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Now, on with the show. I think this is the last year of Joe Burrow's exemption for taking the Bengals to the Super Bowl. This is the Rich Eisen Show. You had one game to win. Only one game season.
Joe Burrow was recorded back. Bingo, sir. Earlier on the show, ESPN Sports Center host Scott Van Pelt. Three-time American Century Championship winner, Marty Fish. Coming up.
ESPN NBA reporter Dave McMeniman. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Our number three, The Rich Eisen Show is on the air.
So much going on here on this SB Day V, the V Foundation has the. The coffer's open for you to just throw money into it, please. And let's raise as much money as possible right now. Going to ebay.com/slash Espies. And what's closing right now is an opportunity to have a VIP trip to the Daily Show, which is a brilliant program on Comedy Central.
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So there's that. Um I would be bidding on that for Xander. Who is the biggest Swifty I know? Um not named, I guess, Travis Kelsey. Um but um Uh I would bid on it, but um I'm imagining That's his college fund that would be on the line for something like this.
I don't think he would mind not going to college. Wow. I think Zan would be like, I'll find another advice. Good point. But at any rate, v.org slash donate if you don't want to just go into the auction area for all of the SPs are tonight.
We're here on ESPN2 for the third of our three-hour program. Marty Fish just left. He won the American Century Championship. He brought his championship lab coat with him. Um hour one we spoke with uh Scott Van Pelt uh the uh World Cup.
We've got England and Argentina kicking off in less than an hour. We have France having been dispatched by Spain. The Major League Baseball All-Star game went down last night. Two Yankees got back-to-back RBI hits in the first inning last night to lead the American League. Normally, I would lead with that sort of stuff, but not when LeBron James delivers a 22-emoji salute to Chris Brockman on his Instagram story page in relation to Chris's take that he said here on this program, that it got aggregated by NBA on ESPN and the ESPN handle as well, that we all need to brace ourselves for LeBron to be a non-factor this year.
And if he joins Miami, they're still going to be enjoying the play-in tournament. And we figured who knows more about LeBron and Chris Brockman together than Dave McMenamin of ESPN. And so he's been kind enough to take some time away from his coverage of the Summer League in Las Vegas to join us here on the program. How are you, Dave? I'm doing well.
Seeing that screen grab from LeBron's social media response to Chris, he couldn't be just making fun of both Chris and I for doing team top button and button in our polos all the way up. Thank you. I've gotten a bunch of texts about that from friends the last couple of days. It's a clean look, Rich. You may want to consider it.
No, you know, you got a lot of. No, no. You do you. I'll do you. And Chris will do him.
Rich, I think for Chris Purpose, you should.
Well, and then LeBron, LeBron did Chris pretty much. Not dirty, I don't think, but maybe he thinks you did him dirty. What do you make of LeBron's response to Chris, Dave, knowing LeBron as you have covering him for as long as you have? Dave. What do you think?
Well, I think it would indicate that he's having a degree of fun with this extravaganza that's now stretched out for more than two weeks. We are in week three, breaking news. We are into week three of the LeBron decision, and it's only going to continue to amp up the attention and the rumors and the conjecture. And we're finally get to hear from him later this week. He's going to New York.
He's making four public appearances in New York City in the span of about 36 hours. And I'm not anticipating us knowing where he's going to be playing next. season prior to those The appearances beginning, and I'm not so sure we're going to know by the end of those appearances.
So I'm very curious to see what he's going to say about his thought process as he shows up to Fanatics Fest, does a live taping of a podcast, does a panel with Rich Klein from the boardroom, shows up the Time 100 gala, and then does a taping of the shop, his barbershop-style television show.
Okay.
So, also, then maybe you can help translate this. Chris, you're saying a lot of the responses. You've seen. To the 22 emoji salute that you received from King James is. Being taken by Heat fans as a positive sign for them?
Yeah, Heat fans seeing that as an indication that, you know, because I said they'd still be a play-on team, that's LeBron kind of laughing at that notion that that's a sign he's going to Miami. All right, and that Miami fans are trying to parse out the, that LeBron's going to be a non-factor. That's what I thought he was going to be. That's a great way to look at it, I guess. Right?
And TJ thinks that that's what. Elicited all those L and disagree with him. Disagree with him, and you're lockstep with me. What do you think, Dave? What do you think?
I guess. I didn't take it to be any sort of clue of where he's going to go. I would say, from speaking to. People close to LeBron, speaking to people around the league, Miami remains a realistic. Possibility of where he's going to choose.
Miami. Sean's yesterday, and he's done a great job covering this story. He put it as Miami, Cleveland. and and Philadelphia as the the three top Frontrunners, I would include Golden State in that list just based on conversations with people in Golden State who don't believe that they're out of it at this time. But I wouldn't venture a handicapping system beyond that right now.
And I think this is the way LeBron and his advisors have structured it. They didn't want to be giving out any clear indication. And that's why when I talked to people from Philadelphia yesterday, they told me that we're not actually talking to LeBron right now. It's our players who are talking to LeBron and then filtering what they hear from LeBron back to us. And then we try to.
either send messages back or try to interpret exactly what's being said thus far. Yeah, you you know, you you are your story on ESPN.com knocked Chris off of the social pages last night. And I guess how many more times can I try to turn your Instagram story foray into the world of 154 million people as the through line to get to this LeBron story. I think I'm out of shots on that front. But what was your reporting on the Philadelphia players that you wouldn't mind repeating here, Dave?
Sure. The Philadelphia pursuit is ongoing, and it's led by Tyrese Maxi, who has a long-standing relationship with LeBron. They're both represented by Clutch Sports. They've been working out in the summertimes together over the last several years. Maxi's referred to LeBron as a big brother before.
But it's not just Massey. You have Jalen Brown, who LeBron endorsed as an MVP candidate last year, before he even endorsed Luka Doncic. And also Joelle Embiid, who they've obviously had Experience together in all-star games. They were teammates on the Paris Olympics U.S. basketball team that won the gold medal.
And so that is where the kind of the way I think I phrased it was constant communication is coming from. And again, because that communication remains two-way between LeBron and those players, Philadelphia is another team that don't believe they're out of this thing. Hmm. Anybody else? I mean, we've seen Draymond.
Um put out a video and he played with LeBron and Kevin Hart on the East Coast, I mistakenly identified it as California before. got aggregated twice by ESPN Social since then to amplify my mistake. But listen, we've all been there before. And so what about other pla what about his staff reaching out? Like are we other players Going to LeBron, too?
And in speaking to people who have covered Steph for a long time, they said over the last few weeks, the way Steph has handled this is a complete departure from how he's been willingly involving himself in free agency. pursuits by the Golden State organization in the past. Uh which To me, that is some sort of indicator that. There's true interest, obviously, in Steph joining up with LeBron, but probably because he feels that there's some sort of chance of it happening. Of course, we have to connect the dots between Steph and Draymond.
Steph either planning messages with Draymond when he goes on vacation with LeBron or just staying in communication with what. Draymond's hearing from LeBron. Again, that's another intriguing team. And Shams also has reported that David Mischel of the Cavs has been taking up. Kind of the mantle for the Cavs organization as the player that's been in LeBron's year.
So Again, As we keep going through weeks and days, none of those four teams, to my understanding, have fallen off as a team that Still looks at LeBron as a realistic possibility of joining them next year.
So you mentioned how LeBron has many public appearances in the New York metropolitan area over the next few days. Um and obviously his comments He'll probably reserve them for his own content, which is understandable. What what is the um The timeline, do you think, then, on getting an answer? I wish I knew, man. I want to go on vacation.
I'm supposed to be done. Today's my last day of NBA sidelines at Summer League, and I should be going home and sitting on my couch. But I'm not. I'm taking a red eye to New York.
So. I've been given no indication that it's for sure going to happen this week. I would hope for all of our sakes that it would happen next week. I mean, the NBA calendar has been stretching longer and longer, becoming a 365 sport. But generally, when you get to August through early September, that's the dead period for the NBA.
And so if LeBron decides to drag it on into August, which he did hint back in that podcast appearance with. Steve Nash a couple months ago that he may do. If he does that, quite frankly, it's not just my summer that he's affecting or disrupting. It's the people involved with these teams. And thus far, by him, putting it out there that he's not requiring You know, a certain salary number.
So don't worry about moving around pieces to open up more caps.
So I get an X amount of dollars. He has allowed these teams. still go about their business. While trying to talk to Rich Paul and make it clear that they want him as part of their team, it hasn't changed that business. But if it does drag into August, that is when these people who spend so much time doing this job away from their families have.
Family vacation schedule, and it would disrupt some of that stuff like that. I understand that, but LeBron only comes around once in a blue moon, one would think, despite even how old he might be.
So, last one for you on this, and then I'll ask you about the Summer League and let you go on with your day. And I appreciate the time here.
So, last time you were on this program, Dave McMenim, and you were here in this chair to my right. talking about a deep dive article. About LeBron and the Lakers, and how, on the night that LeBron came up with the The most wins combined in the history of the NBA, playoff and regular season passing Kareem. That the game ball from that night was delivered by Rob Polenka to J.J. Reddick.
For his 100th win as Lakers' head coach. and how that rankled despite LeBron's liking of Reddick. Um and then we learn From other reporting, that the negotiating period between LeBron and the Lakers, in which it was completely exclusive for the Lakers to talk to LeBron. Brian Windhorse was here saying that LeBron did not make himself available at all during that point in time. Was a LeBron return to the Lakers DOA?
Dave McMinnan. It feels that way now.
Now, I can also tell you that when that Lakers team went 16-2 through February, late February, I should say, through the end of March, the vibes around the team, speaking to people who were telling me how LeBron was conducting himself, pouring himself into teammates, pouring himself into coaching staff. it didn't sound like a a guy that at that point had predetermined that Next season, I'm gone. But it seemed like there was. There was something There, that he could bridge to stand on, despite the ups and downs of the relationship LeBron's had with the front office in the eight years. It seemed like a real possibility.
At some point that changed.
Now Rich Paul I believe on his podcast, said at some point in the free agency period from the time the Lakers were swept by the thunder to that day when they told Rob Polinka and company that LeBron will be moving on about eight hours before free agency officially began. That LeBron was, quote, 80%. Returning to the Lakers. Oh. Obviously that was a period post That scene that I wrote about late March after the Philadelphia 76ers win, or excuse me, Cleveland Cavaliers win that the Lakers had.
So, I don't know. Like, I think, quite frankly, this is something that myself and other reporters are going to be continuing to dig into. For the rest of the summer to find out what really went down. And thus far, the only person who can truly tell us what he's feeling has has decided is to be silent so far. Like maybe in New York we at least learn Why LeBron left the Lakers.
Maybe we don't learn the team he's going to, but maybe at least learn more about that part. Because to me, that's still pretty fascinating. Dave McManniman here on the program. What is the story of Summerlee? Ooh, uh you know what?
Just from the games that I've been around. Mm-hmm. Jackel Lindberg, your guy from Michigan, is tremendous. Oh my. He is Yeah.
has such a great feel for the game. If anyone's ever watched an interview with him, he is built with the right personality and presence and confidence to be able to get it done at the next level. He was doing stuff. I was covering his game yesterday for sidelines, where not quite intentionally throwing it off the backboard to get an offensive rebound a la Moses Malone back in the day, but he. If he could see that his initial shot was going to be altered or he had to change it up, he knew where it was going to miss.
That's how he described it to me. And so, almost Rod Manesque, he knew where he had positioned himself, where that ball was coming off. And he would have, he must have had three or four putbacks that way, off his own misses in the game that I covered yesterday. And You think about even if the Warriors don't get LeBron James, him with that aging core, I think it's a fascinating pickup and a great pickup, quite frankly, at the end of 11 spot in the draft.
So he's really opened up my eyes. Caleb Wilson with the Bulls has looked fantastic thus far. Really, all the top picks, you know, Cameron Boozer, Tarren Peterson, AJ DeBonsta. I know. Devon Sloan shut it down, I think, after two games.
But all those guys have given flashes of just. Really high talent and skill level. And we know that those guys I just mentioned, they're going to get the ball a ton. Like all those franchises have basically cleared everything else out. And they're like, this is your team now.
And it's going to be a fascinating race for Rookie of the Year, quite frankly, because I think they're all going to put up monster numbers. Brother, I'm telling you, I'm obviously biased when it comes to Yakshel.
Okay.
I'm flat out. But, you know, when Michigan started putting it together, I believe in Vegas, actually, at that late December tournament, Um When they waxed everybody, you know, from Gonzaga to anybody in front of them. They were just beating up on everybody. I'm sitting there with my youngest son, Cooper, and I'm like, this guy, Yaxel, is as advertised. And we looked down and his height and weight comp.
It's very LeBron. Like, now, listen, I'm going to now stop using that name in relation to Yaxel unless LeBron goes to the team. And that would be another aspect for the Warriors to have him there and Dare to teach Yaxel the ropes. You know what I mean? And, and, I think you're going to find out that the Big Ten player of the year didn't average $20, $25 a night or a game.
Because that's not the way Dusty Mae ran things. You know, there's Moraz and there's Adaimar, just to name the others who were drafted in the first round this year. We're going to find out. You're on to something, Dave. I really believe it.
Yeah, he's, I mean, I also had the pleasure to be around him, interacts with him three or four times now. And he's, he's a pleasure to be around. And that, that also matters in the grind of an NBA season to have a likability factor to make new bonds with teammates.
So, yeah, he's, I think, well on his way. It was a really smart pick by the warriors. And he's given Draymond crap for being Michigan State. And despite Draymond's history with Michigan graduates who are young to the team, he's just going to walk right into that with his chest out. I kind of think that's pretty cool.
So we'll see how that works. Dave. Can I interject one thing with Brockman, if I may? That's the idea. That's why you're here.
I was going to bring it full circle. Please do. Please do. Please do. So when I heard your take.
All I could think of is you're just a Patriots fan. 'Cause that's how the patriots treat Aging greats. They say, get out the door. We don't need you anymore.
So that's just, that's, that's all it is. You've just been, you've been brainwashed by Bill Belichick and the Patriots. And that's why you have this opinion. And I understand it. I understand where it came from.
Well, because you go back to college. You guys are college guys from Syracuse. Yeah. So you know also, like, if there's anybody who can get under anybody's skin. We almost got a full debate as I walked out the studio last time.
So, I mean, this is our interaction. About what? Yeah. About LeBron? Yeah, as he was leaving.
Much odd. Last time, yeah. Yeah. You just can't get over the fact ashed. You went to a Game Seven one year, did you not?
In Boston? Did you not? Oh, yeah, yeah. 2018 Eastern Conference finals. You won that game.
Game seven. You won that Game Seven.
Okay.
Right, okay. And then I blacked out after that. I don't remember what happened next time. He's got a grudge, Dave. Thanks for the time.
Safe travels. Look for more of my texts. But maybe not more of l of LeBron putting Brockman on. Yeah, I'm not going to be on anyone else's social channel. Dave, I felt I looked great in the chat.
You did. You actually did. CJ, it was great. It was very good. Dave McMenamin here on the Rich Island Show everybody.
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I've got my power rankings of the best NFL quarterbacks 1 to 10, ripping a page out of the Jeremy Fowler playbook coming up. I'm putting my name to it next. Rich Eisen here with some advice. If high-interest credit card debt is grinding you down, it might be time to call an Audible with a SoFi personal loan. It consolidates your debt into one low monthly payment with no fees required.
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Alan Dallas is on the program. What's up, Al? How you been, brother? Yeah. Good afternoon.
Good morning, Richard. First and foremost, I want to wish the knower of ball, Chris Brockman, congratulations. Obviously that's a great event. Finally, making Sarah making an honest man of you. It's fantastic.
Finally. little bit of a hot take yeah Chris, but that's okay on the LeBron thing. What's the the f the the chances What's got a better chance? And I think you might have said, I don't know if you said this before. TJ Jefferson in Dallas for the Thanksgiving game?
Or are you getting a point of calls after this? Mm. Mm. I can't imagine. Are you really going to go?
You go home for Thanksgiving. I don't. You have before, though. Nah, 'cause it's so close to Christmas.
So I just. I go home for Christmas. I don't go home for home. I didn't say it was going to be a thing. Who are you going to stay with when you go to Dallas?
There's a hotel right down the down the road. I'll check it out.
Well, listen, DJ, I will I I will feed you at some point if you do come to Dallas for the uh for the Thanksgiving day game. I mean, I don't know if it's a day game, night game, either a pre pretty nice dinner. Oh. you know, brunch, whatever it is. You will have a Thanksgiving meal on Al in Dallas.
I was thinking I was going to head to the Jones crib, but I appreciate it. The Jones crib.
Well, listen, I'm sorry. Listen, you and Coach and Harrison are going to jump on the DJ and come in. That's a DJ. Why would he be with me? I'm talking about my Uncle Jerry, my uncle Steve.
I don't know. But, you know, I know I have to tell you roll sometimes. There you go. All right. Thank you.
That's Alan Dallas, everybody. There he goes. There he goes. Okay.
All right, I don't know why I'm going to do this. This is with a Power Rankings, you know. Great setup because it's a no-win situation. Yeah, it's a no-win situation. That's where we find ourselves.
And whoever I leave off, I'm opening myself up to. Getting 22 laugh my ass off emojis being thrown in my direction on their Instagram story. That's true. We're making a meal out of it. But anyway, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN has these top 10 lists.
as compiled. from his interviews and Questionnaires that he has filled out by unnamed executives and coaches and scouts about who the best at each position in the National Football League are. Love it.
So I'm putting my name to it. Here are my power rankings of NFL quarterbacks. Presented by Sophi. Are you? This is one of the things.
No no. All right, everybody. Jeremy Fowler inspired this. He's got his top 10 lists position by position. The one that got the most attention was the top 10 quarterbacks as ranked by.
Executives and scouts and coaches who don't give their names to it. My name is Rich Eisen, and here are my power rankings. I approve NFL quarterback. I'm approving this message. I don't know if you will.
I don't know if you will, but some of my guys on here.
Some of these match up, I'm not going to lie. Um, and that starts with number 10. I was thinking of putting Jaden Daniels here, but it's an incomplete grade right now. If this was after last year's, after his rookie season, we'd put him there. Sure.
Last year is it. Is it because he was hurt? Or he just didn't play well early on and then he got hurt and he was never healthy. We'll find out this year, won't we? But I'm putting Caleb Williams here.
Ooh.
Okay.
I am. And I understand who's not on the list and why would he be there? It was just one year, but. I mean, in terms of being difficult to defend. He's he's he's there.
He's arrived on that front right now, right? And We'll see if this year is going to be a regression. But right now, I would have to imagine.
Well, stock up, baby. General, generally. That defensive coordinators are being kept awake a little bit longer before they play the Bears. I just really feel like that's the case.
So I'm putting there and him there at 10. I'm putting the guy that you have big problems with at night. He's just too, and again, his physical attributes are just so off the chart. I'm not denying that. I know, but his results, it's a result-oriented business, and he hasn't gotten it there yet.
And Jeremy Fowler himself called this year an inflection point year for him. But he's so damn good, man. And I called that game between the Chargers and the Texans last year for NFL Network, sitting next to Kurt Warner in the third quarter of the game that wasn't going the Chargers' way and eventually didn't. He single-handedly and single-leggedly kept them in it, and no protection up front, just none. Zero.
Almost a full Blue Tarski of production up front and a running game that was Kamani Vidal.
So, and wasn't, that didn't have. Um A great amount of help that way, with a run game or a consistent run game or pass blocking. He's just so... Impressive. I got to put him there at nine.
Number eight. He wasn't on Fowler's list. I don't know I don't get the Jalen Hurts slander, I just don't. I don't understand it. I mean, and again, when you're talking about this list, do you want to win a football game or not?
Do you have to win a football game or not? And I understand last year was sub-par based on the year before. And the year before he was Super Bowl MVP, the two games in which he's played the biggest game of his life. He could have been MVP in both. Even one is a little bit more.
That's quite on the field. You know what I'm saying?
So. I'm putting hurts here, man. Especially since that tush push is a weapon and he runs it better than anybody else. And you can run it in two.
Okay, so I'm putting Hertz here at eight. I'm putting your guy Dak here at seven. Uh seven? Seems a little up. He was sixth in the list, so I'm only knocking him down one.
Because I am going to just say this about Dak. how he can put himself in the top five position. And the top five, I think, is pretty damn tough to crack. Yeah, for sure. But I'm putting them here at Seven.
Because I am going to believe The hype that turned into the reality last year. And this guy's ability to throw a deep ball. and also run around And be that much of a problem. If he cuts down on his Turnovers. Dumb fumbles.
Drake May. could be. One of the best in the NFL, top five, without an argument. And we'll see what happens with A.J. Brown.
We'll see what happens, the run game and all that stuff. Just his ability to just not get phase two, he's beyond impressive, man. And this is why the Patriots were like telling anybody they're trying to get the third overall pick a couple of years ago: get out of here.
So, we'll see. Let's have a good playoffs this year, though. Again, he's got a. He's got to back it up in the same way I'm saying James. Let's see what Jaden Daniels does in year three.
We'll see what does happen. But based off of last year, he's the MVP runner-up. How can I not have him in my top six? Absolutely. All right.
Number five: I'm putting Joe Burrow here. Um I love this guy. And I can't wait. I am going to look to the football gods heavens and say, can you keep this guy healthy, please? Can we protect him?
Can we also knock a few points off the other team score? Yeah, can his defense not get up 35 every game? Can we just give him a lead that he can protect? Because the defense ain't doing it. You know what I'm saying?
Jamar Chase was number one in wide receivers on Jeremy Fowler's list. I'm putting Lamar here just out of respect of he's got two MVPs. Could have had a third. In all honesty.
So I'm putting Lamar here at four, and I do look forward to seeing what he can do this year with his new offensive coordinator coming from the Ben Johnson Bull and Declan Doyle. We'll see. I wish they had a true number one receiver. Yeah. That part.
Number three on the list, I'm putting Matthew Stafford here, baby. He's my MVP. as you know. From your favorite team. I'm passionate Ramps fan.
Guilty is charged. Guilty's charged. I just I I love watching him play football. And he just doesn't have the the legs down. That would put him higher on the list, is really the way I'm putting it.
Doesn't need it? Doesn't need it. Yeah. Doesn't need it. So these three And it's now down on the homes in Allen.
If this was any other year. I'd go with Alan here over Mahomes over Alan, but. Uh Patrick is still Patrick. And I can't wait to see anybody that thinks that he's. I can't wait to see how he feels slighted or using anything as a red ass.
Um I will just say this based on uh dance moves. And seeing those in person recently. Um Looks pretty healthy to me. Oh. Yeah.
I didn't see any limping around. Let's put it that way. Um he's two and Josh Allen is just a beast. I I'm I'm I'm making him one. You know, it's Dealer's choice.
Dealer's choice. Running, throwing. Throw and run. What are we going to do here? A lot of mistakes.
times but that's far sort of far So there's a lot of gunslingers, but Favre couldn't run like this guy.
Now, you know what Favre did? No, he won a Super Bowl. I understand that. I understand that results-oriented business. But in terms of just skill set, in terms of everything, in terms of this ability to still be that guy, even if not fully healthy, he's at the peak of his powers.
And he is at the peak of his powers. And so that's my power rankings of NFL quarterbacks. I took some off the real list and I put mine on my own list. And those power rankings are brought to you by SoFi. Get your money right.
I understand I didn't have Sam Darnold on there or Jordan Love. Folks are pissed that he wasn't on the Fowler list, or I guess now this one. I toyed with putting Baker on there just because I can't quit him. I mean, who that did you see that in the Netflix quarterback series that he was beyond busted up from like week three on? Yeah, I really can't wait to dive in and watch all that.
But seeing some of the clips, it's been pretty interesting, some of the clips that are out there right now. Right.
So you had a problem with my list? I mean, you know, Dak Seven. I like it, though. It's fine. Top 10.
Jordan Love has done it a little bit longer than Caleb Williams has. That would be my only. Done it more than Caleb Williams has, too. He's got the ring. Oh, the last two years, dude.
He's been great last two years. Yeah, but I mean, last year in particular. Yeah. Indeed. Trevor Lawrence, maybe.
I guess. I think you'll hit that. That's where your pushback mainly I think will come from Hawks fans.
Well, they like being disrespected anyway. I mean, they say, oh, nobody respects, but you like it. That's your identity right now. Bro. I saw Mike McDonald at the American Century Championship, and he's ready to roll, bro.
Yeah. This just in. It should be. Coach is ready to roll. Ready to roll.
He was enjoying his final days off. You know, um and he's ready to go. Yeah, I think they asked Baker Mayfield on like the 17. You know, they kind of take a break and interview some of the guys, and he was like, How much did he say? We got about a week left of non-football, and then it's going to be.
That's what's great about the American Century Championship. It's literally the last. Inhale before the exhale. For a lot of these guys. Let's take a break.
I've got my four downs on the Arizona Cardinals. And some more of your phone calls, and one last call to action or two to raise money for the V Foundation here on this SB Day Wednesday. A bandwagon fan. The biggest insult in sports. But this summer, during the FIFA World Cup, it's an invitation, America.
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Every day, I'm doing a four-downs preview of every single team. We're two down, 30 more to go, and we're going down the draft order.
So we did the Raiders, then the Jets.
Now it's time for the Arizona Cardinals four downs, presented by Pello Windows and Doors. Four downs with Rich. Here we go. Why did he suck him up? All righty, everybody.
My four downs on the Arizona Cardinals presented by Pella Windows and Doors. Give me the we do first down for the Arizona Cardinals. First down. Thank you so much. Can Jeremiah Love be the offensive rookie of the year?
I think that's a very um Important question to the success of this team and for them to go ahead and choose the third overall pick. in the form of Jeremiah love was um Um very exciting. Um it lit up the draft. And you know I love running backs. And we met this kid at the draft, and he was like, I'm going to play special teams too.
And I'm like, hold on a second. Nope. I appreciate your moxie. I appreciate you. Enthusiasm.
He is all for being great, this guy. Yeah. But, you know. James Connor's coming off the leg, and Trey Benson's there. How will these carries get split up?
And can he be offensive rookie of the year with the touches he's going to get? Did he split him out wide, too? You're like, okay, there's Marv. There's uh. Michael Wilson.
There's Michael Wilson. There's Trey McBride. And then let's split this kid out wide with James Connor back there? I don't know. That leads to question number two, down number two.
Second down. Is Mike LaFleur head coaching material? If I'm going to ask this question of the offensive coordinator of the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, as I did in the four downs with the Raiders and Clint Kubiak, you bet I'm gonna ask the same thing of Mike LaFleur. Where he's the head coach and material. We're going to find out.
We're going to see what's going on with Mike LaFleur. We're going to see how this all goes down with his choices. the quarterback room, you know, with Jacoby Brissette and There's also Gardner Minshew and who the heck knows how that's all going to work out. And then at the end of the day, how does he run this team? How does he make challenges?
What's going on? That's second down. Third down. This is not patrolling. Uh-oh.
Not uh-oh. Trolling. Will the Ohio State. version of Marvin Harrison Jr. show up this year.
Now, the trolling would be: will the Ohio State version of Marvin Harrison Jr. show up this year? Last time he caught a thousand yards in a season was. his last season at Ohio State. That's the last time it happened.
Yep. Um and then the year before that What's a thousand yard season? Guess what he hasn't had in the first two seasons, you know, Oh that. Have you seen the picture going around social media of him? Of what?
Of Marvin Eric. But he's just jacked or something like that. Bro, he looks like he's getting ready for WrestleMania.
Okay, good. Mike, good for him. Let's see. Let's see what happens. And then here we go.
Force down. Force down. Force down. Um. This is a fascinating question for the Arizona Cardinals.
Does Carson Beck get any run? And can he be the man there? There you go, I like that. The third chosen quarterback in this year's draft. There were two chosen in the first round, as we know.
Um And Fernando Mendoza. And Ty Simpson, and then none in the second round. And the Arizona Cardinals, out of everybody else, said, let's take Carson back. And is he going to get run over the two vets? At some point, do you hand the ball to him and say, go for it and see what we have going into next year's draft?
And can he be the man there? Can he take care of business now? Can he be the one to hook up and make Marvin? Great again. Can he be the one to hook up and keep Michael Wilson on an upward path?
Can you get Trey McBride, who, by the way, has been the leading receiver for Arizona in Marvin Harrison Jr.'s first two years there? Can he keep this? Can he be that guy? Can it be the Beck Love Show? Back there.
Or is he just going to get a little bit of run this year, and the Cardinals will be like, it's a quarterback-rich draft, man. Of kids younger than Carson Beck, who, by the way, was in, if I'm not mistaken, the same recruiting class as. Bryce Young. With CJ Stroud.
So Those are my four downs about the Arizona Cardinals presented by Pella Windows and Doors. When it comes to your home, Pella Windows and Doors always have the winning game plan. That's why your neighbors trust them. Visit pella.com. Slash rich.
And if I chose one more, if we did a one more, it would be how do you compete in this division? You got you're the last place team choosing third overall. in a draft going into his season. In a division that features the two teams that played each other in the NFC championship game. And the team that one of those teams beat to get to the NFC Championship game in the divisional round.
Come on. Best of luck. The original Marvin Harrison didn't have a thousand yards in his season until year four. There we go.
Okay.
And he's in the Hall of Fame. And he had paid Manning. That's true. There's a difference. The Titans are the four downs tomorrow.
And Matt Damon will be here in studio hour number three. Donatev.org slash donate. We're back to wrap it on ESPN 2. 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.
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