Albert Breer: Commanders Hosted 22 Prospects

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Find out how to bring your ideas to life at dell.com slash welcome to now. I don't get that either. What am I waiting for? Today's guests, senior writer for the MMQB, Albert Breer, former Yankees radio voice John Sterling, Michigan cornerback Mike St. Restell, CBS Sports and Turner Sports broadcaster Ian Eagle. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

That's right. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. How's everything going on in your neck of the woods?

Let's chat. 844-204 Rich number to dial right here on the Roku channel. This Rich Eisen Show, terrestrial radio affiliate coast to coast, 70 plus affiliates and growing. We say hello to everyone on Sirius XM Odyssey and anybody listening whenever they want on our podcast. The Cumulus podcast network all three hours. YouTube is another way you can catch up on things. We've got a video on demand service through the Roku channel as well. You can't miss us.

And if you do, guess what? You can catch up with us. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you? I'm great. D.J.

Mikey Diaz and Deez Nuts. Good to see you. Good morning. T.J. Jefferson. Candle is lit yet. Have you lit it?

The candle's lit. And you know, Cowboys got themselves a Rolls Royce. We'll talk about that later. We'll deal with Kias and Teslas. We get Maseratis. We'll hit on that later on. Don't you worry, sir. Don't you? I promise not to go 0 for 10 in this show.

OK, that's my only that's my only pledge. Listen, the Lakers advance and it's kind of wild that, you know, Scott Foster actually refereed that game. And he must have stared real hard at Zion's hamstring with three minutes to go.

Is that what happened? Because Zion Williamson suddenly became completely unstoppable in a game when we said 40 points and 11 rebounds. And he was unstoppable. The Lakers could not stop him.

They could not guard him. They were getting a whole bunch of great play from some of their role players as well. And they came back and it looked like they were going to win the game. And then all of a sudden, Zion's friggin hamstring apparently gave way. So let's blame Scott Foster for that.

I told you what was going to happen. So the Lakers do advance, though. The Lakers do advance. And I'll tell you what, man, I hope Zion's hamstring is somehow not what's happening here, because that's not something he's going to come back from. That's something that the Pelicans are going to have to, I mean, overcome, because I don't see him getting out there on a court if he is, in fact, hamstrung. Is it pulled?

Is it strained? Do we know? We're waiting here on this because this guy was having his big time moment that we had been envisioning for him. When he was coming out of his shoes at Duke, like this is the moment that we were all thinking about when he was trying to battle back from injury his entire career and battle back from whatever his diet was, whatever you want to say.

This was the moment. And the folks in Crescent City were seeing it happen when Brandon Ingram wasn't really having a night. This was Zion's night coming out party, and he was about to put them into a seven game series with the defending champion Denver Nuggets and his hamstring gave way. And the Lakers did what they had to do the rest of the way. And and they're now on and cracking Lakers Nuggets. That is what we call a delicious first round NBA playoff series.

I cannot wait for that to happen. And if Austin Reeves is making threes from friggin logo and Anthony Davis is, in fact, healthy and LeBron is still doing LeBron things and D'Angelo Russell is making threes right in front of the New Orleans bench and giving him the business. And they are getting Gabe Vincent is now in this mix right now. And they have a two to one free throw advantage.

Rui Hachi Mora is performing very well. I tried to tell you guys what was going to happen. Well, and again, you say that all you want. And then Zion was going off for 40 and 11. And then with three minutes to go, it looked like he was unstoppable again. And he's wincing up the court.

So I guess that that was did. Did Scott Foster go out with a knife and slice it? When you have a two to one free throw edge, you're probably going to win the game. And I and C.J. McCollum didn't make a lot of shots. And and again, Brandon Ingram was off.

And unfortunately, now the Pelicans are going to have to take on a Sacramento Kings team that is just shot the lights out and lighting the beam. Despite some some bonus injury foul problems last night. Does he permanently have a black eye? I think he does. He might have been born with one. We have to ask. We'll have to ask Arvitas if we ever get to chat with him.

Was your son born with a black eye? You can't you can't grab 14 boards a game without putting your face in the frame. Exactly. And it looks like the the Pelicans are going to have to do some work without Zion in this game.

Yeah. In an elimination game on Thursday night, the winner moves on to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. The loser goes home. Speaking of going home, we can go home now. The Golden State Warriors are home. And the question is, is the Warriors franchise as we know it and have come to know it also. In a home for those that we know always, always happens when a dynastic run comes to an end. They go to a resting home where we will then now remember them and compare future teams that make six consecutive NBA finals.

Wow. You know, or pardon me, my bad, five consecutive NBA finals winning three of them. And they won four finals and going to six over a lengthy stretch after taking Steph Curry out of Davidson and building a franchise and getting Draymond Green from Michigan State and adding Clay Thompson. And three pointers were raining from everywhere. And Andre Iguodala was doing some great things coming from the veteran point of view and a perfect brew for Steve Kerr to mix it all together. And for them to win championships and to add Kevin Durant, to have somebody of Kevin Durant's quality say, I'm going to join the team that I was unable to beat when I was in Oklahoma City.

I'm going to get some rings there, ring chase, whatever you want to call it. They were one of the most dynastic teams we have seen. And up there with the Shaq, Kobe Lakers, and obviously when you talk dynasties, it's all in comparison to Michael Jordan's Bulls. But this team, you could say now today, having been one and done as a 10 seed in a play in tournament game in which Clay Thompson, unfortunately scored no points on 10 shots, didn't score a single point. And him having a potential exit visa of his own right there in front of him as he's walking off the court in Sacramento last night, he took it all in. One of those moments that was reminiscent of me of remembering I was recalling Aaron Rodgers strolling off the field at Lambeau Field after being eliminated by the Lions in the final game of the season two years ago. And you got a sense as he put his arm around Randall Cobb that he knew it was over for him in Green Bay. You got to wonder if it's over for Clay in Golden State.

And that was put to Steve Kerr last night when he stepped to a microphone and was asked if the Warriors dynasty was in fact over. You invest so much in the season and there's so much that goes on. It's so emotional. It's the highs and lows of this business are incredible. That's why we're all kind of addicted to it. You can't find this anywhere else in life. I know I can't. And you have to absorb the lows.

We've been really blessed here with some amazing players and multiple championships and finals appearances and the highest of highs. And this is the flip side. This is life. This is how it works.

You don't get to stay on top forever. So what happens this summer and going into next year, we'll worry about that later. And when asked about do you want Clay back, he gave a full throated answer of yes, that despite Clay having a tough night, that Clay stands for something and represents something and is something that the team is all about and can't do without. Steph Curry was asked that very question about his teammate and fellow splash brother.

I could never see myself, you know, not with those two guys. It's I understand this league changes and there's so many things that go into it and we're not going to play forever. But, you know, we've experienced so much together. And at the end of the day, like, again, I know they want to win. I know I want to win.

And that's all I'm worried about. You know, and it's it's tough to say this, but I'll say this, that you could make a case that the dynasty ended when Kawhi and the Raptors beat the Warriors in game six of the 2019 NBA Finals. And in that game, Clay, despite leading the Warriors in points, blew his knee out. And then trying to come back in 2019, in 2020, he blew his Achilles out. And in between that, Steph Curry broke his hand and the team got only five games out of Steph Curry and wound up with the second overall pick. And unfortunately for them, one pick away from Anthony Edwards, they chose James Wiseman. You could make that case that that stretch could have, if they were either healthy or in not being healthy, got with the good fortune of having the second overall pick, somebody that was another stupendous franchise cornerstone player. And instead, James Wiseman, as we all know, is trying to make it with the Detroit Pistons right now. You could make that case that that was it right there, because Clay's not been the same since. He has just not been the same guy since. And last night is just an indication of that. And maybe you'll be back with Golden State because I don't know which franchise is going to give him the bag, what the rumors Orlando would be doing, something like that. You know, you have to think about it.

You've got to swallow hard, that's for sure. And, you know, I understand I'm sitting here saying a dynasty was over from in 2019 and 2020, and they went ahead and won the NBA finals and won a championship two years ago. But that's because Jordan Poole, who they drafted in the 2019 draft, 28th overall, took the opportunity of Clay Thompson being out and then rehabbing to have a breakout season. And they also, Golden State, made a smart maneuver to add Andrew Wiggins. And Wiggins had his best season when Poole had his best season, and Curry was still Curry, and Draymond Green is still Draymond Green, and Clay Thompson was still trying to rehab his way back, and Steve Kerr is Steve Kerr, and voila. You have yourself an outlier, which is kind of crazy to say, championship season from a dynasty that I think was over. They made five straight NBA finals, Durant leaves, Clay Thompson gets totally crushed by the injury bug, even Curry goes out to a point where they're fortunate enough.

Remember, we were all thinking, isn't this incredible? Because Clay will be healthy, Curry's going to be healthy, Draymond is Draymond, and they now have the second overall pick in the draft. And look out world, James Wiseman out of Memphis.

Didn't happen. And now, Clay might be, I mean, he's not entering the clubhouse, but he's on the back nine, and all of them are on the back nine. Yeah, Steph Curry is 36. I just don't know how this, I mean, can Kaminga suddenly play big? Can he suddenly play big? Is he the guy that they're going to hand all those minutes in hopes to?

Can he be the guy for Steph Curry late in his career? Because I don't know. That's the problem.

That's the conundrum. That's the question about the Golden State Warriors and the guy who was their architect is now sitting with the Washington commanders when he's not on the air on ESPN and Bob Meyers. What a crossover, too, by the way. And so, their architect is gone. The Clay Thompson splash brother is gone.

He's still there, but the guy who we used to see, he's gone. And Charles Barkley said it with plain English last night. You're not going to get better as you get older. This league is for young people, not old people. Now, LeBron can sit there and go, I'm the seven seed, and I'm going to show the defending champs what an old guy, an OG can do, but I think, again, he's an outlier.

Yeah, he's an anomaly. You could make the case that the Warriors run has been over for years. Well, I mean, they did win. They won it all.

I don't know. Looking back, they missed the playoffs two years after going to their fifth straight final. Then comes that one year, and then they get bounced in the second round by the Lakers last year. And this year, they're out, one and done. I honestly thought you were going to say it was over when Draymond's fist hit Jordan Paul's face.

You could make that case, too. I didn't even mention that. I mean, that was October 5, 2022.

I have it written down here. And that was right after they win it all, and he hits pool in the face. But I don't know. I mean, by all the deep dives that you see and you see Jordan Paul's play with the Washington Wizards. I mean, there's a lot of road for Paul to be. I'm not saying he deserved to be hit in the mouth, but there was an iceberg that we didn't see underneath. And the only tip we saw was the fist. I mean, your teammate knocks you out.

That might send me on a spiral as well and might affect my play. That is correct, too. I'm just, I guess, saying that not all is well in hunky dory behind the scenes there in Golden State. Testament to Kerr and Curry and maybe everyone else in that front office. And the minute Clay's knee gets blown out.

And then he doesn't come back the next year either because he blows his Achilles out. And then you miss on James Wiseman. But you look at that draft and there's no trust me. I looked at it. I know. Yes. Would you can tell your fellow you're playing the results like, oh, they should have took Halliburton. Yeah, no kidding.

Oh, no one knew he was going to be that good. But exactly. Yeah, that's the case. You say, I mean, they should take a maxi, you know, like you said, you know, you're kind of playing. Unfortunately, you're not redrafting.

You have to. The question would be, what about LaMelo? But he's not the fit, right? Melo really wasn't a fit. Right.

So so you're going to go with the big man who looks terrific at Memphis and see what you can do with it. Yeah. But looking back at it now, LaMelo would have been a fit because Clay was missing that time. LaMelo could have came, you know, another playmaker, the playmaker, you know, another guy who shoots threes. But you didn't know what you had in pool.

You didn't expect pulled and fall off a cliff like you did. Yeah. Given the circumstances.

So now I don't know what the next step is, but it's a Lulu. And they're one and done. Blow it up. I don't know how you can consider it. Yeah. Would you trade Steph Curry?

I just couldn't do that. No. He would have to watch into an office and say, what? I want to go to the Lakers. Well, he would he would have to initiate it. He would have to initiate. That's the question is, if you're Steph, do you want to go?

I'd imagine not. Right. I mean, I'm sure he loves his life and the way it is up there in the Bay Area. He said he's the Tim Duncan.

He's the Kobe. He's not going to. But you do have to really consider like, I don't know when you say blow it up. I mean, who's going to take these pieces? And you have to really draft very well. Right. And the days of you getting the number one free agent to consider joining your dynastic franchise are over.

Let's take a break. Albert Breer is going to join us. Speaking of Bob Myers, the Washington commanders are having pretty much every top draftee, not named Caleb Williams, come to their facility today in their final top 30 visit. Today's the last day a team can have a prospect in for a personal confab. And they're apparently having all of them together and going to Topgolf. So like there's Pennix, there's J.J. McCarthy, there's Drake May, there's Jayden Daniels. The commanders have them all there, along with a bunch of other prospects who are going to be top draft choices one Thursday from tomorrow.

And they're all there for the commanders having like a long drive competition. I don't know. I actually like it. I'm into it.

Prospect to Palooza. I've never heard this. And then there's a deep dive that Seth Wickersham, Don Van Natta and Jeremy Fowler put their bylines on on ESPN dot com, explaining just how Bill Belichick did not wind up with a job. And the most salacious thing is that Arthur Blank and the Falcons were interested in him. And one of the reasons why they didn't hire him is because according to this story, Bob Kraft told Arthur Blank a few things about his relationship with Belichick that made them reconsider or at least blank reconsider. The piece also says everyone else that was part of the decision making process, along with Blank collaboratively said it's Raheem Morris and then put other names on pieces of paper. To rank the candidates in Belichick didn't even finish in the top three. Really?

Let's drop poll. Michael McDonald. Right. And Bobby Slowik. The quote in the book in the article was he was voted off the island. So Falcons survivor that we'll discuss all that with Albert Breer next is we're on the precipice of draft week.

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That's OReillyAuto.com slash Eisen. OK, everybody, we just saw a lifetime ban handed down by the NBA to Jontay Porter, huh? Chris, what's the latest right there? So, yeah, he provided disclose confidential information to betters, limited his own participation in at least one game. According to reports, a better one, at least one point one million dollars by wagering on Porter Unders using information obtained from him. The bet was eventually frozen, so that was not paid out.

Oh, my gosh. So they found out, huh? So they found out about it. Wow, banned for life.

Cardinal sin, is that what the Adam Silver called it? Another individual Porter associated with and knew to be an NBA better placed an eighty thousand dollar parlay prop bet with an online sports book to win. I mean, look, all you had to see was a thirty seven page affidavit that charged Ipe Mitsuhara. In relation to what was going on between the interpreter there, you know, Shohei Ohtani, they've got IP addresses, device IDs, they've got timestamps, they have texts, they have everything in every single one of these gambling concerns. This is involved in a legal bookmaker.

Yeah, this was OK. So if this is done through a legal partner, legal betting partners, they're all providing any information that remotely gets in the realm of Henke to the leagues. They're partners with the leagues to catch this stuff.

I just don't understand how a guy who averaged 11 minutes a game in two half seasons had enough juice on his name that someone can make that much money off of him. Well, that's the point is just like, of course, that's going to jump out. It's going to stick out back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network. I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grange with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grange has the right product for you.

Call click range dot com or just stop by. Lots of questions for this man, as always. The man who provides the MMB for Sports Illustrated, the senior reporter there. Albert Breer, our buddy back here on the show. How you doing, Albert? Good to see you, sir. I'm good, Rich.

How you doing? What was your impression of the ESPN dot com deep dive revealing how Belichick, Bill Belichick, wound up still being hunting for his next head coaching gig? What do you have on that, Albert? That we probably have like a few more rounds of the crap throwing contest between the Patriots and Belichick to go. It just it feels like this is sort of ongoing. And, you know, the finger pointing hasn't stopped.

I don't know that it'll stop for a while. And, you know, I mean, in fairness to everybody, things that end usually don't end great. And, you know, obviously this one didn't end great. And I think the documentary is, you know, a part of this whole storyline.

Obviously, this story now becomes a part of it, too. And, you know, I said on Twitter, I think this was I'm sure you caught it like last week where I thought it was a poor commentary on NFL teams. There were seven openings this year and the greatest coach of all time wanted a job and couldn't get one.

And, you know, I think more than at any other time I can remember, Rich. NFL owners want to play with the toy that they bought for themselves and they want to be involved. And like in a lot of cases, they value their overall organizational structure over individual people. And I think that's part of why Bill's out of work right now, is that he does have a reputation for being tough to work with.

He does bring about the fear that he's going to walk all over everybody. You know, I know in that Atlanta situation, there were a lot of people worried that if Bill came in there, they'd be out of a job. So what are those people doing in that situation? Probably what would happen in a lot of other workplaces in America. You know, I think there was some open campaigning in that in that Falcons organization against Bill getting that job. You know, so I think it's sort of the reality of where we're at with a lot of NFL organizations where this guy who obviously is, you know, elite, elite, elite at what he does is in a situation where he can't find a job because he's seen as difficult to work with. And oh, by the way, I don't think that the stuff that that's happened with Belichick is something that's not happening in other places, right? Like where you see Bill not getting a job for these reasons. I think it's part of the reason why Jim Harbaugh had a hard time getting back in the league for a couple of years. I think it's why Mike Rabel is out of work right now.

There's this inherent fear of people that are going to come in and walk all over everybody. And, you know, I don't know whether or not Bill gets back in next year. I think he does want to coach again. You know, but I think certainly it is a commentary, you know, on what NFL owners are looking for now in their head coaches. Well, I mean, there's no doubt in my mind that Belichick, if he does want to coach again, will be in a better position next year than this year.

Right. Because I do believe we're going to see him on TV somewhere and he's going to be great at it. And you're going to see a side of him that will surprise people, even though we saw it on the NFL 100 series.

Folks there in, you know, the Boston area where you're zooming in from right now. Albert saw it when he was doing this telestrator locally. I mean, you see it. He's really good at it and he has a personality. He's terrific.

He's terrific. And I think that will, when he puts that out there, mollify any concerns that he's difficult or he doesn't play well with others, even though, you know, obviously if he gets back in and he might want to do it his way, there's a different way of doing it. And put that all together, there will be some teams that will be coming off some losing seasons that would love to have somebody with his resume. That said, part of this piece included the theory that teams had that he's not going to coach very long due to his age or he just is going for a record.

What's your thoughts when you see that, Albert? Yeah, that's why I think like in fairness to these teams, the list of suitors was always going to be short. It's the same thing as Brady in a funny way. You know, like people were surprised there was a limited number of suitors for Tom Brady. But the reason for that was that you had to check a lot of boxes to be in the running for Tom Brady. And I think the same sorts of things apply with Bill Belichick, the same way Tom Brady wasn't going to go to a team that isn't ready to win right now.

Bill Belichick is not going to go to a team that's not at least close to winning right now. Geography is a factor. Family is a factor.

Who he can bring with him is a factor. The same way all those things were factors when Brady was a free agent in 2020. You know, so I do think like because of that, because you have to check a bunch of different boxes to really have a desire to go and get Belichick. And for Belichick to have a desire to come to you, the list was always going to be limited. Now, the three teams that were named in that story. All three of them could very well check all of those boxes, you know, and the idea of him hovering over the NFC East, you know, where he sort of where he sort of came of age as an NFL coach right back in the 80s is interesting, you know, because not every team can win that division. You know, you had three teams on there in the same division and, you know, you have Mike McCarthy and Brian Deball and and, you know, obviously Nick Sirianni, you know, and all three of those guys had their job status questioned at the end of at the end of last year. And so the idea of Bill sort of hovering over that division is an interesting optic, I think, for everybody going into 2024.

And I think with them mentioned so publicly in a story like this, it sort of becomes a reality that we're going to be discussing that in the fall. And then just to circle back, because it is the most salacious part of this piece on ESPN.com is Arthur Blank reaching out to Bob Kraft for, you know, a what do you think, you know him better than most. And then according to this piece, Bob Kraft did not have many great things to say about Belichick's willingness to to work well. And that helped turn Arthur Blank off, even though the rest of his, I guess, intelligentsia that he had put together to make this decision were also more inclined for Raheem Morris. You mentioned the documentary, the the Apple TV documentary involved in all this.

How does that play in to giving us some insight here, Albert? Yeah, I mean, I know like a lot of Belichick people were really upset with the way that he was portrayed in that documentary. Now, to be fair, the documentary makers did go to Bill and anybody who watched it knows he wasn't exactly cooperative. My read on it was the reason he took part in it was because he wanted to know what was in there without really wanting to cooperate. But, you know, I know they were suspicious going into it that it was going to be a Kraft production.

We saw the copyright at the end of it. And there's a widespread feeling among people who've been in that organization, who are even in that organization right now, that part of the purpose of the documentary was to help Robert Kraft get in the Hall of Fame. And, you know, whether that's the case or not, that perception 100 percent exists out there. And so, you know, if you know, your feeling was that that that that Robert Kraft, you know, took like basically positioned things to make himself look good, which which as a result made Belichick look bad in the documentary. Well, then doesn't, you know, him saying these sorts of things to Arthur Blank sort of match up with that, especially if, you know, Bill Bill getting a job in Atlanta might run the risk of you might you might run the risk there of like looking at it and saying, OK, well, if Tom Brady winning in Tampa made it look like it was Bill's fault.

Well, if, you know, Tom wins in Tampa and then Bill wins in Atlanta, who's left? You know, we're having this whole thing having fallen apart at the end. You know, so it's just it's it's I would I would have to hope that five years from now, let's just throw a number out there, five years from now, all three of those guys can come together. And and this all looks silly and stupid. But, you know, it certainly does feel like there's been a lot of reaching for credit over the course of the last few months.

It's unfortunate. I mean, but but but I think what you just said is going to happen. I mean, you know, for forever more, you know, there'll be a Patriots Hall of Fame. And, you know, for for Bob Kraft, hopefully for him, an actual pro football hall of fame where obviously Brady and Belichick are going. And those banners that will be hanging in in in Gillette, you know, obviously there'll be stories to tell. An example of it, Rich.

The ultimate example of it to me is far right. It couldn't have been nastier like that. That divorce could not have been nastier. I mean, he came in to blow up the Packers training camp in 2008. Then he basically forced his way to their most hated rifle, you know, using the Jets as a transfer portal. Exactly. You know, I mean, you know, and that and and where was Brett Favre a few years after that? He's standing in the field at Lambeau as they're pulling. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, is there as they're putting his name up on the stadium? You know, Rogers with Rogers and Bart Starr in the in the building, you know, I mean, you're absolutely right.

I got Albert Brie here on The Rich Eisen Show. What are the Washington commanders up to today, Albert? What is going on? Because obviously we're one week away from having Caleb Williams be drafted first overall. And then the commanders are on the clock. And that's when the draft essentially starts.

What's happening there today? Yeah. So the number I heard was twenty two. They have twenty two prospects. Twenty two prospects at once.

Twenty two. Yeah. So they went to Topgolf yesterday and you all had sort of a casual dinner and kind of mixer. I use the word mixer in the right place. So people poke fun at Twitter. I probably deserve that.

It's like out of Archie Comics, Albert. I know. I know. Mixer was probably mixed social. We can call it social.

Social better. OK. Yeah. So twenty two prospects in there. They're they're all meeting together today, you know, at the at the at the commanders facility.

And this is something that that their new general manager, Adam Peters, actually borrowed from San Francisco, which is where he came from. And, you know, generally the idea is and we'll get to the quarterback part of this in a second. Generally, the idea is that this is the point at which you're going to have the most information on the prospects because you built it up. And this is the last day. Today is the last day that you're allowed to have prospects in-house for 30 visits. So, you know, when you want to, you know, cross T's and dot I's, this is the best time to do it because you're going to be at the very end of the process of evaluating all these guys. On top of that, you also get to manage your time efficiently. And, you know, like that there's a lot these guys have going on, especially in a place with a new coach. So the off season program has started.

You're in your draft meeting. So doing them all at once instead of chunks of like five of them coming in at a time is more efficient. And then I think beyond just that, it's, you know, the ability to see them interact with their peers and, you know, see who the leader in the group is and see how they get along with each other and see how they handle a stressful. Situation with one another and there's benefit there. And if you look at the benefit in San Francisco, they've had one of the best locker rooms in the league over the last five years.

I think people who've been there would tell you that, you know, this whole process that they set up out there is a part of the puzzle. So you can see why Adam Peters, with the success they had there, would bring this with them. Now, among those 22 players, most notably are the four quarterbacks. Caleb Williams is not there.

We all know where he's going, but Jayden Daniels, Drake May, J.G. McCarthy and Michael Pennix are there. Now, again, like this is different than the way Chicago's handled Caleb Williams. Like, for example, Caleb Williams was one of a half dozen guys who came in for 30 visits at one time in Chicago.

Right. Five of the six prospects went to dinner at a place called Eddie Merleau's in Lincolnshire near the team facility. They brought Caleb Williams to another restaurant. Like he was literally having dinner at a different restaurant than the other five prospects.

They added a Michelin star for their future star quarterback. Is that what you're saying? Yeah. Yeah. So they brought him out to a different restaurant.

He went to a place called Sophia Steak. Oh, and I mean, fine. But they had him they had him separately because they wanted to meet with him separately. So the Bears brass was there. Right. And they had him sit at a table with a bunch of veteran players. So that's one way to do it where you give the quarterbacks the individual treatment.

Yeah. In this case, I think the commanders really felt like through all the different touch points they've had through the private work as the the the pro days, the ability to sit down with these guys on campus, which they've done with all the guys meet with them at the combine and then do the three zoom calls. They're allowed to do of an hour apiece. They've had a ton of one on one time with these guys. They'll also have one on one time with each of the quarterbacks at the facility today. But ultimately, the way they see it is these four guys, whichever one they pick.

I think most people expect it to be Jayden Daniels are going to have to fit in with their teammates are going to have to be leaders with their teammates. And so they want to see sort of see them in as natural a habitat as they can possibly invent for them. And by doing things this way with their peers, they're able to see how they interact with other players. They're able to see who's kind of the head of the group. Right. And maybe they get to see by taking them to top top golf, like a little bit of a competitiveness with them.

So I think it's an interesting approach. I don't think there's any right or wrong way to handle your your run up to to the draft if you're looking for a top quarterback. Maybe you lose a little bit like in losing some individual time with those guys, but they will get some individual time with each of those guys today. And they've had a lot leading up to today.

All right, Albert Breer, so you just walked us through what the commanders are doing and their final day of having prospects in. Jayden Daniels is there. Drake May is there. J.J. McCarthy's there. Michael Pennix is there. You think it's going to be Jayden Daniels when it's all said and done?

I think so. OK, so let's just remove him from that. And let me ask you a sports talk radio question.

Which of the other three is the most likely future Giants quarterback getting a nice inside look-see at what the commanders facility looks like? Albert. Oh, that's a good question. Really. That's why you're that's why you're the best. Right. Thank you. Way to put that.

Thank you. You bring this back to the NFC East and maybe the future Belichick quarterback. Who knows? Who knows? Because Debo might do very well with this individual while while Daniel Jones convalesces or or Drew Locke allows him to wait. I don't know.

So what do you have? I think of the Giants are going to take a quarterback. If they're going to trade up for a quarterback, my guess would be it'd be Drake May. And I I think absent a tradeoff for Drake May, my guess would be maybe they look at a different position.

Now, again, none of that's set in stone. But I I like I've heard them connected to pay for two months now. So I don't know if they like him enough to trade up to three to get them based on what I think it will cost, where I think New England would would would make someone pay to move into that third overall spot. But it's really made me think that Drake May is going third overall, whether it's to New England, whether it's to the Giants or whether it's to Minnesota. I just think Drake May is going to wind up going third overall right now.

So then if you say the Giants don't go and get Drake May and sit there at six, you think they would go at another position because McCarthy's off the board or they would just do that rather than and leave McCarthy there for seventh overall selection? I've heard Minnesota. So I think Minnesota. So I think Minnesota is in play to move up, even if May is not there. I think I think Minnesota is just my sense would be that Minnesota would be maybe comfortable enough with four guys rather than just three where they would make that sort of move up to go and get one of them.

And so I think like I could certainly see Minnesota. If they can't get up to three to go and get May going up to four or five to go and get McCarthy. I don't think McCarthy falls very far below four or five. Now it sounds to me like Arizona is driving a pretty hard bargain at four. I think the Chargers would be open to moving out of five if the right offer comes along.

And the tricky thing then is that has to be an on the clock thing, right? Like, Rich, if you think about this, like say you don't like Arizona, you don't like what Arizona wants for you to go up and get them if you're Minnesota, right? Well, you can't execute the trade with the Chargers now, can you? Because if you do that, then you risk somebody jumping over you to four. And now what have you traded up for?

You know what I mean? Like, so if or you might wind up in a position where you've got to trade up twice, you know, like Arizona might have another suitor on the line or whatever. And they make you come up and pay more draft capital to get from five to four because Arizona knows we're not taking a quarterback and we'll get the same player at five anyway. Right. So you almost have to if you're Minnesota, if the plan was to go up to five or six, wait until you're on the clock to do that, to execute that trade.

So that's where I think it gets kind of tricky, you know? And again, Arizona sort of holds all the cards here. They've got two first round picks. They can sit there at fourth overall and take Marvin Harrison or Malik Nabors for Kyler Murray to throw to and, you know, have an elite receiver that they're adding to the group. And now they've got quarterback receiver left tackle taken care of for the foreseeable future and let's go. Or they can add even more draft capital.

And still get that wide receiver for Kyler Murray, you know, if they fall too far. Right. If you move down to 11, like, are we talking about Roma Dunze then?

You know what I mean? Like, could he make it to 11? I mean, it's possible. I doubt that. I don't think he will.

I don't think he will. But I mean, even then, you're talking about maybe Brian Thomas, who's a really good player from LSU. There's tons of them.

There's tons of them. Personally, I think just to wrap up this conversation and then again, I'd love to have you on next week, too. Obviously, draft week. I see four quarterbacks, three wide receivers, Joe Alt, Dallas Turner and Brock Bowers.

That's your top 10. Just depends. I think that makes sense. Yeah, I think that makes sense. So I think there is a scenario out there where we don't have a defensive player in the top 10, which would be wild, right?

Sure would be. But if you think about it, so like, let's say the four quarterbacks go in the first round, then you have the three receivers. That gets you to seven. Right. So I think Joe Alt's pretty much a lock to go somewhere in the top 10. Let's say Jim Harbaugh takes him at five.

Okay. Now the Titans are probably taking an offensive lineman. Maybe that's a little Fashanu at seven.

Maybe it's J.C. Latham. You know, and then do the Falcons feel like, oh, well, we got to take neighbors now, you know, at eight. Then the Bears take a Dunze at nine. And then you have the Jets sitting there 10 with maybe Brock Bowers.

Right. So there is a scenario out there. I think Dallas Turner probably goes eight to Atlanta if, you know, things turn out a certain way. But there's a scenario where, like Malik neighbors falls into Atlanta's lap. And then do they say he's just too good a player to pass up there, even though we've already invested all this capital into our offensive skill players. You know, it's a fascinating the top of the draft, really fascinating that way. And the great thing about it, Rich, is like I've had to tell people a lot of years when everybody's all excited about this draft. Like, no, this is kind of a crappy draft. This is not great at the top. We have like super elite prospects this year, like Harrison and neighbors legitimately could be like Julio and AJ as prospects. Right.

You could see them that way. Joe all, I think, is a top shelf left tackle prospect. Bowers has some flaws. Maybe he's not for everybody, but a really, really good tight end prospect. And then you have four quarterbacks going in the top 10, you know, like. So I think it's going to be really exciting to see. And, you know, like you could look at the Bears as being a pivot point. Like a lot of people don't think they're going to stay at nine.

They could move up or move down the jets like, you know, Joe Douglas, I think, would really like to take an offensive tackle if the right one falls to him at 10 to set themselves up for the future at that position with two 33 year olds there. It's like every team you look at as you go on down the line has another layer of intrigue, which should make for a really, really exciting Thursday night. You the man, Albert. Got to beat it down the line to make sure I pay some bills. We'll chat next week. Thanks again, brother. All right. Thanks, Rich. Must chat.

Follow Albert Breer. Take a break. Back with more in a moment. So much to talk about.

News decision was based on finding there is a far the central bank appears to be threading that concise, accurate and fresh each day. America in the morning. The podcast available wherever you listen.

Our house is a mess. Come on in. I'm Amber Wallin, Internet comedian and host of your new favorite podcast. Fly on the wall. That's pretty presumptuous to assume that this is going to be their favorite podcast, by the way. Anyway, that wasp that you just heard interrupt me is my husband and co-host Benjamin Wallin. Listen in as we discuss relationships and keeping our sweet baby kid alive. Fly on the wall and wherever you listen.

Just a real basic question. What the hell are you thinking? What are you doing out there? You know, just tackling a challenge that most wouldn't do.

I would say so. Why? Why did you do it? Just trying out a new bat booster package that I was working on this year. For me, though, is is literally like, would you rather live and die?

Would you rather die and never live? So when I jumped to the first time, everybody started cheering and yelling, I was like, OK, that's pretty cool. And then I did it the second time and I heard his word El Salvador, El Salvador. And I didn't know what that means. I left that one day and then I started hearing that through the streets and I was like, OK, whatever.

And I came back the second day, did it again, and they stopped the music and everything. They just started yelling in the stands to you, to me, like me. Now, I'm a football player here in the States. Sure. Correct.

Yes, sir. They don't know me from Adam House. Josh.

Josh Norman is not out there in Pamplona else. I get there. Yeah.

And they started sharing their name. So I'm like a hero in Spain, almost not even back here. So hold on. This is bananas. Let me get this down so I can use this on on any host of shows this NFL season. El Satador. Yes. It's like the jumper El Satador, like the matador, like the matador is like the jumper.

So I would love just one second in my life to have the words El Satador chanted to me. You got to open my mind if you don't mind. I don't know what's going on. I was having a fit over with the other one.

OK, careful, careful, careful. I'm glad you're OK. Caitlin Clark has arrived in the state of Indiana. She was introduced as a member of the Indiana Fever today. And lots of hoopla as she enters the press conference area. And, you know, it looks like an old fashioned pep rally straight out of the movie Hoosiers. Right. I love it.

It's fun. Like a 21st century Hoosiers. There she is in her new threads. And then she stepped to the podium and had this to say about getting started in her WNBA career with the Indiana Fever. Like I said, I'm super happy to be here.

Thank you, Fever, the Pacers. This is a dream come true. Like these are the moments you dream of. Obviously, Tamika Catchings is here. Like that's pretty incredible. Somebody I grew up idolizing. But like I said, after I got drafted, like I can't think of a better place for myself to start my career.

A place that loves basketball, supports women's basketball and an organization that really does things the right way has championship pedigree. So I'm just very thankful that they have a belief in me. And obviously my parents are here today. My two brothers aren't here. My little brother had to go back to school. He actually missed his flight out of New York City after the draft.

So I think he did it on purpose. But I'm thankful for them. And, you know, couldn't be happier to be here. So thank all of you for coming.

And I can't wait to get started. Yep. So it's on, folks. It is on because do you know how many people were watching her press conference that was, I guess, being streamed on YouTube? Thirty five thousand. That is an insane number.

You know, it's an insane number. Two point four million people watching the draft on ESPN. Two and almost two and a half million people watched the WNBA draft. Best selling jersey on fanatics by a draft pick on draft night.

The Indiana Fever uniform that she put on. More and more and more eyeballs are going to be on this league. And by the way, you know what's going to be you know what I think is coming to to help this whole thing out? Because the NIL, these are the first sort of, would you say, NIL draft choices in WNBA history as well, right? So they're out there. They've been promoting themselves. And we've watched a lot of these players play. I think WNBA Twitter is going to be something, you know, when Angel Rees starts talking crap about something that just happened in a WNBA game.

As long as NBA Twitter takes part, because NBA Twitter. No, I know that. Kaitlyn Clark is going to start barking.

She's going to start barking at somebody in a game. Oh, yeah. That's you know what I mean? Like that.

That's common. And then for the haters, right? It'll happen to like the first time she gets crossed over the first time someone drops 30 on her.

The haters are going to come out in full force as long as they're coming out. She has arrived on the WNBA and maybe the league as well has now. And you know, and so just let me just make this point, if you don't mind.

I only have about 60 some odd, 90 some odd seconds left in this in this hour here. Apparently, a lot of the veterans in the WNBA you hear are like, OK, can't wait for her to show up. And then we'll show her.

And, you know, that's great. That sense of competition is what I have really enjoyed in watching the women's college game the last couple of years. The sense of competition and we'll show you and we'll just, you know.

Shove it down your throat, right? Like we're going to come up unless they don't. We're going to we're going to show up and we're going to we're going to beat your ass. You know what I mean? That's the sort of sense that you have in competition, right?

That that you're we've been seeing in this game. I'll just counsel the veterans there. Sure. You want to show her how it's done?

I totally get it. But she is bringing some serious buzz to this league. Saturday Night Live on Saturday, NBA draft in front of two and a half million people on Monday. Thirty five thousand concurrence apparently watching her her her press conference. Now, she's going to have to obviously perform perform. Absolutely. But he's feeling it could be like a Tiger Woods golf 1997 situation where she's going to raise all boats. Already is happening.

And so now just comes the actual games. Mike Sander still of the Michigan Wolverines coming up next. Mike Carruthers shares little pieces of intel and interviews you can use to improve your life on the Something You Should Know podcast. The next time you're looking for a job and have to write a cover letter, here's some advice from Skip Freeman, author of a book called Headhunters Hiring Secrets. Add a P.S. to the bottom of that cover letter. That can actually increase the chances of that letter being read by up to 75 percent. Some people actually glance down and read the P.S. first.

Something you should know. Search on YouTube or wherever you listen.