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Now, on with the show. LeBron is wearing down. This is the Rich Eisen Show. 16 seconds, James, a deep three short. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
LeBron's wearing down. Today's guests: 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. Colts general manager Chris Ballard. Commander's head coach Dan Quinn. Basketball Hall of Famer Chris Weber.
And now, it's Rich Eisen. All right, everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. Just to let you know how things get made around here, I literally, I think, just took the walk. To get to this desk. In real time, that I do for the show open.
And I just sat down. I didn't just get here. But I just got here. To talk with you at 844-204-Rich. Number Donald.
Hello on Disney Plus, the ESPN app. uh ESPN Radio and Sirius XM Channel 80. I will also say hello in about forty minutes' time to the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Kyle Shanahan, who has not appeared on this show in five years.
So would it be awkward if I started by saying, what gives? Kind of.
Okay, so I'll just say, hey, Kyle, how you been?
Okay. And one of the best in the business and one of the biggest newsmakers at the head coaching position. Of the San Francisco 49ers is going to join us. And then after that, Chris Ballard and his biceps will show up. Honestly.
The most yoked GM in the business? Oh, great question. I will ask him. Should I ask him, are you the most yoked GM in the business? Are you the GM that wears the most mediums?
John Lynch, I gotta think is still in pretty good shape.
Okay. All right. At any rate, I'll waste Chris's time with that later on in hour number two. Good idea. Dan Quinn will join us.
The Washington Commanders head coach, and then Chris Weber. On what's going on in the NBA playoffs. And I will ask him a question in hour three that I'm about to ask you guys in just a shorter matter of time. about uh the NBA playoffs and Which team up 3-2 is in the most trouble? It's kind of crazy what's happening in the first round right now, but um.
That's what's going down. Is the Lakers were one game away from advancing and giving Luca more time to. To rest and relax. And Austin Reeves, you sit back, you don't have to come back. And now he comes back last night, and the Lakers lose.
To the Houston Rockets, who have won two in a row. We'll talk about that with C Web in hour three and with you throughout at 844-25. 204-Rich, call us. We've got time for you. How are you over there, Christopher Brockman?
What's going on, man? I'm great. Celtics play tonight. What's Rockwood? You sound great.
You said I'm great, and then you deep sigh.
Well, my baseball team stinks. Good to know. And it's going to be a long summer. Look, who's back in the Rich Eisenhower audio executive seat, wearing your awesome St. Jude 1 team hat?
It's my new favorite hat. I like it.
Well done. Thanks for wearing that. Ladies and gentlemen, Jason Feller is back on the program. That's my way of introducing. Him and then TJ Jefferson came.
Candles lit. Going on. A lot of nothing, really. Great way to start. A lot of nothing.
What are you talking about? I mean, you know, my favorite. Your Sixers are one home win away from forcing a game seven.
Okay. My baseball team walked. The Mets get dog walked after walking homeward. Hey, Soto Homeward. Second game in a row.
Good for him. Really happy for him, you know, coming through in a Mets Town like that. Yeah. You're never going to let that die or you never. Why should I?
And the fact that the Yankees for years were known as the franchise who bought their players in their champions. Yeah. Nothing. And he has got such a pulse on the New York sports scene, having been there for all of three years.
Well, he's lived there for three years. No, Juan Soto lived there for all of two years. I said, or he said two years. He lived there for all of two years before he claimed in a Mets Town. It wasn't that hard to figure out, I guess.
Like he's Mario Cuomo, like he's Ed Koch. He's been there forever. Yeah. He'll keep going like he's Robert Moses and built the town. It only took him two years to realize.
Some people are just smart. I don't mean to go down that wormhole. We'll check on the MLB standings later because they. benefit me to do so. Let's talk.
You know what? Since we're already on a roll about what's going on in your neck of the woods with your teams, something pleasant with my team. George Pickens signed his franchise tender. Yeah, finally.
Okay. Because Stephen Jones basically said, this is all you're going to get. That's a lot. That's it. And if you're looking for more years.
Uh George. Full-on Spalding treatment. You'll get nothing in like it. I think it went like that, Rich. I don't know.
That's a message to be sent. Unless. The long-term contract conversations were going so poorly. They're like, we're pulling the plug. This is what we're doing.
You're not getting any more. You might as well sign your tender. And um and then they can talk From this point all the way to June 15th. to sign him a long-term deal. It doesn't mean that he's not going to get what he's looking for.
It's just the Cowboys don't want to give him what he's looking for right now is an indication. You can't always get what you want. But you get what you need? Yeah, you can try sometimes.
Okay, you can try sometimes. And I don't know if he's I assume he's tried. I assume he's tried. And I assume he hasn't shaken hands on anything because he does have the same agent as Micah Parsons. Yeah, that part.
There's also another scenario. And it's one that you think is going to happen. Yeah, for sure. Oh, who you is in him? Oh, me.
That's the guy over here. Yeah, I think. Yeah. That George Pickens.
Now can get traded. Mm-hmm. He assigned a tender. And that now allows the Cowboys to trade him. Yeah, we won't do that.
I don't think so either. But Stephen Jones has kind of made it obvious he does not want to give George Pickens. A long-term, you know, nine-figure guaranteed contract, but As we know, it only takes one team who does, and there's guaranteed multiple teams out there who want a player like George Pickens. Let me ask you, sir. No, the Patriots do not want to.
Ah, now why is that?
Well, younger than A.J. Brown. Here's what I think. I think we have. He's definitely coming off of a season far more productive than A.J.
Brown. Interesting. He doesn't have the same penchant for reading. As A.J. Brown.
On the sideline. We don't know what he does in his free time. That is correct. I think, but you're picking up what I was putting down. Why not?
It seems like George might be a little bit more of a headache. And I think we're a team. Not sure if you've been paying attention to the headlines lately. We need less headaches these days.
So you want to bring A.J. Brown in? I don't know, maybe he'll show up and the fan base will give him a standing ovation. I think that would be lovely. You perform, you get standing O's in New England.
Yeah. Yeah, the the standard for giving standing O's uh in New England have um Well, the bar's been lowered a bit.
Well, you know, listen, let me just say this, though. Three-year-olds haven't seen a parade teacher. I will say this about what George Pickens should want. I understand you want to get paid. This is a sport where you're one snap away from not playing it anymore.
True, true, true. I want you to get paid and I want you to get paid generationally. And I want you to get paid. Um in a manner that you're secure. And that's what every player should want.
And that's what Pickens is probably searching for. But This does not appear to be the leverage moment for him. And Let's just say Part of this whole process is under the radar, he has been given permission to go. Seek where he can go. And somehow, some way, every single information.
woman or man in the NFL business has not caught wind of it. That it is totally under the radar. And that he does have a spot where he could wind up and get paid a lot of money in the manner that he wants. I know it's not a what's more likely Friday. What's the likelihood of that?
That nobody knows that he's been allowed to shop around and figure this thing out. Yeah, I mean, that's unlikely.
Okay. So then let's go to He thinks this is the moment that he can force that situation. I don't know if this is the The moment where he can. Because the Cowboys do have the ability to keep him. For one year and go for it with Dak.
after a draft where they have hit it. in their estimation, and a lot of others, including me right here with their first Round selection. That they have hit the defense well enough to let the offense with this kid. Go off. And George Pickens doing it again.
I don't think A second franchise tagging. Is in anybody's best interest. It would be highly expensive. I don't even know how much more expensive. And I just think Him staying put as well.
Also gives an indication. That he's not the trouble, Chris, that you are saying you don't want a piece of by having him in New England. That there is some form of Reputation refinement. that would help him. By staying put.
balling out There's C D Lamb. There's Javante Williams. That's Brian Schottenheimer dialing it up. There's Ferguson at tight end. There's your offensive line, you know, solidified more.
Better defense, that's deck. Go to the NFC championship game, George Pickens. Ball out and get your bag then. And I understand this could be the worst take ever because Pickens already has this deal. And by the end of the show, he's going somewhere else and he's generationally enriched and he doesn't care about reputation refinement, but I don't know if another team would take him.
Because of what you're saying, Chris. Yeah. So franchise tag this year is twenty seven point three essentially for wide receivers. You if you're tagged a second time, it's a one hundred twenty percent of the previous year, so that's thirty three million. That's a lot of money.
Yeah. Certainly when you're paying C D Lamb. Just slightly more.
So That's why the Cowboys are maybe franchise tagging him and saying, let's go one year at a time. 'Cause if he gets traded, that means the Steelers say, wow, he's incredibly talented. Don't remember, Mike Tomlin said his message for a young George Pickens was: do the routine things routinely? Right. Mm-hmm.
Spectacular stuff we see. Do the routine things routinely. You'll be better. And then at the end of the day they're like, We can't have him here any more Would rather have DK Metcalf. Older and more expensive.
And the Cowboys. If the Cowboys off of that coming into this season trade him, what sort of indication does that give? Does it matter if he's going to make, you know. 40 million bucks a year for a long-term agreement. All it takes is one, as you said.
I understand that. I'd kinda stay put if I was him. Oh, if you're at Pickens, you'd want to stay. Play for the Cowboys. Twenty seven million bucks is not chicken feed.
Let's talk about a long-term deal. that j the Joneses will be happy with. That you will like, that's the floor. That's your basis. That's your annual average value right there: 27 million bucks.
You know?
So you get that to you're not breaking you're not breaking the Jamar Chase level. Right. You get the 30, 31, something like that. Maybe. I I don't know if the Cowboys would do that if they have the I'm not aware of their cap space.
But stay put, man.
Well, it's a dynamic offense, and you've proven that. What did he have? That's not the Steelers and the County saying he's incredibly talented, but you take him. We're not paying them. We don't want the headache for the money.
That's not. If there is a headache, I don't know. Seemingly he was heading for Pittsburgh. Not seeming. Wh why would they trade him?
Why would they trade him if he wasn't? Right. So I'd be like, stay put, figure it out. Maybe use the next m and and for your sake, TJ. This is signing to figure out the next two months to Sign a long-term deal, and then he stays.
And you've got and you've got your T. Higgins and your Jamar Chase for Dak Prescott. I would maybe argue they're better. You could. I would definitely argue.
Yeah. I'm just kind of giving you the standard of two wide receiver groups. Sure. with the Eagles seemingly taking themselves out of that mix. With all due respect to Dantavian Wicks.
But you Sir Saying, I'll take A.J. Brown, older, more expensive. Than George Pickens on the come. Just shows you what maybe the market is saying. Not saying that you're indicative of the market since you're always way off on the quarterback front.
Saying that the market should be different, the market is what it is, and will always be different. I think it's proving I'm correct.
Okay. Even if he did. He will, I mean, that's a hill he's gonna be on, you know, for the life of this program. He's gonna be like the dude on Price is Right, just climbing that hill. Oh, the Yodel.
But you know what happens to the Yodler at some point? I mean, if you stop him, then he goes. See ya. That's why they call it cliffhanger. Quarterback contracts have fallen off the cliff.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Is this where I say that we're playing whole or one? Or two. Or two?
I was so excited when Bob Barker hit that button and it flipped to Or 2. I don't know why. Always a surprise. I've got a top five list coming up later on in this program. Top five.
Draft choices. My favorite five draft choices. How about that? Ooh, favorite five. Yeah, I'm still stuck on the draft.
I know I got one of them for sure. I got two of them for sure. How many? How many? Ooh.
When are we going to stop doing that? Never, never. When I give up on the quarterback, how many wins do the Rockets have in their series of the Lagos right now? Two. How many more do they need?
Two. Same thing for the Sixers. Yeah, yikes. Same things for the Pistons. We'll talk about it.
Same things for the Hawks. It is big ball night. We'll talk about what happened last night next. And then Kyle Shanahan joins us before Chris Ballard and then Dan Quinn and C Webb join us. And you can throughout at 844-204-Rich.
Give us a call. We'll chat with you. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Need parts fast? O'Reilly Auto Parts has fast.
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Because even though our business is helping guide your finances, our ambition is to make it mean so much more. Thriveant, where money means more. Connect with us at Thrivant.com. Back on the Rich Eisen Show on the radio. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial here on the program.
The Los Angeles Lakers got Austin Reeves back last night, and it did not work. Didn't matter. Because the rockets who came out with a win in game four at home. Their first of the series after losing game three and mind-blowing, heartbreaking. fashion, not even learning from Yep.
what Duke did against UConn. Just get the ball over. Hold it. Just hold it. Yeah.
Stop throwing it around. Any ring. They showed up in Los Angeles last night. Shengoon was What he's the what you call the Turkish Jokic. Yeah.
Right? He was playing like him. Distributing Drawing double teams. His teammates made threes over and over again. The Rockets Go into Los Angeles.
Oh, they they're still alive all right. And That's two in a row. Mm-hmm. And every single time these it happens. When somebody's down You hear it all the time.
Only four teams in NBA history have even forced a game seven after being downed three games to none. and not a single one hath pulled it off. And all the issues that we saw from the Rockets in the first three games. Yeah, they'll crop up every now and then. But they made some timely shots.
Reed Shepard last night after the Lakers cut a 13-point lead down to three with a couple minutes to go. And, you know, everybody's going nuts in that building. He comes up with a Stones Drive and jumper. Yeah, a little elbow kind of slid back. Yep.
And then picked LeBron's pocket. Then immediately next possession. A four-point, a 4-0 Reed Shepard run. Cookies and a donk. That was nice.
With KD sitting in street clothes. Um And the Lakers. Can't close out the Rockets.
Now they got to go back to Houston. Is it possible the man in street clothes? Comes back and plays game six. I don't know what's going on with him. I think he's been ruled out already.
Yeah, he's been ruled out already. He's been ruled out already. Yeah. I don't know what's going on with him. But he's hurt.
I'm aware of that. Yeah, Sean's a couple hours ago. Kevin Durant. All right, thank you for that update. I did not see it.
Jabari Smith, 22 points. And A sound bite full of smack after the win. Uh, I mean, it's just like a a mindset to have. You know what I'm saying? I don't care who we play, I don't care what team I'm on.
When we was winning twenty-two games, I'll probably say We're the better team every night, you know what I'm saying?
So it's just a mindset to have. I mean, people are gonna take it how they wanna take it, but I don't care whoever I'm with on the court, I'm gonna think that my team is better than the other team.
So it's just. Mindset, and but you gotta get on the court and prove it. You know what I'm saying? You can't just say it and then come out and tuck your tail, you gotta get out there and fight and and and do the things that that it takes to win.
So Um I'm gonna stand on that statement and we just gotta keep proving it. Jabari Smith, 22 years old, turns 23 in short order. Number 23. The Lakers didn't want to hear any of this. At all.
I don't care about shit like that, bro. The game is only between the four lines. I don't I don't give a damn who cares the way you I mean of course you say it. Why would you say, No, we're not the better team? Like.
Wow. Asked when I'm younger that question, I'm Too old for that shit. Salty jerks. Like Danny Glover. That's right.
Okay. So I'll ask you this question. Celtic fan. going into Philadelphia. You could have closed out.
The Sixers at home. 3-0 lead. A 3-1 lead, just like the Lakers head last night. Tonight Game six in Philadelphia. That's a wrap.
The Timberwolves Up three one. They can close out the Nuggets tonight.
Now Denver's winning that. Up three two now. Right? They could have closed up. The Nuggets the other night in Denver couldn't.
Now it's tonight. No aunt? No uh big ragu. Hawks. Down 3-2 Knicks can close out the Hawks tonight.
Okay, you have now A team that was Up 3-0.
Now Up only three two. The pistons Down 3-1. Magic could have closed them out. Couldn't do it.
So, which team up three games to two? Knicks? Celtics. Tamberwolves Um calves. Right?
Magic. Which one's in the most trouble? Orlando. More than the Lakers. Watch out.
KD's out. Yeah, KD being it. The Lakers do have a game seven in their back pocket in the downtown Hoops Dojo at home. Seven at home. Even the last night's home court advantage did not matter at all.
Houston got down by 11, came back, took the lead. And Really took over, and there was only one moment where it felt like a threat. Detroit was the one seed in the East pretty much all year for a reason. You know, Orlando was a play-in team this year for a reason. Seems kind of fluky that they would be up 3-1 in this series.
I think Detroit is the better team, and I think they're going to. come back and win this series. They should.
So you say the magic are the most. I think the magic are the team in the most. They've got a game six at home to rank. They got a game six, yeah, yeah, home. Yep.
As a matter of fact, take a look at this. The Timberwolves and the Magic are the only ones at home. Right. That can wrap it up 3-2. Knicks have to go in Atlanta come up with another win.
Yeah, Nuggets are six and a half point favorites tonight in Minnesota. And that's because of who's not playing for Minnesota. Right, right, right. You agree? Magic are the most trouble?
Oh yeah. I mean, look, the Pistons weren't, they were playing very bad. You think the Lakers are in trouble? Yeah. They could not figure it out last night.
No, they couldn't. It was weirdly like Reeves coming back. Oh my gosh. It was weirdly like Embiid coming back in game four, where he just kind of threw him off a little bit. But then obviously they figured it out, and Bede figured it out in game five, so maybe Reeves would be fine for game six, but.
Make sure I kind of kind of threw a wrench into what they had that was working. Yet Reeves came off the bench. He was four of sixteen from the field. That's rough.
Now that's a problem. Right. And then um Luke Kennard's season that we saw in game one, mostly game two. I mean, that game. He had one point last night, didn't make a shot from the field.
0 for 2 from 3. And that's you could say that's the game right there. Lakers from three-point land, seven of twenty-seven. I mean, And you're sitting there now, suddenly wondering: like, where are they getting the offense from? LeBron's leading the way again.
25 Point seven assists. And DeAndre Ayton is playing very good. I know he went a little high register there. He had 18 and 17 last night. I also was wondering why the Lakers seemingly were settling for threes.
LeBron took a couple of bad ones there in the final minutes. He could not be stopped driving to the hoop. In the fourth quarter, he had 11 points in the fourth. It was working for him getting to the rim and creating that way. I didn't understand settling for three.
Let's put it this way: I think the Lakers are gonna have to win in seven to win this. I don't think you're going to win. I think you're right. Rockets are favored. Game six.
Which series goes game seven? Rank of Rank them? Yeah. I would say Lakers most likely to go game seven. I would put.
I kind of feel like Cavs Raptors goes to a seventh game. It feels like it. Those games have been really tight. Pistons Magic feels like maybe Game Seven also. I don't know, dude.
The Magic can wrap that. The Magic can wrap that with all due respect. I think they can wrap it. Boston has been a better road team in the playoffs the last few seasons. And I'll say this, too, because the Knicks just can't do anything easily.
Yeah, I mean that that the Hawks win tonight. Oh, really? Hmm. I think you guys are. I know it was a blowout in game five.
Yeah, Nick seemingly are figuring it out. I kind of like that maybe big tonight. The only reason why I'm saying otherwise is they just can't do it easy. Just can't do it easily. And then I just simply don't understand it.
Lakers Advance Right. Why why do they go, I guess. If the Lakers advance, I guess the 4-5 plays the 1. Yeah, they understand. Do you want the reseed?
I will not stop on this hill until I s the the NBA reseeds their playoffs. But let's let's let's that's the cart before a lot of First round horses. This is one of the more entertaining first rounds I can recommend. Oh, man. Yeah.
For the NBA playoffs, right? Let's see. All the six remaining series got at least six games. It's. That's That doesn't happen very often.
You know, a lot of people are like, you know, they always seven out of eight series go in seven games. That was complaining about the play NBA, but these playoffs, people are like, it's unwatched. They've been great. They've been great. Ratings are up.
It's been nice. It's been a really fun. Fun couple of ball weeks. Yeah. And the hockey too has been awesome.
Last night. Double overtime for the Knights and Mammoth. And then Philly wins. 0-0 going to overtime. They were, you know, 3-0 happens often in the NHL.
Pittsburgh on the verge of coming back, maybe forcing a seventh game. Philly takes them 1-0 in overtime last night. The hockey's been awesome, too. It's been great. I hear you.
Let's do that hockey, right? That time of year, man. April, May. This is like playoffs, Ramp City. I was just wondering how many times, how many.
Okay, let's see how many game sevens are. But the fact that we have...
so many game sevens possible. in the NBA first round. I think that's a good idea.
So there's six series getting to a sixth game. How many go seven? Half? I think so. If I go two and a half, you're taking the over?
I am. I'd even maybe you could set it at three and a half on my take it.
Okay. I might take it. It just seems to be very evenly matched. Yeah. Like OKC and then kind of everybody else.
Right. Kind of for the for the time. you know, what everyone else thinks. I I think we have um Three of the most informed uh NBA Pundits right there. They're just they we just can't hear them.
Oh, I'm sorry, that's the relegation zone. That's it. Those are the three teams trapped in the relegation zone. hurtled into NBA deep space. Can't get enough of that gag.
I won't stop. Can't stop. Won't stop. Won't stop. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. So All right, you know what we're going to do? What's that? You tell us.
Well, let's just take this phone call real quick, and then we're going to take a break and then we'll get to Kyle Shanahan. Austin in Los Angeles. You're on the Rich Eisen Show. What's up, Austin? Is this Reeves?
Yep. Yeah. Austin? Good morning. Good morning.
You do sound like Austin Reeves. Are you Austin Reeves? Yes or no? Just a yes. Hey, what's up, Austin?
What's up? What's up? It's hot of yours, man. Everything good? What's on your mind, Austin?
Right. Right now I just want to talk about the Lakers. I think a lot of people are talking a lot of slack about them, rightfully so. Lakers should have closed it out for sure, looking ahead to the second round as we should not have. But I mean, a s a stronger chance we would have had against Oklahoma City.
in a perfect world, lasts that full mentality, we get a few days of extra rest. And then maybe Luca game two, three, four potentially comes back and maybe extend it out, but Basically, I'm still thinking positive for the Lakers. Reeves is Someone, I think, rich to four of twelve last night, so he'll get his legs back under him on Friday and Just a little bit of inconsistency from the rockets heading into their home.
Now, more pressure, a little bit more pressure on the rockets. Even though there's on the Lakers. I guess so. By the way, you know. Reeves was four of sixteen last night.
He made most of his hay from the free throw line. He was 12 of 13 there. Um so Listen, I'm with you, and thanks for the call. The Lakers can't turn it over. Can't miss the threes.
and have to defend the wide open threes off the Shengun double teams. They were I think In terms of Defending the open shooters. And in terms of the turnovers. And in terms of their own three-point shooting. They were they were poor at it.
Last night. Yeah, low-scoring series. You know, neither team topped 100, but. Rockets outscored the Lakers by 21 beyond the arc, 14 of 40. Lakers only hit 7.
I kind of feel like the Lakers do have a Game 7 in their back pocket at home. Magic best finish it tonight. Yes, I agree on. Right. Magic lose tonight.
They're losing the series. In my opinion. 844-204-Rich, number to dial Kyle Shanahan, making his first appearance on this show in five years. That's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show.
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Okay, Kyle Shannon here on the Rich Eisen Show. Our radio audience has returned. I've got the head coach of San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan, on the program. How much do you personally grind tape leading to the draft? A ton.
I mean, I feel like I'm just always playing catch-up. You know, that's what John and his whole department do all year.
So they got a really good idea in January when the season ends. They kind of reevaluate it after all the pro days, the combine, and everything, but they don't change that much because we try to base everything off the film. But there's certain things that guys can do that can hurt themselves or help themselves after that. But for me, I pick up that tape for the first time in February. I don't usually know who the Heisman is or anything like that at that time.
I've just been 100% NFL ball, and it's hard to catch up with all those guys.
So you got to depend on a lot of other people. One way we do it here is, you know, we give all the position coaches a responsibility to make highlight tapes on everybody. And I tell them, you know, they got to watch a lot of game tape to make those highlight tapes. And then I study their highlight tapes so I can study 200 people and always tell them if I don't like their highlight tape, then I'm not going to watch anything after.
So those guys got to put a lot of work into their highlight tape because if they can't impress you with that, I always say, what's the point of watching more? Which I would love to watch more, but that's the way you can get it done in a you know, in a two-month time frame. And when you do get it done, I definitely don't want to look at any more college ball until next February. NFL is a little bit more fun for me to watch, a little bit more what I'm used to, and it pertains to what we do. But the draft's everything, so you got to make sure you put all that time into it.
But I will say it's hard over two months when you got to watch all those guys, and you know, you might only get like four to eight guys, and it's not like you got your choice of everybody.
So, sometimes you watch people, you fall in love with them, and it just breaks your heart because the more you watch them, you realize this guy's way too good. There's no chance we're gonna be able to get this guy in. You just kind of just get worked up about it. You're like, damn, why didn't you want to lead me on like that? And then you just got to wait to see who falls to you.
Sure. And, you know, you willingly, you and John willingly got out of the first round twice and sat. In that catbird Friday night seat picking first and chose Deshaun Stribling out of. Ole Miss. What did you see on that sizzle that you saw from this kid that said this is the one we're going to take in a deep wide receiver draft of everybody who you could choose from that position?
I mean, it was a long process to get there. I mean, there were a lot of good receivers in the draft. We weren't for sure going to go receiver either. We knew we would like to, but there were a lot of positions we would like to. And, you know, we targeted everything at 27.
We had an idea. You always have an idea of who might be there, who you're hoping to be there. There was a couple guys that we hoped could be there, but we knew there was a possibility they wouldn't. There's a couple guys we weren't going to move for. Like, we thought if they fell to 27, it didn't matter who was on the phones.
We were going to turn it in right then. But we had a feeling odds were that those guys weren't going to be there. And, you know, this has happened to us a number of times. Usually, when you're at the end of the first round, there's not always 32 what you would grade as first-round picks.
Now, you can find guys in the sixth round who end up being some of the best players in the league. It's just not as consistent.
So, that doesn't always make it right, but just truly what a guy's graded on. There's rarely 32 guys.
So, we knew if those guys didn't fall, and we're kind of expecting we would trade back, which we were hoping we could trade back to 30. We had some other things in where we knew we could trade back twice. Those fell out. Right when we were on the clock at 30. But then another team came in and gave us the chance to fall back to 33, and that's kind of what we were hoping for.
I mean, our first goal was that the guy we wanted would fall to 27. But we got our second goal, and that was to trade back twice, accumulate some more picks, still get the guy. And we would have taken Stribbling at 30 if we had to pick. But to get to 33, still get the guy we wanted. My biggest nervous the thing I was most nervous about going into the draft is we only had six picks.
We traded a third for OSA from Dallas.
So we had a first round pick, a second round pick, and we had four fourths.
So we had six picks going in there, and we felt the strength of this draft. Was really the second round to the end of the third. And we only had one pick there. And so I was really concerned going into it because. I also felt we needed to add more than six players.
Not necessarily for this year, but also for next year. All this stuff's tied together on how many free agents you lose and things like that.
So I was worried if we were going to go get players that we were targeting, we were going to end up using some of our fourth-round picks to come up. And so the way I was looking at it was like, man, we need more than six players over these next two years, and we might only end up with four in this draft. Um so what was such a success, I thought was We had six picks. We were able to move around a bunch. And at the end of the day, we added eight players.
When I was nervous, we were only going to be able to add four.
So I think we added eight players who all have a very good chance of making our team. And on top of that, we added a six-round pick for next year, which I think is huge because we didn't have one. That's something we'll want next year. And it's all something that's used a lot right before the trade deadline if we need to do that. And just to have that gives us some ammo to improve our team this year, if need be.
I appreciate you being so open on the process here because I don't know if you're aware, but the Bang Bang Niner gang is filled with a lot of people who are makeshift Daniel Jeremiah's and Mil Kuyper Jr.'s and Mike Mayox. And a couple of picks of yours that jumped out was the one we just discussed. And then you took the first player who was not invited to the combine, although he flashed every single time Indiana was running the ball in winning a national championship. And Kalen Black. Why do you like him and take him third?
uh on your um on your order here in the third round. Um we we thought he was the and Cool. Trying to think of the way to word this, but we had him as the second-rated back on the board.
So, I mean, that's just our evaluation of him, right or wrong, that's our evaluation. And then you got to decide where he's going to, where you think he's going to go. And I think that's the hardest thing with this league. You got a guy who's not invited to the combine.
So, what does that mean? Man, maybe it means he's going in the sixth round. But then you evaluate him, you're like, Man, I think this is a third-round running back. But you're like, oh, he's not going to the sixth round because he wasn't invited to the combine. That's what we're guessing.
Well, let's put him as a sleeper in the sixth round, which we do with a lot of guys. And that's what we've had a lot of success on some of those dudes. But then you start to watch the whole draft and you start to watch all the backs and evaluate all the backs together. And this wasn't as deep of a draft as years past for running backs. And when you look at it all and you take a census of scouts, of coaches, it's a whole process, but you start to get to April, and the majority of our place is ranking him up there.
And it only takes one other team to look at that way.
Now, if someone else has him as their second back, you're gambling that they're not going to go up and take him as the second back right away. You think they're going to be trying to do the same thing. Hey, everyone's going to look at this as a fifth-round guy. Let's take him in the fourth.
Well, by the time that the draft came, We feel everyone's looking at this guy as a fourth-round pick. And so if everyone's looking at him at his a fourth-round pick. Man, if we want him, I'll take him at 90 in the third. We'll be all right, everyone hating on us and judging that, like as long as that's what we feel like. And that doesn't mean you're going to be right.
To me, when it's said and done, they all end up about 50-50. But when you sit there and you truly believe he's going to be a fourth-round pick for the league and you take him at 90. What's the gamble there? Hey man, this will look right if we take him in the fourth round.
So let's wait 12 more picks.
Well, yeah, that would be awesome. But I've done that so many times in 22 years, and then he goes two picks before you. And you're like, man, why'd we try to get cute? It was close enough. And kind of the same thing happened with stribbling, too.
You know, we got introduced to him as like a late second-round pick when you're first looking at him. And when I always say, like, you evaluate receivers as a first-round pick, and then you find someone in the third round who you know is like a third-round pick based off of consensus, height, weight, and speed, how the league's viewing them. You know, this guy's a first-round pick based off height, weight, and speed, how the league's viewing him, maybe his stats, whatever it is, the media attention. And then you're like, all right. Right.
Do I want to take this guy in the first round or I want to take this guy later? Man, I would much rather have this guy at the end of the second than this guy at the end of the first. One, I might think he's better. Two, you can get them later. And that's how it started out with stribbling, because that's how he was advertised.
And then the more we watch him, and we're like, man, it's not that we just like him because his value is better later. We actually like them more than some of these guys who will probably be taken at the end of the first round. And so then, and that's similar to what I said with the running backs.
So then you got to go into that, all right.
Well, everyone in the league did view him for the end of the second. Why is that? Maybe because his stats weren't as good, transferring to Ole Miss his last year, starting out at two other schools, just that you can get a little bit missed in the process. But someone who's put at the end of the second, that gets stronger and stronger the more coaches evaluate him, the more scouts evaluate him, the combine, the pro day, you know, it's getting stronger. There's rumors between league circles, not media, that some people have him as a top receiver on their board, but no one's going to say that.
Because if they're your top receiver and everyone thinks they're going at the end of the second, you're going to keep that a secret and you're going to surprise everyone and take them at 40. And so that's probably, I'm just guessing, that's probably like six teams' goal in the draft. And we're sitting out there at 33. We've already traded back twice and picked up all these picks.
So now we've got to sit there and debate. Man, do we want to go back to 40? Do we want to go back to 39? We think we can get them there. You can based off of a perception.
But man, based off of our evaluation and me knowing, and a lot of people knowing how other people look at receivers, well, they'll have this guy ranked. Man, I think there's at least a 50% chance he's going before 40. Do we want to sit and find that out? And then you just got to evaluate what that is. If that does happen, where are we going to go and how does that look?
And what was cool about having the pick the second day, we could discuss all that stuff for all Friday and we could think and we could hear stuff. I mean, all the media guys call around the league and they talk to people who everyone promises they're not going to share any secrets, but people aren't that good at that. And so you start to get an idea like, no, this guy's name is very hot. And people are all trying to get this dude. They're just trying to when can they get him?
And there's a lot of times that that stuff. Like the media is always going to do what they do and they're right a ton of the time and we listen to that a ton of the time. But there's always these guys that's like, all right, the media set this guy as a second. Where can we go steal him? And then you gotta decide whether you want to risk that or not.
And the risk is: no, we're not gonna wait and watch him go at 38 and us be pissed and then tell everyone we're arguing with, told you he was going before 40, told you he was going before 58.
Now let's just take that dude at 33 and. have everyone hate us, but Get a few texts from people around the league being like, Man, I can't believe you took that guy. I thought he was going to be there.
So it just is what it is. And you'll see who's right, and you got to live with it, but you do the best you can. I love that. In the two minutes I have left, what was it like? You were the first-year head coach in your first draft.
What was it like calling George Kittle to say you're on the 49ers? What was that call like? It was awesome. Kittle is such a different. I mean, Kittle, I think, has always been him, but when Kittle came in this league, He wa he didn't have the He didn't show his personality like he started to in year two.
That's all I'll say. Year one, he had no wristbands, no tattoos, a dorky haircut. He wasn't kittle yet. And I remember him coming in week four, and he was hurt, but was telling everyone he was healthy. And I tried to have an honest conversation with him as a rookie.
I'm like, dude, we know you're hurt. I'm like, dude, we're. You don't have to talk to me like I'm 50 years older than you and you like However, you talk to your pop warner coach or however you've been trained and never tell your coach anything. I'm like, dude, what's wrong? Like, I can tell you her coach, I'm fine.
Don't ask me anything else. I'm fine. There's nothing wrong. And I'm like, dude, I can't even talk to this guy. And then the second year, he's tatted up.
He's breaking records. He can come in on his own, tell me exactly. And he started to let his personality out. But that first year, you weren't going to get much on the phone. You weren't going to get much at practice.
And I think once he got comfortable and realized he could be himself, we've gotten himself every year since. And that's been nine cool years. Dude, one of my favorites. One of favorite humans in the 23 years that I've been with NFL Network. I love that guy.
Do we see him week one? What do you think? I know there's a chance to. I know he's working his butt off to do it. You know, he's.
I mean, I don't want to say he's on track, but I mean, I think that's what he's shooting for. And I don't hold, I mean, I don't put anything past Kittle. He works as hard as anyone. You know, this is my 10th year. It's his 10th year.
It's really cool, like, having a few guys that have been here the whole 10 years, guys like him, Juice. There's not many of them, but they've been some of our best players here, some of our best people, guys. I'll be close with the rest of my life. And I just keep telling Kittle, like, I mean, Jason Tatum got hurt in the playoffs. He's looking pretty damn good right now with this Achilles.
So, let's try to do something like that. And I know kiddo. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
