The Ringer NFL Show - Deebo’s Trade Request and Best Draft Fits

Episode Date: April 20, 2022

Kevin, Nora, and Steven react to the news of Deebo Samuel’s trade request, Denzel Ward’s extension, and the Carolina Panthers fiasco. The trio later picks the landing spots for the draft prospects for the 2022 NFL draft. Host: Kevin Clark, Nora Princiotti, and Steven Ruiz Associate Producer: Stefan Anderson Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are certain moments and words that shaped a new era in pro wrestling. Austin 316 says I just whipped your ass. Brett screwed breath. Die, Rocky, die. Introducing the book of wrestling, 25 catchphrases that explain the attitude era. Tune in as we relive one of the most exciting, intense, and over-the-top times in WWE, with new interviews with the voices that made the promos, calls, and catchphrases into history. Listen now.

It is the Ringr-Ren-Fel show, part of the Ringer podcast Network. I am Kevin Clark, joined on a newsy Wednesday by Stephen Louise. Stephen, hello. How's it going? It's going well. Norrinciates here, Nora, hello. Hi, Kevin. So, I don't know, this is a sliding scale of kind of what constitutes Newsy.

When a receiver now takes the team name out of their bio, that's like a, as Danny Kelly would say, a three-circuit. 10th out of 10 maybe. But Debo Samuel has now requested a trade. And we're going to get to a couple of things around the league. And we're also going to get for our best draft fits in the second after this episode. Something I'm really excited about because I have, I asked you guys to bring three and I have 10. I have 10. I have over three as well.

I have five. Cool. I'm glad we're going to save that until there's like 10 minutes up in the episode. And then we all talk over each other. It's going to be wonderful. All right. Let's just quickly kind of blaze through the news. I was going to choose three of them to be clear

because I'm a purist on format. The reason I are just going to give our whole thing. I'm just giving a mock draft. I'm just doing a mock draft. That's it. We're going to 1-32. We're going to 1-232. I like the drafts, the draft podcast.

They're just like, what all 32 teams need. Like, I just didn't go to move the sticks one. It was just like, what all 32 teams are trying to accomplish. I'm like, listen, this is no season for brevity. let's go. If you're going to do three, you might as well do 32, Stephen.

Okay, so Debo Samuel tells us Jeffer, I want to be requesting a trade. This, after a couple days of chatter, maybe Adam Schefter said that maybe he doesn't want to get a deal done with the Niners questions over his usage, question over his relationship with the Niners at this point.

It's interesting because when I thought, at the end of last season, when I was watching DeVos Samuel play, I was saying that I think the next trend, and we already saw it, people tagged me now in these quotes, the next trend is people saying, we want our Debo Samuel. We want a guy who can play wide receiver,

go out of the backfield, big enough to do anything, playmaker all over the place. And a lot of times that just means you're just taking a bad second round pick because you're just over projecting a guy and saying, hey, we can do all these things. But if Debo Samuel actually becomes available,

and it's not just the draft capital that we give up, it's an extension behind it. It's a lot of money. the new wide receiver market's kind of crazy. But 1,400 receiving yards in 2021 kind of speaks for itself. This could be a really interesting market if it comes to that. Having said that, we're talking about the usage thing. Kyle Shanahan is probably the best place for him.

Having said that, I will never get in the way of somebody getting the first big contract and say it's stupid from the leave. It's stupid, you know, you should say an SF and stay with the genius. Whatever. No, you know, get the paycheck first, worry about usage later. Steven, what did you think when you first heard about this trade request? I think I had the same initial reaction. Are you sure you want to leave Kyle Shanahan thing?

But when you look at the numbers, I think that was the lasting image of the 2021 season was Debo Samuel used as, I think they called it the wide back role. But the first half of the season, he was leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage per game at 113. And he wasn't carrying the ball. And I think I like equated to your pushback against the too high thing where it's like, oh, yeah, you put a second safety back.

there that's very innovative. I don't think you need Kyle Shanahan to give Debo Samuel a handoff from the backfield. We saw the Falcons just get the most out of Cordero Patterson. I don't think it takes an offensive genius to get the most out of a player who is built

like a tank and is very fast and can catch the ball and can run routes. He's a great player in any system. So I'm not too worried from his perspective. And I totally get why he would want to get away from a team that's going to artificially reduce his shelf limit,

as the 49ers did last year, I believe. Hmm, interesting. Nora? Yeah, well, I think the usage, not in terms of snaps and touches, but the usage in terms of, okay, when he is in the backfield, how much of that is taking a dump off, going in motion, jet sweep stuff,

versus how much of that is a true handoff where he is acting as a running back, which is so useful because it's just there's no way for a defense to know how it's going to get its run fits right. If you just have no idea how he's going to be used, the thing that I think is going to impact if he gets traded, where he might get traded, how much money is going to come with the extension, no matter who it's coming from, is how much of that does he want to keep doing? it's obviously a superpower in terms of effectiveness on the field, but it adds to wear and tear. And then it also creates a question about what that contract will be, right? Because Debo Samuel is able to do both of those things,

he is a more valuable and productive player in one sense. Because Debo Samuel is able to do both of those things, he functions sometimes as a receiver, sometimes as a running back, sometimes as a all dual purpose weapon. However, receivers get paid the most. So there's a little bit of a catch-22 of like, who do you want to be here?

Because his willingness to continue being such a unique player could impact his longevity. It in theory should make him more valuable because it just makes him so valuable on the field. But then positional value comes into play and that actually kind of goes the opposite direction. So it's a really, really fascinating case. I am with Stephen in the sense that what he does is so unique that I don't think that Kyle Shanahan is the only person who can take advantage of it.

It's just such a cheat code that it really shouldn't take a genius, although obviously I do think that he's in a good situation. So would think twice about leaving that. But it's a fascinating one. Okay. Stephen, is this a kind of thing where we're going to place him in Kansas City or we're going to place him with Patriots or we're going to place him with some of these teams would be really interesting and then he descends up on the Jets? I think so. It sounds like he wants a lot of money and I think the Jets are a team that are willing to pay that amount of money and I don't know if the other teams will and it's not just not because of his own ability. I just think it's I think some teams put a number on how much they're willing to pay.

receiver and they're not going to go beyond that. It seems like the 49ers are one of those teams. And I mean, I think that's the smart way to go about it. We've kind of hinted at it all throughout the off-season. I feel like wide receivers, there are a lot of good ones out there. And that's the thing with the running backs don't matter

thing. It's not that running backs aren't, I don't know, talented. It's that there are so many talented ones that the supply outweighs the demand. And I think we're getting to that point with receivers. and I could see why a team isn't willing to pay a receiver as good as Debo Samuel is,

who has had trouble staying on the field. And that's before you even get into his uses as a running back. He had problems staying on the field in college. He had problems staying on the field when he was just a full-time receiver in San Francisco. So I completely agree with you. And that's one thing. I think there's been a disconnect because I've been saying on this podcast a couple times in the past few months that there are people in the league who are saying that the receiver market

is going to become like the running back market where not in the same way. obviously they're going to be world department and the finances are going to be completely different. But I'm just saying where the market gets artificially capped because people say, you know what, we got, it's really easy. I mean, like, I think the template here is you trade Stefan Diggs if you're in Minnesota and then you find Justin Jefferson in the same first round, right? That to me is probably what teams think about now is sort of the perfect transaction. Now, there have been teams who haven't hit in those situations to try to do that and spin that.

But it's easier than ever because of the way the wide receiver position has evolved. I've written about that. I've talked about that. We don't need to do that. That's a different podcast. Having said that, there's no evidence that we're trending in that direction. People keep saying that in the league. GMs keep saying that. Coaches keep saying that. Coordinators keep saying that. But then I see Devante Adams contract and I see Tyree Kill's contract in the draft capital that they gave up to get those guys. And I say, okay, cool. There's a massive disconnect between what people are saying is going to happen and what's actually happening. But in those trades, who are the teams giving away those players and who are. who are the teams taking on those players?

And how good are the teams giving away those players and how bad are the teams taking on those players? I think it's just maybe it has taken hold amongst the smart teams and the bad teams just haven't caught up to that fact yet, which is why I think you're right in that he's just going to end up on the Jets. I think Deepa Samo's an amazing player. Nora, if you had the Niners' GM job right now, you replaced Johnny Lynch, what are you doing?

I think the dollar amount is where you decide, okay, let's try to recoup some value here and move him is a little over 20 million a year, 2025, somewhere in that range. I mean, I'm not, I'm not paying Debo Samuel $30 million a year. I'm not going, not paying him $27 million a year. Don't think I'm paying him $25 million a year. Start getting a hair underneath that and then I think you're talking. But I can see. Nor are the negotiator. Here we go. I can see, because. Because he's had so much success there, and because that is a system that gets a lot out of good players. And even though I think that I wouldn't mind seeing him on the Jets, right?

Because first of all, they clearly want to go get a receiver this offseason and have tried and failed so far. So maybe they're motivated to do it. But also, those guys have backgrounds in San Francisco and understand that offense and should have a solid understanding of. how to use him effectively. I don't think that the 49ers are the only team that should be able to use Debo Samuel effectively by any means. I do think that they have used him effectively. And so his value is probably pretty high because of that.

Now, it's hard to price out just because you're factoring in the fact that the team getting him is then going to have to extend him. So the value isn't the pure trade value if he were already on a reasonable contract and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But his value is probably reasonably high. So if it's really expensive, I wouldn't fault them for saying, you know what? Let's sort of get well the getting's good here. But I would be happy to go above $20 million before you hit that point.

How much, how much of this do we think is the money thing and how much of it is actually the usage thing? Do we actually believe that it's the usage thing? So Breer and a couple other people said that it's not about the money. It's about usage. before someone gets their first major contract, it's about the money. It's about the money. Like, I don't know if there's any other way to spin that. I mean, like, I guess the, the flip side of the argument is, or my argument, is if someone came to Debo and was like, how do you want to be used and drip a plan?

And they were like, cool, we'll pay you $4 million. And it was like the perfect plan for him. Would you take that? No. No. So I don't like, it is about the money. and it's about a certain threshold being passed, and it's about whether or not the Niners want to pass that threshold.

Now, once you're within that range, that's when you get into the usage tiebreaker. I think usage is a tiebreaker here. But I think that there's a threshold that you need to cross to be in the Diablo Samuel sweepstakes. And to your point, Nora, do you think you have to own a flat-brimmed hat to put the ball in Debo-Samil's hands?

Because it's the Leflur. I say no, Kevin. I answer no to your question. It's a Lefleur, Shanahan, kind of Mike McDaniel, like that kind of genre of coordinator. Does Mike me do you know where flatbram tag? What do you?

I've seen him. I've seen him one. I don't know if he does anymore, but I noticed it a couple years ago. What about a visor coach? No visor coach can put the ball and do the same in the same. Come on. I don't know. I just don't think it takes a rocket scientist.

Any hat will do. I noticed I went to the Vikings Niners last game a couple years ago and the Niners are one of the great teams that involved field access. So I was down on the field for a while. And I was actually. It was notable how many flat-brim taps are on that side by. Matt Patricia is a rocket scientist. Debo did the past. He's got a pencil.

So you know he's smart. Okay. So, anything else. Steven, what did that have to do with anything? You said you don't have to be a rocket scientist to get the most set of Debo-Samey. The Patriots have one. Do what a tough break for rocket scientists is there one representation at the NFL level of Matt Patricia? Do we have to retire that analogy?

I think it's okay. All right. Listen, I actually kind of on, I'm on everybody's side here in conclusion. Like, Debo, will and should get paid, and I understand the same to this kind of makes sense for everybody.

This is what I was talking about a couple weeks in my open on the podcast, my open on this podcast a couple weeks ago, we're talking about how right now, I think there are owners and GMs who are reconsidering the pecking order of what happens when a guy's not to go, what happens when a guy's not agreeing to a contract.

I think trading them away is a lot higher on the priority list than it used to be. And that's why we're seeing so many of these deals. I think we're seeing more aggressive teams. We're unafraid to fail. Younger GMs, captive Verizon, the stays can be buried easier. It's going to be interesting to see.

Can we say one more thing about the usage thing? And clearly, like, it would be great to hear from Debo himself and really understand what the mindset is there and which of these things is more important. Another reason I think we can feel fairly confident that this is financially motivated, as makes total sense in the situation that he's in, is because at a certain point being unhappy with the usage is going to affect his value, right? Because Debo Samuel is valuable because he's done all the things that Debo Samuel does. So if part of the ask is I no longer want to

do all of those things or I don't want to do them as much, at a certain point he becomes less valuable and I don't think that Debo Samuel is in the business of costing and self money right now. So I just am a little skeptical at that but would love to hear from Debo himself. Debo Samuel, come on the ringer NFL show and tell us what you think. Do he not? He was one of these guys that was supposed to come on

and then I guess we never came out. He was supposed to come on so on news guy during Super Bowl week. It doesn't happen. I literally do not know. He must have finally seen the show. He must have. Or I just left him on Reed. It just happens, bro. Come on. I just left Debo on read. His usage right at the rigor. You said left him on read? It's

red. Maybe. I don't know. Red. No, it's read. You get left on red. You don't get left on read. I don't get left on either. I once. Let me ask you. I once stood up. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Because if you're being left on red, that means you have read it. Read, I'm going to read this. I have not read. I have not. No, the person did read it and they didn't respond. They read it. Oh, well, I don't

actually, I don't check my text messages. So it's just, I don't check my text messages. different. Oh. He changed the argument. No, I'm just, I have, I have thousands of unread text messages. And I'm sure Debo's in there saying, please let me on your nine minute video show. I once stood up Antonio Brown for an interview because I wanted to play pickup basketball instead. Good choice in hindsight. Yeah, that's got to be a decision that looks better and better and better as time has passed. That decision aged well. By the way, I'm joking. I honestly don't know what happened with Debo. I did not. I've never communicated with him before.

That's okay, Kevin. So somewhere on the booking, somewhere on the, the booking in the booking ether. There's a miscommunication with David Samuel. So the Antonio Brown thing, not a classic interview, I'll say that. Not a vintage interview. We were doing... Well, it wasn't an interview at all. Stephen played pick a basketball. No, I'm just saying I've done phone with Antonio Brown and they were really bad.

There was one thing. So we, early on in the ringer, we were going to do this thing, this rubric called starting five, where people break down their five favorite people in any, right? And like I think Chris Ryan's was like Christopher Nolan was on at one point. Like just as an example, right? And so I was like, Antonio, like we're doing this thing. It's like the last question. I was like, can you just take me through your starting five? Like give me your five like ride or die people that he's really into.

And he said, I think it's DJ Collid. And I was like, well, what about the other four? And he goes, I think it's DJ Collid five times. I don't know what you were looking for because that's a great answer. It's an amazing answer. It's probably better than like. would have been to say it was DJ college four times

and then Pit bull. Another one. Tom Clancy. Just like some really normie 90s author and Rice. Yo-yo-ma.

All right. Denzel Ward signs his extension. I think he's the highest paid cornerback in football. Five years, $100 million. $71 million guaranteed. The Browns are going to have a lot of expensive players.

That's the taxing having a bunch of good players. And I'd rather have them on the bus going forward than in a bunch of different contract prices going forward. Nora, what do you think about the Browns right now? Yeah, I think in the short term, it's great. I think part of the reason that Ward gets the huge contract that maybe we thought that someone like J.C. Jackson might have gotten has a lot to do with age. He hasn't even turned 25 yet, right? So he could get through this entire deal before he turns 30.

I think the thing with the Browns is they are clearly sort of adopting that that Rams model where they're okay with becoming a little bit of top heavy. I think they're sort of in the golden window where they're not really top heavy yet because they've done a good job of building that roster. They're not totally in the cap situation where you start having to make decisions yet. But in a year or two when they are, the question becomes the same question that it's been with the Rams, which is just can you hit on mid-round picks

so that you can get cheap guys to round out the roster? They're paying their guards a ton of money, right? And that's one, that's an area where in L.A., they got a few years into that plan, and they started having to find guys in the mid-rounds of the draft who could play roles like that so that all of a sudden they're not spending, you know,

well into the teens at each of the guard spots. The Rams have been successful at doing that. They won a Super Bowl. Everything's great. The Browns are going to have to hit on some picks like that. If they do, everything's probably going to be great. If not, it might get a little bit like you lose some depth. But it's as good of a strategy as any else right now.

And Denzel war is a great player. So being top heavy is not the only thing they're pushing their chips into the middle of the table for. Like it's a pretty, it's pretty leverage there at this point. Stephen, Nora mentioned the Rams thing. Are the Browns at that level? Like, can they win? Can they compete for a Super Bowl this year? I mean, I want to say no,

but I would have said the same thing about the Rams at this point last year, maybe even after the staff retreat. So I used to, like, clutch my pearls whenever, like, someone would get paid this much money who wasn't a quarterback, but I think you can afford to overpay, like four or five players. And if you're the Browns,

who else besides Denzel Ward? And I know, no, I completely agree. I think he's one of the trophies from the, the two years with Hugh Jackson. Like,

he's one of the picks that they actually hit on that they traded for. Like, you have to keep him out. Remember when that was such a big deal? Like, if it was going to be him or Chubb

that they were going to take? I mean, that was, that was a really interesting draft. Nobody even knew they were going to take Mayfield pretty close. votes into it.

So, yeah. All right, anything else in this team, in this player? I mean, the deal makes sense. I'm not freaking out

about it. Anytime a good player is rewarded with a deal that isn't going to look terrible in three years, I'm fine with it.

They also have, like, they have a decent secondary overall, right? It's not like they have a terrible secondary and they're trying to,

last couple years. Right, they're not trying to, like, solve a problem by handing, one very talented person, a huge contract.

This is the cost of doing business to lock up someone very young and very good for a long time. When you have smart cat people, like these contracts, if you're giving them to good players, they're never issues.

They never become issues if they're good players. As long as you're not giving it to a running back or Jared thought, I don't think it's going to become an issue. I agree. All right, let's move on to another team, a team much worse off than

Cleveland Browns right now. It's Carolina Panthers. So two stories. Number one is that Ben McAdo declared on April 19th that Sam Donald is a starter and then within 90 seconds walked it back and said, quote,

that wasn't something I should have said. Shouldn't have declared Sam Donald's starter, which I actually, I don't know how big of a gap that is. There's no real other option. It's not like they gave the game away. And also if they draft a quarterback next week, like, who cares?

Like, who cares if Ben McAdo before the drafts, the Donald was a starter? And also, by the way, teams lie all the time about who the starting quarterback is in April. They lie after the draft. They lie in July and August. Sometimes they lie in September. So, like, I don't think it's that big of a deal. But it just sort of speaks to, I don't know, just some confusion there. And then you, on top of it, add in that the Panthers have been building a practice facility in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

So there were some funding issues with the government. There was some bond issues with local government there in Rock Hill, and that was coupled with local politicians around Rockdale, South Carolina, attacking David Tepper, saying that they promised Jerry Jones, and instead they're getting Dan Snyder, I think, was the quote from one of local politicians. So it's gotten really ugly. And then this week, the Panthers announced that they are no longer going to build this practice facility. It's going to be left half built, I mean, maybe three quarters of the way built.

I don't really understand what's going on there. I don't know where they're, I mean, they're practicing the stadium now, if I'm not mistaken. It's going to be, you know, like a haunted house for kids in Rock Hills, South Carolina for the rest of time. Just kind of half built there. Maybe there'll be legends. Maybe we'll grow spider webs. Kids will go exploring it, but there won't be an NFL team there. Stephen, you're a Panthers fan.

You're a Sam darned-oficionado. You're a Ben McHadu Stan. Take us to what's going on in Carolina right now. The same thing that's been going on in Carolina for three years. I think the half-built practice facility is a perfect metaphor for this rebuild. I thought it was supposed to be a rebuild. It's never been a rebuild. And like you said, the Ben McAdo thing, like saying the Sam Darnels is started,

like it doesn't matter. But when this is your franchise and this is what it's, I feel like a story comes out of Carolina every week that makes them look dumb. So when you tack that on top of all this other stuff, you're going to get laughed at. And there's just no direction. This franchise hasn't had a direction for three years now. They fired Ron Rivera.

Jerry Richardson got pushed out because various things, some racist remarks, some other things. And somehow the organization is in a worse spot now than it was then. Things have gotten worse. And there is no, nothing you can clean. to, if you want to be an optimistic Panthers fan, there's nothing to cling to. I was thinking about it today. I don't

think they should draft any of these quarterbacks at six, but it's almost like they have to. Because I don't know how else you're going to sell season tickets in the fall. Christian McCaffery, for the four games he's going to play, name five other Panthers off the top of your head. I don't know.

I don't think most people can. It's it's just, it's the most boring roster in the NFL, in my opinion. One of the most incompetent front offices that I've seen over the last two years, I don't know what else to say about this team without sounding like a massive hater, but I don't think it's hating at this point. It's just being realistic.

This team is going nowhere. They're treading water, and the water they're swimming is just full of shit. Like, I don't know. I'm done with this team. I'm done. What is that? What is being done with this team mean exactly? Nothing, because if they draft Malik Willis, I'm going to be right back on the bandwagon in a month.

Also, if they draft Kenny Pickett. Yeah, I'm going to talk myself. I'm going to get small gloves. I'm going to do the whole thing. I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. I wish I could be more eloquent about this. I don't know.

Or anything on this franchise? So I guess maybe some of our listeners don't know how strongly I feel about this. But on a little podcast called Every Single Album, my friend Nathan and I like to talk about my deeply held belief that when someone, the most sort of canon example is if someone gets bangs. But if anyone drastically changes their hair, I am on high alert that something is wrong. Mr. Ben McAdoo, I'm not going to say anything harsh here because I just want him to know that it's going to be okay. But I'm worried. I'm worried because we are cycling through hairstyles that are dramatically different at a pace that.

that is too rapid to escape notice. Wow. I have no, like, yes, he put his foot in the mouth, as he went on to say in that interview, which was very strange. But, like, to your point, Kevin, what's he supposed to say? Like, PJ Walker is our starting quarterback.

Right. This is a Jared as our quarterback right now kind of situation. The hair is so much more concerning than anything that has to do with San Bernard. Wait, I think he's upgraded. I think his hair looks nice. Yeah, he's glowing up. You're looking great, King.

Don't listen to Nora. It looks, so, again, it looks like it's well-conditioned. It looks like there's good texture there. There's good shine there. He's clearly conditioning. The middle part, I don't think, is the right thing. He looks great.

He's looking great. He's upgrading. He's leveling up. You're looking great, King. I'm here to help. I'm really here to help. I just find a look and stick with it, is my point. I disagree.

I disagree. Keep exploring King. Dude's rock. Dude's rock. All right. Let's get to, oh, anything guys on Cooper Cup, his extension hasn't happened yet. We're going to have a lot of this now, and we're seeing with Devo in the same bucket. And AJ Brown as well, obviously, he's up for an extension and he's made some noise on social media.

Cooper Cup is he is not doing that. He's basically saying that he's not going to rock the boat. He wants everything to work out. To me, Cooper Cup is a little bit different. He's made enough money to set him up for life. That's the thing. Somebody asked me this morning on a different show whether or not Cooper Cup should be like Debo Samuel and say,

you know, or excuse me, whether that Debo Samuel should be like Cooper Cup and say, I know where my bread is buttered. I don't want to leave McVeigh. I don't want to leave Stafford. I just want this to make sense. and the money will come. They're in two completely different situations.

For me, I think NFL players oftentimes view their financial situation as, am I set for life? And if the answer is yes, you're dealing with an incredibly different set of questions. Now, I think beyond that, I think that we, in the media, far too often, spend other people's money or pocket watch and just say, hey, why does this guy need this much money? He's already got $150 million. I wouldn't do that. But I think the difference if you're a Debo Samuel and you're ending your rookie contract and somebody like Cooper Cup who if he plays out his deal would have $53 million, that is different.

Now, Cooper Cup's going to make significantly more by the end of 2023 to $53 million. He will. He will get a bump at some point. So it's a completely different situation. He was on all NFL first team. He's one of the best receivers in football. He deserves to probably get 10, probably more a year. he's on 13 last year, 14.8 this year, 14.7 next year.

That all needs a bump, but it's a completely different conversation. It's not as urgent. Stephen, what do you think about this particular situation? I think it's going to work itself out. I do think that both of these teams, are both of these parties, appreciate each other more. And I don't think you have that added layer of Debo, the positional value question, in the wear and tear question.

Cooper Cup is a physical player who takes a lot of hits, but he doesn't line up in the backfield. He does sometimes, but he doesn't take handoffs. And I think that is also being included in the 49ers calculus when they're trying to decide how much to pay Debo Samuel, and the Rams aren't going to have that. They're not going to have to worry about him getting hurt, you know, getting washed up before the age of 30.

And I do think Sean McVeigh realizes, how hard things were without Cooper Cup when he has been hurt in the past. This offense, we have seen it start to struggle when it loses a receiver to injure. We saw it with Robert Woods before O'Dell Beckham came on at the end of the year. We saw the first Super Bowl run when Cooper Cup got hurt.

I think he tore his ACL and was out for, I think the last month and a half. I think he understands that. I think he knows he needs Cooper Cup for this offense to function as it does. And I don't think he's going, you could tell by his play calling. Just watch them on third down and everything revolves around Cooper Cup.

So I do think Cup could afford to do a Debo Samuel and demand as much money as possible. I don't know if he's going to. If I was his agent, I would say you should absolutely do this. You are worth more money than I would say you're worth at least if, what is Devante Adams making, 27, 28? He's that important to the Rams offense. I agree. He might be more important because of what he does as a blocker. No arguments here.

I'm just saying it's going to be a completely different posture. No, I agree. I think it's going to be quieter. It already is. It already is. They won the Super Bowl. They're all happy. And again, at the end of this contract, if it just played out like it is,

$50 million is different than the $10 million dollars. Debo Samuel will have made at the end of 2022. He was, I believe, on a four-year, $6 million contract to start. And it will make $3.9 million. this year, completely different conversation. That's why Debo, I mean, Debo is probably doing it correctly. If the object is to get in the high 20s,

Debo is doing it correctly, AJ Brown is doing it correctly. By the way, those two guys share an agent. Like there's no, D.K. Meccaf as well. There's a, there's a playbook now to get, and Terry McCorn. There's a playbook now to get money as a wide receiver, and I don't hate it.

You will never hear criticism of me. You'll never hear me pull a Brett Farve with Javon Walker. for your old timers. And if a guy needs to get paid, anything that accomplishes that is correct, frankly. Football is too brutal of a game. Any criticism here is like a criticism of strategy, right? Like there are things that we can look at and say,

okay, yes, that's probably going to help you get what you want and not. At this point, it's all PR strategy. But there's no value judgment. And if Cooper Cup wanted to unfollow the Rams and make a bunch of noise, and that helps him get what he wants, like more power to him. But it does seem like, first,

you're trying to imagine Cooper Cup making a big stink. No, I was saying I was trying to imagine what would happen if I, if I unfollowed the runner and took it out of my bio and just no one noticed for three weeks.

And I'd be like, I was going to say, Kevin, unfortunately, yeah, the answer to that question is very little. I would be like, I would be like,

and then like no one would notice for like a month. And I'd be like, oh, man, I guess I should just put it back in. And I just wouldn't get a race. And then you'd have to The worst thing is you'd have to

Refollow the account And then maybe someone would notice When you refollowed it And just like, hey man Were you not following the account this whole time? And then you'd have to be like oh Yeah, yeah, yeah It's like if you know what, don't worry about it

It's like if Baker Mayfield ends up starting For the Browns in week one Yes, that's actually one of the things I wanted to get to So Tony Pauline reported this morning, I think, that there are sources close to Baker Mayfield To say there's a scenario where if the Browns are unable to move Mayfield

in the trade, they canceivably keep him around as their starting quarterback with Deshaun Watson is suspended. So we don't know the timeline on the Deshawn Watson's suspension. There will almost certainly be one, but we don't know when that could be. I mean, some of these suspensions have been very, very delayed. So that was Ezekiel Elliott.

This would just be embarrassing for everybody, Steve. Yes, everyone involved. I would think about throwing the games if I'm Baker Mayfield. I know he's not going to do it, obviously. but I'm that type of person. I would do that.

I know. No, I know you are. I know you are, buddy. Nora, would you throw the games? Taking that as a compliment. Just, just, uh, just sort of appreciate the awkwardness in the situation. I think that the best revenge is living well. So you don't, yeah, I don't think you throw the game.

Just one more thing on the Cooper Cup thing. I think it's a lot easier to be content in the situation he is compared to A.J. Brown, whose earning potential relies on Ryan Tannahill, or even Debo, whose earning potential is either relying on Jimmy G. or Trey Lance, whatever he ends up being. Also, by the way, like Cooper Cup is also in a position to make a lot of off-the-field money right now based on being Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams receiver Cooper Cup in a way that none of those other guys are right now at the specific moment, although I'm sure they all do just fine for themselves in terms of endorsements. But that's a piece of it too, right?

Like, he's in a very good spot for the brand, as the kids say. What if Baker Mayfield plays so poorly, it looks like he's throwing it, and you guys are both right? I think that's within the realm of possibility. All right. Let's get to draft fits. We've got, we were supposed to bring nine total, something to give about 50. So what does blow through these pretty quickly?

Uh, Nora, what's your first one? All right. My first one is sauce gardener to the giants. I think given that Wayne Bartondale is the DC there, they're going to really love the idea of not only the best overall corner in this draft, in my opinion, but particularly the best man to man corner in the draft because they're going to want to blitz like crazy. They're going to need dbs that they can leave on the, on an island.

and, you know, okay, the dream would be try to go maybe offensive line or somebody in the trenches at four and then get them at seven. But it seems like, first of all, there's good sauce buzz right now. So if you have to do it at four, I'm fine with that. And then the other thing is just because there's such a big, it drops off so much after sauce and stingley in terms of the corners in this class that I just think you sort of go for it. but when you can and when you feel like you need to.

I like that. He's been mocked a lot to the Jets at this point of one of their top 10 picks. Man to Man, this is how you win in this league. Stephen, what do we think about that? No, I love it too.

I've seen people mock edge rushers to them. And I think, like Norris said, they're going to blitz. You don't need edge rushers. I don't think Don winked martindale needs edge rushers. He needs cornerbacks. You need to be able to play cover zero.

The Ravens couldn't last year, and we saw what happened. I went full news. name. Stephen, I need you to never refer to him as anything other than Don Wink-Martinil forever. I would full name and I have no idea why I did it. Like, in the middle of pronouncing wink, I was like, what am I doing here? I don't know why it has like such strong and I don't think my father, the inventor of Toaster Stoodle, would be too happy to hear about this vibes. I love it.

Stephen, what's your first? Kevin has his face literally in his hands. Like this has gone so off the road. No, I, that was, that was purely out of, out of, out of, of, delight and appreciation what was unfolding ahead of me, which was Don Wink Martindale. There are already it. I wonder how many people even know there's there, he's, that nickname is

based on somebody else. He's not the first wink Martindale. Right. Wasn't it like a game show host or something? Yeah. I put the wink in scare quotes because I put him on fraud watch. Wink. Don. So, uh, wink Martindale, his first real name is

Winston, Winston Conrad. is best known for hosting Gambit from 1972 and 1976. Tick-Tac Doe from 1978 to 1985. High Rollers from 1987 to 1988 and Debt from 1996-1998. He is still alive. He's 88 years old.

Is Tick-Tac Doe a game show based on Tick-Tac-Tow? Is that the type of TV people are watching right there? Yeah, bro. It was on NBC and then CBS. It's like football. It was football back then. Isn't it wild that we complain about anything ever? Right.

There's like eight Vigillion things on Netflix at any given moment. People once upon a time we're watching Tick-Tac Don Martindale the first. Dude, Tick-Tac Doe was an American phenomenon. And now we're like, get upset because it took until yesterday for all the Bond movies to be on one streaming service.

Like 95% of Tick-Tac-toe games end in a tie. It's like a week. long thing where you get one game in. It's like cricket. It's like cricket where it's just like it just takes days at a time. Dude, I'm trying to figure

out the tick-tack. So you could win. So in 1980, a guy named Tom McKee, Tommy Gunn, defeated 43 opponents to win eight cars and take home $312,000 and other cash

bonus game prizes including over $200,000 in cash? Dude, is Tom McKee the best Tick-Tac-Ttoe player of all time? Has to be. Of all time.

He's a Navy officer. Is he the best athlete of all time if we're considering this an athletic feat? Goat. He's been goaded. He's been goaded by the pod. He's also still alive.

He's also still alive. All right. Also, by the way, we're talking so much about this Tick-Ttoe game. Did you say that another one of them was just called debt? Yeah.

That sounds bleak. I'd be awesome at that game. The only way to get out of debt is to win Winston Martindale's debt. It doesn't sound bleak. He's getting people out. I'm literally playing that game right now. That's why I work at the ringer.

I'm going with the Jets. I'm saying Drake London, pick number 10. It's a Zach Wilson thing, but it goes back to his days at BYU. Zach Wilson was at his best when he was launching 50-50 balls down the sideline and his receivers were just mossing cornerbacks. I think Drake London is a very good

receiver outside of that ability because he has that basketball ability. He's a taller receiver. He can win those 50-50 balls. He's also a good rock runner for his size and he can move for his size. But he has that special ability that I think would suit Zach Wilson well. And I think if you're going to get the most out of Zach Wilson, you need that type of receiver. And I don't think the Jets have him yet. Is there, is this fit dependent on Debo Samuel not being a jet? No, just keep, just keep bringing in receivers. Just keep adding. Just keep doing it. Bringing enough where Zach Wilson can't. Okay, because if you get Debo, you're going to have to pay him a lot of money. You're going to have to round out the rest of your receiver core

without with some relatively cheap talent drafts. Good way to do that. I'm into it. Yeah, I'm a Drake London guy. I think he's the best receiver in the class. And I really think that that's how you save young quarterbacks. Give them receivers. I agree. That's how you save them. Did you see, I'm asking if you saw it, but I sent it to you, and then we talked about it. Did you see Tua say

he's going to yak the heck out of teams this year? I'm going to keep my mouth shut. If I say something, I'm going to enrage to Anon, and I don't want to do that. I'm over to Anon, by the way. That was last year's bit. I can't believe they brought it back another year. You don't recycle bits. I unfollow

the Bangalorian because you keep bits in the past. I agree with that. All right. This is my new year, my new bit, this year's bit. I, I want to,

I want to give, so there are a handful of guys I just want to mock to every single team. Kyle Hamilton is one of those guys. Cole Strange. My, my athlete draft crush list that I just text Danny and Ben about all the time. Leo, I think his last name is pronounced,

Chanel, maybe I'm wrong, at Wisconsin, amazing athletes. Zion Johnson from BC, amazing athlete, Col Strange, UC-U-T-Chattanooga, I think. All three currently mocked well outside the top of the draft. So I'm not going to talk about any of those guys here. I just want to shout them out. They're on my good players list. Although people have mocked both Strange and Johnson to Tennessee in the late first,

which I probably think would be a great fit, just because of the way Tennessee plays, wants to play, their toughness culture guys as we know they're big culture guys so um i'm in on that now jordan davis i i i keep arguing with people in the league about jordan davis because some people are in love with i'm in love with him i want him on my team if i ran a team listen i'm not saying if i was jacked when i'd take it first overall i'd figure it out where he where he would fall but i want him on my team and there are people who say to me, I text them and I say,

even guys I consider really smart, much smarter than me, where I say, hey man, wouldn't you just take Jordan Davis if you were like, had like the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth pick sort of thing? Just get him on the bus.

And I say, no, no, no, no, no, you take an edge rusher, Jermaine Johnson, something like that, who has every down capability. And I said, well,

I'm sorry, I want the special player. I can get second tier edge rushers anywhere. If there's a first-year edge rusher, he's going in the top two. He's going in the top three, top four at the latest. But I want the special player that would be available. And yes, he's a two-down guy.

Yes, he has limitations. Yes, there are questions about him. But he's a incredibly special athlete for that age. I was going through all the Combine data yesterday, and there are some real outliers in his costs. Aidan Hutchinson has the second best three cone in the history of defense events at the Combine. That to me is special.

I don't think he's, no, I think he's probably like a third Bosa brother as far as general production goes, which is pretty good. I don't think that's generation, franchise changing. I think that's good.

But when I have Jordan Davis and I'm thinking about him, do the Ravens just pull the trigger at 14? Can we get him there? Like, does that not make a ton of sense for Jordan Davis of 14 to be on the Baltimore Ravens in that culture with that defense,

with those players? My God, that would be fun. That would be fun. I'm going to, here's my thing. Scouts don't know ball. And I don't mean that. I don't mean that.

No, that's not how I mean it. They are very good at evaluating players. But they don't know scheme and that's not their job. And they don't, I don't think they put in a lot of effort to learn like the new trends in defense. You need to understand George's defense to appreciate the role he played. He wasn't given a typical NFL role. And that defense is not a typical NFL. NFL defense. So I think it's very easy to misinterpret his skill set because of how he was used

at Georgia. And I'm with you. I'm like, I'm post draft slot. I don't care where you're taking the guy. If he's a good player, you're not going to look back in five years and go, yeah, he's a great player, but I wish we would have taken him at 14 instead of eight. Who cares? Like, like you said, he's a special player with special talent. Like, guys that move that well at that size are going to be good at football. And if they're not good at football, that's the coaching staff's fault. It's not going to be his fault that he's bad. I think, I see some scenarios. Okay, outside of the work, if there's like work ethic issues or whatever, off the field stuff.

But if he's, if he works hard, he's going to be a great football player if the right coaching staff gets their hands off. By the way, I just want to close loop on one thing I said, which is about the, they help in Hutchinson's second best three cone in history of defense events. Best ever three cone by a defense event, currently playing to the Edmonton Eskimos. Nora, what do we think about Jordan Davis? I'm into it. I also think that, look, that Georgia coaching staff has really, really good ties all over the NFL. So in terms of understanding where he's coming from, what the fit would be at the NFL level, it's going to vary right how much the people who are evaluating him are bringing an understanding of what his best fit schematically is going to be.

at the same time, you're going to have people who worked with him in college who have ties all over the place and they're going to be able to communicate a lot of that stuff pretty well. So I wouldn't. Like, I think he will, I think he will go somewhere in the top half of the first round. And I think the Ravens is a great fit. That's where Danny Kelly's got a Mac,

him mocked. Do they Maced? I'm thinking about Little Mac. Or the conference. Always thinking about the Mac. That's not true. but I'm super into it. I just, I wouldn't worry too much about there being sort of like an information problem,

uh, in terms of where he would work out best just because that Georgia staff knows everybody. I don't think it's going to be a communication problem. I just think he's not going to have those special plays on film that another defensive tackle might have playing in a system where he's, they're just attacking right off the snap. He didn't get to do that. Yeah, I'm with you, but he's going to have a lot of people who coached him sort of,

sort of lobbying for him and I think doing it effectively. I'm into Jordan Davis too, Kevin. Nora. Share your enthusiasm for Georgia. Let's hop on the bus. Nora's second fit. All right. So I went with Tyler Linderbaum,

center from Iowa to the Cincinnati Bengals. And this is actually, this is a good one to talk about now because it's sort of what we were just talking about. He's an elite athlete, like an elite elite athlete. And his college tape is great. The only reason that this is a reasonable mock to Cincinnati

towards the end of the first round is because centers just don't get drafted by. But if you're Cincinnati and you have the need and he's there, I think you're pumped about it. Because that would give you Linderbaum, Ted Karris, Kappa, Collins as the new guys on the offensive line there. You probably then have Keras play guard instead of center and then Linderbom's your center. And all of a sudden, that offensive line has been totally overhauled,

which is what we wanted to see from the Bengals going into this offseason from the start. He's done a ton of zone blocking. I think Zach Taylor should be just fine with figuring out what to do there. I think that's a good scheme fit. and he's just a really, really, really good player who, if anything, is holding him back, it's just the positional value conversation. And given where Cincinnati is going to be drafting

and given what their team needs are, I think that's more than enough to say, totally fine. We will take a center at the end of the first round. Stephen? Yeah. Centers. I would say that shoring up the interior of that line

is more important than the tackle. I know right tackles are more, blaring hole, but it seems like Joe Burrow has no problem dealing with edge pressure, but no quarterback is good at dealing with interior pressure. So if I had to pick one hole to plug, it would be in the middle rather than on the edge of that offense line. So I agree with that. I'm into it.

I'm into it. All right, what's number two, Stephen? Desmond Ritter to Pittsburgh at 20. Hmm. So let's game this out. What kind of, where's the quarterback pecking order then? I think Malik's going to go in the top 10. I know the buzz suggests that teams have Pickett ahead of Ritter,

but I've also heard that a lot of teams like Ritter and have a first round grade on him. I personally prefer Ritter. I think he's a better quarterback. I don't really understand this notion that Kenny Pickett is the most pro-ready. I think he's just the oldest out of him. When you watch their tape,

I don't think Kenny Pickett's very good in the pocket. I don't think he's good at reading defenses. Desmond Ritter is the best in the pocket. He's the most pro-ready quarterback to me. He has the accuracy issue, which is a big concern for me, and that's why he's not quarterback number one for me. But in that offense, what I think it's going to look like under Matt Canada, you never know, but I don't think it's going to look like the Ben Rotheroffensberger

offense. I think it's going to look more like what we saw out of Canada when he was a college coach. The play action under center, almost Kyle Shanahan-esque, I think that suits Ritter perfectly. I think they could deal with the accuracy issues if it's that type of offense just because guys are usually open just because the nature of the play action concepts.

I really like that fit. I think if Pittsburgh's able to land him and he can beat out Mitch Trubisky, which I think he would. I mean, that's a playoff team for me. That's like an easy playoff team if that defense is as good as it was or it has been for the last couple years.

And I think it will be. I'm trying to imagine what kind of quarterback who is currently like 20, one years old would need to step in for it to look like the Rothesberger offense. Like you said it's not quite the Rothlisberger offense. Like what? Mason Rudolph. Like if Sam Howell

gained a bunch of weight? I mean, he's a pretty big guy already. Like, Mace, the funny thing is... You got a ways to go from Big Ben there, brother. Mason Rudolph came in for Ben Rothesberger, and the nature of the offense did not change at all. It was still the washed up Ben Rothesberger offense, and Mason Rudolph is like

23. Yep. that's your apparent baby hey stephen yeah how do you feel about the fact that like your current quarterback interests

involve Desmond Ritter and Daniel Jones they're the same quarterback so I feel very careful yeah like is do we have like a little bit of a norm core quarterback

crush list right now I'm not I don't have a crush on Desmond Ritter let me clear that up okay okay he's my quarterback number two I like him I don't love him. Malik Willis is the quarterback I have a crush on.

Daniel Jones has, he's been my guilty pleasure since going back to the draft before he was drafted. I was one of the guys that was like, you guys are freaking out too much. He's not that bad. He's okay. He's going to be fine.

Not top-by pick fine, but he's going to be fine. I think he has been fine. All right. My next one is, so I watch a lot of college football and I tend to interesting because

honestly I forget what I said on a podcast and what I said in real life because they've just blended I'm doing too many podcasts that they're all blending together but when I'm podcast is fake life

well when I'm broadcasting publicly and sometimes I had a conversation with a town of value around the NFL I was sending up some players I liked a couple months ago and I didn't remember anymore time and whether or not I'm podcasting

have both all are two things that have just just completely flat in my brain and and and he was the guy was telling me that I'd send him a bunch of instinct players who are not amazing athletes

and then I am maybe the greatest college scout ministry of the world and a awful pro scout which actually makes sense when you consider that I grew up watching Florida high school football it was also it was all tongue and cheek obviously we were just kind of

messing around about different prospects but one guy I really fell in love with who had the instincts and was just always around the ball and making something happen on every single play, just making himself valuable all the time, and is a good enough athlete to go in the first round,

is a guy who I keep hearing might slip to the end of the first round. I think that would be a mistake, but I also think that for one team that likes to pounce on these types of players, that might be fine. Devin Lloyd, the linebacker at Utah, going to the New England Patriots, seems absolutely perfect. A smart linebacker knows what he's doing in the Belichick system.

Those guys just, as Stephen would say, Belichick and Devin Lord are two dudes and no ball. They'd be really good together. And I just think that having watched Devin Lloyd and what he's capable of in that Utah defense, tough guy, system fit, I just love

I like it. I like it. I forget who it was, but someone from the Patriots this past week was talking about how the old Patriots archetype for linebackers just doesn't exist anymore. The run stuffers don't exist. So I think they're starting to realize that and I think they're going to go the other way.

and Devin Lloyd is, like you said, he's very fast. He's always around the ball. And that's a front seven that's needed athleticism for the last couple of years. I think that's been a big weakness for that defense. Yeah, it was their new personnel guy. He said basically that they have to take what the colleges are giving them, which means slim down and speed. Which means 235 instead of 250.

And I think, like, talking to people there about this, it's something that they're really thinking about and are totally like, yeah, we just have to. accept that at this point because the supply for the guys who have been prototypical Patriots picks in in the past just does not exist anymore. And they tried to kind of stay true to form for a little bit and it just hasn't worked out. And I think they're, I think they're very ready to go in the other direction and just figure it out. Get Joanne Bentley off my TV screen. I'm tired of it.

No more Gronk, Benz. All right. Nora, third fit. Okay. Well, so I think we're, this was supposed to be a little bit, um, more of a reach.

We were, we, we'd agreed that the third one didn't really have to exist within the bounds of pure reality. So I think he will be long gone by this point. But what would really bring my heart a lot of joy would be Malik Willis to the Lions at the end of the first round. Oh, at 32.

Yeah. How dare you? If Malieck Willis somehow fell to the Detroit Lions with the 32nd pick, not reaching, but controlling the fifth year option, maybe needs some time to develop, but goes to a team that's not ready to be great right away. I'm just all in on good things happening in the Lions. I'm all in on Lions vibes. And this is my Lions vibes fit.

The vibes would be through the roof. I had Malik to Detroit at two. Two, yeah. So wait, what would Detroit, what would they do at two in this situation? Take like Walker in Georgia? Yeah, or offensive line, maybe. Somebody in the trenches.

Tibido. Maybe. Kaelin Jones, by the way, everybody read his Kevin Tibado piece that came out today. Very, very, very good. I love that. I love, I love Malik Willis as draft A. Steele. I just think I just think everyone would be so pumped about it. The other thing is that like genuinely, okay, it's a little scary to see a quarterback who I like go to a place that's not ready to compete because you can't trust that the infrastructure is immediately ready to

support him. I do think just the fact that you could design a good bit of run game around him would give them some breathing room in the early days. The Jalen Hertz, you could do the Jalen Hertz offense for two years. Right. The Eagles made the playoffs do. Right. And if the Eagles can do it. I'm not going to finish that. Stephen, what's your last, your last fit, even if it's a reach? I kind of cheated, but I found a mock draft where he was going later than this. So I think counts Charles Cross to the Chargers at 17. He's not going to, he's not going to drop that far. But I would have said the same thing about Derwin James when the charges got him at 17.

And I've seen a lot of talk about the charters needing a field stretcher, a faster receiver. And I agree with that. But I do think part of the reason why the Chargers weren't able to stretch the field a lot last year is just they didn't have an offensive line. Or they didn't have a right side of the offensive line. And I know the Bengals got the, they had the terrible offensive line story. all year long. But the Chargers' offensive line was just as bad in the same way. The right side of the line couldn't protect anybody.

So get a tackle in there. Give Justin Herbert time to throw the ball downfield so he doesn't have an A dot of like seven and a half again. That's all I want. A guy that will protect Justin Herbert enough so he could throw the ball downfield because I want to see bombs.

Okay. Amen. I have... I'm going to I'm going to just mock Kyle Hamilton to all 32 teams. And I think he fits there. You know, it was interesting. I actually saw it in Buffalo News,

I had a write-up for the day about whether or not it even, you know, kind of pie in the sky made sense for the bills to start their succession plan at safety. Obviously, they've got two great safeties in Jordan Poir and Micahide. Nobody's ready to break them up. But there are contracts. Jordan Poirer has one year left on his contract.

Maybe adding Kyle Hamilton as a luxury piece in this year would be great. That's my reach. I don't think that's going to happen. I think he can fit anywhere. I'm worried. I'm worried is he going to end up on the commanders. I think he might be a culture changer type of guy. I wouldn't hate if he was there and just tried to build something,

but as long as the current regime is there, I just don't. There's a cap on how successful they can be. And in football, the careers are too short. The money's not good enough. Like that, that worries me. Spending five years with a fifth-air option to Carl Hamilton in a place like that.

Having said that, there are just so many places that make sense. You hear Steelers fans wondering. I think you took a visit there a couple of days ago, if that would make sense. Eagles fans are trying to trade up. Kyle Hamilton, to any team is my reach. I would just, I'd love them anywhere. Stephen, where does it make the most sense for you?

I like that. I hadn't heard the Steelers saying or considered it, but him and Minka together, it would be hard to deduce what they're doing pre-snap with those two guys. And I think they could just add a whole other package, and a whole other layer to that defense, which was already, it might have been the best in the league last year. I think that might be my favorite landing spot.

I don't know if he's going to get there. I mean, he definitely won't get to 20. But, yeah, I think that's the funnest outcome. Yeah, it'll be fascinating. Listen, they could trade up. They could do some on Steelers things. His visit was yesterday. He traded up for a linebacker a couple years ago.

They sure did. So I think there's some interesting. I think, you know, I know that he's, I know that he's, he fell after his 40, whatever. Like, he's still an awesome athlete. He's still really good, pre-and-post snap. I just, closing speed is awesome. I don't see, I wouldn't take him first overall,

like some people were talking about before the measurables came in, but I won him on my team. He's on my all, he's on my Jordan Davis level of just, like, get him to my locker room. That's it. Anything else, guys? Should we rapid fire through the other things that we were going to mention? I already did at the top.

The floor is yours, Nora. I had Trevor Pendham to the Ravens, Jameson Williams to the Patriots, and Breece Hall to the Bills. I like all this. I had Jameson Williams to the charges also. The other side of the bomb thing. I need more speed in that receiving court. Well, in both cases, right?

That's the... And I kind of laid this out when we were talking about the Panthers. I think Malik to Carolina would make a lot of sense for that regime. They need to buy themselves time, and Baker Mayfield or Jimmy Garoppola are not going to do it. I think it just makes the most sense from a job-saving perspective for them. And he's fun. Like, give Panthers fans something fun to watch. I had a personnel person say to me recently,

or just sort of float the idea of Malik to Atlanta, and then couch it with, I don't even want to say this because I don't want to speak it into existence. So hopefully I'm not doing this on the podcast, but I kind of like that. are we starting the movement here? I think I would be being a, well, I might get in trouble for starting to move. They pick seven. They pick eight, excuse me, eight.

Yeah. The Giants are seven. They're not picking the quarterback. Okay. Huh. All right. Well, we'll say. You could do the same offense with Marietta and be interchangeable.

I don't know. I'm kind of into it. Or, or, or you could just play Mariotta tank and get. see Dave Crowder-Brice Young next year. That is the other option. The new genre, the two things that I've noticed in this draft cycle, number one are everyone now says, if you're going to draft anybody who's not like a quarterback or a tackle,

every time there's someone who's like maybe a little more of an out-of-the-box athlete, the number one talking point for every single draft point. It is if you're going to draft this guy, you got to get with their coaching staff and have a plan on how to use them. It's like, what are we been doing this whole time? They tell their coaches five minutes beforehand, they're going to draft this guy.

Hey man, we're going to draft this guy who plays three positions. I might want to take a look at him. What? And then the other thing is, the number of quarterbacks who are now going to be first round quarterbacks next year is growing constantly

because everybody wants to just be excited about next year. Like, listen, I got nothing. I've been, I've been making up that Tyler Van Dykes has been the third overall pick for a month just to get people angry. Like, I've seen it about Anthony Richardson. All of this stuff can be 100% true. I don't know.

We didn't have any, we knew anything about this, this current draft class, this time last year. There was some Willis type. But I saw, you know, five first round picks next year. Although, you know, it's going to get back to what it was. Like, I just think that it's going to keep growing and growing and growing. And then we're going to have a pretty normal college over next year. I think CJ Stroud and Bryce Young are amazing.

And there's a second tier there. it's amazing, but it's been really funny to see that we're probably going to overwrite next year's class just because we're so bored with this class. 100%. We're already overrating quarterbacks because the class is bad. And that's true.

And now we're overriding a good class because the class is bad. Huh. All right. Bye guys. Bye, Kevin. Bye, Stephen. Thank you, Stephon Anderson, and our Jeter Ramke Pau for the direct consistency. It's been the Ringar NFL show on the Ringer Podcast Network.