast come up and introduce themselves to me

but one of which was interesting he was an opera singer and later he proved it because it was somebody's birthday and he sang happy birthday to him and he had just a remarkable voice but he's a big fan of a podcast and he says to me

he says you know if you want I can give you singing lessons to help you with your carry home And I looked at him, I said, what makes you think I need singing lessons? Oh, you do, but I mean, he can't help. And then he can't help you. He says, you know, it would give you more confidence. And I said, what about he thinks you need?

I need more confidence. Yeah. No. So I wanted to share that with you. I thought you got a kick out of that. Yeah, I would have interrupted him, and I would have said, he doesn't need lessons. don't do that to him.

He thinks he actually can sing. At his age, why do you want him to think any differently? It's not like it's going to be a career. Well, that guy could sing. Yeah, when you meet people who really have that kind of talent and can really sing, it's kind of cool. Because most of us don't. And I might want to point out, like I explained to him,

Tommy Purify has retired, forced out, by his unfortunate dealings with the mob. Yeah, that was, thank God you didn't pay that guy. That's all I can say. All right, 2423, Arizona, Tommy has, with Jaden Daniels throwing his first interception of the year. Tomorrow I'll have preview picks. Jay Gruden will be on the show.

By the way, if you missed yesterday's show, Ram was on with me, but I also had Gravis Vasquez on the show. Just one of my all-time favorite Maryland basketball players. There's a cool screening of a documentary, which is a lot about Gravis's battle from his injury that ended his NBA career. But he was great. You can listen to that. I think it starts right about the one-hour mark of yesterday's show. All right, Tommy, I'll talk to you on Tuesday. All right, boss.