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. Live from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, The Rich Eisen Show. Today's guests: NFL Network Analyst Charles Davis, ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer, NFL Network Insider Tom Pellisero, NFL Network Insider Ian Rappaport, NFL Draft Prospect Caleb Downs, and now it's Rich Eisen. Every single day, same thing on ESPN Radio. We say hello to our Sirius XM Channel 80 listening audience, Chris Brockman.
Hey, Rich. Good to see you, sir. What's up, my friend? TJ Jefferson, light that fake candle. Hold up, people.
Let's go. Bam. Yes, indeed. In case you missed it, that's often it's BAM! Yes.
Why are you so excited to light a fake candle with a remote control? It's always done this week. Yeah, I mean, we haven't had much to do, so this is. Thank you for having us on your show, Richard. Like, listen, we have a certain footprint here in this area.
We can't fit a fourth chair here. I know. That's fine. No, it's good. It's all good.
Next year, we'll fit a fourth chair here. We're having a great time. I take pleasure in the little things because that's what life is about. I'll be straight up. I feel, you know, like self-conscious while I sit here.
You guys are off to. Would you, let's put it this way: TJ, I got Brian Schottenheimer. Yeah. That's my coach. If I give you one question of real estate, would you pop in the chair and ask it of him?
You know I would.
Well, what are you going to do? I have no idea. You can't ask him. What do you think of Paul Heyman? You know what I mean?
You can't do that.
Well, you know, I was going to ask Stephen Jones if I could be like. No, when management comes Friday, you're going to be. Yeah, because you know, I'd be like, TJ, who? Who's this guy? I mean, in your defense, in your defense, sometimes I don't know how to act.
Yeah, I get that. I don't blame you. If I give you that real estate, you want to, when Tommy P comes, you want to sit in on that chat? Obviously.
Okay, there you go. Obviously.
All right.
Well, Tom, I mean, I got to say, of all the things that are a buzz in Indianapolis this week, it's Tom Pellisero's hair. Yeah, that is the number one hockey. He's got something with the wings of his hair.
Well, you know, he's got the hockey lacrosse bullet going on. I mean, he's got the flow to do it, so big ups to Tom. But yeah, he's the talk of Indy.
Well, Charles Davis is going to be first up here, then Matt Miller. We're going to start mocking it. And just again, whenever we talk mock drafts, please understand. It's not the real thing. Hence the term.
It's like the yellow line on first down. It's not official. It's not official. Fernando Mendoza is walking around here. Today.
Did you see him? I did not. I didn't see him around. No way. Yeah, buddy.
He's here. I was checking out the tight ends because the Patriots might need one. They're all walking around here today. Yeah, a couple big teams. The tight ends are working out tomorrow.
The first offensive group. The defensive back group, they're walking around here today because they're working out on Friday. That's why Caleb Downs is available to chat with us later on in the show. And then. The question of obviously Fernando Mendoza being first overall.
The Raiders are not going to tell you. what they're going to do. Just Listen to folks like Pellicero and I do miss the days, though, when the first one was signed a couple days before the journey. I ran into Schaefer yesterday. He was telling stories about how he.
Was driving to the draft in Dallas, you know, driving around in the Metroplex, and he got. Winned that Baker Mayfield might be in play for the first overall pick, and it was one of the first times he had heard that. And that was two days before the draft.
So, I don't think we're going to have that mystery whatsoever. No, no. We didn't have it about Caleb Williams, even with Jaden Daniels, right? Nope. Didn't have it, name any, I guess.
Not even with Stroud and Bryce Young. No, I mean there were people who, in the Stroud camp of going number one, I was kind of in that group. But yeah, it was pretty much a foregone that it was going to be Bryce Young. Because Bryce Young didn't throw here. Right.
And C.J. Stroud did one of the most impressive quarterback sessions I've ever seen. But Fernando Mendoza, anything that we could get from the Raiders, Clink Kubiak apparently was speaking on the team's site and had this to say. The last couple weeks got to catch up, watch the man play. You know, excited to keep learning about him.
And it's not just me, it's our whole coach and staff, our quarterback coach. And, you know, I want all of our coaches to get involved, especially at that position. I want everybody's input. But, you know, obviously, he's been successful, had a lot of success last year. He's won a national championship, and that's what you want is you want a winner.
And, you know, we're still in the process of going through his whole season, of getting to know who he is, and we'll learn more about him this week at the combine. All right, two things about this soundbite I want to hit here. First, if there's any questions as to why Clint Kubiak is the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, we now have our answer. Put up on the screen. It's because he's been kidnapped.
I was thinking the exact same thing. That also looks like one of those soap opera sets. Right. Like, is Stephen A going to come in? I mean, listen, every, so many people are doing interviews in hotel rooms and things like that.
He's been kidnapped. Yeah, not a lot of punk and stuff. Can we have next time Clint speaks to the Las Vegas Raiders? Can y'all have him hold up a newspaper? Right.
Something. See what day it is. Or smile. Put it into the journal review. Can he hold it up?
Or just crash a smile? He does look like he is definitely. What is it, Midnight Run? Blink once if you're taking Fernando. But in all seriousness, he sounds like he is.
For sure. No doubt. He's going to be tanked. No doubt. He's a winner.
I mean, I haven't checked what the betting sites are saying, but I got to imagine it's the thing that TJ hates. Bet $100,000 to win $100. That makes no sense to me, bro. There's not going to be another quarterback that suddenly pops in front of him. No.
Okay. There's not going to be some defensive line. Freak, even though we're going to see some on the field on NFL Network later on today. Um who's going to suddenly Be so can't miss that they would say, here's what we're going to do. We don't believe in Fernando.
We're not ready for him yet. We're going to trade Max Crosby. We're going to get more first-round picks. We're going to take a defender first overall. And we'll leave Mendoza for the Jets.
Oh, I can't see that.
Okay, that's not happening yet. I'm giving you other scenarios as to how Fernando Mendoza will not be first overall. Rich, what if the Raiders have their eye on my nephew? Who's that? The man who will provide me with a boat soon.
If they're looking to the future, you can't, but you can't. You can't look that far. You can't look that far. Yeah, but you don't know if you're going to be at the top of the draft next year. And you have no idea if Arch Manning's going to be.
Um Available for you, right? Or what if the Jets hit him up with like, you know, three number ones and a player or two? They made a trade today, they're willing to make more trades, it seems like. Maybe the Jets try to move up with a godfather offer. We'll talk about that trade of Jermaine Johnson to the guy who drafted him when he was the HC of the Jets and Robert Salah, one of our Wednesday guests, and Devondre Sweat going to the.
The Jets, the middle of the defensive line, the Jets take. Yeah, rare one-for-one. One-for-one. Remember, Kyle Van Neu was talking about how defensive tackles becoming more of an important position than edge rusher, in his estimation.
So we'll talk about that with Charles Davis coming up. I've got a top five list. Oh. I've got the top five prospects I'm looking forward to seeing presented by Hyundai. Hit it.
Hit it, please. High five. One, two, three, four, five. Riches, top five. The on-field drills portion of the NFL Scouting Combine, as you all know, is starting on this very day, this Thursday.
Starts off with a defensive line group. It's freakish athletes to say the least, but it's the first of. Many position groups that are going to get out there for your viewing pleasure on NFL Network. As soon as this show is over, I'm running to the 50-yard line set to start doing that with Daniel Jeremiah.
So I've got my top five draft prospects. I'm looking forward. To seeing work out here the most. Number five on the list is Kenyon Tadiq, the tight end of Oregon. When he first showed up in Eugene, According to our friend Bruce Feldman, who's putting together his freaks list.
Freaks list. Yeah, I love that list. He was 220 pounds when he first showed up. He's now 255. And last year, when Oregon was measuring a lot of the measurables, how does a 41 and a half inch vertical leap hit you?
How does a. 435-pound bench hit you. Really? He is one of the freakish athletes in this. I was just telling TV.
I want him on New England so bad, but he's not going to be there at 31. He's not going to drop that far.
So we're talking about how tight ends can make a difference. I can't wait to watch him work out. Number four on the list is the guy that Daniel Jeremiah told us last week could break Xavier Worthy's 40-yard dash record, a 5'9, 170-pound wide receiver out of Mississippi State. All right, Brennan Thompson. Let's see what you can do.
According to Daniel Jeremiah, DJ tells me, he's working out at the same spot that Xavier Worthy worked out, trained for the combine. And he is currently. According to reports, Running faster. Xavier Worthy. Correct.
Who has the record? He was tracked at one point during the season, 23.7 miles per hour. Is that fast?
Well, I mean, if it's in a 20-mile-an-hour zone, he's getting a ticket. Getting pulled over. Pulled over. All right, let's see how the Mississippi state wide receiver works out. Number three on this list.
Now, obviously, we are. talking about Freakish athletes at the defensive line position. Edge rusher, defensive end, however. You got Sonny Stiles. I can't wait to watch him work out.
And R. Vel Reese, can't wait to watch him work out from Ohio State. But I'll be honest with you: Texas Techs David Bailey in his 14.5 sacks. Can he be the second overall pick in this draft? Can he come out of the combine missed and work out 6'3, 250?
He was clocked at 22 miles an hour last year at one point. What's he doing running. How does a man that big one that fast? That's correct. He's got horsepower.
To say the least.
So I'm going to. Clearly, watching the other guys I just mentioned from Ohio State work out. That would be great. And it's going to be. But David Bailey, I want to see: can he be the one at the end of the day hearing his name mentioned first as a defensive player, second overall to the Jets?
Number two on this list is Ty Simpson, quarterback out of Alabama. Ty, are you the second? Quarterback taken in this draft. Are you going to be able to spin it in a way at the combine to get your process going? Then there's a pro day in Alabama, and then there's a whole bunch of conversation about can you be the Tyler Shuck of this draft?
Can you be the Jackson Dart of this draft, meaning taken later in the first round, and then show up and show up when you get an opportunity in your first year? Is Ty Simpson that guy? Could it be somebody else? Could it be Carson Bett? A whole bunch of people who are going to be working out on Saturday.
That's number two on this list. Roll tie. And number one on this list is Jeremiah Love. Yeah, buddy. I cannot wait to watch this young man in this state.
Is it the best guy in football? I will tell you this: in my 22 years of doing this here Scouting Combine, now the first few years I was not watching every single drill because I wasn't doing the so-called play-by-play. of it for it for NFL Network. But In my two decades of working out, of watching workouts here, um, Christian McCaffrey's combine stands out to me as the best one I've ever seen. Yeah, you always say that.
Because he ran every route tree. He ran every drill. He did every. He was different stuff also. And if Jeremiah Love is going to be that next 1,000,000 type of guy in this league, I can't wait to watch him do his workouts.
And he is all that and the biscuit. I can't wait to watch him do his thing in this running back group. And that's on Saturday. And those are my top five draft prospects. I'm looking forward to seeing him.
Oh, there's my boy. Dara, I do have one more. One more. Wow. Fernando Mendoza.
Well now you're like wait a minute. I mean it's not working out. Yeah That said. I was told in the NFL network meeting. for our broad pre-broadcast meeting last night.
I was told that there are going to be. a potentially record number of fans here on Saturday. Why are they here? Because they are here to watch Fernando Mendoza walk around. I'm telling you, he is not going to work out.
But I have been told a record there's listen only nine Indiana Hoosiers have been invited to the scouting combine. It's half the, I mean I'm not doing this honestly, I'm not. but it's half the number of Wolverines that were invited to combine after Michigan won the national championship. Right, right, right. I'm just pointing out, it's not a lot of Hoosiers to see.
and they're coming to see him out there on the field. And I have been told that the number of times that they're gonna show him on the scoreboard. Just to wait. You could just make a Twitch and people will go crazy because they're servicing. The audience, the fans, the crowd that's coming to essentially watch him stand around.
The pop, play his music. I tell you not. Just to be in the center. I can't wait. Because we're going to be in the middle of a workout.
I'm going to be on the air on NFL Network. Daniel Jeremiah is going to be next to me. Charles Davis, who's coming up next, in just a matter of moments, going to be on the field with Chris Rose and Stacey Dales in the Ian Rapport. Those are the six. Uh, that's going to be part of the broadcast.
Six, and you're just going to be watching you know a wide receiver go through a gauntlet or whatever, and then they're going to pop out of nowhere. You're going to be, why are they cheering so wild? Exactly. Because they're putting Fernando Mendoza on the screen. I pid you not.
This is what's coming on Saturday. That's going to be crazy. No, Fernando Mendez. I've never heard of a guy who's like, I'm not working out. I'm not coming.
And people are like, I'm going anyway. That's what I've been told. You seem like the type who's going to be really into it, rooting for the guys and being a partner. He's going to be out there pumping everybody up. Like, he won't just be standing around looking, you know, scrolling on his phone.
He's going to be in it. No, he'll be in it. He'll be in it. Rich, he's making connections on LinkedIn. Correct?
It's what he's doing. He's approving connections, which is what I'm doing. We're connected to him on LinkedIn. No, but I'm serious. Like, I'm looking forward to seeing how this happens and plays out on Saturday.
That's cool. It makes sense. And those are my top five draft prospects I'm looking forward to seeing presented by Hyundai and not just any Hyundai. My top five's brought to you by the all-new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid. Learn how it makes every day epic at hyundaiusa.com.
Our third day of our four days here at the NFL Scouting Combine off and running. Charles Davis has got a two-a-day himself. He's part of the NFL network coverage starting later on today, but he'll join us here next. Rich Eisen here. You know that feeling of handing off your taxes and then hearing nothing?
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The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Rich Eisen Show on Disney Plus, the ESPN app. Our ESPN Ready audience has just returned. We're here in the downtown convention center in Indianapolis, Indiana. Charles Davis, CBS Sports, NFL Network, so much more is here on the program.
You got the Duke right there. Can't help it, Roll. When you see the rock there, you feel it, and the whole deal. Think about these youngsters getting ready to make that move and use this ball instead of a collegiate ball. It's coming.
It's coming. Well, we're not going to see Fernando Mendoza spin it. Nope. Although I just mentioned in our first segment of the program, we're going to see him on Saturday. And as they said, there are going to be tens of thousands of people here just to cheer him on standing rock.
Just to see him. On Saturday.
So, where do you stand on the subject matter of him as the first overall pick in this draft? I hate using the term no-brainer, but the Raiders are in such a massive reset. He's the quarterback that has proven himself to be that guy. He is coming in the recent line, Rich, as far as I'm concerned, of quarterbacks that had a certain grade going into their last year that didn't suggest top overall pick and playing their way into it. Joe Burrow was one of those.
Zach Wilson played himself into the number two overall pick. Cam Ward played himself into the number one overall pick. But if you went to all the teams in the league and asked what their grades were going into that last season, I don't think anyone had any of them as the number one overall pick. In fact, a number of them had them in third round, fourth round grades. played himself into that spot, proved it conclusively to me.
Yes, the big hit that he took against Miami. That was a big deal, and he got up and played. But I go back to the Ohio State game, the Big Ten Championship game. First play of the game. Yeah, huh?
And he goes to the bench, gets a little bit of treatment. I think he missed one snap. And he's back out on the field dealing. He has what you're looking for to start to build around. Right.
He is the legit guy. As far as I'm concerned, there's one quarterback in the first round, and it's him. Who's two on your board? It has to be Ty Simpson almost by default. I mean, in general.
Oh, you mean number two overall? Probably Arville Rees, the kid out of Ohio State. But you can have an argument with me about do I want David Bailey coming in there at that point? Do I want one of the tackles, Mauanoa from Miami or Fano from Utah? You can have the argument on it.
For me, it's Reese, but then Styles is also in that discussion. I'm looking forward to that. Downs is going to be a top 10 kid. It's going to be interesting. Yeah, Downs is coming up on this show momentarily.
He's a neat kid. I just got to meet him. I have never met him. Wow, he's a neat one, Ricky. I mean, I watched him play.
I watched him play. You didn't enjoy it, I know, because of the play. To be honest with you, the first time I saw him play was against Alabama and the Rose Bowls. Oh, the Rose Bowls. And then the next year I saw him play.
You liked him okay. Up until this year. Up until this year. He was a good player. No, no, but he is as good as they come.
He's a good player. And he can affect the defense from wherever he lines up. And so there's an argument as to who is the most Impactful defender that the Buckeyes are sending to the combine. And we're going to see.
Well, we're going to see a couple of them later right here on NFL Network. But Bailey is a kid, though, that can wind up second overall to the Jets as well, who just traded Jermaine Johnson for Devondre Sweat. They went from outside in on that front. What are you shaking your head about that? The only reason I'm shaking my head is: boy, is that just a Robert Sala special already?
Right. Well, I mean, he was the guy who drafted him. Right? Joe Douglas drafted him with Robert Salo as the head coach as part of that rotational defensive end edge rusher deal. Right.
Devondre Sweat is a massive man who plugs up the middle against the run. Doesn't offer you a lot of pass rush. If you're wanting pass rush, Jermaine Johnson will give you more pass, which is what Robert Salo was looking for.
So the deal was made, and it makes sense to me, especially from Tennessee's perspective. The Jets obviously look for a reset, and you're getting a massive man in the middle who's going to plug things up if you try and run the football.
Well, I mean, we had Kyle Van Neu on the show last week, and he said that defensive tackles become. More of an important elite position than edge rusher is what he said. Wow, that's an interesting deal. I know that he basically said that to be able to affect a pass rush from the edge with the way quick releases are coming and other protection schemes are being created. Up the middle is where it's most important right now.
So Kyle's taking us back to the Super Bowl of Seattle, New England, Malcolm Butler's interception. Because if they don't lose, was it Cliff April? He's rushing inside and wreaking havoc on Tom Brady and crew. That game may turn out differently. That's where kind of it became the focal point.
Greg Williams, a former defensive coordinator, remember when they drafted Denzel Ward instead of Bradley Chubb? He said, hey. The cover guy is more important because they're getting rid of the ball so fast, it's harder off for the edge guys.
So I can see where he's coming from on that one. The interesting part is sweat. He's going to have to show that he's a pass rusher. He has not shown that. He's not Byron Murphy, who played next to him at Texas, who is an interior pass rusher.
Yeah, he was going, I think he's also going the year before Milton Williams for the Eagles.
Now, obviously, look at how that turned out. He showed up in New England significantly well there, too. All right, Charles Davis here on the Rich Eisen show. Where do you put Jeremiah Love on the running backs that we've seen come out of the combine and the draft and wind up in the top 10? Let's go recency, just because Esch and Genti came out last year, and there was a debate for the Raiders at six.
Do you take the runner? Do you take a bigger guy?
So on and so forth. They took Genti, didn't get quite what they wanted, but I don't think it was Genti's fault. I did about, my crew did about five Raiders games. I think we did three in a four-week span. There were a lot of games Rich when Sid Hutt.
Handoff, he takes the ball, getting hit. Right. So that's a very difficult thing now. Plug in the Houston tape late in the season. He played really well.
Got a little bit of space, created the whole deal. He's the real thing. You might be unaware as to why he performed that well in that game. Because I benched him in fantasy. Because you benched him in fantasy.
Of course you did. You're unaware. That's called a motivator. I'd sick and tired enough of what Ash and Genti was not doing. That becomes a motivator.
He must have found out. You're welcome, Ashton. You have no idea.
Someone must have told him. You know, Rich benched you that week, and that's. Look at me now. I'm sorry. I don't mean an order.
That's okay. But there are people that I talk to. They like Love a little bit better than Genti. They think that he can be a little bit better out of the backfield, catch the ball, the whole deal. If he's not a running back, Rich, there's a big case to be made, you know.
Regardless of position, he's the number two player in the draft. If you're saying that Mendoza's the quarterback, he has to hold the number one spot. I think he does. I think he has to hold the number one spot. I think the Raiders do it.
I don't think the Raiders can do anything else. But we had, again, Brad Holmes here the other day. because his choosing of Gibbs 12th overall a couple years ago was eye-opening at the time. But look at what he's done. And everybody was like, why are they doing that?
They already, they just signed Montgomery. I know, why do you need a running back here? The lines need more than that. And I think that that's now affected what people might be thinking of Jeremiah Love here, Bijan, being as successful from the spot from which he was chosen, that if you have a running back that can do as much as what Jeremiah Love supposedly is going to be able to do. You go ahead and pull that trigger and don't let him, if you're the rest of the league, wind up standing next to Mahomes for the first five years of his career.
Go back to Christian McCaffrey's year. Right. Because that was a big debate as well, because that was Leonard Fournette at the same time. Do we take that plus-size running back who also can run? Are we going to get a smaller guy, quote unquote?
Can he run between the tackles? Can he do whatever? It's one of the few times I felt like I was on track. I knew he could run between the tackles. I was very confident in him.
And he goes in the top 10. I think Dave Gettleman took him at Carolina. And the rest, as they say, is history. Because at that year, I thought he was the best wide receiver in the draft. Not just the best running, but he ran the best routes, had the best hands, and since that time, he's proven us all correct.
What's your favorite story? That you've heard about of anybody in this combine? About anybody in this combine? You like it? The journey, the story.
You know, there's who do you like on that front? There's a kid at Texas Tech. Defensive lineman. Three-name kid, for some reason it's escaping me, and I hate that. I hate that we're number zero.
What? Upper Iowa to start his collegiate career. Walks on at Northern Illinois, becomes a team captain, Northern Illinois, goes to Texas Tech. Supposed to be a 235-pound linebacker. Northern Illinois says, well, he will let you walk on, but you got to be a D-tackle.
Builds himself into 270 pounds. and turns himself into a player, and he'll be out here running and moving today. I love stories like that. We're going to see guys like that. You know, Eli Stowers, the tight end at Vanderbilt.
Is it Skyler Gil Howard you're referring to? Bingo, thank you. The Rich Eisen Shoefruit.
So my apologies to the family, and thank you so much for the help. Love this kid. You can't stump my truck. You know, there's no way. This just trucks.
Well, when they have Google as well, it helps. But Stowers, quarterback. Gets hurt. You'll hear Stacey Dales will give you a lot of great secrets on these kids. He ends up learning how to play the guitar after he has an arm injury, playing the other hand.
And then he ends up going to tight end, transferring from New Mexico State. Becomes a tight end at Vanderbilt. Right. Maybe one of the best tight ends in the draft. Wins the Gamble Trophy from the National Football Foundation as the academic Heisman this past year.
Got a chance to meet his dad, who had been a player, been a college football player. As my father used to say all the time, the leaves don't fall far from the tree. When you meet the dad, you get it.
Okay. Believe me. I like it.
So that's a couple small ones. All right, just come with a couple small school people. Very good. And then you had mentioned Ty Simpsons, too, on the quarterback list. I think he's going to be two on the quarterback list.
To me, Ty Simpson and his crew. We were very savvy in what they were doing. Because to me, 15 starts, what we've had in recent years, you should go back to school and play. Go get it. Certainly, with the amount of money you can make, go get it in the whole deal.
He talked about being loyal to Alabama, not going somewhere else, wanting to do that. But I also think that when Dante Moore went back to school, when Chambliss won his court case and was able to go back to school. The door's wide open for the number two position in this thing. He probably gets at worst a second-round pick, and you become that guy. You go back into the pool.
Now, we did say 2026 would be a huge quarterback year. We did for a while, didn't we? I know. We said that going into the season. It's supposed to be a massive quarterback year.
Right. 2027.
Now, once again, we're like, it's going to be a massive quarterback year. We don't know. But based on what they know and what they see, I feel like he and his group made a savvy decision. Like, everybody else went back. We stay.
I think he's going to be the number two quarterback taken. Carson Beck. Is here at this combo. Yeah. And he was in Bryce Young's recruiting class.
Tyler Shuck played with Justin Herbert at Oregon. That's where we are. You know what I mean? That's where we are right now. And clearly, what that means is he's advanced in age, certainly for a prospect.
Yeah. But he's also got a ton of college experience. A ton of experience. And you've seen Bo Nix, you've seen Brock Purdy, with tons of college experience, have a leg up when you shuck as well. Chuck was talking last year, in terms of experience, it's not just snaps, it's in terms of coming back from injury, it's in terms of having coaches change on you, it's in terms of you being a free agent.
You know what I mean? Like, he pretty much had the professional career experience before setting foot in the NFL. And that's, I'm wondering if Carson Beck might have something like that. There will be something to it because everything you just said, all right, had to wait his turn at Georgia. Remember, Stetson Bennett, the whole deal.
Wait his turn, got his turn, looked like, oh, wow, this guy could be the number one pick in the draft. Gets hurt in the SEC title. Long up, yep. Pass to rehab. Come back, no guarantee it's all going to be right.
Makes it, helps his team get to a college football playoff national championship game. Yes, sir.
So, all those things you're talking about, Rich, all come into focus for a guy like Carson Beck. But remember, a couple years ago, the draft, right? Caleb Williams, two different schools, a lot of experience playing, number one pick. Jaden Daniels, two different schools, a lot of experience playing. Number two overall pick.
Drake May, one school, but a three-year starter. We just keep going down. Michael Pennix, two different schools, 30 plus starts. Bo Nix, you mentioned 61 starts. It was amazing how that experience translated.
And somewhere, Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells. Had a big grin on his face because remembering what he said. I've got a formula for what I want out of quarterbacks. Three-year starter. team captain, X number of wins, all those things.
Guys playing less than that. Have a few more struggles, it feels like.
So now we'll see where it all goes. Anthony Richardson being the latest example. Love you, Charles Davis. Thank you. I love you, too.
It's great to see you. Can't wait to hang with you in more ride. And then in Pittsburgh. Yes, sir.
Then we do the draft. Listen, I can't wait to get back to the Steel City. I love to walk those bridges and the whole deal. Yeah, you come out of the tunnel. You come out of the tunnel.
It looks like Gotham City in front of you. You're looking for Batman. We did see that, didn't we? Wasn't that Heinz Ward making the punt return in the game and the kick return? And the field just collapsing around.
This is Bain. And Bain will meet us in the city. There's a Bane in the draft. Did you see? Have you seen Bain's face mask?
Yeah. It is a lot like. I know. It's kind of crazy. We should keep him out of the way.
Talking back to the people. Hopefully, he'll have a draft party at home. Good to see you, man. Great to see you. Charles Davis right here on the Rich Eisen Show.
Matt Miller is going to join us. His thoughts on how the draft order might fall. That's next on the Rich Eisen Show. The world moves fast. Your workday, even faster.
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You have Fernando Mendoza at one. Where does he rank for you if Mendoza was in either of the last two drafts? Yeah, no, that's a great question. Thank you. You're good at your job, Rachel.
Thank you, Matt. I look at 2024 with Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Drake May. I don't think he's touching those guys as prospects. You can maybe have the conversation with Drake because he didn't have a great final year at UNC. He was young and you saw the upside.
I think Mendoza slots in right behind him, ahead of Michael Pennix Jr., ahead of Bo Nicks, and even ahead of Cam Ward, who I wasn't a huge Cam Ward believer last year. I thought there were a lot of wrinkles to his game that needed ironed out in terms of timing and decision-making. We saw him improve over the course of the season. I think after Thanksgiving, he got kind of encouraged about his play. I didn't have Jackson Dart as a first-round pick last year.
Obviously, the Giants disagreed and made him one. But I think Mendoza's ahead of those guys, but probably behind Drake May. What's his His superpower. Mendoza, I think it's his eyes, you know, his ability to see the field. He throws such a catchable ball, but that's because he knows, you know, his eyes are telling him where to go with the ball, when to go with the ball.
You know, his guys barely dropped any passes last year, and that's a credit to them, but it's also a credit to his ball placement, catchability. Yeah, his 50s. 50 throws in. The big games for Indiana. The Omar Cooper throw, you know, against Penn State to win the game.
We have rightfully credited Omar Cooper with making a great catch, but that's a fantastic throw as well. It's the Joe Montana Dwight Clark situation. It's like, you know, sure, that was a great catch, but to put the ball where only your guy can get it and understanding what your player can do, that's what Mendoza does so well. You know, he kind of bores you to sleep and then beats you is the crazy thing about him because he doesn't have the biggest arm. He's not the fastest player, but he doesn't make mistakes.
And so I think his eyes and his football IQ are a superpower. Yeah, his out routes, he throws them on time. He's awesome at that. The 50-50, the back shoulder. And those were the ones that were the backbreakers for Indiana.
And of course, him running it in was the big one against Miami. And I look at him and I see a lot of Joe Burrow, honestly, I do. Of someone who plays with poise without having elite measurables. But the elite measurable is his mind and what he does. And then also, I love a quarterback that plays better after you hit him in the face.
And Burrow does. Did that. You know, the bowl game, his junior year. He gets run over by Central Florida, late hit, pops up, and then goes on a run, essentially, of a year of being unstoppable. I think we saw that with Mendoza this year, too.
There were times he would get popped, and he seemed to just play better after that fact.
So I love that in a quarterback where they show they have a little bit of fighting. Matt Miller here on the Rich Eisen show.
So the Jets at two. In your mock, you have Arvel Reese. Why do you have him there? There's some others that I've seen with Bailey in that mix. Mel Kuyper, our colleague.
Yeah. Through Caleb Downs and Godfather, going with a safety at number two overall. How about that?
So what do you think? What do you walk me through the Jets' choices here and why you land with Reese? Yeah, so this is how good I am at my job. I did this before the Jermaine Johnson trade was announced today because that mock was February 2nd, which that's sarcasm. I'm not that good at my job.
But Jermaine Johnson, now gone. And I think when you add DevAndre Sweat, they're signaling they're moving to a 3-4 defense. They need speed on the edge. Will McDonald is a solid player, not a great. Player.
He's around 250 pounds. They're going to stand these guys up. R. Vill Rees coming out of Ohio State. He came in today around 243 pounds.
He's fast off the edge, and he's still getting better. He had 97 pass rush reps last year, produced six and a half sacks. He can play like Micah Parsons and Abdul Carter have done. He can play as an off-ball linebacker, but his future is rushing the quarterback. And he said that here.
He sees himself as an outside linebacker, as an edge rusher. And for the Jets, that's exactly what he could be: standing up off the edge, going and getting after the quarterback. And then moving down your list here, if you pop it back up one more time, please. On the third overall selection, you wind up with Maui Goa going from the left side of the Miami. Offensive line going to Arizona.
Why do you see Mike LaFleur's first pick being that guy? And I think this is where the draft truly starts because the Cardinals are a bad team that could go a lot of different directions. They have a question mark at quarterback. They have question market running back. They have question marks all over the defense.
The idea here would be to build an infrastructure for 2027 when you have an opportunity to draft a quarterback of the future. You can roll with Jacoby Brissette for another year. He played well enough down the stretch, but Malanoa could be that right tackle opposite Paris Johnson, who has been a solid left tackle. And your hope is that you are then building that foundation so that when you have the opportunity to get a quarterback, the team is, the table's kind of set for that quarterback instead of. Reaching for a quarterback at three.
There's not one this year that I would advocate for drafting after Mendoza in the top 15 or top 20 picks.
So looking at positional value and how to just build a team when you've been not very good, I think addressing the offensive line first is pretty smart. And now you had Bain fourth to the. Um Titans The choice of making this Trade today, do you think this affects the pick or you just say Bain is so damn talented and there's no chance Sala passes? I think the trade does affect that. And I think with you know with Robert Sala coming in, it's to what type of edge rusher is he going to want?
Adding Jermaine Johnson, who he had with the Jets, tells me that they do want at least one person who has that speed coming off the edge. Bain is not that player, he's a power player. And you know, right before you and I sat down today, his measurables came in. He came in at under 6'3, 264 pounds, which is lighter than he was listed at Miami. And he came in with sub-31-inch arm length.
You know, to some people, they say, why does it matter? Turn on the tape, watch him play, especially in the College of Wall playoff. But that would be the only player since 1999 drafted in the first round with sub-31-inch arm length. And so as a general manager, you're saying, do I want, am I smarter than the numbers? Is this player going to be the outlier?
A player's never had double-digit sacks with under 31-inch arms, at least going back to 1999, when we have firm combine data since then.
So Bain at four, the tape says, yeah, he's pretty good, he's probably worth number four, but now the numbers are where you start to have those conversations as a scouting department and say, do we believe this guy's different than every other player drafted since 1999? Is this the Will Campbell defensive conversation? It is, it honestly is. And Will got hurt this year and then unfortunately had a pretty rough stretch in the playoffs. And now arm length is a pretty big topic of conversation because of that.
All right, so now the Giants have a choice. Between Ohio State players. Yeah. Right. There's going to be a lot of Ohio guys.
I know you hate hearing that, but there's going to be a lot of Ohio State guys. I'm used to it, and for good reason, they're phenomenal. Just sometimes they should do better than. You know, Carnell Tate, you have them going receiver rather than Caleb Downs, who might be a perfect fit for that defense on the back end, too. Yeah, he might be.
And I think with John Harbaugh, we could even see them go Sonny Styles, the middle linebacker from Ohio State. There's a couple buckeyes that they could choose from there. I look at Carnell Tate as a 6'3, 200-pound, excellent route runner, opposite the speed of Malik neighbors. To give Jackson Dart those weapons, to give him all the answers to the question, I think that's how you, number one, evaluate a young quarterback, and then number two, develop them. You know, Dart had some great moments this year.
He also had some rough stretches.
So for them to find out, is he the guy, is he the quarterback we could build around, you want to give him as many answers to the test as possible and see how he handles that.
So, and this is a fascinating part of your mock draft here. Again, for those who are listening or watching right now, this is not the real draft that's happening in Pittsburgh. Jeremiah Love, you have him winding up in New Orleans.
So many people have just basically penciled him in, if not sharpied love in for the Chiefs at nine. And I keep sitting here thinking, why would Kellen Moore pass on an offensive weapon like this guy at eight? And your thought is he won't. They won't. Yeah.
Why pass on him? I can't come up with a good answer. You have Tyler Shuck, who looks good as a rookie. Right. And all the arguments people use for why Kansas City should draft Jeremiah Love, those are the same reasons New Orleans should draft Jeremiah Love.
So why would the Saints pass on him? Especially with the younger team. And I would argue, New Orleans is a team that's being built. Kansas City is still in win-now mode. They're still trying to win a Super Bowl.
Jeremiah Love is my top player in the class. I have nothing negative to say about him as a prospect, but does he help Kansas City get to the quarterback? They only had 25 sacks last year. Does he help them do that? Does he shore up the coverage, especially if Trent McDuffie is going to be a trade block candidate this year?
Can he play strong safety and help cover these great tight ends that we're seeing pop up everywhere in the NFL?
So as much as we all play fantasy football and the idea of love and the homes together, it's beautiful. It would be so much fun. I don't think that they're in a position where they have the luxury of taking a running back at nine. I think they have much bigger issues to fill because the dynasty window is still open as long as Andy and Pat are there. Is love the guy, though, that is going to spark?
The first trade of the draft more than anybody else, or am I missing somebody? Could it be Bailey? It could be Bailey. Drops, styles, downs. Like, give me the name of a guy that's going to spark the first trade of the draft.
I think it could be Jeremiah Love. I think we could see a head coach fall in love with Love and say, hey, I got to go get my guy. But I think David Bailey, the edge rusher from Texas Tech, because if you're trading, it's probably for a premium position. It's usually a quarterback or a pass rusher. Could be an offensive lineman if you really like the kid from Miami.
Yeah, this is mostly a right-tackle draft.
Okay. And historically, teams haven't traded up for right tackle. The Bears flipped one spot two years ago to get Darnell Wright out of Tennessee. How'd that work? Very well.
Very well for them.
So we could see that. But I think David Bailey, the year that he had, the type of player that he is, the speed that he has as an edge rusher, that's the kind of guy you would give up draft capital for.
Okay. So, but love for me. Like if you're the Browns at six, if I'm the Giants. I'm like, you know, I love love. Like, let's get him in.
Let's just say he's going to be the sonic to, you know, Scataboo's knuckles. You know what I mean? Like, let's let everyone think we're falling in love with this guy. Cause I want to keep pushing love up the board as much as possible. If I'm like the Giants or the Browns at six, you know?
I would want to do something like that. Yeah, and I think the commanders are at seven. Seven, yeah. Why wouldn't they take them? Right, I can't come up with a great answer for them either.
You know, again, the arguments to give Mahomes a run game. Are valid, but why not give Jaden Daniels a run game? Why not give Tyler Shuck a run game? I think those are also teams that are gonna have a hard time looking at him and saying, You know, we're trying to build something. We don't have Superman at quarterback.
Let's help our quarterback. The Chiefs do have that guy. All right, and I got about 30 seconds before the radio audience to go, so I know this is a question that's more than that. But is Simpson in your first round? Barely.
And I'm hesitant. And this week will help me figure out who he is as a player because he had nine games that were amazing, six that weren't. And you're trying to figure out what happened there. You know, the number 25 starts is big for NFL front offices. He's only started 15.
So, again, like with the arm-length conversation, are we betting that he's not Mitchell Trubisky or Mac Jones or Anthony Richardson or Trey Lance, guys that started one year and have had no success in the NFL? The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Well, the holidays have come and gone once again, but if you've forgotten to get that special someone in your life a gift, well, Mint Mobile is extending their holiday offer of half off unlimited wireless.
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