The Kevin Sheehan Show - Willard Situation + NFL Draft Talk

Episode Date: March 27, 2025

Kevin opened with an example of the Commanders' commitment to re-engaging with the community. He also talked the latest on the Kevin Willard situation. Josh Edwards/CBSSports.com jumped on to talk NFL Draft. Kevin closed with thoughts on the NFL "Kickoff Rule" which appears to be on the verge of becoming permanent and changed.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it, but you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Chean Show. Here's Kevin. Coach, you obviously went on the radio last night or yesterday and talked about kind of working with somebody in the athletic department. I just wanted to know if there were any updates that you had for us. Yeah, we're playing Florida.

We're playing Florida. It's a big match of course. Like this is all about the Sweet 16 and these guys enjoying this as much as possible. I've enjoyed it tremendously. I do love this town. It's a great town, great food. Got to have dinner with PJ Carlissimo last night, which is, I think, always a lot of fun. You know, the stories we get to tell about Seton Hall and Chris Mullen joined us.

Coach Van Gundy joined us. We had a great time last night. Deflect much, Kevin Willard? That's the mood he was in today. That was from just a few hours ago out in San Francisco, where Maryland takes on Florida tomorrow night in a sweet 16. game, the biggest game they've had in nine years, but the question on minds of all Maryland basketball fans has to do with the head coach's future. Is he staying or is he going? The show's presenting sponsor is always, Windonation, 86690 Nation or WindowNation.com,

if you need new windows. He had an even better deflection of a similar question asked during the press conference today. I'll play that. for you shortly and give you my thoughts of what the situation is as of the recording of this podcast. On the show today, NFL draft expert Josh Edwards from CBS Sports.com will join me to draft. One month from tomorrow night is round one. Washington will be on the clock at 29 overall, unless, of course, they make a trade. We'll talk to Josh Edwards. We've had Josh Edwards. We've had Josh on the show before. He is one of the best at CBS in analyzing the NFL draft. He'll join me in the next segment. This from Danny. Danny writes, Kevin, I'm a teacher and coach at Blair High School in

Silver Spring. I'm very familiar with Blair High School. It's a great high school, actually, magnet school, I'm pretty sure. I think that's true. Great Jim have coached a bunch of games at Blair over the years. When I was in high school, I played at the old Blair, the one on Sligo Creek. Anyway, Danny writes, I wanted to reach out about a field trip that we took today to Northwest Stadium. It was an event run by Intuit to teach high school kids about financial literacy, but it was organized and hosted by the skins, and then he writes parenthetically, refused to say, the new name. It was a great event and totally free.

We and three other schools had free charter buses, courtesy of the team, not to mention lunch and swag bags for everyone. They even had Bobby Wagner lead a panel discussion on athletes and managing money, etc. They also had some legends hanging around, so I got to chat with Josh Morgan and Santana Moss to name a few. full props to the team for offering and footing the bill, at least sharing it with into it, and a great event that goes under the radar but endears them to the community,

just another sign that the old regime is gone and that things are being handled in a first-class manner. Danny, thanks for that. A huge emphasis for Josh Harrison ownership from the moment they purchased the team was to re-enel. engage with the community. They said it over and over again. Remember, a lot of it early on was an answer to, you know, the team name and Josh Harris would say, we're not really focused on that. We're focused on, you know, building a winning team.

We're focused on building and finding solutions for the current stadium and a future stadium. And we are really focused on re-engaging with the community. And the reason that was an early focus, first of all, it was not something that Dan Snyder did very well, in part, though, because he and ownership, the organization under Snyder, they didn't have to do much in the community. When they purchased the team, the first 10 years at least of his ownership, if not more than that, they weren't trying to re-engage with anything. They were already totally engaged. Now, let me just mention the organization under Dan Snyder was a very charitable organization. They did a lot of charitable work, a lot of charitable donations, et cetera. But the big difference between Snyder's purchase of the team in 1997 and Josh Harris's

and his group's purchase of the team in 2023 is that Snyder acquired a business. built-in fan base when he bought the team, a built-in customer base. And one, by the way, that was incredibly passionate and loyal and willing to spend whatever it took to express that passion and loyalty. You know, there was no, you know, customer acquisition plan necessary. The customers were there. And there were tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, on a waiting list to spend even more for any kind of season ticket that became available. Not the case in 2023 when Harris acquired the team. And remember, when he was putting together the group,

he had to put together a business plan to attract investors, to find $6 billion to buy the team. And remember, we got a look at that business plan at some point along the way, and a big part of the revenue plan was the assumption that when Snyder was gone, customers would just automatically come back because he was gone. And a lot did, obviously, but a lot have not. And they're not sitting around waiting for everybody to come back. They are actively in the community doing their best to create goodwill once again,

something that used to exist and doesn't or didn't. when they acquired the team. And by the way, in doing that, you need players and coaches to be a part of it, to participate. You know, current and past. You know, Santana was there. Josh Morgan was there.

Bobby Wagner was there. Bobby Wagner being a part of it is a testament to him, but really ownership's ability to convince, to impress upon the players and the star players in their organization, how important it is for them to be a part of rebuilding the franchise outside of just their responsibilities of playing football.

That's hard to do in a lot of organizations. These guys are busy. And when they're not at the facility preparing, they're off doing something else often outside of this market. Thank you for sharing that with me, Danny. I bet there are a lot of other stories out there about how the team is out there in the community. I got this from Charlie Z. Charlie Z writes, Kevin, just curious.

Maryland's student body has changed a lot over the years. If the Terps go to the final four with two wins this weekend, will the students riot on Route 1? Oh, Charlie Z, the old days of rioting and bonfires on Route 1 after wins over Duke. I don't think so. I think you're right. The student body has changed significantly at the University of Maryland. It's just totally different. I've mentioned this before. When I went to school there, I mean, if you were in state and you had a pulse and you could fog a mirror, you were in pretty much.

now it is so hard to get into Maryland. The student body is much higher end academically. It's really hard to get into Maryland. I know a lot of you parents out there who are Maryland residents. You know how hard it is to get your kids into Maryland. It's actually, I think, maybe a little bit easier for out-of-state students because they are looking for kind of full freight, I think. But it's not easy for out-of-state students.

It's a much better university, a much better academic university than it was years ago. And it's great that it is. You know, they've done a phenomenal job over the years. And Maryland's now, you know, it's not Ivy League, it's not Stanford, it's not Duke, but it is high, high level in terms of the academic reputation and the difficulty of getting into, the university. So yeah, I get it, Charlie. I don't know that a final four trip with a win over Florida and then a win over either Arkansas or Texas Tech in the Elite 8 would spark a, you know, a lot of excitement on Route 1. Actually, it will. There will be a ton of excitement on Route 1.

Will it evolve the way it used to? I would bet not. But who knows? There's still plenty of kids from Maryland and places where they are excited about the basketball team. You see that in that student section, which truly is when it's full and pumped up as good as any in the country. All right, let's talk about the Kevin Willard situation. It's a shame right now that as Maryland basketball fans, we can't just focus on the biggest game they've had in nine years. their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2016.

That 2016 team with Mellow Trimble and Diamond Stone and Jake Lehman and Rashid Sulemon who was there that year and Robert Carter, who I thought was really good and should have come back. They got to the Sweet 16 beating South Dakota State and then Hawaii. Hawaii was a 12 seed. The Terps were four seed that year and Hawaii pulled off a first roundup. set similar to Colorado State. Hawaii was not the test that Colorado State was. Maryland won that game pretty easily. And then they went on to Louisville to face Kansas, who was the one

seed. I was at that game, actually, went to that game down in Louisville. It was Villanova, Miami in the first game. I think it was the South Regional. It would have been the South Regional in Louisville. It was Miami Villanova in the first game, and then it was Kansas and Maryland in the second game. And it was a competitive game. I mean, the Terps, I think, were down by a point or two at halftime, and it was close up until really the final few minutes of the game. But Kansas was pretty loaded that year. They had, you know, that guard tandem of DeVante Graham. They had Frank Mason, who was a really good college player, and they pulled away at the end in one. So tomorrow night, Maryland's in position again to play a Sweet 16 game.

as I mentioned, you know, last week and this week, just their, you know, second in 21 seasons. And it's not the total focus. I think they can win the game, and I'll have more on that tomorrow. But the focus is as much on who the head coach of Maryland basketball is going to be next year as it is on the game. And as of now, you know, Late afternoon here on Wednesday the 26th. I have no idea what Kevin Willard is going to do. I would say this, though, that the tea leaves right now,

which include Richard Petino taking the Xavier job, not the Villanova job, the Xavier job. I don't know if he was offered the Villanova job, but he was one of the candidates for the Villanova job. Obviously, if he had taken the Villanova job, job, then it would have been a great indication that Kevin Willard is staying. I would also just say that, you know, Kevin Willard just holding a press conference and not answering any questions about it would certainly tell you that nothing has been finalized at this point with respect to him staying.

I think if we get to tip off tomorrow night and there isn't an announcement of some sort that they have reached an agreement, a new agreement for Kevin Willard to stay on beyond even the rest of his contract or that his contracts have been updated to include a lot of the things that he's wanted and discussed on radio with me yesterday. I would say that would be a bad sign. And we're getting closer to tip off tomorrow night. So I can't tell you how many times over the last several days, I've had somebody who I trust tell me he's staying, and at the same time, somebody I trust tell me he's leaving. And the next, you know, moment, the same person who said he was staying now says he's leaving, and the other person who said he was leaving said he's staying.

Here's what I feel confident in saying right now. The school has ponied up. They have given Kevin Willard assurances that he will get what he wants and what he's asking for, which again, you know, sort of summing it up, he wants basketball to be more important than it is within that school and within that administration and within that athletic department. You know, football and being a part of the Big Ten and all of the money that comes with the, you know, being a part of the Big Ten conference. because of football and the television contract. It doesn't matter that Maryland football doesn't draw very well.

It doesn't matter that Maryland football hasn't been a contender in the Big Ten. There were three decent seasons in a row with Mike Loxley. They went to bowl games. They won bowl games last year without a quarterback that they had had for a while was an ugly season for sure. But while we understand where the money is coming from, The reason the money is coming in, football more than anything else, most people that have been paying attention for more than even a minute to the Maryland sports scene, everybody

understands that basketball is the sport, men's basketball is the sport that is most passionately followed. It's the team at that school that more alums, more fans, more. more students care about. It just is and has been a basketball-first school. And yet within that school and within that athletic department, it hasn't necessarily felt that way for coaches, plural. Not just Kevin Wildard, but Mark Turgeon before Kevin and even Gary before Mark Turgeon.

I mean, as successful as Gary was, the biggest fights, the biggest arguments were a football getting a lot more than basketball got. Gary had those issues with Debbie Yao who loved Ralph Regian and didn't get along with Gary quite as well. I actually think Gary Williams right now should be the interim AD. I don't know why the school hasn't reached out, and maybe they have, to a Hall of Fame basketball coach and legend of the university to say, you know what, we need you to come back while we don't have an athletic director and be the

intramadee and get all of this stuff settled. I'm sure that Gary has been reached out to. I would certainly guess that to be true. But from what I have been told, and I feel pretty confident in saying this, the school is willing and has expressed their willingness to give Kevin Willard what he wants. And on my show yesterday, radio show, and we played it here on the podcast yesterday, he said, because I asked him, you know, specifically, if you get everything you are looking for, will you say that you're going to be the basketball coach next year and beyond? And he said yes.

Now, he also said, as of now. He had said that in the earlier part of the conversation, when I asked him, is he staying or leaving? And he said, as of now, staying. I think it's a coin flip right now. I really do. You know, Villanova has a lot to offer. They have a lot of money,

and Villanova doesn't have a football program that competes with men's basketball. They're also part of a league that doesn't generate anywhere near as much revenue as the Big Ten does. So there's pros and cons. There's probably a lot of personal stuff involved in this decision. As I said yesterday, I really want him to come back.

I think it would be borderline destructive to the program if he doesn't. And it would be really hard in the short term to be good anytime soon. If he comes back and he's got what he needs, Gillespie, Rice, the portal, he's already proven he can really handle the portal well. Look at the team he's put together this year. And he's a good coach. He really is. I think his personality is a really good fit for Maryland

and certainly it's longtime fans. Also, like Mark Turgeon, I like Kevin Willard. I really do. I like him as a coach. I like him as a person. I think he's good for Maryland. So fingers crossed, but have, no idea how this will turn out. And by the time you're listening to this, it may have already

turned out and been settled. We'll see. I did want to play another segment from his press conference today. This was another question about sort of the current situation. And you'll hear him, you know, he has a very, he's got a very good sense of humor. He's got a very sarcastic sense of humor. But this was a question, and it includes something, by the way, that I'll just mention real quickly. Mike Loxley yesterday, before the Terps get ready for spring practice, was asked about the situation. And Loxley basically said, he gets all the resources he needs, which is true. And he also took a somewhat veiled shot, if not direct shot, at Kevin Willard saying, you know, he thinks that these kinds of things should be kept in house.

So Kevin Willard earlier today, deflecting another question about this situation. Kevin, obviously, you've been very open the last week about, you know, trying to get greater NIL share, revenue share. I'm sure you saw Mike Loxley yesterday said he would prefer to keep some of these issues in-house. why have you felt like kind of bringing this discussion in the open has been the best way to advocate for your program? Well, I mean, I'll be honest. I think our biggest thing is we got to stop Clayton. He's really good. He shoots the basketball going left, 48%.

He shoots it right going at like 38%. So really the last couple days, trying to come up with a game plan to stop, you know, Clayton, because I just think he's one of the best guards in the country that we've seen. scene. And then really, you know, obviously trying to fix our rebounding woes have been at the top of my mind, too. So yeah, it's a big problem. Well, he's not wrong. They do have to rebound better tomorrow night. And they do have to have a plan for Walter Clayton Jr. Walter Clayton Jr. is one of the best guards, one of the best players in America. And certainly one of the best players remaining in this tournament.

But there is a more serious aspect to the way he was deflecting any question today about his current situation. Far different from the way he handled it with me yesterday on the radio. Far different than the way he handled it a week ago when this first came up. He was asked in the press conference prior to their game against Grand Canyon in the first round, about the reports that he was a leading candidate for the Villanova job. And that's when he went, you know, he went open book with his frustrations, with the university, with the athletic department,

and what he really feels Maryland needs and the way it needs to be viewed within that university if it's going to compete at the highest levels of the sport. Well, if it's true, and I believe it to be true, that the university has made assurances to Kevin and his agent that they're going to meet the demands or, you know, give him a lot more comfort that he can do it the way he wants to do it. And yet we don't have an announcement, a press release, and we don't have him updating where they are. because you'd think if they were going to move forward with one another, if he was going to stay, if everything was kumbaya now,

that they'd want to clear the air on this and have everybody now focused on the game itself tomorrow night. But we didn't get that from him today. So, yeah, I would view that as a bit concerning. If you are in the camp that I'm in, which is, I want Kevin Willard back. as the head coach. Anyway.

All right. It's enough on that. Let's get to some NFL draft talk. We will do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, whether you are a do-it-yourselfer or you're like me, you have somebody do it for you most of the time. Clogged gutters are easy to forget. They're annoying to clean, and they can grow into a big problem.

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if you've been thinking about new windows, all I ask is give them a chance to come out and give you a free no-risk estimate. If you decide to move forward with Window Nation, right now you get two free windows with every two purchased, with no money down, no payments, and no interest charged for two full years. So you'll get an estimate in an hour or less. You'll get the windows installed in a day or less, and you don't have to pay anything until the year 20. 27. 86690 Nation, windonation.com. Mention my name. Free, no obligation, no pressure after they leave you with the quote estimate, and they'll take good care of you. I promise you that. Again, 86690 Nation, windonation.com. Joining me right now to talk some NFL draft, the draft a month away,

is Josh Edwards from CBSSports.com at Edwards, CBS on X, on Twitter. Let's start with the basics, Josh. What kind of draft is this draft? Is it a good draft? Is it a bad draft? Is it, you know, a normal draft? How would you describe it? I think there's a couple of ways to look at it.

In terms of the blue chip talent at the top, I think it's relatively weak. I think there's a smaller pool of those difference-making players that are available in this year's draft class, which I think could give us some kind of an indication as to the trade movement that we can expect on draft night because I think teams that are in that top 10 range that are in position to get one of those true blue chip players are going to be more hesitant to move back and get a player that maybe isn't a first round pick on their board, whereas we may see more trades of marginal varieties in the teams and the 20s in that way, because I don't think there's a huge difference between like the 20th best player in this class

and the 50th best player in this class. So I think it's really strong for teams to come away with starters to fill out their rosters with depth. But unless you've got one of those top 10 picks, I wouldn't feel too comfortable about walking away with a guy that's going to come in and make a splashy impact for your team from day one. Position-wise, where is the draft strong? Deacon to tackle.

And that's going to be music to the ears of a lot of men. NFL teams because it's been a relatively weak couple of years in terms of the interior defenders. Running back is another position that's going to have a lot of depth. We're most likely going to see two running backs in the first round with Boise State's Ashton Genty and Amarian Hampton from North Carolina. I think there's a few other players that could be a part of that conversation. But I would expect to run at running back to probably take off somewhere late round two into round three is teams are kind of starting to fill other needs and address some of those luxury positions on their roster. But defensive tackle is incredibly deep. I think we could have

20 defensive tackles, I think, are in our top 100 prospect rankings right now, which is incredible. So for the teams that have been misfortunate in addressing that position over the past couple of years, I think there's going to be teams that double dip at that position this year because it is so deep. You didn't mention edge rushers, but there are a lot that are projected to go in the first round and perhaps early on night two. Would you consider that third behind defensive tackle and running back? Yeah, it's up there. Tide end is a good class as well. The thing about the edge rushers is it's kind of a boom or bust position for me this year.

I think the defensive tackles have a much higher floor. There's a lot more players that I feel comfortable coming in and being impact players. But the Eddrusher group, I mean, Mikel Williams and Shemar Stewart from Georgia and Texas A&M, respectively, have not had the production that you would expect from the Tracey prototypical-sized pass rushers that they are, whereas Jalen Walker, Donovan Azaraku may not have the ideal play strength, the conventional play style that you would expect from an edge rusher. And then James Pierce, Jr. from Tennessee. I mean, there's been a lot of murmurings about whether or not he's got some off-field baggage that he's carrying through this process.

So, yeah, I mean, it could be a really good group, but I think it's a little bit of buyer beware among that group as well. You do have, in your latest mock, Washington taking Donovan Azikaraku from Boston College. Tell everybody what kind of player he is and what Washington would be getting if you end up being right. Well, I mean, this is a player that honestly was a slow burn for me. I've had to watch quite a bit of him to come around because I wasn't sure that the ideal play strength was there. I think you have to have a level of power to be successful in the NFL now. And the more that I watched with him, I thought he did a better job setting the edge and doing some of that stuff with power. He's incredibly twitchy, somebody that's going to be able to shoot gaps, get on the hips of blockers in that way.

So more finesse than he is necessarily powerful, but somebody that I have come around to in this process, and it's been kind of a trend in the NFL recently where teams are more open to players that aren't 6'5, 260 pounds. You look at what Nolan Smith did for the Eagles this past season. Will McDonald had a breakout season for the Jets this past year as well. So I think teams are more open to taking those players. players that may not have the prototypical strength but are incredibly twitchy and still capable of applying a pass rush. So for a team like Washington that has a desperate need at the position long term, I think he's somebody that can impact the game for them pretty early in his career.

You mentioned, you know, there may not be a lot of difference between 20 and 50. So does that mean, in your opinion, that it'll be harder to trade back from 29, Washington? has got five picks right now in the draft. They've traded eight picks since the trade deadline, starting with Marshawn Latimore back in November. Does that make it harder for a trade back from 29 into, you know, a second round pick in, you know, a fourth rounder or something like that, depending on where the second round pick is?

I think it all depends on the situation. Who is available? If the quarterback run has not begun to that point, you could see a team look to get in the back part of the first round to get that fifth year option on the quarterback. I think that would be a scenario worth watching because you've got the Giants, the Browns, the Jets, the Raiders, the Saints, they're all sitting there in the top 10 of the second round that could potentially be interested in one of those quarterbacks. And once the run starts, nobody wants to be left not sitting in a chair once the music is played. So, you know, there could be some desperation there that could spur some action.

I think a lot of teams in that range are probably going to be looking to trade out. So I could see there being more of a supply to move out than there's necessarily a demand to move in, which is not conducive to getting the best return, of course. But had it been a little bit earlier in the round, I think there are cases where teams may have a first round grade on a player that is not viewed as highly by other teams, and maybe you would move up in that instance to get that player. But 29 being as late as it is, I think it would be difficult to move back and get a real great return this year. But there's a team, there's a few other teams that do not have a lot of picks this year. Atlanta being one of them.

So I don't think that Washington is going to be alone in that desire to trade back. We've talked about some of the strengths of this draft. Where is it weak? Well, quarterback. Everybody wants to talk about that. And it's more so lacking the difference-making players that Washington got last year. Washington was very fortunate to need a quarterback at the right time. I mean, the same with New England and Chicago, because had this year's draft class been last year,

Cam Ward probably would have been like the fifth quarterback for me. You know, still probably fringe first round, so worthy of consideration, but it's all about luck. the Browns, the Titans, the Giants, like all of these teams would have been incredibly happy to have Caleb Williams or Jaden Daniels or Drake May, but they all came to the table at the wrong time. So quarterback position would be one of them. Cornerback is kind of hit or miss in this year's draft class. Offensive tackle, you know, a lot of those guys have their own concerns as well.

We don't have the, you know, the Andrew Thomas or the Tristan Worst or some of those other guys that have just been no-brainers at the top of their respective draft classes this year. Yeah, those are linebackers incredibly weak as well. It's a very thin position, but yeah, those would be some of the ones that I think are probably top of mind. Are we at the point where, you know, I know things change and they can change dramatically between now and, you know, Thursday, April 24th? But do you feel pretty comfortable saying Cam Ward's the first pick in the draft and the tenets? Tennessee stays there and selects him. I'll be honest with you.

I spend too much time thinking about that. And I've given myself so many headaches trying to understand everything that's in play. And I'll kind of unravel where my mindset is right now. And that's, you know, Tennessee showed zero interest in the free agent quarterbacks this year. They go out and they sign a couple of veterans like Dan Moore and Kevin Zitler to finish that offensive line. and yet they're going to run it back with Will Levis, who everyone remembers having those, you know, back and forth, not confrontations, but disputes with head coach Brian Callahan on the sidelines last year. Like, that's just hard to envision. So what's their plan?

Are they waiting out Kirk Cousins in Atlanta? Or are they truly going to take Cam Ward? And that's kind of the scenario that I believe in right now. but I'm also a little bit intrigued by why the Browns would meet with Cam Ward the day after his pro day and send all of their leadership, the general manager, the head coach, the owner to speak with him if they did not think that that was still a scenario that was on the table. And Les Tennessee is just putting out the best smokescreen ever, still trying to entice people to trade up into that number one overall pick.

I'm still inclined to think the titan take him number one overall. You like Cam Ward? I do. I do. Again, I don't love him. I think there's a sense of frustration that you get when you watch Cam Ward play because everybody talks about the creative style of play, the impromptu playmaking capabilities. But at the same time, he's equally prone to making those decisions, you know, that negatively impact your team. So I think you have to rein that in a little bit. I do think he has the athleticism, the armed talents to be successful at the next level. I think he's somebody that could be one of those top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL if he just lands in the right situation with the right supporting cast. But I think it's a little bit more difficult to envision than it was a year ago with those top three prospects and J.J. McCarthy, who I had,

with a higher grade at this point in the process as well. Let me just veer off for a second since we're talking about quarterbacks. Russell Wilson signed with the Giants, you know, a couple of days after James Winston signed, you know, a very small, you know, barely backup quarterback deal in New York. First of all, do you think New York's done at the position? I don't personally think they're done at all. No. I don't think the presence of, what is he now, 36 years old.

quarterback, you know, on a one-year deal worth, you know, they set up to 20.5 million, I think it was, but the guarantees look like it's 10.5 million. So it's not a large commitment to the position. And if you're New York and you understand that this is a critical year for your job, knowing that if things do not go well or you don't come away with this season with some optimism, then you're probably on the way out the door. So how do you manage that? facture that optimism. I think you still need a rookie like Shadur Sanders to do that. And if Russell Wilson is a placeholder for eight to ten games for them this season,

you put Sanders in there, let them get a little bit of momentum. Suddenly you've got a little bit of optimism. That's the way, I think, is that they can retain their jobs for another season, as opposed to just saying, all right, you know, we got Russell Wilson. He looked very limited last year with Pittsburgh. he's going to be the savior for us and, you know, everything is going to go well and we'll re-sign him next year. I just, I don't see that as a likely outcome at this point. I think they're more likely to be in the same situation next year.

And if that's the case, it's going to be difficult for ownership to sign off on that for another year. You've talked about Tennessee. You also mentioned Cleveland, you know, there's still some mystery perhaps in terms of a cam word possibility there. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Tennessee. Give me a guess on who the starting quarterbacks in those three places are opening day. Okay, so I would go Tennessee, Cam Ward, Cleveland, I will say Kirk Cousins, Pittsburgh, I'll say Jackson Dart. So where does Aaron Rogers land? Oh, sorry, you're right.

Aaron Rogers, assuming he doesn't retire, I also think that the Vikings are still in place. just comments made by the general manager there, I still wonder if they're kicking the can around a little bit on that possibility. And I think that's where he wants to be if the door is open. So that's going to be incredibly interesting to see because, yeah, I totally forgot about Aaron Rogers when I was talking about Pittsburgh there for a second, but it's also not out of the realm of possibility that he spurns them and goes to Minnesota and then Jackson Dart or whichever rookie quarterback of choice is just,

kind of a necessity at that point. Back to the draft in quarterbacks. After Ward, how many go in the first round and end in what order? I still think there is the second quarterback taken. Whether or not a third quarterback

gets into the first round is something that I've gone back and forth on. I'm sure the odds makers will set that number at two and a half and you'll have to make a confidence play one way or another. I haven't reached, a confident state to this point, but I will speculate that three quarterbacks go in the first

round, just because with the unsettled quarterback situations with a few teams, I'm kind of thinking it's going to be more an active desperation than necessarily what the talent suggests we should see happen in the first round. And if it is three, you have Jackson Dart as the third? I do. I think teams will be intrigued by our first round. Alabama's Jalen Milrow. There's been some Tyler Shuck love out of Louisville. At the end of the day, I still think Jackson Dart, just with his combination of experience, toughness, age, all of that. I think he's still probably favored to be that third quarterback. If I told you that Shadur Sanders really fell and that he was the one in this draft that

ended up falling and didn't get picked until, let's just say, the end of the first round, and Jackson Dart got picked in front of him. Would it shock you? No, we've actually had a mock draft scenario where Ryan Wilson, you know, the host of with the first pick podcast, a TVS sports podcast, is a Steelers fan, and he actually had them taking Dart over Sanders. And the reasoning is sound when you think about it.

Dart is a little bit bigger. He's someone that could potentially handle the rigors of the AFC North a little bit better than the Shadur Sanders. So there are reasons that maybe Pittsburgh is that lynchpin where they just decide to take dart over Shadur Sanders. I, to this point, have said that the Sanders situation reminds me a little bit of Will Levis a couple of years ago. Right. In the sense that there are some teams that are directly linked to him that I think would be interested and would stop any possibility of a fall in the top ten. But if it gets beyond that point and they decide to go in a different track.

direction, then you absolutely could see a little bit of a fall. And then we start talking about him on the end of the first round where, you know, could a team get back into the first round for Shador Sanders? I could very easily see that situation playing out on draft night, or I could team being taken in the top ten. I think both outcomes are on the table as much of, you know, that is the cowardly way out. And looking at the top ten, as you were describing that, I'm like, if he were to go, get by nine where New Orleans is. That means the Raiders, the Jets, the Saints, the Giants, the Titans or Browns all passed. That's where you could see a real fall. Is that the last team in the top 10

that you could see potentially being interested? Without question. Yeah, in the top 10 for sure. Yeah. And at that point, you're like, okay, all of these teams have quarterback needs, and they chose the pass on him. So what do all these teams? know that maybe we don't know outwardly, but if it gets beyond that point, then you're talking about the Seahawks, you're talking about the Rams, you're talking about the Steelers, or a team possibly trading back up into the first round for Chador or Jackson or whoever that quarterback ends up being. I think there are going to be a number of teams interested, but, you know, as you sit here and talk about it, it's easy to see a scenario in which the quarterbacks don't

go as early is what we might expect. I've started to just watch a little bit of some of the edge rushers, and we've already talked about the kid from BC that you've got projected. The guy that I love at least watching on tape, and I'm not going to lie to you, I didn't see him play one game at Marshall, but is there any chance Mike Green falls to 29? I think it's unlikely, but I would never say it's impossible. I think he tested better than what I would have expected, so that probably ended any chance. that he would be available at that point.

You know, when we talk about all these other edge rushers in the class that have their blemishes, Mike Green, I think, is among the most clean. And for that reason, he's probably, you know, going to be an easy double into the gap for a team that says, we don't want to take a risk here. We have a need at the edge rusher position. Let's just go get the guy we feel comfortable about. And in this class, beyond Abdul Carter, that might be Mike Green from Marshall. And he's got the traits.

I mean, he was a Power 5 recruit coming out of high school, ultimately transferred to Marshall. He had incredible pressure numbers this past season. I think because there are so many teams that need pass rush help there in the top 20, it would be a surprise if he were to get out of there. Who do you think his comp is? Ryan Wilson has, he's been very committed to this Will Anderson Jr. comp that he has. which would obviously be a very big swing for any team looking for edge rush for help in the first round. Similar size, both kind of powerful, wiry, strong type of guys.

I don't know that I have one personally yet, but I know that if anybody gets Will Anderson production out of Mike Green, they're going to be incredibly pleased. Yeah, for sure. All right, I want to talk running backs with you because you mentioned running backs after defensive tackles that this is a running back rich draft. And I think Washington, Josh, is going to be looking at running back. Probably not at 29, but I wouldn't, you know, take it off the table entirely. Maybe at 61, which is where their second round pick is.

They've got some day three picks as well. Give me an overview of the running back position and maybe start, you know, at the top with, I think most people know that Ashton Genti from Boise State is more likely than not going to be a very highly drafted player and the first running back off the board. But just give me an overall on running backs and who might be there for Washington, you know, night one, night two, day three. Yeah, I've got Ashton Genti. He's been a top five player for me in this draft class overall since, you know, the summer. I've been incredibly high on him. Martin Hampton is a player that has made the most of his opportunity.

He went to the NFL Combine. When Gentie did not compete, he chose to compete. And in a class where there's so much depth at the running back position, the fact that he was able to stand out in Indianapolis, I think spoke volumes to me. And since that point, he's kind of solidified his place in the first round. And when we first started the conversation, you noted how many mock drafts I've done.

And it's more than I want to admit, honestly. Yeah. But at points, I've had Washington lint to Amari and Hampton because the thought of just having a battery mate to go along with Jayden Daniels there in the backfield is incredibly enticing. But if that did not happen in the first round, I think you're talking about the Ohio State running backs, which are Tritian Henderson and Quinn. John Judkins. Caleb Johnson from Iowa is a

player that I think is not going to be for everybody. He didn't test as well as we would have hoped at the combine, so he could slide a little bit farther and possibly be there for Washington at the end of the second round. Those are the three that immediately come to mind. A lot of people like Dylan

Samson from Tennessee as well, but it's an incredibly deep class. I mean, you can get into late day two, early day three I think this year and still find starting caliber talent. I'm sorry, who did you say didn't test while at the combine? Did you see Caleb Johnson?

Caleb Johnson. Yeah, right. He just ran a little bit slower. Yeah, he did. What did he run? He ran like four, like four, six or something like that? Yeah, I want to say it was mid to high, four, five. Yeah.

I don't have it in front of me, but definitely, it's not necessarily slow. It's just relatively speaking when you're talking about top 50 players. there's just like a certain threshold that you want to hit. And I just don't think he was quite there. Yeah, I'll tell you what, though, the tape doesn't lie with him. He's got really good vision and really, I mean, I've liked him watching him all year long. You know, Washington was big on, you know, RAS scores last year, you know, the athletic measurement. And, you know, I was looking at some of the RAS scores from some of the backs, you know, more

night two day three, Trevion Henderson tested really well. Judkins tested really well in that category. The guy that I love, Damien Martinez, was pretty high on that end as well. If we get to Saturday, and we're talking about four, five, six, and seven in terms of rounds, and they don't even have picks in all of those rounds, but who's your favorite guy on that day? Todd Brooks from Texas Tech is a player that I could see getting into day two, but I think just with the wealth of talent that's available to positions, could still very well be there on day three. Corey Kiner from Cincinnati is a smaller guy who, again, did not test as well as one would have hoped,

but like you were talking about with Caleb Johnson, the tape is a lot better than what we saw in Indianapolis. Damien Martinez is a guy that I love. I was very high on him. I thought he was top 50 before the season. He kind of struggled there in the first half of the year with Miami. Second half of the year, I thought he picked it up a little bit, and then he carried that into the pre-draft process. I thought he was one of the big winners at the Combine in February

to the point where he's probably not getting out of day to at this point. I think he's just a really well-rounded option for a team. potentially misses on one of those top five running backs. So I would say, I would say Todd Brooks, Corey Kiner are a few of them. I'm sure if I sat here, R.J. Harvey from UCF is a guy that I like quite a bit as well. Richard Smith from SMU is a little bit of a faster option, kind of a change of pace back. But yeah, I mean, there's so many options at the position that's your draft. One last question.

Where does Travis Hunter rank on just overall prospects in, you know, recent drafts? Oh, wow. Man. Up there, right? He's up there for sure. And I think his value is how teams are going to use him. Because I think if you just line him up at wide receiver and that's all you ask him to do, then that's going to be much different value than somebody that plays him at cornerback full-time,

gets him packages on offense, or potentially as a wide receiver that asks him to play cornerback in certain matchups. I think the teams that are able to do that with him or the teams that are going to get the best value out of him. Yeah. Because if you just play him at one position, I'm not sure that he's, you know, more valuable. and some of the top non-quarterbacks that we've seen in recent years. I think you really have to play him both ways to get that true value from him, but I'm not sure that every team is going to be willing to do that.

He said to this point that he wants to play both sides of the ball full-time, but I just think with his lack of size and the NFL rigors, that it's going to be difficult to do that. And then if he were to get injured, you're suddenly talking about having to replace two full-time starters as opposed to one on either side of the ball. So it's going to be interesting. I mean, I could see him being very valuable to a team,

but it's all about how creative a team wants to be with him. Yeah, I agree with that. Great job. Really appreciate the time. Josh Edwards at Edwards, CBS. He's been doing this for a while at CBS Sports. Read him at CBSSports.com. he'll have his 75th mock draft coming out in a couple of days.

Look, it's not your fault. You get asked to do them. How often? Seriously. Do you get asked to update them at least once a week? It's been once a week since September for sure, maybe even into the later weeks of August. But, yeah, it's been once a week. It will remain once a week, at least during football season.

And we get a break for a couple of months after the draft. But I've got a three-round-lock draft coming out. Today, as you're listening to this. So check that out as well. Appreciate it. As always, thanks, Josh. You got it anytime. Up next, the NFL's getting ready to change the kickoff rule once again.

We'll get to that more after these words from a few of our sponsors. If you're looking to wager on any of these Sweet 16 games tomorrow night or Friday, night or any of the four Elite 8 games Saturday and Sunday, my recommendation is MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.ag. Use my promo code. Kevin D.C. They'll give you a cash bonus.

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on numbers, on pricing everything. My bookie's great. Mybooky.ag, promo code, Kevin, D.C. So the NFL league meetings are next week, and ahead of those meetings, they have put out their list of potential rule changes, proposals to rule changes. And one of those deals with the kickoff format. Remember, last year's big change in the kickoff format was a one-year change. So the competition committee is proposing to, A, make the kickoff format permanent,

but they're also proposing a change to the kickoff. rule. I don't like this, but we've talked about it before, but the competition committee, as expected, is proposing to move the spot of the ball if there is a touchback from the 30 to the 35 yard line. So next year, if this passes, and I think it might, in fact, I would bet that it will, there will be a bigger penalty for a touchback. The other team will start at the 35-yard line instead of the 30. So that's 10 yards from where it was two years ago, five yards where it was from last year.

I think it's too much of a punishment, and I think it makes it just so much easier for an offense to get into scoring range. You are talking about now two first downs away from field goal range. I think an offense has to earn it more than they would starting at the 35-yard line. Last year, if you don't know the results, and I think I talked about these on an earlier show, 32.8% of the kickoffs were actually returned.

That was up from the previous kickoff format, not up significantly. I guess it was up significantly, but it wasn't up as much as they wanted it to be. It was 21.8% of the kickoffs returned in 2023. 32.8% last year. They were hoping, hoping that kickoffs would be returned at like a 60 to 70% rate. And I think they believe if the punishment is the 35-yard line for a touchback, they may get that result. There are other rules and other propositions that the league owners will, and the competition committee, We'll certainly look into the tush push is one of those.

Overtime is one of those. The seating system in the postseason. Postseason is one of those. And we'll have a lot more to talk about when we get to next week if any of these things pass. But I do expect the kickoff rule to be permanent. And I do expect the kickoff touchback to be more punitive. I think it'll come out to the 35-yard line starting next year. All right, that is it for the show today.

Back tomorrow with Tommy, I'll have a Maryland prediction and a Maryland preview giving you what I think are the keys to pulling off a Sweet 16 win over Florida.