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It is a Friday drive right here on WSJS, and it actually looks like it's about to rain. Finally. It's been a drought. I'm not a meteorologist because they hate to be called the weatherman or woman. But it does look like it's about to rain.

It does. Shout out to the NFL draft last night. A great first night. Glad to be with you here on WSJS News Talk Sports for the Triad.

However, you're listening, however you're watching, I'm Will Dalton. Also known as the WD, rocking with you on a Friday as we get into what the Panthers did. At number 19 last night.

So Carolina continues to show. that they're maturing as an organization. They continue to show that. Because last night With the number 19th pick. They had an opportunity to go flashy.

They had an opportunity to take Makai Lemon. out of USC because A lot of mocks had him going a lot sooner than 19. Specifically, number 13 to the Rams. We'll get to that in a minute. You also had Dylan Thieneman.

The safety out of Oregon, who was actually my pick for the Panthers to take at 19. You could have done that.

However It's not what Dan Morgan had in mind. Dan Morgan. was thinking about the trenches. He was thinking about the dirt. He was thinking about protection.

And so he went. With Georgia offensive tackle, Monroe Freeling. What a freeing. Yeah.

So Like I said, it's not the sexiest pick. It's not the one I thought the Panthers would necessarily make. And It's definitely not a pick that a Portion Of the Carolina Panthers fan base agrees with, given who I just mentioned was on the board still. But I think this was a terrific pick by Dan Morgan. There's a lot of right answers here.

Dylan Thiemann. I think that could have been a right pick as well. Mikai Lemon, a terrific weapon, additionally for Bryce Young. You don't necessarily need it, but that could have been nice as well. But I think this was.

The right move by Dan Morgan. In fact, before we get into why some of those reasons are. Let's hear. What it sounded like last night when Dan Morgan, Dave Canalis, this was specifically Dave Canalis, on the phone with Monroe last night. Monroe, what's up, man?

Hey, what's going on? Oh, brother, this is a great day. I'm glad it played out this way. We're so fired up to get you here, man. I'm also fired up, man.

We're going to have to teach you what keep bounding means, though, okay?

So we'll get you initiated and all that. Glad you didn't hold that against me.

Well, awesome. Hey, have fun. Enjoy this time with this moment, with your family, and your friends. I will, I will, I will.

Alright, brother. Oh, I love you. Love you, dude. Congrats, man. I love that.

Print the shirts with Monroe Freeling on it. Just love you. Love ya. If that doesn't give you any kind of indicator of what type of character he is and how excited he is to be a part of this organization, I don't know what to tell you. Um, That was a pretty cool moment last night, but...

This is about protecting Bryce Young. In my opinion. Dan Morgan, they doubled down on protecting Bryce Young, who they believe, I think. Is the future at the quarterback position? I do understand that there's still a little bit left there to be proven by Bryce.

Probably a still a few questions left in the building for him to answer, but I would like to think they want him to be the future, and we'll see if he answers that question this year before they ultimately give him an extension or not as he'll be playing on his fifth year option. But You know When you look at the fact that The Panthers have the most expensive offensive line in the league. I did not know this until I started to do a little homework on it last night after the pick. That is true. They have the most expensive offensive line in the league.

They need to get cheaper, they need to get a little younger. Also, we know how great Bryce Young is when he has a clean pocket and when he's not running for his life. which he has not been having to do. as much in the last year, year and a half of his career. Not like he did that first, his rookie year where he got sacked 62, 63 times, whatever it was.

Um that didn't look so good.

So There's that. There's also the fact that Biki Aquanu. He got hurt at the end of the year. And we don't really know I wish I had this sound for you, but we We don't really know what Icky's status is going to be this year. If at all?

And Dan Morgan. God love him. He ain't going to give you no, he's not going to give you any intel right now on Iki Aquanu. He's not going to do it. Joe Person of the Athletic has asked him over.

He probably asked him three times today in different ways: you know, what the status is, what the timeline is. Did that factor into the pick? Dan Morgan's not going there. This guy right here, wide-eyed Dan, if you're watching on YouTube and next, he's not going there. Doesn't have anything to say about that.

So But it is a real question. The status of Icky, that's why you brought in Rashid Walker, that's why you did that. And I don't know. I think the fact that That status is unclear. I think the fact that Freeling, Monroe Freeling, can play the right tackle or the left.

I think that's a factor here. Like The dude's got flexibility. He does. Like, I was looking at RG3 put out a post last night and just talk. I mean, this dude's 6'7.

Somebody had to do it. I'm surprised it took me that long. He's 315 pounds. Three, three, fifteen. And he's He's got length.

He's got a quick first step. He's a nightmare for speed rushers on the edge. And Dan Morgan made a point earlier today. Talking about the fact that He does, because the left tackle, that uh the blind side, that always seems to Be the more Premium of the two, but he feels like because edge rushers have gotten so elite in the NFL in recent years, the right tackle has become just as important.

So. Again. The fact that you got The most expensive line in the league. You got some questions in terms of health. You're trying to get a little younger there.

I think that's I think that's all why they made this pick. And again, doubling down on protecting Bryce Young.

So Let's listen a little bit more. Dan Morgan spelled out. The process last night. He spelled out. You know, watching Monroe fall on that draft board last night.

Yeah, I think it was it was falling our way. I think as the picks got coming off, I think we were getting a little more nervous. We had a couple of guys that we had our eye on. And it just so happened that Monroe was there at our pick. And again, he's just too good to pass up to be that big, long and athletic and young.

Um Yeah, but it was something that we We weren't sure if he was going to be there. We thought he might get taken a little sooner.

So when he was there, it was easy pick for us.

So there you go. That was the best player on their board. at the time. And you heard Dan right there, they were getting a little nervous, a little As the pit got closer, but there he was. And that's why when.

Carolina was on the clock. There was very little Time in between. Thank God these commercial breaks. Good grief during the draft. Carolina knew what to do.

Dan Morgan. Very decisive. Also Dan Morgan. went on about Speaking of Bryce Young, spoke about Bryce's reaction to the pick. I haven't, but he actually texts me and sounded pretty excited about it.

So that was that was a good text. What did the text say? I think just like, let's go with exclamation points.

So I think Bryce is pretty happy. The bottom line is. To all the fans out there that are yelling on X, that are yelling on social media, oh, Theneman was right there. Makai Lemon was right there. Listen, I'm somebody that said the Panthers would draft Thieneman, but I love this pick by Dane Morgan because the bottom line is.

You can't have too many tackles. It can't. Did you know? I think this is right. I think the Panthers ran 12 different uh O-line combinations last year.

Due to injuries and health reasons. Did you know that? I did not, but that's not great. That's really bad. No, it's not.

So You can't have too many. and especially a left tackle caliber. You just Yeah. Even if it means you have to get creative to find a little bit more depth, a little bit more health, but safety. Whatever.

You take the tackle every single time. And Bryce Young's reaction, the let's go to this pick, I think I value that. A little bit more than yelling fans on social media. I think I do. Monroe Freeling is the newest Carolina Panther.

336-777-1600. That's the number to call. How do you feel about the pay? Maybe you're one of those yelling fans on X. Call me up!

Yell into that phone. I want to hear it. Do you agree with this pick? Do you disagree with the pick? Do you think Dan Morgan's lost his mind?

I want to hear what you think of it. 336-777-1600. Morgan Corson is the executive producer of this show. How did you enjoy the draft last night? It was so much fun.

Any surprises? Yeah.

Yeah.

There's one I think I can think of. Yeah, I'm sure we'll be talking about that here in just a minute.

Well, I know we will 'cause I prepped the show.

So, you know. There's that.

So While things were celebratory in Uptown Charlotte today, because Monroe Freeling arrived a couple hours ago, he's already spoken to the media. Maybe we'll have. uh something from that for the five things at five. Uh can't say the same for Chapel Hill. Can't do that.

Because unlike missing out on Dylan Mingo, Few weeks back. Missing out on Henry Vesar is actually a big deal. And that's exactly what happened earlier today. Matt Norlander of CBS Sports reported that Henry Vessar is. declaring for the NBA draft, which that part was as expected.

But he's also going to keep his name in the NBA draft. He's not coming back to Carolina. He's not coming back to college. That stings for Carolina.

So He had to make this decision by 11:59 tonight if he was going to declare for the draft. And after doing that, if he was going to come back to Carolina, he had to pull his name out by May 28th at 11:59 p.m. Which that's over a month from now. a few days over a month from now. And that's just too long for Michael Malone to have to wait to figure out what he's going to do.

Not just figure out what he's going to do at center, figure out how to replace a talent like Henry Vesar. It's not just the fact that you got to figure out what to do. It's like, he's really, really good. And so That leaves a gaping hole to fill. At center, but luckily, I think maybe that was some of the decision by Vessar.

To do this is like, okay, I'm just going to stay in the draft and all that. Maybe that factored into it. Maybe not. Maybe he didn't really care how long it took for him to make the decision if he was going to come back to Carolina, but he's not.

So it's irrelevant. It's a gaping hole to have to fill.

So what do you do? What do you do? The portal has already started to thin out. Cincinnati transfer, Mustafa. Theem.

He's the new big man at Michigan. Seven two guy. How you like that, Morgan? We got another Mara. Love it.

That's right, you do have another Mora.

So, you're probably going to have to go the international route. That would be my guess, and you never quite know. What you're gonna get. A la Luca Bogavats. You just never quite know.

Um The other part of this that's kind of surprising, Henry Vesar is leaving significant cash on the table. He So there's a few things here. Like one, he had an opportunity to develop for a year a little bit more under Michael Malone, the guy who helped develop Jokic, the guy who won an NBA title a couple of years ago. And You know, that could have been great for his draft stock to play in a system like that.

Next year's draft class isn't as good as this one is.

So that would all that's another piece of this. But then you get to the money of it.

Somebody had to have told him. His draft stock can be a little higher than what has been projected because, like, the highest I've seen him go in is late first round. That's the highest. Um And in that case, if he does go late first round. You're looking at two points.

$2, $2.3, $2.4 million, depending on what pick it is. But if you go You know, second round, it's like, all right, now you're a G-Leaguer or maybe a two-way guy. It's not quite the same. And The rumor has it. Carolina was offering him about $4 million in that ballpark.

But also, and as David Glenn discussed yesterday when he joined us of the NC Sports Network. He had plenty of cash getting thrown at him. Like, I've read that he was getting offered up to $6 million some places. That's a lot more than two. I mean, they're both a lot, but you get what I'm putting down here.

That's four more million dollars.

So I It's a little bit of a surprising move. It is to leave that much money on the table. But Henry Vessar He has declared for the NBA draft, and he ain't coming back to college or Carolina. Do that now. The moment you've all been waiting for.

This is the drive. Talking sports the right way. Back at it on a Friday drive, right here on WSJS. Would love to hear from you. 336-777-1600 if you have thoughts on.

Carolina's pick last night, Monroe Freeling, the offensive tackle out of Georgia. Do you agree with it? Do you not agree with it? And how Well we'll give you an additional question to call in and tell us how you feel. Henry Vassar.

How you feeling, Carolina fans? What are they gonna do? How big of a hole is that going to be for Michael Malone to feel? Michael Malone to fill. Would love to hear from you at 336-777-1600.

There's always some surprises. On draft night. There is. And um I thought he was a little bit. I thought Colin Cowherd put it very well last night when he tweeted out.

You know, it's a crazy first round when nobody likes what the Rams did and everybody loves the Jets' decisions. You can listen to Colin on the herd six o'clock after we go off weekdays. But yes, the LA Rams. When the number thirteen pick was called around nine o'clock last night, They took Ty Simpson. The quarterback out of Alabama.

That everybody debated. Is he going to be a first-round pick? Is he even gonna go in the first round? And my guy went thirteen. 13th.

Who buddy? Um Every mock draft that I saw. Most of them? had the Rams taking Makai Lemon. thirteenth out of USC.

But Almost all of them had, even if it wasn't Mackie Lemon, they had the Rams taking some type of receiver. And my guess is to give Matt Stafford another great weapon as he potentially goes into his final. Shot final year at a Super Bowl before he retires. That's not what the Rams did. And Hmm.

Sean McVay. was something else last night because He He didn't seem overly thrilled with this pick. He didn't? And I'll just let you be the judge. Here he was last night.

Talking about The Ty Simpson pick. Yeah, there were a lot of players that we liked. But when you do look at it, I think the thing you liked about the body of work is: let's make one thing clear: this is Matthew's team. And you get a chance to be able to address, you know, the backup quarterback. You know, we've got Stetson, we've talked about the importance of Jimmy.

So, to be able to add somebody that you can evaluate a body of work where he was asked to play the position, and a lot of things that do translate in terms of concepts, reading with his feet, some of the different things in the drop back and the play action game, the movement game.

So, there's a lot of things that Coach Grubb did that's very similar to kind of how we operate.

So, it made it an easier evaluation to be able to kind of say, all right, what would that look like if you did translate it to our level? That was Sean McVay. He was specifically asked as he sat alongside general manager Les Sneed last night whether or not Ty Simpson was their first target. at number thirteen and that's um That was the monologue that Sean McVay went on. There was also there's also another Moment.

You know, we played for you Dave Canalis on the phone. With Monroe Freeling and You know, every team social media puts this stuff out. And while Ty Simpson is on the other end of the phone crying his eyes out, saying, let's go make history coach. Sean goes. Yeah, enjoy this night, man.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I don't think McVay loved this pick. What okay, what was your takeaway, Morgan? What did you think of this? Do you remember when the Packers drafted Jordan Love after making the constant championship?

Very well. Very well. And they struggled against the run. They had something they needed to address to make it to the Super Bowl. The Rams are in the same situation right now.

They were one game away from the Super Bowl. And they had stuff they could have addressed. They could have gotten a safety. They could have gotten a receiver. They could have gotten an edge rusher.

A lot of tackles. Let's protect your forty year old quarterback or whoever old Matthew is. But no, we're gonna pick Matthews' replacement. Yeah, that's what I think they were doing here. That's what I think they were doing because when you really look at it Matt Stafford.

He's about done. This very well could be his last year. Stetson Bennett. Ain't it? And in terms of being the future.

And there's many reports out there that Jimmy Garoppolo, who I often forget, he's a Ram. 'Cause I forget where he is half the time. He might want to retire. Is some of the reports out there. He might just want to go out and have.

dates with supermodels and, you know. People You know, he j he just might want to settle down.

So They need their quarterback of the future. I just don't know that Ty Simpson is that guy. Not so sure about that. I actually agreed. With the The Jordan Love move when it happened.

Didn't necessarily agree with how they did it. Same with the Falcons and Michael Pennix. When they drafted him and didn't tell Kirk Cousins what they were going to do after they just paid Kirk Cousins the bag, which he always seems to get. At least in this scenario, Sean McVay did let Matthew Stafford know. He did do that.

Whether it was begrudgingly or not, may have been out of his hands. It sounds like it might have been. It's never good to have a owner GM. And Your head coach not agree on your first round pick. Totally.

But there's a lot of. I don't understand this pit because there's a lot of good quarterbacks next year in free agency, Baker Mayfield. Or in the draft. Arch Manning, whether you like him or not, he's a half-decent quarterback who's looking to get it done this year and prove that he is a first-round draft pick. The Rams aren't going to be in a low.

Situation again.

So you might as well have loaded up on a receiver or something. You don't know how long Devontae is going to be around. You don't. Puka might not be with the team to start the season. Maybe.

We don't know.

So there's a lot of things going on with their receivers. Mikhail Lemon would have been a great fit for them. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's very surprising.

Some of the other surprising moves last night. The Cardinals, the I mean, if you listen to some of the reports, it's not surprising because they were starting to build some momentum of the Cardinals taking Jeremiah Love at three. I don't like this pick. You don't like it. You can only do so much with a broken O-line.

Look at what Asher Genti wasn't able to do last year with a broken line. Mm-hmm. This is all valid. This is all valid. Reuben Bain.

Falling out of the top ten. Did that surprise you very much going, what was it, 15th to the Buccaneers? He went to the Buccaneers. No, I'm not too surprised. Yeah.

That one kind of made sense. I always enjoy the first round of the draft. You just never know. what's going to happen. You really don't.

Last night was no exception, man. It was no exception. Heck, uh Titans taking Carnell Tate. Love that. Giving Cam Ward a nice weapon.

I love that for them.

Something I didn't like: the Jets taking two receivers when their quarterback can't hit the broadside of a barn. I love it. I love it. Dude. Giants won.

Giants won that that draft last night. crushed it. You didn't like it? They've dracked, they have three edge rushers on their roster, three starting-level edge rushers. Or Val Reese, they add to that.

Francis Mauinoa said he's ready to die for Jackson Dart. He's ready to die for him when they interviewed him. Or when Laura Rutledge did on ESPN.

So Malik Neighbors was on a broadcast somewhere talking during the Giants' pick. Is that right? And he was like essentially saying. Why did we pick R. Val Reese?

In the last four drafts, we've drafted. Two Edge rushers. With Thibodeau. I can't remember the one they picked up last year for some reason here. Abdul Carter.

Abdul Carter and now Arval Reese, all three starting edge rushers. I mean, it's a packed room, but at least you got options. Loved Monsieur Delaney. Chiefs I had that in my mock draft yesterday, him going to the Chiefs. Oh, I wasn't even talking about the pick.

I was thinking about him. Saying uh yes, sir, to Laura Rutledge and then going, I mean, man, I'm sorry. Like, he just because, like, as a player, you do these interviews and When they sign off, it's just like an automatic yes, sir. And then it just, but he immediately corrected himself, and it was just, I don't know, it was hilarious. I enjoy the little comical moments of the draft like that.

Reuben Payne. My man was stone faced. He didn't want to talk to no. He don't want to talk to nobody. We'll see how that goes.

We will see. No scripts, no safe takes, no chance. You're bored. Can't stop, won't stop. We're just too good at it.

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So I am a diehard Michael Jackson fan. Favorite artist. If you follow me on social media, specifically Instagram, you know I will never hesitate to post just a random Michael Jackson clip on my Instagram story just because I feel like it. Just because I f I did it yesterday. That did.

I want to rank in today's no rules top five. Me and Morgan are going to rank the top five. Michael Jackson songs, and we do it now. The No Rules Top Five. And this is show business.

Mixed with a little monkey business. Rank it. Huh? What? Woo!

Run it. I'm actually gonna let you go first, Morgan. If you're if you're all set to go. No, the bell!

Alright. Number five, I have Man in the Mirror. Just a good song talking about self-reflection. No pun intended? All the puns intended.

Very well done. Ow! At number four. Where did you find this stuff at? This took about 15 minutes.

I got more. I love it. The way you make me feel. Banger. Just a great song.

It is. Get it! There he is. I knew he was over there somewhere. Billie Jean?

Another classic. It is. I love this. I love everything about it. Bad.

It is. It's a good one. And Smooth Criminal. That's your favorite? Yeah.

Number one? Love Smooth Criminal. Number one.

Okay. That's not a bad list. That's not a bad list. Mine looks a little different though. Starting with number five.

Uh this is where I put This is where I put Bad. It's so difficult because, like, every song that you could possibly list on, like, the top. 20, 30, 40. 40 Michael Jackson songs. They're all bangers.

Like Thriller is the greatest album of all time. Argue with a wall. Cause, like, from top to bottom, they're all like, there's no skips, none.

So, I'm going to put bad here because one thing that Michael Jackson did very well, like, he was rocking the leather, you know, it was very like 80s rock theme, like on the music video, and of course, the Vic the Wembley Stadium. I think that was the Victory Tour. He really knew how to combine. Genres and he knew how to take pop. Which was his bread and butter, but also Mesh it with 80s rock at the time, and he just did it beautifully.

So that I put bad at five. Go with the bad. This is where I put smooth criminal. This is where I put it. God, this is such a difficult thing.

Like... My top couple is like no-brainers for me, but like three to five was really tough.

So that's where I put smooth criminal. Uh, just an all-time music video. In fact, I was because I'm just so I'm just so plugged in on this. I've been watching a lot of Michael Jackson like just... content lately.

In the iconic music video. Like... MJ was such a stickler to detail. That When he would spin in the smooth criminal music video, he didn't like the way his tie was moving. Like he just wasn't quite moving, flowing the way he wanted.

So he put like a little, they put like a little cord in his tie so it would like fall flat when he like came back around on the spin. Like that's how attention to like he had to make sure his jacket flowed the right way when he spun. That's the attention to detail that the GOAT had. Three. Ow!

Swear I put beat it. That's where I put beat it. Um. Eddie Van Halen was on the guitar solo. It was MJ's tough guy anthem.

And I believe this song was actually Kind of like a going up against gang violence, like that was a thing.

So we kinda You know? Stood for the right things on that. And again, kind of like Bad, there was this massive crossover appeal. Like, I watched the music video for Bad for the millionth time last night, and the leather jacket. Again, like the the fight scenes in the video.

He knew how to mesh these genres and he did it seamlessly. Get it This is where I put thriller. A lot of people have Thriller as the greatest, forget Michael Jackson song of all time, the greatest song, the greatest music video of all time, which I give you that. Um I thought it was awesome. I was listening to Jafar Jackson, the nephew of Michael, who plays Michael in this bio pick.

He said that they so they filmed it the scene in the exact same location. They had a full moon.

So it's like when they shot it, they had a full moon both nights.

So a little MJ magic there. It just. It's one of the greatest, it is the greatest music video of all time, and just a banger of a song thriller. That's where I put Billie Jean. It's where I put Billie Jean.

I It's the first song that really got me into Michael's music.

So, interestingly enough. I did not really become a Michael Jackson fan until he passed away in 09. That's what sparked my Michael Jackson fandom. Um Didn't really listen to his music. Didn't know much about it, didn't really know anything about it.

But when he passed away, it was such a cultural, massive phenomenon worldwide. And that's how I really learned about Michael. That's how I got into his music. And that. stinking beat for my for Billie Gene.

that when you come in the base Uh I was like, what is that? That sounds dope. And then, of course, the Motown 25, iconic, the first time he ever did the moonwalk. Nobody knew he was going to do that that night. Nobody knew it.

Even like the Jackson 5, they were all there. It was like a reunion thing for them that night. They didn't even know he was going to do that. And he whipped the moonwalk out and. It just, it's, to me, That is MJ's signature song.

You could go thriller there too, but... 2.6 billion Spotify streams, a number one hit. That is the top five songs, in my opinion, of the king of pop. Woohoo!

Solid list. I can't believe I left Thriller off.

So you didn't go you didn't even think about going thriller at all? I did briefly. But I had to sing the song in a like a Show in elementary school, and that kind of turned me off the song. You had to sing it? Yeah, it sounded horrible, so that kind of turned me off the song there.

Alright. Yeah, all third grade. Shout out to that. I cannot. Kinda wish we had the tape of that to play.

It's been the no rules top five. God, I want to listen to some Michael Jackson now. I want to go see this movie so bad. I I wanted to do it last night. I was thinking about going to like a 10-10.

Showtime, and I but here's the thing. I will see this movie in nothing other than IMAX. Nothing other. Michael Jackson deserves the big screen. They said you need to see this thing on the biggest screen you can find, much like Oppenheimer in that way.

This is my Oppenheimer.

So I'm I'm gonna go see Michael in uh in IMAX. Tomorrow night, that's what I'm going to do.

So, but I cannot wait. Cannot wait. You just don't get it. You don't understand how much of a fan I am. You don't.

Maybe you're starting to. And now On with the show. Showtime. The sports conversation starts here. You're on the drive.

Getting to some breaking college basketball news. We'll do it live.

Okay. We'll do it live! Dame Sar has announced he's gonna come back for his second year at Duke. Didn't even test the NBA draft waters.

So The day that Henry Vessar announces he's leaving Carolina, heading to the NBA draft. Dame Sarr announces he's going to stay put with the Blue Devils. Just wanted to pass that along.

So that's yet another. Yet another guy. That's coming back. You had Pat Gamba. You had Caleb Foster.

That one was expected. Dome Soar was not so much expected. That seemed like a guy that. Played his way down the stretch of the season into potentially being a first-round pick, late first round, but. Uh as Dome Sar put it, When he was walking down the hall towards the locker room.

In Spectrum Center, after Duke had won the ACC title, he said, I love Duke, man. I love Duke. And he does, and he meant it.

So he's coming back another year. Duke is. They're looking good again. I don't know that they have a Cameron Boozer.

Well, they don't have a Cameron Boozer on this team next year or a Cooper flag, but. They're putting some nice pieces together and They're going to be squatted up again. Shocker. Shocker. Uh Didn't have a great night with the picks last night.

Let's talk about it in Dalton's dollars. Stack it up, stack it, stack up, stack it up. Um Get the money, get the money on the sound note. It's time to cash in. Welcome to Dalton's Dollars.

Come being a lion! Oh, yeah. Show me the money. Breaking down the board and building the bankroll. Ugh, just atrocious last night.

One in four. One in four. And this is not great. Uh. The one that hit The Yankees against the Red Sox.

I can find joy in that. DOVING TO LITTLE! I took the Yankee money line. They won that one 4-2. Took the Twins money line against the Mets because it's the Mets.

But believe it or not, They won their second straight game yesterday. How about that?

So that one didn't cash. And then just 0 for 3 on the NBA last night. Horrible. I took three favorites. Um Took the Knicks minus one and a half.

They lost 109 to 108.

So that stings. Took the Cavs minus two and a half. They lost 126 to 104 in Toronto. And took the Nuggets minus one and a half favorites. They lost in Minnesota 113-96.

So. Not a great go of it. Just really any way you slice it last night.

So let's try to rectify the situation. Let's try to fix it because that's what we like to do around here. Starting with the baseball. Give me The Dodgers money line against the Cubs? Let's do that.

Trophy Divider! Cubs ended up beating the Phillies yesterday.

So now the Phillies have lost nine straight. We were following that one because David Glenn, our guy, he's a die-hard Philly fan.

So not great for them. That's a 9-5 or a 10-15 tip or tip. First pitch tonight. NBA, a lot of things going on. 10-15 first pitch on Apple TV.

Good grief. Good grief. I also. Love. The Reds Money Line.

against the Tigers. STOP ME DEVINE! Love that. Alright, let's get to the NBA playoffs. Got a crop of game threes tonight.

Think I'm gonna take The Philadelphia 76ers to cover seven and a half point dogs against Boston. SHOW ME DIVENTLY! I think the Celtics win tonight. But I think Philly covers that line. There's rumor That Kevin Durant is questionable again for game three tonight.

This one's in Houston. Against the Lakers. Lakers up 2-0. Lakers cover eight and a half. They cover their dogs.

Drove me to- Getting to the Spurs at Portland tonight. That series all knotted up, one a piece. San Antonio's been pretty great on the road this year. They don't have Wimby though.

However, I think they're gonna answer the bell tonight. And they're going to get this one done. I'll say Spurs Money Line. Strove vegan!

So that's what we're going to do. Sixers cover plus seven and a half against the Celtics. The Lakers cover plus eight and a half.

So we got some dogs tonight against the Rockets with Kevin Durant. Potentially not playing again. In the nightcap, Spurs money line against the Blazers. And Yeah. That's what we're gonna do.

That's what we're going to do tonight. Dodgers and Reds money line in there in the baseball slate as well. It's been Dalton's dollars. That's what we do, you know, when you have a bad night, you gotta Gotta stay with it. You can't back down.

Now you don't want to get ignorant. You don't want to just double down. You know, on things and be stupid about it. You want to think this stuff out, but you can't, can't back down, can't do that. Let's talk a little Wake Forest football.

So The Deeks last year. Had a really nice year under Jake Deckert. In year one. Won nine games total. Did that.

And I would like to think that Wake Forest fans, they got a lot more than what they potentially expected out of year one with Jake Dickert.

Now, There is. There is a bit of an expectation now. Like when you have some success under your one, naturally, fans are like, all right, well, we want to be better now. We want to be better. Jake Dickert?

He actually spoke to that. Um He spoke to that the other day when he met with the media, talking about the expectations. this year under his leadership in year two. Internally, in year two, we expect the program to be a lot better than it was. Everybody owns that.

Players, coaches. Admin, the board of trustees, everyone, right?

So the program is a better place than it was this time last year. But it's nowhere close to where it ended, right? We got to keep pushing. It's not enough where we're at. No one in here is satisfied.

We got a high standard and a high bar that we got to go meet every day. It is true. I mean, nothing is guaranteed, you know? Um They are in a better place now, but just because you did well last year is not a guarantee. That you're gonna Be that good or better.

this year. It doesn't work that way. That's like with the Panthers. They can't worry about the fact that they won the division last year. They can't worry about that.

Um And Bryce Young said as much the other day when he met with the media. You know, just something to keep in mind, Voic Forest fans. I'm very excited to see what he does in year two. Hopefully, we're going to be able to get him on this show again. We had a second Jake Dicker clip, didn't we?

Let's hear a little bit more from Jake Dickert.

Well, I think there's always a magic, a little bit, to this guy's program building, especially in today's era. I mean, it's no secret that we've created major league baseball and there's programs like Wake Forest that has to play a little bit of money ball. And that means we can't always retain. All of our best players, right? And that's not from a bad standpoint, that's from a planning standpoint.

We signed 32 high school players, which was one of the biggest high school classes in the country. And we are not afraid here at Wake Forest of developing players and athletes. We believe in our process, it's worked all the way through. And we got to continue to make sure we're building teams around the vision of what these guys are going to become. not what they're at when you're making those decisions in January.

Player development is the key. And that's You know, that's kind of the key piece there that I like that he hit on: is that when you are awake, Forest. You know. You might not be able to put out as much money. This year is maybe you did last year.

Now, I don't know the details of that. I don't know the finances that they were able to spend this year as compared to last. That would be a category for our guy, Connor O'Neill, who covers such things, which maybe we'll get him on here to talk about that here fairly soon. But. When you do have to play that money ball or where you have to kind of make the value picks.

Player development is key. Trying to make the most out of what you're able to get is key. And I like to think that Jake Dickard's shown an ability to be able to do that.

So, Wake Forest. Year two under him on deck. Very excited to see what he's able to do. Also excited to see what you're able to do by getting up with the YMCA, getting a personal trainer. How's that for a transition?

YMCA, personal trainer. They're going to help you with your fitness journey. Go visit them. The YMCA is the place to be for all of that.

So Take me home. Take me home. Will Dalton turns group chat arguments into live radio, The Drive, the triad's longest-running live sports talk show. Back on the drive, a Friday drive right here on WSJS, where we welcome in a voice you hear quite a bit on this station, and that is Will Pelagic, the voice of Charlotte FC. 8:30 match tomorrow in Nashville.

A 6-1-1 Nashville Squad Charlotte FC will be taking on. But before we get to that, you were out and about last night. You weren't you out at Casey Concepcion's draft party? I was not. I was working for an entity that happened to be live at Casey Concepcion's draft party.

So I was helping out our friends in television here in the Charlotte Market, WCNC, the NBC affiliate here in Charlotte. We were doing an online streaming show, and they had a couple of different live shots. They had a live position out at Bank of America Stadium. And then they also had a live look in at Casey Concepcion's draft party. And great, great moment.

Incredibly earnest kid, somebody who it's very, very easy to root for. Obviously, he played locally here before going to AM and now has himself headed to the Cleveland Browns, which, you know, I don't know if that's the best situation, but, you know, it's fine. You're in the league. You're going to get paid. And, you know, if he ends up balling out, maybe he'll get into better situation at some point in the second contract.

Who knows?

So let's get to the team that I thought Might call his name last night, maybe. And that's the Carolina Panthers. They had options, as Dan Morgan spelled out to us last week. But it's Monroe freeling the offensive tackle out of Georgia taken at number 19. How surprised were you by this?

I'm not terribly surprised, but I feel like it's important to make. A very, very potent juxtaposition here. Because I have thoughts about the player. And I have thoughts about the decision to take said player. I think the player in a vacuum.

Is a great player. And, you know, there's a reason why he had the great athletic score coming out of the Kanban. He tested incredibly well. The film is very, very good on him, particularly when it comes to his pass pro. Yes, he can run block because I think if you're getting to this level and not being able to run block, it's not something that's going to serve you well in this league.

But he's not the road grader that Icky Aquano is. It's almost kind of like he's the polar opposite of maybe what Icky was coming out of college.

Now, here's the part that bothers me.

Well, a couple of parts bother me. Number one, The Panthers have been so intentionally deft about the status of Vicki Ikwanu for 2026 for reasons that I don't quite understand. Like, I understand it leading up to the draft. Because you don't want to tip your hand and say, oh, you know, if I keep on assert, we could maybe take a left tackle. I got to understand that.

But, like, In the moment, and I know that they want it to be more about the young man than they do about what's currently on their roster, but I would have liked to hear Dan Morgan and Dave Canalis say definitively. Hey. We really don't know what we're going to get out of Icky this year. This move, in kind of that, that this move kind of informs that, or that news, I should say, informs this decision. The fact that we're not hearing that and they're being intentionally obtuse.

About Iki Iquanu's status. I don't feel like they're doing a good service for the young man there. And I think again. Panther fans would feel a heck of a lot better if they knew. Point blank, Iki Aquano is either not going to play in 2026.

He's not going to play for much of the year, if at all. Yeah.

Option three, they just don't feel that great about him independent of the injury, or knowing the fact that the Patel's had an injury is a very, very hard injury to come back from. Not many people have done it so successfully. All that put together. Informs maybe that reason to make the decision. And also, knowing what else was left on the board, all the wide receivers that you didn't necessarily have the opportunity to take, that you thought you didn't have the opportunity to take, they're all sitting there, including one who fell in Mikhail Lemon and the safety, who I think felt an immediate need that was seemed like a really nice shoehorn pick in in Dylan Thieneman.

The fact that none of those choices were the move. And Monroe Freeling tells me they feel like they're in serious trouble with Icki Aquanu, and he's probably not going to get a second contract with the Carolina Panthers. It is true. Listen to that whole press conference that Dan Morgan and Dave Canalis held last night. And Joe Person of the Athletic, he got asked three times about it.

They got asked three times, and they gave me the same canned answer. Zip. And look, and I'm I'm I don't begrudge them for thinking that they have to maybe protect Icky a little bit. But I think you also owe an explanation to your fan base. When you have guys who are at, again, premium position like wide receiver, not to say the left tackle is not a premium position.

The left tackle is a very, very important position. It's just when you make an unsexy pick. I feel like I gotta need a little bit more justification other than, well, he's the top guy on our board. And you know what? Monroe Freely could have a bust in Canton in 15 years and make us all look like we're idiots.

I understand that. But at the same point in time, until he turns up to Jonathan Ogden or Walter Jones, I have reason to question the pick. Will Pelagic with us here on WSJS.

Okay. It's been a week. We've had a week to process things. The Charlotte Hornets at the Orlando Magic getting blasted the way they did. Not at all indicative of the way the last three, four months of the year looked.

But you know, certain national media heads that didn't watch all of that, they might have other things to say about the Hornets because of how it ended. What do you expect Willie P, the Hornets offseason to look like?

Well, if you ask Jeff Peterson, he doesn't necessarily give up the ghost, which again, allows himself to have a little poker face when it comes down to it. I asked him point blank: you know, at what point do those draft picks That you have accumulated, which is 11 first-rounders over the next seven years, and two in the top 18 of this upcoming draft. At what point do those start burning a hole in your pocket? He said, Look, you know, we're not going to skip steps. We're not going to, you know, we're going to trust the process.

We know where our roster is. We like where our roster is. And we don't think we're that far away from being able to compete.

Now, I will say it. If there's one thing that got exposed during the play-in round. And playing the kind of teams that you play in this postseason, like Orlando and Philadelphia, that bring a lot of physicality. Being undersized at the four and five positions is not ideal.

Now, I think you have to make a choice between Musa Diabate and Miles Bridges. Musa obviously is due some money this offseason. Miles is on one more year of his contract, very tradable deal. I'm wondering if you're in a situation if you're care if you're the hornets. Do you go out and try and find a way to get yourself a stretch for?

And that's coming from somebody who loves Miles Bridges, loves what he has done on the court for this team. I just feel like when you're trying to put together a roster that wants to compete, you've got to be longer at that position, even though you are long at the two backcourt positions with Lamella Bow Ball and Brandon Miller. I just think too many times you allow yourself to get, I don't want to say out physical, but when you come up against a team that is more brawn than it is finesse, it's a lot harder of a matchup for the Hornets. And I think you have to be able to absorb that punch when it comes to those teams, in addition to obviously having somebody who can shoot the three.

Now, stretch fours who can be long and physical and step out and shoot threes don't grow on trees. There's maybe five of those dudes in the league. But maybe you're in a situation where you can go get one of those guys or draft one of them in the NBA draft. That's the decision Jeff Peterson has to make in terms of which direction they want to go to here, especially depending on how the lottery ping pong balls fall for them as well. Yeah, I mean, I couldn't say it any better.

Like, they got out-physicaled against Orlando, who all of a sudden decided Charlotte in the plane was the time to start looking like the Orlando Magic team that. People thought they might would be. And this is and this is kind of one of those things, you know, popular conspiracy theory was that they kind of mailed it in against Philadelphia because they didn't want to see Boston. And they thought that a better matchup for them might end up being the Detroit Pistons. And lo and behold, they were able to do things well against them in that first game.

Will Pelagic, the voice of Charlotte FC.

Now let's get to some Charlotte FC because tomorrow night, 8:30, You can listen to it right here on WSJS. Tough match, wouldn't you say, for Charlotte FC, because this is a Nashville team that's 6'1-1. It's early on in the year, but nonetheless, seems like this could be a nice quality opponent for Charlotte tomorrow night. It's a quality opponent, and it's the polar opposite of what they saw on Wednesday night. Wednesday night, they saw the team that was the last-placed team in the league coming into the match day.

And this one, you might see one of the best teams, if not the best team in MLS that you've already seen and with a rotated squad beat you in your building.

So there's a different revenge factor there when it comes to Stroud FC. You could very well see some more rotation with this Nashville side because there is a bit of a look-ahead factor for them. They've got a CONCACAF Champions Cup match against Teague Race on Tuesday.

So that part definitely factors into it for Nashville. But I want to see Stroud come out and dictate the terms a little bit and maybe play a little looser because. He just came out very, very tight against New York in the opening half last weekend. I'm not saying that completely carried over to the Orlando contest, but they weren't as solid defensively. They were rather passive off the ball.

They were a lot better on the ball against Orlando, but they weren't as clinical with the final pass of the final third or with their chances at finishing. The only chance that they actually did finish was a center back and Morrison Ajamont putting forth a headed goal off of a set piece, which is encouraging for Charlotte that they're now scoring off of set pieces. That's five set piece goals now for them in this season, which is more than halfway to their ever to their club record high of eight they had last year. But at the same point in time, you want to be able to be more clinical during open play. And if you get a point out of this match, I think you take it and run to the airport.

But if you can get three out of this match, boy, oh boy, it undoes the ills of last week and also makes you feel a heck of a lot better going into an open cup match Tuesday against Atlanta and obviously the final game of the road trip a week. from Saturday against New England. We will be listening 8:30 right here on WSJS. Will Pelagic Anna Witty on the call? We appreciate it as always.

Congratulations to your Mets. They've won a couple of games now. Hang the banners. You got that going for you. You know what they say, Dalton?

Point to do in a row. If they win tonight, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before. Major League Two, Lou Brown. I'll look it up.

Look at you. Man, the Mets, they're coming, everybody. Look out. Willie P will do it next week. Break them up, man.

Break them up.