The McShay Show - A Senior Bowl Primer With Executive Director Drew Fabianich. Plus, the Latest Intel on Trinidad Chambliss.

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

Welcome to The McShay Show! Todd opens by sharing the latest intel he’s received on Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss’s battle with the NCAA. Then, the guys discuss the 2026 NFL draft tight end and edge classes. To close, they’re joined by Senior Bowl executive director Drew Fabianich to preview the event and share some prospects to watch in Mobile.0:00 Welcome to The McShay Show!4:30 Todd's latest draft intel and buzz14:50 Evaluating the 2026 EDGE class21:50 "We are in the golden era of Tight Ends."30:40 Senior Bowl Director Drew Fabianich Joins the show!32:10 What's new with this year's Senior Bowl?34:55 Previewing the Senior BowlThe Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available.Host: Todd McShayGuests: Steve Muench and Drew FabianichProducers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, and Daniel Comer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've got a jam-packed show for you today. We've got draft intel. I've had some sources talk to me about Trinidad Chambliss, the quarterback for Ole Miss, and I still don't know where we are on that one. We'll discuss. And finally, we got a Mench Hot button we're going to talk to. Plus, Drew Fabianich, the new executive director of the Senior Bowl, stepping in for Jim Nagy, a close friend who took the general manager job at Oklahoma.

He's going to join us to talk all things senior bowl, which is just a few days away. You know what else is just a few days away? 91 to be exact. That's the 2026 NFL draft. Mets, you good? I'm good, man. Tucker roll that beat. I shared it before the national championship.

And I shared it the night of the national championship. And Drew Fabianich is kind of a man of his word. He's delivered. The senior bowl's on a heater today. Have you looked on social media? The McShay show is presented by Fanduel. Playoff mode is on. And Fandul's got to be.

at all. Same game parlays, quick bets for jumping in live, and offers to boost your winnings every game day. Don't miss out on any playoff action on Fandul. Download the Fandual app or head to Fandual.com slash McShay. That's Fandual.com slash McShay to get started. Must be 21 and older in President Select States or 18 and older in President D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem call 1 800 gambler or visit r g dash help.com call 1 888 789 777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in connecticut we got bainte scott scott scott uh i mean markell bell i mean yeah they've got a bunch of guys that are coming in late a lot of a miami announcements today we'll We'll wait to hear word on maybe a couple more from Indiana.

But it's heartwarming. I told the story, 2009. I was at the Senior Bowl. I didn't think there was a chance. 12 and 1 USC was. It was the Pete Carroll golden era. But Pete Carroll's whole thing was compete. Competition Wednesdays, I think it was.

And just like it was madness. But through that madness, it created like this chaos and this great motivator of competition. Iron sharpens iron, right? Iron sharpens iron. And so I'll never forget walking off the game day bus where we would hang out between practices being like, I don't, I mean, I know they're on the roster, but I can't

imagine that Clay Matthews and Brian Cushing and Ray Malaguga, three first rounders who were 12 and won the season, just won the Rose Bowl. And meanwhile, that was like three weeks ago. And then there they go walking right past the fence. And I'm like, they're ready to go. And then the quote from Malau Luka is like,

I just came here to get discovered. And so when you see this from players at Miami and from Indiana, it tells you a little bit about the DNA of these individuals and also the programs that Kirk Signetti and Mario Cristobal, respectively, are building at Indiana and Miami. So really cool to see some of those guys. I mean, the national championship was just a couple days ago, man. And they're like, yeah, football's being played.

They're competing. And I've been invited. Yeah, I'm in. Let's go. So it's going to be a fun week in Mobile next week. And by the way, travel is pending right now. We might have to leave on Saturday. I know that gets you all worked up.

But Marissa will handle it all for you. Don't worry about it. Got a big storm coming into the South. The South can't handle this. I'm worried. Yeah, I'm worried. I know you're always worried. But when you're worried, it means we're in a good place.

I'm more worried. So we've got the new executive director of the Senior Bowl. Drew Fabianus is going to join us at the end of the show. And we'll ask him a whole bunch of questions. One thing I'm not going to specifically, I never want to compromise what's going on in the moment, right? So I'm going to ask maybe do you have a couple spots open for some quarterbacks if they're to make a late decision to come?

I can say this, and again, I'm not even going to ask. I'm going to ask him, you know, is that still a possibility? He'll tell us yes or no. But I've talked to a couple different sources. This is interesting, Mitch. And I don't want to get into the legal jargon that was fit at me today, actually, early today. There's a lot going on in this Chambliss thing. Two different sources I spoke to, two very different opinions on what the outcome is going to have.

What's going to happen there? To remind everyone, Trinidad Chambliss, come. coming off of the magical season at Ole Miss. Division 2 player at Ferris State. Hand-picked by Lane Kiffin. Comes in, wins this, well, takes over the starting job and doesn't relent it. Has an unbelievable season.

As the season progresses, we start to see more and more NFL traits out of him. Intelligence, fast processing, big-time arm, drilling the ball. Could use a little bit of touch in some intermediate throws, yes. But like the mobility, then towards the end of the same. season. It's like, whoa, this guy's different, you know, the ability to create. The mental toughness. He had that Georgia fourth quarter meltdown, got a second crack at it, and he was brilliant in the fourth quarter. Not only that game, but multiple games. Rising up draft boards. And so now he's in this predicament, right? He wants to go back to Ole Miss.

And by the way, what's best for him long term in the NFL, even though the 2027 class could be the best quarterback class ever is to go get another year of experience in the SEC. So he got, apparently there was a verbal denial of his request for another year. Then there was a written one. And so he technically has been denied his request to, of another year of eligibility. But he's now taking it to the court system in Mississippi, and he's suing the NCAA. Tom Morris is his lawyer agent who's representing him he and another gentleman from uh from from from the state of mississippi a trial lawyer and they put in on friday they put in a a lawsuit and filed it with the courts and here's the tricky part i was i was given a lot of legalese today and i'm not

going to try to replicate it okay essentially his argument is because it's not just about the money and in fact what's weird about it is he his lawyer is saying there's no NFL representative we've talked to and talking about scouts, GMs, that's kind of thing, that have said he's a first round pick. So with the second round and beyond payroll structure of a rookie contract, he's going to make X amount of dollars

in a four-year deal. He can make more money in one year at Ole Miss. But that's, for whatever reason, to the court, is not nearly as impactful as you're robbing him of an opportunity to go have another year in college environment, play for an Ole Miss team, special memories, you know, lead a team to an SEC.

Like, it's interesting. That all aside, I talk to one source who says, you know, it's starting to really look positive. You know, the lawyers he has that are working with him and the court system being from the state of Mississippi, I think he's going to wind up getting this petition. He's going to get the extra year of eligibility. Another source I talked to said the clock's ticking.

We're being told that we don't think it's going to go, that he's going to win this lawsuit. Of 40 in the last couple of years that have gone through, only 16, I want to say, 14 or 6, I think 14 of the 40 that have folks that have gone and sued the NCAA have won those lawsuits. So it means like 24 or 26 have been won by the NAC. NCAA. But the interesting part is you got to, you got to be there on, I think, Sunday, Saturday or Sunday, a lot of, I think Saturday, if you want to play in the senior bowl.

And here we are on Thursday. So like, I don't know how this is going to play out, but it certainly is an extra layer of intrigue. And it's part, one part concern, one part intrigue one part like you know I don't know it's just a fascinating scenario for me and then you look at the quarterback position this year and the teams that need quarterbacks and we all know those teams right the Raiders are sitting

there too and I'm not even talking about the first round the Raiders are one of the teams right obviously the Jets the Rams could be looking ahead for for you know in 20 27 for a quarterback trip maybe get one this year they have two first round picks the Browns could be in the market but

maybe wouldn't take one. Maybe we'll wait until next, 2027 to get one. Is Arizona in the market? There are a bunch of other teams that in day two would be like, you know what, let's bring in another guy and let's see where we can get to before 2027 to know if we really need one, okay? So there we are. You got anything, like, I don't know where else to go with it.

I just wanted to pass on this information. And I guess at the end of the day, it's still a cloud of uncertainty. but there are people out there legitimately think he may be there in Mobile next week. And there are other people who are like, oh, he's going to be at Old May. He's going to be at the Grove next year. Like, that's fast. I don't know that we've had anything quite like this before leading up to the Senior Bowl. Not that I can remember.

And I think the problem for him is what's the image that he presents if he goes to the Senior Bowl and how does it affect his lawsuit? And does the court look at that as, oh, he's already kind of moving on and he expects this and maybe they're not supposed to look at it that way. I don't know. It's it's uncharted waters. You know, can he go to the senior bowl and then go back to Ole Miss? Is that a thing? It's, complicated. But that being said, I'm with you. This is the kind of prospect that could go to the senior bowl and excel and really help himself. And that being said, if he doesn't do that and he comes out, he's really missed an opportunity. So this is tricky. And if he decides to not to go. I mean, he can

legitimately, and I love Gary. And I think Garrett Nussmeyer, and I think Garrett Nussmeyer is probably going to have the best week of the quarterbacks. We'll see how it plays out. But he could legitimately go down there and be the best quarterback of the six quarterback prospects for the NFL. And wins some people over. Yeah. For the first time the coaches, quarterback coaches, offensive coordinators, head coaches, first time that they get like a real, not just watching on TV, like actually like get their hands on and get their eyes on.

Like, I don't know. It's, it's wild, the timing of it all. And what's at stake, you know? And how many organizations are really, like, keeping a close eye on this thing? And again, you just go back to the age of these young men and the decisions they have to make and all the directions they're being pulled in.

It's, you know, it's great that they've created these opportunities for themselves and he's created this opportunity for himself. But, man, it's just, it's freaking brutal. Like, am I doing the right thing? I mean, he knows what he wants to do. He clearly wants to go back to school. And I think that's the right move in terms of his development. But you also have to deal with reality.

And if the reality is that's no longer an option, then it's time to move on and do your thing, kid, because you actually have a chance to move up some boards. It's tough. And I think it's unfair. I don't know what else to say about it. Like, it just seems unfair. No, I know.

I wanted to share that information to, so that everyone else could be, kind of in the know of what's actually going on, which is I'm not breaking news there, but there are people who are like, these aren't just people who are like, I went to Ole Miss, I'm really hopeful.

Like these are people who actually like are perimeter involved and have a lot of information. And how different the outcome that they believe is going to happen is from one from another. I was really taken back by that. All right. Another thing I want to touch on, Because I mentioned that the senior bowl was on a social media heater today,

announcing name after name from the national championship game. A lot of the Miami guys today, and I suspect I'm very well in the know that we're going to hear a couple more names and maybe Indiana players as well. I'm in love with the fact that Ruben Bain, as I just talked about, is going to play there. I'm in love with the fact that Keiante Scott and everyone else from Miami, but especially Ruben Bain and Akeem Messador. Yep. not only that they're both projected first rounders,

and yeah, there are some scouts who have a second on Bain and or a second on Messador, but I think the league consensus, if you were, or the league, if you were to throw all the grades in, they're both very probable first rounders, and honest to goodness, I think Bain could be a top 10 pick, the way he played down the stretch for Miami.

But it's not just where they're projected, it's how many games they've played, and then 16, and then how hard those suckers played. You know what I mean? It's not like, I don't know. They were two of the hardest playing players. I can, if you give me,

give me 10 guys you think were the hard, they played the hardest and like the most like snaps, effort chasing. I would put those two guys on the list. And they're like, yeah, give me my helmet back. Let me go. Give me a clean one so I can put all the other stickers on. But let's go.

Miami's not rotating players like Tennessee was last year. along their defensive front. Like, that's just not a thing for that Miami team. And it's the games. And then I don't have the snaps in front of me, but it's got to be a high number. I mean, those guys seem like they're never coming off the field. So I'm rare. It is.

But so I'm looking at that. And it's like, just by saying yes and showing up, I'm more in love with those guys, right? And it brought me to thinking today. And I want to touch on this. And I know you got something you're hot on too after. Last year, we talked about this. edge class. I'm not trying to compare them. We have a whole draft season to do this.

But sometimes you wonder, all right, the running back class last year was so outstanding. It wasn't record setting, but it was pretty damn close. And I think it was six guys in the first three rounds, and then we saw just an avalanche of running bats. Like 20, 19 or 20 guys come off the board of day three.

And a lot of those guys productive as rookies this year. But then this year you see kind of an attrition. Like a bunch of guys left early. It's not the same and a bunch of young backs in college football. Maybe we'll have a great class a year from now in 27. The edge class, which you could argue, a lot of people would argue, outside a quarterback, most, the highest positional value out there.

And to see last year when we had Abdul Carter, Jalen Walker, Michael Williams, Shemar Stewart, James Pierce, all first rounders, then even early into the second round, we had as a Raku from BC, JTT from Ohio State, Nick Scorton, oladajo. Now this year I'm looking at this class and be like, all right, maybe there's not like

that Miles Garrett or a Bosa brother or, you know, one of those guys. Right. We're looking at David Bailey from Texas Tech, Ruben Bain, Cian Mobile, Keldrick Falk from Auburn,

Akeem Messer, Messador from Miami, see you in Mobile. Is these your rankings? Nah, sort of maybe. They are. They're not official. Honestly, I just wrote down some notes and put

them on paper. Those are my rankings so far as you're rattling them off. Those are my top four in that order. After that, it is absolutely not my rankings. I just started jotting down names. But here's some other names. And a lot of them, and this is what I want to transition to, a lot of them are going to be in Mobile, man.

And I love this. T.J. Parker, Clemson, R. Mason, Thomas, Oklahoma. I think he's nicked up, obviously, the injury at the end of the year. I don't know that he's going to play, but he was invited. And at one point, I thought he was going to try to play. Zion Young, Missouri, Mobile. Cassius Howell, hand injury, not likely to play, not playing, but wanted to play and was invited and accepted and, but like, just couldn't do it.

And then had to kind of, it's just. And by the way, just and I get on my soapbox about this stuff. If you've got a legitimate injury and you put a bunch of tape out there, you only get one shot at the combine and all that, and it's not worth going out there and risking re-injury, affecting your training, and most importantly for them as an individual, putting tape out there against top competition where you don't feel like you're 100%.

If you do it respectfully, call the people as a man stand up, call the right people. That word gets passed from Drew, Fabianich, the new executive director, to every one of the 32 teams, and there's a list. There's two lists.

There's like a pros and cons list. On one side, you get the guys who handled their business like men. On the other side, you got guys who chose not to, maybe had someone call for them, you know what I mean? Yeah.

Or maybe the guys who showed up for a day and then took off or whatever it is. You find out about the character and the competition level and those sorts of things with all these postseason events. But anyway, Cassius Howl is one of those guys respectfully, injury, not going to be able to play. Joshua Joseph's, Derek Moore, Mobile, coming out of... Keep an eye on Derek Moore. He could have a big week. He's one of the guys I think might pop down there.

Ramella height, Romillo Heights, the pass rusher extraordinaire opposite David Bailey. a little undersized, but the guy can flat out rush. So all of those guys, and I'm not saying all of those are going to be first and second, but a lot of them are. The edge class, my point, is like, it's got some substance to it. And I think next week is going to weed out some stuff too. I would like to know who has a second round grade on Bain and Messador. I would like to meet that.

I have in my head three different names of scouts I talked to this. fall. I'd like to watch tape with them. I want to know what's going on there because what am I missing? You know, like I just, I, Messador especially because it feels like he, Bay and I feel like, I think he's going to go early. But with Messador, it seems like there's some debate about whether he is in the first or second. I've seen that. And then I watch the tape and I'm, I'm like, this, there's this, this guy, really? Edges go, man. This dude is a Tasmanian devil. I don't understand how you, you wouldn't take a chance on that in the first round. Yeah, I mean, there's the age thing, I guess.

There's the... He's been banged up at times during his career. But when he's healthy, he's productive, and he's violent, and he's powerful, and he's versatile. Like, I don't, I don't know, man. It screams first round pick to me. But this is an exciting group, you know? Yeah. And there's a, I don't know.

I could keep going on. Dan's already yelling at me behind the glass. I give away too much. The McShay report is out. two part series we did. Two part series. Yesterday was part one. Covered a lot of the buzz

that actually wound up coming true today. And part two is just hit. Okay? So it literally just dropped. If you're watching this when this show first came up, it just dropped. So it was Wednesday and Thursday.

The McShay report, Google it, subscribe. It's go. time folks, okay? We're going to be ahead of a lot of this stuff all season long, and we kind of watch a little tape and we feel good about what we're going to provide for you for the next few months. If you have any interest from a college standpoint, NFL standpoint, just love the NFL draft. It's here. I promise you. I've worked at some other places a bit. It's like you're going to get the best stuff here. And that newsletter is my is my baby, you know? That's the first time I've heard that.

That's great. All right. You told me you're hot on something. I love when you're hot on something. So just go. I have been on this position group for years now. And really the last three or four. And I just,

we are in the golden era of tight ends, man. Let me just read these names to you. Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland, Dalton Kincaid, Sam Laporte, Tucker Kraft, Jake Ferguson,

Harold Fanon, Brenton Strange, and Arronda Gadsden, all of these tight ends drafted in the last four draft cycles. There is just a wave of talent at Titan coming into the league. I don't even mention Elijah Royo, our guy from Miami, went to Seattle last year, and Terrence Ferguson from Oregon, who ended up with the Rams, who had kind of quiet rookie years, but go look at Trey McBride's rookie year and then look at his second year in the league. These guys are talented.

I'm still betting on them to to reach their potential. Did you mention Gunner Helm? Didn't even mention your guy Gunner Hill. There's other guys. There's other guys in there, Todd, that I could have mentioned. He was one of the more productive ones, despite like a lot of problems in that Tennessee offense and team. He had a nice year.

You would not believe, like some of these numbers that these guys like. As a fourth round pick. He was a. I know. A run against him, man. 120 overall and was one of the more productive tight ends. Preach. Yeah.

Preach. I named like 100 people. But here comes another freaking wave of tight ends. This class... Tell me about it, Bench. Obviously, Oregon's Kenyon, Sadiq is the name. And he should be at the top of the list. Then you got Max Claire from Ohio State.

Joe Boyer... Pause there. Pause, pause. I do, because this is important. I do feel like if you're just now coming into this thing and you're kind of keep an eye on the draft, but really an NFL fan or really a college football fan, I do think the perception out there is it's a one-

tight end draft. To bump that. Yeah. There is probably going to be one first rounder unless someone does something massive, senior boy in a combine, all that stuff. But a lot of those guys you named are second, third, fourth round picks. And I think that's where the strength is, right? Yeah.

I mean, you look at, I was going to bring up, I just said Max Claire from Ohio State. Yep. Eli Stowers from Vanderbilt is a little undersized guy, a little undersized, but he is a talented receiver. We're going to see Justin Jolly from North Carolina State. We're going to see Sam Rouch from Stanford down at the Senior Bowl. Dallin Bentley, a guy from Utah that I feel like no one's talking about. A big frame can make plays in the passing game, another Utah tight end.

There are guys up and down this board that can make plays in the league. I am fascinated, fascinated by all the talent that's coming in at tight end in the last four to five draft cycles. And what's interesting to me is it kind of matches up. And you don't want to give someone too much credit, but I heard Stanford Stephen on his pod the other day talking to Van Pelt about what Travis Kelsey has done for the tight end position and how he has made it cool. And I think this is, you know, the tight end, maybe not just Kelsey, maybe some of these other guys that have made the tight end position more glamorous, more of a receiving position. Yeah, chicks dig the deep ball and big guys against the ball. Tighten you.

The tight end position has evolved, man. It has turned into something different than we were watching, Mark Bavarro with the Giants decades ago. These guys are playmakers. They are like just big, graceful athletes that make plays in the passing game. And I think you're seeing that from kids wanting to play the position. More athletes wanting to play that position. And it's showing up in the depth of these tight end classes that we're seeing the last four or five.

I do think the depth is, what's really intriguing because it used to be there are three. I can remember like just a few years, like maybe three years ago. There would be two or three guys and then maybe one or two that could like, he's a blocking tight end. We'll take him in the fifth. He's just an F. We'll, uh,

you know, we'll take him in the fifth six. Maybe he can move him around as like an age. And now like Kenyon Sadiq, Bentley is, I think the most, Bentley is, I've started a little bit of tape on him. Bentley might be the guy where everyone's like,

oh, where'd he come from? Yeah. Okay. It's, uh, yeah, Joe Royer, Cincinnati. Max Claire, you talked about Jack Endries,

who I like a lot out of Texas. I didn't bring up Endries, yeah. Eli Rairden, Notre Dame. Roush, Sam Rouch from Stanford, you talked about. Casmaric from Ohio State. the other DeAndre Rogers

is Texas Christian kids pretty good yeah Joshua Quavis even at Alabama just like consistent reliable day three guy

who we're going to see making plays in the playoffs in a couple years where you're just like yep they're just steady Eddie there he is

making plays just some guys from North Carolina Stee yeah jolly it's an intriguing class I'm telling you man

oh you know who else I love You know how I found this guy? Pete Sousa. We went to school with him at University of Richmond. We played a teammate of ours. I was actually roommates with him for a year. Wild. He now does a lot of television,

and he does a lot of stuff for ESPN, basketball, football games. He, but he also does during the season, a Big 12 show. He's down in Texas, right? San Antonio. Getting married. this year. Congratulations, Pete.

Congrats. Yeah, he's getting married to Villanova this summer. But Tanner Koziol from Houston. Big Cat. And I remember going on, he wanted to talk about some prospects in the Big 12, like early in the

season. And I saw his name on the scouting list, on the national scouting list, and so I'm going to plug him in. And so I watched some tape on him. I forget the exact backstory. I'll have it for you later. But whether there's a basketball backer, he's just this massive dude,

and he's like, and he can actually move. And you can tell he's still kind of working through it. But you talk about a developmental day three guy, and he's going to be down in Mobile. I'm excited to see him in this environment. It is a stacked group, and it's been,

I mean, this, I can't remember a run like this on tight ends. I cannot remember. And the year before, I only went back four cycles. The cycle before that was Kyle Pitts, who finally started to start to do some things

that we thought he could do coming. coming out. I mean, it is the talent at tight end coming into this league, how offense coordinators are going to use that and adjust. I mean, I look at that Rams, the Rams offense with the, we'll always talk about Puka Nakua and Devante Adams. Look at that tight end group that the Rams have. It is loaded. I just, it's, it's, I'm fascinated by how this is developing and what it's going to do for offenses. Drew Fabianich took over the job of our good friend Jim, Jim Nagy. He, I mean, he's got bona fidease for days. Cowboys. always forever. Long time coach, long time scout, GM at Auburn, kind of on the front end of

this GM movement in the college game. He's been kind of, it's critical with that position. You're dealing with agents. You're dealing in, it's wild because this position, in my opinion, the league should chip in money and it should be a couple million dollar a year job, and I'm not joking, because of how important it is for all 32 NFL teams that feed off of this thing, the media market, the individual players that benefit from it, right? And the coordination that it takes to not only have an eye for talent and experience and have done that, then to coordinate as a general manager, all the other scouts that are there working for the senior bowl, then to do the circuit, the media circuit, and to be,

like, basically an elected official for the city of Mobile, which hosts this game and, like, no other. And then all the details, getting everything lined up, dealing with those agents. Like, it's wild what Drew does in this new job. And we know, like, I've always known what that responsibility was. And then I really got to know it with Jim and the stories and everything that you go through. So great appreciation for Drew and great appreciation that he's joining our show today. And like, I'm so fired up.

Let's just, let's get to it. because the amount of information and the kind of the drama and the buildup going into this week's senior bowl and throw in a massive storm coming through the south. I just, I love drama. I've learned that about myself. I'm ticking closer to 50. The older I get, the more I like drama. I like intrigue.

And we got a bunch of it for the senior bowl. So let's bring on Drew. And there he is. Drew, how are you doing, man? Good, Todd. Good and great. How are you doing, Steve? Doing well, man.

You busy? Yeah. Just made the decision to change 54 flights because of this weather. Yeah. Go ahead. What a logistic nightmare. I'm sure that's why you got into this, so you could work on all this travel stuff. Storm chasing.

Well, put it this way. I made the call on it. Jack Gilmore is taking care of that, which God bless him. He's working with the travel agent, try to get that done. I've got a fantastic staff. I mean, Jim did a great job of who he hired the first place, and then I brought in three more people that, you know, handle a lot of things that needed to be handled.

And it's running like a well-oil machine until we run into Mother Nature. Yeah, and for those of you that don't know, maybe live in different parts of the country, we're expecting a big storm. I mean, basically, it looks like from the radar, I feel like I'm minor in weather. I love checking out the weather,

but it looks like the entire country, like the middle of the country, is about to get hit with a massive storm. And if anyone's been in the south in a snowstorm, It's not treated. It causes all sorts of problems. It's not like being up in the Northeast. So that's one logistical factor that you didn't have to,

that you didn't quite, nobody could prepare for. It sounds like you've got it figured out. I'm curious before we get to the players, which I think most people watching this are really excited to kind of hear your takes and what's going on in the latest updates. I'm curious about this schedule change, man. I know our production team is kind of like, all right, well, what are we going to? But for coaches, scouts, people there, I think the media in general, tell us what the decision was,

but I know it's been very much welcomed by the community that will be down there, which is basically the entire NFL and the media covering it. And you know what's funny? I mean, Todd, I didn't do it for everybody else. I really did it for the players. You know, because the first thing I did when I came down, I looked at the schedule and I said, is there any reason why we're doing the formal interviews at night? is there not space to do it somewhere else?

And they were like, well, no. I was like, well, what if you push practice back and, you know, and this and that? And I just started tweaking things and asking them questions. You know, I didn't want to be a heavy, heavy lift. And after a while, it was like, there was no reason for us not to do it. And the reason why I came up in my mind, and because I did this for 18 straight years and 12 of it was formal interviews and started a seven, finished at 10.30. And when I got done, I wanted to stick an ice pick in my head. I didn't want to do one.

I did not want to do one thing after. Everybody go, hey, you want to go grab a drink or what? I was like, no. No, I don't. I'm done. I'm toast. And I went, you know, if I felt that bad, I bet you the players feel even worse because they're getting asked the same asinine question 32 times, you know, and they're trying

to put on the happy face and answer it and be nice about it. But then they get done, they go, ooh, you know? I mean, glad, you know, it's over with, but they're spent because the other people, you other, you know, the other piece of it, agents said they could never get to their clients because every second was accounted for here. And I get that. And it was. And they really couldn't even get to them at night either. They couldn't get to them in the morning. You know, they wanted to get to them after practice. And I'm like, sorry, you can't get to them after practice because we've got to get them back to the hotel, you know. And so I did this for the players. But what

happened is, is now, and you guys know this that have been down here, this used to be like the unofficial NFL coaches convention. Used to be. Yeah. Until. until the formal interview started happening. And they went, well, I can't go out with my boys. I can't meet any people. I can't lobby for a job. I can't network. You know, so I'll just go to the Combine interview these guys because they're all going to be at the Combine.

You know? So the coaches stopped coming. Well, now I find out that once the GMs and once we announced what we were doing, they said the coach engagement has went up like 80%. They want to come. Wow. You know, which will help them in the evaluation process too because they're still going to get the interview, but they're going to get practice.

Now they're going to come down here and network for a job. Player personnel people get freed up. The agents get freed up. The player gets freed up about 8.30 at night. And now there's no excuse for you to say, well, I'll have time of my players. Now you do. Let's get right into it with the quarterbacks. There's six on the roster now.

Correct me if I'm wrong because I know that things are changing pretty quickly. But I've got Garrett and Osmeyer, who we're thrilled to see, hopefully healthy and ready to go. and ball had a lot higher grades on him coming into the year and excited for him to be able to go and showcase his skills down in Mobile. Beyond that, Sawyer Robertson, who's one of my favorites from Baylor, Diego Pavia, who everyone knows is one of the faces of college football this past year at Vanderbilt. Luke Altmeier from Illinois,

tail in green, Arkansas, and Cole Payton from North Dakota State. Could there be any more quarterbacks? I'm trying to get name reveals right now. But could there be any more quarterbacks? And after you answered that, could you kind of fill us in on what you're excited to see from that quarterback group? There could be two more.

I'm waiting on two more. I have those spots, you know, waiting for them. We have the interview spots waiting for them. If they don't come, we'll run with six. If they do come, we'll run with eight. I'm okay with it either way. But I think both of them could benefit from being down here. And I think they understand that.

I think there's just some things we have to navigate to get them here. You know, I'm thrilled to death with, you know, the group. I saw most of these guys at the Manning Academy last summer. You know, the one that, you know, I've got a, I've got background with is Garrett Nussmeyer because I worked with Doug with the Cowboys for, you know, the time we were there. I've known him since he's 15 years old. You know, love Garrett to death. So I spent it, and I've seen him spend it for a long time.

and I knew I was going to invite him in August. I did. Now, I didn't invite him until, you know, November when we invited everybody else. But regardless of the year that he had, I mean, I can't unsee what I saw, Todd. I mean, that's 4,000 yards, 24 touchdowns. I mean, you know, again, you always have to look at when you're evaluating players. Why? Well, you go, well, they couldn't run the ball. The receivers they brought in from the portal.

I mean, a couple of them showed up, but not as impactful as they should. have been. They couldn't protect him. He took a lot of shots and he was hurt almost the entire year. And he gutted it out as long as he could. And, you know, I've got a lot of compassion for that because I know what he is. And I think he's going to show everybody what he is again. And everybody's going to go, gosh, I'm so surprised. Well, no, you shouldn't be. Sawyer Robertson is one of the best pure passers in this whole group. You know, you don't know how hard it was for him this year because they could not run the football. And they were always in a shootout because he'd have to put up 35 to 38 points per game just

have a chance to win. Tail and Green, so I'm throw down there. Dual threat guy, his stroke's getting better, his accuracy is getting better. You know, the kid from North Dakota State, I mean, Cole is a one-year guy. But the league's interested in him because he was really productive and he's a dual-threat guy. which a lot of teams are starting to take more interest in the dual threat guys. Luke Alvmire has been steady throughout his career at Illinois. Saw him down in Demand Academy, too.

And I'm going like, you know, he looks smaller on tape than he does in person. He's a bigger man than you think. And I think people will be impressed with how ball comes out of his hand. I'm trying to remember who else? Who am I missing, Todd? Am I missing one more? Um, Um,

Altmeyer, Green, Peyton, Sawyer Robertson. Paobia. Oh, yeah, Pavia. Yeah.

I mean, again, you watch tape, it's good tape. And they do a really good job of using his skill set. I mean, you know, Jerry Kill and the offensive

coordinator, Coach Lee, I mean, they didn't ask him to do things he couldn't do. And being a short quarterback, you know,

you can't see. You can't. And he's not going to be your prototypical dropback guy, pocket guy. He's going to have to be an RPO guy, move the pocket, you know, use his legs and, you know, take advantage of his skill set. And a team's got to be willing to do that. But you're going to see when you come down. I mean, he's not deficient arm strength-wise at all.

It comes out pretty well. And he improved his accuracy this year, too. And like I said, the tape's good. And guess what? You know, like Signetti, he wins. Yeah. He wins. One more I really want to ask you,

and then I know Steve's itching to ask you some questions as well. I wrote today on social media, like, senior bulls on a heater. Because these national championship guys, you've got to remember, we're talking just hours ago, finished playing their season, 16 game seasons. I remember back to 2009, right? When I couldn't, I saw on the roster, Ray Mauluga, Cushing, Matthews. And I said myself,

they're saying they're coming. Are they really going to, like, are they really going to come out and practice every day and go through it? And then I remember watching them walk through that fence onto the field. And then I remember hearing them an interview. And I think it was Malauugu, who's like, I just wanted to come down here to get discovered. Like, what the hell is he talking about?

You know, he's like, because they don't know me practicing against elite players every day. They don't know what I do. You know, so it was just that mindset. And Pete Carroll kind of, That was his whole thing. You know, competition is a great motivator. And I feel like with Indiana and Miami,

there are two programs that have a lot of that kind of same competitive, just eager to do everything right and love the game. So to see some guys from the national championship game already saying, yeah, I'm in. I want to come compete. I don't care. Yeah, I played the other day, but there's a chance to go play ball and I can show everyone what I can do.

I'm in. And the biggest name, I think, you've gotten to know them. So you may be not as surprised as the public. Like Ruben Bain coming to play in the Senior Bowl, that's a huge get. And I just wanted you to speak to kind of what it's been like talking to some of those guys from Miami and Indiana as they are fresh off of that national championship game. You know, and again, just going to everybody else, I'll kind of save Rubin for last. Guys that, you know, can do this after 16 games, and put this way, there may be some to tap out. because they're beat up.

I mean, 16 games, and this, I mean, a long season. I mean, it's as long as an NFL season because it's not 16 weeks. It's like 24 weeks. I mean, so,

I mean, if some of these guys tap out, I get it. And it's good because they're beat up, but they got injuries. They want to put on a good, you know, outing. And sometimes, you know,

they may not be 100%. And I don't want them down here if they're not 100%. Because I want them to put on the best show that they possibly can with their abilities. I do.

With Indiana and with, Miami, you know, it is a warrior mentality now. And that's what the league wants to see. They want to see you go through the process. And this is the first part of the process. The draft starts a mobile. That is no BS because they want to see you show up. They want to see you interview. They want to see you practice. They want to see you play, right? Then they want you to go to the combine, and then go to go to your pro day and then get a 30 visit if you need to. If you need to, if they need you to. And guess what? That's because you're checking all the boxes.

They want to see that you're accountable. You know, you're mature. You understand it. You know, you love the game because that shows you love the game. And the part of this that you guys know and a lot of people have said, if you don't love this game, an NFL building, an NFL locker room will eat your ass alive. And it will weed you out in a second because those guys are there feeding their family. they're not playing for the money.

They're playing for their livelihood and their family. Yeah, the money's great. But guess what? You're going to take my money. And nobody's going to hold your hand in an NFL locker room. Nobody. And if you're mature, you take care of your business, you do what you're supposed to do. You don't lose money.

You don't get fined. You don't get cut. So this shows them, the whole process shows them what you want. And it's just checking the boxes, right? And the more boxes you can check, the more your value sustains or goes higher. Now, with Rubin, he's been a warrior since day one. I recruited the heck out of him when I was at GM at Auburn. And I think I actually had a legitimate chance of getting him because I was going to get Keldred too. And I was selling, you know, hey, we're going

to get three or four dudes here. And, you know, once I get fired, I mean, he was like, I'm not coming, I'm not coming to Auburn. You know, told him I'm going, there's no way I'm coming without Fabot being there. I was like, appreciate your Roos, but, you know, you didn't have to do that. Well, he accepted the invitation. It started December. But we didn't announce it until after because I didn't want to be a distraction, you know, to him or anybody else. If they checked the box and said, do not, you know, announce right now, we didn't announce right now. But he announced, I mean, he jumped at it in December.

You know, so did Kianti. So did, you know, Jacobi. Shekobi said it was okay to announce it. You know, Messador said, go ahead and announce it. You know, we got a couple more out there. I mean, we just picked up, you know, Markell Bell. I mean, guys that have played through that and are willing to do this part of it shows what's important in their life. And what's important is showing the league how important this game is to them.

And I'm not going to say it's just those guys. I think those coaches have instilled that in those players. Because when people say Warrior, no, you play 10 games, you know, yeah. You play 16 games in 23, 24 weeks, you're a damn warrior. And that's what the league is. And you know, you heard the rookie wall, 12 games. The 12 games, they're like, who, you know? Yeah, yeah.

Now these guys are playing 16 and they're coming to an all-star game too. I mean, you know, hey, that rookie wall may not be part of their DNA anymore. So I'm thrilled to death with all of them. Seriously, I'm thrilled to death with the entire roster. I really, truly am. but there's some guys that I have ties to that I've recruited and that I know that I've spent time with, have personal relationships with them. And I want to do what's best for them.

I really do. And if I didn't think this was beneficial for guys, I'd tell them, hey, don't come. You know, because there's some quotes and comments, you know, like, you know, why is a guy like him need to come? Well, because going from pick 15 to pick 10 is about $6.5 million difference in a lot of a four-year contract. Yeah. Okay, that's why. Yeah.

That's why. So if you're the player, you're the agent, isn't that a good business decision? I mean... Yeah, no question. Yeah, it's a big deal. Yeah. I mean, and the perfect one was, you know,

the Grace Abel kid from last year. I mean, the league had him as a top of the third round guy. And he goes at 18, and he didn't go at 18 because he went to 18 because of this game. and you know that's $12.2 million difference in a four-year contract. 12.2. It's crazy. I want to bring up Zabel because, you know, you look at college football today,

and it feels like the transfer portal is consolidating power, right? But the senior ball has a long tradition history of identifying small school players. And you've got a guy coming there you invited named Delby Lemieux from Dartmouth. How to, like, talk to me about that process of a, still finding these players. I mean, everyone's transferring, right? But you found an offensive tackle at an Ivy League school who, I don't want to make it sound like, you know, you're doing him a favor.

I mean, he's earned the right to go there. But can you talk about the player a little bit and the process of inviting a player like that to the game? Well, I had a, and again, I'll kind of backtrack a little bit to Steve on this. The portal and P4 has actually done my job and done the NFL's job for them on the small college guys. Yes. Because the small college guys, I mean, there used to be like 50 to 60 guys outside of, you know, P4 and G5 that, you know, you'd go look at. I mean, I've been to Cutsdown. I've been to, you know, North Carolina A&T or whatever. I mean, I went everywhere every once in a while, you know,

for a certain player. But now it's like, I mean, I got a little birdie in my ear that said, you know, hey, there's, there may be a guy at Dartmouth playing tackle. And so I pop on the tape. I watch him play tackle he looks two and he looks he looked really thin and i went okay he's a really really good athlete you know and and guess what he did in space and he actually moves people i said but he's ivy league and i'm i'm kind of kicking him a little bit well i keep watching the tape this year i go oh they got a little bit bigger he's getting better you know and i'm going like wait a minute so i mentioned something to two area scouts in the northeast well they say i'm going into dartmouth now Well, then that started an avalanche.

You know, and it was like, okay, now that area scout talks, another area scout, the area scouts talk. I mean, it just kept building and building and building. And I'm not saying I discovered him, I didn't. My little birdie that had a son there, Dartmouth said, you may want to look at this kid. And I did. Well, I said the guy needs to be a center. And I told his agent, which is kind of a, he's kind of an offensive line specialist kind of guy. And he said, I'm going to put his hand on the ball.

He's going to be doing that from day one as soon as he gets done. and he's going to play center here. That's awesome. I love when that happens. I didn't do it. I didn't do it, Steve. Yeah, but I'm not, put this way, I didn't find him. All I did is identify him and then say something to the league,

and then all of a sudden it starts going like this. And it was always that way when you were scouting. If you said something about, hey, I really like such and such at such and such and such, well, it wasn't going to you. It was going about 50 other dudes. because there's no secrets, you know, because scouts can't help it. They talk too much. We know.

Right. They talk way too much, you know? And it's like, guess what? I mean, I got nothing, I mean, put it this way. The first time I said something about him, some of the guys go, well, we don't have him yet. Well, by the time I got to, after the October meetings that the league had with their scouts, they're like, oh, yeah, we got draftable grades on this guy. I'm like, yeah, could have told you that. Yeah.

That's cool. I mean, this ain't my first rodeo. another group of players you know there's a small school players another group of players that's really interesting to me when I look at this roster is and he kind of talked about this with some of the quarterbacks but there are players that came into the year who had high rankings and maybe didn't have the year that we want them to have I'm specifically thinking of Clemsons T.J. Parker the edge and I'm thinking of Oklahoma running back Jaden Ott these guys didn't have great years but you still decided to invite them what goes into that kind of a process why did you

make the decision to bring in that kind of a player. I'm excited to see both of them. The T.J. Parker thing goes back to the Garrett Nussmeier thing. I can't unsee what I saw the year before. Yeah. Right. I'm going like, this dude's a top 15 pick. Well, for whatever reason, I mean, you look at their front, you look at how they used him. I mean, again, when I personally called him, he couldn't wait to sign up. He was like, he said, I got something to prove. He's like, I didn't have a good year. And I love hearing. that. You know, with, with hot, this goes back to me being a GM and trying to get him out of the portal out of Cal. And again, I saw him play at Cal. And I went, he's had all the traits to be a

change of pace back. Now, for whatever reason, he played a little bit at Oklahoma. He got hurt. He played a little bit. You know, they just didn't, he didn't get a lot of touches. And again, there was nothing negative. I just think it was the wrong fit. And nobody said, you know, hey, he's not capable. They all said, you know, hey, there's a reason why he was here. The reason why we signed him. So, I mean, I think that he's going to be not a big surprise, but a very big surprise, just athletically and just the way, just the way he moves in space because he's going to be a really good change of pace back. He is. I think of all the positions. I mean, edge might be the strongest, right? But the running back position for some reason, I feel like there's a perfect blend.

of big name guys, talent, obviously, and then guys who are, you feel like they're just scratching the surface while other guys, you know what they can be, but maybe something happened this year or is a setback. I'm going to rip off some names for you. Nicholas Singleton from Penn State, unbelievably talented, catches the ball, big, fast. Ketron Allen from Penn State as well, had a better season than Singleton, doesn't have the skill set, but a powerful back. and we know what he can do.

Reshul Faison, a little bit of, I think one of those guys that is underrated at this point coming out of South Carolina. Jamari Taylor, small school guy, HBCU guy, goes to Virginia, and this guy's just brutally tough to tackle. Adam Randall, I saw a receiver playing running back early this season, and then I saw a guy who, like, is developing running back instincts. Levion Moss was one of the best backs in the country when healthy and then was dealing with injury. and you just talked about Jaden Ott. Can you walk through the group and kind of what you're excited about and maybe what people should expect?

You just gave a hell of a scatterer report for most of every single one of them. I can't help myself sometimes. I mean, you know, the lucky piece that I had is I lined up against those guys from Penn State twice, right? And you're so correct. Nick Singleton was down this year.

I don't know why. The offensive line was actually pretty good. You know, Ketron had a better year than he normally has. Ketron's a pounder. I mean, he is one of those guys that's not going to be a jump cut guy. He's going to be a one cut guy

and he's going to be a pounder. Is he a change of pace guy? Is he a third down guy? We'll see because he doesn't catch the ball very often. Nick Singleton is a complete back. And don't know what happened, don't care. But I know he's going to show everybody the same skill set that you saw,

I saw everybody else has seen in the past. You know, Livy on Moss, you're right. I mean, you know, love the vision, love the burst, love the balance, and I think he's going to be a complete back too. I think he's a three-down guy. Just wasn't healthy, you know, and last year didn't get a lot of touches. So, again, if he's healthy and gets a lot of touches, he could be an impactful guy on any team. You know, Jamari Taylor, as you said, what I like about him, he runs through side contact.

He runs, his yards after contact is big. He's a hard tackle. Feeder in the ground all the time. And, you know, he's just, he's almost sprawlish, but he's actually almost a little bit thicker than he is upstairs. Strills was, you know, really thick down low. You know, kind of most Maurice Jones Drew kind of, you know, looking, you know, but even, you know, that kind of power and balance, you know,

and coming from North Carolina, you know, Central, again, they're doing my job for me. And so is they're doing it for the league. I mean, you find a guy from there and you bring him to Virginia, and he's really successful. Gosh, oh, Washington, Mike Washington. Yes. I mean, more than just a pounder, and he just kind of broke onto the scene, too. Didn't have a lot of background to his story. But, you know, again, I like big backs.

I do. But I got to think I'm going to. You like big players. Let's call it what it is. I've looked at this roster. There's a bunch of big, like every big receivers, big corners, every big corners. You have, and a lot of guys in the league do, and for a good reason,

history has shown us, but there is definitely an emphasis on, yeah, yeah, sure. Yes, there's a bias there, and I call them hair on fire guys, too. I got a bias for hair on fire guys. But the big guy, the big guys come from, and I'm giving him credit because it credits due, Bill Parcells, I mean, tore me out of the frame like in front of everybody. and when I brought up a smaller guy. I said, well, he's a corner. He's a safety.

He's a pummer turner. He's a receiver. I mean, he's done everything. He's like, I'm just rattling off. He goes, how big is he? I said, 5'10. And he says, how many years you coach? I said, 18 years coach.

He says, obviously not effing enough. Right? And he said, he said, because small guys wear it down, big guys don't get any smaller. And he also said, you've got to be big because you're built to last and you're going to be able to play in November. which makes a hell of a lot of sense. Yeah, it's a big man's game. And, you know, I've got selected guys in certain positions that are, you know, they're not walk on water guys, but they're special, you know, for their size.

And again, you've got to have certain, you know, pieces that fit for those smaller guys. Now, they're not tiny, tiny. They're just smaller. So there's a place for them. But, again, I'm really biased. in those corners, they're all big, but two of them. I mean, all of them. There is not, other than two, I don't think there's one under six foot tall, if I remember, right?

Yeah, I mean. Yeah, there's lies. Colton Hood, Malik Mohamed, Chris Johnson, Igbenosin, Davison and Igbignosin from Ohio State. They're all 6-1, 6-2 above Will Lee 6-1. You're forgetting two. Ephesians and Takarro are 6-4, both of them. Yeah. And even that Charles Demings guy, you like him from Stephen F. Austin. I do. You know, I kind of call him. I've kind of said he's almost like a small school Malik Mohamed because he didn't have the resources.

He looks thin. I think he is thin. I think he's thin framed. He's not, he needs mass. He needs more, you know, overall strength. but he's got the same kind of silky smooth movements as Malik does. And for his length, he's got really, really good foot speed and comes out of it really well. Doesn't waste a lot of steps in the transition, doesn't waste a lot of steps in his turn. And I think he's going to show a lot of people he belongs. I just, I think he's going to put it this way. I think he's two years down the line that he's a starter in the league. Right now, I mean, I think he's just body, his body just needs to develop.

He needs the nutrition. He needs to, you know, because, again, Stephen F doesn't have the resources that Texas does or any other P4 school does. I like him. I like Chris Johnson. I mean, and I don't consider Chris Johnson a, you know, small school guy, but San Diego State doesn't have the resources that other schools do either. I mean, I keep telling McShay about Johnson. I keep telling my kids about Johnson, my wife about Johnson.

Anyone who will listen to me, I think that Chris Johnson's got a chance to be a starter early on in the league. I think his tape is outstanding. Yeah, and he's really instinctual, which I really, really like. You know, gosh, I'm trying to remember the... His man's own versatility, the ability to play both really stood out to me. Yeah, but his instincts kind of reminded me of Casey Hayward. Yeah. That's just the eyes and just the instincts of just tracking and just, I mean, he's got ball production

because he's got intuition and skills. you know, and that's hard to teach. More comfortable than a lot of corners I've seen in college with his back towards the quarterback. When he turns and runs, he's a guy that doesn't panic. He can get his head turned around. It really jumped out when I was watching them compared to maybe some of the other guys in this class. No doubt, but like I said, and he tracks really well. I mean, he tracks, like you said, he tracks when he's in phase, whether he's in the front hip or the back hip, and he's got a little bit of, you know, Richard Sherman kind of intuition when to, you know,

get the eyes back too on the hand. And so, I mean, yeah, I mean, I'm not displeased, put it this way in the least. And I know the corner classes, you know, they say, oh, there's not like six guys, you know, hot. Yeah, but there's probably about 10 dudes that are starters in a league. Yeah. And guess what? If I get that guy in the third round, who cares? You know?

Yeah. I mean, because guess what? I didn't have to spend the money to get him in the first, did I? You know? So spending on somebody else. So, Munch, what else you got, man? I've got one I want to finish on,

so anything else you got? I was going to get into Demings with you. I got into the guys that, the small school guys that I want to get into, Demings and Lemieux, I want to get in Parker and A. I'm good. The only thing I was going to ask you, though,

is what's been the biggest challenge for you? I mean, with all these players, we can talk about, what has been the biggest challenge for you in year one? I could see you got your head down. Was this the wrong question to ask? No, it's just, and I'll say this in the nicest way. Can I guess?

So if you take some heat up, you know, I know you're going to name. Does it start with the A? Yeah. Yes, it does. And end with an S. Yes. I'll say it, I'll say it this way. Too many agents talk to too many area scouts, okay?

Area scouts don't see the entire country. And they give grades out to these agents, and these agents take it as gospel. And I'm going like, you know, one would say, hey, I got a receiver from such and such, and he's a second rounder. No, he's like a fourth. There's 12 guys that are better than him, right? And they go, well, we still have second round grades on him. Okay, well, guess what?

In the fourth round, I'll call you and say, guess what? I know I'm right, because I see everybody. And they don't listen because they think all I'm trying to do is get him to play in the game. And it's this simple for me. if you're not a top five pick, you should play in this damn game because you can make money. Bottom line. And if you don't believe that, just watch the guys that are going to be here that are, quote, tie-in seconds or back in first that end up being at pick 15 because of this game. Just watch.

Happens every year. Yeah. And there's one that told me, he goes, he doesn't need to play in the game. He's got first-round grades. I said, there's nobody in this league that got first-round grades on this guy. I said, I'm just telling you because I got five or six directors that I'm close friends with. Nobody. And he listened to somebody and guess what?

I said, I'm going to be the first guy to call you after day one. I said, I'm going to say, yep, told you so. They're just, they don't listen. And again, that's fine, you know, because again, I'm not trying to pull the wool over your eyes just to get you here. I know that there's certain guys that can make money here doing this. And almost everybody can. But some of them may be backing out. because they're afraid of getting exposed, too.

Because they know that maybe they're weak. Maybe they know in one-on-ones they're going to get taken advantage of. And the agent goes, no, let's not do that. I get that. I get that, you know, but that's my biggest issue. They also didn't tell me, Todd, that I'm the unofficial Merrimobile. They didn't tell me that. We didn't tell me that.

We could have told you that. Yeah, we knew that. Did you know that I was, that I'd be speaking at the Rotary Club at 7 a.m. this morning. It comes to the territory, man. But there's great restaurants in that in Mobile, Alabama. Oh, there's no doubt. It's one of the most underrated cuisine places in the country.

And you get to eat basically for free for a long time. So it's the tradeoff. The people have always been great down there. Always been great. Because they've always embraced this game, you know. And I kid around with them. I always say, is this a football game with a cocktail party or a cocktail party with a football game? Oh, it's a cocktail party with a football game.

football game. Don't get it twisted. Don't get it twisted. Yeah, and they enjoy it. I mean, which is great because, I mean, heck, it's going to sell out again. It is. I mean, there's no doubt it's going to sell out. Every other All-Star game has bounced from from city to city, state to state, and this stays at its rightful home in Mobile, Alabama. I do one last thing, and you just touched on it. Every year, I've always said two things about the Senior Bowl. You leave there, and actually it probably doesn't take until Wednesday. Two things I always have been able to take from it, among other things, but two things to jump out.

One is the cream rises pretty fast. You can, and you can, unfortunately, sometimes agents get in those players' head and you're clearly the best player here. You have two practices or one practice and it's time to go, which is absurd. It tells you a little bit about, you know, the individual and who they're hiring to be their agent. However, the other thing that I always get is there are always second rounders that become first, third that become second. You know, like there's always like a handful of guys who you knew were players and then you saw him there.

You're like, oh, he's even better than I thought. Are there any guys this shit? And I don't want to put you on a spot because obviously every player here is an opportunity to rise. But are there a few guys that you have your eye on? Like, I think this guy is vastly underrated by what I'm seeing. online or what people kind of think about him. I think at the end of next week, people are going to be talking about him is almost more of a household name when it comes to the 26 NFL draft.

Malik Mohamed. I mentioned Demings. I think, I mean, he's already a household name, you know, but I think that Jacob Rodriguez is going to kind of show that he's more complete than people think. I think there's one that can wreck a game and if some defensive coordinator can figure out exactly how to use him, you know, it's Kyle Lewis from Pitt. Really?

Yeah, is he a big nickel? Is he a willbacker? Is he a moneybacker? You know, because he's impactful. And, I mean, lined up against him for two years. And I was like, you know, you need to count for this guy. I mean, everywhere. You know, and I think that that's,

That's one that nobody really is talking about at all. Yeah. And he's got a little Levante David to him, which, you know, because Levanti was about his size. Matter of fact, Levante was a little bit lighter than him because Kyle Lewis looks like he's 210 and he's 225 and he's probably going to be 228 when he gets here. You know, now we've got to see if he can play Will Backer and play in the box. If you can do that, he's a money backer, but he could be a nickel Sam too. You know, or he could be a big nickel.

I mean, so we're exposed to him. He runs like a safety. I mean, he covers. No doubt. No doubt. He's just a little tight to be a safety. I mean, I'm saying the big nickel is a little different, you know, and all that. You know, the other one that I think is just like nobody even knows about his Vinnie Anthony from Wisconsin.

I mean, nobody. You know, they had issues at quarterback. I mean, big issues. Yeah. And, you know, if the ball was five feet close to him, he was happy because he wasn't getting a lot of looks. he wasn't getting a lot of balls, but he's big and fast. He's good in and out of his routes. You know, he could use a little bit of strength.

But I think that, you know, him being in training and everything else, I think he's going to come down and people are going to go, wait a minute, who's that guy? You know, because there's nobody talking about him. I mean, nobody. Ramello height is, I bet, may be the surprise of the guys coming off the edge this year, down here. You know, because he's at subrusher. I mean, the worst he is is a situational pass-rusher teams guy. That's the worst he is. How big is he going to be, do you think?

See, I think he's only going to be about 238 pounds, tops, tops. Parcell is screaming at you. He is. But again, I thought he might be smaller, to be honest. Yes. I thought he might be smaller. So I actually think that's a good number. That's a good number for him.

If he gets around that 240 range, I think that's a good number for him. Maybe. But I don't know if he'll get there. You know, I'd be willing to say he was probably 222 right in there during the year. You know, I'm guessing he maybe 235. That's what he was in the spring, I think. Yeah, see. So I'm, and again, but he's a special rusher.

He just had a dude. I mean, they played no doubt. But put it this way, that was no different than when we had DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer. I mean, you know, D Ware was putting up double digits. Well, guess what? Anthony Spencer was too. They just weren't 19. They were more like 10.

Yeah. You know, so, you know, there was always that, you know, hey, Anthony Spencer, you know, should have been better, but Anthony Spencer was good too. So, I mean, when you got two rushers, just like Messador and Bain, I mean, they play off each other and some guy gets more push than others and some guy gets, you know, flush to a different guy. So those are the ones, Todd. I mean, and again, I could give you three more than I think, you know, could possibly be that, but we don't have enough time.

That's a good group. I appreciate, especially we're, but now looking into changing our flight. We might be coming down on Saturday night. It means one more night. Is it Chuck's Fish? Is it Noble South? I don't know. These are good problems to have, though.

These are good problems that. And I'm going to give you another one, the dumbwaiter, next to the next to our building. Oh, I love that. We love the dumb waiter. Right. Yeah. And here's one too now. If you got time.

Noja. Noja. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. That's truly. And again, like you said, there are two in this town. And I traveled everywhere.

I got a list of everywhere I went in the country. I've got like a list of restaurants everywhere. There are two down here. They're my top ten. And one of them, you mentioned. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Chris Edings is my guy.

Oh, and I'll tell you this. Here's what he said. His biggest revenue all year last year was the Wednesday night that they didn't have interviews. And I said, how would you like to have Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday? He said, can I kiss you? See, I wasn't going to plug him. We ended up plugging him anyway. It's an unbelievable backstory to with his mom and the sushi and how she was found at a little sushi shop by Chuck.

Anyway, all right, we're excited if you can't tell. And we truly do appreciate your time. I know it's insane this week with all the roster movement, the travel and everything else. But we appreciate your time. And it's hard to find two bigger fans of the Senior Bowl and have more appreciation for what you're doing. because it truly is, the draft does start in Mobile, and it truly is a critical part of this process that we all love. Oh, I agree. And thank you for having me.

I really appreciate you guys too. Hope you know. You got it, man. We'll see you down there. Thank you. Okay. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming.

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