The Ringer NFL Show - 'GM Street'—Pat Mahomes, the Top Pick, and the Myth of the Visit (Ep. 96)

Episode Date: April 13, 2017

The Ringer's Mike Lombardi and Tate Frazier discuss the Chiefs' interest in Pat Mahomes (02:00), the Browns' plan with the top pick (05:15), the myth of pre-draft visits (15:15), the lack of offensive line talent (18:30), and a potential Marshawn Lynch–Richard Sherman reunion (25:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to GM Street. I'm Tate Frazier and on the line. He's in Gainesville, Florida, hanging out with Jim McElwain and the whole UF Gator crew. Hope you have some Gatorade on hand. Mike Lombardi, how are you? I'm doing great. I'm doing great, Tate, in the lovely state of Florida, Gainesville, can't beat it. Yeah, that's really cool. Are you giving some word of the wise about when they face Michigan early in the season next year? I don't know if I'll be able to help them on that cause. But I think I'm going to talk to them about the draft process and about life in the NFL and what they have to do. do to prepare. I think most importantly is oftentimes these guys think

because the mock drafts and we've seen so many of them if guys say this guy should come out, that guy should come out. I think it's probably a good lesson to know that experience matters and the longer you can stay in college, the better off you'll end up playing. And probably without understanding your financial

problems, I think it would be worthwhile to get more experience in college. A man that had three years of experience in college and a guy that is now looking like the likely candidate to land with the Kansas City Chiefs is Texas Tech quarterback Pat Mahomes. That's apparently what people are saying, and Mahomes may be the fit for the Chiefs late in the first round.

They had the 27th pick in the draft. Mahomes had an incredible year last year. It was junior year at Texas Tech. He had 53 touchdowns overall, 41 passing, 12 rushing touchdowns. Obviously, this could mean maybe the end of Alex Smith, but first off, the Chiefs like Pat Mahomes. What do they see in him and what's the future like for Pat Mahomes with the Chiefs? Well, I think when you look at Andy Reid and you look at John Dorsey, Andy Reid, the head coach, John Dorsey, the general manager Dorsey, you know, had been around Brett Farre. And he had been around Brett Farre. There's some similarities between Mahomes and Brett Farf. He plays kind of the same style with the same reckless and abandoned. And I think the deeper issue here, Tate, is the fact that they know Alex Smith, even though he's won 42 games counting playoffs, no playoffs wins since he's been there.

Yeah. Or no, a playoff win against the Houston, Texas. Yep, one. But 142 games. He's lost 23. I think they realize. for their offense and for their football team to take another step, they've got to find an explosive player at the position. I mean, when you really break down Alex Smith, and I think what Andy's done with Alex Smith is remarkable.

He's taken Urban Myers, Utah offense, and transferred it into the Cansee Chief, which I call the West Coast College offense, and he's done a great job with it. But the reality here is Alex Smith only throws average just a touch under seven yards per attempt. Can't work the ball down the field. It's really what I call a horse and buggy offense. I mean, it's kind of slow, methodical, three downs to get a first down. And until they can make explosive plays, this is going to be a problem. And I think this year they see a player in the draft.

They've been working on this guy for over two years now. They see a player in the draft that perhaps could fit what they want to do. Can they get them? I think that remains to be seen. But the bigger issue here is I think that Kansas City has come to the realization that perhaps Alex Smith isn't the answer to get over the hump into the Super Bowl. So Alex Smith last year has the most yards in his career. He has 3,500 yards the most yards he's had as a quarterback in the NFL.

He has his second best completion percentage back behind the 2012 year, which he was doing so great, gets hurt. Kaepernick comes in, ends up taking the job for good, and Alex Smith is shipped out of San Francisco. So he has his best year last year. They obviously, things don't go well in the playoffs. You are one of the people that have been on the forefront to say, what if the chiefs had a different quarterback in the playoffs, who knows how good they could be? So if they take Mahomes in this draft, say they get him at 27, he's still there, they take him. Is this a project with Pat Mahomes where you have him home for a couple years? You try to ride out the Alex Smith thing, or is this something where you bring in Mahomes and try to work him in

and maybe even make him your starter for next season? I think this is probably looking for the future. I think when you break down what Mahomes could do, trying to get him to where – you know, when you're playing – when you're with Andy Reid, you're a little bit under center at sometimes. Now, he'd modify what he did for Alex Smith and put him in what I call the West Coast. college offense, the Utah, Alex Smith offense, Utah Urban Meyer offense. So I think it's going to take a little bit of time

to train him, but once they get him trained and once they get him to the point where they feel comfortable, then I would suspect they'll make the move. But that's probably going to take a good season to do that. And I think this is the right time to draft a quarterback. You're going to hear nothing but positive things come out of Kansas City about Alex Smith, how much

they love him. He's still a quarterback of our future. We had no interest in Romo. And perhaps that's right. They don't want to have go after a quarterback who's 37 years old. Maybe they want to develop somebody for down the road. And this is the draft to do it. I don't think it'll be Kaiser. I just don't think Kaiser is the kind of guy that fits for what they want to do.

Kaiser is slipping in the draft, whether it's the Brian Kelly commentary or whether it's watching the 16 tape. But Kaiser, who was reported to go there. And remember, when you look at Alex Smith, I mean, he's got a, he could get out of his contract in 2018. He's due to make $10 million this year with a $2 million roster bonus. So, I mean, this is the perfect time to do it. I think it's the perfect year ahead of everything.

They've got a team that they feel they can build around. I think Mahomes fits what they want to do. I think it's going to take some time to corral him and bring him into the system and handle them. But for the most part, it makes sense to do it now. And I think this is where Kansas City sees their football team and to move forward and to get the best out of their team, I think they have to make a move of quarterback. Speaking of making moves, the Cleveland Browns have the number one pick in this year's draft. I don't know if you've heard this Lombardi.

The Cleveland Browns have the number one pick in the NFL draft. Hugh Jackson... It had it since like at last October, right? Yeah, exactly. Hugh Jackson's... They've been on the clock since October, right? Still on the clock, continuously on the clock in Cleveland. Hugh Jackson came out at the NFL meetings earlier this year and said that the Cleveland Browns are not even thinking about,

not even entertaining the idea of trading the number one pick, says they need a real person, a quarterback to be a real contender. When you look at that number one pick, there's been a lot of speculation. There's Miles Garrett that a lot of people think is a lot of people think is the top player in this draft. and that they should take him, Miles Carrot, has come out and said that he, you know, it would be a mistake, quote, you know, that's the best thing ever. It'll be a mistake if they don't draft him. Mitch Trubisky is another name that's on the board. Adam Schaefter, you know, ironically enough, tweeted out yesterday that there's like basically a split decision in the Cleveland Browns between Mitch Trubisky, the quarterback, Miles Garrett at the defensive end.

When you look at the Cleveland Browns in the number one pick, what do you think they should be doing with this pick? You know, when I hear these kind of news, and I'm not saying this isn't an accurate report, but when I hear about, about this, I often think back to a guy named Ben Bradley. He used to run the Washington Post. And Ben Bradley was sitting at home one morning at early, and he got a phone call from the White House. Lyndon Johnson calls him and says, you know, there's two articles in today's post that I can't figure out who the source is in these articles because the one guy's normal source was in the hospital and the other guy's other source was traveling to Europe. So tell me who the sources are. So for me, when I read something like this, who benefits from this?

You know, it's like the scene in JFK where Mr. X tells him who benefits, who prospers from this, and think backwards. Well, who would benefit the most? Today, what happens? San Francisco comes out and says the number two picks for sale. Oh, really by chance? All of a sudden, the number two picks for sale, when yesterday, Cleveland didn't know what they wanted to do. Why would you sell the pick in that number two if you don't know what number one's going to do if that was real?

So for me, this is a little bit like San Francisco trying to drum up some business. They're assuming that Garrett's going to go the first pick overall, which then leads us to who is the consensus number two. There is no consensus number two. That's the problem with this draft. There's no player that you say, you know, Solomon Thomas, okay, great. Could you take Jonathan Allen? Okay, great. Adams, the safety, okay, hooker. Who do you want it to? There's no consensus number two. And it's not Mitchell Trubisky, and it's probably not DeShon Watson. So who is it?

And to me, this is an indication of somebody trying to drum up business. And when you add those two scenarios together, the report yesterday from Cleveland to the report today, there's been nothing out of Cleveland that has indicated that they are not going to want to pick Miles Garrett. In fact, they have so much arsenal that if they really want a Tribusky, I think they could take 12 and move up and you would end up with Garrett and Trebisky. So why wouldn't you do that? Wouldn't it be better to take 12 and use your arsenal stock pick draft picks, which you can't ever hit on all of them, and move up as opposed to picking Trubisky and taking a lesser player? Does it make any sense?

And I think that's really where we're in the information age in the NFL right now, where you have to analyze and do your best Lyndon Johnson to figure out who benefits from the information. And so the Browns own five of the first 65 picks. They have six more on day three. They have 11 picks in 2018. They have a lot of picks. They have a lot of assets that they can throw around. Say if the Browns are split on this, there's an exec that leaked this story to Schefter, apparently,

that says a QB is still in the discussion as the number one pick. Say they take Tribisky first, which would obviously be a shock, and then they trade some of those picks, they trade maybe the 12 pick or whatever it is, and they trade them to the Niners to get the number two pick, and they take Trubisky, Garrett, Gerrit, Trubisky, whatever it is. Would that be something that's possible, or would it be later where they trade back to maybe like the 6, 7 range? maybe the Titans or the Jaguars. I would think they would have to. I mean, look, look, if you want to trade with San Francisco,

just call them on the phone and say, look, are you willing to trade down to 12? They're open for business, according to what John Lynch reported today. And then you could have the first two picks in the draft. I mean, look, Cleveland needs two legitimate players. I mean, when you break down the roster, this offseason Cleveland, last year Cleveland had a league eye six rookies who contributed over 40% playtime. Yep. Okay?

And they currently have 12 of the 22 starters are in rookie contracts. This is a really young team. So if you're going to be this young, maybe trade some of those draft picks away to try to get two legitimate blue-chip players if you think Mitchell Tribusky is a blue-chip player. But for me, I would never do it the way that you mentioned. I would always do it work backwards. Pick the best player and then move forward to see what you want to do with Trubisky or whatever quarterback. To me, the 12th pick for Cleveland is somewhere you've got to figure out what quarterback you like. Is it Mahomes?

Is it Trubisky? Is it Watson? Which one is it? And then work from there? And we should mention, we should point this out, that the last time the Cleveland Browns had two first-round draft picks was 2014. Those two picks, Johnny Mansell and Justin Gilbert, are the only first-round picks from that draft that are not currently in the NFL right now. So just a word to the wise to the Browns fans. Don't get your hopes up too high, and maybe this time around it goes better.

Well, I think it'll go better. If they pick Miles Garrett, it'll go better. I mean, he's going to be a really good player. They need a pass rush. I mean, they were 31st and points scored last year. They were 30th and points allowed. So whatever side of the ball, they want to work, I mean, it's going to benefit their team. You know, and there are only eight teams in the salary cap era since 1993 that have ranked in the bottom and three in the bottom three in points scored and points allowed.

And that was your 2016 Cleveland Browns. Wow. 2016 Cleveland Browns. So, I mean, think about it. You know, understanding they've got a long way to go. So the best way to go is to get the best player. Garrett's the best player. And when you look at Miles Garrett, there's been a lot of stuff recently that's coming out where people are quote-unquote.

He came out and said, I don't think I'm the smartest player in the draft. He had that quote come out. Now, people are saying there's red flags about Miles Garrett, who knows if you want to take a guy that says something like that about himself. But is he a transcendent talent as an edge rusher in the same vein as Amario Williams or Julius Peppers? Now we're even seeing Judavian Clown and he kind of live up to that hype. Is he in that same class of guys when you look at him as the number one pick? he certainly has that that kind of talent can he do it consistently i think that really only remains to be seen whether he does it consistently but he has power he has speed a lot of guys in this draft

are edge rushers they have speed they somehow can't transfer it to power and that becomes a problem but i think he is and if he plays consistently and he plays with the same effort that those guys do whether it's calil mac or von miller the effort and the intensity they play on each and every play then i think he could certainly make his mark in the nfl and that would benefit the brown I mean, the Browns need to do this. I mean, the Browns need to get the best player they possibly can at the position, and Garrett seems to be the best one. The other thing I think you have to be real concerned about is this time of the year is take away anything you read or hear about.

I remember going back into a draft Lewis Oliver, the safety from Florida, you mean from the University of Florida. There was rumors being spread around him. He was supposed to be a high first-round pick. He started to drop because of things. Warren Sapp, the same way in Cleveland. I mean, there was rumors. We were going to pick Warren Sapp in Cleveland.

Then there was rumors, not rumors. There was stuff from the league office. that came out and said, this is going to be a problem, and then you ignore it. And so you have to be really careful about the information that leaks out late, especially if you've done your homework on the employer. Back in 96, when Sapp was coming out, we didn't have the internet. It was, it was harder to do all this information. Now it's a lot easier, and you can do it. So I think you've got to be real careful when you hear stuff now, and you've got to take it with, really with a grain of salt, because it's going to be who's benefiting from it. Go back to Mr. X. Who benefits? And he's

who's going to win the cost? I have a question on who benefits. There's been a lot of visits. That's like the thing that happens with these draft rooms. It's a lot of reports. A perfect example is basically the Cardinals will host Deshaun Kaiser's. So Deshaun Kaiser's visiting with the Cardinals, that's news. The 49ers will not host Solomon Thomas, Christian McCaffrey, or Miles Garrett.

That's news. That is the big draw around the draft. A lot of people want to go take visits. People want to see the players in person. but you're here to debunk this. Do you believe that all these visits really matter, or is it just another example of NFL, the rumor mill, and just a bunch of fake news in general?

I think a lot of it's fake news. Now, you know, we get 30 visits. Teams are allowed to bring in 30 guys. Some of those guys you want to bring in because you're trying to sign them as college free agents after the draft you want to recruit them. Some of them you need more information. Some of them are smokescreen.

The 49ers don't have to bring Solomon Thomas, and they don't have to bring Christian McCaffrey in because they're in their area, so they're allowed to come over to their campus and they could even work out at their facility one day. That doesn't count as a visit. So they don't have to – they don't count that as one of the 30. So therefore they don't have to report that. Whereas if they go to – they want to bring in somebody who's not within a 50-mile radius of their school, of their team,

they have to report that, and they can't work the guy out, and that would count as a visit. So to me, what do you want to accomplish at the visit? In New England, really the visit was about – really try to get an indication of what the player could do, get them up with. early in the morning, bring him in the facility, get him breakfast, make him go through the procedures of how he would behave as a normal player, try to teach him something, install something, whether it's offensively or defensively by the coaches, and then come back two hours later and see if they've learned it.

It's really about the learning experience. It's about trying to understand what the player can grasp, and also what the mental toughness of the player is if you get him up early and you bring him in and you make him work hard to see if he can concentrate and focus and not stay on his phone and not lose news perspective when he's in the building. those are most important for the visit. You're trying to gain information because the worst thing you want to do in scouting is to learn more about the player after you draft them than before you draft them.

Mitchell Tribisky is visiting with the New York Jets. There's been a lot of reports today last night saying that the Jets are really interested in Mitchell Trubisky. They may give up on the Hakenberg idea. Is that a real report that you're really buying into at this point? Well, look, when you look at the Jets, you're just on paper, I mean, when I did the – I can fix your team in so many moves, and the Jets had the most moves with any team, I think the worst thing that happened

to poor jet fans was the 10-win season that they didn't make the playoffs. It kind of set back their rebuilding process. And the Jets, they know they need a quarterback. They also need to know what they have with Christian Hakenberg. You have a new offensive staff that's come in there. Can this kid actually do it? It would behoove them to find out. Does that mean you stop drafting a player?

I doubt it. But you've got to really like the player. So spend time with Trubisky, spend time, put them on a blackboard. You know, the one beautiful thing about being in pro football is you don't have to recruit them. I'm here at the University of Florida. Those kids come in, you've got to recruit them. to keep away from Florida State. You got to keep away from Georgia. In the NFL, you

get to select them so you don't have to worry about the fancy dinners. You don't have to worry about taking them in a limo. You don't have to worry about showing them a good time on campus. You've got to make sure you know they can learn and you know they can fit within the culture you're trying to build. And I think that's really what the Jets need to do. Look, the Jets could go in any direction in this draft.

They could go in any direction and improve their football team because that's where they are. I mean, they could do anything that could possibly help themselves because they took a step back in terms of the rebuilding, because they thought for once that with the 10 wins, they were going to go somewhere. And now that they finally purged some of the older players, then when you look at it, you know, last year they had, last year they had nine of the 13 players were over 30 years old.

So they got rid of those guys, whether it's Fitzpatrick, Clayty, McMangled, Giacomacomini. I mean, they were getting rid of all those guys, Kellyn Davis, you know, even Nick Folt. I mean, Aaron Henderson. So, you know, they're an older team that couldn't win. The worst thing you want to be in pro football is an old team that can't win. You've got to rebuild, and that's what the Jets have to do. A guy looking to rebuild his career in a different spot. Another man that went on a visit, Adrian Peterson visited the Saints.

This was not a draft visit, obviously. This is a visit to try to get a new deal. He leaves the Saints without a deal. Now it's coming out that Adrian Peterson reportedly won't sign a contract before the 2017 NFL draft. You mentioned this last week on the podcast. A lot of these guys that don't sign before the draft, they're just going to have someone drafted to take basically what their position would be. Are you worried about Adrian Peterson

finding a place, or is he still going to be looking around, stiffing around, visiting teams after the draft? I'm worried about him finding a place. I've been worried about him find a place going back to when we talked about them. They're not going to exercise a $17 million. I think it's going to be a tough spot for Adrian Peterson. I mean, you know, most teams want to be in shotgun. Most teams want to be in a spread.

Not a lot of teams want to be in two back with a fullback in front of them as a lead blocker. I think, you know, he's got to prove that he can overcome the injury factor. Also, he's got to prove that he's willing to take a reduced salary contract. I think those are the things that are working against them right now. And this is a humbling experience for a player as great as Adrian Peterson. I mean, when you're as great as he was, you can't believe that people don't see that you still have greatness. And I think it's going to have to be a prove-it-type deal. And he's got to be hopeful that a team that wants the draft a run-emback doesn't get him,

and maybe perhaps he can solve a problem. And maybe a not-so-great group of guys coming in on the offensive line in this draft. The offensive line is not very deep. there's Cam Robinson, which we've talked about on this podcast, the offensive tackle from Alabama, who will probably most likely be a top-10 pick. He's a top-ton-tallon. It makes sense. But behind him, there's a lot of names that have been thrown out.

But overall, just the class of this offensive line, what's concerning about this offensive line that's coming into the NFL? And do you see any sort of hope for bright spots maybe later in the draft that could pan out for teams? You know, I think this is really – Daniel Jeremiah reported this the other day on Twitter. he talked to an offensive line coach that it was the worst draft for offensive line, and he's seen in a while. And I could not agree more. I mean, I've watched this a lot of guys, and it's really not a good draft. But I think this is really just a byproduct of what's coming from college.

And Parcells used to say this all the time. All we are is at the mercy of the colleges. Whatever they give us from quarterback, we have to develop. Whatever they give us from running back, we have to develop. And now because we're so much shotgun, where there's so much spread offense, nobody's in a two-point stance, nobody comes off. the ball and plays physical in the run game. The offensive line level of play in college has really dwindled down.

And I think teams are going to have to make an adjustment in pro football. I think you're going to see more teams try to copy the Seattle program. Not that it's been great for Seattle, but try to find some defensive linemen that you can convert over offensive linemen and try to build your offensive line a different way than perhaps the way it's going because there's not enough depth in the defensive line this year. I mean, some of these guys that are talked about going in the first round really aren't first rounders. And I think it's going to be hard. We saw a lot of guys make money in free agency. You know, people talk about not being able to, you can find guards. We'll try to find a

couple of guards in this draft. They're hard to find. They're hard to find that. You think they're going to come in and play. Now, they're not hard to find a develop. But what most matters is when you draft a guy in the second round, you're not hoping he develops. You're hoping he comes in and starts. You're hoping you get four years at an economic value as the starter. And this draft has a hard time producing a lot of offensive linemen. Once a couple guys go, you're going to be looking at developmental alignment and that's going to be tough. You could sign a guy as a free agent after the draft. He might be as good as the guy you pick in the third

round once you get to know him. In the past 10 years, we've had five tackles chosen either first or second overall. And some of those names, when you bring them up, you look at a Jake Long or an Eric Fisher or a Luke Jokkel or Greg Robinson, they haven't quite panned out. I mean, obviously there's the Joe Thomas and the Tyrant Smith of the worlds, but overall, just the pecking order of the offensive

lineman and the science behind it. I know in the late 90s to mid-2000s, you know, there was a nice little run where pretty much every top-10 tackle seemed to pan out in some sort of, you know, first-team all-pro type status. But now we're kind of looking at this world where it's not a surefire thing. And in this draft in general, there's Ryan Ramzick out of Wisconsin's offensive tackle. He's like a late first round that we've seen. Forest Lampe, Western Kentucky's a late first round guy.

Garrett Bowles, a guy to Utah. It's a late first round guy. but there could be only four or five offensive linemen taken in the first round. Maybe that's a stretch to even say that. So just in general, that position is in a weird spot right now in the league. And the first three guys you talked about. Most teams are talking about them playing them a guard. I mean, Lamps might be playing a guard.

Rampsick was talking about a guard. And the kid from Utah has talked about being a guard. So, I mean, there's guys that you're going to slide in, and then that becomes the problem. What you're seeing in this draft is not a lot of legitimate left tackles. And the fact is, we are now in an era of football where left and right tackle has become meaningless, the designation, because the right tackles opened as much because of all the spread formations, the left tackles open. And so the guy's got to be really good pass protectors.

That's why DJ Fluker, you know, he's drafted in the top 10, I believe, by San Diego. Didn't have enough foot quickness. People said, well, he can play right tackle. Well, you know what? Right tackles hard to play as left tackle is because you're getting speed guys. And if your right tackles the weak link of the line, then put your best pass rush over on the, against the right tackle. Why go against the left tackle? And I think that's what's happening. And teams are going to have to do. It really is going to become an offensive line coaches should be paid

a lot of money because they have to develop five guys on the line. And if you have a really good line coach, you'll get a really good offensive line developed eventually. But it's going to take some time. And I think that's where we are in football is because the rules have limited the amount of time you can go into the indoor facility in February, March, and April to really work on those lines and to practice their drills and techniques and fundamental. This is a byproduct, along with the college game, this is a byproduct of why we don't have very good line play. And I think the coaches complained about it at the owner's meeting. They're trying to get more time with linemen.

Lyman need to be in the offseason program longer than anybody else. It's a golf swing to be a really good offensive lineman. It's a technique. It's fundamentals. And it's a habit-forming thing that has to be done constantly so that you gain it. And if you're not doing it all year round, you become you lose it very quickly. and I think that's what we're seeing. So the good teams are going to figure out a way to do it.

The bad teams are going to keep trying to draft guys and find out they can't play. Yep, so the offensive line we need to work on this short game, and the Tui family is going to take a hit when the blind side is not as valuable in the next few years. That's right. To me, tackles, it's right. It doesn't matter right or left. The guy's got to pass protect. If he can't pass-protect, he's not going to be any good.

Yep, that all checks out. One last segment. This is we're on the street. Our final thing where we just take a couple. a few stories that are out in the ether in the world, and I throw him at Lombardi, and he gives me an answer. First up on Word on the Street, ESPN's Ron Jaworski, Jaws himself, comes out. He's making a hot take, a hot proclamation.

Don't draft a quarterback in the first round, so says Ron Jorowski. What do you say to that, Lombardi? Well, I think, you know, look, just on what you're able to see based on other first round quarterbacks, I mean, really, was Christian Ponder a first round quarterback? No. Was he good enough to be in the first round? the first round. I mean, there are some concerns.

Was E.J. Manuel, a first round quarterback? You know? You're just picking on Florida State now. Are you, is the Gainesville people, are they behind you making you say these things? They got me going here. Those are the first two names, they slip me. Look, I think you have to have a plan. Quarterbacks are like baseball stadiums.

You better have a plan. If you pick the Sean Watson, you better make sure you have tall receivers, guys who have a wide wingspan that they can catch. If you take Tribisky, you better make sure you can run the offense that you feel comfortable he can run. If you take my homes, you've got to have a lot. a plan for them. And I think so oftentimes some of these teams take quarterbacks and they think, okay, come on in here and lead us to victory. Well, that's not always the case. And I'm reminded

by what Bill Walsh often said to me back in 1984. Very few people can coach the position. Even fewer can we can evaluate them, what I put in my column. And I think that's the case. Look, Jaws doesn't like any of them, but I can promise you three years from now, there's going to be two quarterbacks from this draft. They're going to be franchised or starters in the league that we're going to think are good players. And I think that they will be worthy of a first round pick. Speaking of worthy players, Ed Wurter came out.

He has a source. Marshawn Lynch has begun the NFL reinstatement process. He's hoping to play for the Raiders. And another little thing added on to this tweet from Edwarda that came out, could team up with Richard Sherman, his former teammate with the Seahawks, if the cornerback is traded. And the market for Richard Sherman is apparently going down at the moment. So Marshaun Lynch wants to get back to the NFL.

and Richard Sherman may team up with Marshawn Lynch. What do you think about that? Well, I think, look, we talked about the Patriots to me. Yeah, it sounds like, well, I don't think a Patriot they're going to take Sherman. Look, I mean, Sherman, people don't seem to want to grasp or understand. Seattle plays zone defense 80% of the time. That means they're only in man-to-man 20% of the time.

And so if you're going to spend over $11 million for his own high corner, who's a good player, don't get me wrong, but he might not fit your system. think the value starts to come down and I think that's the problem. I still think Lynch ends up in Oakland because I think it's going to be harder to trade Sherman because the Seahawks are going to want better value than what they're going to be able to get. Would it be a situation where the Raiders maybe figure out two deals separately where they get Marchon and Richard Sherr? Maybe they get Lynch and Sherman in the same deal to the Raiders. They could use them both. I mean, they could use them both. There's no doubt they could use them.

You know, Ken Norton, now look, John Pagano's down there now, along with Ken Norton as the defense coordinators, so perhaps they're going to change what they do. But I think reality is, is, you know, they could use both of them. They would have to figure out a way, you know, they still have to handle the cap for Khalil Mack and the David Carr contract, but they could easily do it, yeah.

Final one for today, the 49ers. We hinted at this earlier, but John Lynch, the new GM of the 49ers, the 49ers front office, all collectively have hinted at the fact that they are quote unquote open for business for the number two pick. When you hear that as a fan, as a

49ers fan, are you excited to know that they're thinking about maybe moving back to get more picks? Or are you sad that they're maybe passing up a guy early on? Like, there was a rumor that Leonard Fournette could possibly go as high as number two to the 49ers. So what does that say about them and what's the future for those guys? Well, you know, knowing Kyle Shanahan, look, you know, the Shanahan's have never really invested in running backs in the first round. They've always felt their system and their scheme can produce runoffback. So I never paid really attention to the Fournet rumor. I think this is a smart player. I think there's no clear,

cut number two pick in the draft. If they don't like the quarterbacks, then why not move back to see if you can find somebody? I think you're going to have a hard time drumming up business. I think if they do move back, it'll have to be at a reduced value. I don't think you'll be able to look at your chart and say, here it is. But when you come out and you take an ad in the paper and you promote it that you're looking to move, usually the value of your pick goes down. I don't think Tennessee had to sell their pick because people wanted wins. I don't think last year that St. Louis, they had to move up to get the quarterback. So, you know, when when there's a clear cut, who wants to move up and who wants to get the pick,

I think it's a lot easier. But Cleveland moved down, Tennessee moved down. It was easy for them to do it last year. I don't see it as teams wanting to come up to get it. What happens, let's play out this scenario real quick. What happens if the Browns take Mitchell Tribeskey first, and then the 49ers were sitting there with the number two pick? Did they take Garrett even though they didn't bring him and work him out or anything?

Or did they really shot that pick at that point? They would have to take it. I mean, that would be a gift. That would be the gift that kept on giving. I mean, they would have to do that. I mean, they would have to have a celebration. I mean, look, they can't rush the passer either. I mean, you know, they're better off counting the five Mississippi

than they are rushing the passer. I mean, you put Garrett on that line with Armstead and Buckner, and all of a sudden now, you've got a formidable defensive front now. You know, they could be so lucky. I mean, they're praying they take Trubisky. Trust me, it's a good Thursday in the world today. I'm sure Kyle's going to mass and praying that they take Trubisky. Well, that'll do it for this edition of GM Street, Lombardi.

Thanks so much. Enjoy Gainesville. Drink some Gatorade and keep imparting wisdom amongst the mini Gator faithful. And they'll really appreciate the E.J. Manuel, Christian Ponder Slander,

that's been on this podcast. I know that. Don't worry. I'll make sure I'll tell him you so well. All right, Tate. Thanks. Bye-bye.