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Scallops with a Salad

The Drive with Josh Graham / Josh Graham
The Truth Network Radio
April 14, 2023 6:10 pm

Scallops with a Salad

The Drive with Josh Graham / Josh Graham

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April 14, 2023 6:10 pm

On a Friday Drive, Josh compares tonight's round of the NBA Play-In Tournament to staying at a party too long and puking in the bushes, explains why ultimately David Tepper will be the one to make the call on the Carolina Panthers No. 1 overall pick, has a strong opinion on on fans who like to go to the NFL Draft, voice of Charlotte FC, Will Palaszczuk, joins the show to react to the new Miles Bridges news and the fact that Josh is already looking at MLB Wild Card standings, and writer for CarolinaPanthers.com, Augusta Stone, joins the show to discuss everything she saw at Bryce Young's pro day in Alabama and the feedback she got from Panthers GM, Scott Fitterer.

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He's amused Cam Newton. He's been insulted by Charles Barkley. When some idiot in the press asked him, if you know what you know now, what you scheduled this game.

He's interviewed Matthew McConaughey. And he's taken on Big Blue Nation. He's just completely taking the wind out of my city. It's time for The Drive with Josh Graham.

We've made it to a Friday Drive. You are listening to WSJS News Talk Sports for the try-in. Where with 13 days separating us from the NFL Draft, there are still a ton of questions surrounding the Carolina Panthers top pick. Obviously, who are they gonna take?

And it's not uncommon for us not to know that yet. It wasn't until about a week before the draft that Trayvon Walker really emerged as Jacksonville's pick a year ago. When Baker Mayfield was the number one pick five years ago, we didn't know until that morning.

That was the direction Cleveland was headed in. Would Carolina be willing to move back a pick to swap with the Houston Texans? That's another question we probably won't have answered until closer to the draft. However, there is one question I keep seeing people pontificate on that seems to have an obvious answer.

That question is this. Who's ultimately the chief decision-maker for the Panthers? In other words, whose opinion matters above all else? If there's a tie, who splits the tie? The answer is obviously David Tepper. And I have no doubt he's gonna be making the call 13 days from now.

Let's just do process of elimination here. We know it's not Frank Reich. In a perfect world that would be him, he has to coach the quarterback after all. And sure, his feedback is going to be taken into account, but unlike the Matt Ruhle arrangement, Scott Fitterer has final say on personnel decisions.

Frank Reich revealed that during the introductory press conference. When it comes to Tepper, though, he has say on personnel decisions when it comes to number one picks in the draft. If you're picking in the top 10 big ticket free agents, that's the David Tepper call. Scott Fitterer is in charge of the 53-man roster and all the other little minutiae, all the other signings. When it's the really big stuff that you buy a football team to be a part of, yeah, that's gonna be the owner that makes the pick.

Don't be naive. That's why we see Tepper at every stage of this process, more involved than any owner we've ever seen. Going to multiple pro days? What? Going to see these guys up close? Going to dinner with them?

Involved at every stage? If you have any doubt that David Tepper is gonna let anybody else, anybody else's opinion trump his in terms of who gets picked, just listen to this sound from last year where the normal process of events is a team gets a player on the phone when he's drafted and usually it's the coach or the GM that's congratulating the player. Congratulations. You are now a member of the Carolina Panthers or the Dallas Cowboys. When Iki Iquanu was drafted from state, Panthers, they put out the video of the call. It was not Matt Ruhle.

It was not Scott Fitterer that was on the phone first. It was, you guessed it, big man Tepper. Iki, I'm gonna put you on the phone here with our owner David Tepper. Iki, you ready to stay in Carolina?

Yes, sir, I'm ready to stay. I'm telling you what, we are so happy to get you, man. We are just so happy to get you. We just can't wait to be one of the leaders on this team. We know you're gonna get that, okay? When you came in, I said, we're getting this guy. If we get lucky, we get this guy.

I feel real lucky tonight because we got you. Sir, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Full disclosure, this isn't a criticism. This is reality. Sometimes we like to live in this world where you look at the title, oh, general manager, that's the guy who makes all the draft picks, and he will be answering the questions as if he was the guy that turned in the card and did all these things. Head coach, oh, that's the guy who's gonna be choosing the quarterback. Their opinions matter, but this is David Tepper picking it.

Think about it. If you became a billionaire, you listening right now, and you bought a football team for over two billion dollars, wouldn't you like to be the one that makes that pick? Wouldn't you want to do that? Wouldn't you want to be doing what David Tepper's doing? Again, not saying that's how it should be in a perfect world. Let the football people do their thing.

Treat it like one of your businesses. This is why you're worth all that you're worth, David Tepper. But if we're continuing down the path of being fair, his track record suggests he doesn't mind getting involved in the football stuff. The Matt Ruhl impulse signing, eating the meatballs with Marty Hearney at Matt Ruhl's home, not letting him get on the plane with the Giants, not interview with the Giants, and giving him 70 million dollars as a result.

The seven-year contract hiring Ron Rivera, or not hiring Ron Rivera, telling Ron Rivera that he should probably change his defensive formation before his final season in Charlotte. That's a thing that's been reported David Tepper did. So he'll value the input of Frank Reich and Scott Fitterer and hopefully they'll all be aligned. But this is going to be David Tepper's decision and that's another reason to believe that Bryce Young's gonna be the pick. Apparently he values this S2 processing test, this cognition test, big on analytics.

Oh, Bryce Young scored a 98 on that, as if anybody knows what that means. Tepper values stars, star power. The guy who's in Dr. Pepper commercials, the guy who's, you know, been a top player in high school football, top player in college, winning the Heisman Trophy, somebody that fans recognize, doing things a little bit differently than others, being a bit different.

Oh, we don't care that he's 5'10", we don't care that he plays at 190. There's no doubt David Tepper, there is some doubt who Carolina's gonna take number one, but there's no doubt David Tepper is gonna be the guy ultimately who makes that decision. On Twitter at WSJS radio if you want in, you can also watch the show on our Twitter page in addition to YouTube and Twitch. Will Dalton is the executive producer of this show, the WD, taking your calls at 336-777-1600. WD, got any big plans for the weekend? Not yet. No parties, no nothing? No parties. No ragers?

No, no bangers are gonna be going on. Well, since the weekend's here, probably some of you might have some party plans and this is a party pro tip, WD. Always be thinking of your escape route. Always be thinking of the right time to leave when that is. Say your buddy's having some people over, maybe like eight to ten people. You don't ever want to be the last one there. And there's a certain time of night, especially if it's a couple's house that you're going to, too late.

It's too late and it's no longer fun as a result. In the NBA, we've exceeded that point in the play-in tournament. As the final two games of the tourney begins tonight or will be played the night before the playoffs start in earnest tomorrow, the fun portion of the play-in tournament has passed. Tonight's games are the equivalent of someone getting too drunk at that house party and throwing up in the bushes. That's what tonight's games represent because what are they playing for? They're playing to be the eight seed in the playoffs. In the NBA, the eight seed doesn't have a real shot at winning. We've seen 20 years of first round seven game series. In those 20 years, only three eight seeds have ever won and we haven't seen an eight seed win in 11 years. And that was Chicago that lost and it should be noted in game one of that series the MVP of the league, Derrick Rose, went down with an ACL injury so you can add a big ol' asterisk next to that.

We haven't seen an eight seed since 2014 even win more than two games in a series. So these teams tonight, they're playing for the right to lose in four maybe five to the Milwaukee Bucks or the Denver Nuggets who had the best record in the NBA this year. This is a PSA to the winning teams tonight.

The teams that win tonight's games. Please don't celebrate. Don't act like it's a huge achievement. It's embarrassing. It's one of my favorite things about the inside the NBA show. They're honest.

There's not another show like that one that would carry beyond the network that carries games and after watching the Timberwolves and Pat Bev celebrating as if they just won the finals for winning the play-in tournament would flat-out laugh in their faces on TV like the inside the NBA crew did. And I appreciated them for that because that's the way you should react. It's kind of like when someone goes way over the top emotional when they win an award on television.

It just feels full of you know what. So don't don't be that person. Don't be that team. It's what concerns me about the mid-season tournament.

You see Adam Adam Silver talking about that possibility. Hey the all-star game we're rethinking that maybe we could do a mid-season tournament type deal. The first team that wins that is going to get clown because they're gonna act like they won something. They're gonna receive a trophy and especially if it's a guy who hasn't won in the playoffs like if it's Jokic that wins with Denver or if it's Chris Paul that wins with Phoenix they're gonna get clowned. Oh good for you.

You won the the mid-season tournament trophy. Don't celebrate too much of that tonight. And the other thing is none of these teams tonight are all that compelling to watch. Two of them have losing records.

Yawn. And Miami's probably gonna blow it up this summer. I mean they're old. A lot of old dudes. Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, old guys are probably gonna blow that thing up. And who am I missing? Oh the T-Wolves.

They seem like they've checked out. Anthony Edwards was terrible in LA. They choked that game away. Rudy Gobert is he gonna play tonight? And if he doesn't is it because the team doesn't want him to play after the suspension or is he making up back spasms? Oh well.

Back spasms. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to go. Yeah. This is the point in the party, the point in the play-in tournament where you should probably just check out and go home.

Call an Uber. That's what you should probably do rather than watch these play-in tournament games. You can listen to Charlotte FC Soccer on WSJS tomorrow night as boys in blue are at home against Toronto FC at Bank of America Stadium. We're now being joined by the voice you'll hear tomorrow night Will Pelagic from the Queen City. He is the voice of Charlotte FC but before we get to the soccer we've got some breaking news that just came into our studio. Miles Bridges has been suspended 30 games without pay for that domestic violence incident that led to an arrest last summer but this is the interesting piece. 20 of the games have been considered served so it's going to be 10 games to start next year and now the question becomes what team will he be playing for? Could it be the Charlotte Hornets who also have to answer questions about PJ Washington and answer questions about some of their other young guys as well? Willie P, how difficult of a decision do you think this is for Mitch Kupchak?

I think it's incredibly difficult but I think they at least now have a clear course heading when it comes down to it. I think we all kind of wondered what exactly a suspension would look like. They knew that because of the fact that he didn't play an entire NBA season there was probably going to be a time-served element so that part of it is at least made clear now. I think 10 games if you're looking at it from Miles Bridges perspective seems incredibly I don't want to say fortunate but light in terms of what I think we all maybe expected it was going to be. The fact that it's only 10 games and I say only 10 games being that he's basically gonna be able to play as soon as the middle of the month of December with whatever team he ends up facing. I know that the Hornets are still treating him like he's one of their own potential signings. They still consider him and he is still considered a restrictive reagent so it's definitely in the consideration portion right now on Mitch Kupchak's desk. It's just a matter of whether or not they prioritize him higher than PJ Washington. I mean they've referenced him as being the guy who was the leading scorer and leading rebounder but as we've definitely chronicled over the course the last couple of months there is an incredible I think moral obstacle that the Hornets will have to overcome in order to make that signing happen and I think a lot of that has to do with where the fan base would sit and I think a lot of people are very split on this and I think rightfully so. Then you got to consider the financial piece because of everything Miles is dealing with does that make them cheaper like who is the more expensive option right now is it Miles or PJ? I think Miles is still more expensive but I think the price on Miles maybe goes down because he missed a year but I think there's still a lot of potential there.

I mean I was among the people again this was that same offseason but before the incident happened I was among the people who sat there and said do you give Miles Bridges whatever the heck you have to do to make that deal happen and of course there was that delay of whether or not they were going to get a deal done and then the incident got reported and then obviously everything was off the table but you know I if we're talking about just basketball player if it's a one or the other situation I'd rather have Miles Bridges but I know the discussion is a lot more complicated and nuanced than just talking about two guys on one basketball floor. He's on Twitter at Willie P style the voice of Charlotte FC joining us what's the most interesting storyline going into Charlotte FC's match tomorrow night? I think the most interesting thing is they're back at home where they haven't necessarily played as well as they want to and it's a place where they won ten games last year ten of their thirteen games a year ago or won at Bank of America Stadium and they probably got their best opportunity to get a home victory coming up on Saturday against the Colorado side who just last week got their first victory of the season over still winless sporting Kansas City. It's a side that does have some quality but I would say that that quality is diminished from some of the sides that Charlotte FC have seen this year they've got to find themselves still an opportunity to pay their best two halves in one contest because we've get to see that from this side this season but I'm looking forward to it with some optimism because I do feel like there might be a bit of desperate nature in Charlotte FC because they've been rather fortunate the way the table has gone over the course the first seven games they're still in a position where if they get a win and the right results go their way a win on Saturday still puts them in what would be a playoff position granted it's only week eight so I'm not sitting here and saying you project that for the long term but that's how stacked up this Eastern Conference table is and that everything is still out in front of Charlotte FC it's not too late yet but it is getting late early. Can I make a confession?

Please. I may or may not I looked at the wildcard picture in the MLB standings. Oh that's a little soon for you. Really? It's a confession.

I thought we were all friends here. We are further through the MLS season percentage-wise than we are through the Major League Baseball. I didn't say I was proud of it I'm not justifying it I'm just saying I clicked that tab I saw it on ESPN it said wildcard and I'm not gonna lie it sent a chill inside me that made me actually warmed my stomach a bit when I saw that the Orioles had the second wildcard spot when I checked it. When was the last Orioles playoff game that took place outside of a wildcard round? 2014. ALCS.

That's not too far that's not that's not too far away you you're not that you're not that desecrated. That is tight like the Charlotte Hornets that is tied for the longest playoff drought in the MLB right now now that Seattle isn't unless you count of course why does it seem like it's longer ago that's nine that's nine years from I guess more teams make the playoffs now it's yeah more teams make the playoffs that's that's the Rob Manfred way Robert Manfred wants everything he wants everybody there everything he wants everybody to have a DH he wants everybody to play everybody and he wants all the games to be two hours and ten minutes now because that's that's Rob Manfred's way but don't get me started on baseball. Will Pelagics here WD and I I think we're headed to the match on May the 6th like we're locked in on that. I can't wait for you guys that's a fantastic it's Wells Fargo weekend too so it'll be nice it'll be a lot of stuff going on in town you guys can maybe make it make a day of it you know you can go go see the golf in the morning and then go go to the the game at night I think that's the a lot of people I think are gonna be doing that on Saturday because of where the game time is so that's that's gonna be a great great day come early be prepared and hopefully bring your umbrella for some beer showers. WD you've got I'm not much of a jersey guy I think I'm probably gonna go scarf I might invest in one of the scarves you you strike me as a jersey guy. Yeah I can rock a jersey okay I also like there's like three quarters zipper pullovers oh yeah like the quarters the gym dance quarter zip oh yeah big I'm a big quarter zip guy. I like going with the sometimes I'll rock the jersey with the blazer very very American chic is the way that I've had it put to me by my partner Jessica Trauma and she says that's it's very American of you. What's the shoe wear when you rock blazer with a jersey?

I wear the the Adidas Copas the the Charlotte FC branded shoes that that came out last year my wife got them for me for Christmas and it's it's a it's a popping kick as it as it were it it's got the blue it's got the blue in it so it really pops. To make it to go three for three on Charlotte sports major sports teams don't want to leave the Charlotte Knights out for you know the professional context here. I'm going I'm going to a night's game on Sunday going on my first night's game of the year on Sunday so we'll be happy about that.

Fantastic we love minor league baseball around here. How many reliable insiders have to tell you Bryce Young is the pick before you think it's not a smokescreen because when for me it was when it was Peter King and Adam Schefter this week in addition to Chris Mortensen saying it where I thought this isn't a smokescreen anymore the Panthers have the number one pick they're taking Bryce Young. It was like four weeks ago when I joined you and I said you know I had a couple of conversations and the the tide was starting because I think around the one month ago Mark was the last portion of time when we stopped hearing all of these you know back and forth or one guy saying Richardson one guy saying Stroud the consensus started to be built with me about a month ago where I heard the right things and right reasons said to me about and for Bryce Young. What's the number one right reason? I think honestly and it this this is something that all the people would talk about I think he has the capacity to lead a franchise I think CJ Stroud is gonna be a great quarterback I don't know if he's a boy a guy you build your franchise around I think they feel confident in the ability to build the franchise and that's all-encompassing that's not just from an on-field standpoint that's from a marketability standpoint they want a guy they can put a billboard up on the corner of Minton Moorhead to sell tickets and have that kind of excitement around him I understand there's concerns about the height but I think enough people have told them the right things and Nick Saban is probably chief among them that the height really doesn't come into play when you think about the play on the field the only thing you're questioning is durability but who's predicting durability in this day and age right now you can't really predict that for anybody accurately and so at the end of the day it comes down to who do you think is going to be the best player and I look at it from the Houston Texans standpoint if they were in this position which of these players do you feel like could elevate the Houston Texans a team on a much different timeline than the Carolina Panthers are which one could elevate the Texans most of the three top guys I think Bryce Young was the answer and so you take that and extrapolate to the Panthers why is the question any different I think the answer is Bryce Young and that's who I think is gonna be the pick come two weeks from yesterday Willie P it's good to see you have a great call tomorrow night have fun at the ballpark on Sunday we'll talk to you next week and I'm also gonna be in your neck of the woods on Wednesday for Islanders Hurricanes playoff game number two we might have to get you to stop in on your way to Raleigh we might need to make that happen possibly we'll figure it out we'll try to figure out the details possible have fun we'll talk to you soon thanks guys appreciate it that's Will Pelagic the voice of Charlotte FC joining us on WSJS let me throw this out here to a chance for Willie P was reminded me about baseball things the Tampa Bay Rays can start 14 and 0 tonight which would be the modern MLB record this is the thing I love about baseball so much WD a lot of these same stats you can go back to the 1800s on the the the last team to start better than fourth than 13 and up because they've tied the 82 Braves in the 87 Brewers is the 1884 st. Louis Maroon who started 20 you know the 1884 st. Louis Maroon started 20 you know we don't we don't talk about many 1800s now I I've said it once I've said it a million times we don't talk enough about that st. Louis Maroon's team they got any swags or any gear out there we can get fantastic the Rays are in Toronto tonight looking to break the modern-day record to stand alone coming up though a draft opinion that you are going to hate at first but then when you think about it for even 10 to 15 seconds if you just think about it for a bit you're gonna realize that I'm right keep it here on the drive get your morning off to a great start with Jeffrey Griffin on Triad today weekday mornings at 7 now back to the drive with Josh Graham perhaps I'm misreading the room but I don't think I am I think I have a good read on my audience this seems like something that's gonna be unpopular but hear me out there might be some of you that love the Carolina Panthers enough that you're willing to go to the draft in person to see them draft the number one pick I don't know if you hear see that's the thing do you even hear the chimes in person or is that something baked into the TV product something we could get to in a second this might be unpopular but even though the Panthers are picking number one don't make the trip out to the draft what are you getting out of that what what seems fun about going to the draft as a fan it's in Kansas City this year not Vegas not Nashville not New York City not even New Orleans Kansas City if you're going to the draft odds are the pitches hey it's not just the fact that guys are getting picked we're also gonna get drunk we're gonna party we're gonna gamble and do what we're gonna do both do all that Kansas City great barbecue over there I respect it not as good as ours not just saying that because I'm you know based here saying it because I grew up here and I've experienced both I have preferences you know I I don't get it Kansas City does not sound like the most fun place to be when guys say they're having a bachelor weekend or ladies having a bachelorette Kansas City's not usually on the list that's probably the way to put it and even if it wasn't in Missouri if it wasn't any of those other places I mentioned what makes the draft a good in-person spectator event but what exactly are you watching it you're gonna watch a very rich man in a suit read a card over and over again and watch another now rich person also in a suit hug that man and hold up a jersey that is the entertainment spectator product that you're getting in person to be clear I love the draft it's one of my favorite events but do you know what it is it's a TV show it has characters and I count the chimes as a character in its own right Kuiper do you hear Kuiper in person I'd imagine not do you hear McShea do you get Rich Eisen do you get fill in the blank do you get Daniel Jeremiah I don't think you do because they're all at the same place do you get the interviews in person no it's a TV show why would you want to watch that in person I get it from a work perspective hey you're Joe person the pics are happening you're interviewing the draft prospects you're doing all that but as a fan when you don't actually get to engage with I imagine the draft pics what exactly is the appeal of going to the draft it doesn't make a lot of sense to me it's a great TV show I love the TV show so much that I make sure wherever I'm at I'm usually watching it with people that nobody is on Twitter during the draft while pics are happening because I don't want any of them tipped I don't want anybody to spoil the pics for me that's like spoiling The Bachelor hey in about 15 seconds Becca is about to lose it well why did you tell me that I wanted to see it in person that's that's the equivalent to you telling me oh man we know who the Texans just took it it's gonna be a big shock don't be that person please don't that person's the worst you ruin the TV show WD are you with me here I'm not what what do you imagine you get from going to the draft in Kansas City the experience of being there live for it watching you're watching the draft like so all these things that Mel Kiper and Jeremiah and all these and Schefter everybody's look you're literally there you're in the middle here's the other piece of it if we're being honest about it you better be the biggest college football fan ever if after the top ten picks after the aside from quarterbacks you don't know any of these players are and there are signs you probably don't even know the players are anyway I know a fraud when I see it oh your team picks you got the camera in your face and they draft a tackle out of Iowa and you got jet fans losing it as if they know anything about this person at all they don't oh you don't know who these players are and again you don't know if they're any good either and you're cheering just because I I'm here to cheer that's what I'm here for I don't know if this is good or not it's not a good it's not a good in-person product it doesn't make sense Davin Clemens three three six seven seven seven one six hundred are you with me on the draft 100% yeah that having the draft going to the draft anywhere is terrible terrible experience but I wanted to call in and talk a little Bryce young and see what you think about are you for him being the number one pick in the draft yes I was for him being the number one pick last year during the middle of the season after all the ball games if you look at what Bryce young bid to Georgia we always talk about CJ Stroud in the Georgia game right mm-hmm the year before that Bryce young lit up an even better Georgia defense in the SEC title game the one where Jamison Williams tore his ACL yeah Bryce young went off in that game went off in that game and I wanted to compare him and that's gonna be a cross-sport reference but I wanted to see what you thought of this Steph Curry I can't tell you okay can I hold you up real quick it's a good comparison I like it it's what makes them exciting like you can't even compare them to football players it's all that but I've heard the Steph Curry comparison about 20 times to the point where I like it and I love Steph I'm with you on it but huh it's I don't know if the same traits that are great in basketball are also great in football that's my problem with it no I a hundred percent get that and see where you're coming from with that but there's just this appeal to Bryce young you know I've seen him live a couple times and his facial awareness he just he reminds me so much of Steph how he facilitates how he sets everything up he's a team player you know you look at the play the only knock you can have against Bryce young or a Steph Curry is you're arguing against their size their height their weight that's the only argument you can valid argument in my opinion you can have going against taking Bryce young number one I see and you you have the upside if you do take him of him possibly being like a Steph Curry in changing the franchise forever yeah I see it thanks for the call Dave have a great weekend too that's Dave and Clement big weekend plans coming up me and Willow gonna be hanging out I need to figure out she likes her mom just a little bit more than she likes me I'm trying to figure out a way to change change that treats more treats yeah I'm trying to figure but she's like so good at playing with dogs I don't know how she like she's she's like the Steph Curry of playing with dogs she's really good really playful at that I'm not as good as that now be the be the MJ of it then that's what I need to do we 13 days that's all that separates us from draft night we'll hear the chimes on the broadcast I don't know if you hear that in person in Kansas City but we always like the chimes around here you get it on both the ESPN and the NFL Network broadcast right thank you do oh yeah Augusta stone joins us now from Panthers calm it's good to see you YouTube Twitch and Twitter you can watch the show in addition to the way you might be listening let's start at a practical sense some are acting like it's weird that the Panthers might not know who they're picking right now or at least we don't know who they're picking right now a year ago Trayvon Walker I don't think we knew that the Jags were gonna take him until about a week before the draft we didn't know till the day of that Baker was gonna be the pick for the Browns I guess do you find it difficult to find somebody find who to trust and who not to trust when it comes to information between now and draft night how many people do you trust me um from my standpoint I don't trust anybody unless I'm hearing it from the direct source so here's what's funny um I've talked a lot I've been asked a lot about this um the process of things how do they not know um and to say like oh they definitely don't know especially at this point I think they still have a couple of quarterbacks to bring in for their top 30 visits still but after pro days after you know there's only so much film you can watch to say they definitely don't know at this point my you know they might know now more than they did when they first traded up to number one right um now will they just go ahead and show their cards that's that's to be determined so I wouldn't I mean you know they may know they may not know the evaluation is obviously you know coming to a close as you said 13 days and I'm fully aware of that number because we are really holding on tight waiting to see you know when it happens but uh but yeah I mean the thoroughness of this search I mean you you just can't understate it I think that's that's the key here that has to be the key you you were at Bryce Young's pro day in Tuscaloosa what moment or conversation during that pro day is most stuck with you easily when I had I mean this was such a quick chat to with Scott fitter while he was running out I think on his way to go get to Birmingham and catch a flight so I got him for probably three four minutes tops and hearing the way he spoke about Bryce Young specifically at that dinner because I mean we all watched the throws so like you know I could tell you all day long like yes he's poised yes he has everything yes he showed his you know range and all this other stuff but what Scott told me about how he held court and the way he discussed it you know sitting at the table with the Teppers and Scott and Dan Morgan Samir Suleiman the coaching staff I assume you know Frank and Thomas Brown were there and the way he made him sound so poised and confident to me that that stuck with me and I think that that's something that you know you don't see on tape and that's something that you can only get from those those meetings and so that stuck with me the way he talked about how those meetings went cuz I was like oh okay so they were impressed yeah they were impressed and Bryce Young apparently had scallops do I have that right he did scallops and a salad per Nicole Tepper yeah ah okay just put that into your draft analysis I'm sure everything gets broken down scallops and the salad according to Nicole Tepper we're being joined by Augusta Stone from Panthers calm a story that you had earlier this week involved Thomas Brown the offensive coordinator how much of an idea does Thomas Brown you think have of who the guy is going to be in terms of what you described him having to build a playbook from scratch because I'd imagine a playbook that has Bryce Young at the controls looks a lot different than one that has CJ strap exactly and I asked him about that specifically I really appreciated the insight that he gave me especially on kind of the point I talked to him so I interviewed him for this story early last week and it ran early this week so that that interview was probably about four to five days old whenever that story ran just kind of the way things work so at that point he may have had less of an idea than he does today for example um the thing about writing a playbook that I mean you know I've never been through the process so and maybe it makes sense to people who were more into the world but to me I thought it was very fascinating the way he kind of broke it down as it's almost like this living document that they start with bones and then like almost like build meat off of as you go so he said that he had created you know the base that could be kind of tailored around whoever they pick and their specific skill sets he didn't make it sound to me like he was absolutely clueless on who they were going to pick or maybe you know maybe other names that they were leaning toward in that regard and he pointed out I think I wrote about it specifically you know certain guys who are more mobile will add this and certain guys who are you know better at Z or better why we'll do Z things like that so but um the what they're handing out now I think is kind of more of that bare-bones concept kind of thing and then when they draft the guy they'll be able to add to it so it's like this living thing that you can like build and put leaves on like a tree or something and I found that really interesting so yeah I would say he probably has better of a clue than than you and I do have you run into some of these top 30 recruits that are on visits I have not no I have not although you know I am in the building but I'm about two two floors above so I guess the stones with us we should close with a couple of topical draft quick hitters here have you had access to the s2 cognitive test I have not no I have not how would you fare in it how would you do you think who honestly I'm gonna say something I'm I'm sneaky book smart I was I was a 4.0 student in college up until my second semester junior year I graduated with honors I I don't know I I have I dominated a jeopardy tournament this past weekend like I'm pretty good so I think pretty high and this might be we're all friendly we're friends right now but I think we're going to disagree on this front because everybody I've talked to has disagreed with this opinion even though I I just someone has to help me understand it in a way that makes sense to me are you're going to the draft in Kansas City yes I'm happy for you because I don't understand what the appeal is as an in-person spectator event us the draft is especially when it's not in Nashville or Vegas where you can drink and you can party and you can gamble or do all three if you like you could go to I mean New York New Orleans like it makes sense in those regards with respect to Kansas City it's not necessarily a place that I got married last year like it was not on the top of the list of bachelor party locations or bachelorettes I'm sure are not being held in Kansas City it sounds like a lovely city but that doesn't seem like an appeal and then when you start thinking about the spectator event itself oh great we get to see a rich man walk out and read a card and then hug and now another rich man and then hold up a jersey and you miss the television show to like I don't think you get to hear Mel and you get to hear Daniel Jeremiah and all of that I don't think you get that in the in the stadium am I off base to think that the draft itself as an in-person spectator event might be a bit overrated I don't think you're completely off base the only counterpoint I would have to that is I am imagining something beautiful and disruptive and also very nerve-wracking about being around different pods of every single fan base think about how unique that is like because every you know they'll all send representatives I know we're sending some people that is such a unique experience like where else are you gonna see Bengals fans Falcons fans Panthers fans Steelers fans everyone just hanging out like maybe there's some weird beef between teams that never play that like you can just like be a part of that's the only thing I can it might be an or that also might be an argument against to where it's like do I really want to be around you're not gonna sell them on this again well also here's here's the other thing like the what I watch a lot of college football a lot of college football and the thing is I'll be honest I don't if I were emotionally attached to a team enough to be there in person I doubt I strongly doubt even in that circumstance I'll be that Jack if my team's picking outside the top ten and they take someone who's not a quarterback like there's no chance when they pan to the fan the jet fan who's excited jets aren't a good example because they're usually picking in the top ten let's use a different team maybe like it's a Titans fan and you zoom up on his face and he's jacked about the tackle from Iowa that they just took like you you had you don't know who that is you know you've never heard of that person before there's no chance so that's another piece of it to that aside from the quarterbacks and top ten picks most people probably don't know who these players are that's true but then they're getting their 15 minutes of fame maybe they just want to be on TV so bad think about it that way I mean I don't I I'm like I'm I'm so happy being a writer I ain't looking for that but I have some friends that would like to look jacked up for like Lordy I don't know maybe Michael Mayer I don't want him to catch a stray but like you know what I mean like this random tight end like you know what I mean like I understand I guess Augusta Stone you you beaming with positivity and I appreciate it and you're a delight and the southern accent shining through is a delight as well as always and welcome here on WSJS great work throughout this draft process and best of luck the next 13 days thanks for the time too thank you so much I appreciate it y'all have a good one
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-04-14 20:15:31 / 2023-04-14 20:31:54 / 16

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