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Now, on with the show. Welcome football fans. Live from the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, it's the Rich Eisen Show. Earlier on the show. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner.
Coming up. NFL Network Analyst Daniel Jeremiah. Pro Football Hall of Famer Rod Woodson. WWE Superstar Seth Rollins. Steelers defensive tackle Cam Hayward.
And now, it's Rich Eisen.
Well, that's right. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show from the draft city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Draft Day itself, live here on ESPN, as well as our usual spots on Disney Plus and the ESPN app, ESPN Radio, SiriusXM Channel 80. Kurt Warner in hour number one. We got another Pro Football Hall of Famer and Rod Woodson making his way to the set. But we kick off hour number two of our coverage of day number two of our three-day residency here in Western PA with my colleague, my guy, from the NFL Network and also ESPN.
Daniel Cherubal. Yeah, true. Hey, what up, baby? I'll tell you what. To make me feel at home, putting me between two Hall of Famers, I mean, I mean, just right where I belong.
You know, brother, you do. Yeah, by the way, do you know what Daniel is part of ESPN's pre-draft coverage tonight? We're bouncing around. We're bouncing around a little bit. We figured out this logistics because the ESPN set you're joining is in the draft hall that's on the other side of what's expected to be about a quarter of a million people from our set in the back of the draft area.
We have this all mapped out. I believe golf cart is the way we're pulling this off. I don't know. It could be a go-kart. It could be Doombuggy.
We're going to be able to get there. See, he's going to do the first segment with us, then spend a half an hour with ESPN, come back, and then we're all hanging out. All part of our new crazy. We're in a new playground. I get a chance to play with some friends.
It's going to be fun. Very excited. Last night at NFL Network, your mock draft, your 4.0, your final one, Mendoza Bailey Reese Styles Love. Why do you go that to start this off?
Well, and then you left out. I did the little trade there at three. Yes, you did.
Well, I had a trade at four. Look, everything I think the standard chalk way of looking at it and everything you hear is that it's. Love Cardinals sticking and picking, taking Jeremiah Love. That's the favorite of what could happen and talking to folks. After the Jets choose Bailey over Reese.
I keep hearing Bailey over Reese, but I don't, nothing's put to bet on that.
So I wouldn't take that to the bank, but that's what I've heard. And then, so to me, it's the Cardinals having a decision whether you want to take Love or whether you want to trade back. And, you know, I was trying to figure out: okay, if they're going to trade back, who could be the partner? And then you look at the Saints' history and how aggressive they've been under Mickey Loomis. They've done it three times, but they've traded a future one.
So it's in kind of their DNA. And I know how that player in Reese would fit in Brandon Staley's defense, knowing what he appreciates and what he likes about players.
So kind of putting all that together, no concrete information, but I'm like, if they trade back, the Saints are the team that makes sense.
So what is the conversation in the Jets' draft room when they're on the clock, second overall? What do you think?
Well, actually, it shouldn't be when they're on the clock. Yeah, that's it. It's already done. It's baked.
So then what is it coming in that would lead to them to go Bailey over Reese? Like, what is this debate? To me, I just think it's a versatile player in Reese who we can do a lot of different things with. We can be creative with. But if we're drafting him as a pure pass rusher and someone who we think can get us a high volume of pressures and sacks, there's not as much of a resume to go off of there.
And he said it in his own words, like in terms of creating a pass rush plan, having some polish and knowing what you're doing there, that's going to just require a little bit of time.
Now, he's a freak show athlete, and there's all the reason to believe he's going to get there. But with David Bailey, I've seen him line up, put his hand on the ground, and I've seen him get after the quarterback in a variety of ways. He's got a lot of talent. And I think there's some of it, in my opinion, some of the pushback on Bailey is that we're in a new world of college football, Rich, where you've got a player from Ohio State and you've got a player from Texas Tech, and your whole life you've been taught that one is not the other. Right.
And that era is over. It's over. And you look at David Bailey, a five-star recruit out of modern day who could have gone anywhere in the country. He went to Stanford because he wanted to get his education. He graduates in three years.
Then he's going to be the most highly sought-after guy in the portal. And Texas Tech has the biggest checkbook.
So he goes there and is part of really one of the best defenses in the country. He's a real dude. This isn't somebody that kind of just fell on the scene in Lubbock, what you would think of from years past. Interesting. And then Reese to the Saints, Styles.
Why would you think Stiles goes to Tennessee? What do you think that? That's just in talking to folks that know Robert Sala very well. They say this is his perfect player. This is the guy that he would love.
He coached Fred Warner. He loves Fred Warner and everything he can do. He believes when you build out a defense, and this is again talking to folks that know him well, that you start with that position. And you find that he's not only the, you know, he can control the run game, he can help you in coverage, he can be your leader, you know, all those things. And when I talk to the guys at Ohio State about Stiles, But when I hear things like he's the alpha of all these alphas and he's the leader of this entire group with all these great players, that's why I connected those dots.
You know, last night when we were doing our rehearsal for the NFL Network crew, Um they're the the production team came up with their own mock draft, right? Just practice to go through the tapes and things of that nature. It went Mendoza Uh Reese, the Jets would take Reese, which is entirely possible. Very possible. And then Jeremiah Love goes three to Arizona.
And then fourth to Tennessee was I believe that's where Stiles went there. I think so. And then I turn to you and I'm like, okay. Giants on the clock at five. And if that happens, I have to turn to you and basically say, How many times did the Giants game this out in their own Building their own mock drafts, and how many times would David Bailey have dropped to them at five?
And you basically said, like, none of them, right? No. And it's, but that's not an out-of-the-realming. I think one of those two guys, I think Reese or Bailey, who could go two, could also go five. And then it becomes the whole thing.
Look, it's been out there about Thibodeau and, you know, would they potentially move on from Thibodeau? Right. I think to me, Reese would be an easier justification for them because of his ability to play off the ball and do some things when you still have Abdul Carter, you still have Burns. There's a home for Reese, a little bit easier fit there. Yes.
Bailey, to me, I would think if he gets to five and the Giants are on the clock, that would be a trade where you would see either the Saints, you could see the Chiefs looking for a pass rusher, you could see the Cowboys have been discussed. Yeah, but not likely to be those interdivisional trades, but it's been done. That's a phone that goes direct to voicemail, right? Hit the stock. But we've seen it, we've seen it.
We've seen those trades. Right, interesting. But you have the man, if the Giants come away with Jeremiah Love and Carnell Tate. With the feed factor, Rich. You know, there's ways to do these, and you can kind of go chalk, and this is what sure.
But we get these curveballs every year at this thing. Right. So it's dangerous when you're trying to predict what the curveball is going to be. Right. But, man.
I'm sitting there going, I can't. I would love to be at the Jackson Dart draft party if that's the way that went down. Right? Although the Scataboo draft party might be a little bit subdued. Here's one for you.
Okay.
So, and I think I texted you this, but I was flying in here, guys, and Dunker sitting in the seat in front of me, Jennings Dunker, which is hard to miss. Mitch and I had so much fun with him. He did combine. Did he recline? No, he's a gentleman.
He's a gentleman. He did. I think I remember Stacey talking about a lot of the caffeine consumption. He doubled up on the coffees on a very short flight from Chicago. But I asked him what's going on in Pittsburgh.
He said he's going to hang out with Scataboo. And I thought, oh my gosh, that's the reality show. Dunker and Scataboo. That's tango and cash, man. That's good.
That's fun.
Okay.
So I'll they have picked 37, fingers crossed. We'll see. Love and Tate at 5 and 10. My goodness gracious.
So you believe that. That Cleveland's going tackle. To me, I think they wouldn't mind trading back because I think they're comfortable with a couple tackles.
Okay.
So if they could get out of six, knowing they're still going to get one of them, I could see that happening. But it gets kind of messy when you start doing a bazillion of these trades. But to me, the two names there, you talk about Fano, and then Proctor is another name you hear connected with them. Wow. Because I hear that all the time, but what do they like about Proctor?
Well, to me, he's a lot like you think about when your head coach has spent time at Georgia and Monken and kind of saw that type of offensive line, and they are big, massive physical guys. And then, you know, how they appreciate how they move people at the line of scrimmage in Baltimore, this is that type of mauler brawler.
Okay.
And you believe Jordan Tyson goes before Colonel Tate. Why? That's just from everybody that I've been talking to. More and more teams have had him there. I don't.
I mean, I have Tate as the top receiver, but it's just been, you know, I think everybody believes in the upside with Tyson, and you got to keep him healthy, which is a big deal. But if you just look at kind of the suddenness or the twitchiness, you can say, okay, teams have been more excited about him, where Tate is, to me, is steady Eddie. He catches everything. Like, this contested catch rate for him is off the charts. He'll block.
He's just a complete receiver. And I think he's somewhat being punished because he played next to maybe one of the few guys in college football that was better than him.
So the Chiefs at nine take Delane. You love it. I think that comes down to Bain. Looking for an edge. Bain or Delaney.
Bain or Delaney. That's the dilemma.
Okay.
And you think they go corner? I went corner. I just think when you take McDuffie out of that mix there, that's a big piece.
So to have a grade A, the best corner in the draft, in my opinion, that covers that up. What's the Bain. Question is the arms, obviously. Yeah. But you see the tape and you think.
He's really good, man. I don't think he's, you know, I don't think he's going to be a 15-sack, you know, that high, high-volume sack producer, but he's going to dominate against the run. He's going to be able to win some on the outside as a rusher. I think even more so, being able to reduce him inside and let him rush over guards, that's going to be where he finds the most success. And you have the Dolphins going Ruben Bain at 11 as opposed to replacing Jalen Waddell with the number three receiver in the draft on their board.
Yeah, they got a couple wideouts they got to replace before this thing's over, but they got seven top 100 picks.
So they're going to have time, and this is a pretty good receiver class. There's some depth to it. I think they can address that. That group comes from Green Bay. I know last year we got Matthew Golden, but it was a long wait to get to the Packers taking a first-round receiver.
So their roots are finding these guys later on in the game. You would be very excited if Caleb Downs drops to the Cowboys at 12s. I'm staring at it right now.
Now, looking at you. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and people look, that's one thing throughout this whole process. There's been pushback when you suggest that Caleb Downs doesn't go in the top 10. And my reply is: I've called every single one of Derwin James' games in the NFL, and if that freak of nature didn't go in the top 10, all bets are off.
Hamilton didn't go in the top 10.
So that's we saw Eamon Warrior fall to the second round.
So I don't know how you can sit there and say it's Locke, take it to the bank that Downs is going to go in the first 10 picks. I don't think we can say that. Can you help me out then? You just named three guys that I would want to build a defense around. Yeah.
And teams are doing that with these guys you're referring to. Eamon Warrior, maybe not so much, but we just saw, I mean, I remember seeing him at the combine. He's like an avatar. He was. He really was an avatar.
He was taller than everybody else, and he was moving better than most. And we've seen how crucial they are to their teams. If Downs is one of them, why do you care if he's a top 10 pick? I've been trying to figure it out for several years now. I go back to Derwin, then Brian Branch, I thought was a first-round pick, fell to the second round.
I thought that won't happen again.
Next year, Cooper DeGene, he's a top 20 player. He goes into the second round. And then, even like, it happens every single year. Why? I just think that they look at it and say they don't view it as a premium position.
But I look at every great defense in the NFL. If you look at that position, if guys who are big nickels, they can go in there and be the big nickel. And I would even put Jalen Petrie, who's not a big guy, but who plays that role, every great defense has a stud in that spot right there. Right, because the back end is secured in a spot where it can be most vulnerable, and then they can also step up and make a play. Bill against a run, we can cover, we can blitz, all those things.
Maybe sometimes go a little bit rogue, but their play doesn't. You got a lid over the top of you. Rich Eisen here. Every time I travel for a major sports moment, whether it's a playoff run or a huge prime time matchup, I see firsthand what happens to a city. Hotels fill up fast.
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Alrighty. Auto parts. Rich Eisen here. PayPal is now the official peer-to-peer payments sponsor of the NFL, which means all the money moments that fandom creates, whether splitting tailgate costs or chipping in on tickets and game day food between friends, are covered. Wherever the game is played or watched, PayPal moves with fans.
You can send money through text, email, or directly to your friends with eligible accounts on Venmo. Just download the PayPal app and share all the moments that matter. Account with PayPal is required, not available in all regions where PayPal operates. Yeah. Rich, I've been trying to figure it out, but I mean, it's been so many years in a row now that I'm like, I'm not going to say that it can't happen.
We've seen it every year. Why stop it this year? Let's go. Good for you. I'm spoken like a California.
TJ. All right, you've got the Rams going Mackay Lemon at 13. No, Ty Simpson, right? I mean. I mean, that's that's sitting on the set tonight and the Rams select Ty Simpson 13th overall.
That would be a significant showstopper market. I was texting with a friend in the league about that because you're here in the chatter and it's around. And his reply, which I would love to know your answer to, was when was the last time the sitting MVPs team took a quarterback when he just walked off the field as the MVP of the National Football Community? The Patriots did it. No, the Packers did it.
Did he win MVP? Was that his MVP year? When they got no, that's right. It sparked two MVP years. I thought he reacted to that.
He became MVP twice. My bad. Yeah. But I was trying to, I said, that's a great point. And I'm, look, it could very well happen, and we're going to have to digest it in real time.
But I've started thinking about it, and I'm saying, okay, man, you have. You could say you were one play away from going to the Super Bowl last year. The Super Bowl is in your building this year. You have an MVP at the position. Like, that's a lot to digest.
I mean, that wouldn't make any. But Makai Lemon would certainly be fun. Les Needs' son. Where does he work at, by the way?
Okay.
USC. I see what you're putting down. Kenyon Zadik to the Ravens. That's an interesting choice. You've got the Eagles trading up.
What do you got for that? Me talking to Howie and Howie telling me he's trading up. Yeah. That's the paranoia from talking to all the teams in front of him that are, is he going to trade up? Is that right?
Yeah, yeah. I love that. Everybody's like, where's he coming? Where's he going? What's he doing?
And you have him moving up for Caden Proctor. Yeah, I think to me, when you look at the long-term replacement, they get a year out.
So Lane Johnson, you know, you get some long-term Lane Johnson insurance. And if you have injuries with him or Mai Lata, or even if Dickerson, who's had some health stuff, you could kick him inside and fill in there.
So they took Jihad Campbell last year, and they didn't need him, but they knew that Nicobie Dean was going to be gone in a year. He is a way of getting ahead of these things. Jaden, pardon me, Caden Proctor goes there. Then Omar Cooper to the Jets is their second first-round draft choice. Monroe Freeling to the Lions.
Interesting. Yeah, that line has to be addressed. Dylan Thieneman sitting there. You have the Vikings passing on him. You got to tell you what that is?
Okay.
That is Vikings Thieneman fatigue. Every mock draft has it in there. And I'm like, there's no way we all can't. All be right through the whole time. I was like, I'm done.
And so I punished him a whopping one spot and had him go to Carolina. That's a new show called VTF San Diego. Powerhouse. Out of boy. Powerhouse.
Thieneman doesn't wait around to hear his name too long. You have the Carolina Panthers hopping on him. Malachi Lawrence completes the two defensive players for the Cowboys in the back end and the front end. You have the Steelers going offensive tackle here in this town. Roderick Jones' injury scared me.
And when you start hearing about that, and Omar mentioned it a little bit in his presser, man, I don't like going to this season not knowing I have a tackle. I got it.
Now, you calling games for the Chargers, knowing this team the way you do, knowing Jim the way I do as well, if Vanga Ioane is sitting there at 22. I mean, that's the end of it, right? Yeah, and I've been accused of wish casting on this one. Meaning what? He's my 11th overall.
He won't be there anymore. Yeah, that's right. This is another positional, like, well, I'm not taking card. You take this. I mean, if they can take this kid and put him next to Slater.
and have alt on the other side. They signed Beatish at center in the offseason too fits this offense. This is that's where the Chargers become supercharged. And everyone stays healthy and look out. You know, with McDaniel dialing up the running plays for that offensive line with Herbert, Oh, man.
That would be an amazing choice for the Chargers. Yeah, it would be a no-brainer.
So it'll probably never happen. Mezador to Tampa. Our guy, we'll call it Casey Concepcion. Yeah, absolutely. He winds up in Cleveland for that.
Yeah, they need a receiver out of one of these first two picks. Keldrick Falk to the Bears, and then we finally make our way to Ty Simpson. You've got the Cardinals moving up. You think that's the way? I just logically.
I think there's a chance they can just stick at 34 and he falls right to them. But my thing is, if you even think there's a 2% chance the Jets might take him at 33, you pay the small price and you go up and you get him. Don't you think there's a less percentage of 2% for the Jets to take him? I don't think the Jets are taking him. I think that I do think, if we get by the Rams thing.
that the Cardinals could hold their water and wait at 34 and take him. But I'm just saying normally if you like him enough there, then you don't take any chances. Just go. The draft capital to move up, I think, would be worth it. Certainly if they earn it with a trade and that they now have extra assets to employ to because it's worth the fifth-year option, and it's worth also making sure you get the guy you like.
But I just don't think the Jets are going to sit around and take a quarterback in this draft with next year looking the way it is and all the picks that they have. Three ones next year. To me, this is about building the foundation that you can support the quarterback.
Okay, what am I not asking you? You got one more item for me here that I'm asking you before we go deep. You know what's funny? The thing that, as I was going looking at it again this morning, is when you have teams that aren't used to being up there, like the Chiefs at nine, when are they up there? They're never up there.
Right. You look at the Rams, you know, that's it's like found money for these guys. It is.
So if somebody, if we see Reese or Love or one of these guys that we think's a marquee player start to trickle down, man, my spidey senses are going to go up that those two teams I'd keep an eye on. Yeah, who's going to do something crazy?
Somebody is. It happens every year. Every year. I was talking to a GM this morning, and I said, We'll just see when it goes off the rails. He goes, Well, when did it go off the rails last year?
I'm like, I don't know, the second pick. Yeah. We didn't talk about Cam Ward. You know, like normally you're going to talk tonight. We're talking about Mendoza before he goes on the pick.
Right. Because we know it's essentially done and we're front-loading it because with eight minutes. In between picks, it's going to go fast, and we kind of want to front-load that to get that out of the way. Last year, Cam Ward, we were assuming it was going to be him. We were just, and then as soon as he.
He starts walking towards the stage. Uh The Jaguars are now on the clock. How about that? Yeah, and so, yeah, it went off. Stole a little thunder there.
By the way, there's always times when you evaluate a player. Maybe you see him at a minicamp and you get nervous. Mendoza, guy did not love that first pitch. I didn't love it. You know, he kind of crow-hopped into it.
He kind of even did it like a football copy. Yeah, that's what he did. He threw it like a football. Also, 2010, Tom Brady went MVP. 2011 draft, they took Ryan Mallet 74th overall.
Yeah. Yeah. That's not in the 13th pick, though. Mendoza crow hopped, but it doesn't, it's okay. I'm not drafting them for the athletics for when they come out of town.
I didn't move them on my list, but I didn't. I'm just saying, I didn't feel great about it. A little bit of red flood. We're out of time. Otherwise, we'd be definitely talking a lot about baseball.
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Thank you, guys. It's a beautiful day. Have a good time. John Woodson making his way to our set right now. He's next.
This is the Rich Eisen Show on ESPN and Disney Plus. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. For their first round pick. Yes, Rock Woodson. I was like, well.
Mr. Boston, with all due respect, you can tell him I never had money. I don't know what money feels like in my pocket, but tomorrow I will be in Nice France. And I got on the plane the next morning and went to Nees France. And I am so happy I made that decision because I had a ball being over there.
As a young player, just learning how to play, I run and run track overseas, and it was gorgeous being there and Spain and Morocco.
Well, I know you went to Germany. Went to Germany. Because the reason why I know this is because early on, I've told this story before on the air, I'll tell it again. I think it was like year two, year three of NFL Network. And they asked the two of us to go to NFL Films in New Jersey and call an NFL Europe game off of the television screen.
I remember that. And we're we were sitting in that Edit Bay, right, getting set to call a football game nationally when it's being played overseas. And it was like it was the Berlin Thunder. Was that the name of the team? The Berlin Thunder?
Berlin Thunder for the NFL Europe. Yeah, right. And they showed the shot of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. And you're like, I've run track there. Yeah, Berlin Thunder.
And I'm like, what? And you told the story of you holding out on the Pittsburgh Steelers after they drafted you, and part of the places that you went to go run was in that stadium, where Jesse Owens told the Nazis not today. And you went and you ran there, holding out on the Steelers.
So, did you tell Chuck Noel at some point? What did he say to you when you finally got in there? I didn't tell Chuck Noel. To his face?
Okay.
I registered. Jim. I told Jim. Yeah. The tail chart.
What about Mr. Rooney? Nope, I didn't talk to Mr. Rooney either. It was just Mr.
Boston.
Now, this is Papa Rooney, too, right? This is Papa Rooney. Yeah. The chief was around, but he wasn't a day-to-day operator. Oh, it was already Dan.
It was already Dan.
Okay.
So. I mean, I had the conversation with Dan. We talked, but. My Statement was to Mr. Boston.
I don't know if I could have said that to Chuck Noel. I don't know if I would have, I don't know if that would have come out to Chuck Noel. But since it was Mr. Boston who was representing them, and I was like, listen, I never had money in my pocket. I don't know what it feels like.
I mean, I don't need the money right now. I'm going to go overseas and go run. And it was a great decision. I mean, 21-year-old kid from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Going over there and went to all these different countries for free.
And they paid me some little money for running track. I mean, it was a blast. Where were you on your draft night? I was in Fort Wayne, Indiana. You had no cell phones, right?
Landlines, roticity phone. I mean, so it's like there's a, I think it was me, my mother. Dad. Eugene Parker, Demoff. And For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal.
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Because you got to get it. Everybody had to stay off the phone. There was no call waiting. That's right. I mean, you get a busy signal, right?
They got to try to call back, right? But I get a phone call at when the ninth pick was up. I get a phone call from the New Orleans Saints. And said, if you're at 11. We're picking you.
And then ninth pick gets selected, tenth pick is on on on the clock. Like my phone rings. I never talked to the Steelers. Ever. Ever.
But the whole process, never talk to him. Because they didn't think I was going to be there. On the board, still, and it was. I can't remember exactly who called, who made the phone call, but I did talk to Chuck, talk to Tony, and they're like, Do you mind if we draft you? I'm like, What?
Yeah, like I just want to get picked. Yes. So, I mean, obviously, it was for me. A great opportunity to come to a great franchise that had that standard as a standard, but then being around. You know, John Stallworth is still on the team.
Mike Webby was still on the team. No, he's gone. Mel is gone.
So the only three left over from the Super Bowl times were Stallworth, Webby, and Donnie Schell. And Donnie Schell was my roommate on the road games. And Stalworth, I remember my first game, we come in at halftime. And I'm like. I walk in and I'm like, I smell smoke.
Because my mother used to smoke cigarettes, right? And I'm like, somebody in this Joker is smoking cigarettes. I'm looking, now I'm like searching for the person who's smoking cigarettes. And I'm walking through everywhere and I go into the training room. John Stafford is laying on the training table.
Puffing it up. I'm like, this is not college anymore. This is not college. Rod Woodson here on the Rich Eisen Show.
So, um, First time you walked into Pittsburgh then was in your life was after you signed? Pretty much? No, we took a flight here. Oh, okay. Right after the draft.
Well, that's cool. I mean, because I just, you know, obviously the draft being here in this town, you know, how people are just going crazy right now. I tell you what, you know, they've done a. To see where this is came, the city itself, when I first got here in 87. from an industrial city to a tech city and the work they've put into it.
I mean, they deserve it. You can see the excitement in all the locals' faces. I mean, my old danny called me just a little bit ago, so she's excited. And she's excited. Everybody's excited because she doesn't even understand football.
But, you know, everybody around the communities are excited. And I'm glad it finally came here. Who's the team that's going to be booed the loudest by Steelers fans when they're on the clock tonight? Oh, Cleveland. Really?
Yeah. Not the Ravens? Oh, yeah, I forgot about the Ravens. Yeah, I mean, you only call games for them. I do, I do.
But in my head. You only won a Super Bowl with them, Rob. In my head, I'm in the old AFC Central.
Okay.
Right still. The Ravens weren't even there yet, right? And it's but the Browns are kind of harmless to Steeler fans, no? That is true, Rich. That is true.
They're not doing a whole bunch right now. Yeah, you know what? Let me rule that one back to Richard.
Okay.
Take my answer back. You may take it back. Uh yeah, the Ravens. Yeah, the Ravens. They will boo them.
Because every time they play... It's always close. Those two teams have won. They hate each other, man. You know why they hate each other?
No. Because they're so much alike. Yeah. They're very similar in the way they structure their ownership. You know, the Rooney family doesn't really get involved in the day-to-day.
Steve Bushotti doesn't get involved in the day-to-day. They let the people who, it's their responsibility to do that, let alone do their work. And, you know, if you are part of the organization, you're a part of the family. In both of them, and it's really the only difference is. If it's think about it, it's a run-first offense, both of them, right?
Outside of this past year, when Aaron came back for the Steelers, and then defenses are hard-hitting. No nonsense defenses. The only difference is One city here, black and gold. The other city? Purple and white, purple and black.
Yeah. And that's the only difference, just the colors. Yeah, and now they're both on new head coaches. I know, that's crazy. Isn't it?
It really is. I was shocked. That John left.
Well, he was asked to leave. Yeah. He was asking. What do you ask leave me? I mean, Mike left, although there were some people in this town who were getting more vocal about asking him to leave.
Yeah, I mean, he. He was asked to leave after. He wouldn't let one of his employees go. And Mike I think they just mutually parted ways. And maybe it's that he did hear the outside noise, even though he never had a losing season, but they haven't won a playoff game in such a long time.
So hearing all that. Um Mm-hmm. And if you ever heard him talk, he's going to be good on TV. Oh, I think I've been. He's going to be great.
I don't think there's any doubt of that. He's going to be great on TV. And he doesn't have to work like that. He's not going to be in the building every day.
So his family gets to see more. You know, unfortunate for us, two really good coaches. I mean, John went over to the Giants, but we lost a really good coach and Mike.
So let's just. Two quick questions, and then we'll talk about NFL alumni health and get you on with the rest of your draft day. Rod Woodson here on The Rich Eisen Show. Aaron Rodgers, we're waiting to hear from him. Still.
Yes, we are. Do you think the Steelers should continue to wait for him or move on? What do you think?
You know, I think last year I think they had an agreement. But it wasn't on paper. I think they have an agreement. If they do, I think it's already set in stone.
Okay.
He's just waiting. But like I said it before, Rich, there's something wrong with these green something with the Green Bay Packer quarterbacks, and they just like the weight. I don't know what it is. They just like the weight. Yeah, the 2037 Jordan Love is going to be great on the Jets until he isn't.
That's right. And then he's going to go somewhere else. But at the end of the day, though, Rich, with Aaron, they still need a quarterback. Right, so I mean unless you believe in Will Howard. If you believe in him that much, then don't worry about Aaron Rodgers coming back because he's going to need the reps.
So let's get him started. If you really believe in him, then you should say, Aaron's not coming in. We're not worried about Aaron. Howard is our guy.
Okay.
But right now it's crickets.
So we'll see. Yeah, it's crickets, but I'm with you. I think something's already been decided. We just, for whatever reason, you know, Rodgers doesn't want to let the cat out of the bag. And what's your first sense of the Ravens so far with Jesse Minter as the HC there, Rod?
Well, I mean, it's going to be interesting to see. the difference of how they use Lamar. is do they still structure him and put him in a system where His attributes come to the forefront, right?
So he can run, he can get out of the pocket, he can make plays with his link.
So, is it going to be a run first? Football team or are we an 11 personnel? I'm on the time. Which you know, I know they lost two of their tight ends, so they got to get another tight end to fill that spot.
Well, it could be Sadiq tonight, 14th overall. That's beginning to be bandied about right now.
So you can see that. I mean, you know, if you want Lamar to be in the 12-personnel, two tight ends, two receivers, and running back. Then you need another stud at the tight end position. But if you're going to put him in a true. West Coast and put him in 11 personnel, and he's running read options and zone reads and RPOs.
I mean, he could do it, yes. But Lamar is Lamar likes to make plays. And that's the only thing that scares me with him being an 11 a whole bunch. Because he might start taking off a little bit too much and starting to get hit again, and that's one thing you don't want to see. Don't you think, though, a guy who's a defensive head coach.
uh from the harbor lineage. coming to Baltimore with Derrick Henry on the team. That they're going to be, they're not changing that leopard is not changing that spot, man. I would think most defensive coaches are run first mentality. Yeah, yeah.
But when you have Lamar, sometimes you get away from it, sometimes you can get so enamored of what he can do, throwing the football and running it on his own. That you lose sight of the bigger picture of still having Derrick Henry. I know they lost Keaton Mitchell, but they got Hill still.
So they got s they got some weapons back there.
So I just think that making sure Lamar protects himself and let him be healthy throughout the whole year, if they can do that. A lot of good things can happen for you. What are you doing with the NFL Alumni Health, sir? What are you doing?
So, NFL Alumni Health is partnered with Tolo Health. And they've come up with a uh initiative called Health Lives Here. And you can go to healthliveshere.ai. And it's a great initiative for preventions. Um being basically proactive.
And not just with our community from NFL, because we know that.
Some of my contemporaries are starting to pass away. You know, some of the offensive and defensive linemen are bigger guys and they need to lose weight. They have a product inside of that called Forset. that can help you as you're losing weight. that you don't lose your muscle mass.
And I mean, I think it's a great product. I think it's a great initiative. And not only Being for prevention, but just being proactive on your health. As we get older, We want to live healthy, we want to be healthier. But you got to be active.
You got to be proactive with it. You can't wait till the symptoms hit you and then try to react to it. Healthliveshere.ai to learn more about it. And it's always great to see you here. Oh, yeah, congratulations on Purdue winning the Big Ten Championship Tournament.
I know, they won that and then what happened?
Well, there's another tournament that got played afterwards. This is just a way for him to gloat, Broad. Who won that? I don't know. There's no gloating.
I'm watching. I don't know who won that. Excuse me. Winning the Big Ten tournament is a big thing. No, no, you're.
I just congratulated his Purdue Boilermakers for doing that. They beat Michigan. Backhanded. You know what I'm saying? It's not backhanded.
I'm just a Purdue guy, and I figured you're props. As he did it, he did it with his hand open to himself.
So he did backhand me. No, I'm just. Because we do give each other the business when it comes to Purdue and Michigan. Yeah. Listen, I am so happy.
Think about this.
Okay.
Big Ten National champions in football? Three years running. And basketball. That's correct.
So what's the big what's the best Commercer is in the country. SEC.
Okay.
Okay.
There you go. See, that's why. And by the way, the only reason, it's because his soon-to-be wife, who he's been with for a long time, is a big Georgia fan.
So he's totally bought into that. I have to hold the household line up. They got good athletes, too. You get it. They can't win collectively, that's all.
Well, not anymore. Yeah, not anymore. Not anymore, because it just means more. In the Big Ten. Thanks for joining.
Rich, thank you, sir. Where are you watching the draft tonight? Are you making an announcement of the pick? Are we doing anything? No.
You're doing nothing? I'm doing a couple other things before that, but I'm not.
So you're not part of the Steelers contingent that's coming out with the commissioner tonight? No, I'll just watch from afar.
Okay.
Well, I'll be thinking of you.
Well, I appreciate it. I love you, buddy. All right. That's Rod Woodson, Super Bowl champion, Pro Football Hall of Famer, courtesy of NFL alumni healthliveshere.ai to learn more. We're back with a special draft day hire register here on ESPN from Pittsburgh.
The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show as a simulcast on ESPN Radio as well as SiriusXM, ESPN Cable. We're moving to ESPN 2 at the top of the hour for a final hour with Seth Rollins and Cam Hayward joining us here in our studio. We all know running a small business, meaning. Important stuff for all of you: that running a small business means every hire matters.
A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your businesses grow. The challenge is finding that person without sorting through resumes, and that's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent with Hiring Pro. You can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire.
Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com/slash Eisen. Terms and conditions apply. All right. So you were just talking about Rod Woodson's old restaurant, right? Yeah, like every time he comes on the show, I bring up that back in the day, his restaurant was my favorite place.
I played Carnell Lake in a video game, as I told his son when he came on.
So we drove by it yesterday. Yeah, we drove by where it used to be. He was like, it used to be right over there. Is that on the way for you to go to Primani Brothers? No, no, on the way to dinner on Tuesday.
We were crossing Smithfield Street Bridge.
Now, you went to Primanity Brothers for the first time. Yeah, we went to Primani's yesterday for lunch, and it was fine. Fantastic. One of my old friends is a manager there. Oh, is that right?
Hadn't seen her in years. We ran into a couple fans of the show. Shout out David in Ohio. All right. That was he told us his favorite segment is Higher Register.
Yeah. So we're now going to get because we haven't done it in a while. We haven't done it. Is that why you came in suggesting we should do it today? Pretty much yesterday we're like, we should do higher register tomorrow.
Well, certainly for the draft. Absolutely. All right. So, and we just had a perfect example of it from Rod Woodson. No.
Where he's like, you know, you've done pretty well. Not like, you know, you went higher register, which means you don't believe what you just said. And he went, no, no, which doubled down on the registering. All right. So it's time for a 2026 draft day edition of Higher Register.
Hit it. There's a chance. The rich Eisen shows. But there could be. Higher register, take of the week.
All right, first time we've ever done it on draft day. Chris, what do you got over there?
So, here's the deal: you mentioned this name earlier today, Rich. Brandon Ayuk, wide receiver. Why am I talking about wide receivers?
Well, him, a get-up talking this morning about George Pickens, maybe he could get traded, TJ. He's not getting traded. They're just gonna maybe not sign him long term.
Sorry, go ahead. Brian Thomas is getting dangled out there because Jacksonville wants to move back in. I think, guys, we're gonna see some star players traded this weekend. Let's go! Yeah yeah yeah.
Some guys are going to get moved. I don't know. It's just like sometimes your higher register is like some part of your anatomy is getting squeezed. That's the only way I know how to do it. Apparently, I'm just going to jump in here.
Sorry, Jason. I feel like Brother Johnson. Belly's laughing off camera. What do you got? My higher register, he literally just kind of smacked it.
Oh, no, I ain't really. You bogarted a higher register. And then you doubled down by saying it wasn't going to happen. My higher register was going to be with all the talk about George Pickens and the Cowboys and getting this contract done. The Dallas Cowboys, they're not enough trading George Pickens tonight.
They're not trading George. They're going to end up trading. Why are you so adamant about this? Because they've got him under contract for this year, and it's already fit under the cap, and he's not going anywhere. Rich, they're saying there's no more talk about the contract, which means they're done.
If he goes in there and he's not happy. If they were monkey wrenching some things. Guess what? Guess what? He's playing for the Cowboys this year on the tag.
And by the way, this is negotiating. This is negotiating. They don't have to make this decision until mid-June. You're going to pay two wide receivers over $100 million? I've got my higher register now, sir.
Okay.
You're ready? I'm ready. Here we go. The Jets have the second overall selection. That's a lower retention.
And the 16th overall selection. I'm ramping up. The second overall selection is it David Bailey? Everybody loves him, right? Except that R.
Vel Rees is what's causing everybody to trade up, maybe, if they leave him on the board. And then they canceled David Bailey's 230 visit. And you're like, what are they doing? What are they doing? And then at 16th overall, who the heck knows what they're going to do?
And it's the general managers. This is the latest. Set up. for jet fans. To have the draft gods just kick them in the nards at the end of the day.
That's just the latest setup. This is the latest now, also ask of Jet fans to believe in the rebuild. But I'm just saying the top 30 visit being canceled means maybe they just got everything they needed on David Bailey, and they were grinding on who is the 16th overall pick, and they're going to get a great wide receiver on that front. And Omar Cooper may be that guy. And I'll tell you what, at the end of the day, I think the Jets are going to nail this thing.
I kind of think that they got this thing settled, the second overall and sixteenth overall. They they canceled the top thirty visit 'cause they're going to take Bailey and they're making the right decision and they're going to get the right guy at sixteen because they had a top thirty visit. What could go wrong? I think the Jets are gonna nail this thing tonight. Yeah.
I have faith in them. I know you do. I know you do. I do not have faith in that. Yankees up on the Red Sox by six.
Hey. Hour two in the books here. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
