Upgrade your learning experience during Dell Technologies Back to School event with AI PCs like the Dell 14 Plus featuring an Intel Core Ultra Processor starting at $749.99. Supercharge your studies with features like real-time notes transcription, AI accelerated hardware to run multiple apps without slowing down, extended battery life, and more. That's the power of new AI PCs with Intel Insight. Discover a smarter way to learn at dell.com/slash deals. That's dell.com/slash deals.
Yeah. This episode is brought to you by Indeed. When your computer breaks, you don't wait for it to magically start working again, you fix the problem.
So why wait to hire the people your company desperately needs? Use Indeed's sponsored jobs to hire top talent fast. And even better, you only pay for results. There's no need to wait. Speed up your hiring with a $75 sponsored job credit at indeed.com slash podcast.
Terms and conditions apply. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody! Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck!
You can find us everywhere! Watch us weekdays on the Roku Sports channel from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show! We've got a podcast, so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part: our YouTube channel.
Subscribe at youtube.com slash rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment.
Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. With the 144th pick. The Cleveland Browns select Shadur Sanders from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The owner of the Cleveland Browns, Jimmy Haslam, met with the meeting today.
At the end of the day, that's Andrew Berry's call. Andrew made the call to pick Shador. Because you told him to call it. Today's guests. Senior NFL Insider for the Athletic, Diana Rossini.
NFL Network Analyst, Daniel Jeremiah. Plus, latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. All right, hour number two, the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. Daniel Jeremiah is about to walk into our studio.
He's flying off with the Chargers, who he calls. uh radio games um locally um And he's flying off with him can't know how. Before he goes across the street to fly out for the charges, he's stopping by here at Kurt Warner, top of hour number three. You threw out 844-204 Rich. If you're on hold, stay on hold.
Well Normally, someone from Staten Island does errors and corrections at the end of the show, right? Yeah. Used to be.
Well, this guy from Staten Island is doing an end of the end of the show, uh uh b middle of the show update. Uh you said earlier uh to c kick off the program, Fred Sanford was from El Segundo. My brother chimed in on his way to work that he's from Compton. But it's not. And now I'm seeing, I checked out the Hellscape during the commercial break.
It's somebody at one outlaw swagger. Actually, Fred Sanford lived in Watts. Watts.
So it's Watts. Yeah, not too much. I was like, wait a minute, that's not it. Watts.
Now we got that handled. And then Ken Tullo, one of our crack members of our production staff. Uh after I gave Jalen Hurts the kudos of saying uh um Fatigue makes cowards of us all. Apparently Vince Lombardi said that.
Okay.
So John Hurts quoting Vince Lombardi makes him more quotable as far as I'm concerned. Because normally get a seal here and a seal here and somebody pushes me in the ass here. That's an update on what he would used to say. Vince Lomparty meets the tush push. I just kind of went Espy's on you and Shane Gilles.
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
All right. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial on this here program. We'll get to your calls in a moment. Yeah. So I believe we're now on the air on the radio in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Hello to everybody out there. Hey, Vegas. That's right. Jeffo Raider Nation out there. Cool.
Christian Wilkins, we all know last week, a surprising cut by the team. Signed him to a massive contract last year. He played five games. And there was the report coming out of Raiders camp after the cut took place was this was injury related. In Wilkins's mind, and the team was clawing back some money because of something that he wasn't doing in his rehab or something.
Now, over the intervening days. came a report. I believe, was it Josine Anderson who reported it first? Um That there was an HR element to this sort of thing, a complaint. Re regarding Wilkins from a a fellow teammate.
had filtered to the team's human resources department after Wilkins Quote allegedly kissed this player on the forehead.
Now, I've been kissed on the forehead many times by Michael Irvin. I've lost track. Yeah. Um But then again, you know, he was my teammate for well over a decade. Who knows, right?
Who knows? Who knows? Pete Carroll, meeting with the media, I guess, for I assume the first time since that report came out on Wilkins, had this to say. Pete, there was a report that came out yesterday regarding Christian Wilkins and an interaction with a teammate that led to a complaint filed to HR. I was wondering, would you like to comment on That situation?
Yeah, really, I don't. I have no comment to make. We made a decision on what we're doing and we're moving with it, and we'll see how that all unveils itself in time. May make sense from a Man in position of leadership here. It involves human resources and grievances and cuts and legal departments and agents.
Yeah, head football coach is gonna Swim move on that one, I imagine. Right? Yeah, let's not talk about that.
So, I have no earthly clue this happened there. It's Especially now, though, in light of a comment from One of Christian Wilkins' former teammates with whom he shared a defensive line room. Um And defensive tackle Adam Butler, who no doubt played directly alongside Wilkins. Was asked a general question about the controversy involving Williams, and here was his answer. Yeah, we we pretty much just Kind of moved on from the situation.
You know, I really don't want to comment further on it. Um but I will say um that you know, whatever you're going through as a person, You know, athlete, non-athlete, whoever, whatever your struggle is, if you got something going on in life, just talk to somebody. Get some therapy, you know, whatever your deal is, is your deal. Um somebody out there in this world full of billions of people is willing to listen. They're willing to listen, hear you out, and help you work through whatever you need to work through.
Don't um Don't make any hasty decisions, get help. Wow. I heard that. That was the only thing. I literally saw it, you know, in the palm of my hand on my phone, and I just said, Wow.
I had the same reaction. I said, Wow. We always say here on this show that we only see the tip of an iceberg. There's a tip. We see publicly outside of a An NFL facility and Man, is there an iceberg there?
When he said that First of all, great advice. Not just for, and for him to use his Pulpit for that sort of thing. And then, secondly, again, we're not there. I know I'm treading into waters that are. with which I I'm not familiar and the details clearly.
But I told you I saw first hand Pete Carroll in a room full of soon-to-be college graduates at the University of Southern California. in the class that he was teaching. And it was all about sharing your emotions with your fellow classmates and with, and just being yourself, and not being afraid to be yourself. And talking through whatever problems you had, and the number of kids that I. I've listened to give testimonials.
to what Pete Carroll brought about them as a collective group from this class. And how they were sharing, my gosh, some of the personal stories that they were sharing with each other. I mean, that's kind of the perfect coach to if you want to share something and you need to get something off your chest and you need to help, that's a guy that's there for you. Mm-hmm. And if they decided that this is the only way to handle this and move on.
Again, I don't know, but I'll just say this. I have to side with the fact that. They decided this is what's best for Christian Wilkins, too. Yeah. Although I'm sure he'd be saying, he's sitting there saying taking 32.5 million of my guaranteed dollars is not best for me.
Yeah, that too. That point. Which is why there's a grievance filed. We'll see what happens. 'Cause you know Talent over everything, you hear that all the time in the National Football League, right?
And this guy's got talent if he's healthy. And I guess he wasn't healthy. And according from what his teammate just said, um, There's a mental health. aspect to this as well. Boy, a shocking turn out of this whole story.
Just keeps getting more and more shocking, this development. As the Raider, I mean, we just and you want to talk about the AFC West deep end of the pool. We got a guy who's coming in and talking about how the Chargers have improved. The Chiefs are the Chiefs. Diana Rossini just came in and talked about how Denver's openly talking about the Super Bowl and how Bo Nix is a completely different person than last year's almost offensive rookie of the year.
Were you shocked that she mentioned the SB word? No, I'm not. If I'm running a team, I want my team talking about the Super Bowl. Period, end of story. That is what this is all about.
Collectively, organizationally, personally, professionally. That's what everybody wants. That's what everybody's going for. The one of 32. You're one of 32 in the National Football League as a franchise, but only one of the 32 lifts that trophy at the end of the day that creates legacies, that creates lifetime memories for the fans, that puts a trophy in the case for an organization, turning an organization from maybe last to first.
That's what it is all about. And I would openly talk about it all the time with my team and have no problems with anybody saying otherwise. End of story. And I think Sean Payton would is one of those guys. Period.
This is a team that made the playoffs last year. With a kid that at this point last year is like, sure, he's got 60 starts in his collegiate career.
So, what? What has he done? Why did he bounce around if he was so damn good?
So they got their work cut out for them in Vegas, but they're a better team, too. Man, you want to talk about also the coaches? Was that Florio who said yesterday that top to bottom? It's the greatest collection of coaches the division has ever seen. Yeah, yeah.
Andy Reid. Jim Harbaugh. Sean Payton, Pete Carroll. I think there's no doubt about it. Wow.
AFC West deep end of the pool for sure. Wait a second, though. I know that. No, no, I said which division did I say? AFC North was the toughest division?
In football?
Well, I mean, y we we're talking about the greatest collection of coaches. I was gonna do a little pushback. Oh, in a division? Name one. Uh, well, there was once a time that Tom Landry, uh, Bill Parcells.
Joe Gibbs. And Buddy Ryan.
Well, I was going to go Dick Vermill. Dick Vermeal, sure. We're all. Yeah. That's pretty, that's Similar, don't you think?
I don't even. There's no way to do that. Andy Reid has more wins than Tom Landry now. Yeah, but he wasn't there at that point. I'm talking about right now.
And Peyton's a Parcells acolyte. He comes from the Parcells world. Right? I mean, there's a lot of rigs in that AFC West. Right now.
Well, I mean, Jim doesn't have Jim's got a college one. Sean Payton's got one in the NFL. Listen, Reed's the only one who's got multiple rings. in that division but They've all coached in Super Bowls, every last one of them. You know?
That's a deep end of the pool. We'll talk about that with Daniel Jeremiah in a second. We can argue this later. That's all right. I've just met meeting him after because he's got this look on his face like that.
No, no, but you know, you're looking obviously at the end of the road. Andy reads in the Hall of Fame, right? I think football is a little harder to coach now than it was. No, but at the end of the road, at the end of the road, well, free agency didn't exist, though. Like, people weren't going to go.
There was no franchise tagging. There was no free agency period. Like, you drafted somebody, they were yours. It's way harder to be a coach now. I think so, too.
There was nobody like, could you imagine if Hollywood Henderson had Twitter? I'm serious. I'm also talking about the complexity of offenses and defensive schemes. No, I'm talking about if TMZ existed when Lawrence Taylor was on the Giants.
Well, yeah, the whole other set of issues there. But that's what coaches have to deal with today. And by the end of the day, you know, the Lawrence Taylor podcast. I'm talking out here. Even without a podcast, think about what Bill had to deal with with LT.
Like, I don't care if it was today or 20 years ago. There is nobody. You thought Christian Wilkins was kissing the dude on the head was a problem? Dude. LT was in the...
We know what he was doing. I told you that story. I told you the story. Again, you can look it up right now. You can go find it somewhere on the internet.
Um Bill Belichick on the set of NFL 100. With Lawrence Taylor sitting there, told the story of how Lawrence Taylor was habitually late to defensive meetings. And Belichick was basically at the end of his rope. and told Parcels about it. and said LT's constantly late to the meetings.
And Parcel's response was, well, why did you start the meeting before he got there? Yeah. Right. Barcel's 101, man.
Okay.
So, but at the end of the day, at the end of the day, right? Reads in the Hall of Fame. And Sean Payton, Pete Carroll, and Jim Harbaugh. Have a shot. Yeah, there are other Super Bowl.
Yeah. Mike Shanahan won two back-to-back, and he's still not in. He will be. Look how long it took Tom Floors to get in. It should be.
Yeah. So. Um This is what I'm saying: is that at the time, though. You know, until Bill One is second. Was he in?
And by the time Bill won his second, Landry was out the door. Yeah. Because Bill in 1890. His first name. And as you know, Jerry Jones arrived late 80s, and he went to.
Jimmy Johnson.
So, you know, and You knew Gibbs and Landry were in the Hall of Fame. While they were coaching. This is pretty damn close. That's a good pull of the NFC East from back in the day, right there. Excellent, Paul.
We like to consider ourselves historians around these parts. 844-204-Rich is the number to dough. Let's take David in South Florida before Daniel Jeremiah joins us. What's up, David? Hi, Rich.
It's David. Appreciate you having me on. Love the show. Thanks, Powell. Love you.
TJ, Chris, Mike, and Jay Fellas. Let's see you're all going down the line like you're Steve Harvey on Celebrity Family Feud. What do you want to do here, sir? What do you want to do?
So I actually want to make one more comment.
So I actually got into sports TV through you when you were working through the NFL network with Dion and then the other people as well.
So I just want to say thank you for that. Thank you. My pleasure. Glad I can be there for you. Yeah, for sure.
I want to do a win-loss game and then partial one for the autumn wind. The autumn wind. Can you play that version? for the Las Vegas Raiders. This is impartial.
Here we go. Hit it. At the New England Patriots, what happens? Lost. Home for the charges on a Monday night.
Explode. At the Commanders. Loss. One and two home for the Bears. Yeah.
Two and two at the Colts. When? 3-2 home for the Titans. When? 4-2 at the Chiefs.
Lost on both. Four and three coming off the buy home for Jacksonville. When? At the Denver Broncos on a Thursday night. What?
Is that a loss there?
Well, what so what will you split? We're gonna split, I guess.
Okay, so it's a loss. Home for the Cowboys on a Monday night. Lost. Home for the Browns. When?
So it's one, two, three, four, five, six. Seven and one, two, three, four, five. Seven and five at the Chargers. You split, you lose that, you said, right? Or at the Chargers?
Yeah. Okay.
We'll split with the LA Chargers.
Okay, and then you lose at the Broncos at the Eagles. That's an upset win. Ooh. At the Texans. Lost.
Home for the Giants on a Saturday. Gwen. And then home for the Chiefs. That's going to be a lot. Those are both losses.
Okay, so one, so you got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight, and nine for Pete Carroll's first run. That's David in South Florida. My prediction. If I could say one more thing, Rich, it was based upon if the defense Is able to overcome the offenses. And so that's what it's based on.
Thank you so much. Thank you so much, David. Appreciate the comments, the win-loss. The brevity because Daniel Jeremiah is waiting. Let's bring him out.
Daniel Jeremiah next, right here on the Rich Island show, before he wings off to the Hall of Fame game with the Chargers. It's the Smuckers Uncrustables podcast with your host, Uncrustables.
Okay, today's guest is rough around the edges. Please welcome Crust. Thanks for having me. Today's topic: he's round with soft pillowy bread filled with delicious PBJ. Are you talking about yourself?
And you can take him anywhere. Why do you invite him? And we are out of time. Are you really cutting me off? Uncrustables are the best part of the sandwich.
Sorry, Crust. Make your next move with American Express Business Platinum. Earn five times membership rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com. And with a welcome offer of 150,000 points, after you spend $20,000 on purchases on the card within your first three months of membership, your business can soar to new heights. Terms apply.
Learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash business dash platinum. Amex Business Platinum. Built for business by American Express. Support for this podcast and the following message comes from America's Navy. The Navy offers new graduates hands-on training and experience in careers like computer science, aviation, and medicine.
plus education and sign-on bonuses. Parents, help your grads start their career today at Navy.com. Back here on the Roku Sports Channel, radio will join us in just a little bit over two minutes or rejoin us. Joining us is a man who calls Chargers games on the radio. He doesn't have all day.
Because he's got to go across the street as soon as he's done here, and he's going to fly off with the Chargers to Canton, Ohio for the home. Hall of Fame game kickoff to everything against the lions. Good to see you, Daniel Jeremiah. Good to see you, buddy. I'm excited.
I can't believe we have a football game. I know. Is that crazy? It's coming. It is coming.
It is happening. It is here. It's every year. It just sneaks. It's never off in the distance, like easing closer.
It's just all of a sudden it's one of those times you look in your rearview mirror and you're like, wait, this thing's here. This is here. I know. And that's what's the greatest. Hard about the Hall of Fame weekend.
You know, we're both baseball fans, and you've been to Cooperstown, I imagine, right? I have not been to Cooperstown. I've done Canton several times, but I've not been to Cooperstown. It's totally different. I mean, yes, Cooperstown is like out of a Rockwell painting.
You know, there's one stoplight, you know, when the sun sets the the Town turns a certain color of red and orange and yellow that you don't see anywhere else. And in Canton, it's like you hear the I-77 trucks just zooming by as these guys come lumbering out to give speeches, you know. And there's nothing like either one. But unlike baseball's Hall of Fame that we just saw, where it's conducted in a meadow, right? And you give speeches, this one's in a stadium, et cetera.
But it also coincides with the rebirth of a new season. It's connected. And it's really awesome like that, man. I'm getting goosebumps even thinking about it because we're here. We've made it.
I can't wait. By the way, I was so kidd growing up in San Diego and you're going through the recruiting process. Akron calls out of nowhere and says, We'd love to have you come out for a visit. Zips. I'm like, I didn't want to say, I'm like, I'm not.
I'm like, I'll think of it. I'm like, you know, we'll take you and show you the Hall of Fame. And I was like, yeah, I'm in. And that was the first time he was like, I'm like, Jason Taylor in the Hall of Fame. I'm in.
I'll take a visit. Fantastic. Getting set to go off with the Chargers to Kenton, Ohio. Daniel Jeremiah is here back on the Rich Rising Show Radio Network. Daniel Jeremiah heading across the street to go meet the Chargers and fly off with the team that he calls games for on the radio.
My colleague from the NFL Network and NFL Media Group is here.
So let's start with the Chargers, sir. One of my favorite hardbaugh sound bites already of the season was Jim saying essentially that Justin Herbert's biggest issue. Mm-hmm. is how Nobody, everyone else has to play up to his level. Like he's waiting for everybody else to get to his level.
How did that one land? I think it's just his challenge to the rest of the team, really. I think the job of anybody who's coaching on the offensive side of the ball, and in this case, is the head coach who has influence on the offensive side of the ball. I would argue that infusing your quarterback with confidence might be the most important job that you have. And there's nobody better than Harbaugh.
Like, even the thought of what does he need to improve on would imply that there's something wrong with Justin Herbert, and he won't accept that.
So he's filling him full of confidence. And now it's, hey, this is a challenge to everybody else. Like, we got to get better. And I think a lot of that goes back to that last game. I mean, that playoff game against Houston where he got the stuffing kicked out of him by Will Anderson and that defensive front.
I think that's kind of Jim's way of challenging the rest of the group of like, hey, this thing didn't end the way we wanted it to last year. And, you know, I know you had the interceptions, but that game was not Justin's fault. This is on the rest of us. Here to pick it up. Is it fair to say the biggest improvement on the offensive side to try and pick it up on?
On Herbert's behalf, is the running back room for the Chargers. Man, I love that kid on tape, studying Omarion Hampton going through the going through the spring, and then seeing him in person yesterday with that snowman, the number eight on a running back, which still takes getting used to to see those single-digits. Right. Richie's huge, he's explosive. And I think sometimes you can look at it and say, oh, they're committed to the run.
They're a physical team. But there's an explosive element that I think was missing there where some of those 10-yard runs, some of those eight-yard runs, and J.K. Dobbins, when he was out there, popped a couple. Yeah, healthy, popped a couple long ones. This guy's going to hit some big home runs.
You know, with Joe Alt and Makai Bechton on the right side of that line and Rashawn Slater on the left side. Freshly paid. Freshly paid. There's going to be opportunities for some explosive plays. And then Najee, I don't know where that stands and when they get him back in the mix, but now you've got kind of a four-minute back who can just be kind of a pounder.
So, yeah, it's going to be fun. What about the receiver room? Tell me about that. What do you got for me there?
Well, I mean, look, Quentin Johnson is to the point now where he's got. His critics, and if he catches 50 touchdowns in training camp and drops a ball, we know which one's going to make its way onto social media. But the guy had eight touchdowns last year, did some nice things. They feel that he's got another level to take his game. Trey Harris, the rookie out of Ole Miss.
I talked to him yesterday out there at practice. And Rich, this guy's already, I saw it with McConkey the year before where the way they talk, they carry themselves. Like, there's a professionalism, there's an intelligence. I think he's going to be able to get on the field and have an impact right away. Ladidi McConkey, as he was dubbed from that great job.
Did you ever get the credit for the origination of that? It wasn't me. It was the teacher that was here in the form of our friend Keegan Michael Keegan. And also, was that Ken Tua? Yeah, you can.
It was Ladidi McConkey. It's a team. It's a team effort around here. But Lad McConkey, we saw what he could do last year. How much better do you think he can be?
Like, what does that even look like? I mean, last year. I would say, like, look, he doesn't need to get quicker. He doesn't need to get faster. I don't think he needs to get stronger.
To me, the level where this thing levels up is just him and Herbert, you know, more time together. You know, they were on the same page pretty much last year. Yes. But you saw it with, you know, Peyton and his guys. Like, when you can put years and stack years together, Brady with Edelman, those type of relationships, where you know exactly what's happening, you're seeing the same picture.
I think that's where that goes, you know, to another level. But man, that game, that playoff game that I referenced, you see the images on the screen there against Houston. I mean, the game didn't go the way the Charters wanted, but that was an unbelievable performance by that dude. He was a revelation last year. Obviously, with the quarterbacks, which we'll get to in a second, for year two, he was worthy of being in the rookie of the year conversation.
Obviously, offensive rookie of the year was going to go to a quarterback. He was stellar. And The question is defensively, what... What would you have on defense for the Chargers here? I think one of their big offseason developments for them was keeping Jesse Minter.
I thought he would have an opportunity, if not in the NFL, that some big college program would try and throw the keys to him and give him a bunch of money. But getting him back as a defensive coordinator, this group last year statistically was exceptional. And they don't give up big plays. They've reinvested in their defensive line. You think about the outside linebackers.
Bosa's gone, but you've got Bud Dupree back. You've got Khalil Mack. You've got Tule Tui Pelotu. They draft Kennard out of South Carolina who had all those sacks in the SEC last year.
So they're still real firm on the edges, and they've gotten bigger with their defensive line.
So I think they're going to be good there. Deion Henley spoke with him yesterday. I thought he should have been a Pro Bowl linebacker last year. He's got another level that he can get to. Derwin James, you know, playing as that big nickel is a playmaker for him.
I mean, they've got a lot of pieces, man. And look, talent, they've always had talent on this team. This will be my eighth year doing their games. I've never come into a season and thought, man, they don't have a chance. But now they have a mission and a culture that's been established by Harbaugh, and now you combine it with Joe Ortiz continuing to build up this roster.
I mean, there's a quiet confidence there.
So the measuring stick is right there in week one, though, right? I mean, right away against the, you know, what would you say? Is it now three-time defending AFC champion?
Well, they've won the division, I believe, nine in a three Chiefs, right?
So I guess it's right off the bat. We're going to see what's what. when it all comes down to it. Because they do have the tools to win the division. If everything breaks, they have to win.
Yeah. Game one, that's number one, because that's the team that you have to beat to win the division. And then their next two are in division. They start with three games in division to start the season.
So. That's the measuring stick right off the bat for the Chargers. I mean, I think Brockman, if we were to take Brockman as a man, we'd take him to a Brazilian steakhouse. You want to measure the Chargers of the team, you got to go to Brazil and take on the Chiefs. It's just those are the rules.
You know, just find out right off the chute where you stand and where you need to get better and how this thing stacks up. Every year we talk about the Chiefs being vulnerable. Every year we talk about who's going to close the gap. I think it's the requirement that you have a segment in every training camp show of who can run down the Chiefs in the AFC.
So why not measure yourself up against them right off the chute? You're brushing up on your Portuguese? Yeah, I'm going to be a little lacking there. I think there's probably a better chance of me learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu than there is of me learning the language and gentlemen. Also, Brazilian steakhouse always on green.
Come on, people.
Okay.
Keep it coming. Keep it coming. Okay.
Is that how it works? Yeah. Yeah. You get the card. You flip the card.
You get a little card. It's red on one side. It's green on the other side. And they just keep serving you. As long as it's green, they're going to keep coming back.
Kirascuro? Is that how you pronounce it?
Something like that? Where you could slice it off of the table. Sure. Yeah. A lot of meat coming your way.
Ornicopia of meat. Good to know. Good to know. We got Daniel Jeremiah here on the Rich IC. I think I took Brockman.
I knew he would have background knowledge on Brazilian steakhouse. Keep it going. Keep it going. Keep it coming. So let's talk about Caleb Williams.
Yeah. We're hearing he's drinking out of a fire hose right now. That's the word out of Bears Camp. One day you're hearing Ben Johnson say, Yeah, he's playing a little bit slower because we're throwing everything at him.
Now you're hearing, well, now he's getting it. He's getting it.
Now, what? What is the expectation level of Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams in his development in year two?
Well, I think it's good. I think Caleb will respond to tough coaching. Yeah, I think he is a tough kid. I think he's tough-minded. I think that when you're as high-profile as he was at the collegiate level, you win the Heisman Trophy, you know, you can say, okay, well, this guy needs to be coddled.
Now, I think he likes being coached this way. And I think, you know, Ben Johnson's going to try and make, as any good coach, make practice harder than what you're going to see in a game.
So put a lot on his plate. You're playing against a very good defense that can throw you a lot of different looks and practice every day. And let's not, you know, let's make the standard the standard, and let's not tippy-toe around anybody's feelings. Say, hey, you weren't good enough today. Hey, your pre-snap communication wasn't where it needs to be.
I think Ben Johnson, that confidence he has and that tough coaching, I think Caleb's going to respond to that. I think some people reading into this saying, like, oh, is there already a relationship issue? Is this too much for Caleb? I got a little more confidence in Caleb being able to handle that.
Okay.
So, what does it look like? You think an above 500 season for the Bears or something like that? Because Bears fans are the general sense for the Bears from their fan base. Is that Ryan Poles has put a team together, ready to roll, and now we'll just see if Caleb Williams can actually take them there. That's the general sense of it right now.
I think that's fair. I don't know why you would set your expectation lower than being a playoff team. I look at their roster, and I think there is going to be a trend. They're going to trend upwards as the season goes on. I don't know if the week one Bears are going to be the same as the Week Six Bears.
Right. But I think there's enough there, and I think they have enough time that they can get themselves to double-digit wins and be a playoff team. I think it's all their form to do that.
Now let's just see if they can pull it off. Got to get Terry McLaurin in for Jaden Daniels, right? I mean, that's imperative. He's in, I understand, but signed and sealed and delivered and not holding in. That's.
That is crucial for year two, despite how much of a unicorn Jaden Daniels looked like last year. Wouldn't you agree with that?
Well, yeah, these things usually have a way of working out and getting done. I talked to some people in their personnel department the other day, and that's, you know, what stood out, you know, how does Jaden Daniels get better? What we saw last year was so good. And they're like, well, first of all, just leadership-wise, like it's, it's... He's taking it up a big notch here.
He's more comfortable. He's speaking. He's kind of bringing everybody along. But everything he's doing is even faster than he did last year.
So that's scary. As good as he was last year, that they're confident in the building, that he's got another level to him. They feel like the offensive line is better. The secondary, they think, is much improved over what it was last year. And, you know, you got to get the McLaurin thing worked out.
But, Rich, I just feel like these things always have a way of working out. All right, Drake May's year two. What do you expect out of last year's third overall pick?
Well, I mean, now I'm just going to be accused of being overly positive, but I love their draft. I know that. I love their draft. I loved it. And it's not just, it wasn't just me willy-nilly saying, like, oh, I think they had a great draft.
Like, you know, our buddy Jack Andre goes through and takes where I ranked players and where players went. And value-wise, the Patriots were right at the tippy-top.
So I love what they did to build around Drake. I think Vrabel comes in there, and the guy's just, you know, he's a winner. He knows that place inside and out. He knows what works inside that division. And look, I shouldn't watch Twitter highlights or X highlights during this time of year because you can spin whatever narrative you want.
But there have been some nice throws. There have been some nice throws from Drake May that have made their way onto the social web. I mean, Josh McDaniels being there is a huge boon as well, as the OC. I mean, we saw what Mac Jones' best year of his young career was when McDaniels was still the OC there. One can only assume ball's going to come out on time.
Trevy On Henderson's going to add some pop as well at the running back spot. Stephon Diggs is chasing around a little puppy.
So obviously, it looks like he's ready for week one. No, all I could think of was that, gosh, I'd get my Achilles if the change of direction for that little puppy he was going after, that could have gone wrong. Interesting that you went negative that way, because I was thinking positive that if you had caught the puppy, it would have peed all over again. That's fair. That's fair.
Somebody, they showed that on while I was doing network stuff the other day. They brought that video back. That's odd. Yeah. Listen, I'll give you a heads up.
Long before Daniel, you joined NFL Network, Terrell Davis was on NFL Network. He passed out riding with the Blue Angels at a Super Bowl. I believe one of our first Super Bowls.
So funny. Yeah, we had a video of him passing out. We played that on a loop. for about a decade. Certainly when John Elway would come on, because it would get John Elway cackling.
Right off the bat.
Well, here's my beef.
Okay, here's my beef. And this goes all the way to the network. And I don't know if we need to talk to Charlie about this, but the previous guy who sat in the draft chair had a video that they would show every single year. That video was him intercepting Dan Marino. That's my guy.
He's being peat on by a puppy. That's true. And he's picking off Mourino. How is that apples to apples? Because we were all scared of Mia.
That's fair. He chastised me the other day. This is an honest conversation where Mike texted me the other day. I'm in Eagles Camp. Where the heck are you?
I'm like, Mike, I got stuck in Nashville.
Well, you missed a good practice. I'm like, geez, it wasn't my choice. I got stuck. It's your fault for not being there.
Sounds just like Mayok pointing fingers. Good practice. It sounds like Mike. Michael Penix's second year. What are we expecting out of this in Atlanta?
I'm intrigued. Like, that's one, you know, you see the Kyle Pitts stuff already out there, all the hope. I'm probably not going to take a dive on that one again. It's the annual Kyle Pitt season. This is what's finally happening.
I've done that a couple times in the fantasy world. I'm probably leave that one alone. But I am excited to see, you know, to me, the biggest thing, can he stay healthy? Like if Pennix stays healthy, you're going to see some big explosive plays down the field. And, you know, with Bijan running the Bijan.
Bijan? Be careful. Would I say Bijan? Like the mustard. It's Bijan.
Just helping you. There's one other name that I was thinking of that, I can't remember. There's another name where it's like, gosh, it should be this because it has just at some point in time. You have to recognize this is the way my parents want me to be known. This has a better ring to it.
Certainly, if you're trying to sell your own brand of mustard. But so, because the offense is loaded. If everybody stays healthy and can actually, you know. Participate. That's the way it looks in Atlanta, for sure.
I still feel like that's Tampa. I don't think they're going to get the Tampa in the division.
So then let's get to three other quarterbacks, and I'll let you go across the street so you can fly out on time with the Chargers to the Hall of Fame game on Thursday, tomorrow night. Wow, against the Lions. You can catch that on NBC. You've got Daniel Jeremiah here on the Rich Eisen show. It's.
all about J.J. McCarthy. And in the same way, I'm like with Caleb Williams and the Bears, a team set. Can the quarterback raises level of play to take this team to where they want to go? Last year with Sam Donald, 14 dubs.
You know, everybody's back. We're assuming Jeddahs will be healthy enough for the season despite the hamstring that they're dealing with right now. It's McCarthy and Kevin O'Connell and what he can do to coach him up. What is your expectation level there, Daniel?
Well, there's a couple things. I believe in JJ's ability. I think the talent is there.
So you start there. And even more and believe in his ability. I'm such a believer in KOC. I know Kevin. I don't know if you saw the article they had.
I believe it was on the ESPN.com where it talked about he had devoted an hour a week to JJ last year to spend with him and answer questions. That's just next level. These coaches are in such a time crunch and in a bubble, and we got to win this week and who's our opponent? And let's get focused on that and on to the next game. Whatever.
This guy was already thinking to next year, knowing I can't just have this as a wasted year for JJ McCarthy.
So the fact that he was dedicating time during last season to answer his questions and to get him up to speed. They have a plan. They understand what they need to do to get him rolling. I think they understand what his strengths and weaknesses are. I'm never going to doubt Kevin.
So, and trust in him in the coach of the year, who is already thinking of being the coach of next year.
Well, he's the coach of the year for a 14-win team with Sam Darnold, right? It's next level, man.
So, it's that simple. You believe in his talent level, and you believe in the guy who can make the most of it. Yeah, he's going to have some stumbles along the way. He's just getting his feet wet. But I just, I think Kevin is so good in terms of how he designs it.
I think their team and their offense is so stacked. I have a hard time seeing them being anything other than productive. And I guess full circle on the AFC West conversation, which we started with the Chiefs and Chargers kicking things off, and then the Chargers go to Vegas and then they go to back home home opener against Denver. Bo Nix is coming in. If not for Jaden Daniels, that's the offensive rookie of the year.
So, year two with him and they pay Cortland Sutton. I know Dobbins wound up there. R.J. Harvey, we were talking about him during the draft. Explosive.
I think they've upgraded the running back position. I think we can say that. Safely. What do you think about Bo Nick's year two? Your expectation level?
Yeah. Yeah. Look, he from I was there and his first start, I believe, was against the Chargers up there. And I thought there was a little bit, he was just a little bit skittish. He made some plays, but he was a little jumpy.
And then seeing him just. Settle in and found his poise as the season went along, and then he just started ripping it. I mean, he was lighting the world on fire.
So, Scheme, the talent, the connection between them. I think Sean. The important thing for him is not just the ability of the quarterback, but the connection of the quarterback where he can almost kind of play the position from the sideline. Those guys were on the same page, man, pretty early on last year.
So, again, I. There's a lot of positive stories. You can kind of see it's because we've brought all these young quarterbacks into the league, a lot of talented young quarterbacks. And now we're seeing, you know, we always talk about the play caller, the playmakers, the protection. I can't remember we've had this many young quarterbacks, year one, year two, that are in situations where they've got all those things in place.
The guys that have flamed out and haven't worked out, we can go, oh man, they didn't have the right play call, or man, the offensive line was a little sketchy or. Not a lot of dynamic playmakers, or at least they're missing one of those three. These guys we're talking about, Rich, for the most part, all have all these things set up for them. Before I let you go, reasonable expectation. For Cam Ward.
Total touchdowns 25. You take over under.
Well, I think total. Yeah, I mean, I don't know it's going to correlate to wins because I think there's some issues on the defensive side of the ball. But I was talking to their guys when I was at the camp the other day and I said at Titans camp and I just said, you know, one thing I know for sure, last year, the Cardinals sin in football is to be bad and boring. Like, you're not going to be boring. Like, he's going to make it fun.
Like, just watching him at practice and, you know, sprinting left and throwing to Ridley all the way across his body. Like, he's going to have some turnovers. He's going to throw some interceptions, but there's going to be some highlight real plays. He's going to make some splashes. They're going to score points, Rich.
So on the touchdown thing, yes. On the wins, I think defensively they're going to have a hard time.
So you could see it. You saw it. Like, this is first, because you were like this. He's the first quarterback to be taken off the board, maybe not first overall talent. Yeah.
But you could see it. He was there when I talked to him, and this is from talking to the president, the general manager, the coaching staff. They said, We cannot beat him into the facility. And it's gone from him being here 5 to 5:30 every morning, which he is every single day, to now he's got all the rookie receivers with him. He's got the rookie tight end from Texas helm with him.
Like he's bringing these young guys in with him at 5:00, 5:30 every single day. And then you get out there and you see the tools, which are legit.
So I'm excited for him. Again, I don't think they're going to win more than six or seven games at the most, but I think he's going to provide some excitement. And then the, you know, um. That the tough assignment starting at Denver, and then when Jacksonville opens the season home against Carolina. Over under number of snaps.
For Travis Hunter, I set it at 75. I think I'll go over. I think that's going to be too tempting. It's got to be too tempting. Daniel, it has to be.
I'm just going to go in again one more time, and then I'll let you go. It ha it has to be. He can do it. He's proven he can do it. He's smart enough to do it.
He's talented enough to do it. He's physically able. And ready? You know what I mean? Like, this how do you not just...
Release the hounds here. I think, right? Yeah, I think there's two ways of looking at it. It's like we can ease in men or. Let's give it a shot.
And we'll see how he recovers. Maybe we get to week four and we go, okay, let's dial it back just a little bit here, maybe on one side of the ball or the other. No, I say that. But I'd be tempted to roll it out there and see what it looks like. I look at their schedule, okay?
And week five is a Monday night game. In Jacksonville, everybody's in town, right? The whole country is going to be watching. I want him 100 snaps against the Chiefs. I want him every snap on offense and as much as he can give me.
against Mahomes and see what he can do. Like, let's go. Let's roll, get ramp him up. to 100 snaps in that Monday night football game. That's what I would do.
But again, again, I'm a narrative guy. We have no...
So I mean I don't know. You know, one thing that's helpful for them in this era is with all of the GPS stuff you can wear, they can test this out on the practice field and say, okay, we've given him this many snaps. Yes. And now we see, like, okay, now his speed is starting to suffer. Or, you know what, this guy can be at 100 and he's at 100 no matter how many snaps we give him.
They're going to have that information.
So for us to sit here and speculate he should do 70, 80, 90, 100, like they'll have the actual data that'll say, okay, he can do this.
Well, as you know, we're covering the commencement ceremonies of the. The induction ceremony is the Hall of Fame from Los Angeles this year.
So say hi to everybody in Canton for me when you see them. They're awesome people. I will do that. Say hi. I'm looking forward to it.
The only thing about the preseason, there's a lot of extra guys in the plane. I don't want to see anybody lose their jobs, but it is nice to spread out a little bit when the regular season gets there. It's all about you, brother.
Sorry, man. All about Daniel Jeremiah. I will see you shortly. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.
Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month is back.
So I thought it would be fun. if we made $15 bills. But it turns out That's very illegal.
So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com/slash switch. A prompt payment of $45 for three months plan equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offer for first three months only. Speeds low after 35 gigabytes if network's busy.
Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Knowing you could be saving money for the things you really want, like that dream house or ride, is a great feeling. That's why the State Farm personal price plan can help you save when you choose to bundle home an auto.
Bundling, just another way to save with a personal price plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state.
Soon I've caught the golf bug, obviously, right? You know that? My man. You know, the American Century Championship. Although I tied for 88.
Has awakened to monster. And you're like Happy Gilmore, like 365 days till next hockey season.
So, well, yeah, I know, right?
So, with the kids all away for the summer. Going to play as much golf as I can, certainly before the football season. I love hearing that man. And also, you know what I did yesterday is I cleaned out my office. It's been demanded by every single human being in my household.
And what I did is I found a whole bunch of stuff.
Okay.
that I hadn't seen in a while. Did I tell the I've all told you the Louise Tion story, right? And the charity golf tournament I played in. Way back in the day when I was on ESPN, when the Super Bowl was between the Ravens and the Giants.
Okay.
Okay.
And I was staying in Orlando, played in a charity in a golf tournament there. Took, that's where I met Brooks Robinson.
Okay.
Heard that story.
So we're on the bus, Luis Tion. May he rest in peace. May he rest in peace. One of the finest Cuban baseball players ever was giving away cigars. of his own brand.
And I couldn't believe it that he was offering me. A cigar would you know And I said, where can I get more of these? And he said, you can get it on the west side. And I was, you know, had a spot living on the upper west side at the time. And I'm like, oh, we're on the west side.
And he goes www. Ltiantecigars.com and oh. Website.
Well, I found this. The box that you gave me. L. Tiant with his Luis Tiant autograph. Burnt in to the wood.
Wow. Yeah. The cigar. The remaining cigar. Let's see if you can see it.
There it is. If you can, that's Teante, El Teante, in full back to the. Home plate wind up. On the cigar band. Right there.
Eggs. That's hard as a rock. 30 years old. Yeah, I got a cigar cutter in here. And I also had.
A here you go, if you can see it, a Jimmy V. Oh, Jim Volvano pinned from the first ever charity golf tournament, celebrity golf tournament I ever played in. And sure enough, I found. The 1998 Book that came with going to the hold on, sorry, I'll put it back or in front. I'm sorry to do this to you guys.
I know we didn't frame that up. You see that 1998? If you want to pull out, I'm going to show some.
Some pictures in here of who was there.
Okay.
Man, this is so cool. 1998. It was stars of stars in here. Graduating high school that year. Hold on a minute.
Here we go. Can you see? I mean, did I get it right here? There you go. Bob Costas, Tom Clancy, Patrick Duffy from Dallas.
There's Bobby Crimmons. The very hot Eddie Cybrian, who looks the same now. No, that was not Cranston. It was Bobby. It was.
Oh, is it Brian Cranston? Yeah, that's right. Good call. I didn't even know Brian Cranston was there. Look at that.
What was he on back then? I believe it was it Malcolm in the middle? In 1998? Yeah, I don't know. Where are my glasses?
There they are. Can't find anything around here anymore. Don't worry, we're gonna. He was currently appearing in the summer blockbuster saving private Ryan. He's appeared in dozens of TV series and miniseries.
From Murder She Wrote to Sabrina to LA Law, was a series regular on Seinfeld. Wow. Hold on a minute. This is good stuff. I'm looking through the Jimmy V.
I'm looking through the Jimmy V. Celebrity tournament. booklet that I found while cleaning out my office. Here we go, you ready for this one? Look at these people.
Look at these baby faces.
Okay.
Gino Ariama, Charles Barclay. See that? Look at Jim Bohem down in the same Right? Turn the page. Uh The coach of the New Jersey Nets.
The John Caliparia era began in 1996, and the New Jersey Nets have not looked the same since. It's the first line of his. Biography, there you go. The New Jersey. Look at PJ Carlissimo on the bottom left.
No, Quinn Buckner with no photograph. Timmy B, Tim Brando. Hold on a minute. There we go. Keep going here.
Where's the one here? Let's see them. Here we go. Just like the American Century Championship. There I am right next to Vince Carter.
You see me on the top? Yeah. If you look at Fowler. Michael Ruzzioni was there. Wow.
Okay.
Isn't this great? This is so cool.
Okay, here we go. Michael Jeffrey Jordan in the bottom of your left screen, right there. He was there. Bob Huggins, who by the way had a Hole in one in this Tournament. Hang on.
Booty and the blowfish were performing. That's peak 1998. Wait a minute. Let's see if we can get that here. Um Hold on a minute.
Yeah, Hootie and the Blowfish were performing. Craven Mellon. And Edwin McCain. It's performing. There we go.
Let's get this one here. Look at this one. Look at this lettuce. Look at Dan Patrick. Look at D P right there.
Above Digger Phelps. That's highlighter. Dan Patrick. That is ESPN photograph right there. As the day is long, Joe Piscopo, Rick Petino next to each other.
Oh, I mean get the the last one here. There we go. My guy. Stuart Scott. Look at Stu Yahoo.
He's so upset he wasn't pictured next to Jordan.
Well, I imagine it was alphabetical, right? Oh, yes. Yes, it was. Oh, look at- there's Terico down here. Charlie Steiner, I mean, this was as big an ESPN event as there was ever.
Everybody was there, huh? Leslie Visser and Dick Stockton, who I believe were married at the time. Yep. Yeah, and uh that's uh that's it.
Well, that's not it actually. Here's a Big Vital. Or at the top, right? Look at Dickie's. Awesome baby.
It was unbelievable.
So One by one, I'm going to keep on, you have no idea what I found. In my office, and how happy Susie is that it's no longer there. Right. And that it's here now. That it's here now.
El Teante cigars. Who wants one? They're only 30 years old. I mean. Back on the Rich Eisen show.
That would probably be so disgusting to light up. It's 25 years old. This is this. The baby's not helping the way. Yeah, I got this in 2000.
This is a 25-year-old cigar. Hold on a minute, let's see if we can. Yeah, you can probably play drums with that thing. Yep. Light it up.
Okay.
Why don't you light it up? I have so much crap over here. You got for inspection. Oh, man. You don't want to.
Man, it's unbelievable how much ESPN stuff I found yesterday. Unreal.
So, what's old is now new. Isn't that kind of crazy? It's kind of crazy in this world. 844-204-Rich. For those who are on hold, please stay on hold.
Hour three, Kurt Warner is going to start. Trey Hendrickson has spoken, so has Devontae Adams. about what he once upon a time said about his former Raiders' teammate, Jimmy Garoppolo, who's now currently throwing passes to him because The Rams starter, Matthew Stafford, is uh Out with a precautionary back problem. Talk about that. Chris is always skeptical.
I'm so worried about that. Do you ever take anything at face value? No. We need Brockman's positivity hour back. How can anybody take anything at face value in 2025?
That's a true story. Oh, I shoot you straight. I never. I keep it real. You're not missing a whole week of shows with your back hurts.
That's true. Just with a vicious cough that I seemed to have finally gotten through after a month. My man was talking about the money. Dude, man. I was watching.
Nothing compares to me returning from the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dan Orlowski. When I'm talking to Dan, we should pull that video for the next time Dan comes on. It's something. Do you have any idea while you were answering, I was puking my guts out into the trash into my trash.
If people were wondering why TJ all of a sudden just jumped into this conversation, well, because I'm looking at Rich going, I just remember. Oh, he can't see. I just remember. I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I turned my microphone off.
I got with thankfully taken off camera. I turn to this basket to my right and I just put everything into it. And when I look up, the first person I see is me.
So I was like, okay, well, hey, Chris. Hey, Doyle. What do you think about that? Exactly. I'm going to eat the whole room except for TJ.
Oh, my God, that happened. And because I don't want it to happen again, I will not light this cigar. Do not light this cigar. I don't want it to happen again. This is a 25, this is a quarter-century-old El Teante cigar.
What would that go for? Ooh. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because you're not playing me.
With rapid fire takes and a lot to get to, and I'm not sure you're going to like all of it. Honestly, I don't even care if you like all of it or not. I have a job to do. Scorching debates. On any given week, you have lots to beef about.
Take advantage of it. Get up in here. He's the Spitfire of Sports Smack. Which is not my fault. We will get to all of that.
The Jim Rome Show podcast. Get up in here. And we'll beef later on. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
You've been warned. Uh
