3 & Out - Vikings tell Rodgers "No, thanks", Pro Days, NFL Rule Changes

John opens the show talking about the Vikings decision to tell Rodgers that they are not interested in bringing him to Minnesota. Is this the right choice to stick with McCarthy with him coming off of a major injury and having never played a snap in the NFL? Next, John dives into  Pro Days and gives his thoughts if they are beneficial for players. Later, John talks about all of the potential NFL rule changes and which ones he likes and which he doesn't.

Lastly, John answers your questions in this episode's mailbag segment.

5:51 - Vikings say "No, thanks"

24:54 - Pro Days

28:33 - Rule Changes

39:46 - Mailbag

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. What is going on everybody? How are we doing?
It is Wednesday, March nineteenth, and I thought i'd fire

(00:23):
up a little podcast because breaking news. We had some
information that came out early on Wednesday regarding a man
named Aaron Rodgers and a team called the Minnesota Vikings,
So we will dive into that. I saw Jalen Milroe
ran a really fast forty time at the Alabama Pro Day,

(00:49):
and I just want to dive into pro days in general,
because I would say I don't think too highly of them.
And then there were I think the owners meetings are
right around then, and we have a lot of We
knew the Packers want the tush push band, that they
want it done, but there are also a lot of
other potential rule changes, honestly many that I am in

(01:11):
full support of. And Dan Campbell and the Lions. It
feels like we're on the same page here because we
both view something when it comes to the NFL and
a rule that just drives us bananas. But before we
dive into some football, I got to tell you about

(01:32):
my friends, my partners, and the official ticketing app of
this podcast, Game Time, And can I tell you a
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in my life. I've gone to a lot of events.
I've done a lot of fun things recently, and I've
used a lot of different ticketing apps. There is not
one better. Honestly, it's not even close to my friends

(01:55):
at game Time. You're talking concerts, You're talking comedy shows.
You want to go get a lat you want to
go watch Shane Gillis Andrew Schultz. I say he's blowing up.
I guess he's already blown up. You want to go
to a game? Do you want to go to any event?
College pro? Get out of the house, go enjoy yourself.
Here's part of life to keep a smile on your face.

(02:16):
You gotta break up the monotony and listen. I am
guilty as anybody. Every once in a while, you've just
got to throw a curve ball. It's like I'm going
to a concert tonight. I'm going to a basketball or
baseball game to night. Just change up your life. And
that's where my friends at game Time come in because
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(02:38):
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last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. Okay, let's dive into
the Minnesota Vikings. Kevin O'Connell and Quessey the GM have
decided at this point in time. While they discussed, I

(03:01):
think probably in depth and for days on end, potentially
for the last month or two, should they be aggressive
and sign Aaron Rodgers. That is their job, that is
the job of every general manager is to do due
diligence on every player available. And it's why Ryan Poles
last year, I'm sorry takes a little heat of like, yeah,

(03:25):
it was the easy thing to not bring any of
the quarterbacks in beside Caleb Williams. Yeah, the media is
gonna give you a lot of credit. They don't sign
your checks. Your job is to thoroughly evaluate and bring
in Jane Daniels and Drake May if he could have
that one over. Doesn't mean he would change the pick.
But let's face it, they did not do their due
diligence like they did with Caleb. And just like even

(03:46):
though you drafted a quarterback really really high in JJ McCarthy,
like he played two preseason games and then hurt his
knee and then needed another surgery and lost what looked
like thirty or forty pounds and looked like what I
aspired to be, really skinny, and it's like, is this
guy good enough to carry our offense? You have to
ask these ask these questions, and you're not going to
have the answers until the season starts. But I think

(04:08):
one thing the Minnesota Vikings had on their side, they're
not desperate. And I think one consistent theme in life
is when you make decisions out of desperation, it can
blow up in your face. And sometimes in life you
don't have a choice. Right, Anyone who's listening to this
that's lost a job or been dumped or had something

(04:32):
traumatic happen to you, that's, I would say, somewhat out
of your control. It can force you into change and
some desperation and to charge a different path immediately that
you hadn't planned on doing. And you've heard a lot
of people, especially you know, successful people in business, that
say the most powerful word is always no. It doesn't

(04:55):
mean that you're not interested or that you won't end
up doing that, but when you say no, you gain
some life average and typically, like teams that make bad
decisions or desperate decisions are bad. The reason the Jets
traded a haul and then paid Aaron Rodgers or took
a salary. Actually he ended up taking a pay cut,
but basically gave him the keys of the franchise. It's

(05:18):
not because they had been winning eleven or twelve games.
It's because they had been dogshit like the forty nine ers,
just let their entire roster go. Do you think that
happens if they win twelve games and are in the
NFC Championship Game? Probably not, But they went six and eleven.
So when you look look at the Eagles two years ago,
they start whatever what is it, ten to one and

(05:39):
then basically lose six of their last seven games, get
their ass kicked in the playoffs, and they fired basically
everyone that they could see beside Nick Siriani on the
coaching staff. Do you think they do that if they
were in the Super Bowl? Of course not so winning
and losing gives you juice. The Vikings were sixty minutes
away from being the number one overall seed, and obviously

(06:04):
they played a bad playoff game and got worked by
the LA Rams. But like they're in a position where
they look at their roster and go minus the quarterback.
We feel we have one of the better rosters in
the NFL and we've invested in this young quarterback because
we believe in them. Now, I've been saying over and over,
you have no clue. There is a great unknown when

(06:27):
it comes to JJ McCarthy. Is he going to be
a good NFL player. No one knows, including Minnesota, And
it's why it is their responsibility to have these discussions,
to go in depth. Is it worth it? How much
would he cost? What would he impact on the locker room?
Is it worth JJ's development good or bad to have

(06:49):
him around? Is it better to not have him around?
Are we a better football team with him as the
starting quarterback? That's what they're paid to do. It's like
the media, people like me. We can have all the
opinions we want and listen. It's fun. It's why football
is huge. We got a lot of thoughts, we got
a lot of takes, and we like talking about it.
But it is their job. It's not about takes, it's

(07:11):
not about opinions. It's to get it right or wrong.
And when you make a move, like if they go
with JJ McCarthy and it works and they win twelve
thirteen games and he's a solid player, like, it's all
worth it if he's not good and he can't carry
the offense like Sam did. I know, everyone's like Sam
Donold's overrated. Look at the last two KD He threw

(07:32):
thirty five touchdowns. JJ McCarthy in fifteen games when Michigan
won the national championship. Was never asked to play like that.
His career high was twenty two touchdowns. Like he played
in a run first defensive team in college. That's how
Jim Harbaugh coaches. That is not how Kevin O'Connell coaches.
Kevin O'Connell wants to call pass plays, don't blame him.

(07:53):
That's what a lot of Andy Reid likes calling pass plays.
But when you call out a pass places, you're pretty
dependent on the quarterback. And Sam Darnold last year and
Kirk Cousins of the previous couple of years, like those
are guys that clearly you could lean on. We don't
know that with JJ McCarthy. We used to know that
with Aaron Rodgers. He used to be a guy like
he's one of the best players of all time. That
guy's gone. So you're getting a forty one year old

(08:16):
he's got like completely washed. I mean, this isn't Drew
Brees Roethlisberg at the end of the career. But he's
a shell of what he once was. Like we have
to acknowledge that if he was once basically like a
ten out of ten player, whatever that version is, is
long gone. He's still a functional player. He's still a
guy that could throw touchdowns, who can if you have
a good team, you can probably be competitive with. But

(08:39):
there is no guarantee that he can just carry you
to the promised land. And I don't blame any older player,
especially when you become really rich and you've checked off
every box. Like I don't want to get hit. I
wouldn't want to get hit either. Tom Brady that last
year was like I'm not getting sacked Aaron Rodgers last year, like,
I'm not getting sacked. It's one thing to get like
kind of randomly thrown to the grounds. Another thing when

(09:00):
I see the guy coming at me, like I'm not
standing in this pocket for that extra second where I
can complete this ball. I'm hitting the ground now I'm
throwing it away. And he used to not do that,
and he did that last year, which again I will defend.
But when you go into business with him, that's what
you have to do is understand that that's the player.

(09:23):
It's why when the talk about like, well we just
if Matt Stafford doesn't take a pay cut, we'll just
we'll trade him to the Giants and we'll go sign
Aaron Rodgers, and you would have fell off a cliff
in terms of your offensive production. Because the one thing
Stafford will still do, even though he's made a ton
of money and won a championship, he will sit in
that pocket and get molly wopped as he waits for
the last possible second to deliver a strike to Pooka

(09:45):
Nakua for a first down. For some reason, I still
don't I saw headline Cooper Cup He's like, I never
got an answer from the Rams. It's like, Cooper, they
don't think you're worth twenty million dollars. You're in the
business of football, and what your salary is if it
doesn't equal how good you are as a player anymore.
Whether it's the Rams, whether it's the Patriots, whether it's

(10:06):
the Chiefs. Every team in the league would have cut you.
It's not because they don't like you as a guy.
It's not because they don't think you work hard. It's
not because they don't think you're a good influence to
the team. It's because your salary was much larger than
how you are currently as a player. It's called the
business that is the NFL. You would have been cut

(10:26):
by all thirty two teams. They're not gonna give you
a letter of explanation of like your routes aren't as
good anymore. It's your injuries and your dependability. You're not
dependable anymore. It has nothing to do with like you
as a guy, and I understand like I've been fired.
It's a humbling experience. But like they didn't think you
were twenty million dollars, it's not that fucking complicated. If

(10:49):
I see one more headline like Cooper cup just does
not understand what is there not to understand. This isn't
a complicated formula. He's not as good as the high price.
They think Devantae Adams is worth way more money than you, right,
which is your old salary twenty million dollars. They'll gladly
play that savante. They do not want to pay you.
And I think whenever I it's hard to know with Rogers,

(11:13):
you know how much he actually wanted. If I was Rogers,
I would have gone to Minnesota for like nothing, like
five million bucks. I'm in because if he ends up
with the Steelers and the Giants. And I mentioned this yesterday, like,
I don't really care. Neither one of those things do
anything to me. I don't think the Steelers are dramatically
any different than they have been the last several years.

(11:33):
And I think the Giants will be bad, and I
think the Giants are in a really, really tough spot.
And I don't really know what else they were supposed
to do. But and I said this yesterday, I understand
why John Mara did not want to be looked at
like some looney owner constantly firing people. But it's like, John,
everyone you fired deserved to be fired. Like Ben McAdoo,

(11:57):
you had to pull the trigger. Joe Judge ran a
quarterback sneak on the nine. He had to go. Pat
Shermer had no business being a head coach like this crew.
It's not really working out and like, I get it,
you like these guys. A lot of people get fired
in the NFL that people liked. Pete Carroll got fired,
Andy Reid got fired like it's part of the job.
But these guys have no shot to win. And if

(12:19):
you add Aaron Rodgers, like their roster is way worse
than the Jets, and unlike the Jets, they play in
a division that's much better. I mean, the Eagles are
a powerhouse. Clearly Washington is going to be improved, and
they were in the NFC Championship last year. And let's
face it, like the Cowboys had a million injuries, maybe
they're no longer that twelve win team, but they're way
better than the Giants. So I think this Giant situation

(12:42):
is like, and even if they end up drafting Shador
with a third overall pick, like I saw Shador two
years ago on a bad Colorado team, they were not good.
And it's just like if you put players on bad teams,
especially at quarterback like they let's they're fucking pay Manning
or Aaron Rodgers in his prime, they're not overcoming that

(13:04):
you will lose. We just saw Aaron Rodgers on a
talented team last year. Lose week after week after week
after week, and I think this Steeler thing, and I
think what Cam said is reflective kind of what we
all believe. It's like, I just I can't. I just can't.
It feels like a Bravo show now and which listen,

(13:25):
when you are an elite, when you're a great player,
you can deal with it. Like at one point in time,
it's like, yeah, Antonio Brown's nuts, but he'll give you
one hundred and twenty catches and fifteen touchdowns a year.
Like hey, you just kind of deal with the nuts.
And then it got to the point where like, hey,
he's not giving you that anymore. I'm out. Terrell Owens
became that and every once in a while quarterback becomes that.
It's like your drama outweighs. I don't know how people

(13:48):
deal with Like I'm pretty lucky my immediate family, there's
not much drama involved. I keep a relatively smaller friend
circle because I just I can't really deal with crazy dream.
I mean, there are levels where you have to be.
You know, you have a family member, a close friend
who just there's drama in their life. They need help.
Like that's that what I'm talking about I'm just saying

(14:09):
constantly something. It's like, if I'm the Steelers, it's like, listen,
we sucked it up and we dealt with this weirdo
Russell Wilson. Now we're dealing with mister Ayahuasca, who it
just isn't as good anymore. Now you could also save
you're the Steelers, like what are your options? And I
know it's been reported that they were pretty interested in
bringing Justin Fields back on somewhat of a similar number

(14:31):
to what the Jets gave him, which I honestly think
would have been insane. It's like, wait, you're willing to
give him even a number near that couple of years
forty million dollars in guarantee thirty and you wouldn't and
you benched him for Russell Wilson. How's that possible? And
you refused as Russell Wilson started not playing well and
it got cold and he looked like a shell of himself,

(14:53):
You refuse to start Fields like that would have showed
you that you essentially threw the last season. So I
think both these franchises. I was pretty aggressive on how
I was out on the Steelers last year, and I
looked dumb when they started ten and three, and then
everything changed. They started playing good teams, and I look
smart again. And listen, I've come to grips with I'm

(15:15):
no longer saying that Mike Tomlin and the Steelers should
get a divorce. I don't believe it's gonna happen. I
believe he will be there forever, no matter how many
eight to nine to ten wins seasons he has and
how many times he gets his ass kicked in the
first round. Like, I'm done, that's it's a take, that's
a waste of my energy. I'm also done ever thinking
the Steelers are gonna suck. They're clearly not. But like
their version of suck is what we are witnessing right now.

(15:38):
The team that just has the same thing every single year.
And clearly the Chiefs are this dynasty team, five super Bowl,
six years, three championships. But that next tier of team
that cannot beat the Chiefs kicks your ass, the Bills
and the Ravens. So it's like the Chiefs are in
their own category, and then that next tier of the

(15:58):
Bills Ravens have nothing in common with you. They own you. Yeah,
occasionally you could beat the Ravens and Lamar in a
regular season game, no one cares, right, I mean, guys
like Darren Fox score fifty in random regular season games.
It does not matter in the landscape of the league,
in the important games. So it's like, I just think

(16:19):
the Steelers are now in the same spot over and over,
over and over. They can add Rogers, they can bring
back Russell, they can draft Jackson Dart, they could do whatever.
I don't think anything's gonna change, And it sucks if
you're a Steeler fan because it's like, we're never gonna
bottom out, so we never will have a chance at
the Jaydon Daniels or the you know, I don't think
Trevor Lawrence any good, but like that type player will

(16:42):
always just, you know, somehow, be nine to ten wins,
be one and done in the playoffs, not host a
playoff game, have a stretch in the regular season. We're like,
are we pretty good? And it's like, no, you're actually not.
Uh So it's just the same, all same on and
now now you're waiting on a forty one year old
who's twing with your emotions. That's what it's come to.
You're waiting on a forty one year old that we've

(17:04):
all acknowledged, isn't that good anymore? Like he's not worthy
of like we should be. But we're desperate. What else
are we supposed to do? And the answer is you're screwed.
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Speaker 1 (18:54):
Prodase. I was talking to a buddy the other day,
who's you know, doing his pro dace circuit in his area?
And I remember thinking this when I was going to
them when I was in the NFL and ever since
just watching them from the outside. They're really pretty pointless,
like you are learning nothing on a guy. Honestly, the

(19:15):
pro days are not for the top players because a
top player has more than likely started several years, especially
like Alabama's PROA to day Jalen Milroe is a multiple
year starter. So I have game tape against Ole Miss Georgia.
You name it Michigan A and m LSU like I

(19:38):
got years of that. I have years of that, and
at this point in time, at the combine I can
bring to my facility. Getting to know the guy is
really important. But today it goes viral. It's like Jalen
Milroe runs a four three seven forty, which is obviously
really fast. I mean, that's that's impressive. Well, I got
news for you. Anyone that watched Alabama in the last

(19:58):
couple of years, Jalen Milroe can run. That is not shocking.
He doesn't play corner, he's not a wide receiver. He
plays quarterback. And anyone that watched the Senior Bowl practices
or that Bowl game, or just the majority of this season,
it wasn't very pretty. You remove that first half against Georgia.

(20:19):
It's like his job in the NFL is to complete
an out route, is to hit a wheel route and
hit the running back in stride. He does throw a
pretty deep ball, but go routes. It's kind of overrated
how often you throw that route. A lot of stuff
in the NFL is timing in rhythm, and he's not

(20:41):
that good at it. I'm not trying to pick on
Jalen Milroe. But I think this pro day circuit is
pretty dumb. It really is. It really is much more
for the guys that are fringed to get drafted, undrafted
free agents, and guys that won't play in the NFL.
It's a showcase for them because all these guys go
to them, so they've met with all the gms, they've

(21:01):
been weighed in. Even if they don't work out, who cares?
What am I going to see in a workout with
any top player ash Gent, Abdul Carter, Jalen Milrow, Jackson
dark that I don't have years of tape to study,
especially the guys that went to the All Star Games,
which I had a front row seat of them practicing

(21:22):
for a couple couple of days. Listen, I'm not saying
these pro days are going to go away, but I
think their value is U is basically zero, And I
actually think it's insane talking to some of my scouting
buddies that most teams, at least every team that I know,
makes you right up like a write up on the

(21:44):
guy's workout in shorts and T shirts at their pro day.
I mean, you talked about a pointless exercise. Now I'm
not a post. If something just looks agregiously awful like
this is something's off makes some notes, but like I
just have to right up what you do running around
cones and catching the ball or movement in space like

(22:06):
we already have that, you know, playing football. This is
not that. So my overall take is pro days are stupid. Okay,
we'll get out of here on this. Some potential rule changes. Obviously,
one of the headliners over the last couple of months
has been the Packers want to ban the tush push.
My overall take is I don't care if they ban it.

(22:28):
I don't. It will not bother me. If they let
them continue to do that will not bother me either,
because anyone can do the toush push. The only team
that has the guy who is a little shorter that
can squat six hundred plus pounds is them. Because I
saw Josh Allen, who I thought is one of the stronger,
bigger quarterbacks I've ever seen, try to run quarterback sneaks
and he couldn't gain a half yard. So I just

(22:51):
don't care. Ban it. Cool, you don't ban it, okay,
don't doesn't bother me. But I do think there are
some pretty important potential rule chain. I have been saying
forever as a fan of football, as someone that gambles
on football, as someone who just watches a ton of football,
the amount of games in tight. Most NFL games are close.

(23:13):
I think eighty percent of games are within one score
in the fourth quarter. So giving teams automatic first downs
on defensive holding is the most I think one of
the craziest things in the NFL rule book. How often
do you watch a third and ten in the second
half tie game down three up three and a team

(23:34):
third and nine and some questionable defensive holding or illegal
contact automatic first down. It's fucking bullshit. I would even
go a step farther pass interference. We should go college
fifteen yard penalty, but that's a different discussion. No problem
if it's third and three defensive holding first down, but

(23:56):
automatic first down. We have seen so often second in long,
third and long. It'd be like third and fifteen and
there'd be a defensive holding automatic first down, especially when
the quarterback doesn't even throw that guy's way and it
doesn't even come close to being completed. So the Detroit Lions,
Dan Campbell, Brad Holmes, and the Ford family f one

(24:18):
fifty number one selling truck in America. No free ads,
but it's truth. They want that gone, they want that changed,
and just make it a spot foul. So if it's
third and nine and it happens at three yards, okay,
it's now third and six, I'm all for it. I
am one hundred percent down because the automatic first down

(24:39):
on that play has has an outweighed impact on the
outcomes of way too many games. This is not college
football where half the games during the fall are fifteen
to twenty thirty points spreads. That's not the case. All
these games are close, or the majority of them are,
and so many times coming down the home stretch, and

(25:01):
it probably impacts more games earlier in the game two.
But it's like a tigh game, six minutes left and
it would have been a punt, and then all of
a sudden you get a first down. It leads to
a field goal, and that's the difference in a game.
So props to the Lions on that one. They also,
I guess a lot of teams are behind the reseating

(25:24):
of the playoff teams. Essentially no longer the first four
seeds one through four are the four division winners because
we have constantly seen you know, nine ten win teams
usually be the fourth, sometimes even the third seed, and
yet we've had wildcard teams win twelve, thirteen, fourteen games
and have to go on the road in the playoffs.

(25:46):
So they are discussing making basically the top seven seeds
in the playoffs are just buy record. And now if
you win the division, you do get a playoff spot,
So four of the seven spots are still going to
go to the division winner, which I'm all for, but
you don't automatically get a home game. Look at the
Vikings now, because of the fires, they ended up playing

(26:08):
in Arizona, but the Vikings had to go on the road.
The Vikings were sixty minutes away from being the number
one overall seed. Instead they lose, and all of a
sudden they're playing a Monday night game in Glendale, Arizona,
which still kind of worked out to be a home
game for them because of how many people from the
Minnesota general area. You know, I would say live, you

(26:29):
know in Arizona, but that's beside the point. They have
one of the best home field advantages in the NFL.
So I'm totally for this. I know a lot of
people have hit me up over the years asking if
they should do a team can pick whoever they want
to play. I think that's fun to talk about and
it's a cool discussion. It will never happen, and all

(26:50):
thirty two teams, the good and the bad teams, would
not want that, so totally for that. The other thing is,
I think the Steelers put through this rule out which
I don't hate. Right now, during the tampering period, you are,
based on the letter of the law, not allowed to
talk to the player. So if I'm the New England

(27:14):
Patriots and I want Milton Williams, I can talk to
his agent. But if I'm Vrabel or my defensive coordinator,
I can't get on the horn with Milton. I have
to wait till the official start of the league year
to talk to him. They want to make the tampering
period allow you to talk to a player, so if
I'm recruiting Player X as a free agent, I basically

(27:35):
can't talk to him where I can avoid that. Remember
Saquan said something about how he talked to him last
year and then he had to push back and it
turns out, you know, it's like I think the fix
is pretty simple. You are allowed, you're not allowed to
announce anything. But to me, the tampering period should start
at the NFL Combine and then the league year. Whenever

(27:57):
that tampering period quote unquote starts should be that Monday
in the league year, and then for maybe even three days,
so it could be a Sunday, you're allowed to negotiate
with the player and the agent. Because it is very
you have to be extremely naive to think that these
discussions aren't happening very very frequently at the combine. So

(28:24):
we all know the combine is the unofficial start to
legal tampering. Yet you can't start quote unquote legal tampering
till like a week later on Monday. It's just it's
very disingenuous, and it's just not the way the real
world works. So to me, I would mess with the
combine and have that as some sort of legal tampering

(28:48):
and try to ideally give it a week where you
start announcing the deals. But even right now, once the
legal tampering period begins, all these deals start breaking. You
think we just come to an agree. He meant sixty
million dollars Monday at noon. Of course, not We've been
talking for a week, so I think there's something to
be manipulated with the legal tampering with the discussions and

(29:12):
just make it all legal so we don't even have
to pretend anymore. But I'm all for the Lions and
the defensive holding in illegal contact not resulting in an
automatic first down and not against either the reseting just
based on records, even though the four division winners get
an auto spot. Just flip the hat around in honor

(29:48):
of Coward and the backward Hat crew. So let's dive
into a little mailbang at John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff
is the Instagram fire into those dms, get your questions
answer here on the show just my Instagram. We will
start with Alex question for the mailbag. I disagree with

(30:09):
my fellow Hawks fans claiming John Schneider is the problem.
You know, when you're not like really deep on individual teams,
reddits or twitters, you don't even realize these conversations or
maybe Facebook communities, Instagram like this is a thing, Like
do people think John Schneider isn't one of the best

(30:30):
gms in the league because everyone in the NFL believes that.
I'm on I don't even know the guy personally. I mean,
I know people I'm close with in the NFL know him.
He's he's really highly thought of. First, he traded Russell Wilson,
a move that ended up being a clear win for
the franchise. I'd agree there. Then recognize the team was

(30:51):
stagnating under Carol, he brought in a new coach, not
just any coach, but an innovative mind with a high
upside scheme, rather than playing it safe with someone like
dan Quinn, though I think dan Quinn's pretty good fellow
ball brother. After this past season, it became clear that
sticking with Gino would keep us in a solid but
ultimately limited position, competitive but never true contenders, think the Steelers.

(31:12):
Instead of settling, Schneider is doubling down his aggressive approach,
trading Dino Geno, cutting Locket and likely and obviously moving Metcalf,
all while accumulating draft capital in clearing cap space, do
you agree that it's better to have a GM willing
to take bold steps than running it back with virtually
the same thing. Listen, he could easily play it safe,

(31:35):
and you know he could have found a way to
extend Geno, And he mentioned this for like what forty
million a year or something and had Gino for a
round for a couple more years, making forty five million,
compete to win eight to ten games every single year
and not only never get fired. Be thighly thought of,
what a boring way to live. I mean, this is
a guy that is Super Bowl champion, was obviously a

(31:58):
play away from winning back to back Super Bowls. Drafted
Hall of Fame players, made one of the boldest moves
ever shorted Russell Wilson's career. A guy that he pounded
the table for. Russell Wilson is on the Seattle Seahawks
because of John Schneider convincing Pete Carroll to draft him.
Never forget. And you know this, When Pete Carroll first

(32:18):
met Russell Wilson, he was blown away by how small
he was. John had to convince him and he did,
and it changed their franchise. And then remember John Schneider
tried to trade Russell Wilson to the Cleveland Browns when
they drafted Baker Mayfield because he wanted to draft Josh Allen.
I believe in John Schneider. I think you're very, very
lucky to have a measure general manager. He's a stud.

(32:40):
He's a stud, longtime Chiefs fan here. I hear a
lot of talk on the left tackle position for Kansas City.
I like the addition of Jalen Moore. Sure seems like
an upgrade at the position on paper. Agreed, he is.
My question is this, with the Chiefs bringing Eric Fisher
into coach the offensive tackles, do you think it's a
big deal, small deal or no deal. I had googled this,

(33:03):
I had actually seen this, and I had talked to
I actually had a phone call with John Heck, who
is Andy Son, who's your O line coach for the
last decade plus, and he had he called me to
pick my brain on podcasting stuff. He's in kind of
the strength and conditioning world. He's going out on his own.
Really impressive guy starting right tackle for the for the

(33:25):
North Carolina tar Heels forever about you know, twenty twelve
to sixteen. Check him out on Instagram. He is fucking shacked.
And I had brought this up because I had seen
your instagram and he said he had not heard of that.
Obviously his dad is the on line coach. And then
I googled it and I haven't seen it, so I
don't know where you got that from. I'm not saying
you're wrong, I just I haven't seen that. Listen, it's

(33:51):
when you need a tackle and you're in the chief spot.
What do you do? Every single year you draft thirty
one or thirty two. All the good tackles typically go
in the top fifteen picks. Now, you can get lucky
with a late pick, but for the most part, the
best tackles in the league are pretty high picks. Right.
There's occasional Christian Darrisaw with Minnesota think is the second

(34:15):
round pick, but Whorf's top fifteen pick, Trent Williams, top
five pick, Lane Johnson top five pick. I mean, Jordan
Mulatta is an all time outlier. But Giants tackle when healthy.
Top pick. Most of these tackles are just gonna get
drafted really, really high. So I don't really know what

(34:36):
they're supposed to do. And they're never gonna have that
much money because of what they paid mahomes in Chris Jones.
In fairness, they almost signed Trent Williams a couple of
years ago. They went all in, all their chips and
the middle of the table, and he just went back
to the Niners. Sean McVay hired a game management coordinator
last season to help him not use his timeouts in

(34:57):
the second half. Why is it so hard for coaches
to save their timeouts, take the delay of game and
run another play. Teams always end up needing those timeouts.
I do. I'm guilty as anyone because clearly what I
do for a living is critique situations and games. It
is dramatically easier to be critical sitting on your couch

(35:21):
drinking ice cold water and eating some popcorn than it
is on the sideline in a game in the second
half where you're ramped up. So I agree it is
dumb and it happens way too often and offensive coordinators
who are head coach. But I just think head coaches
do it a lot. Just take the extra penalty. I

(35:41):
get if there's like two minutes left to go in
the game, but when it happens in the third quarter
of a tie game, it is insanity. But I do
think it's easier to criticize in our shoes than it
would be sitting there on the sideline. I understand how
it happens, even if it's the wrong move. McVeigh was

(36:04):
really bad at it in years past, I mean really bad,
and then he hired Rabel got fired. He hired Vrabel's
guy who I didn't see on the internet, but not
that I looked that hard. I wonder if that guy
went with Rabel back to the Patriots or he's like shit,
I kind of like la longtime listener and first time
mailback submitter. I'm a Rams fan and in SoCal, I'm

(36:26):
wondering what the Rams plan is at quarterback once Stafford
hangs it up. We've learned that Stafford's approaching his tenure
with the Rams on a yearly basis, and he's still
playing at a high level. However, he'll probably have two
years left at most, and the Rams have been too
good to be drafting high enough to snag a top
level prospect. These answers aren't easy. It's like, what are

(36:50):
there now? I think you could pull the trigger this year.
You gotta like a quarterback to draft him, right, You're
not just gonna take a guy in the first or
second round just to take a quarter But let's say
Sean McVay really likes one of these quarterbacks, whether it's
Riley Leonard or Will Howard or Jackson Dart or Kyle McCord.
I think you could justify taking one of these guys

(37:12):
in the first or second round. Now, I don't think
they will do that, but if they did that, I
would not call them crazy. How much does positional value
really matter to teams? I see all the time players
are great in big time college programs, being the best
player on the field fall down the board due to
their position. Bowers at tight end or Kyle Hamilton at safety.

(37:33):
I get the importance of quarterback, edge and left tackle
for a team, but it seems like teams will take
major risks on those positions over blue chip players. It's
because of this I'm better off taking eight. Let's say
I'm a pick seven, I'm more likely to take a
defensive or offensive lineman than I am a safety, even

(37:54):
if I believe that safety might be the best player
in the NFL. Because if I draft that safety at
pick seven, I'm paying him a ton of money. I'm
giving him a forty million dollar guaranteed contract. Right and again,
that number could be off, but you know what I
mean where that's not a huge deal, Like safeties don't
make that much money, so I'm basically paying him immediately

(38:14):
to be a Pro Bowl, all pro level player, and
ideally I hope he becomes that, but there's no guarantee
yet at at tackle or pass rusher or wide receiver.
If I hit on that guy and he's only making
six seven million dollars a year and the thirty five
million dollar contract as a steal right, Like even though
I had a draft Jamar Chase whatever fifth or sixth

(38:37):
overall or Pinay Sewel, like those two guys, for example,
drafted really high in the draft. They become Pro bowlers
so quick. They are the equivalent of Brock Purty. They're
so cheap, So I think it has something to do
with that. Like you draft a tight end four overall,
he doesn't make that much less on a guaranteed basis

(38:58):
than like George Kittle. So it's like I'm not even
getting a deal. I'm paying the guy at premium immediately.
Now it's easy to say once he turns out to
be Brock Bowers, But like what happens when it's Kyle Pitts.
Kyle Pitts, that's fucking highway robbery. He's robbed the Atlanta Falcons.
My question, We've seen a play out several times in
free agency, Deebo, Green Law, Hufunga. Whoever gets Cup. Can

(39:20):
you speak to how potentially impactful it can be bringing
winning players into younger locker rooms, even if they are
on the back end of their career, Like what Debo
and Cup are? These guys know that what it looks like,
it's tougher to quantify, and I know production at the
end of the day is what matters most, But so
much of what helps teams sustain winning is what the culture.

(39:44):
That is culture that we always hear about. Would love
to hear your thought on this. I think there's a
fine balance when you can get an older player, let's
use Cup or Debo who still can play. Doesn't mean
there is in their peak for him, but it's still
a productive player and brings good habits to the locker room.
It's you're getting a steal. I do think where you

(40:06):
get in weird spots is where their game is diminished
and it kind of throws them off and they're not
able to lead as much. I do think it is
a very very fine line of Like, ultimately Washington, like Deebo,
is gonna do everything humanly possible to play well so
he can get a new contract. Now, what Deebo brings

(40:29):
the table is like he will run over whoever the
best player is on the other team to like show
toughness and stuff like that is really important. But like
what if Debo, as the season goes on, he's not
playing well and kind of gets phased out. So like,
I think we are assuming your two examples that those
guys are still gonna play well, because if they don't,

(40:51):
it can get weird because all of a sudden, it's
like what if you get benched for like the six
round pick who's better than you, and you're also paying
that guy a lot of money? Like Cooper Cups making
what fifteen million dollars a year, Debo's making seventeen So
relative their position, yeah, they're not making as much as
they once did or you know, relative to the top guys,
but they still make a ship ton relative to your roster.

(41:14):
So I think there is risk involved perfect world no
matter what they You know, Debo, listen, I'm guilty of
this too, battle some weight issues. So you know, I
was like, I think there's a fine line. I think
if it goes well, it's incredible. I mean, think of

(41:35):
think how many big games Deebo's been in, so it's like,
but like Terry McLaren, Terry McLaurin doesn't need him for leadership,
does Luke McCaffrey. So it's I think they need him
more for uh, just toughness, just add some toughness to
my offense more than quote unquote leadership. Like it's Jayden

(41:56):
Daniels looking to be led Laramie Tunzel. So I think
that's great in theory, and I'm not saying it doesn't matter,
but I think every situation is a little different. Like
if cups missing games, you know, the sixth round wide receiver,
who's like the fourth guy on the roster. I mean

(42:18):
it's like, yeah, Cooper Cup was sweet like four years ago,
it's not now. I think it's also different when it's
like an all time legend, you know, like Randy Moss
or Ladanian, Tomlinson or I mean Trent was still good,
but you get Trent, you know, you get some of
these players that are like going to the Hall of Fame,
you know, like JJ Watt with the Cardinals, and then

(42:39):
there's like that next tier, like really good player, but
he's still got to play well. So I do think
there's a fine, fine line. I think it's easier with
like the backup quarterback because like everyone knows his role,
like Flacco can just help guys out. And I value
that stuff. So I'm not trying to like pooh poo it,

(43:00):
but I do think that we and I'm guilty of this,
who can overvalue that stuff because ultimately the fucking game starts.
It's like, can you get open? Can you make a
play mail back question? You become GM of the Colts tomorrow,
what's your first move? I think we are doing a

(43:21):
deep deep dive on every quarterback not named cam Ward,
not includes Shador because who know, I mean, what if
Chador quote unquote drops, But every other quarterback, Ryan Leonard,
Will Howard, McCord, Jackson, Dart. You just go through the group,
all the guys that could get drafted from the second
to the sixth round. We are doing a deep deep

(43:44):
dive because I am kind of stuck, like Andy richards
on my team they just signed, Like I can't rip
up that Daniel Jones contract. But none of that faces me.
I would think about trading Anthony Richardson. Now I don't
know what you can get, Like is it worth trading
him for like a fifth round pick, but like, could
I trade him to the Giants for their third round pick?

(44:07):
Because if they if I could, I would I would
think long and hard about it, honestly, And I was
pro drafting Anthony Richardson. But I do think we need
to acknowledge, like, yeah, it's probably not gonna work. Even
if you're an Anthea Richardson guy, I think you would
have to agree with me if you're gonna bet. If
I said right now one thousand dollars, maybe you're rich

(44:27):
ten thousand dollars. Are you betting that this guy is
gonna be on the team in three years? Yes? Or no?
Even if you're pro Anthey Richison, you'd have to bet now.
There's no way you could bet. Yes, Vlad enjoy watching
your podcast every morning. Question for the Friday Mailbag, reading
this on Thursday or the Thursday mail bank is the

(44:48):
American dream dead. I'm twenty seven year old, I'm a
nurse working in the Bay Area, and I'm making decent coin.
I ask myself every day, how am I ever gonna
afford a home and raise a family? Here? You know,
the nice house with the white pick offense feels like
an unattainable dream. Wondering what financial advice you would give

(45:09):
to any young person growing up in this economic time period,
much love, let me say this, you are in an
area and there is a handful of those where if
you make decent coin, I have no clue the payscale
for nurses. But let me just you're twenty seven. Let
me let me just try to guess, and maybe I'm
way off. Let's say you're making two hundred thousand dollars.

(45:31):
It's a lot of money. But the reason I have
a good buddy that was just at my wedding, you know,
I know him through now Maria. But he's a firefighter
in San Francisco. What he makes is dramatically more than
he would make if he was a firefighter in Las
Vegas or a certain area you know, in Portland, Oregon.

(45:51):
But they have to pay you that because one the
cost of what it costs to live, and then you
get taxed at a rate higher than most of these
other places. So there is no way for you to
get ahead. So is the American dream dead in San
Francisco or Los Angeles? Yes, you got no shot. But

(46:12):
I'm a good example. I live there, and I make
more money now in twenty twenty five than I did
in twenty twenty one. But it was pretty clear that
even if what I'm making now like where I would
want to live, I wouldn't want to buy one of
these ship banger homes for three and a half million
dollars one. I just wouldn't do it. I don't. It's

(46:35):
like I had no chance. But that's the place i'd
want to live, and that was the going rate. So
I moved. I crossed an imaginary line. Now in my situation,
unlike yours, my pay scale, whether you know, it just
depended on how well the podcast was going. I was
gonna make what I was gonna make whether I lived
in Alaska, whether I lived in San Francisco, or whether

(46:56):
I lived in uh, New Mexico. It didn't matter for you.
It pays based on areas, right. I'm sure you make
more in Manhattan or San Francisco than you would in Idaho.
But me crossing an imaginary line to come to Scottsdale,
which is a very expensive place now it's gone up dramatically,

(47:17):
has made me, I would guess, thirty to forty percent
richer or worth more. Over the course of a couple
of years, because it's not even just what you save
in taxes, the ability to purchase a home and put
money into it, and the ability to what you save
and can invest you the American dream. In San Francisco,

(47:41):
doing what you're doing one percent, you've got no shot
unless there is an absolute crash in the Bay Area,
which probably doubtful at least in the foreseeable future. But
that is not true in other areas, like the reason,
places like Arizona and Vegas have benefited a lot from
people in your situation struggling and leaving, and I fall

(48:02):
under that category. Now, I didn't leave because I was
just just for financial reasons. Those that played apart and
I was just so fucking I was like, I can
never wear a mask again, and they wouldn't let me
take my masks off there. And you come to Arizona,
it's like, you can't fucking see a mask if you
had binoculars that went, you know, a thousand miles. It's like,
and this is I'm talking twenty twenty, like we're all
breathing this at what's going on? So I left for

(48:24):
a lot of different variables, but financially, the benefits are.
And I tell people this all the time because a
lot of people talk like this. Most of my friends
or are large percentage of people in my life still
live in California. A lot of them do well, and
they bitch and moan all the time about taxes, the prices,
and you can and I did the same thing. Until

(48:47):
you see it when you deal with your tax guy.
It's it's impossible to truly understand. So, like I said,
I understand working at like the male clinic hereby doesn't
pay whatever you might make at Stanford Hospital or San
Francisco Hospital, wherever you're working. But if the number is

(49:07):
within reason, I would leave because the American dream is
fucking raging here. It's strong and it's not. It hasn't
been there for a while, just because the cost of
everything is so out of whack. So I'm not saying
come here. I'm just saying, you have options, you know I.
If you do have options, were would be due leave

(49:29):
and go somewhere else. Am I the only Niner fan
who likes the organization what the organization is doing a
lot of fans in talking heads are sitting around wondering
what San Francisco is doing letting all these guys walk,
and I really like it. Yes, losing green Laws sucks,
but this availability does not merit the amount of money
he's making in San Francisco's finally an angel setup, saying

(49:51):
with Hufunga, they've all been preparing for the last year's
draft with Poonie, Mustafa, Rinardo Green Pierce all puts a
lot of pressure on this. But with double digits selections,
do you think San Francisco still has a little legitimate
chance to be a threat in the NFC this year
in the next Yeah. I think I mentioned this to
Colin every move the Niners made beside Floyd, Like, I

(50:13):
don't agree with Floyd, but green Law, Like, yeah, paying
a guy forty five million dollars whose leg I don't
know come back off an achilles, his hamstring, who fung
has like four different injuries. And I love those two guys,
Love those two guys, but like I get out resigning him.
Give Aaron Banks had eighty eight million dollars. Packers are
well run an organization that was pretty nuts. The Niners

(50:36):
tender Jordan Mason at like four and a half five
million dollars. They were never gonna pay Jordan Mason that
I get trading him. I think it's a good trade
for Minnesota. Totally get it us check end up coming
back the letter, Floyd thinks nuts. He plays every single game.
He's a high level dude, and he's fucking just solid
player and he's making seven million dollars. I'm sorry, I
just I adamantly disagree with that one. But all the

(50:59):
other yeah, he's just like and listen, love debo what
he did back in the day, but he just was
pretty bad last year. I've seen most of the prominent
Drafters like DJ Kuiper and McShay mock Genty to the Raiders.
Can the Raiders are really afford to take him over
Mason Graham Men, I don't know how to say. The

(51:22):
Missouri offensive tackles question seems like more of a luxury.
The Raiders cannot take Ashton Genty. I would be stunned,
I mean floored if John Spytek, who played at Michigan
and is like pretty big guy, would take a five
eight running back. And it feels like I'm hating on

(51:43):
Ashton Genty. I love Ashton Genty. You could not watched
watch Ashton Genty play last year, and I think he's
one of the best players in college football, but he
played at a smaller school and he's five foot eight.
Put yourself in a position of being a GM in
the top ten and your team like the Raiders, where
you could use offensive line, defensive line, just impact players,

(52:03):
hell a wide receiver. You could not take a five
eight running back when there are ten other guys who
can be starters in the NFL at running back. Take
a running back in the second or third round. I
think taking Ashon Genty in the top ten would be
pretty nuts. If you're a general manager. Here's my question,

(52:32):
how do other teams success affect other teams team building?
For example, the Eagles D line is stacked. Will people
try to copy or combat it? Do they draft a
stud defensive lineman in the draft or take a stud
offensive lineman to combat it. It's a copycat league, so
I assume there will be an emphasis on defensive line,
at least in the NFC. Hypothetically speaking, if the Bengals

(52:52):
make it the Super Bowl, will other teams put an
emphasis on paying wide receivers. Also, I'm tired of the
Packers being the youngest team in the league. It's more
of an excuse then an accomplishment. If we entered the
season as the youngest team in the league for the
third straight season, I'm gonna fucking lose it. I added
the F word there. I think naturally, you always try
to gravitate toward what is working, But like, is what

(53:14):
the Eagles did really that revolutionary? I think how he'd
be the first tell you, like, yeah, we invest in
offensive and defensive linemen, so should you. It's like, you know,
we took Jalen Carter at nine overall. It's like, that's
pretty nuts. He should have gone one. Now, obviously there
were character stuff, but like, yeah, we invest in guards

(53:36):
and tackles and pass rushers. I don't think, to me
if there was some scheme like running quarterbacks when that
kind of went in vogue. I think what the Eagles
did is pretty self explanatory. Yet the person just asked
the question, like, well, the Raiders take gent at six.
I mean, Howie, who's paid Saquon Barkley a lot of

(53:58):
money and just said that Saquon had one of the
best seasons in the history of the league. Would jump
off the Walt Whitman before he took ashing Gent at
six overall. He loves Sakuon Barkley. He would not take
Saguon Barkley. It's six overall, it's bad business. So like
taking good linemen is just that's how you win in football.

(54:18):
Like I don't think it's I think sometimes you copycat
with schemes like RPOs or even the tush push or
certain blitzes. But like the same type teams win all
the time. The reason like the Ravens are good for
twenty five years. They're usually pretty good at the line
of scrimmage and good on defense. It's like not obviously

(54:43):
Lamar has changed their offensive dynamics, but like when you
close your eyes, you think the Baltimore Ravens, what do
you think, defense, line of scrimmage, offensive, defensive line? Pittsburgh,
why do they never lose? They're always good on defense
and for a while, like sometimes they have great offenses. Obviously,
if you have a Josh Allen or Mahomes, it can

(55:03):
it can separate you. But like you've got to be
good on defense. Uh, but I hear it. Yeah, I
don't think there are like dynamic ways to look at this,
right because you're you give the example of the Bengals.
It's like well, yeah, if you got you could justify
it if you have Jamar Chason T Higgins who has that, Like,

(55:27):
I don't even think the Vikings would be nuts. And
like a year, it's like you ever gonna trade Jordan
Addison trade them for a first round pick. Not saying
they would do that, but it's like, and we're gonna
invest in a right tackle. Thinking about getting engaged this year,
did you take your wife ring shopping before or did

(55:48):
you go or how did you go about it? I
know her friends had pictures of what she would like
the ring, but she wants to get one with me
just curious. It's a good question. I would not have
own this until I did it. Now, you know, you
talk about privilege. I got the great privilege and was
very very lucky that her grandma had given her a

(56:11):
ring which had the diamond. Now she didn't she wasn't
going to use the ring, but we used the diamond,
which is you know, let's just say you buy a
twenty thousand dollars ring that the diamonds ninety percent of
the cost. So it was a game changer for me.
So we shopped together. She picked out the band and

(56:33):
then they used the diamond. Now I'm forty years old,
you know if you're younger. Uh, there's I don't know,
levels of secrecy of how to do it. It would it
would have been impossible. I could I could never have
done it without even if I had to buy the diamond,
I wouldn't even know where to start. And I think

(56:54):
most people listening would probably agree that it's she knew
she was getting engaged. I would guess a large percentage
of girls know they're gonna get engaged. When he asked
the question, and I think one thing I asked, I
think her name was dj Or, the girl that helped

(57:15):
us at the store. I said, what percentage of people
come in together? She said the majority? And a lot
of times you go in with her, she gives you
some options and then you go back on your own
and actually make the purchase. But it is not abnormal
to go together because you don't want to hand or
something that she's gonna hate, especially if you've got to

(57:39):
spend five, ten, twenty, whatever, one thousand dollars. It's not
an inexpensive purchase. Are the Bengals actually doomed? Everyone thought
they were gonna get weren't gonna get them done. Now
they're stupid for paying two top wide receivers. The defense

(57:59):
was already asked, is it crazy to think that they
could improve the defense and pay the offense. It's gonna
be a fascinating experiment because the reason they went nine
to eight was not the passing game. Like the passing
game thrived. So it's not like they didn't change anything.
They just added more money to what they were invested.

(58:20):
I mean, they were gonna pay Chase, but like to
go all in on Higgins. Literally nothing changes sometimes when
you pay a bunch of guys. You know, if I
just tell you a team announces two huge contracts, it's like,
ideally you get some an addition, right. So I don't know, man,

(58:42):
I can't. It's hard for me to hate on them
doing it because it made the quarterback happy. But I
think we all have to agree it's it's a problem
when their defense was their biggest question mark. Do you
think the adding a minor league minor league in the
NFL to help develop players and have like a plug

(59:04):
and play with increase in injuries to the teams. I've
said this forever. Why would they do that? They have
college football, the NFL owners are not going to pay
for that. In part of minor league baseball, it's like
owned by the big league teams, and football is very
just labor intensive, so you have way more injuries. You

(59:27):
got to pay coaching staffs. You would have to cheat
the coaching staff to teach what you're doing if it
was a minor league team, you know, unlike minor league
baseball or basketball, Like I can just play fifty games
and more than likely not gonna have major injuries. Like
in football, what if your six round picks down there
developing and all of a sudden someone takes out his leg.

(59:49):
So I think it's a lot more a lot more
variables than the other sports that have minor league you know,
feeder systems. What is your prediction on the Colts this year?
And do you think Anthony Richardson will improve? Seems like
Ballard and even Stiking maybe on the jobs might be
on the line. I'm back and forth on Daniel Jones.
I think they're I think they're in major trouble. I mean,

(01:00:11):
the one thing that they benefit from is the division,
which the Titans are gonna have a rookie quarterback. The
Texans to have a lot of question marks with the
offensive line, and I was the Titans, the Texans on
the Jags. I mean, who fuck knows, but I don't know. Man.
That's it couldn't have gone much weirder through two years.

(01:00:34):
I think we just have to acknowledge it's a bizarre situation,
kind of has some like Trey lancey vibes. Different. Trey
Lance never tapped out of a game, but it was
clear going into year three it's like, I don't know
if this is gonna work. That's what I feel like.
This is now. Richardson has way more talent than Trey Lance.

(01:00:58):
Like if you told me you could have Trey Lance
or Anthony Richson going into year three, it's not even
I'm not comparing the two players, but the situations some
similar vibes. And obviously the Niners got lucky. Purty bailed
them out. I doubt Daniel Jones can do that. Okay,
last question, diehard Birds fan props to Brianon Graham, who

(01:01:22):
just retired. I've been hearing nationally and locally how Howie's
recent draft should be attributed to his decision to draft
players from big time programs the Georgia Boys, but no
one seems to mention picking Quinyon Mitchell from Toledo as
a former scout. Did you have confidence in that pick
when it was made? Did others around the league have
any clue he could step in and be a lockdown

(01:01:44):
corner in his rookie season even though he came from
a weaker college program. Here's the difference, and I would
put gent in this too. Is a guy now coming
from Boise State, Toledo or whatever it was, like, did
he just come out of nowhere? Mitchell liked Genty turned
down a lot of money to stay at their program.

(01:02:06):
Mitchell easily could have gone to Bama, Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan,
he could have gone Texas, all these places he chose
to stay Ashton Genty turned down seven figures I think
probably from like Texas and Ohio State. Now, who knows, Like,
would he still be viewed as the prospect if he
was there, If you're gonna draft him high? You hope so,
But that makes you feel good. It's like the reason

(01:02:28):
these guys who had the opportunity to leave, It's like
they passed on money because they liked playing with their boys.
So he was I mean, this dude would have been
an immediate starter at Texas, Bama, Georgia. So that's you know,
before when that wasn't even an option, you could play
that hypothetical. But it was like how he can call

(01:02:49):
Steve Sarkisian or Kirby Smart and they'd be like, yeah,
we were begging him to come here. We told him
we'd give him a million dollar or seven hundred grand
or whatever, and he denied us. That makes you feel
a lot better. So he was pretty highly thought of.
I was texting with a buddy on their staff who's
just like he is. He is way better than you

(01:03:13):
realize he's I mean, he's got a chance to be
I mean the best corner in the NFL or one
of them, you know, like within a couple of years,
the way we talk about the way Stingley played and
certain you know Saus the first couple of years, like
that's how good this guy is. And before when you
take smaller school guys, you are making an educated guess,
and you still were because of his level of competition.

(01:03:35):
But I do think you have to factor in how
everyone wanted him, and the same thing for genty because
usually those guys now leaf and you don't even have
to guess. You're like, well, you know, think of the
different world we live in. If genty is just the
starting running back at Ole Miss or Texas or Texas
and m you know, or Florida or Georgia or one

(01:03:57):
of these schools, it just it would be a lot different.
And let's face it, he would his stats would not
look like they look and that's not I mean, it
would still be probably awesome, but it can change you
and it can help you. Maybe if he did have
the same stats and he had done it at Texas,
maybe he goes like top five. I do think it's difficult,

(01:04:18):
and you have to factor this in. You know, I
was gonna look up Quinon Mitchell. Quinnon Mitchell's measurables. So
he goes to the combine. He's six feet tall, he
runs a four three forty, and he vertical jumps thirty

(01:04:39):
eight inches. So it's like every team in the country
wanted him to transfer. He told him to No, this
isn't like some little overachiever. This is a blue chip
body type, six feet one hundred ninety five two hundred pounds,
can fly explosive, like checks every box. If you told
me Ashton gent was five eleven. I would say, yeah,

(01:05:01):
drafts from in the top ten like Bijon and McCaffrey
and some of those guys, but it's five to eight.
Just like if Quinnon Mitchell had done the same thing.
Instead of being six feet he's five to nine, he
wouldn't have gotten the first round. Like. It does impact you.
It doesn't mean he couldn't have been a great player
five foot nine, but it does. So yeah, i'd say,
how he's gotta feel pretty good about that draft pick.

(01:05:26):
The volume