From Thirty for Thirty Podcasts. Brian Patter, senior defensive lineman from Miami. Gun down. The key to this case, it's Brian. An hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with Tabaki.
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Now, on with the show. Ladies and gentlemen. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Here they are. The Rich Eisen Show.
What are the Dolphins up to? I mean, I think everyone knew Tyreek Hill would be released. A bigger question for Tyreek is just like, when does he play again? Earlier on the show. Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, Luke Keekly.
Coming up. PSPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kuyper Jr. Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton. Director Andre Gaines. And now Rich Eisen.
Hour number two, the Rich Eisen Show on the Air here on ESPN, and also our usual spots: Disney Plus and the ESPN app, and ESPN Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 80, 844-204-Rich. Number to Dial. We'll take your phone calls on this program. Sitting there on our YouTube channel for everybody to take in is No Contest Wrestling with TJ Jefferson and O'Shea Jackson Jr. They recorded it yesterday with John Cena.
We'll play a clip for you later on in this hour. I've got a top 10. list in the form of a power ranking because we do power rankings every Wednesday during the season. And in the off season, have a little fun with it. I've got my power rankings of the head coaches There's been 10 new ones, so it fits perfectly in a power ranking.
The power ranking of the new head coaches. Chances, the likelihood of them being The next mic variable, meaning you're new, you have incredible success. Who knows, maybe you make it to the Super Bowl. That's coming up. Then, hour number three, when we switch over to ESPN2, Billy Bob Thornton will kick that hour off talking about his mentor, the late.
Actor Robert Duvall, and then the director of the 30 for 30. On Stuart Scott, Andre Gaines will be in the studio with us. But joining us right now on The Rich Eisen Show. He's part of the new daily draft show on ESPN. And of course, he's on NFL Draft Daily because there'd be really no NFL draft coverage without him and Berman and what they did back in the day and all those years.
Mel Kuyper Jr. program. How are you, Mel? Good to see you, man. Great to be with you, Rich.
Are you in your study, in the Mel Kuiper Jr. study? Is that where you are? Basically, yeah, getting everything together. Here's where we do the podcast, all the TV, all the radio, anything and everything is done right in this room, Rich.
Okay. And do you have any like old draft artifacts in that room? Anything that you have to do? Oh, yeah. What do you got?
Yeah. I got the helmet from the Bill Tobin year. Freddie Goodelli said, take this. It'll be a memorable helmet to hang.
So the helmet phone, the SPN helmet phone from that draft that sits in this office. I have a plate signed by Raymond Berry, Johnny Annidas, autographs, Brooks. Robinson, all my heroes growing up are in this office.
Now, I mandated to ask, does the phone still work? Could you actually plug it in and make a phone call from the ESPN helmet phone? I believe you still could, Rich. Yep. All right, here's the deal now.
Love the old landline things. I still have landlines in this house. I'm one of the few that have landlines, Rich Landlines. You know what? And you and Berman would be.
Honestly, if I had to make a top, if I had to do a power ranking of the ESPN face front individuals that would most likely have a landline in their house, Berman would be one and you'd be two. Exactly. You know what I mean? Schefter would probably be three just in case his cell phone is not charged. He needs to have, or the power goes out in his house.
He's got to have that ability. I was literally going to ask if you have Trev Alberts' draft card somewhere. You know, that's from the Bill Tobin years back in the day, right? Yeah, yeah. And it's amazing, Rich, of how many players now that you scouted back in the day now have kids that you're scouting, and then you're going to have grandkids.
So when you've been around now for doing this for 48 years, 43 at ESPN, Rich, you've seen just about everything. All right.
So let's jump into this year's draft. Where is it deepest, Mel? What do you think? Wide receiver, Rich. You're going to be talking a lot about the wide receiver depth in the day three and beyond.
Maybe undrafted free agents come out of that position. But it's a little top-heavy, but there's depth throughout. And there's some speed guys, Zachariah Branch of Georgia, I like more than some others do. He said, oh, I didn't get down the field enough.
Well, they were bubble screens. That's what he did. And he's a great return man. Kick returns are huge in the NFL these days. And also Brendan Thompson out of Mississippi State's other kid who's can fly and had a huge year with the Bulldogs.
But you look at that list. Carnell tapes. It's going to be interesting. Do the Tennessee Titans take him at four? Do the Giants take him at five?
If you need a guy, Rich, who can get open. Run great routes and catch the football. We see guys that have gone to the first round and drop too many balls. Carnell Tate doesn't drop a football.
So that dependability, that reliability is going to be huge. If he goes to Cam Ward or if he goes to Jackson Dart, they're going to really like that addition of Carnell Tate to that offense. Yeah, I mean, Tate, to be honest with you, is a Michigan fan. He's the receiver that would scare me the most over the last couple of years after JSN departed. Because, you know, Jeremiah Smith, as great as he is, and we're going to end up talking about him in a draft down the road as a possible top pick in the draft, even crazier from a wide receiver, depending on what the quarterback position looks like.
He's that good, at least he's been that good for sure, that you could potentially double him and take him out, and then Carnell Tate will just tear you a new one. That guy is the real deal, Bel. There's no doubt about it. And next year, we thought quarterback was going to be this year. Quarterback's going to be next year.
It fizzled out this year, Rich. But you mentioned Jeremiah Smith. You're going to have Arch Manning. You're going to have Dante Morris Margaret. You're going to have quarterbacks up there at the top.
And Jeremiah Smith in any year is going to go high. But those quarterbacks, because obviously they value that position, the most important position in any sport in the world, will go a little higher, possibly. All right.
So let's take a look at your first mock draft. And you still have Fernando Mendoza being the top pick. In the draft. And then you do have the Giants going and grabbing Carnell Tate because Robert Sala's first pick as a Tennessee Titans HC is for the defense. You got the Jets choosing Arvell Reese out of the Ohio State, who is just as dynamite as they come, and Maury Goa going to Arizona at three.
But let's linger at Mendoza first. And what's your evaluation of this kid, the Heisman Trophy winner? Undefeated national champion out of Indiana, Mel. He did everything that you needed to do to solidify that spot. I had Dante Moore slightly ahead after that Penn State game.
Remember that great game Dante Moore had up at Happy Valley?
So once I had him there, I had to wait for Dante to struggle.
Well, even when he had some struggles, he had that great drive late and he had to deal with a lot weather and injuries on the offensive side of the ball for Oregon.
So I couldn't take him off that spot, but I had him neck and neck. Then at the end of the year, you saw what Fernando Mendoza was able to do finishing it off.
So he becomes solidly the number one quarterback. Dante made a great decision. Not enough starts at 20. Go back to Oregon, be right there with Arch as the number one pick next year.
So now it's all about Fernando Mendoza and Clint Kubiak and the Raiders. You're lucky, fortunate to have that first pick and be have a quarterback that's worthy of being that high a pick and being a franchise quarterback like we're expecting Fernando Mendoza to be. He cut down on the sacks dramatically from Cal to this year at Indiana. He got the ball to all those receivers accurately, clutched situations. The way he did the decision-making, Rich, late in a play that he made on a consistent basis was remarkable.
And not turning it over, being able to beat a defense with his legs as he did in the championship game. When he did run, he could. The great leadership. He was going to go to Yale. He's incredibly intelligent, so passionate, so energetic.
For the Raiders, Raider Nation, be happy. And the ASC, particularly in that division, Rich, with Patrick Mahomes, and you think about Justin Herbert and Bo Nix, to get a guy like this. For Clint Kubiak, you struck gold here. This kid is an outstanding, outstanding prospect. Yeah, the phrase that I always picked up from my guy Mayoc over the years: clean off the field as well.
And you take a look, again, I'm not an all-22 guy. But his out routes were pinpoint. His 50-50 balls were perfection. You mentioned about what Moore did against Penn State, the throw that Mendoza made against Penn State and that final drive, spectacular. Him getting blown up by Ohio State on the first play of the Big Ten championship game, what Miami was delivering with shoulders and heads and elbows in his direction, and what he was able to do on that fourth down with his legs.
I mean, every box checked. But Mel, where would he rank? If he was in last year's draft class, or even two years ago, where there were three that went. At the top, and Drake May being the one who was in the Super Bowl this year. Where would he rank?
Yeah, he reminds me a lot, Rich, when you look back and you think about Peyton Manning, how he studied, right? You can't get him out of the till, you can't get him out of the evaluation of the opponent. He always says, I'm trying to crack, I love trying to crack the code. That was a Fernando Mendoza comment back during the season, crack the code. And he did it, and he did it regularly.
You think about where we are right now in terms of ranking. Would it be historically great? No, because he's talking about everybody says he doesn't have elite traits.
Well, you don't need elite traits to be the greatest of all time. Tom Brady didn't have anywhere near elite traits. And he had seven Super Bowl rings, went to 10, right? Nobody's even close to that number.
So for me, Fernando Mendoza, as you say, checks every box. There's no question about that. In any draft, I don't care what draft you're talking about. He would be right there.
Now, with a guy with maybe more talent, Like Caleb Williams and the Jaden Daniels and guys like that, would they have been ahead? Who knows? But to say that this guy's not worthy of being the number one pick is ridiculous. It's nonsense. To say he's not the best player in this track, I don't know who's better.
Because you're getting a guaranteed start at the quarterback position, which is the most important position in any sport in the world.
So I don't know. And the Raiders to have that pick, be so fortunate. Think about how lucky they are.
Sometimes you can have the number one pick. There's no quarterback. You know, you have to force it, or you have to take somebody else, or wish you in another year. They got lucky, as the Colts did with Peyton Manning. Remember, they ended up with Andrew Luck another year when they were fortunate to get Andrew Luck.
So, at the end of the day, having the number one pick, desperately needing a quarterback. Raider Nation, be happy because now the Jets are on the clock.
Well, and then lastly on this subject matter, Mel Kuyper Jr., where do you stand on the question that the Raiders aren't ready? For somebody like Fernando Mendoza, and thus his ability to succeed might be stunted by the lack of protection that. Consumed Geno Smith last year. Or, yes, there are weapons with Bowers and with Genti, but the Raiders. Arguably, they are not ready to draft somebody like Fernando Mendoza.
Where do you stand on that subject matter? That will no doubt be talk of the combine next week.
Well, teams picking first usually aren't ready to win right away, anyway. That's why they're picking first. And to go back to when Peyton, you go back to Joe Burrow going to the Bengals. Oh, you don't want to go to the Bengals?
Well, you know, nobody checks. Kenny Anderson, Boomer Syason, Carson Palm, Randy Dalton, a lot of success with the Bengals. And Burrow's been to a Super Bowl already, right? Almost won one. You think about where we were with Trevor Lawrence going to Jacksonville.
Now Trevor is getting up there with the best in the business.
So for me, now you just got to build around him, Rich. That's up to SpyTak, and that's up to now Clint Kubiak and those guys to get the job done with Tom Brady's influence there. Build that offensive lineup. You got Brock Bowers, who's an enormous talent. You saw what he could do last year.
You got Genty, who you drafted last year. You got pieces around the quarterback. Hey, draft these guys, build up, fortify the talent around Fernando Mendoza. And you got, in my opinion, one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He brings a lot of what Peyton Manning brought to the NFL coming from Tennessee.
Like I say, when you have the mindset, the smarts, the instincts, and the intelligence, and the arm and the mobility, even though he's not going to run like Lamar and Josh Allen, he can still beat you with his legs. When you need a first down on third and eight to frustrate a defense, he can do that. He's pinpoint accurate. Like I said, when I see layton plays, guys panic. They force a throw.
They're inaccurate. They take a sack. They don't throw it away. Everything Layton plays at critical moments, Rich. He did perfectly.
And he had some games where he had to come through late against a pretty good defense. That Phil Parker defense at Iowa was pretty doggone good, right? You know, you mentioned the Penn State game.
So for me, I don't know what else Fernando Mendoza could have done this year. Like I said, taking that sack total, it was like 41 at Cal down to what, 18 during the regular season in Indiana, did what he needed to do. You tell him what he needs to improve on, and he will work to make sure that mistake or that issue is not happening anymore. And then you're looking at the end of your top 10, as we just saw. Jeremiah Love, nine to Kansas City, Caleb Downs, 10 to Cincinnati.
And those are just. Mm-hmm. Two guys that are massive difference makers that might last to nine and 10 because of the positions they play not being viewed as as valuable as maybe tackle, pass rusher, or in the case of Jordan Tyson wide receiver. That said, let's just say somebody covets one of these two guys. Where do you see the inflection point for a trade?
In this draft. And the top of it, Mel Kuiper Jr. Love is really interesting because I've always said, Rich, and you know this: don't take a running back in the first. But I keep screaming to people: well, you don't grade a player based on a philosophy of grade him on ability. One ability, he's the second best player in this draft.
Matt Miller has a number one on his board, Jeremiah Love, right? And he can do so many things. You can put him out in the slot wide. Great hands, great receiver. He's kind of like Reggie Bush was, only bigger.
You think about where we are right now in terms of a Bijan Robinson in that grade, very similar with Jeremiah Love, all the running backs with four necks. Yeah, exactly. All those guys had high grades, Rich.
So, and they were versatile. This kid can do so many things. He's an explosive play waiting to happen.
So, for me, Arizona's got to think about him. You definitely, when you get down to New Orleans, the Kansas City Chiefs, you imagine putting him in New Orleans or Kansas City. Kansas City doesn't want to pick a nine anymore. They want to pick in a 32, right?
So, Jeremiah Love is going to be in that top nine somewhere. Mention Downs. Remember Kyle Hamilton. You were there. He ran 4-5-9.
Then he ran with 4-5-6 in his pro day. Had the injury that final year. He dropped to 14 to the Baltimore Ravens.
Now he's one of the best players, defensive players in the NFL. Forget safety. He moved him around. One of the best defensive players, most impactful defensive players in the league is Kyle Hamilton. He dropped a 14.
So for Caleb Downs to say 10, who doesn't have the ability that I thought that Hamilton had, very similar instinctively, though, well, because of what Kyle Hamilton's done, even though he's not physically what Hamilton is, well, Caleb Downs is going to bump up maybe to five to the Giants. That's a debate for the Giants and John Harbaugh. Do we see enough of that in Downs to make him the fifth pick, or does he get down there to Cincinnati at pick number 10? Yeah, I know the combination of Bengal Buckeye fans are hoping Caleb Downs is there at 10. That kid is unbelievable.
He has been spectacular, and you got Reese there at second overall. Then you move down to your next 10. You got Sonny Stiles heading to Dallas. That would be a massive pickup for the Cowboys. That would be great for Dallas.
It would be. And they could pick again at 20. They could get maybe Messador from Miami. They got to go defense with both those picks. You would think, Rich.
I'll tell you what. You know, you look at a Keldrick Falk out of Auburn. Didn't have the production. He looks the part. He's the LT peer.
Keldrick Falk. What does he do workout wise? It's like Shamar Stewart, who was an LT peer last year, went 17th overall. We had to wait and see on Falk. You think about Mess Store.
He's 25 out of Canada. Had a heck of a year for Miami. Where does he fall in that 20 range?
So it'd be interesting. And then you're talking, Rich, about a guy like, say, Montsor Delaney. I watched play high school football to Archbishop Spaulding. Combine coming up, which is 40 going to be. Arm length, will that be a little bit of an issue?
Montsoor Delaney had a great year at LSU, coming from Virginia Tech, where he made some big plays, but he gave up some. This year, he was consistent, reliable in coverage, made a lot of big plays for that defense. In coverage, started off with a great effort against Clemson at an opener.
So Montsoor Delaney, that 40-time, I think, will impact whether he goes where I have him or he goes maybe somewhere in that top 10 or 11 overall. And then you had Ty Simpson going off the board right in the middle to the Jets. And, you know, I'll be honest, that one would confuse me a little bit, Mel, because the Jets purposefully. took a draft choice from Dallas not as soon as they could take it. They said put it in 2027.
And when I saw that, I'm like, well, they're seeing what you're seeing. They're seeing that draft classic quarterback coming up next year.
So you think they would maybe pull the trigger on Ty Simpson now? What's your evaluation of this kid? No.
Well, I can't project trades in that mock.
So you think about where the Jets are picking at 16, will somebody be in a position that they like him enough to move up? Probably not.
So you think, okay, he'll be there at 16. Will they take him? They put Joe Namith out of Alabama, Richard Todd out of Alabama. Will they go that route again? Do they think highly enough of Ty to move forward with him?
Knowing that next year, as you said, with those three first-round picks, they could be scaring Arch Manning and Dante Moore right in the face. And ironically, when I put Dante Moore to the Jets, Jet fans were saying, we don't want him based on the way he finished.
Well, they're going to want him next year after he has a great year with the Oregon Ducks. I can guarantee you that, Rich. But to the point about the quarterback, Ty Simpson, if you saw him up until mid-November, all right, 22 touchdowns, two picks. Around 70% completion percentage.
Now, he did have some fumbles starting around that area. Five fumbles lost in five straight games, then one in the game against Indiana. But he was on point for the first almost three quarters of the season, right? And they were talking about top five overall.
Some were saying QB1.
Now, all of a sudden, he can't play.
So there's got to be some balance there in the evaluation. I think when you get down to Pittsburgh, where Phil Yates had him going in his mock, or the Rams late in the first round, if the Rams get a corner. Like Jermaud McCoy, who didn't play this year because of the knee injury. He checks out okay medically. Jermaud McCoy, corner of Tennessee, or Minecraft Delaney, corner of Virginia Tech with that first first-round pick for the Rams.
Then Ty Simpson at the end of the first round to be the heir apparent to Matthew Stafford for Sean McVay. If he believes enough in Simpson and Stafford's going to be there to help him because, hey, why not help a young quarterback coming? He's going to be your heir apparent.
So for me, the Rams may be the good fit, the best fit for Ty Simpson if in fact he's there near the end of the first round. The reason why Jets fans are telling this to you, Mel, not that you need me to interpret, is because they think Dante Moore is the one who told them, I don't want you. First. You know what I mean? Like, that's what I think.
Not to get too deep into the minds of a Jet fan. Before I let you go, the question that I have, you know, it's a copycat league. The Seattle Seahawks winning it all. With Darnold, and and this defense. What do you think is going to be the ripple in the draft pond this year based on John Schneider and Mike McDonald's success with this roster?
Well, again, I said Sam was the man with the Jets. And Daniel Jones said, I was asked which one of these is going to be the best. I said, it's a push. I like them.
Well, Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold, see what happened there.
So I say, organizations ruin these young quarterbacks more than these young quarterbacks are bust on their own.
So I think, and just to go to Seattle, Rich, how about Nick E. Manwari? Right? John Schneider gets him in the early second. You're at the Combine, right?
Didn't E. Manwari have an unbelievable combine? He did. He won the heels of a really good year.
So you got the production, the performance, the tape, and the great. He went in the second round, Rich.
So this notion that if you're great at the combine, you had a heck of a year, you're going to get this big bump up. Nick E. Manwari went in the second round, and he was a key guy on the defense side, one of the best defensive rookies in the league.
So for me, hey, the combine, Jacob Parrish dropped to the third round. He had a great combine out of Kansas State, went in the third round of Tampa Bay, great year. You know, Kyle Hamilton didn't run great, dropped to 14.
So there's no author, I always say there's nothing automatic about good or bad at the combine pro days. Like I say, nothing you can mark down and say this is going to happen based on that because we get surprises every year. Mel, you're. man thanks for the time look for more of my calls between now and pittsburgh and You know, I'm thrilled to be here on ESPN back, being teammates with you again, Mel. Great to have you, Rich, anytime, pal.
Anytime. That's Mel Kuyper Jr., the one and only right here on the Rich Eisen Show.
Sonny Styles wearing the star on the side of the helmet. I'm telling you, sir. Oh boy. Look, there's a lot of talent there that we should be able to get with those two people. But so.
Oh, yeah. Honey is on my list. Put him, you know, that's exactly who you need. Good Lord, that's exactly who you need in Dallas. If Mel pegs that one right.
As he Frequently does. You would be our God. Him and Overshone? Oh, my goodness. I've been looking at him and Keldrick Falk for that position, but I'm happy with either one of them.
Right. You'd be very, very happy. Oh, man. Yeah, I don't think Bane's dropping to you, that's for sure. Bane?
Yeah, that kind of stinks. No, I mean, he's too good. And you're not bad enough. I'm sure you're happy about it. That's not the problem, though, right?
We're not bad. You're right there in the middle, right? Yeah. You don't want to be in the middle, really. And don't talk to Mel about Mendoza being less than.
You just heard that one, right? Yeah. Okay. That was great with Mel. Hopefully, we will get more of Mel Kuiper Jr.
Daniel Jeremiah is going to be on Friday's show. Nice.
So we'll hit up. Him on all of that. We're going to be at the Combine all next week, Tuesday through Friday. I'll be on NFL Network Thursday through Sunday. That's what you do.
We're going to be talking a lot about people in spandex running in circles. And straight.
So please join me, yeah? And straight and straight and straight. Straight and in circles. Straight in circles. Around comes.
And jumping. And jumping. And jumping. It's going to be great. 844-204-RICH.
Number to down right here on the Rich Eisen Show. John Cena, what he had to say. Apparently, it told a story he's never told to anyone. That's coming up. It's the word.
Uh The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Rich Eisen here. The tax deadline will be here before you know it. And you just want to know your taxes are actually being handled. But the old way, you hand everything off and then silence.
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Yeah, we are, everybody. All right.
Later on in hour number three, as I just mentioned, for the T V side of things, Billy Bob Thornton is going to join us to talk about his mentor. Um Robert Duval. Andre Gaines, the director of the Stuart Scott 30 for 30. Booyah will be joining us in hour number three. B-Y-O-B.
Um yeah, and I I got I get a lot of texts from people. Um Out of the blue. You know, watching this documentary saying that they're gutted watching it. Just out of the blue, just watching it. You know.
And it gives me immense pleasure that Stewart is being talked about. And so certainly when Andre Gaines is the director of this and he's in the area, but we'll have him on, and he's coming in in about a half an hour's time.
So there are 10 new head coaches in the national football team. 10. And A new head coach, albeit his second run at being a head coach. Um for his team. A new head coach made it to the Super Bowl.
In Mike Vrabel. And In my power rankings, there's 10 spots. Oh, no. Yes, yes, yes. And it's a Wednesday, the day on which I normally do my power rankings.
Well, we got a little bit. And there's no football being played. for a traditional power ranking about which team is better than the other. And so while we're waiting for football to be played, Again. Six months.
That's right. Don't worry. It's going to be a lot. There's a lot of talking we got to do between now and then. Yeah, a lot of talking.
So it's kind of perfect. Oh. To set this up, with Mike Vrabel going from four wins to 14 regular season wins and three more in the playoffs to the Super Bowl. That I do a power ranking of teams with, this is a mouthful. The power ranking of teams with new head coaches who could make a Vrabel-like turnaround.
Hit it. Ah! This is All Rankings. There are many like it, but this one is long power rankings. And with the private pile, part of our drop for the power rankings, this is.
Joe Judge's favorite segment on the Rich Isen Show, because we're going full metal jacket. Oh nice. Joe Judge sitting somewhere going, what? Is it what? Why am I being mentioned here?
Okay. So There's 10 new head coaches, and I'm ranking them in terms of their chances to make a highly successful, massive turnaround run.
So don't Don't be offended here.
Somebody's got to be 10th. And I'm putting the cardinals here. And the reason why I'm putting the Cardinals here is I don't know who their quarterback's going to be. Right. The Jet fan in me sees Nathaniel Hackett being the offensive coordinator, saying he's either got a big chip on his shoulder that he needs to prove something.
Or It didn't work out for reason in New York. Not to put it on him, but the reason why I'm putting the Cardinals here with Mike LaFleur is because of their division. With all due respect to you, Christopher. One of my favorite posts I saw this week from the Olympics were Three speed skaters skating together, and then they all crash, and some guy just like who's in fourth place goes, zip, hey, I win. And the post was.
The Patriots making their way through the AFC playoffs. The AFC East is funny. Not too deep, a pool. NFC West, there's an undertow.
So you're going to have to leapfrog three playoff teams. And don't forget, if the 49ers had won that final Saturday night game against Seattle. The Rams would have been a third-placed team in their division. That's how deep the NFC West is.
So I'm putting the Cardinals, and they have currently, you gotta say currently, because lots are gonna change. 40 million in cap space coming.
So they have some spending to do. We'll see how they can improve. Number nine on the list, currently with 3.2 million in cap space. I'm putting the Cleveland Browns here. I need to see what Deshaun Watson's going to look like for Todd Monken because I'd be surprised if he doesn't start.
What are they else that they're going to do on the offensive side of the ball? Defensively, Jim Schwartz is gone.
Okay. So I'm putting Todd Monkins Browns here ninth on my power rankings. If this is, I mean, That's the lowest level of the eye chart there on our graphics. Teams with new head coaches who could make a Vrabel-like turnaround. I can't read any of that.
Number eight, $91 million in cap space. The first overall pick in the draft. The new hot shot offensive coordinator becoming the head coach. We saw what happened with Ben Johnson last year in Chicago, hooked up with his first overall selected quarterback. What will Klink Kubiak and Fernando Mendoza look like for the Las Vegas Raiders?
I'm putting them eighth here again. Tough division. What's up with Max Crosby? What moves are they going to make? How are they going to draft?
What are they going to look like? Um and It would be a surprise. I mean, don't forget. You know, the Patriots went back-to-back four win seasons, back-to-back. Um I'm excited to see what Kubiak can do there, but I'm putting them eighth on the list here.
I'm putting the Titan seventh, which might be too low. Really? It might be too low. And you'll understand why. First of all, I love Robert Sala.
Secondly, he is putting together an outstanding staff, and not just because of what they do. Personally, they're all bald, which Chris, right? I gotta say, what a massive blow for the bald brotherhood. What a way for Solida to get the Folickly challenged all together and say, we collectively. Are the anti-Sampsons?
We're strong collectively without hair. You know what I mean? Can we get a call? Can we be like the challenge guy or something? I think Salah's coming on at the Combine next week.
We're going to say something to him directly, thank him on behalf of all bald men. Larry, David, me, you. Yep. Keep going. Absolutely.
Right? Vin Diesel, The Rock. All of us. Yeah. Don't say The Rock.
He's got hair. The rock? No, and he has choices. At any rate, listen 103.5 million in cap space. True.
At Cam Ward year two under Brian Dayball. I like Cam Ward next year, yeah. But don't forget, this is a deep end of the pool, too, the AFC South.
Well, everybody looks suddenly like, oh, that division's pretty good. Yeah, they're higher-registered division. Number six on the list, even though they have 3.1 million in cap space right now when Bradley Chubb and Tyree Kill come off the books. I'm putting the Dolphins here at six. The Dolphins have a pretty good team.
I know I went a little high register here. I can't wait to see what Jeff Hafley does with him. I liked him. I did like him when he came on this program. I'm putting the Dolphins here at six to go on a nice run.
They're in the AFC East, which. As you know, Chris. Winnable. Is winnable. You can get it.
Yeah, I know. Yeah. And they're not starting from four wins, they're starting from a little higher up. And as we get higher up here, it's going to be less of a four-win big-time shocking turnaround. Number five, now we're in the top five.
I'm putting the Steelers here. They've got $45 million in cap space here. They can do some spending, they can get some offensive weapons for Mike McCarthy. If Rodgers comes back, And throws it around like he did, and slings it around like he did. Let's get him some more.
Own front offense here, right? Here, coach. Yeah, coach. What are they going to look defensively, though? What is McCarthy?
The Steelers are a complete shrug emoji mystery, man. The picture even is just like, wow, they really hired McCarthy. They did it. They did it. It's like, to me, the picture is it.
I've been asleep for a few months and I'm like, wait a second, Mike Tomlin's not there anymore? Right. That too. It just doesn't look right. When I was just doing and coming up, looking at the cap space, there, I'm like, oh, yeah, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, new head coaches.
Yeah, buddy. That's weird. Four on the list. 5.1 million in cap space. Who once upon a time took a former coach of the year?
Right, with a quarterback in his second year. and some other offensive weapons, sprinkled in some nice draft choices. With a defense that suddenly came on strong. and went on to win a division and shock some people. I would be your New England Patriots.
Jackson Dart, year two. John Harbaugh, former coach of the year. John Harbaugh, coming in. New staff, new way of doing things, new sheriff. in big blue country.
Defense is kind of ready-made, isn't it? Kind of is. Feels that way, doesn't it? Yeah. Let's see what the Giants can do.
Tough division. I understand coaching portraits we got. Oh, seriously. It's like. You know, like...
Your first day of kindergarten without the sign. Number three on the list, $26.5 million in cap space. I like the Falcons here, guys. I like the Falcons a lot. Usually when you finish strong, you can start strong.
They want four in a row to finish the season. With everything going um You know, sideways. Who's quarterback? I think it's cousins. I think they're gonna figure out a way to keep him.
These two guys worked together in Minnesota, made some nice music. And he starts week one. Yo, betcha. And then what? Panix is the backup?
Yeah. Heck yeah. Wow. Yeah. It's in the NFL.
I know. As a former Falcon coach, once upon a time, said what that stands for. I get it. Not for long. You know what I mean?
Yeah. And the defense is uh played like the pass rush exists in Atlanta. Right? They got baits on the back end. The offense, they might actually be able to improve it a little bit in the end.
Bichon, I mean, good lord. Bichon. That guy. Isn't it amazing what happens when you give him the ball? Cow Pitt's free agent.
Okay. We'll see. But they're three. I'm going back and forth here on two and one. Take your pick.
Right now they're under the cap. Uh which is not good. We'll see what they do. Over the cap. Over the cap, right.
That's what I mean. They're a negative digit. Yeah. They're 12 million under the cap, but they have. Trash now.
And I can't wait to see what the Joe Brady bills look like.
Now, uh listen. Yeah. That's the problem with a list like this: the best chance to go on some incredible run with your new head coach. I mean, the Bills almost made the AFC championship game. With two teams with MVPs?
Right, you know what I mean? Yeah. Because you know, number one is Baltimore. Right. I think Minter in Baltimore.
Has a shot to do some great things. I don't know the. You know, Declan Doyle. I'm sorry if I'm botching his name. I should know how to pronounce his name.
He's the new 29-year-old offensive coordinator. What's he going to do there, man? Anthony Weaver's joined as the DC as well. You know, it's Minter's show right there. Let's get back to some of those Louisville play calls, TJ, for a little bit.
Let's go, right? You know, that was fun. I can't wait to see it. I think the Ravens 100% Are ready to roll. Let's get them healthy and let's get Bashani doing more press conferences.
Come on, Steve. Tuesdays with Steve. Tuesdays with Steve, man. I think there's fewer things in life he would prefer to do. Uh I'd say Root Canal, knee report.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right. Didn't Bob cost us once upon a time there are things he would rather do than being on Twitter, getting pink eye and sushi again? Yeah. That's the same way that I think Bashoti views press conferences.
Come on, Steve. Let's get you out there. But that's my power rankings list of new head coaches that can go on a magical run. Not one more. That's why, no, there is not one more because.
Because there were only thank goodness. I don't know with NFL owners, you don't know. Very diverse. I mean, they can fire anybody at any time. Have you had on a swivel?
But, you know, I I I know the Titans are low on the list, but Not above some of these at the top, right? Would you put the Giants below the Titans on a list like this? I know one's going to surprise. I know one team. No, one of those teams is going to win multiple playoff games, for sure.
You think so? Yeah. Well, I mean, the Ravens and the Bills would. Let's remove them.
Now we're talking.
Now we're talking.
Now we're talking which team Outside of the teams that have done it. Most recently. With MVP quarterbacks who have swapped head coaches, who will have to keep things. culture-wise, moving in the right direction. 'Cause it's not like culture-wise things were going poorly.
It's just the results weren't happening. They weren't getting over the hump. Are Scataboo and Malik neighbors fully healthy? Let's say yes. I think the Giants could be a sleeper team.
Yep, TJ. Yes. You agree with that? Much of your Dallas display? Reluctantly.
I'll give you another one. I do have a lot of it. I like the Titans, too. Put Malik Willis on Miami, and let's go. But who's he throwing the ball to?
Well, he's got Waddle. Waddle Waller's still there. They've got, well, I mean, they've got some other young, fast, wide receivers, and they've got A-Chan. A-Chan, man. Don't forget about him.
Yeah, you can't forget about him, I guess.
Okay. And he's ascending. He's just beginning to show what he can do. He was incredible.
Okay. And then maybe add some more. I kind of like the tone that the media has right now: that we just assume Aaron Rodgers is coming back. I kind of feel that way. Yeah, I think everyone.
I haven't really seen any pushback to the contrary. I don't know.
So that pre maybe that means that well, what what do you think? Aaron Rodgers wants to pop up from wherever he is to push back on anything? What does he care? Yeah, he's chilling. No, I imagine he doesn't care, but he has said that he will make an announcement before free agencies.
Which is three weeks from now? That's soon. Guess what we're going to be talking about all next week? This. Get it.
This is what we're talking about all next week, because the NFL is back next week. The Combine starts essentially in full swing on Tuesday of next week. We're going to be there, our guest list chock full of GMs and coaches. 'Cause we're there in the room where it happens, which is the podiums. Yeah, and the Starbucks.
Can't wait. TJ. You're going to throw down? I want to watch people fight. I want one of us to get into a scuffle at the Starbucks.
Look, I'm too old to be fighting, but I'm down. Oh, that's not what we're looking for. Don't make me mick croning you and throw you out of the combine. You know where you get the best information? Hey, Rich, don't raise your voice to him.
I'll show up in my suit. I'll show up in my suit. I will grab you and I will say, get him out of here. You know where you get the best image? I'm flagrant to you guys, right out of the combine.
That's funny. Steak and shake. That's funny. Underrated place where you see all the coaches. Say there, Mike.
I used to love steak and shake late night. Dude, I'm down for a steak and shake. Right. Am I right, Rich? Andy Reid strolling into the steak and shake one night and sharing a steak and a shake with Mooch is one of my favorite memories, but nothing better.
When Mooch would grab all these giveaway glasses. Yes. And Wade Phillips walked in one night and said to Mooch, where did you get one of those? Are you talking like the name of the restaurant owner? No, they had like giveaway glasses.
If you get enough fries and burgers and shakes, you got a free glass. And Mooch is like, keep loading up on it. And he took them. You got a whole box of them. Yes.
Well, like, because Steve's like, are you going to use that one? I'm like, you can have mine. You can have mine. Mooch is for the people.
Well, Mooch is for his grandkids and his kids and whatever. He's collecting them. And I'll never forget. Wade Phillips walked in and goes, where'd you get those? And they had like steak and shake on the side, like at the cash register, coach, son of bum.
Look, we've all done a little restaurant kind of jacking. Oh, yeah, somehow, for sure. All right, let's take a break. When we come back, John Cena gave you guys quite an exclusive on no contest wrestling. That's next.
This is the Rich Eisen Show. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Back here on the Rich Eisen show is one big simulcast, everybody. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial.
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844-204 Rich Number Dial, Billy Bob Thornton is joining us at the top of the next hour to talk about the passing of Robert Duvall. Uh years ago You started talking wrestling around here, TJ, and I said to you, one day we'll have a podcast on it.
Well, first of all, the first time I'd really start, you kind of rolled your eyes a little bit. No, stop it. Let's talk about the positives, all right? I noticed you loved it. You're passionate about it.
O. Shea Jackson Jr. became a friend of the program, connected the two of you guys. No contest wrestling was born over a year ago. CM Punk was the first guest, went took off.
You've been doing stuff for. The PLE coverages of the ESPN as well. And so you had John Cena. In yesterday, correct? Yeah, man, pretty amazing.
All right, and you spent two plus hours here. Unbelievable. You got a setup to the clip here? What are you guys talking about? Yeah, so, you know, we always love it when a guest goes, I've never told anyone this, or no one knows this.
So, what happened with SummerSlam 2021? Cena was going to wrestle Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Championship. Reigns retained the title belt, and then at the end of the match, Brock Lesnar returned to set up a program with Roman later on down the line. And then he actually ended up kind of beating up Cena at the end of the pay-per-view.
So O'Shea just randomly just started telling John about how it was his nightmare when Cena came back that year because he was terrified that Cena would. You know, Ruin Roman Reigns' championship run, which spanned over a thousand days. And John goes, Well, you know what? Nobody knows this, but um. You were supposed to have a fear sandwich fed to you.
And then he went on to tell us. this story that he says no one knows. There was one last moment. A fear that you gave me as a fan. Boy, when your music hit.
That day was a summer slam. Yeah, that come back. I was like. This m Right, of course. How far?
Poetic that is John to come and take this from Roman right now. He's gonna get 17. Like, I ran it all through our fantasy book. The entire night. You were close.
Boy, I was so fucked up. You were close. At night, it was supposed to go very different. Oh really? Yeah.
You were supposed to get A fear sandwich. What? Yeah. And in the last moment, we had a surprise guest booked. And he came out after the match was over in Brock.
Brock. They didn't secure Brock until 5 p.m. that day. And you want to talk about pivoting, right? A message to anybody out there listening thinking I'm talking from a high place or a glasshouse.
Uh I was going to win. Mm. We were going to have someone come out and restart the match, and Roman was going to take it back. Woohoo! I've never heard this.
So this is. This is creative. Then we secure Brock. And T.R. comes and said, I need to see you.
We're switching the finish to what? Roaming over. Yep, clean. Yep. Okay.
What do you want to do? Let me just talk to Roman and Paul. I go in, they're like, you got the news? I said, I got the news. What do we do?
I said, one spear. That's it. Mm. Whatever match you want to have, that's fine. You beat me with your finish?
Once. I was supposed to win 17 that night. You're cornflakes. But I would, of course, your name until we served from the kitchen was a different, you know, was a different menu. Oh, just the thing.
And by the way, I don't think anybody knows that story. Yeah. This is an NCW exclusive? This is, and you weren't clickbait. Like, Cena was supposed to win 17 way early.
Summer of Cena was supposed to be Summer of 17. Wow. Woo. Thanks.
So generous of his time and that story, man. Yeah, that's cool. Pretty amazing, right? That's awesome. And he dropped some other breadcrumbs throughout the pond.
You know, people like to say that John gives corporate answers, but. Maybe if you ask him dumb questions, you might get a corporate answer. But I'd like to think that we kind of connected with him on just like three guys who love wrestling, sitting around chopping it up. We don't like to say we interview people, we just talk to him. And man, we talked about everything: his love of cars, you know, how he got started, him living in his car when he first got started working at the Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, you know, up until yesterday.
So, yeah.
Well, for everybody listening to the Rich Eisen Show, we'll be back in hour number three with Billy Bob Thornton. Don't go anywhere. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
