The Kevin Sheehan Show - Will Washington Make News In Indy?

Episode Date: February 22, 2025

Kevin opened with Maryland's win last night against USC and explained why the Terps have become a Final 4 threat. Will Washington make news next week at the Indy Combine? He discussed that before welcoming Ross Tucker-(CBS/Westwood One) back on the show. Plenty of Commanders talk with Ross including the gap between Washington and Philly and what kind of an approach Adam Peters should take this off-season. Kevin finished with some thoughts on the hockey last night. 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 Cheon Show. Here's Kevin. Oh, no. This footwork belies his age. That was the voice of Phil Martelli on the call last night in College Park for Fox Sports One. Martelli, the longtime coach at St. Joe's in Philadelphia.

In recent years, he was helping Joanne Howard in Ann Arbor. Michigan, he was, like everybody else, rather impressed with Derek Queen. Maryland, with another big offensive night last night, they rolled to an 88 to 71 win over conference foe, Southern Cal. The Terps have won eight of nine. They are surging right now just in time with March Madness right around the corner. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, Windonation, 86690 Nation, windonation.com. If you need new windows, mention my name, they'll take good care of you. I do have one guest on the show. Next segment, Ross Tucker will jump on with me.

We will talk. Washington, we'll talk Philadelphia, NFC East, other NFL. The Indy Combine starts on Monday. I think it's going to be a newsy week. I think with the Miles Garrett stuff, with all the quarterbacks, with all of the front office execs, GMs descending on Indianapolis. I think next week has a chance to be a big news week, breaking news week. Will Washington be involved? I think there could be some Washington news next week. I'll speculate on some of that in a few minutes.

I did watch the hockey last night, or at least some of it. I loved it. I've got a few thoughts on that in the final segment of today's show. I start the show with this from David in Fairfax. David is a huge Terps fan, and he writes, Kevin, this team is so much better than the 2020 team. You keep saying that the Terps won the Big Ten championship in 2020. They were actually co-Big Ten champions,

and they were not playing their best at the end of that season. This group is more explosive and they're a fast team. Willard coaches differently than Turgeon. He lets his kids play. I'm not knocking Turge because I have agreed with you in the past that he was a much better coach than the fans thought, but he was a much different coach in style of play. Thanks, go Terps.

David, you're right about the style. No doubt. Mark Turgeon and Kevin Willard have different styles of coaching offensive basketball in particular. The pace of play stats tell the whole story on that. In 2019-2020, Maryland's co-Big Ten championship season, Maryland was 265th in the country in possessions per game. Now, they were very efficient offensively,

but they were a slower pace of play team. This year, they're 76th. in the country. And actually, when you consider just the Power 4 schools, the Power 4 conference schools, they are 16th in possessions per game. So yeah, the Terps are a high-flying group. They look to get out on misses quickly. I love the way they play. And what's amazing about it is they play fast and they don't really have a deep bench to support that style and that pace of play. Five starters play a larger percentage of the minutes, and they score all of the team's points, basically.

Last night, again, 85 of the 88 scored were by the starting five. And yes, you are right. They did share the Big Ten regular season title in 2020 with Wisconsin and with Michigan State. But, you know, as far as my description of that team, what I've said is this is the best team since 2020. You could argue this team is better than the 2020 team, but I wouldn't look at the way they finished. They had a tough finishing stretch. They got blown out by Michigan State in what was a huge game at the end of the year in College Park. That came two weeks after they had beaten Michigan

State on the road, but that team was battle tested. You know, they were five and two against ranked teams. They had gone on the road and beaten the likes of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan State, all ranked teams. They had one of the best and most experienced point guards in the country and Anthony Cowan. They had a big in Jalen Smith, Stick Smith, who was blowing up before our very eyes. They had the defensive player of the year and Daryl Morsell in the Big Ten. They had Aaron Wiggins off the bench with his scoring. They had a lot of what this team had. And the ability to kill you with perimeter shooting and playmaking, and they also had a big guy who was becoming unstoppable.

They had a much better bench than Marilyn had. They had Eric Ialla, they had Dante Scott. Now, that team did not have two big guys like this team does. They had just one big. But I think that 2020 team did have a chance to make a deep run. You're not going to get me off of that. That was clearly Mark's best team, and it was experienced. And, you know, unfortunately, we had a pandemic, and it shut down the entire March postseason.

No doubt, though, this Maryland team right now is as good and has as much of a chance to make a deep March run as any team they've had in a long time. I mean, if you want to go back to the national championship season in 2002, they've had some very good teams that haven't made runs. You know, the 2020 team didn't have a chance to. The 2010 team, the ACC, co-regular season champions with Duke, got beat by Michigan State on a buzzer-beater 15 years ago coming up on that Cory Lucius anniversary for you Turp fans. Yes, that is a painful memory.

the 2003 team got to the Sweet 16, the 2015 team got to the Sweet 16. They've had some good teams, but this one looks different. It looks, like I said last week, it looks like a final four contender. Look, there are reasons that I'm going to get into on this. I'm actually tempted this week to say they are a national championship contender, not just a final four contender, but a national championship contender. But for now, I'll stick with just saying that a run to the final four is a legit possibility for Maryland. Some of the reasons I feel that way.

This is a good defensive team, but it is an elite offensive team the way they're playing right now. They've got one of the best starting fives in the country, average points for their starting five, number one in the country. They are built for March. They have great guards. If the tournament is about guards, and many people have said that over the years, Maryland's got that part covered. They have an exceptional point guard in Jacoby Gillespie. They've got two wings in Rice and Miguel, and all three of these guys can torch you from behind the arc, and they can make plays if you try to run them off the three-point line. By the way, as an aside, Rodney Rice, to me, looks like an NBA player. I'll just say that. He's just so good on both ends. He's super explosive off the

dribble. He can shoot it from deep, and he has a prolific mid-range game. I did not think, you know, when they got him in the portal from Virginia Tech, that I had no idea he was this good. He looks like a pro to me. Derek Queen, obviously, is a lottery pick. I think Rodney Rice looks like a pro. Maybe not in this upcoming draft, but maybe in 2020. Anyway, I digress. Guards, they've got them. What if a team they play in the tournament is super athletic on the perimeter, super long on the perimeter, and they take Maryland's outside game away, well, then the Terps just go inside. Few teams have the combination of inside outside like Maryland does,

and few teams anywhere have two big men like Maryland does. Derek Queen and Julian Reese have become nearly impossible at times to stop. You know, Maryland can play through the post with either one of them. They can play through the elbow, you know, at the free throw line with Derek Queen. He can also post. This is a team that can go inside out or outside in. They are just so good and so versatile offensively. And they're a good defensive team, although I do think they lapse.

at times defensively. And I think it's because they realize how good they are offensively. And so they'll go a few minutes with giving up too much defensively with the mindset of, well, they're not going to stop us. Their issue in their weakness is depth. They don't have any scoring off the bench. Foul trouble would be an issue for them in a one-and-done tournament. But absent of that or just a bad night or injuries, they're a team right now that, you know, I'm not the only one now. You've got others describing the Terps as a final four sleeper. They've averaged 90.7 points per game in their last three, all right?

They are currently the ninth leading scoring team in the country, averaging 83.7 points per game. They're fifth in the country in scoring margin. They are 14th in offensive efficiency. They are currently ranked 12th in the net rankings. They are 14th in the Ken Pomeroy rankings. The Ken POM numbers are the advanced statistical rankings that measure overall team quality. Over the last 22 seasons, 20 of the national champions have been ranked in the top 20

in both Ken Palm's offensive efficiency ranking and defensive efficiency ranking. 20 of the last 22 national champions have been ranked in the top 20 of Ken Palm offense and Ken Palm defense. The only two teams that weren't 2014 Yukon and 2021 Baylor. Right now, there are only 16 teams. in college basketball ranked in the top 20 of both, both Ken Palm's offensive efficiency and defensive efficiency rankings. Those six teams are Auburn, Duke, Houston, Florida, Iowa State, and Maryland. By that measurement, Maryland is right now one of just six national championship contenders.

That makes my final four thoughts and, you know, hope and projection, almost look too obvious. Of course, in a one-and-done tournament, anything can happen. We know that. We see it every year. Foul trouble, injuries, bad night. All in play for everybody. Auburn last year was one of those teams ranked in the top 20 in both Ken Pondon.

offense, Ken Palm defense. They were considered a final four contender out on opening night against Yale. Anything can happen in March. It's what makes it so great. But this March, the Terps will head into the tournament. And if they keep playing the way they've been playing, they're going to be a very dangerous team. They've got a huge game Wednesday night at home against Michigan State. By the way, tonight, Michigan State at Michigan, a huge game in the Big Ten. Maryland is currently just fifth in the Big Ten standings, but they're just a game and a half at a second and two games at a first. And both of those teams, Michigan State and Michigan, Maryland plays over the final two weeks of the season. A strong finish to the regular season, say a three and one finish, that probably gets them into the top 16.

So gets them a four seed. If they were to win out, I think they're on the three line. A big run in the Big Ten tournament might help as well. I think right now best case for them is a three seed. The top eight to nine seeds are kind of going to be hard to root out. But I don't think they're any worse than a five seed. I think they're kind of in that four to five range right now. Three is a possibility.

look, if they don't play well down the stretch and they fall apart somehow, they could end up being a seven seed. But I think right now Maryland is a pretty good bet to be a top five seed in a region and maybe a three or a four, where they would be favored to get to the second weekend. All right, I know for some of you, that was a lot of Maryland. but for others, you'd like me to probably go on a little bit longer. But we are done with Maryland talk until next week when Michigan State comes to town. That will be the toughest ticket of the year for a Maryland basketball game. All right, let's talk some football.

The Indy Combine starts on Monday, and I just have a feeling that next week is going to be a big news week. I don't know if it'll be Blockbuster news. comes out of next week, but there's just too much lining up that is more veteran-related than draft-related. Last year, remember, the focus was on the draft and all of the quarterbacks. You know, who was going to go after Caleb Williams and who was trading up and who was going to pick whom, and that was the focus of last year's offseason. Not that Derek Henry joining Baltimore and Saquan Barkley going to Philadelphia and

Josh Jacobs going to Green Bay and Kirk Cousins getting traded to Atlanta. And, you know, there were some big, you know, moves last year that were headline worthy. But last year's offseason was about this unique quarterback draft. And ultimately six went in the top 12, which was a record for the most quarterbacks in the shortest amount of draft time. But this year's offseason is focused more on what, happen in free agency and what may happen via the trade market. Not to say that Shadur, Sanders, and Cam Ward, and the draft won't generate a lot of attention and it will, but we're going to get the quarterback carousel started next week. Fortunately, we're not

involved this year, but it will be a big deal in terms of, is Matt Stafford staying in LA or is he actually going to be moved? Is Sam Darnold going to resign in Minnesota or is he going to become a free agent where there may be multiple bidders for Sam Darnold? What's going to happen in Pittsburgh with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields? What's going to happen with Aaron Rogers? Is there a place for Kirk Cousins to go and start? What about a guy like Derek Carr? Does Kellan Moore want Derek Carr as his quarterback. There are teams with quarterback needs this year, and there aren't a lot of, you know, certified, guaranteed successful outcomes out there. The Stafford thing to me is the most interesting. I just still, I don't buy that Sean McVeigh is going to part ways or is going

to allow the organization to part ways with Matt Stafford. But it certainly seems like that becoming more of a possibility. I had Diana Rusini on radio with me today, and she said that a lot of, you know, there wasn't a lot of reporting on this because they ultimately reached a deal last year, but that there was an understanding with a lot of the NFL insiders

that the conversation between the Rams and Matt Stafford was not smooth, that there was a lot angst around it and that, you know, there may have been more reporting about moving on from Matt Stafford last year had it gotten a little further along from where it was, but it was not apparently a comfortable offseason between the Rams and Matt Stafford. Anyway, we don't have to worry about quarterbacks, but I think that one of the reasons next week will be a newsy week is the quarterback carousel. The other is Miles Gerexie. Garrett, are we going to find out next week if Cleveland's actually going to trade him?

Might a deal be struck that gets reported on, even though I don't think it can be finalized until the league calendar begins in March? We've had many a trade announced or reported on before it could become official. I think that could be a big news story next week. As far as Washington goes, I think next week there could be some news that's roster-related. And Ben Standing reminded me today on radio that last year during the Indy Combine Week, they cut a few players. They cut Charles Leno Jr. They cut Logan Thomas. You know, it may be something on that level. It could also be Miles Garrett related. I'd be in favor of that. I want to see what the compensation looks like.

but I would certainly be in favor of finding out sometime next week that Washington and Cleveland have a deal in place for Miles Garrett to be dealt to Washington. You know, Ben mentioned to me today that he thinks that there is a chance, and he thinks it's more than just a possibility. He'd lean at least a slight probability that John Allen will. be released. Now, we've talked about John Allen as a potential, you know, move in the offseason. He's got no money left on his deal. He wants a contract extension. Is the team going to give him a contract extension? I would not rule it out. That is just a hunch. I would not rule out a contract extension for John Allen. I think they believe that he played pretty well before he got hurt and that coming back the way he did was a real indication of the kind of guy they have.

He is a culture fit for this group. And they need players that play that position as of now. Dron Payne and Johnny Newton, if John Allen was released, they would be penciled in as the starters for defensive tackle. But even a guy like Sheldon Day who got some run, he's an unrestricted free agent. But Ben thinks that there's at least a slightly higher than 50-50 possibility that John Allen will be released.

So, you know, something like that could happen with their own free agents. You know, you could have some announcements next week. As an example, like Zach Ertz and Bobby Wagner, they loved it here last year. At their ages, are they going to hit the open market as unrestricted free agents and watch a bidding war ensue? They might. They absolutely might. and they might do it just for leverage so that they get the best possible deal from Washington.

But I think it's also possible that a Bobby Wagner or a Zach Ertz signs early to return. I want both of those guys back. I do. I certainly want Zach Ertz back. Bobby Wagner had a great season. Zach Ertz was incredibly important last year to Jaden Daniels. And there's no sign yet. I'm not saying that there won't be signs. But there's no sign that Ben Sinait is an obvious he's going to step in and take the place of Zach Ertz in his second year. But, you know, we could see something like Tressway. He's an unrestricted free agent.

I bet most of you did not know that Tressway and both kickers, Gonzalez and Cyberd, are free agents. Can you see Tressway punning for anybody else? He had a decent year last year. He finished fifth in the league in net. punting yards. He was a phenomenal holder. Let's not forget that. They had some issues with snaps, and

he did a great job as a holder. But we could see something like that, you know, a tressway re-sign. Or somebody like, you know, Zechias, Olamidi Zakias. Like, I could see something like that happening next week. In fact, that's my hunch

for next week, that there's going to be news related to Washington signing Olamedi Zakias. This is a hunch, people. This is not an informed hunch. It's not an educated hunch. It is certainly not anything resembling a report. Okay. So if somebody in the local media asks me to reveal my sources, which no one would ever do, there's no sources that need to be revealed because this is not a report. I was just thinking, though, about Zakias in particular, because they loved him.

He loved them. He was productive. He was the perfect culture fit. They said it when they signed him last year. They kept referring to it during the course of the year. It was very clear that Quinn and Kingsbury loved Ozzy. They loved themselves some Olomidi Zakias. And by the way, Jaden liked him too.

And he had a productive year. And he's not a guy that's going to hit the open market and be sought after. Let me just see what his projected market value is. I'm going to guess that it's like $2.5 million a year, something like that, maybe $3 million a year. So a two-year $6 million, $2-year $5 million deal would probably get it done. What did he play for last year? Okay, here's his spot rack. All right.

He played last year basically $1.3 million for one year. his market value for the upcoming season. He is an unrestricted free agent. His calculated market value is a one-year salary at $1.9 million. So there you go. Two years, four million, call it a day. Maybe they give them five, you know, two and a half. I don't know.

Spot racks not always, you know, spot on. But two years, four and a half, five million bucks. and you get a culture guy back that they really like, that the quarterback likes, who's productive, who's only 27 years old. There's not going to be a big market for him. Now, you may say, well, they may be looking for a slot guy. Chris Godwin's a free agent. Well, if Chris Godwin's a possibility, then, you know,

Zakias could still be signed as, you know, a backup wide receiver. He didn't come in as a starter last year. He wasn't signed to be a starter. Godwin, by the way, most of the stories out there are that he's going to stay in Tampa. I think the receiver they're looking for is, and it's not a great receiver market, especially with T. Higgins potentially off of it. So there you go. There's my one next week, totally uninformed hunch, just based on, you know, connecting some dots.

Like they like him, he likes them, he had a productive year. he's not going to kill it in the open market and, you know, I think they'd want him back. We'll see. Next week could be interesting. You know, they've got a bunch of unrestricted free agents, you know. Jeremy Chin, I think, is going to the open market. I would think he's going to the open market

unless Washington blows him away with a deal. Yeah. Interesting week coming up and we will be here all week. to talk about it. All right, Ross Tucker next after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, if you've lost your hair or you're losing your hair, it doesn't mean you can't find it again. Try him's hair loss solutions. You'll be joining hundreds of thousands who have found their hair again. Men value many different things about their appearance. If you're one of those who really cares about your hair and find that it's slowly going away, you might be feeling discouraged when you're

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and you don't have to pay anything for two years. All right now is Ross Tucker. Ross is the host of the Ross Tucker podcast. You can get his podcast anywhere. You get a podcast just like mine. But Ross has been doing games for CBS, for Westwood One, college games, pro games. He's excellent as a game analyst. And you can follow Ross on X on Twitter at Ross Tucker NFL.

He is an entrepreneur. I have learned that about Ross Tucker over the years. He's always involved in something, in the way of a startup or an early stage company. So what is this FutureFans.com about? Yeah, I guess this is not an entrepreneur. This is an investor. Okay.

I met these guys, and honestly, it's like the greatest thing I've ever seen for getting younger kids to actually understand how football works. And the funny thing is, there's so much buzz right now. in the D.C. area, that that's like their best-selling area. Because I think people are realizing with Jay Daniels and Dan Quinn that the commanders are back, that Washington football is back, and they want, you know, their five-year-old or seven-year-old or their nephew or a grandchild, whoever, to actually watch the game with him. I don't know, Kev, we never talked about, you know, your family situation, but it is

hard to sit down and watch the whole game with you. I mean, really hard. So these guys came up with this incredible storybook-led activity box. So you read like a chapter. And the chapter, you know, the kid thinks that this is a story, but it's really about how the downs work. And then you do like a ring toss game, and then they got it. And then you're watching the game, and they actually know, okay, this is second down.

Okay, they still have five yards to go. So I would just encourage anyone that wants to have like the gift of a lifetime of having your child or niece or nephew or anybody you know that has a kid that wants the children to watch the commander's games with them, or any football for that matter, send them to FutureFans.com because these guys have cracked the code. I mean, they're doing all kinds of partnership. You'll appreciate this, Kev. These guys are Bengals fans because I met them.

And a few years ago, you know, they tried to have their kids watch the game when they went to the Super Bowl, you know, that playoff run. And their kid was like, nah, I don't feel like I'll do it. No, no, we're the Bengals. This only happens every 30 years. You need to sit down and watch it. But the truth is, like, you're not going to get your kids to sit down and watch the game unless they actually understand what's going on.

And it's really pretty complicated to explain it. This is so much better, so much easier. FutureFans.com, give it a look. If you have anybody that, if you know anybody that has kids or if you have kids, futurefans.com, can't highly recommend it enough. My kids are much older now. You know what's interesting is that I've always said this about young kids who get into sports and really have a passion for football, basketball, any sport, and they're following a team,

they're following a league. It helps in two specific areas. Math and geography. I think one of the reasons I know a lot about. just, you know, different cities in different areas of the country, and I did as a young person, was because of my love of sports. You know, I, how many people that didn't know anything about football had ever heard of Green Bay? Or, you know, knew that, you know, like, I learned so much about geography and so much about math,

especially, by the way, multiples of seven. Those were the easy ones. Your seven times tables were pretty easy if you were a football fan as a kid. But I think there's so many of those things that are sort of ancillary benefits when you're a young person passionate about sports. Anyway. Couldn't be more. And it's so funny you say that because absolutely geography, absolutely math.

And nowadays, you know, with the way I know a lot of people are betting, I know kids that it really helped them with. money. And you understand the money part of it because of that. Well, look, you're talking to somebody who had issues with it from a very young age. Okay, I was one of those teenagers that was into betting and all of my friends and still to this day. So I've never struggled with the math part of gambling, with odds and probability. But here's the one thing that I would recommend to all young people. Actually, don't bet. That's the best advice I can give you. But that's, you know, from the school of hard knocks. My kids are betting and all of their friends are betting, and I consistently on

weekends during football season, get group text messages from my son's friends with my son on board saying, who do you like? All right, let's talk some football. I have not talked to you. I don't think since maybe early in the season. So overall, what did you think of Washington's season and Jaden Daniels in particular? Well, obviously extremely impressive. You know what I mean? I think it was one thing for them to have a nice regular season

and for them to, you know, make the playoffs. But I think it was the way in which they did it. You know, the thing I've been saying to a lot of people, Kev, is like you could tell early in the year that Jaden Daniels was good. What I think is maybe just as important, if not more important, he's clutch.

He plays his best when it matters the most. And I'm thinking about they're down two scores against the Eagles. And I know week 16, and I know, okay, I'm very well aware

that Jalen Hertz got hurt in that game. Guess what? Jalen Hurts doesn't play defense. and the Eagles had the best defense in the league, and Jane Daniels lit them up in the fourth quarter of that game to win that game. That's the only game the Eagles lost since the buy in week five. The only game, they lost. I mean, they were a machine after that, except for that game against the commanders.

And then the following week, you know, the end of regulation, overtime against the Falcons on Sunday night football. I mean, I'm just, then you get to the playoffs. and what he did in the fourth quarter against the bucks, and I guess he didn't have to be as clutch in the Lions game because they kind of pulled away from them. But still, I mean, he played his, I even thought he played pretty darn well against the Eagles in the NFC championship game.

You know, they obviously couldn't stop the Eagles, and I'd like to see how that game would have gone if it weren't for the three fumbles, you know, which were good played by the Eagles punching him out. But, I mean, I don't care what the final score says. The commanders were definitely more competitive in the NFC championship games than the Chiefs were in the Super Bowl. It's not even close. Yeah, I'm glad you said that.

You know, because I, you know, going back to the, you know, night after the game, the day after the game, the days after the game, I don't think the final score was really reflective of how competitive it was. when they had the ball before that Echlor fumble late in the third quarter, they were on the verge of potentially going down and making it a one-score game. And look, the game on December 22nd against that defense, which I think put on maybe one of the greatest performances I have ever seen in a Super Bowl, for sure, not allowing Kansas City to cross midfield on their first nine drives. But let's not forget in that game that Washington won, Washington turned it over five times.

and still scored 36 points against that defense. That may have been the biggest aberration result of the season. I would not want them to live that way, obviously, against a defense like Philadelphia's. But that's what was crazy about that game. I would ask you to describe, because you were on the field for the NFC championship game, you were there for the Thursday night game, you know both teams well, how big of a gap is there between Washington and the team that really everybody, and the NFC is chasing. Philadelphia.

Yeah, I don't think it's a huge gap, but it's noticeable. And what I would tell you about that is, you know, you know, I do the Eagles pre-season game. And I do a bunch of stuff for them during the season. I do their NBC pre-game show and I do some social media stuff for them. So I watch every snap they play. and a fun game that, at least I think it's a fun game, that I like to play is how many guys for the other team would start for the Eagles?

The reality is that NFC championship game, okay? I think I would start Jayden Daniels over Jalen Hurts. I mean, based on the season that they had. You know, I thought Daniels had a better season at quarterback. Who else is starting for the Eagles? I mean, on offense. Maybe Terry McClellan, but Devonte Smith and A.J. Brown are pretty darn good. But, okay, let's just call that a wash.

Then you're the defensive side of the ball. Certainly, John and Allen, I think, would start opposite of Jalen Carter, you know, at the other D-Tackle spot. Oh, that's another one, Kev, where Milton Williams is really good. But still, I would take John and Allen over that. And then whether it's Lou Vu or Bobby Wagner, one of them would have started next to Zach Bond, at linebacker, but not over him.

So, and then you go to the secondary, I would say none of those guys. You know, and I think San Francisco's really good. I love him, but I don't know that he's better than Quignon Mitchell

or Cooper de Gene. The point is, is they realistically, and I don't know, maybe you could say Dante Fowler, but against no one. I had three. We did the same thing.

I had Jaden, Terry, and Louvo. Those were my three. We did the same. same thing leading up to the NFC championship game. And everybody, I think, that had at least some ability to be objective. And it's hard when you've got a team on the run that Washington was on. But I think all of us understood the roster difference, no doubt.

Yeah. So they don't have to have more guys that would start for the Eagles than guys, the Eagles that would start. It doesn't have to be more, but it can't be three. you know, like whether it's Eagles losing some guys, which they absolutely are going to, and the commander's getting better at certain spots, you at least need to be approaching or getting close to double-digit guys that would start for the other team. Otherwise, you're really, I mean, you're fighting a heck of an up, but I don't care

how good your quarterback and head coach are, especially because that's the other thing. Like, even the positions we're talking about, right? I mean, the Eagles are pretty good at quarterback and head coach. You know, like, I mean, you could, you know, Jaden Daniels is probably better, and you can say maybe Dan Quinn's better than Syria. I don't know that, but even the areas where you think the commanders might be better, it's still a debate. So it's interesting because one of the questions I was going to ask you,

and you've already, you know, said that you would take Jaden Daniels over Jalen Hertz, where does Jaden Daniels right now heading into 2025, and let's just assume that all the quarterbacks stay where they are, and I know that's not going to be the case. But where's Jaden Daniels in the NFC on your quarterback rankings list? That's an interesting question, because I have them as a top five quarterback, and my top four guys are in no order, by the way. Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes. So I guess what I'm saying is I think that Jane Daniels is the best quarterback in the NFC.

Yeah. Now, you know, Baker Mayfield had a great year and Stafford did some really good things. And certainly, you know, hurts. It's hard to argue with Super Bowl MVP and Super Bowl champ and all those things. But I would put Daniels number one right now. I would say he is the single best quarterback in the NFC after his rookie year, which is just a remarkable thing to even say out loud. But I think it's true.

I've been saying the same thing. It's like every time I say that, I'm like, I can't believe I'm saying this. But he's a top five quarterback in the game. He's the best quarterback in the NFC. Yeah, and I want to make a point, two points about that. Number one, they got to really be aggressive and go. Because how do you have the best quarterback in your conference on a rookie contract? I mean, you've got to really try to take advantage of that.

Number one. Number two, the thing I think is crazy about it. You know that I do the Ross Tucker football podcast, and it's very popular. And leading up to the draft last year, Kev, I'm telling you, every quarterback guru I had all, I don't pretend to be that guy, right? I'm not going to watch Cam Ward and Shador Sanders and say, oh, look at his footwork. Like, I'm not that guy. Or he's going to want me to watch them offensive linemen?

I'll do it. But I'm telling you, almost every guy that I had on my show either said they liked Jane Daniels more than they like Caleb Williams or it at least sounded like that. I could see with my own eyes he was a better runner, right? then they're all telling me he's a better pocket pastor, he's a better pure progression reader. Some of them are thinking, okay, so what am I missing? And I'm telling you, it's like Phil Sims and Chase Daniel and Sean King and Greg Cosell and Lewis Riddick and Dan Rolofsky and all the guys that like this is what they do,

they were all saying the same thing. So I said to a couple of them, so what does Caleb Williams do better? And the answer I got was stronger arm and can make more of the spectacular plays throwing on the move, which, I mean, I guess that's nice, but give me the guy that's clearly a better runner and give me the guy that's clearly a better pocket passer and progression reader and just get to – I'm not trying to bash Caleb Williams, but I saw him take so many sacks that you just can't take. I mean, that might end up being one of the all-time, what-if. It's huge that Washington got Daniels and not Caleb Williams. Yeah. And by the way, I believe Adam Peters and the people that I've talked to over the last, you know, the last, you know, 10 months now, I think if Washington had had the first pick in the draft,

they would have taken Jaden Daniels. I think they were absolutely sold on him. from the beginning. You know, one of the things we talked about last week, I just said, you know, it is weird, it's strange that we're talking about a rookie quarterback this way, but, you know, it is what it is. He's an elite quarterback. He had an elite season, but people will say, well, CJ Stroud, and he took a bit of a sophomore, you know, step back. And then I just say, well, that's fine, but tell me what his flaws are. What is he going to improve so much on that next

year we say, ah, look, he really worked hard at that and got better and fixed that problem that he had. I couldn't come up with really anything significant, can you? Not significant. I think, you know, it's a weird thing there.

I feel like I don't need him to put on a tunnel weight. I'd probably feel better if he was a little bit thicker. I did think he took a couple shots. You know, he got better at this, but in college, he took some vicious shot. This year, not as many, not as bad, but he still took some shot I probably would rather have not seen. And I do think he, you know, like there was a couple stretches against the Eagles,

really both Eagles home games, both games in Philly, where I thought he was a little off. I think the first one that Thursday night one, wasn't he injured or something or coming off of an injury? It's a little bit debatable. He had had the rib injury, but the truth is he had actually played a great game, you know, in the game after. I think that Thursday night game, let me just give you real quickly because I've talked about it so much, and maybe this is the direction you're heading in. I think four days after they had played a knockdown dragout against the Steelers and the Cowboys, the Eagles had essentially taken the second half off against the Cowboys.

boys and getting ready for Vic Fangio. I think Jaden and Cliff Kingsbury, the only time this year, I thought they looked confused and off. Yep. I'm very, very much on page with you. I thought the second half in particular, something was not right. I feel like, you know, I'm always as O-Liming and a nitpick and say you could do better not taking some of those sacks. I actually felt for a rookie. He was pretty aren't good in that area. All right, you're Adam Peters. What are you focused on in this offseason?

You've already alluded to this is a window. It's time to be aggressive. I'm totally with you. He's on a rookie deal, and they were 60 minutes away from the Super Bowl. So you go for it, right? And so what does that mean? How does that play out in this offseason if you're the GM?

Very, very interesting situation. Very. because I also value continuity and chemistry up front because my stock answer, Kev, would have been O-line-D-line. And I still think that to some extent. But, you know, they have all five starters under contract again. I'm definitely drafting somebody. But I thought Brandon Coleman did some really good things for a rookie third-round pick.

I mean, really good things. You know, the Chiefs O-line got overwhelmed in the Super Bowl. I didn't feel like that was necessarily the case in the NFC championship game. I mean, the commanders were moving the football. That first try was like 18 plays. I mean, they were moving the ball. It was the fumbles that killed him. So certainly they could always look, you know,

especially the way Diami Brown play at the end. I'd like to bring him back if you can or get another weapon there. Urch can't play forever, even though I think he had 27 catches for 2 or 82 yards against the Eagles. I can't remember. I was on the sideline. I felt like he caught a million ball. He was like 11, yeah. It was crazy.

You can never go wrong. This is the thing that's interesting because you look at the commanders and you think, okay, Daron Payne and John Don Allen and even got Newton last year. You can still never go wrong on the D-line. And I think it's time to get an edge rusher. You know, I don't think they can count on Dante Fowler. I think Dante Fowler is a good player who had a really nice year, but you can't count on him to continue to play at a high level.

You need to get a younger guy there. And I would say another corner. I mean, they nailed it with St.aer still. But I still think he's probably best as a nickel. So I think outside corner would be a high, high priority for me as well. I mean, they traded for Marshawn Latimore, and he struggled. And look, he was hurt when they traded for him. And he just didn't get acclimated.

And, by the way, had to cover A.J. Brown twice and Mike Evans once. And then Amman Ross St. Brown and some others in the Detroit game. So I'm not bailing on Latimore, but I think you're right that the corner is still on the list. I'm surprised you didn't go to what I would go to first, which is they couldn't stop the run all season long, and they had a quarterback that kept overcoming it and winning games regardless of it. But they have to stop the run because you can't really win at all without stopping the run, can you? It's difficult. I will say a lot of people's philosophies have changed on that a little bit.

It's not as high a priority as it used to be. to stop the run. Most people, the priority is to stop explosive plays. And to me, I could tell that John and Allen wasn't the same when he came back, and I could tell that pain was hurting, watching both those guys. So that's why I didn't say that

is because I wonder how much of that was just the health of those two guys, but I did say, you're never wrong. You're never wrong drafting D-Lyman, ever in my mind. I don't care how many guys you think you have. That's a position where it's like hockey.

You can keep bringing them in in lines and waves. I mean, we saw that in the Super Bowl with the Eagles. You know, even guys that people don't know that much about, you know, or second string guys, they came in and they were keying off on that Chiefs O line. If you were Adam Peters, would you be interested in trading for Miles Garrett? Yes, I would. I think he is an absolute difference-making player. and I think you need to be willing to pay a premium,

both in trade compensation and cash, to get a player of that ilk, especially with Daniels being on his rookie contract. I think Miles Garrett has a strong argument for being the best defensive player in football over the last three to five years, and that sounds like a move that the commander should be all in on. What would you give up?

Two first round picks. Okay. Especially with where I think they're going to be drafting. You know, they might, Cleveland needs to win this year, which is why I think that they are going to want, if they do do this move, they would want guys back in return.

So I don't know who that is for the commanders, which is interesting. But, yeah, I would say a couple first round picks for sure. All right. And maybe and then some. All right. Because where they're drafted. you know, Cleveland's going to, I mean, there's going to be other teams that would be willing to do that

that probably, quite frankly, have, you know, are drafting higher. Yeah, we're drafting late. It's an unfamiliar spot this year. All right, just a few more with Ross Tucker. We'll go league here for the final couple of questions. Is it actually a possibility that the Rams are going to move on without Matt Stafford? I don't know that. That does not make a lot of sense. to me. It's certainly possible. My thought is it's more like contract posturing, would be my guess. Lastly, do you think Aaron Rogers has a spot in the NFL next year as a starter? Yeah, I'm not sure where yet. I think it's after the dust settled with the draft and free agency.

but I think somebody that knows they need to win this year will ultimately do a deal with the devil, so to speak, and break out Rogers for one last shot if he's willing to go there and do it because I don't think it's going to be a contender. I think it's going to be a team that just, you know, like the giant, you know, somebody that they know they need to win that year to keep their job.

Thanks for doing this, as always. hope you're well, and we'll do it again during the offseason at some point. Absolutely my pleasure, Kev. Always great to talk with you. And again, encourage everybody to check out FutureFans.com. That thing is awesome. If you got Commander's Fever, make sure your kids do too. FutureFans.com. Thank you, Kev.

Ross Tucker, everybody. More show still to come after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey, guys, prize picks is the place to go to for Daily Fantasy Sports. the prize picks app. I'm one of the over 10 million members at prize picks where billions of dollars are awarded in winnings. Prize picks has made daily fantasy sports accessible to everybody. You just pick more or less on at least two players and their projected stats for a shot to win up to a thousand times your cash. Run your game all season long on prize picks, America's number one daily fantasy sports app. Prize Picks now offers MasterCard for quick and easy deposits into your account this

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It should be your home or at least a second home if you've already got a place. for March Madness. They've already got their Super Bowl odds up for 2026. Updated, by the way, Washington a little bit further back than they were right when the season ended. Philadelphia right now the favorite to win Super Bowl 60 at plus 600, followed by Buffalo and Kansas City, both at plus 700, Baltimore at plus 800, Detroit at plus 900, the 49ers at plus 1,500, and then the Bengals at plus 1,600 before you get to Washington at plus 1,800. So Washington's Super Bowl odds are the eighth best odds or the eighth shortest odds, and the NFC championship odds if they were to follow suit from the Super Bowl odds.

They'd be the fourth pick in the NFC behind Philly, Detroit, and San Francisco. MyBooky.orgie.org promo code, Kevin, D.C. Hockey got it right last night. I really enjoyed it. I watched a lot of the pregame. I watched a lot of the pre-opening puck drop pageantry, the anthems. The feeling was just so big that this was a massive event. The prices to get into TD Garden in Boston, they said, were the highest in arena history.

Think about some of the games that have been played there. The Bruins have played in Stanley Cup games. The Celtics have played in NBA championship games. And like the get-in price was like $2,500. It was off the charts. The feeling of it was just big. Nice job, NHL hockey. They found something that worked.

It's interesting because yesterday on radio, I had Ben Raby. You know, Ben was a longtime part of the game. Capp's Radio Broadcast Network. And he said when this thing started, and Ben's a Canadian and a huge hockey guy, he said that most people weren't expecting this kind of reaction to it. He was kind of indifferent, but once it started, he realized the players were bought into this thing. And the intensity, you know, especially that Canada-U-S game last Saturday night was off

the charts. Well, listen to this. ESPN's telecast of the championship game, this news just hit the wires. Last night's game between the U.S. and Canada generated 9.25 million viewers, making it the fourth most watched NHL game in history. and the league's biggest draw since the modern Nielsen ratings era began in 1988. The three games that drew a larger TV crowd than last night were all staged in the early 1970s. Wow.

That game last night, which many had no idea, it would turn into this when they announced they were doing this, and even when it first started 10 days ago, did essentially the biggest audience for a hockey game in modern era hockey. Obviously, it destroyed the NBA All-Star game. I mean, it destroyed the numbers that they've done for Stanley Cup finals. Wow. ESPN's average rating last night beat out the last time they had a game 7, which was 2019 St. Louis, Boston. It beat it out by 530,000 viewers. So that game was a highly rated game back in 2019.

So I thought it was great. But I'm going to stick with what I said to Tommy, I think, you know, on Tuesday. I don't think the NBA trying to copy it in some form, and the form would be an international versus American all-star game matchup. I just don't think that this is going to work for, you know, be a solution for the NBA. You know, I think we talked about this on Tuesday's show, but hockey players are just in general different. They're a different breed.

They are more fan-friendly than NBA players. They're more fan-friendly than any players in any professional sport of the four majors. In part, the reason for that is that hockey has been somewhat niche, you know, of a product. It's not had mass appeal like football, basketball, or baseball. The fact that last night, You know, that game's 9 million viewers, 9.25 million viewers made it essentially the most watched hockey game in modern era hockey.

That's crazy. I had no idea. I knew it was going to be a big audience. I tuned in. Now, once the Maryland game started, I was to the Maryland game, but I was paying attention to the hockey. And I caught much of the third period and the overtime. It was awesome. You know, the intensity was great.

Man, it just goes to show you sometimes the pageantry is big, too. But when the players buy in and it's intense and it means something to them, you got a shot, you know, this time of year. That was the replacement essentially for the NHL All-Star game. But hockey players are different. You ask anybody in sports media, they'll tell you, as a general rule, hockey players, not just players, coaches, analysts, they're just reporters, they're just more available, and they're bigger promoters of their sport.

There's a recognition that they have to keep promoting their sport, you know, that they need to connect with fans. You know, just like Josh Harris and Mitchell Rails and Mark Iin and Magic Johnson talked about the need for Washington to reconnect. with the community and their fan base. And you know what? Typically football teams and franchises don't have to do that because they're already well connected. Well, hockey has a strong following, but it's very, very niche compared to the other three major sports.

I don't see the NBA players committing to a game, and it would be less of a commitment, right? It would be one game, not multiple games. I still don't see them committing to it at a level that would be able to sell to the viewer that they're committed. Hockey was committed. It was obvious they were committed. The players really drove this. And in fact, P.K. Suban, longtime NHLer and now an analyst on ESPN.

He was on a show yesterday. He was on Get Up, the Mike Greenberg show. and he had a bit of a rant about this as it relates to the NBA versus the NHL and the commitment that NHL players will give versus the commitment that NBA players give to their game, to their sport. I'll let you listen to it. Here's what P.K. Suban said about the success of this Four Nations in-season tournament versus the disaster that was the NBA All-Star debacle last weekend.

I got a question for the NBA players. What the hell are you playing for? What are you playing for? It's not about the money. You make all the money. What you're injured? Well, there's a difference between being hurt and injured. Are you hurt or are you injured?

There's a difference. In hockey, we play hurt. That is the culture of the sport. It's always been that way. So you want to talk about the business, the CBA, Fans get all of that, but what do fans resonate with? They resonate with what's real. You got to fight sometimes for your country.

You got to compete. You got to go out there and leave it on the ice because those people are paying the price of admission. So fans know whether our stars are on the ice or not. They're getting their money's worth. The NBA has that issue that they got to work on. You've got to create a better culture for your players. It starts with the leaders.

This issue, there was no issue when Jordan was around. There was no issue when Kobe was around. There's no issue in Sydney, Cosby's around. There's no issue when Wayne Gretzky was around because those are true leaders. They lead by example. Sidney Crosby, Hockey Canada, those players, both Canada and U.S., it was the players that did that for the four nations. That's not the league. The league set it up, but the players went out there and decided and said, you know what, boys, we're all in. When is the NBA going to do that?

You got to be on the court. You got to be there. And when you're there, you got to go all in. The fans got to feel that they're getting their money's worth. And right now there's a big difference between what the NHL's doing with those events and what the NBA is doing. Four nations works because the players are all in. They're all in. P.K. Suban, very passionate. They're all in. They're all in.

The players are all in. He's 100% right about that part. The players buying into this, not the league pushing it down and saying, do your best. That's not how it happened. The players took this. and ran with it, and because it was real, the fans felt it and they jumped on. I can't see the NBA players doing that. I can't see the NBA players in the middle of a regular season in which they're not all in on.

They're not all in on their regular season product. I can't see them even in one game in a format, U.S. versus international, being bought in enough to sell it to the fans. Look, the comparison of the events is not fair. This hockey thing played out over 10 days, and it was a true country versus country thing, which always generates more passion, more patriotism, et cetera. The NBA, you would not have U.S. versus Canada, U.S. versus, you know, Spain in round-robin play with four teams and a championship game, U.S. versus somebody else. By the way, the U.S. doesn't have a major opposite country rival like the U.S. does with Canada in hockey.

I mean, Russia, yes, back in the day for everybody. But the NBA wouldn't be able to format it that way because you couldn't come up with a 12 team. you could come up with 12 Canadian players or 12 Spanish players, but they wouldn't be All-Stars. They wouldn't be a team that would be competitive with the 12 American-born players that you would put together. So it's not exactly, you know, apples to apples in terms of a comparison. But the general thought I have is that you're never going to get NBA players who are so much wealthier than hockey players who have such more impact, more say, more control, and quite honestly are just less fan-friendly than hockey players.

You're not going to get them to buy into that. And it would never, even if they bought into it enough for people to be interested in it, it would not do what this thing just did. Not even close. All right, done for the day. Enjoy the weekend back on Monday.