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Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. All the shots we took, we got fouled four times. Four times. Four times. Earlier on the show.
ESPN senior NBA writer Vincent Goodwell. Host of Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio. Coming up. Your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen.
Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. 844-204-Rich. Number 20. Phone lines are lit. We're going to get to your calls in just a matter of moments.
Game four tonight. We talked about it with Vincent Goodwill from New York City in hour number one. And then in hour number two, we talked with Mike Florio. Um about uh the National Football League and also his back being out.
So uh send uh light a candle for for him and his uh Lower vertebrae. 844-204-Rich, number to dial here on the program. Chris Brockman, good to see you. Hey, Rich, what up, man? Good to see you, Jason Feller, and an old school rich eyes and show lid.
Good to see you. TJ Jefferson, how are you, sir? It's good to be seen. Good to have you be seen for sure. And we'll get to phone lines in a second.
My power ranking shortly: top 10 defenses in the NFL.
So we're sitting here on June the 10th. Power. Game four of the NBA Finals. Um I just love the way. stories marinate in our Sports world.
First The shocking ones will surprise us. And then there's the ripple effect and then the reaction and then the rebound.
Okay. For instance, in the NFL world, Miles Garrett going to the Rams. Holy S, right? Yeah.
Okay. Crazy. Because we were looking for A.J. Brown to be traded that day. He was eventually.
Didn't think Miles Garrett would get done on June 1st and be sent to the Rams.
Okay. For Jared Verson, three draft choices over a span of three. seasons in three different rounds. and didn't see that coming.
So we're stunned and we're shocked. And then the ripple effect is not only is Garrett going to the Rams, but you even thought about it for an overreaction Monday subject matter. Yeah.
And normally those are done as a Knee-jerk reaction to just have some fun. And a little outrageous. But Aaron Donald coming back essentially. That that Miles Garrett showing up for the Rams would actually lure Aaron Donald, who had no desire to continue playing football anymore, back. You know, light a fire, scratch an itch, all that sort of stuff.
Get him thinking. That's possible. And then comes the reaction from all of us. Here in the media, which is Rams are clearly the best team in the NFL. They now should win the Super Bowl.
And then that gets That that gets put into the Sports Media Meat Grinder And you sprinkle in a couple of comments from other teams, like we had Cooper Cup on the program the next day. And His answer was You know, Aaron Donald, I've already texted him. He's not allowed to go there. Not gonna do it. Donald being the one who put the ring on his own finger with a sack of Joe Burrow, but also a ring in And Cooper's Cooper Cup's hand and Cooper was the MVP of that Super Bowl.
Not allowed to come back. And then With Those jokes And the germ of truth being, yeah, Miles Garrett on the Rams is a problem. Miles Garrett on the Rams is a problem. Teron Armstead comes on this show and says they could go 17-0. Potentially, we put him through the win-loss game.
He comes up with 16-1 because he thinks they'll take a knee on an undefeated season by wresting starters in week 18. Yada, yada, yada. The subtext is Good luck to the defending Super Bowl champs and everyone else to try and beat the Rams. And that narrative begins to start to permeate. And the NFL is full of prideful men.
I think the first person.
So mention this narrative in a very sarcastic way, was uh Dan Campbell. who for whatever reason was asked in Detroit What do you make of the Miles Garrett acquisition by the Rams. And here was his answer. Yeah, I mean, good for them, you know. I mean they've won it now, right?
Man.
So, um Yeah, I honestly, I had none. I mean, he's a hell of a player versus hell of a player, you know, and they're two totally different players. Um But, you know, that was what they felt like they needed to do, and good for them, man. Yeah.
I mean, his answer could be like, I'm the coach of the Detroit Lions. What are you asking me for? Because the subtext of the question is: you're asking me because. You think I'm going to give you the answer that the Rams are now better than us? And that's why he's like, yeah, I guess Then it's over now.
You want it? And that's beginning to resonate. You're going to start to hear this more in more and more places. You might not have you know, been paying attention to the career of Mac Wilson Sr. A twenty nineteen fir fifth round draft choice now currently playing in Arizona.
Alabama Crimson Tide fans know who he is. Maybe some SEC fans are aware of his Um pridefulness. But he resides in the division. that Myles Garrett now occupies. A place in.
Get it? Right about miles driving. They gotta gotta deal with us. At the end of the day they gotta deal with us, huh? Here comes guys.
Wow. Here it comes. No, but p You're going to start hearing that we're not right waving white flags here. They got a deal with us. And I'm just wondering if prior to October 18th, week six.
Cardinals at Rams. That um Somebody in the Rams tape department might cut that one. But you can't blame him, right? You can't blame him. What's he supposed to say?
What is he supposed to say when you are asking other. players that question like I did to George Kittle. Like I did to George Kittle just the other day. The subtext is I'm asking you. Because they're now officially better than you with Miles Garrett, right?
That's the subtext. Anytime you ask another. Player in the NFL, not on the Los Angeles Rams, about this question. Cooper Cup was in, we've got a bunch of talented guys here. Kittle, right?
I purposely did set it up with him by asking him about his comeback.
Okay. His hey, you're coming back. And I'm like, it's too bad. Your season's over. And this was his reaction, just staring off into space, like, all right, Rich, you're going there.
It's too bad your season's over. Like, you're coming back for setting yourself up for comeback player of the year, but that's all you're going to win, right? Yeah.
That is the subtext to Garrett showing up for the Rams. And it's just Only beginning now. I'm telling you, there's going to be some fantastic sound bites that are coming in training camp and prior to games. Against the Rams, certainly if they get off to a hot start. Certainly if they You look at the Rams schedule, and if they go to Melbourne, Melbourne, pardon me, Melbourne, Melbourne.
I better get that straight because Hugh Jackman's on the show next week. Evan. And then they On Monday Night Football. Teach Jackson Dart a lesson. And then they go to Denver.
And then they go to Philly. And then on Monday night football in front of the whole country they Beat the Bills. I mean, that's a pretty. And then they're 5-0 walking in a Mac Wilson's. Weak.
by welcoming him into f sofar. And maybe the Cardinals are 3-2. I get it. All I'm saying is that. If they get off on that Zoomer zooming start.
Every time you face somebody like Garrett's coming, if Donald's there too. How are you going to beat them? And it's just a very prideful group of men in an NFL. Locker room. They don't want to hear it.
And any time you ask them that question, it's infused with the subtext of you've got no shot.
So what's your reaction to having no shot? It's common, guys. It's already happening. I can't wait to watch this play out. Let's go to Al in Dallas.
All right, Albert. You nervous too? What's going on in your neck of the woods, Al? Uh m no, I'm not nervous. Um I'm You know, listen, they played the worst game they've played in fourteen games, and they were still in it to the very end.
They missed so many shots, they turned the ball over. And they got rough housed. That's the thing that, to me, is just concerning, is that they got rough housed in their own house. They need to, you know, I don't want to see a Miami Heat Knicks style game where. You know, somebody's wrapped around the legs of Alonzo Mor, you know, of a Wemby, but they need to get a little, uh, they need to act a little tougher.
And I don't know, you know, what player needs to do that because You know, what they're doing to Brunson. is is is kicking his his tokus. You know, and they're really just it's making him a little ineffective because I'm starting to see little flashbacks of. turnovers and A little over dribbling. I think maybe a little bit more Alvarado out there, who shows a lot of shows a lot of chutzpah and can can dribble a little bit.
I don't know. Here's what you're getting at, Al. Here's what you're getting at here. Let's chop it up. Is Alvarado instead of Brunson is not the answer.
But what Alvarado is doing. But what Alvarado is doing no, I got you. But what Alvarado is being able to do, whether it's his speed or his size, is he's able to beat The spurs off and their terrific perimeter guard play. on defense. He's able to beat them off the dribble more than pretty much anybody else.
Like he's not getting trapped by two guys. 40 feet away from the basket with the mid-court line. As their backstop, right? Like he's able to beat them. and potentially find a three-point shooter spotted up, open, That for Because he's able to be so quick, the Spurs aren't able to close in on that guy.
And the person who's closing in on that guy more often than not is Wembunyama because all he's got to do is take two steps and stretch his arms out, and he's defending him, right?
So that's. The Knicks on offense are getting into their sets. With six to eight seconds to go on the 24-second clock, and that puts a ton of pressure on him to make shots. What they've been doing in the last 13 games.
So that I think that's what you're getting at here. But you look at Brunson's final stat line. I mean, he had thirty two points in game three after having all that foul trouble. He was just eleven to twenty five from the floor, and that's that's not efficient enough. Oh, yeah, and I'm not.
Listen, Jalen Brunson is the legend, he's the man. I'm not, but you just saw some of those troubling. Yeah, I mean, you said it, getting trapped away from the ball, picking up the ball, the wrong guys having the ball. This is the first time we've seen it in 13 games, boo-hoo, right? I mean, we got we got rich people problems, no pun intended, Richard.
But, you know, it's like. And I think they're going to go. And what I like about what I love about Mike Brown as opposed to Tibbs is he seems to be a little more malleable, a little bit more. Hey, we're going to do this. I'm going to make changes.
He already made a change. you know, early in the playoffs.
So I'm extremely confident, extremely confident. that we're going to see a much better performance And I mean, San Antonio shut the lights out of the ball too, by the way.
So let's not forget that. And this is no slouch of a team. Yeah.
Uh I but I'm I'm extremely confident. I I I I I I would be shocked. Stop. If there wasn't a much better performance. And the performance that they had, they almost won the game and still didn't play well.
I'm looking forward to it. Richard, I got to say this also before I go. I watched that Dan Patrick interview, that show. That is my new favorite interview show. What an awesome thing that was.
And you did a great job, and I can't wait to continue to watch the series as it does. The Berman one's next. Oh, it's already out. You can catch that one. Mike Greenberg's next.
And it's just a fun series, and it's chock full of memories and nostalgia and fun, good stories between people who. And we get to learn a lot about you and the person you're interviewing. And, you know, how and look what's happened. I mean, you've. You know, you've risen from all that and become the successor you are.
So it's great. It's actually pretty inspirational. Thanks. And I'm not just sucking up to you because appreciate it. No, if you are, I'll accept it.
Thank you, Alan. That's Alan Dallas. There he goes. Just in game three. Uh You know, Spurs shot the ball better.
They shot 46% from the floor. Nick shot 45%. They both shot thirty-five percent from three. The Spurs made 12 threes. The Knicks made more threes, 13.
And they were 0 for 9 in the fourth quarter. The Knicks took only three more threes.
So it's not like the Knicks did, you know, with all due respect, like the Celtic thing, which is they took 50 and only made 13. Right. Um Free throw shooting. Nick shot 82% from the line. Spurs shot seventy eight percent final.
They took 10 more free throws. Missed seven. And they they made um Seven more. Free throws. Then the Knicks did.
And one by four. I mean, you could keep going on and on and on here about the turnovers. Spurs turned it over eight times, Knicks, 13. And there were some really bad ones, too. Where it's just like the You know, they were holding the beer of the Wemby hitting castle in the back of the Jersey type turnovers.
Um So Yeah. I don't know, you know, I can't watch pregames for for games that just rile me up. I just can't. Although inside the NBA is an exception. Again, I just keep on talking about, you know, when it's a Michigan Ohio State, unless less less less person, I just want to sit in front of the T V and say, I wonder what Urban thinks.
Like, that ain't happening. I'd maybe tune in at halftime. They're saying some wild stuff on that halftime show. What? Especially last game.
Well, I know that. By the way, Charles is the best. He's talking about Cardi B. Those were Cardi's Ds, right? You know, yeah.
And he told Dan today, because he was on DP show, that he hopes that he gets fired because he's got six, seven years left on a contract that they know he's not going to finish.
So he doesn't care. But I will tell you this, I would bet that. That line, you know, even though it might be offensive to some, that's Charles.
So, oh, yeah, he's like, that's what that's why he does have six, seven years left on his contract because he says stuff like that. The other one he told Dan was: one of the downsides is to taking a GLP, you know, that he's lost a lot of weight, is that when he tells people to kiss his ass, there's less of it. There is. Just Charles, just be Charles. Like, that's what we want.
Yeah.
I'm sure what ESPN wants. That's great. Just be you, man. Can't have Shamett go one of eight from three. That, yeah.
Don't you blame it on Landry Shamett?
Well, him and Mikhail Bridges were two for 13. Yeah, Bridges, the same way that game two is a Bridges game, game three, you know, there were some misses. But you have to, dude, it's not, you have to credit. The Spurs defense. I'm not sure.
How many, like, if the Knicks are constantly. Starting their offensive sets with 10 seconds ago on the 24, 8 seconds to go on the 24, 6 seconds to go on the 24. Spurs have won the possession.
Well, that's what Alan said, too. It's obviously noticeable the last game. Brunson dribbling too much. They need more ball movement. And so.
You know, that would lead to Shamet getting a one for eight because I'm sure the looks aren't open. I'm sure they're rushed. Same thing with bridges. You know, and then if the officials are just ignoring a mugging in on 34th Street. Yeah.
That doesn't help either. All right. 844-204-H number dial. I've got my power rankings coming up. My power rankings coming up.
with my um the best defenses in the national football league. Fun.
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Okay, let's go to who's been waiting the longest here, man? Um I I'll I'll I'll go with uh um Tom in Westchester, New York's been hanging on for a while. What's up, Tom? What's going on? You there, Tom.
How are you, Tom in Westchester, New York? What's going on? I'm good. I just I wanted to do the giant schedule. the win-loss game for the New York Giants, do you?
Oh, yeah. All right, here we go. He says, like, this is like he's very excited about this. I wonder what's going to wind up here. The only other person has been Matthew in Connecticut, who had the Giants go 12 and 5.
Let's see how Tom and Westchester does here. Uh home for the Cowboys to start it off. I think that's a loss.
Okay, DJ. He gets it. He gets it. Alright, he gets it. Then you visit the Rams on a Monday night.
That's probably a loss. That's 0-2 now. 0-2 home for the Titans. I think we win that one. I went high register.
Home for the Cardinals. Uh when? Two and two now at the Commanders. I think that's a win also. All right, higher register, three and two.
Home for the Saints.
Well, I actually called earlier in the year and I said the Giants would beat the Saints, which turned out to not be true. They turned it over nineteen pounds.
So what are you going to do here? I'll say win. All right, that's four in a row now going to the Texans. And that's a loss. Four and three at the Eagles.
That's week nine. That's coming off a buy.
Okay. You're now 500, 404, hosting the Commanders on a short week Thursday night. Do you sweep them? No, I think we split because the Eagles are probably going to beat us pretty bad. Man, we're coming off the pie.
You're now under 500. You're now 4-5 hosting the Jaguars. That's probably a loss, too, honestly. Four and six at the Colts and Daniel Jones. Mm.
We could win that one. Ending that four-game losing streak. You're now five and five, five and six. hosting the Niners. That's most likely a loss.
Five and seven at the Seahawks. I think we need a miracle, so that's probably a lot. 5-8 hosting the Browns. I think we'll beat the Browns. Six and eight at the Lions on a Monday night.
I think the Lions beat us. Six and nine at the Cowboys. I actually think these last two games we might win because the Eagles and the Cowboys might rest their starters.
So we might have a chance there. Eight and nine, Tom and Westchester says the first. Season of John Harbaugh with the Giants is an eight and nine campaign. And hopefully, we'll improve on that. Thank you, Tom.
Appreciate the call. Eight and nine. Your thoughts? I think they should be happy with that. I think they'd sign for that.
I don't think they would be signing for that or happy with that. At all. Yeah.
Starting with 0-2, then get to 500 and get above 500, and then lose 4 in a row. That would they would be they would lo they they'd finish four and seven after being four and two. I don't think that would be a happy time in New York. I mean, they win total seven and a half, so you know, I got you. There you go.
So Tom's right on the number. Speaking of numbers. There's 10 of them in power rankings. Hey, I have my power rankings of NFL defenses in 2026. As they currently stand in my mind, presented by SoFi.
Hit it, please. Hit it. Ah Power rankings. Many like it, but this one is my power rankings. Man, I love that open because it involves private pile from a full modal jacket and then me screaming the word power rankings into a microphone.
I don't know. Well, it makes me laugh. It does, and that's all that matters to me, as you know, frequently on this program. Um When I said earlier on in this show, hey, I'm going to do power rankings of the top defenses in the NFL, somebody from one end of the sets goes, What's your criteria? What are you basing it on?
This is a clear. What do you mean? What are you basing it on? I'll tell you what I'm basing it on. Numbers, facts, and gut feel.
And a set of eyes. Set of eyes. I like that. You know what I mean? No, I'm not a big analytics guy, Rich.
I like your head, like, like, you know, your head or your gut. That's what I'm saying. But I would start with two teams that weren't anywhere near the top of defenses last year. Oh, wow. Because there's always something to improve upon.
Yeah.
Okay. I think I know where this is going. Number 10 on the list, Nande Matabike. If he comes back, And then you can plug in their new head coach in Baltimore to the equation. You know?
They're plugging in their new HC. Their young guy, my guy from the University of Michigan and the Jim Harbaugh program, also John Harbaugh. Both of them. I think the Ravens are going to be a top 10 defense again. What do you think about that?
That's not a rhetorical question. What do you think about that? Top ten defense. Why not? I don't I don't know.
All right? Yeah.
Good response.
Okay. Breaking it down, but I just gut feel. Then you're definitely not gonna like. Huh? Uh My gut feel on that is: eh, okay.
Jesse Minter, all he does is just stop people.
Okay. Number nine on the list. They were DFL last year. I love what the cowboys are cooking.
Okay. And I'm calling my shot here.
Okay, baby. I'm calling my shot and say the Cowboys are going to have a top 10 defense. Oh, a top 10? Yes, sir. I'm putting him at nine.
All right. Top 90. I love that line. I love Caleb Downs in the back to solidify and then marry the front and the back end. That's what you're supposed to do.
That's what Warren Sapp told me a long time ago: front and back, and then the defense play together. They're married. That's what you got to do. I'm hearing good things, man. Dude, an overshone in the middle.
He's healthy, running like a deer, sideline to sideline. Doing his thing. Caleb Downs has supposedly taken over. Dude. Let's go.
Come on. Defensive rookie of the year candidate on the back end of a Dallas Cowboy defense with the chip on his shoulder saying, wait a minute, I could have played for my dad's team, and they went with an offensive lineman instead. I could have played for the Commanders. They went for my teammate in Sonny Styles instead. He's going to have Chip on his shoulder.
Twice. Both of them. And they play Two teams. Yeah.
How many teams?
Okay. Yeah, Dallas was 30th in yards per game. That was all loud last year. 30.1 points per game. That was DFL last year.
Yeah.
Number eight on the list. You know, I know they let go of Jonathan Grenard, but they still have. Brian Flores, and they still have this defense. I put the Vikings eight. I put them eighth.
Here. I still think they've got a top 10 defense. And that jolly horn should be a blowing. Quite a bit. Hmm.
Yeah.
Do you do that again? I don't wish to do that again. Vikings third in yards allows us to feel like that, Jay? It did.
Okay. That was like that. They lost Jesse Minter, but the Chargers are still the Chargers, and they still got all those guys, and they still got Darwin James. who's been pizza. They were ninth in points per game allowed last year, 20 flat, but the Chargers are seventh here on my list.
Number six on the list was fifth overall last year in points per game, 19.1. Per game, the Philadelphia Eagles are still pretty damn good on that side of the ball. Everybody focuses on the offense for a reason. You know, obviously, A.J. Brown's gone now, so let's focus there.
But the Eagles still have, you know, Quintana Mobe and Cooper DeGene, and those guys in the middle of that defensive line that. And you know, you know, if they need pass rush, Howie Roseman will just flip a three for somebody, knowing that they'll walk. At the end of the season, all get a three is a draft comp. He does it every year. Yeah, yeah.
So that's the bottom half, if you will, of the top defenses in the NFL. Number five on this list. Everybody watched them improve game to game to game last year. Certainly towards the end of it. I'm putting your Patriots five, Christopher.
Good spot. I think Christian Gonzalez might be a defensive player of the year candidate this time. Yeah, speaking of guys about to get paid. He's that good man. Yeah.
He's that good. And I know we're not writing home about a lot of these name players, but together, holy crap. Did they peak when it was necessary last year? I mean, the Super Bowl wasn't pretty, but it could have been even uglier if it wasn't for him making a few stops. Yeah, they ranked fourth last year in points per game at 18.8 points.
That's it. That's all they gave up. They gave up less than three touchdowns all game last year. Number four on the list is the team that beat. A lot of people up defensively.
I'm putting the Broncos here. We're putting the Broncos at four. Man, are they freaking good? Number three on the list was 10th overall last year. They gave up 20.4 points per game.
But Miles Garrett is on this team now, and I'm putting him here. I think the Rams are now in the top five defensively. Don't forget, Trent McDuffie's on the back end, too, man. And Aaron Donald's coming back.
Well, I mean, if Aaron Donald comes back, then, you know, obviously I'll revisit this equation. I'm just going to keep saying this conversation. Jalen Watson was added defensively as well.
So they took two corners from Kansas City. Which, by the way, is not on this list, but they were a top 10 defensive last year, even with. um them having a massively off year.
So, they were 10th in yards allowed, the Chiefs. They're three. Number two on the list are the Houston Texans.
Okay. I mean,. Two, who's better? Who's left? Who are you talking about?
All right, there's one I can. Yeah.
The Texans are unbelievable. And they're young, and they're good, and they're just gunning for you, and they're trying to make your life miserable. But number one is the defending Super Bowl champs. Oh, now you respect the champs. What do you mean that?
What is. Ta-da. Yeah.
Come on. Wow. Come on. What do you mean now I respect that? I've always respected the defending Super Bowl champs.
I had that they weren't, I don't have them wanted the way too early number war two.
Now, that was a good idea.
Well, I because I wanted to excuse me, I wanted to use, there's a method. Let me explain my method. How dare you? They got the belt. He's like the method man.
Uh I went with an AFC team and an NFC team. At the top two, there, just to kind of give people an idea of where I'm thinking for a Super Bowl matchup. More Sam Darnold disrespect.
Okay. Seattle's defense. Seattle's defense was stupid. Off the charts. And, you know, let's see if any of their losses will come to bear here.
But. I'm just gonna assume John Schneider got a couple draft picks right. Tends to be. And that's my power rankings of the NFL defenses 1 to 10 in 2026, as it currently stands. Presented by SoFi.
Get your money. Right. I hope you get your money right as much as I got these choices right. Because I did. No love for the Raiders.
Come on. Mm-hmm. You know, you're a fan, but it's important. Tim in Arizona now. Oh, he really?
Yeah, Tim in Arizona joins Raider Nation and says, I'm going to be so into this 5-12 team. Yeah.
I'm here. We suck.
Okay. Thank you. All right, you know what we're gonna do?
So, are you gonna raiders? Let's buck you up, okay? Thanks. There we suck. Let's buck you up.
You wanna hear from Kirk Cousins and Fernando? Oh, yeah. Come on. You know what I mean? Stepbrothers.
Peaches and cream, the stepbrothers. You know what I mean? Who are we hearing from first? The top first over real pick? Let's hear Rendoza first.
What's he talking about? Always talking about all learning. Oh, we keep talking about, you know, other quarterback competitions and learning and things like that. This should be a competition.
Well, I mean, it may be, but these two guys are, you know. Best friends. You know what I mean? They're best friends, right? Yep.
One of them's not scraping their you know what's, and the other one's drum kit. All right, here's Mendoza. Yeah, I feel like we're all in different stages. Kirk. being more of a veteran, Aiden being in his fourth year.
fifth, push was fourth, and then me being in my first year And then also Jacob Clark, the other a UDFA quarterback who's also in his first year. We've all come together and have combined our experiences, whether it's from an experienced mind, a naïve mind, and then Aiden's mind, who's a little bit of who's a mix, who's a little bit of a veteran, And to be able to collaborate with Coach Jinoco and Coach Lullovan and Coach Kubiak has been very Very influencing for me in my development. Whether it's just sitting back and listening to Kirk have a conversation with Coach Dinoco, whether it's asking Aiden O'Connell a question, whether it's hearing Coach Kubiak talk to the whole offense. It's been an overload of information and I've been trying my best to take on all the information and try to apply it on the field. You just want to hug him with every answer.
Just give him a hug. Get him in Doza Jersey. Because he's talking about Aiden O'Connell, right? I'm talking about the UFA. The undrafted UDFA guy.
That's right, okay. Yeah, he Fernando's not the only Big Ten quarterback. from the state of Indiana and that. Quarterback room? There's a Purdue boilermaker named Aiden O'Connell in there.
Lot of young pups in there. He's just a pop. That's cool. You know, they're all eating from the same bowl. Like puppies.
Yes.
Well, let's get the pop cup. The pop cup. Yes.
Pop cup. Yeah.
They're all puppy dog pals. But they are. But the old dog, the OG. Kirk Cousins, he was asked about mentoring. Oh.
I think to say I'm mentoring them is a bit of a reach, probably more of a narrative than it is the truth, in the sense that they're pretty good players and pretty experienced. And I'm learning a lot from them too and asking questions of them. And so it's always been a working force together in the quarterback room, and that's what it is. Nobody's leading more than someone else. I think we're all just kind of a working force together, helping each other, giving feedback, giving perspective, giving another set of eyes.
And I've always felt I prepare my best during the season when we can all kind of be together in that room in the evening going over things together rather than working in our own silos. I think when we can kind of all be giving feedback on each other, that's when you can. The best ideas come out. Yeah, man. Exactly the opposite of the Minnesota.
Exactly. Can we send this clip to Minnesota and be like, hey, guys, this is how you need to answer questions from now until week one. Unless it. That is an accurate accounting of what it is in their quarterback room. And the one that you heard from Minnesota is an accurate accounting of what's going on in their quarterback room.
And one. And the other? are different ways to approach it. One sounds more healthy than the other. Right?
But there's also another reason why Kurt. Kirk is pushing back on the mentoring thing. It's like, he's not there to mentor, he's there to. start games and win games for the Las Vegas Raiders. That's what he's over.
So at the end of the day, there will be a competition. There will be some people going out there competing for the one job that's out there. And, you know, there can be a lot of this all-shuck stuff that you want to just hug Fernando Mendoza, but at the end of the day, That's a competitor down there, man. And he's going to want that gig. Right.
This is going to be hot. The Raiders are going to have a better season than the Vikings. That is hot. I don't think we could take the temperature of it. That's how hot it is.
It's melting the thermometer. Yeah.
That's it. Right top. I don't think you need to go any further than listen to the quarterbacks talk. Just because you're listening to them talk. That's absurd because one of the two is going to get chosen.
In Minnesota, and one of the two or three, or you know, you include the fourth one, it's going to get chosen in Vegas, and they're going to go out there and they're going to play. TJ, you got the vibe meter out. Yeah.
What is the vibe meter in Vegas versus Minnesota? And that is going to translate to wins and losses in June.
So what? It's kind of early, but. Yeah.
Or in the case of Minnesota, that's a May sound bite. Come on now. At one point Kevin O'Connell's going to choose one, and that's it. End of the story. And they're going to start playing games, and they're really good.
That's still Justin Jefferson out there, who is someone who can overcome a vibe. By the way, we're a one and five start away from you know what? I want to be somewhere else. Hot ticks. I'm just kind of surprised it hasn't happened already.
Okay, that's an interesting take, and I'll allow it. If you will, for the lack of better phrase, I hear you. Put a pin in it. I'd love for you to, although unfortunately, you're Minnesota fans, you to come back on the show, say, late October and go, remember on June 10th?
Okay, that's entirely possible. You may be right as well. Speaking of another Billy Joe song, right? But the only thing I'm thinking about is you're hearing this stuff about this quarterback room right now. The Raiders' quarterbacking room used to be hung over.
And tired and smoking sigs, you know what I mean? Like tattoo artist in the corner, you know what I mean, right? And these guys. They're probably watching Puppy Dog Pals in their spare time. Oh, yeah, for sure.
What the hell's going on? They brought their toys. 844-204-Rich, number to Dahl here on the program. We'll get you set for game four tonight. One last time.
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Apply. All right. One last NFL soundbite that caught my eye. Mike LaFlore. Hmm.
As you know, James Connor's there, right? He's coming back. Yeah, that's right. And they went ahead and drafted Jeremiah Love. Those are two pretty damn good backs.
And that's, you know, they got Trey Benson there too, right? That's a loaded running back room. Riches. What are you going to do? How do you handle that if you're the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals roll tape?
You want to be able to divvy that thing up.
Now, you can't have everybody up on game day because of obviously the roster limitations right there. But if we can split it up, keep it fresh, have a third down back, like we're not at that point, but that's the perfect world and we'll see what's the best thing, you know, going into September. With that being said, just like if Steph Curry's on fire and he's supposed to get his sub, you're not taking the hot hand out. And that's kind of the same approach you end up taking with a back. Like a back, just like a basketball player or any football player can get into a rhythm.
It's like just keep giving the football. Like he's just feeling it right now.
So again, hopefully at some time, all those guys are going through that flow and they're kind of in that zone right there. But to your first point, the depth is that's a net. Positive for the Cardinals. Two things. You're drafting Jeremiah Love top of your fantasy draft.
This has got nothing to do with winning games for the Arizona Cardinals. We're not talking about you. Not anymore. You're thinking Jeremiah Love, you're going to use a top five pick on him. Not anymore.
And all of a sudden, oh, James Connor's getting all these carries.
Well, Trey Benson's got that hot hand. This sounds like Falcons year one, Bijan Robinson. Is that like a danger warning sign to you, that comment? That is a red flag across the fantasy universe right now. Right?
TJ? You feel the same way? Because I heard that, I'm like, wait a minute. Be careful on drafting a rookie here. Or is he just so damn good?
That's what he's got to say right now because there's too many guys that are so damn good. And it's going to be Jeremiah Loves Gig at the end of the day. He's going to have that high. James Conner's too good to not get run, though. James Conner is on the wrong side of the running back age, coming back from a pretty serious and gross injury.
Right. You know, we've been waiting for the Trey Benson takeoff, and it's just been kind of stalled out a little bit the last couple seasons. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
It does give you kind of pause, like, whoa, I don't like hearing that, but it's June. And Love's gonna be the guy.
Okay. Yeah.
Yeah.
Double-digit touchdowns. I can't anticipate it being less than that. The other thing that I'm taken away from this and the radio audience might might might miss out on it, but it's too bad. What's the bangs to tall hair ratio on Mike LaFleur? He looks so young.
No, not young. I'm talking about the hair. I know, this is, but Brockman and I were talking about. He's got bangs, and then it goes up. Like it goes straight.
Is it a Pelicero situation? I don't know. Those are bangs? Doesn't it but it looks like he's got a straight it's a hairstyle what but that so you you about a again I have these questions because I'm jealous yeah jealous so you've got the hair you go an inch up and that's when you you you you take a comb or a brush and then you go straight up from there I'd have to call Benny. Onions go straight up from jump.
I think they cut it shorter. And then leave it. I have haircuts in it. Why am I saying anything? I mean, we're into the wrong thing.
And then the sides, they're high. It's a high spade. Nice spade. It's a high spade, man. That lineup's kind of tight.
It's at least a way. All of it's a choice. All of it's a choice, which, by the way, I'm jealous that there's a choice. I'm out of choices. I have no choice.
That's not true, Rich. Turkey. Leon and Susie might go. Turkey. Yeah, I mean, look, the Rich Eisen show live from Istanbul.
Yeah, the Istanbul version of the Rich Eisen show. Suddenly, I look like cousin It. Do a family trip from the Adam Samples. Nice little. Before it's all said and done, I want to see rock a ponytail, man.
I think that would be a ponytail. Rich. A ponytail or a man? That's a choice from Mike LaFleur. Yeah.
He's making it. You remember, like, we had the picture of him with the NFL owners' meeting, and he's sitting there, and there was a cactus behind him, too. And it's like, who's wearing it better? You know, spiky. Who's wearing it better?
It's a choice. I'm jealous, man. Mike, you do, you, man. You do you. And give the ball to Jeremiah Love.
If Robin's taking Jeremiah Love time in his draft, you better not play a hot hand named Demercato. Just know that Connor is going to get some goal-line touchdowns. You have to be okay with that. It's going to happen. But Love is probably going to, you know, he's going to be the RB1.
He might run it in from midfield, though. Love say he wanted to play kickoff. That's not happening. He said that's us at the Kanban. I told him to his face at the Kanban.
We just met, sir. But I can assure you, that's not happening. I don't know which team's going to take it. Yeah.
Come on. Chris Weber is going to break down game four of the NBA Finals tomorrow on a great fun show. Thanks for listening to the Rich Eisen Show Podcast. You can watch and listen to The Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from noon to 3 Eastern on ESPN Radio, Disney Plus, and on the ESPN app, The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast. I'm Kiana, and I leveled up my business with Shopify.
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