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Now. On with the show. Live from the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, it's the Rich Eisen Show. Today's guests: NFL Network Insider Ian Rappaport, Fox Sports Lead College Football Analyst Joel Klatt, Pro Football Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy, ESPN NFL draft hosts Rhys Davis and Mike Greenberg. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
Hey, everybody. It's the Friday of Draft Week in Pittsburgh. PA, it's the final day of our three-day residency here in downtown Pittsburgh. Mere steps from the confluence across the street from the draft hall where 320,000 fans packed it to watch an interesting, exciting, frequently unpredictable, but breakneck first night of an NFL draft. And I'm thrilled if you watched us on NFL Network last night, got some rest.
Now I'm back here for a three-hour program with you, Ian Rappaport, is going to be joining us in the first hour of this program. Hour two is going to be chocked full of guests. Joel Klatt, my colleague sitting next to me on NFL Network, and of course, Fox Sports will be here in studio Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson follows him. Then we got a Zoom with the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike McCarthy, Rhys Davis, and Mike Greenberg, who host the draft coverage on ABC and ESPN, respectively. We're going to continue a tradition unlike any other one.
I like it. Sit down and as hosts of the draft and sit down and chat. Good to see you over there, Chris Brock. Hey, Rich. How are you, man?
I am doing great. T.J. Jefferson light that candle electronically, man. He was doing it during the guy is so happy.
Well, you should be happy.
So happy. The Caleb Downs pick was an absolute home run. The Cowboys had a great night. I've got a top five list of the top five teams that nailed the first night. That's coming up at the end of this hour.
Love it. It's a What's More Likely Friday, so you've got a What's More Likely that's chock full of draft stuff. All drafts all the time. The NBA playoffs went down last night. The NHL playoffs continued last night.
The Yankees swept the Red Sox. I don't know what else happened in Major League Baseball. The Mets won. You tell me. Oh, that's right.
There you go. They're on a winning streak. Two. Look at a row. Two in a row now.
Life is good, especially last night. Trying to win 10 more in a row to erase the losing streak. Come on to Florida. Baby stretch. Very good.
844204-Rich is a number to dial if you want to have a conversation with us. We've got a busy show. Listen, every single year, the NFL draft. Creates experts all over the place. And why not?
That's the way we view the draft. That's the beauty of the draft: you look at a pick and say, could that be the game changer for us? Could this be the culture changer? Could this be the football gods dropping a generationally great player in our lap and it changes all the fortunes? Or it's just the last piece to a puzzle that helps you win a Super Bowl.
And the Most important thing everyone needs to uh uh remind themselves of is We have no idea. We truly have no idea. It usually takes three to five years to figure out if a draft choice was good or a draft class was perfect or fill in the blank with all of that.
However, We don't wait around three minutes, let alone three years, to figure this sort of thing out. And every single year, there's one choice that makes you sit there out of all of them and say, what was that about? I had that reaction a couple of years ago when the Atlanta Falcons chose Michael Pennix in the top ten of a draft after signing. Kirk Cousins for a poop ton of money, and they're like, you know what, instead of us taking a player now that's going to help the veteran quarterback in his final years as a quarterback in the NFL, and we're going to take a player now that's going to help that player. No, we're actually going to use this pick on a quarterback of the future looking over the steering wheel.
And I was like, what is up with that? There was another pick, and Joel Klott's going to be joining us. Top of hour number two. Guys, remember when we were just doing the radio show only from a draft in Tennessee? He came on after the Giants drafted Daniel Jones as a pick six, unfortunately, for him, and he hammered it and said it's going to potentially destroy the Giants.
Sent him back like a decade. Yeah, what he said.
Okay.
So then we watch and see how things move.
So we have another such pick, and it was the Los Angeles Rams last night with the 13th overall selection, a choice that they got. In last year's draft from the Atlanta Falcons to go up back into the first round and choose James Pierce, who might not be available to the Atlanta Falcons, but that's for another day. This was the Atlanta Falcons pick that over and over and over again last year were watching the Falcons lose and saying the Rams are getting a better choice as they kept on matriculating their way through the playoffs with their MVP quarterback who's decided to come back. He made that announcement as he was winning the MVP award last year. And now the Rams having an opportunity to choose somebody 13th overall to supplement Matthew Stafford's final year or years as the quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams.
And instead, they go ahead and take Ty Simpson 13th overall. And everybody is like, what's up with that? Because of various reasons. The way that Ty Simpson was evaluated by the evaluator class coming into the combine and after the combine and coming into the draft, wondering if he would even be picked in the first round, if he was worthy of being a first-round quarterback. And we saw the evaluator class from Dan Orlofsky on one side saying he's the best in the class to others saying he's not even maybe the number two quarterback in the class.
He's too inexperienced. All you have to do, you don't have to Google how many starts he had as a collegiate quarterback. You just had to look at his uniform number 15 to know that. Too inexperienced, too unready, yada, yada, yada. And in between, there's less need saying, I don't care, I'm taking him.
And that's all you need is one. And it's not just one. This time around, it's a general manager with a head coach that is seemingly in lockstep. That is 1,000% set to win a Super Bowl again if they can only get the right pieces, including the indication that you could see that they are looking for this year and getting set. to get ready and fill whatever holes they need to fill.
They used their own draft choice, 29th overall, to flip to the Kansas City Chiefs for Trent McDuffie and gave him a big-time contract. And yet, Here they use the 13th overall pick to look over the steering wheel and bring in Ty Simpson, with whom Lesnead has ties. Um personally, his dad, Ty Simpson's dad, is someone that less It goes back with like a car seat. There was a story that coming into the draft, Les Need talked to Ty Simpson and told him you are a first-round quarterback when the family was wondering if he should place his name into the NFL draft this year or wait and collect a poop ton of NIL money to stay put. And all I'm going to say about this is twofold.
I'm shocked. Two We don't know. What's going to happen? It doesn't make sense. To use a thirteenth overall pick right now to look over the steering wheel.
Unless you feel like your team is ready to rock and win it all right now, and your job as the general manager of the Los Angeles Rams is to think about the now. Check that box with the 29th overall pick, leading to one of the best at the position to fill your needed cornerback in Trent McDuffie, and also win down the road. And you have a head coach who can one thousand percent. One thinks, make any sort of lemonade out of whatever you give him at the quarterback position, no matter how much. experience he has.
At quarterback. And we do not know what Ty Simpson is going to do, and we do not know the ripple effect in this pond. All we know is the thirteenth overall pick in this draft most likely, on a what's more likely Friday, will not help the Rams win a Super Bowl in this year. With Matthew Stafford, a quarterback. Or next year.
We think that's more likely than not. But we have seen crazier things happen in the National Football League, have we not? Sure. And anything that you could say 1,000% with certainty in an NFL draft came home to Roost last night, which is it only takes one team to make a player a first-round choice, and the Rams did that. And any thought about whether this was the right move or not.
These folks who think it's not the right move, boy, did they get a ton of ammunition when Les Need and Sean McVay showed up in their post-draft presser. I watched all 12, 15 minutes. If you watched that press conference, through the lens of these two guys were not on the same page. That the coach didn't want the quarterback 13th overall, the general manager did. If you watch that press conference through that lens, It is an uncomfortable long Fifteen-minute watch.
If it is not what it seems, Doesn't matter. That said, here's Les Sneed sitting next to Sean McVay. Saying what he liked about Ty Simpson to use the thirteenth overall pick in this draft on him. At the end of the day, probably processing football, someone who can execute a passing offense. Has mobility.
So That's probably the macro. There's a lot more variables that go into it, but that's the macro. I would say. I mean, McVeigh, who normally is jumping out of his seat. Yeah, just kind of nod.
Yep.
Okay.
Yeah, body language. And then this exchange went viral.
Okay, a quick back and forth With McVay being asked, and I'll repeat the questions here because it's tough to hear the question: did you speak to Stafford? What did you say? And is Ty Simpson going to be a backup quarterback this year? Because as you know, Jimmy G is saying he's thinking of retiring. Mm-hmm.
Here's that exchange. Do you have a conversation with Matthew about this bit? Yeah, I did. Uh I'll keep that between us. Do you expect I could not be?
Uh we'll see. He's gonna compete with Stetson.
Okay, so now Hmm. Him saying he doesn't want to share the conversation with Stafford. And him being so clipped in his answers. Makes you think the conversation with Stafford didn't all go all WTF, bro.
Okay.
And There's a perception right now that the Rams 100% have to deal with. This, however, was Sean McVay's much more expansive answer. On what Simpson brings to the table and what he can do as a bona fide. quarterback whisperer with that reputation as coach. Yeah, there were a lot of players that we liked.
But when you do look at it, I think the thing you liked about the body of work is: let's make one thing clear: this is Matthew's team. And you get a chance to be able to address, you know, the backup quarterback. You know, we've got Stetson, we've talked about the importance of Jimmy.
So to be able to add somebody that you can evaluate a body of work where he was asked to play the position and a lot of things that do translate in terms of concepts, reading with his feet, some of the different things in the drop back in the play action game, the movement game.
So there's a lot of things that Coach Grubb did that's very similar to kind of how we operate.
So it made it an easier evaluation to be able to kind of say, all right, what would that look like if you did translate it to our level? But there was a lot of players that we liked.
So Coach Grubb is the OC in Alabama he's referring to. And listen, End of the story, um. is Will the kid help them win a Super Bowl right now if Matthew Stafford's sitting at home saying, I'm coming back, how are we not using every piece of capital to make this work for us right now, Sean? And so Les Sneed was asked that very question. about Using a choice on somebody that appears seemingly, most likely, not helpful in terms of winning at all this year.
I don't want to sit here, and I don't even know, it's April, and say, okay, we draft one player, and now we go to the Super Bowl. There is a lot. A lot of hard work that happens between this night and whoever's playing in that game in February. See, the i and here's Les's issue. Here's the issue before less.
is his reputation of nailing draft choices. wherever he uses them, when he chooses to use them. is so sterling When you're like, Okay, that's cup, let's take Puka, let's take Jared Verse, let's take I mean, I could go on and on and on.
So when he's just like you never know when you choose somebody if they're helpful or not, when all he does is choose players who immediately become helpful. And really good and coachable and of a Of an organization that has sterling people to put out there in the community. That's the issue here, right? And so there's two ways of looking at it. Not helpful this year.
Stafford's not happy. McVay's job is to win now and win right now with these players. And This is what we're doing 13th overall. And that leads you to eventually say and sit here: of the people that need to be sold on the program. And everything else.
from maybe Stafford to whomever. That is internally needing to be sold on it. The head coach, probably. At the end of the day, it's McVay. Who at some point might just go, I don't want to coach anymore.
That's the idea that you hear all the time: that he's awesome and he's great. And why would you never, you never want to leave the Rams? It's such an incredible situation. But if he does, will we look back on this moment, right? As a watershed moment for McVeigh and Les and the organization, or wait for it.
They did get McDuffie 29th overall. They did add a crucial piece to win the Super Bowl this year. It's less's job to look over the steering wheel and win for the future. Certainly, if there is a born-on date on Stafford, that's coming up real fast, or a born-on-Date with McVay, it's his job to keep down the road. And at the end of the day.
Everything that we just said to start this, and this is what the draft is all about. What if Simpson does have to get in there? Because he might back up, which is another question. Like, why did you take Simpson where you did? You could have traded down.
You could have gotten more assets. You could have still gotten him. But just take a look at what happened with Makai Lemon last night. You never know who's going to try to break through on Call Waiting to come draft you. You know, there's another thing, too.
You have to go get the guy that you believe in when you can get him. Certainly, when you have everything else all set, the table set, let's go get somebody for the future. And if he does get in there. What if he's really friggin' good? What if he's.
I know I just want to hire a register. What if it's not a strategy? We don't know. That's not a strategy. Don't so hire a Glassbrew.
No, I understand that. That's not a strategy, but crazier things have happened. But they have other immediate needs that could have immediately been addressed. I understand it. We mentioned Lemon.
They need offensive line help.
Some great players went on the line after them. They could have easily taken one of them, and that would have been satisfactory. They just created drama and discussion that they could have easily avoided. It's unnecessary. Unless Ty Simpson is the real deal and does, in fact.
But the real deal, when? I don't, does it matter? Kind of. Kind of. I think it does, kind of.
I mean, it doesn't matter if he turns into somebody really good to great and can actually continue on this tradition down the road. How do you sell that to Matthew Stafford? You don't. Clearly, it doesn't appear like the sell job went well. Otherwise, you know.
McVeigh might have been sharing a bit more. It doesn't seem like McVeigh was buying the cell job either. Again. If you watch that press conference through that lens, it doesn't, it's an uncomfortable watch. But at the end of the day, When you go back and you gotta get to work and you gotta figure this thing out, you gotta sell it to Stafford.
Does he need to be sold on it? Because he's going to go there and start winning football games and they're all hunky-dory all over again. He just doesn't get hurt, and Ty Simpson sits there and learns. And then by the end of his career, then suddenly Ty Simpson gets out there and he starts balling out. Then, this entire 15 minutes to start the show is just, it ages poorly.
But what if, like we have said, the Rams are a. Quarterback, veteran, superstar, quarterback, destination in a few years, then you completely wasted this pick. Like Joe Burrows sitting at home like that. Fine, but does it matter if you've completely wasted this pick if you see another trophy in the case? Because you do have another trophy.
But how does Simpson help you put that trophy in there? I don't think he does. And I understand. But this is just a fascinating conversation. I was shocked.
I couldn't believe it. The whole bar we were at was just kind of went. Pretty pretty stunning.
So that's the way we start our program. Ian Rappaport is here. Let's bring him up and ask him all these questions. Plus, he's also the one that broke that story: that Makai Lemon was on the phone with the Steelers. The Eagles, who were trading up to go get him, couldn't break through to talk with him.
But yada, yada, yada, he's an Eagle, not a Steeler. And Ian Rappaport's our first guest on this Friday edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Don't go anywhere. We're off and running on this big Friday in the draft city. Yeah.
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Loved ones, neighbors, the communities we call home, and the causes we hold in our hearts. At Thrive Ent, we help plan your financial picture with the bigger picture in mind. Because even though our business is helping guide your finances, our ambition is to make it mean so much more. ThriveEnt, where money means more. Connect with us at ThriveInt.com.
Ian Rappaport here on The Rich Eisen Show. We are live here on the set here in Pittsburgh, PA. I give you the floor because you heard the way that we opened the program saying, are the Rams all on the same page based on the press conference? They could completely be on the same page. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes.
And plus, Ty Simpson could turn in to become the next, you know, Kurt Warner Times Stafford, and we have no idea at the end of the day. What can you tell us about the choice of Ty Simpson 13th overall based on the Rams collectively? What do you have for me on that front? There's so much here, but I want to start with the are they on the same page part. Yes.
The Rams are a very well-run organization. No doubt. They are superb contenders every year. They have a great roster. They have great coaching staff.
Their salary cap is in a good space. They sell tickets in a place that I think a lot of people thought they are a great organization. There's no way that they go out there and make. a first round pick or any pick without The head coach and the general manager being on the same page. Outstanding.
I do not believe it. They are excellent at their jobs. There's no way. By the way, I'm not insinuating that they're not excellent at their jobs. No, no.
At some point, there's disagreements that always happen in our business. Of course. And again, normally Sean McVay is jumping out of his skin. And last night, just looking at it, and I'm just taking the fans' point of view of what a lot of people are thinking. That's why, you know, I had to talk about it to start the program.
And I agree. It is, you know, it's the fallout from today. I mean, and like the Friday after the draft is always some of the most fun for me because it's like, oh my God, what just happened? Why did this happen? What does this mean?
It's like digging in is very fun, especially when we do so much work that goes into Thursday and it's gone. It's like it's not gone. What does it all mean? Right.
So to me, The Rams were definitely considering Ty Simpson at 13, which I only really learned probably earlier this week. I know for a while that Lesnie believed he was a first-rounder, but I didn't really connect the dots of like, the reason I know is I'm going to take him there. Like, I didn't realize that probably till Monday or Tuesday this week. Mm-hmm. You also have Matthew Stafford, who hasn't fully agreed to his extension yet, but knows he's getting more money.
He is 37 or whatever he is, 38. He's great. His arm is still great, and he wants to play more years.
So, my read on this was Sean McVay being like. I have to understand all parts of this. And if he's up there giddy, being like, woohoo, we got the franchise quarterback, their actual franchise quarterback is like, You know what? Maybe I won't sign. You know what I mean?
Like, there's complications, and I think Sean McVay, who cares deeply. Deeply about Matthew Stafford, his psyche, his emotions, his well-being. Sean McVay loves Matthew Stafford, and I believe that part of him being out there like that was like, Stafford is watching, which I'm sure he is, and I need to make sure to walk the fine line of being happy for the pick, but not dancing on the grave of a quarterback who's not dead yet. Fascinating. That makes complete sense.
Because Um You know McVay's response when asked about other players that they were considering at 13. His first words were, you have to remember, this is Matthew Stafford's team. That's right. Is what he said. The entire accident.
A lot of his comments when you watch. Again, I watched the press conference three times. Because I have nothing better to do sitting staring at a ceiling after a draft night. But I watched it three times because when I was sitting on the set and I heard Ty Simpson's name, I didn't think in a million years there would be a narrative that Les and Sean McVay weren't on the same page about the pick. And then that's all my timeline was filled with in texts from other people and all that sort of stuff.
And then I watched it back through that prism. I'm like, wow, that was an uncomfortable watch. Then I watched it back through the prism of these guys are all on the same page. And I was wondering, then why is McVay saying what he's saying?
Now you're giving me a. A better sense of that because you do have to Have Matthew Stafford, your MVP, as your guy, because this whole concept of you did not choose a player to help you win this year because you can win this year goes out the window if Matthew Stafford's like, then I'm not going to come. You know what I mean? Like, peace out. Here's what's interesting to me.
So, you know. I basically go through my phone and I call everyone I know in the three weeks before the draft. It is a long, grueling process, okay? And I love it so much. I feel like I had a really good sense for at least the couple position groups people were looking for, who were probably the first 15 players and all that.
I really was stuck on the Rams until probably early this week, and I talked to Rams people, and they said the same thing. We don't need a starter. I'd be like, What are your needs? We don't have any needs. They don't.
The roster is good. They do not have needs. I think they may take a tackle if, like, Maui Noah falls, like, okay. But, like. They don't need anything.
So they're not draft. And Sean McVay doesn't really play rookies anyway.
So they're not drafting a starter. And I couldn't figure out. If they don't have any needs, what would they do? And so, to me, the only thing that makes sense, like, think about it, they had two first-rounders this year. and they traded one of them.
They're not getting up to take a quarterback, and they're going to be good.
So, next year, in this quarterback-rich draft, who are they going to get? It's the same thing I said for the Falcons last year, which we'll see how the Pennix pick works out, but the philosophy is the same: you're never going to be up there again. When else are the Rams going to trade a first-rounder, get a first-rounder from a bad team, and be picking in the top 15? You have to take your shot at securing your future if you ever get it. Which is what I know, and it's an argument that the Falcons used a couple years ago, even after they had just gotten somebody in free agency and Kirk Cousins.
So does That has Matthew Stafford and the rest of it ready to roll to win a Super Bowl. Does this team go into the season with two completely unproven quarterbacks from the FEC as the backup? Yeah, I think so. They do. Yeah, I think so.
Don't you think that's.
So there's Jimmy G is definitely out? Like that? Not definitely, but that is my sense that he, you know. I always find when you're considering retirement, you're retired.
Now, he hasn't said that, but I'm just saying my standpoint, when you're considering retirement, you're retired. And I know he had an opportunity with the Arizona Cardinals. I don't know the money. I know he had an opportunity with the Rams and has told them, like, I need more time.
So if Stafford can't answer the bell for a couple of weeks or a month this year, it'll be...
Well, that's going to be interesting. I don't know. We'll find out just how ready Ty Simpson could be or what Stetson Bennett's going to be. Ty Simpson is such an interesting. I mean, it's all interesting.
And the Lemon one is fascinating, too, because of what it meant for A.J. Brown, and we'll get to that. But, like. If Ty Simpson is good. And It was a small sample size, but some people think he's really good.
Yeah. Then we're going to be talking about the Rams for 20 years. Yeah, I know. That was my point at the end of the open: everything we just talked about, are they on the same page or not? What's going on?
It's just like the kid turns out to be great, and McVeigh starts winning a decade with this guy. Then we're you know, this whole this whole 15-minute conversation, or it's not just what it's 15 minutes that we had to start today's program.
So everyone's talking about it.
Well, it's everyone. I agree. This is number one on top of the list of anything else that happened last night. Yep.
Yep.
So you're your your the your sense or your information Is McVeigh into it, doesn't want to offend Stafford, who is offended. Is he offended? I don't know about that. I don't know enough. He can play as long as he wants to play, right?
The real thing. No one's beating out. I don't. I I hate to speak for people when I don't have a source.
So, like, when I get asked about Aaron Rodgers, You know, same thing where I'm like, I don't want to speak for Rogers because, like, I do not talk to him. Right.
And I would, but I don't. Understood. Um. And so like I don't know what's going on in Matthew Safford's head. I just I would be surprised if a thirty eight-year-old quarterback saw them drafting a rookie and was suddenly offended.
Like he's got to know that at some point they got to prepare for the future, I think.
Okay, Ian Rapperport here on the Rich Eisen Show.
Now, explain to me what happened with Mikai Lemon last night, sir. Because this report that you popped on our air last night, that went just as viral as anything else last night. That was crazy.
So nobody calls me during the draft. I'm wired in. I have my double earbuds, and it's so freaking loud that nobody calls me. Yeah, I heard. And when they do call me, I'm like.
Why are you calling me? Like, I can't hear anything. It's very annoying.
So, I got this call last night and I'm like, you just never know who you answered. I'm like, hey, I can barely hear you. You gotta hear this story. And I'm like, and then this person told to me, and I double-checked, and it's like, no, this is what happened. I'm like, holy cow.
So, yeah, I mean, he was. He was on the phone with the Steelers. Eagles were calling, wasn't getting through. and they wanted to talk to the human. And then his agent had to come over and be like, no, you're going to the Eagles.
And I saw the video of that where he's looked at his phone, and as he's on the phone with the Steelers, he goes, Why are the Eagles calling? Why is Philly calling? And I think he hung up on Omar, just like hung up.
So if you're the Steelers, like, What just happened? But but I will this is a cool story, too, because one, I think it we I think we know what it means for A.J. Brown, which is not expected to be a member of the Eagles. Very much longer. We know that.
But like. I enjoy when two players are paired next to each other. Like, who won that? Eagles traded up and got a receiver a lot of people like and didn't think he was going to be there. The Steelers took a tackle that they need.
Yeah, yeah. And a lot of people like the talent, although there's some inconsistencies.
So, like, who wins that? I have no idea. But, like, we're going to find out. Yeah, I mean, everything. The fact that the Giants chose Mau and Noah and then Caleb Downs drops.
And the Cowboys take them.
So that's a sliding door. I mean, you want to know how many times when Caleb and Caleb Downs' dad played for the Giants. The Giants had an opportunity to bring in a legacy, but they went offensive line, which is a great choice with a terrific player, right? But maybe they went offense because R. Vell Rees dropped them at five.
How many times did they game out? The draft and R. Vill Rees drops to them probably a ver a handful of times. I mean, why would you think that? You shouldn't.
I mean, I've done this. I've gone over the top 10 in the draft with. Probably every team. At least 30 of them. And That has never occurred to me.
that R. Vel Rees could drop to the gym. Never occurred to me. I'm like, that's my failing. Because I just here is my thought.
If RVL Rees gets to four.
Someone's trading up for him if the Titans don't take him. Right.
Except their phone, nobody was trading up. And so that was surprising to me. I thought The Chiefs or Saints would trade up for Reese. And the Chiefs did trade up, but not for Reese, for Delaney. Because the price is right, they only went from nine to six there.
I guess from nine to five or nine to four would have been particularly expensive. I guess if you're the Giants, you're sitting there going, R. Vel Reese is sold, done. But I guess the big wild card was, you know, Jeremiah Love going third overall was something that you could game out, I think. Sure.
Carnell Tate going four. I don't think anybody was gaming that one out either, right? I didn't have it. That Carnell Tate was the first Ohio State player taken. It wasn't Styles.
It wasn't Reese. You know, and you know, it wasn't Downs.
Well, how about that? It was Tate.
So, which I don't think anybody saw coming. No.
Now, people loved him as a player, but I thought, based on how hot Jordan Tyson was, he'd be the first receiver off the board. I'll tell you this: so, this would be weird, but in this age of synergy, Adam Schefter, our new colleague, had a report about Carnell Tate's 40 time where, like, the report was basically his 40 time at the combine was this, but I talked to several teams and it was actually faster. And he got. dragged for that report. It is true.
It is definitely true. And I had a lot of teams tell me the same exact thing. I didn't report it because he'd already reported it, but it's like. It's true. Many, many teams had his forty times faster than it was at the combine.
And so if Let's say it's 0.5 faster, which is probably around what it was.
Well, then it's like. This is a fast receiver, and now we can take him early. As if the tape didn't say it anyway. Man, this league, man. It's very interesting.
I know everything gets parsed down to the umpteenth degree or the one-thousandth of a second or what have you. But yeah, I mean, that was an interesting sliding door as well. The Downs winds up at 11. And so Mackay Lemon being drafted, that is the end of it for A.J. Brown.
I think you got to parse it in a way, being an information individual.
Well, and also, like, you know, I think they're going to be able to agree, but there's no agreement now. I think the Eagles would like a 2027 first. The Patriots would like it to be not that. Right.
And so I assume there's a middle ground, but I don't know where it comes in yet. I just. I have uh I have thought. That A.J. Brown is gone.
Right.
And now I really, really think that A.J. Brown is gone. All right. What else happened last night that we should know about that you're sitting on? Or you can throw out there?
What else surprised you? What else came down the pike? It's not as exciting as some of the other things, but the run on tackles I thought was interesting. None in the first eight picks and then all a record number after that, pretty much. Yep.
I would say the Jets Taking Sadiq. Sadiq was an interesting one because I knew That just like Colson Levin last year, teams wanted to trade up for him because those guys, the tight ends who can really, really run, are hard to find. And so a bunch of teams were planning to trade up for him if he got to like I'd say like 18, 19, 20 around there. And then the Jets took him, and I was like, ah, like, that was a fun trade, and I knew what was happening. And then the Jets were like, this is our top pass catcher.
And I thought that was really interesting. Even though they took a tight end last year early, too. They were like, people have been focused on receiver. A lot of people thought they were going to take Omar Cooper at 16, which I think was in consideration, but they ended up getting him later. They sure did.
But Sadiq is going to be really, really interesting. That was one I kind of got a kick out of for the Jets. All right, before I let you go, what happens tonight? What do you think happens this evening? The 49ers are going to have a chance to trade out at 33.
I would expect A bunch of defensive tackles. Couple corners and a couple edge guys early. The first quarterback is going to be. You know, my sense is back. Uh but it's weird because All of those three guys, Alor, Beck, Nussmeyer, you could sort of do Eye of the Beholder.
Like, I could convince myself that with a year or two, these guys are franchise guys.
So I don't know. You know, Beck is probably the cleanest, I guess, maybe. But I there's some stuff that other people like about the other guys.
So I th if I had to guess, I'd say there's a good chance we get all three tonight.
Okay.
Thanks, buddy. Thanks for being here.
So, basically, if McVeigh would like to convey. That rhymes to Stafford. that um you're my guy And I don't know about this pick. If that's what he wants to, if that's the message that he would like to convey to Stafford. Our conversation to lead this program helped.
It carried that long. I hope they're all watching. I assume Stafford's watching. What else would he be doing?
Well, we're on ESPN 710 in Los Angeles.
So that's the home of Los Angeles. He's a huge fan. That's his radio. I'm a huge fan of. Listen, everybody knows how I feel about the Rams and the organization.
That's what you say about radio. No, no, no. And radio, too. No, no, that's right. Everyone does.
Everyone does. And it's just that Les is so damn good at choosing picks that you could have nailed this 13th overall. But you're saying they didn't have space for him. The league is done questioning Les. I would hope so.
Unless you trust. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that's Ian Rappaport. Joel Klack's going to join us top of hour number two, and we come back.
My top five teams that nailed the first night. This is the Rich Island Show on a Pittsburgh Friday at the draft. The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. Rich Eisen here. I've traveled all over for some of the biggest NFL moments you can imagine: conference championships, Super Bowls, draft weekends, and everywhere I go, the city just feels different.
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Account with PayPal is required, not available in all regions where PayPal operates. All right, Joel Klatt has made it here. He's top of the next hour right now. The top five teams that nailed the first round presented by Hyundai. Hit it, please.
Yeah. One, two, three, four, and five. Riches, top five. All right, the top five teams that nailed the first round, presented by Hyundai. Number five on the list.
What do we got? One of the only team on the list that chose once, and that is the Philadelphia Eagles. Makai Lemon, being chosen 20th overall, nailed it, nailed it, and not just because he is as good as he is. Ladies and gentlemen, Makai Lemon is the third USC wide receiver drafted in the first round in the last five drafts. The other ones, not too shabby.
Jordan Addison, Drake, London, Amon Ross St. Brown, who he's comped with. Sun God. And Michael Pittman Jr. And then Makai Lemon is also there because it sure sounds like A.J.
Brown is gone. And if you don't think so, listen to how Nick Sirian described Makai Lemon and his game and what he's bringing to the Eagles last night. Hit it, please. The competitiveness when you have that really shows up on tape. I think sometimes with wide receivers, you see you see clips like the one where he chases the guy down, um You know, you know, after an interception, or the way that he blocks, right, just uh for his teammates and to help his teammates.
You know, a guy that's competitive is not only competitive when the ball is coming to him, he's competitive in all situations.
Okay.
Oh my goodness gracious. Was that an audience of 11? Number 11? Is that that audience? And then one last piece of information for you.
Based on Daniel Jeremiah's top 150 rankings, and normally his top 150 mirrors the top 150 chosen in the draft, the ranking of Makai Lemon, he was ranked 12th on Daniel Jeremiah's list. He was chosen 20th. That's a plus eight value. That's the third best such first round selection. Using that metric.
Number four on the list of the top five teams that nailed the first round, the Cleveland Browns. They wanted two picks. They wanted an offensive lineman first, and they wanted a wide receiver last. And guess what they did? Exactly that.
And they also moved down from six to nine and got the best, according to their board, their number one tackle out there in Spencer Fano, and they got a 74th overall pick, a third-round selection, which is 10th in the third round. They already have the sixth overall pick in the third round coming into the draft, and they got a fifth on top of it, and then they got Casey Concepcion later on.
So check that box.
Well done by the Cleveland Browns. Number three on the top five teams that nailed the first round. Guess what? I'm going the Tennessee Titans. I'm going to dump down here, man.
If I was sitting there yesterday saying, why does it piss me off that Carnell Tate isn't being talked about as the number one receiver on the draft board and it's going to be Jordan Tyson? They chose Carnell Tate fourth overall. That's pretty shocking. Yeah. Yeah, man.
As a matter of fact, guess what they did? They went ahead and they chose a kid out of Ohio State, fourth overall since 2022. He joins Abuka Harrison Jr., JSN, Derek Wilson, Chris Olave. And as a matter of fact, the last time they chose an Ohio State player in the first round, this franchise was Eddie George.
So they went back to that spot and they got themselves a guy for their quarterback. Cam Ward now has Carnell Tate.
Well done. And then they traded back in to get Keldrick Falk for their defense. As a matter of fact, Keldrick Falk is their first defensive player selected in the first round since cornerback Caleb Farley five drafts ago. They have not hit this side of the ball in the first round in a long time.
Well done by the Tennessee Titans. Number two on the top five teams that nailed the first round. Your Dallas California. Oh yeah. Two?
Well, I mean, they chose Caleb Downs. They didn't want to wait for him one more pick, right? They used two fives to go trade up one spot to go get Caleb Downs. And then later on, they traded down three spots and got two fourth rounders from the Eagles to go ahead and get their kid Malachi Lawrence anyway.
So they were going to take, they wanted two defenders. They got Caleb Downs. They got Malachi Lawrence. They actually turned two fives into two fours while doing it. And they used the Micah Parsons pick to get another new edge rusher for a defense that was ranked dead to last, or second to last, or third to last, in pretty much every single metric.
Well done by the Dallas Cowboys. But number one, man. I'm going with the New York Jets. Wow, this seems like a homer pick. And it is not a homer pick.
It is not a homer pick. David Bailey. Is pretty damn special, man. He's the sixth player since 2000 to be selected top 10 after leading the FBS in a sack in sacks in any season, in any career season. The others are named Will Anderson, Chase Young, Von Miller, Terrell Suggs, and Julius Peppers.
And the kid graduated Stanford in three years. And so he is going to be brought to bear right there. Kenyon Sadiq at the combine, faster than Odell Beckham, quicker than Deshaun Jackson, jumped higher than Julio Jones, and further than Andre Johnson. And he's a tight end right there in the middle to add to their offense. And then later on, they trade back in and get Omar Cooper Jr., 30th overall.
I mentioned the metric of the biggest difference between where you're ranked on Daniel Jeremiah's draft board and where you get picked. Omar Cooper Jr. led that metric. The Jets were plus 13 on that value by getting Omar Cooper Jr. for their offense.
Well done. And those are my top five teams that nailed the first round presented by. The all-new Hyundai Palisade hybrid. Learn how it makes every day epic at HyundaiUSA.com. And by the way, if the Jets use all three of their first-round picks next year in the draft, they will be the first team to use three first-round picks in consecutive drafts.
ever. Joel Klatt's going to join us. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
