transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:02] The 2026 Chevy Equinox is more than an SUV. It's your Sunday tailgate and your parking lot snack bar. Your lucky jersey, your chairs, and your big cooler fit perfectly in your even bigger cargo space. And when it's go time, your 11.3 inch diagonal touch screens got the playbook, the playlist, and the tech to stay a step ahead. It's more than an SUV, it's your Equinox. Chevrolet, together let's drive.

Speaker 2:
[00:30] So good, so good, so good.

Speaker 3:
[00:32] Spring styles are at Nordstrom Rack stores now, and they're up to 60 percent off. Stock up and save on Rag and Bone, Madewell, Vince, All Saints and more of your favorites.

Speaker 4:
[00:42] How did I not know Rack has Adidas?

Speaker 3:
[00:44] Why do we Rack? For the hottest deals. Just so many good brands. Join the Nordy Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite Rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you Rack.

Speaker 5:
[01:09] Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Right Time, a Wave original. My name is Bomani Jones. Thanks for listening wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for watching us on YouTube. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. It is Thursdays with Diante. Diante Lee of the Ranger, what's going on?

Speaker 6:
[01:30] Good to be here, man. I'm glad to be able to get in with you. I know we were trying to get this lined up a couple of weeks ago, and got out the bed and just not feeling right. So I'm glad to have gone from doubtful to probable again.

Speaker 5:
[01:41] Diante got up one day and his neck was hurting. It couldn't happen on the show.

Speaker 6:
[01:44] Like my buddy Charles said, nobody used to have a bad back. I got a lot of football injuries that every once in a while want to remind me that they happened and that I haven't dealt with them and they're not going away until I do.

Speaker 5:
[01:54] He hit us at an hour that was so early that you know his neck was fucked up because he shouldn't have been awake. Like that was not, I'm awake to let you guys know. That is while I'm awake.

Speaker 6:
[02:04] Exactly, I'm not supposed to be awake and this has forced me out of my bed. And I know when I close my eyes again, I ain't getting back up. So let me just let my guys know that they ain't gonna see me today.

Speaker 5:
[02:14] Well, look, we got a lot of NFL topics we want to get to. We'll get to AJ. Brown a little later. We get to Mike Vrabel a little later. But first, the NFL Draft, Thursday night, I saw that you did your evaluation of Fernando Mendoza. And I thought the way you went about it was very interesting because I say on my end that he's the number one pick in this draft.

Speaker 6:
[02:37] Right.

Speaker 5:
[02:38] He's not the number one pick in every draft. But I'm not sure how that answers to like what kind of NFL quarterback that means that he would be. What did you come back with?

Speaker 6:
[02:49] Honestly, I had just been hung up over and over again with, okay, so what does this trait mean in an NFL context? Right. Like, it's very rare you get a number one overall pick and you're haggling over, is this enough arm strength? Is this enough mobility? Is this enough processing of understanding coverages and knowing where to go with the ball? Is this enough pocket management? Right. Like with Joe Burrow, I had some questions and then I went back and watched and it was like, oh, no, this is a wizard in the pocket. This is going to work. Right. Like he might not be Peyton Manning, but he's doing a very kind of poor man's Peyton Manning kind of impression in the pocket. As far as knowing what to do, how to avoid pressure and get the ball out of his hands. We've seen it work out in the league. I would say even last year with Cam Ward, there are just some throws that he will make or some decisions that he will make. She would say, I'm not sure if you should make that decision, but those are decisions that number one overall picks make. Those are throws that number one overall picks make. I think that you saw enough athleticism and pure arm strength to be able to wrap your head around that. I'm not saying that Fernando Mendoza doesn't have a strong enough arm or doesn't have enough mobility, but it's just so often I'm watching this film and I'm like, I've heard Matt Ryan's name brought up and I keep waiting for the Matt Ryan plays. I remember Matt Ryan coming out of Boston College and it was very clear that that was him. And then Luke Kickley at Boston College after, but it was him and a whole lot of just dudes and he was finding ways to win games. I don't know if I see Fernando Mendoza as the same kind of engine of an offense at the NFL level that people might see as far as some of my buddies out in the media space.

Speaker 5:
[04:19] Well, I think it's an interesting question with him because he's going to a very interesting quarterback division, right? Where, I mean, we don't know what it'll mean that Patrick Mahomes had a tour in ACL, right? Like I still think that he'll be a fresh line quarterback in the NFL, but also Patrick Mahomes is now going into his 10th season in the NFL. Like it's possible that we've seen the best of him, which obviously doesn't mean he can't be very good, but the future for the Chiefs, hey, they have a quarterback that's getting to the 30s and coming off a major injury. I'm still not falling for that bone neck shit. I know some people have and good for them. I'm still not quite there. Justin Herbert, all the talent in the world, but it still feels like maybe we're falling for that one. Yep. But all the same, those are three talented quarterbacks in the division. They needed a quarterback. The question is, what level of quarterback do you need if you're going to be the Raiders? If you're the Seahawks and you can get pressure with four in the Super Bowl and don't have to blitz people, then you can win it with the Sam Darnold level of quarterback. The Raiders could be wrong, man. I just don't feel like they're going to be the team to build a team around you where all your quarterback has to do is be okay.

Speaker 6:
[05:35] Well, and I think that's the terrible spot that the Raiders find themselves in, is that best case scenario, Clint Kubiak continues to be a good play caller, and Fernando Mendoza turns out to be a good pro, and you still have the 4th best head coach and 4th best quarterback in your division. That's entirely possible. And that's not me saying that I'm a big Bo Nicks fan, but just what he can do, you can 100% see a kid like him, I can't even say kid because he left college so damn old, but you can see a player like him being able to last in this league a lot longer because of his mobility and some of his raw arm talent than maybe a Mendoza will. And that's not to say that I think the Mendoza is going to fail, but I think that you can't say with the same kind of certainty that you typically would in a draft that your number one overall pick is going to be here eight years from now, still be a plus starter and be contributing to winning.

Speaker 5:
[06:22] Yeah, this is. Let's say it doesn't work out for him. We'll never know exactly why he go into the Raiders.

Speaker 6:
[06:29] Right, exactly, exactly. You're still being owned by Mark Davis. You got a first year head coach here. Your best football player was out the door and got sent back home, right, because some parts weren't right in the shit. You know, they didn't ship exactly what they said. They were shipping what the Raven said, you know, like there's there's it's entirely possible that this goes as well as it possibly can. And you are still looking at a five and 12 team that's got to fire its coach and be right back to picking in the top five of the draft in a couple of years.

Speaker 5:
[06:59] Hey, man, who's your guy in this draft? Not quarterback necessarily, just guy.

Speaker 6:
[07:03] Can you have a guy in this draft?

Speaker 5:
[07:06] I think that's really what I'm hung up on. Or the love dude.

Speaker 6:
[07:09] I think Jeremiah Love will probably be my guy, right? To the extent that I could have one in this draft. And to me, I don't know if he's so good, you can't claim him as your guy.

Speaker 5:
[07:18] The real thing is just OK. OK, so you you want to feel special.

Speaker 6:
[07:22] Exactly. You know, it needs to be me on an island, right? Like I think that for some of me and my draft buddies, the flag that I'm planting right now is probably on Caden McDonald. If you wanted like a deep cut type of player, because if you go look at his college production, you're talking about 31 solo tackles as a 330 pound nose tackle. And I'm writing, I'm working on something else in terms of storylines going into the draft. And one of the things that I was thinking about is that if his production was pasted over on Jordan Davis coming out of Georgia, Jordan Davis would have been the third overall pick. I think that this is truly just a brand name issue and the fact that he was playing with other monsters on Ohio State's defense. But you look at his production, his TFLs, his sacks, he was more productive than Vita Vaya was coming out of Washington, however long ago that was. And I don't feel like people talk about Caden McDonald as potentially being one of those game reconforces on the interior. But that's kind of where we're at in this draft, man. We're talking about D tackles, you know, about 24 hours, a little more than 24 hours away from the start of day one.

Speaker 5:
[08:22] Yeah, man. But I feel like there's an argument to be made that this draft go and fuck around and get like Ryan Day fired. Like every time I look up and somebody's talking about this draft, it's some Ohio state monster.

Speaker 6:
[08:35] And it's the truth is a damn truth. And I feel like the part of the reason why they're not a two time champion is because of the guy playing quarterback. And I happen to coach he gets at that quarterback and he was great in high school. But I think that all the questions that exist in terms of what he can be at the college level and at the next level are totally valid. And that ultimately is going to fall on on a guy like Ryan Day. And if they lose and losing Brian Heartline, if they're not able to bring in those dynamite wide receivers year over year and develop them in the first round picks or top 15 picks, then we might have to bring that conversation up again about whether or not he's good enough to continue on as Ohio State's head coach, a program that does not feel good about winning 10 games. And it's probably the only one, you know, north of the Mason-Dixon line that gets to say that they can they can operate that way.

Speaker 5:
[09:18] Yeah. So how rigid are you on position of value when it comes to the draft?

Speaker 6:
[09:24] I would say it's not a guiding principle for me. It can be a tiebreaker, but it's not a guiding principle for me. And it's funny that we're talking about Kaden McDonald's is a defensive tackle and Jeremiah Love is a running back in that context. Because if you were to draft Jeremiah Love, let's say third overall, because I know that there's some smoke out there that Arizona might be interested. He will be making more than Josh Jacobs is making right now coming into the league. And that's pretty rich, but I watched Jeremiah Love and I'm like, why can't he be better than Josh Jacobs right now in the league? I think that it's aspirational to draw this comp, and I think that maybe some people who didn't watch Kansas City at the time, might not appreciate it. But I watched Jeremiah Love and I see Jamal Charles. And if Jamal Charles is being dropped in this draft right now, you will be talking about him like he was going to be a top five, top 10 pick. So like I said, it's not the end-all, be-all for me. I do think that you have to weigh it, but ultimately the shit that matters is what's on tape. And Jeremiah Love is the best player in this draft, and the only reason why he's not going number one overall is because of two letters next to his name, and not what he is as a football player.

Speaker 5:
[10:26] Well, in line with that, are you surprised that the Bengals were willing to give up the number 10 pick in the draft to pay a defensive tackle, $28 million extra, when you might have been able to get one cheaper in this draft?

Speaker 6:
[10:38] Surprised that Dexter Lawrence could go for that? No. Surprised that Cincinnati would do that?

Speaker 5:
[10:43] Yes.

Speaker 6:
[10:44] I think that that's the real conversation, right? Is that they would give away a top 10 pick. You're assuming that with the quarterback and two wide receivers, that should be good enough to where you're not picking in the top 10 and that you would give that away for a defensive tackle approaching 30 who wants to be paid, which I know Bengals fans were happy with me when I tweeted it out a few days ago, but that sounds very similar to an Edgerusher who was approaching 30 a couple of seasons ago and looked around and said, where's my guaranteed money? And Cincinnati said, your guaranteed money is what we already paid you. You're going to play out this contract, brother, all right?

Speaker 5:
[11:17] And while you ask the questions, you know the answer to, play.

Speaker 6:
[11:19] Exactly. Why are you coming over here and tapping my pockets, dog? You spent it. That's where your money is. You see that house you living in, you spent it. That car you drove up in here, that's where your guaranteed money went. Why are you talking to me? All right, so I think that that was a bigger shock for me, but I do think that's instructive when we talk about the draft in terms of like the way that these picks are going to be moved is going to be different than what we typically associate in terms of draft pick value, because teams are kind of, I think, acquiescent to the fact that you're not going to find a blue chip prospect, I don't think, once you get outside of like the top eight or so.

Speaker 5:
[11:52] Where are you all Ruben Bain? And I ask that because like it's 2026, his name is Ruben, and he played like a Ruben and the value of having him.

Speaker 6:
[12:02] That role looked like a Ruben, too.

Speaker 5:
[12:04] Yeah, yeah, but it's like Ruben, it's like the dude with the great transcript, but Demeset scores ain't really hittin, right?

Speaker 6:
[12:10] Absolutely.

Speaker 5:
[12:10] Everything that you see tells you he's going to be a beast, except he measures poorly at the maybe the place most important. Most people would say for your defense allow him to measure, which is arm lift. He's he out here, you know, he right here. You know what I'm saying? He ain't got it. He ain't got it. He's Miss Potato Head when it comes to that part. Where would you go with him?

Speaker 6:
[12:30] I think once you're outside of that top eight ish, I think he's in play. I've been consistently mocking him in the top five when we do these mock drafts, just based off of what you hear from people around the league and people who were tuned in to executives around the league. But if it were me in my pick, anytime you see that percentile, and it's less than five at any critical factor, and we're talking about, you know, first percentile arm length for edge rushers, it is really hard for me to look past that, especially when you think about what makes for a successful edge rusher in the league. It's funny, I was listening yesterday to you and Nate Tice talk about the 2011 draft, and talk about guys like Robert Quinn, and you guys started going down memory lane to some of those other players that we don't think about that have 100 plus sacks and played for over a decade in the league, and that arm length shows up. Because the moment that something goes wrong with Ruben Bain, whether you're playing against some elite tackle, or you lose a step, or you do suffer an injury, and now you don't have that great burst, that great get off, are you going to be able to turn the corner on a Panaisul with first percentile arm length? I'm not so certain. I'm just not so certain. To me, if you're talking to edge rushers, I love who he is as a player. He's like a Tasmanian devil in terms of fitting the run and setting edges, but that don't get you paid top five pick money. If it were me, especially now with all the news about the car accident, and people in the league can say whatever they want about what they knew and what they're okay with, you're telling me you're bringing in baggage, you got short arms, and I'm not sure about exactly what your ceiling is going to be, but you might have to wait until we get past pick 12 or something like that.

Speaker 5:
[14:03] So if he was like 285 instead of 260, could you think maybe you could move him inside and make something happen? Like you kind of do with guards and tackles on offense?

Speaker 6:
[14:13] Absolutely, yeah. We were talking about a 285, 290-pound guy who has short arms, but played the way that he played. Get ready to learn three technique, buddy. You ever watch some Warren Sapp? That's what we get after, you know? You ever watch any of those guys? Let's get you on the interior and talk about beating some double teams and using that swim move on pass rushes. That's where I would have him and I don't think that he's going to be able to play that way in the league. I think that if you're a team that's drafting them, while you love the tape and you can make an argument that he's the best edge rusher coming into the class, I just don't know, man, you're going to have a hard time convincing me that this is going to work out when you look up three, four years from now.

Speaker 5:
[14:53] Hey, man, what's the story on this Jordan Tyson fellow? I had never heard of him. Now apparently everybody wants to give him zillions of dollars.

Speaker 6:
[14:59] My comparison for him is kind of like a Stefan Diggs-esque receiver, right? Who is a number one receiver by name, maybe not a number one wide receiver by the platonic ideal of what you're thinking of, right? Because he's a player you can feed targets to, he can play in the slot, he can separate. I think his catch radius is actually a lot better than what he gets credit for. I think he gets knocked for injuries and you watch some of the clips where he does get hurt on. I think especially at Colorado, I think that that clip is going around a bunch where he gets left hanging over in the middle of the field and he gets absolutely smoked and I think that's where he tears up his knee. I understand why some people might be concerned because you don't just see this physically dominating type of prospect, you don't see Jamar chase level ability after the catch. But man, I watched a dude run routes and he's a better ver, he's what people thought Jerry Judy was supposed to be coming out of Alabama, is what I would say. If I were to try to find a more recent comp, I think that he is a better route runner than Jerry Judy. I think his hands and his ball tracking is a little bit better than Judy. I think that his ceiling is higher than a player like that as well. I don't think that that makes him a top five pick the way that people are talking about the Giants being interested in him, but I do think that he's the most talented receiver overall in this class.

Speaker 5:
[16:09] I thought that Jimny Ruggs, obviously, was something else, but I thought that that was the best set of wide receivers I had ever seen on a college team. I mean, Jayden Waddle, young Jayden Waddle nonetheless, but he was the fourth one at one point, and Devontae Smith was the third.

Speaker 6:
[16:24] Right. And then Devontae Smith put up Jerry Rice, Jerry Rice numbers in his last year at Alabama. And I don't think that anybody would have projected that he was going to be the guy out of that group to go do it. They were so stacked. I mean, they just had Jimny Ruggs playing out there. Damn, they're on the sideline to the field. And hey, buddy, just go run deep. And if we get one on one, we're just going to throw it to you deep. Right. That's how they were able to use their wide receivers. And that's not even mentioned in the fact that they had Josh Jacobs playing running back there at one point in time. And they still had a Nick Saban defense. That might not have been 2012 Nick Saban defense, but was still good enough to go win you a title. So yeah, I think that again, Tyson could have fit in and out more than been like a Jerry Jr. I think in the league he can be a high end, number two, low end, number one type of option. Just not a guy. Again, I feel like I'm going to be a broken record today. Not a guy I would want to base my job security off of. If I'm Joe Shane and I'm getting fired anyway, I ain't about to have a wide receiver picked in the top five. That ain't Julio Jones or AJ. Green attached to my resume.

Speaker 5:
[17:25] You know what, man? I can't even lie. That's a good 15 minutes to talk about the draft. You know what I'm saying? I feel like that's enough to justify when we put it on YouTube and we say NFL Draft Preview, and they go ahead and click them. They can feel like they got what they deserve because you led us into what I consider to be a proper segue since we got to talking about Devontae Smith, who had been one of the best number two receivers in the NFL. Apparently, he's about to be one of the best number one receivers in the NFL, and that would be because the Eagles, it sounds though through all reporting, are going to trade AJ. Brown after June 1st to the New England Patriots. Now, we'll get to the Patriots part of this in just a second. I had said that I would believe that the Eagles were trading AJ. Brown when I saw it because I just don't believe that they're a bunch of losers. This seems so very clearly to me to be a loser move because he hasn't said anything that wasn't true. People have asked, and I don't even think he's really been that much of a jerk about it. The book on the sideline, I do think was going a little extra, but it's not like he's out here insulting people. He hasn't shown his quarterback up on the field or any of that stuff. Maybe he just wanted out, right? And maybe I don't know what the package is that they feel like they can get back. I don't know why Buffalo, what it's worth, also wouldn't be trying to jump in this just as hard as they were. But I will always look at this as being an indictment of the Eagles more than AJ. Brown if they really decide they're going to get rid of somebody that good just because he's telling y'all this shit ain't good enough.

Speaker 6:
[18:55] It's so funny, man. I get berated by Eagles fans, which is funny and it's all right, right? Cause I'm in the all community. You can't get rid of me. And you can't make me hate this team. You can't hate me any more than I hate this team sometimes. Okay, I am very much a spiritual Negadelfian as they say. But yeah, I mean, to me, I think if you were to lay out just the timeline of events, you're talking about a guy being shipped out and wanting to be out and being frustrated and the fans being frustrated with him because after he won a Super Bowl, after a relatively down offensive year, he came back to the locker room and said, after I thought about it, I actually enjoy just whooping a corner's ass more than holding up the Lombardi Trophy, which I can't speak for fans. But for me as a football person, that's the kind of wide receiver I want. I need you to be unhinged enough to operate on that kind of paradigm.

Speaker 5:
[19:46] That's just operate on the paradigm. Say it out loud.

Speaker 6:
[19:49] Exactly. After you won a championship.

Speaker 5:
[19:53] Right. Exactly. I now know for a fact this is no longer speculation.

Speaker 6:
[19:58] Exactly.

Speaker 5:
[19:58] I've done both. That other thing was cool.

Speaker 6:
[20:01] It's better. It's just the trophy is nice. It's cool. It's shiny. I see my reflection in it. I like looking in a corner's eyes and this one fucking knowing he can't fuck with me at all. That brings me more joy. That's the kind of wide receiver I want. And then this year, you think about that gaming stream where he's on Madden and he's talking about, you know, sounding like a homeboy in the boondocks when he and Riley go back to Chicago. Look at how struggle is up, brother. Hey, oppression is up, brother. I'm not getting a rock. That's really what's going to make me happy here and I can't get my hands on it. And that he was right ultimately about the design of the offense being off over the last two years, that he was right about the fact that good things happen when I get the ball. And ultimately, I think that what happened here is what typically happens with the team that just won a title. Everybody kind of rallies around the quarterback, and the quarterback can do no wrong. And the moment that that wide receiver drops a pass, the moment that that wide receiver misses a block on a run, the moment that wide receiver jogs on a route instead of sprinting all the way through when the ball is overthrown as a result, now it's all that guy's fault, and now he's gotta go. And I'm right there with you. I wouldn't have imagined that Philadelphia would be the team to say, hey, we know you're the better player in this drama. We know that we win championships and compete for championships because of you, but this is an untenable situation. We gotta send you off to another team that wants to win a championship because we can't look at our quarterback. And maybe this is changing, but we haven't been able to look at our quarterback and our head coach and whatever offensive coordinator is in the building and say, anytime he don't touch the ball, it's y'all fault. And if he's got a problem with y'all, we got a problem with y'all too.

Speaker 5:
[21:39] So that's the thing that I also found interesting in this is that that long ESPN report seemed to announce to the world that the Eagles themselves find the Jailer Hurts experience to be somewhat untenable, at least if it continues at the rate at which it is going. Right. Like they that's how they seem to feel about it. Right. But they still clearly decided, all right, ride this out. Right. One more year, you're going to be the one to do this. Okay. And maybe you just decide that AJ. Brown at 29 years old, they don't know how long this will go, so you can't stand to put up with one more year of this discord or whatever it is that they have in between them. I don't know. I feel like, though, you're really putting your quarterback on the clock even more so. Like, I haven't heard anything about what about if these two fellows go, like, hang out for the weekend or something like that. Like, maybe that's happened. Maybe there's been the grand attempt to hash it out, and we just haven't found out about it. But the Eagles are going to be worse for this. And I just don't feel like they could be a team that's in the business of getting worse.

Speaker 6:
[22:44] Well, the report is one thing, and this is one thing I really enjoy about Philadelphia, is that they always have some kind of drama. There's always some histrionics going on with the organization. But the great thing about them is that they are easy to read because Jeffery Lurie speaks with his money. And if he believes that you're a guy you can win a title with, that extension gets done. If Howie Rosen believes that you're a player that will help boost this team towards winning a championship, the extensions get done early, right? And it's for long term money. And they're willing to do whatever cap games they need to to make the math work out in the end. And it was very telling to me that around the same time that report came out, which is when owners meetings were happening, somebody pulled, you know, the reporters had Jeffery Lurie to the side and they were asking, hey, so what's going on with Jaylen's contract situation? We're planning to extend them, right? And that Howie and that Jeffery Lurie, excuse me, thought that you were talking about Jaylen Carter and not Jaylen Hurts because Jaylen Hurts money is not even a conversation right now. OK, that's that's where I think heads are at in Philadelphia.

Speaker 5:
[23:45] He's like, yeah, no, no greater.

Speaker 6:
[23:47] Right. Exactly. We got no problem with that. No, that that that money is being worked on right now. True Rosenhouse is on the other line. We're going to make that one work. That other Jaylen guy. Hey, buddy, you're going to have to you're going to have to make some shake. You want to get paid again. And I think that if things don't go well this year, the same way we got this report coming out before the draft, I think we were going to hear it much, much earlier. The same way we did with Carson Wentz about a half decade ago, that people are starting to get tired of whatever leadership, former leadership that Jaylen is putting out there, that they're tired and don't feel like you can win a championship with this guy, that they lost the number one wide receiver to another contender for it. This is just the way things go. Ultimately, the best thing about Philadelphia is that we're going to look up in, what is this, six, eight months from now, and it seems probably going to be nine and four, right? Heading into the last month of the season, everybody's going to be feeling great. But right now, Jaylen is on the clock, and I think he would be wise to recognize that and to address some of the things in that report that the team says that they want to see from their quarterback going forward.

Speaker 5:
[24:49] The one thing he's got on his side, though, is the solution to Carson Wentz was taking Jaylen Hurts in the third round, second round of Carambee, which in 2020. What do they think they're going to do? Ty Sampson, right? Like, what is the plan that leads you to the place? Because otherwise, I just don't know how readily and easily you could just make the decision on what you're going to do. Like, think about it. This says a lot about this draft. The Arizona Cardinals do not have a quarterback, and we're hearing them talk about drafting a running back in the third overall pick. Like, whoa, that guy ain't there.

Speaker 6:
[25:29] I think the drama starts if the Eagles trade up to go get a guy like Garrett Nussmeyer in the second or third round, right? If you see them put some of that draft capital on the line to go bring in another backup quarterback because they already have three on the roster, as is that plan that would be on the active roster after they went and traded for Andy Dalton. So if they go out and they bring in a guy like Nussmeyer, whose dad was a quarterbacks coach here a couple of years ago in Philadelphia. So they've done a lot of background. They know the guy very well. He was on the sideline for the Super Bowl that they won in New Orleans. That's where I think you start to see them maybe just looking over the horizon and seeing what the next era might look like in case they do have to make a move on their current quarterback.

Speaker 5:
[26:13] All right, coming up next, the possibility is that AJ. Brown may go to the Patriots, but that's not what we're going to talk about. That ain't what we're going to be talking about at all. Nope. You can predict the playoff action all the way to the finals with FanDuel Predicts. All you have to do is sign up to get you a $25 bonus. Follow all the playoff dishes, swishes, wishes and misses. Every move is a potential plot twist. Predict the spread, the total points and even the game-winning moments that make the playoffs. Where one run, one rebound, one shot changes everything. From opening tip to the final buzzer, stay locked in with every pass, every play and every moment that moves us closer to crowning a champion. Sign up now for your $25 bonus on FanDuel Predicts. Offered by FanDuel Prediction Markets LLC, a Registered Futures Commission Merchant, 18 plus. Bonus is non-withdrawable and expires seven days after receipt. Trading derivatives involves significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tools. Restrictions apply. See terms at fanduel.com/predicts/bonusofferterms.

Speaker 2:
[27:27] Offered by FanDuel Prediction Market LLC, a Registered Futures Commission Merchant, 18 plus, one per user, minimum $10 deposit required. Trading derivatives involves significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Manage your activity with our consumer protection tools.

Speaker 5:
[27:45] Did you know fast growing trees is America's largest and most trusted online nursery with thousands of trees and plants at over 2 million happy customers? They have all the plants your yard or home needs, including fruit trees, privacy trees, flowering trees, shrubs, and house plants, all grown with care and guaranteed to arrive healthy. It's like your local nursery, but anywhere you live, with more plants than you'll find anywhere else. Whatever you're looking for, fast growing trees helps you find options that actually work for your climate, space, and lifestyle. Fast growing trees makes it easy to get your dream yard. Just click Order Grow and get healthy, thriving plants delivered to your door. Their Alive and Thrive Guarantee promises that your plants arrive happy and healthy. No green thumb required, just quality plants you can count on. Plus, get ongoing support from trained plant experts who can help you plan your landscape, choose the right plants, and learn how to care for them every step of the way. I recently ordered some plants from Fast Growing Trees and cannot wait to add them to my own plant collection. Right now, they have great deals on spring planting essentials and up to half off on selected plants, and listeners to our show get 20% off their first purchase when using the code BOMANI at checkout. That's an additional 20% off better plants and better growing at fastgrowingtrees.com using the code BOMANI at checkout. fastgrowingtrees.com, code BOMANI. Now's the perfect time to plant. Let's grow together. Use BOMANI to save today. Offer is valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply.

Speaker 7:
[29:29] We all have that dream trip we've been wishing we could go on, but too often life or usually price gets in the way. That's why Priceline is here to help you turn your dream trip into reality. With up to 60% off hotels and up to 50% off flights, you can book everything you need for your next adventure. Don't just dream about that next trip. Book it with Priceline. Download the Priceline app or visit priceline.com and book your next trip today.

Speaker 4:
[29:59] Right now at the Home Depot, shop Spring Black Friday Savings and get up to 40% off plus up to $500 off select appliances from top brands like Samsung. Get a fridge with zero clearance hinges so the doors open fully even in tighter spaces in your kitchen and laundry that saves you time, like an all-in-one washer dryer that can run a full load in just 68 minutes. Shop Spring Black Friday Savings plus get free delivery on appliance purchases of $998 or more at the Home Depot. Offer about April 9th through April 29th, US Only Seastore Online for details.

Speaker 5:
[30:30] We're back all with Diante Lee from Duranger. I will say this though, that AJ. Brown trade, if the Patriots do make that one, you guys will get better. This is regardless of what anybody else thinks about AJ. Brown, clearly he's Mike Vrabel's kind of guy. Vrabel has, I am sure that AJ. Brown is easier to deal with now than he was when he was young. Just to know how people work. That's probably the case. So he got a different version of him that was not experiencing nearly the same level of team success that this other one was. And he's still like, no, it's the kind of guy we need in this building.

Speaker 6:
[31:03] Absolutely. And I want to pair my young quarterback, who looked like a deer in the headlights in the playoffs, with this personality. This is not typically what people in the league would say. They want to pair their young quarterback with. It says a lot about Mike Vrabel to say, yeah, bring all that quote unquote bullshit over here. I know what to do with this guy. Yeah, he was fine when he was with me, right? That is very, I think, maybe appreciated to talk about relationships in this regard, but this is very much a, oh, I know this headache. I know exactly how to do it.

Speaker 5:
[31:30] Yeah, yeah. He's like, look, maybe your hand ain't strong like mine. You know what I mean? Exactly. You can't hold this down. Mine answered the phone when I called. Look, AJ. Brown to me, even if he's not necessarily the best receiver, there's something to be said for a dude. What he called himself, always open. He really is though, like that archit, like the Anquan Bolton archetype of, look, man, just throw it over here, dog. I'll work it out.

Speaker 6:
[31:53] I don't want to hear none of that coverage bullshit. Don't tell me where the safety was at. All right. Did you see me? If you saw number 11, then that's where the ball's supposed to be going.

Speaker 5:
[32:02] Right. That's it. And that, I can't imagine how reassuring that is for a young quarterback. Like you are probably too young to remember this, but young Brett Favre had Sterling Sharpe, and Sterling Sharpe suffered the neck injury right before it really blew up. Sterling Sharpe had a year, we had something like 130, 140 catches. And it was clear that Brett Favre, who did not know what a nickel defense was when he got to the NFL, he was obviously not out there doing no quantum physics, man. He was like, I'm throwing it to the dude that's always open.

Speaker 6:
[32:32] That's a fact. That's a fact. I mean, I think about Julio, that is exactly how I think about Julio Jones. Is Matt Ryan new? Progression is great. What Kyle Shanahan called through my helmet is awesome. What I want to do is go find that big transformer looking standing on the outside. In the moment that it looks like he's got a half a stride on a guy, that ball is going in his direction and I'm not going to think twice about it.

Speaker 5:
[32:58] Brother, Matthew Stafford had seven years of trade of wheel passes, just throw the ball to Calvin Johnson. I am sure he will know what to do.

Speaker 6:
[33:08] I can't go wrong. You know that the saying can't go broke taking a profit, man. I cannot go wrong getting the ball to this dude out there.

Speaker 5:
[33:15] But the thing with the Patriots, though, let's find out how good they really are, right?

Speaker 6:
[33:20] Like the postseason, if I'm being honest, they weren't.

Speaker 5:
[33:23] Yeah, they had a couple of decent breaks.

Speaker 6:
[33:27] I think and decent is an understatement, right? I think CJ. Shroud had a rough had a rough end to the season overall, but five turnovers to get you to the AFC title game. You could do a lot worse as a quarterback than being able to sit on the ball because your opponent is handing it away over and over again, not having to see Bo Nix for all the frustrations that I have with him as a player, not having to see him at all and then being able to play in the weather, that's a great advantage to have as a second year quarterback. And this is just an offense that just really wasn't all that great throughout the postseason, right? They couldn't run the ball. They're very predictable running the ball. And Drake May, I think week by week, which is probably the most amazing thing to me about that playoff run, you can make an argument that every time we saw him on Sunday, he was a worse version of himself than he was the week before, right? He's got progressively worse. And I think that ultimately you need a guy like AJ. Brown, I think, to be able to get a player like Drake May out of his head when he can't tell what defenses are doing or when he's trying to hold the ball too long to try to push it downfield. It feels very good to see a linebacker sized human being on that post route running right down the middle of the field.

Speaker 5:
[34:32] Well, I had mentioned that I thought that Buffalo needs to make a run at this. And I think it's interesting because Buffalo is in one of those weird years where it was clear to me that Sean McDermott was on the clock for this year. Apparently it wasn't clear to anybody else, but the truth is they still got to the divisional round of the playoffs. They had a classic Buffalo ending of the season, but it was not enough to save Sean McDermott's job. Now, granted, I think McDermott had his time. I don't think they did him wrong, but that is still telling everybody else that you're on the clock here, including you first year head coach. You're on the clock and starting off on the clock because you were part of the problem, buddy. You was here when we weren't getting it done. We are clearly saying he's what's wrong and you're going to do what's right. And if he ain't what's right, buddy, who?

Speaker 6:
[35:21] Listen, they had to go back and try to clarify the record because their owner came out and said that coaching staff that brought in Keon Coleman as a wide receiver is their fault that we don't have a number one receiver in this room. And then they had to go into back room and be like, hey, oh yeah, that's right. We're hiring the guy off of that same staff. The guy who was calling place for this offense, he is going to be our head coach and was part of that decision making process. So let's actually end up throwing Sean Dermott a little bit further under the bus because we're probably starting this off on the wrong foot. But I do think, I'm surprised, you bringing them up, I'm surprised that they went for DJ Moore instead of dealing a first round pick or whatever it would have taken to go get an AJ. Brown. Cause I absolutely would have much rather have had Brown if I'm Josh Allen. I went from Stefan Diggs, who was his own head case, so to speak. And now you're bringing in a guy who's lasting memory in Chicago is him. I don't like using a Q word, but maybe making a decision to take himself out of the progression on that last interception that Caleb Williams threw. And now I'm going to entrust the entire passing game being built around that guy. When I could have had the dude who was going to throw an attitude if I don't get the ball, because if you get me the ball on a slant, I'm going to be throwing these DBs off me. Like I'm Orlando Brown size playing against some private school kids, right? That's what I look like out on the perimeter. I think that they would have been much better off getting a guy like him. Now they might have to face off against him twice in a division.

Speaker 5:
[36:47] And then that becomes the next part. Now you're going to have to deal with him. Because you're right, going to get DJ Moore, that's bargain shopping. Like if it was that clear to everybody else that AJ. Brown is going to be in the market, I don't think you immediately go settle with the bargain shop. And now maybe this is also partially because if AJ. Brown wants to go to the Patriots, then you don't want him. If he wants to go to the Patriots, that means he doesn't want to go to the Bills, right? Right. Maybe that's the argument that you make, which I don't think is implausible because he does not suffer silently. But it appears that he will not be suffering if you just throw in the ball. And I could be wrong. But Josh Allen seems like the sort of dude who likes those kinds of guys.

Speaker 6:
[37:24] Every time he's had a guy who's wanted the ball, you know what happened? They got the ball a whole goddamn lot. All right. He gave the ball to Stefan Diggs so damn much. I wasn't sure he had anything left in his legs when he was leaving Buffalo because it just looked like he couldn't run anymore after getting hundreds upon hundreds of targets. And yeah, I think that a guy like Josh Allen absolutely wants to throw to a guy like that instead of these two tight ends. I mean, it's nice having Dawson Knox. It's nice, you know, to have a Khalil Shakir as a slot receiver, undersized guy who can go create out the catch, go create after the catch. I want a dude who's going to be lifting with me when we're in the weight room. That's what I want to throw to. I want to take my shirt off and he'll take his shirt off. And we both look like we've been doing the same thing all off season, right? That's how Josh Allen strikes me as a football player.

Speaker 5:
[38:07] Hey man, did you see that press conference Mike Vrabel did?

Speaker 6:
[38:13] I saw bits and pieces. Any time I see the I had tough conversations quotes, I got to be honest, my eyes immediately start glazing. Immediately start glazing over.

Speaker 5:
[38:23] So for people who don't know about this, Mike Vrabel had been photographed at a resort with a woman named Diana Rossini, who is an NFL insider and has since resigned from her position at her job for a whole host of reasons. We had talked about this on the show, if you don't remember, it's the one where me and Dominique was talking about how they was interlocking fingers. Right? Okay. I've seen a lot of people make the point about how it's a double standard because Diana has to suffer consequences and Mike Vrabel does not. And the truth is, they do different jobs and they answer to different people. This is not that that's not this isn't how double standards work. Because I assure you, if people thought Adam Schefter was fucking Mike Vrabel, it would be a thing. OK, like it's just it's it's it's it's it's not quite that people want the world to be fair. And in this situation, there's one person that Mike Vrabel has to answer to in this. And her last name is also Vrabel. And I got the feeling that he has begun to do some answering to her because Diana's responses to this have had an air of defiance. And Mike Vrabel got up talking about all these tough conversations that he said. And he had to come and he had to talk to the team about it. And it's a personal matter. And all of these things, he tried to offer some measure of contrition while also not saying anything about what exactly it was that he was talking about. And what I found somewhat stunning than it was, not really stunning because I've been doing this job for a while, but people allowed for this, right? He got up there and talked for all that time, but never said what it is that he was talking about. And I wish there had been one person that would have raised their hand and been like, hey, man, I got to be honest with you, man. I've been out of the country for like three weeks. I have no idea what it is that you're talking about. What were these tough conversations about? Who were you? Why did you have to tell the team? Could you just run that by me?

Speaker 6:
[40:26] Why are you referencing your family? The draft is in a couple of days.

Speaker 5:
[40:29] What's going on, man? Could you tell me?

Speaker 6:
[40:30] Why are we talking about the home life? I need to understand exactly what's going on here.

Speaker 5:
[40:34] Yeah, so I could earnestly just be like, no, what? Guys, what is it? I don't know, no, no. Tell me. I feel left out, man, because somebody tell me exactly what it is. And then another person around the room will be like, he got caught with Diana at a resort before the owner's meeting. You didn't hear anything about that? Mike, that's what happened, right? It was you and Diana at the owner's meeting? Was that what it was? That was what I wanted. There's no way. If you want to raise the question as to whether or not he had to answer for it, that's on you. I think it was impossible for him not to. But once he did it, it's time to make it hard, right?

Speaker 6:
[41:13] Right.

Speaker 5:
[41:13] Once he did, it is time to make this difficult.

Speaker 6:
[41:17] Well, and I think to that point, they just had a press conference less than a week ago with the GM where the head coach was auspiciously not there. OK, and they weren't taking questions about anything that had to do with the head coach. And the only quote we got about the head coach was how involved he was in the drafting process. I thought that that was the statement. I thought that was New England doing the New England thing and saying, hey, if you want to talk to the people who are here about what we want to talk to you about, that's it, and we're moving forward from there. And for this to be done from what seems like, from what I can track, was not very widely announced, right? I don't think that this was a very prepared thing that Mike Vrabel was going to do. I don't think that the Patriots organization had some master plan where they were going to stagger out when people were going to be available. And Mike Vrabel don't strike me as a man that in many phases of his life has to walk into a door, hat in hand, soft voiced, right? Shoulders slouched. He don't strike me as that kind of person. And just seeing that facade, seeing him up at the podium, looking that way, I was like, oh man, like you said, I think the much tougher press conference, the much tougher questions were happening behind the door that we can't get through, okay? And I would love to have been party to that convo.

Speaker 5:
[42:30] They could not allow the first time that he spoke to the media to be after they made draft picks.

Speaker 6:
[42:34] Right. Right.

Speaker 5:
[42:35] Like that was, that wasn't an option. So they had to get it out of there. And you're right. Something, something has led Diana to believe that she could continue to take that approach that she was taking. Like somebody was believing it.

Speaker 6:
[42:51] Right.

Speaker 5:
[42:53] What nobody. I mean, her boss, Mike Vrabel tried.

Speaker 6:
[42:55] I want to, I want to word this properly because that this is all happening for a former employer of mine. And I have a lot of people over there that I have a lot of respect for. I will say the first 24 hours or so in the wake of that news breaking and seeing big bosses, OK, the kind of names that you can't add to a direct message on your slack to get in touch with are coming out being very, you know, puffed out chest and very sure that my employee is going to be vindicated in this. And then to see the reporting after the fact, which all I can ask is, what did you think was going to happen if you said you were doing one thing? And then your boss comes back and says, can you show me anybody that can corroborate this one thing that you're saying was happening and you don't have any evidence? I think we've all worked jobs where we tried to say we had to miss work because of whatever circumstance. And we knew if we got pushed to provide some kind of proof on that measure, we would have been in some hot water.

Speaker 5:
[43:58] Where is your doctor's note?

Speaker 6:
[44:01] Okay.

Speaker 5:
[44:03] Where is your doctor's note?

Speaker 6:
[44:04] Flu bug. Flu bug. We get it. Yeah. That affects everybody the same. I want to see letterhead from whatever your medical group in your local area saying that this is why you can't be here.

Speaker 5:
[44:16] Could you please bring me a program from your grandmother's funeral?

Speaker 6:
[44:19] Exactly.

Speaker 5:
[44:20] I didn't take one with y'all.

Speaker 6:
[44:22] Where is that flight itinerary?

Speaker 5:
[44:24] Newspaper, perhaps?

Speaker 6:
[44:25] I need some kind of notification the flights were canceled. I was watching the morning news. It ain't look like no inclement weather to me when I was getting my car this morning. Okay.

Speaker 5:
[44:35] No, it did not go, but she rolled that out. I don't think Mike Vrabel got as far with that story as she had. Mike Vrabel tried to walk in with the, well, and his arms got folded and he folded right after. Nobody even tried to believe him. In fact, Diante might have been better off if nobody had believed her in the first place.

Speaker 6:
[44:59] That's really the thing. I think she tried to take the Eddie Murphy, the Eddie Murphy, wrong response. It wasn't me, okay? It wasn't me. You did not see me. And it seems like maybe Mike did try that. And like you said, I think that he probably got halfway through whatever explanation he was going through and made eye contact with who he was delivering that message to. It realized very quickly, this ain't going to land in this audience.

Speaker 5:
[45:23] I'm going to have to fix what I'm saying. His house, it won't go land. And then before us, I think the thing is, truthfully, there's no great explanation for why it matters on our end. I've seen people try to make the argument, well, maybe Mike Vrabel's been tampering and telling that reporter too much. That's the game. Like the game is people telling and not telling, regardless of what it is, in ways that serves them, right? It's a big old game of liar's poker in that way. Everybody's doing a little here, not doing a little there, whatever it is. If you want to make a moral's clause argument that Mike Vrabel has embarrassed the operation, which he most certainly did, then you can do that. Again, as I said before, the problem is the man that can't say nothing to him about it is buddy from the massage parlor. He don't get to come in here and start making that sort of noise to Mike Vrabel. So there's nothing. So therefore, he comes out here and talks all this stuff. And the media guys are like, well, actually, we don't really have anything to gain from this because there are no real consequences that are going to come from asking these questions. Therefore, nobody asks the questions. But I just wish one messy person would have got in there. Like one TMZ mole would have snuck in and be like, hey, hey, hey, John Jackson, TMZ. Are you talking about when you were with that woman that you're not married to? Guys, is that what he's talking about? I can't really tell. Like, is this how these work here? You just let people be unclear like this?

Speaker 6:
[46:48] Somebody had to point it out to me because I didn't really realize it when the story broke that they were two hours away from Phoenix. Okay. Sedona in Phoenix. Nice little drive away from away from each other. Okay. That's that's me in San Diego going to LA. Okay. Yeah. And if I was in LA doing something untoward and I told my lady and everybody else that I was, I was actually in San Diego the entire time because of some event that was happening in San Diego. And there was pictures of me down in Inglewood. Dude, there's no no explanation supposed to be. You got me.

Speaker 5:
[47:23] Okay. There's no you got your best bet is to start off is surrender mode. Right?

Speaker 6:
[47:28] Absolutely.

Speaker 5:
[47:30] Like we are down by three touchdowns with a minute left. We could keep dropping back in passing or we could kneel it out so that LT doesn't come around the edge and break my back.

Speaker 6:
[47:46] Listen, it was absurd when it happened, but I understood. And you're in New York, so I'm sure you can remember this. When Joe Judge was backed up to the one yard line with a horrible offense, he had to make he had to do some calculus on.

Speaker 5:
[47:57] And he put it on third out.

Speaker 6:
[47:59] Yes, it took them two knees late in the game. Or those two short and grand sneaks late in the game. You have to do some calculus on. Yes, I could pass the ball. We could run some real offense here and try to get out of the shadow of our own end zone. Or I can just get the hell out of here. I don't want to be at MetLife no more. They don't want to look at me no more either. Let's just do what we got to do to get up on and move on with our lives.

Speaker 5:
[48:24] I think, though, the biggest statement on what sports media is, is the fact that he could get away with that.

Speaker 6:
[48:30] 100%.

Speaker 5:
[48:30] Or the fact that it even happened in the first place. It says so much about what we do that isn't fully serious, but has the potential to be serious. But in the end, nobody wants to get boxed out. So nobody was going to be the person. I wish there was one person or the old head columnist who'd been there forever so you can't do anything about it. Like, if Bob Ryan had decided to be there and just said, hey, you know what you did. Just fess up. Tell them the truth.

Speaker 6:
[49:03] I was going to say in that media market too, I know there was somebody that was getting elbowed sitting in that press corps. Like, I know you want to say it. I know you want to say it.

Speaker 5:
[49:13] It was old school New York. Like, can you imagine if this had been on page six and everybody involved was in New York City?

Speaker 6:
[49:21] You would have had to invoke some moral clause in because this one ain't going away with just one press conference.

Speaker 5:
[49:26] Yeah, yeah, somebody somebody. It would have been all bad for all parties involved, Jack. All parties involved. All right. I'll ask you one last thing before we get out of here, because I see this come up this morning. I hadn't thought about it in the long time in a long time. The Cowboys are not talking about no long term deal with George Pickett. And I don't see how this ends well.

Speaker 6:
[49:46] We thought we literally talked about it. We talked about this in the fall that I didn't want to be the one holding that bag, having to hand that money off to George Pickett. And it feels very much like the Cowboys got to the end of the year feeling great. And then it was time to talk contracts. Everybody had to sit and think, like, damn, twenty plus million dollars. I mean, that is why receivers get paid these days. But that one.

Speaker 5:
[50:11] Well, then he played himself into the 30-40 range.

Speaker 6:
[50:13] Exactly. Exactly. And this is worst case scenario because he can make that demand. And he can look at Dallas in the face and say, it's April. What else you're going to do? You're going to try to go win a championship with your over 30 quarterback who has had these lower leg issues and this offense that didn't pop off again until you had me to play with CD Lamb. You're going to send me on my way or you are going to tell me not to talk to you until next offseason? That's really, I think, is the worst part about it. It's less of being nervous about handing off the money and more about that the more you slow play this, the more you risk George Pickens turning into George Pickens again because he ain't got no reason not to.

Speaker 5:
[50:55] Yeah, they got a good version of George Pickens for the most part last year. Spaced out George Pickens. That's still just what are you doing right now?

Speaker 6:
[51:06] I said it then. The best thing you could have done is take that great season, go trade them for a high second round pick or a late first round pick. And everybody, you get to get yelled at for a week being Jerry Jones and giving away another good player, but you don't have to be responsible for what he gets paid. That would have been the best case scenario. And now you are here back against the wall, hoping that Tiger don't go Tiger. While I'm borrowing all these comedian analogies, we hoping that Tiger don't go Tiger and start eating faces in this locker room.

Speaker 5:
[51:35] Oh, man. This is like this draft. I had said that whatever is going to be about this draft was actually going to be like the surrounding stuff was going to be it. Like I was hoping AJ. Brown would get traded while this draft was going on, right? Like this is, it seems that around the league now is more interesting to the draft, which actually doesn't really happen that much.

Speaker 6:
[51:56] Right. I mean, I'm still waiting to see if Max Crosby isn't going to remain a Raider.

Speaker 5:
[52:02] It doesn't seem like they're like, Oh, he's just like, all right, well, cool. I guess I'm a Raider now. No, I don't. I don't.

Speaker 6:
[52:07] It don't have to be that way. It don't got to be that way. You probably weren't supposed to get to first round picks to begin with. So maybe we just need to reconvene and take what we can get for this edge rusher who does not match our timeline at all.

Speaker 5:
[52:19] Yeah, this is his whole. Everything has been all this. And by the way, we still have a chance that this will be a season where Deshaun Watson is the starting quarterback for NFLD.

Speaker 2:
[52:28] Yikes, Yikes, Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 6:
[52:32] That's the other thing is that this draft is happening in Pittsburgh. And one of the questions I've been rattling around in my brain is, what can Aaron Rodgers do between now and about four o'clock my time tomorrow to make himself the main character again, because I know he's thinking about it. That's right.

Speaker 5:
[52:48] He has done this before.

Speaker 6:
[52:49] Yes, I know he's thinking about it. And this is the head coach with the Steelers that they did not leave on the greatest of terms. And it's going to be a nice little way to, you know, kind of stick a knife in again.

Speaker 5:
[53:02] And they say that they've been talking and everything else. Like the Steelers are operating as though they believe Aaron Rodgers is going to come back. And I just don't see why that is ever your plate.

Speaker 6:
[53:09] Like, why is that a good enough answer? That's the thing I don't get. And Rodgers can say what he wants. You are the Pittsburgh Steelers. Why are you beholding to a 42 year old?

Speaker 5:
[53:18] Right. But the draft has no quarterback. Like, the idea that, well, maybe they'll just take Ty Simpson. If Ty Simpson falls to them, hey, man, we'll see how it ultimately turns out with Jackson Dart. But if that quarterback slips to the 20s, you might as well wait till the 30s before you take them. Like, you show me the quarterback from the 20s, that works out. That range, that rank, for whatever reason, if nobody else in time decided I need to go up and go get that dude, then you don't want that dude either.

Speaker 6:
[53:45] Because that means you had questions. That means you weren't sure. Otherwise he would have been a top 15 guy.

Speaker 5:
[53:51] Lamar Jackson is the one exception, and that is one of the most exceptional cases of a prospect ever. Because they're like, yo, we can't get them to pick up the phone, man.

Speaker 6:
[53:59] Right.

Speaker 4:
[54:00] Exactly.

Speaker 5:
[54:01] Who knows where Lamar Jackson would have gone if he had just had some people around to answer the phone?

Speaker 6:
[54:06] Right.

Speaker 5:
[54:08] Thank goodness. You get the guy in the 20s, that's your Brady Quinn. That's your Johnny Manziels, right? Teddy Bridgewater worked out best case scenario for a guy that you get in the 30s outside of Lamar Jackson. But once those guys get down there, if you're the only one that thinks it's a good idea, when the guys get to like the second and third round, it's because everybody thinks they might get a steal.

Speaker 6:
[54:28] Right.

Speaker 5:
[54:29] They don't think they're getting a steal at 20. They're just like, I don't know.

Speaker 6:
[54:33] If the Jets got two first round picks and they got the first pick in the second round, if they thought that highly about this, they go make this happen. Or they got the second overall pick and the first pick in the second round. I will go make this happen if I needed to. The fact that you have heard no smoke at all, that their GM is trying to get back into the first round and go get Ty Simpson. Should probably tell you if you're the Cardinals, if you're any of these teams that might want to try to weasel their way into the mid 20s to go grab them, just wait. You will probably be better off for it.

Speaker 5:
[55:02] And think of all the quarterbacks people have talked themselves into. Keep it real. Jackson Dart was a talk yourself into sort of guy. Like I think he outperformed what I thought was possible from him as a rookie. But I don't think that's a great quarterback.

Speaker 6:
[55:16] I was like, you can't make the argument that's a good quarterback yet.

Speaker 5:
[55:20] Like they're just excited. They had him and he was handing a ball. He he he he a white boy with chains. And then they had a John Riggins white boy that he was giving the ball to. Man, it was up here. Excited, excited. That shit was making him feel good.

Speaker 6:
[55:34] You know, I think that I feel like every fan, if there's any fan base who can appreciate those two dynamics in the backfield, it's the one that don't ever want no black starting quarterback.

Speaker 5:
[55:43] Yeah, I'm sure they look at it like that's close enough. They see that sold on this, right? But that's they talk themselves into that. And where and where did they take them?

Speaker 6:
[55:57] He was just good enough to get his head coach fired. I think that is the perfect line to start off with.

Speaker 5:
[56:05] The GM that does that is put in his old situation. Look, you will not get fired for the quarterback you did not draft.

Speaker 6:
[56:12] Exactly. Exactly.

Speaker 5:
[56:13] I never really thought about that until right now. The quarterback you did not draft will not get you fired.

Speaker 6:
[56:18] If Jackson Dart was that nice, then John Harbaugh would have to report to Joe Shane and not be reporting directly to ownership. OK, clearly the Giants are telling you, you don't get no extra credit for making that move, big dog. That don't go on your resume the way you think it does.

Speaker 5:
[56:32] Hey, man, Diante Lee, check him out, cover football for the ranger. My brother, I appreciate you.

Speaker 6:
[56:38] Appreciate you always, bro.

Speaker 5:
[56:39] All right, man, and ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on The Right Time. We do this four days a week. Ryan Brumley handles everything behind the scenes. Thank you, sir. Hit the voicemail line 3-2-3-5-9-6-7-7-6-7. Remember, follow The Right Time. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. We'll talk to you guys in a couple of days. Take it easy.