There's one thing that will forever change the way you sleep, and it's the softest 100% organic cotton bedding from Boll & Branch. You'll fall asleep faster, wrapped in the most luxurious comfort. You'll never sleep hot again, with airy blankets, cloud-like duvets, and breathable sheets.
You'll experience pure comfort on night one, and feel your bedding get softer with every wash. Discover the difference with 15% off your first order at bollandbranch.com with code CUMULUS. Exclusions apply. See site for details. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first.
The same way you know you've got to make sure your lucky jersey is clean on game day, or your team might lose. Checking first is smart, so check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate.
Savings vary, subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. And the Oscar goes to Rich Eisen. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Thank you. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.
Maychak, one second, launches a three-point shot. The Rich Eisen Show. Earlier on the show, Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young. Coming up, former NFL general manager Mike Mayock.
Plus, your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Ladies and gentlemen, our number three of the show is on the air. Mike Mayock is going to join us just like the old times, the Monday after the combine.
Daniel Jeremiah is making his way back to Southern California as we speak. He's on Tuesday's show, and there's lots to talk about from the combine. I mean, deepest end of the pool is the defensive line, that's for sure. And if you need a tackle, you need an edge rusher, you're going to find one in this draft. I mean, offensive line, there's a couple available for first round grades. Running backs. Running backs are nice, man.
I'll tell you what, Matt. Here I was thinking things are going to swing back to the veteran class and pay these guys after what we saw from Saquon Henry and Jacobs. And then I see all these kids, fastest running back group we've ever seen. And Genti didn't even work out. And so many of them just burst off the screen. Not just running 40s, just the way they moved around.
And you're going to be able to find one. Third, fourth, fifth round. Hey man, one of my top five rumors that I heard at the combine is that the Cowboys are going to be switching their roster around a little bit. They're all out on a lot of their free agents. I mean, Rico Dowdle's one of them.
I wonder where they kind of stand on that. Because I mean, the kid had a thousand yard season last year. He came on strong at the end, the first half of the season. I mean, nothing was working for the Cowboys anyway.
I'm just wondering what they're going to do there, what his market looks like. Because man, I would rather have been a free agent last year than this one. The running backs are great. The wide receiver group isn't as terrific and dynamic as it was last year. The tight end group is deep. Tight end group is real nice. Yeah. Some guys really perform. And Mayock will give us his two cents on all of what we just brought to you through NFL network.
That's later on. Sean McVay was on Pat's show earlier today. I don't know if this is from Pat's show or not.
I know ESPN wrote an article about it, but I don't see any attribution to Pat's show, but I'm assuming it was on his program. Said that never thought that Stafford leaving would occur pointing out that there was always going to have to be a decision on our part if he wasn't going to be here. They did have two years of contractual control on him. Again, I heard that there were some serious pitches made by the Giants and the Raiders. And at the end of the day, whatever the Rams put on the table for Stafford, he still found acceptable enough to go back. Because honestly, it just made complete sense from beginning to end.
I didn't understand it from jump unless the money that was put on the table wasn't anywhere in the realm of what the golfs and the tours of the world are. I am curious to know what the final number is going to be. And apparently it's not going to be out there until the new league year anyway, or deep into the spring. They've just come to a verbal agreement. Yeah.
One of the things Sean said, it's going to be a year to year thing with Stafford Dow. Because I found that interesting. Because I thought whatever would be, they'd figure out what it's going to be. Seems like this is all about money.
Oh, yeah. Grossly underpaid. Or again, at the end of the day, if it was about money, then he'd be going to the Giants and the Raiders. Because I think he definitely signed for less than what those guys were offering.
Makes sense. I mean, his family and his kids are, now they're Los Angelinos right now. And to sit and uproot and start from scratch with two teams that are way behind, way further away from a Super Bowl winning podium than the Rams are right now. They were a drive away from beating the Eagles. If he had better protection up front, they may have in those final two plays of the game. Puka slipped on the one play coming out of his break. He also fumbled. Yeah.
Dude. I'm just pointing out how close it was. End of the day, it made 1 million percent complete sense for him to stay put. That's Puka. That's Sean McVay in his ear if they want to keep working together. And that's less need drafting players.
Got a running game. Right. That's also this big yellow thing in the blue sky is called Southern California. That's an ocean. See all the snow? Oh, wait. Nope.
Well, you can go there if you want. As long as you don't mind a mild earthquake at 10 o'clock like we had last night. I heard about that. Really, you could barely feel it. Was that an earthquake? It was so like, I was sitting on the couch like, are we having?
It was so windy that I couldn't tell the difference. Yeah, it was. You guys were awake for that? I was sleeping. Oh, yeah, yeah. It was like 10, 10, 10, 10 o'clock. I think I was over Kansas at that point.
Watching Crimson Tide on my flight, you know. Rich had the con. That's what I did. And you're the XO? Is that what it is?
844-204-rich-number-to-dollar. The Stafford staying put means Sam Darnold's on the clock now. That's it.
That's what that means. Because, you know, listen, Stafford may be going to the Hall of Fame, and Rogers is definitely going to the Hall of Fame. And Ross still has a couple more years left to try and find that, you know, fountain of youth, get back on that path to the hall. It was such a great stretch in Seattle that you can't deny that if he has a second act of success, but Sam is the domino.
He is the domino. What's going to happen? Will he stay put in Minnesota?
Will he find a certain spot elsewhere that makes him feel comfortable, generationally enriched? Will the Tennessee Titans do this? You know, will the Tennessee Titans do this? Will the Titans go ahead and do that? And do that. And then that opens up the first overall pick for whatever the hell they want to do.
That's still there. Take Travis Hunter. But if they, or Abdul Carter, if they do that, that would upend things considerably for a lot of teams. If Sam Donald goes to the Giants, although the conversation there in Indianapolis was, as I'm still here on what, clickbait Monday for rumors, is that he wants no part of New York again.
He wants no part of that building, New York. And the Giants are definitely in the market for a veteran hand that can help them win games right now. And we just hunted and pecked for a good spot for Rogers to land with Steve Young. And that Aaron Rogers, as he said, looks at the way the game is played now and from neck up his ability to throw it where it needs to be thrown and take advantage with a good offensive coordinator and scheme and players, he can win you games. And, you know, I think that's what we're going to do. Games and, you know, what about this scenario? Rogers to the Giants.
Okay. Brings Devante Adams with him. They, you know, the only people that would be particularly upset about that might be their real estate agents because they don't have to find a new place. Right.
Or sell theirs. And he throws to Malik neighbors, Devante Adams, hear me out, Travis Hunter. The Giants say, how about Travis Hunter and Malik neighbors on the same team?
G-men fans who are upset. You lost a dynamic player in Saquon down the turnpike. How about Malik neighbors and Travis Hunter together? Because again, we came on the air on Friday on NFL network defensive backs are out there and Daniel Jeremiah's top defensive back was Travis Hunter. Then the wide receivers show up on Saturday.
We come on the air. Daniel Jeremiah's top wide receiver is Travis Hunter. Come on now.
Come on now. Was he upset he only got listed as like one of the two positions or something like that? He showed up when he was in the defensive back group and, and he was asked in his podium, Stacy Dales popped up a photograph of his podium. I don't know if you guys used that the other day. It was, had to have been 200 people around his podium.
It was a crush of humans around his podium. And he was asked, you know, why are you in the defensive back group? And he goes, I don't know.
That's just the way I, you know, that's just the way I was put in this group. Somebody did it and he called up his agent and his agent's like, I don't know what it was is it was the scouts, the scouts determine where you're going or the scouting group that runs the combine determines where you're going. And Hey, Travis, unless you want to spend an extra day in Indianapolis for the combine, when you're there all weekend, poke prodded and tested, you know, wide receivers went Saturday.
That's when he went to the airport. Cause he was with the defensive backs on Friday. And I, I thought, cause he would have been WO23 alphabetically, if he was in the wide out group, he could have had DB15 on one side of his zip up and WO23 on the other side of his zip up as the first ever dual, you know, grouping zip up in the history of the combine.
And they should have made those up and sold them to be quite honest with you. That'd have been as great a collector's item as the football. A fan got signed already by Travis Hunter when the, the fan ran into David Spade, as David Spade told this story when he showed up on the combine coverage Saturday, that a fan walked up to him with a football, there was already an autograph on it, Travis Hunter. And he signed, it's the only David Spade, Travis Hunter football, maybe on planet earth. I missed that live, was Spade in town performing?
Well, he and Dana Carvey were in town together for a charity event. Oh, cool. Yeah. That's great.
Yeah, that was one of the more random things. Spade and I DM each other on Instagram. Like we're, we're, we're in high school and I just got a DM from him on Friday night saying, Hey, are you an indie at the combine? I'm like, um, yeah, that's what I'm like, are you an indie? He's like, yeah, sure enough.
And sure enough, he and Tommy Farley showed up together. Amazing. So, um, but the reason why I point this out is how does that sound for you Giants fans? And then if you want, you use your first pick on Friday night to get, I mean, I don't know.
Whatever. That kid, that kid Shuck, Tyler Shuck from Louisville, if he's available, where you trade back in the end of the first round and you do get your Jackson dart or will Howard. Does that sound like a plan? I mean, that sounds like a plan about giants fans who could get fired up.
Would you get fired up for that? And I know Rogers, you know, just sorely disappointed with the jets. And that's an understatement, but if you need to win now and then you need to get a kid up to speed over the next year or two, and Rogers is well aware of that by the time he signs with you, as opposed to learning it on draft night, like the rest of us that worked for you, Tyrone Tracy at the running back spot, that kid Theo Johnson from Penn state at the tight end, just got to really hit the hell out of that offensive line. Maybe you do that in free agency. I don't know.
These are just ways that I'm just thinking about it. Now that Stafford's gone and if Darnold's not your spot, I could think of some crazier choices than Aaron Rogers at age 41 for the giants. And then Dak, Jayden Daniels.
Okay, right. Aaron Rogers. How's that sound? I don't need the Giants getting that much better with Travis Hunter and Malik Nabors and Devante.
How about that for your NFC East? What do you think? In. You do think so? Why not? I don't know.
Just throwing that out there. You would take you think Rogers would work with the Giants. Does he have Travis Hunter? I just told you he does. Yeah. So, yes, that works. I mean, the kid that they drafted a running back last year, he looked pretty good, too.
Yeah, Tracy. So why not? He may not want to do it, but for the Giants, that's a good short term bridge. And then you draft one of these guys in the third or fourth round.
Dude, hurts. Are you trying to wait till next year? Jayden Daniels, Aaron Rogers, NFC East. You're not getting Rogers planning on having the first pick the next year. No, but you could still use the top Friday night pick on a second round quarterback. No, you're talking about getting... Or they could wait till next year and try to get Archibald. I'm saying they're not getting him if you get Rogers this year. That's correct. Maybe. No, that's correct. Maybe it all falls apart.
I'm saying you're not getting him expecting to have a top five pick. All right. We're just trying to help out my Giant fan friends. Do you have any?
Oh, do I. 844-204, Rich is the number to dial. Mike Mayock's about to join us here on the Rich Eisen Show. Before we take a break, don't let the urge to sing along to that catchy tune distract you from that truck drifting towards your lane or that lane-splitting biker creeping up beside you because, fortunately, every Hyundai offers advanced safety features that can alert you to potential dangers around you. And Hyundai has over 120 IIHS Top Safety Awards since 2006 because Hyundai is always working to ensure the road doesn't get you.
Hyundai vehicles have won over 120 IIHS Top Safety Awards from 2006 to 2024. 844-204, Rich, number to dial. We'll take your phone calls before we get out of Dodge.
Mike Mayock, when we come back here to talk about what we just saw at the Combine. This episode is brought to you by Navy Federal Credit Union. At Navy Federal, our mission is to help members of the military, veterans, and their families achieve their financial goals. That's why we offer great savings and investing options like our certificates. Certificates come with sky high rates, and some even have the flexibility to add money any time during your term. Whether you're saving for a home, a new car, or your future, our options could help you get there.
And certificates are just the beginning. Navy Federal also provides financial advisors to help you manage your investment portfolio along with online tools to guide your savings plan. With our support, you'll have everything you need to take charge of your finances.
So don't wait. The sooner you start building your financial future with Navy Federal's savings and investing options, the better off you could be in the long run. Sign up at NavyFederal.org. Navy Federal Credit Union. Our members are the mission. Savings products insured by NCUA.
Investment products are not insured, not obligations of Navy Federal, and may lose value. Hey, Rich Eisen here. I hear from a lot of business owners like you about the work it takes to pursue your passions. So I know how important it is to have the tools that can help keep you moving forward. And with access to world-class business and travel benefits, the American Express Business Platinum Card helps you take your business to the next level. It offers a flexible spending limit that adapts with your business.
Plus, you'll have complimentary access to more than 1,400 airport lounges worldwide, including the Centurion Lounge. So you can keep running your business while you're on the go. See how the Amex Business Platinum Card gives business owners like you the tools and rewards to do more of what you love. Not all purchases will be approved.
Terms apply. Learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash Amex Business. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first.
The same way you know you've got to make sure your lucky jersey is clean on game day or your team might lose. Checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate.
Savings vary, subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. Back here on the Rich Eisen Show.
844-204-RICH is the number to dial. We got it in about a minute and a half. Derek in Missouri, one of our favorites. How you been, Derek? Good to see you.
I've been good, Rich. So basically, I just want to get over with talking about Broncos' need for the draft. I've seen in mock drafts as of late, like, you know, Colston Loveland, the Titan out of your alma mater. Michigan is a likely subject matter. But then Austin Denny is on Bucky Brooks' mock draft phone in the Broncos.
But I say if that's going to happen, we have to move up in order to get him, I would say. And one more thing before you let me go, Rich, really quick. TJ, two more things. Two things for you.
Have you considered anything from my list last week? And how about Elimination Chamber on Saturday night? That was pretty awesome, wasn't it?
Elimination Chamber was amazing, Rich. So Derek called in, he gave me five alternates if I wanted to lead Cowboys Nation. He threw the Eagles in there knowing that that would just be a no, so it kind of dwindled it down a little.
It's like showing a red to a bull, you know what I mean? Yeah, sure. So we had the Bills, the Raiders, the Broncos, and, well, I forget what the fourth one was, Derek, but yeah. Steelers. Steelers. So I was like, you know.
It's not too far from the old homestead. Yeah, I mean, look, if I do leave, it's Steelers, obviously. But yeah, Derek, the Elimination Chamber was amazing. John Cena finally gave us what we wanted. It was great. Derek, thanks for the call. After 20 years. Thanks for the call, Derek.
Appreciate it. It's Derek in Missouri. Oh, so he gave you that? He's like, he gave me just five options, you know. And did Suze know that this was available to her in the drawer? I don't know. Did Suze not know? Did you not give her a heads up that in the top drawer there's the certificate of the release of Fandom that T.J. Jefferson has yet to sign? Well, look.
The Dallas Cowboys. If we re-up and on the roster for making some changes, you know, I'm going to see how they handle this, and then I will act accordingly. Okay. I've been threatened in the lead for years now. It's just kind of like a marriage.
You know, people stay in, like, ruthless marriages for years. We could take road trips to Vegas. You guys, back on the Rich Eisen Show radio network, I'm sitting at the Rich Eisen Show desk furnished by Grainger with supplies and solutions for every industry. Grainger has the right product for you.
Call clickrainger.com or just stop by. Our friend Mike Mayock and his weekly appearance here on the Rich Eisen Show is back. Great to see you, Mike. How are you? I'm good.
I think the question is, how are you after that long week? And I don't even know how you got back in L.A. in time to do your show. Literally, as soon as we were done.
Hold on a minute. As soon as Daniel Charles Davis and the rest of the crew were done clowning me with my simulcams of my 40s, I dashed to the airport, man. I got out. I did my 40. My first 40 was getting to the car to go to the airport. So I got out.
I consider your simulcast a tradition like none other. Well, you know what? It's all born out of, as you know, determination.
I would call it guts. You know, and and your guidance and help for all those years as well. But yeah, as soon as I and I got back here and I always want to be in this chair day after a big event like that. What did you think of whatever you were able to see over the four days, Mike?
It was enjoyable to me on several levels. What happens, Rich, when you're we're grading a lot of players and it's a process is you're trying to build at each level. So there are a couple of players, for instance, that I had pretty high grades on after the season.
Matter of fact, higher grades than most people. And I was nervous about, OK, what are they going to look like in the postseason All-Star games and the combine? And two of those guys I was really looking at this weekend were tight end Terence Ferguson from Oregon. And I put a big grade on him off tape, like a a late second round early third. And this is a big tight end class, right?
I've got him as the number four tight end overall. And he ran four, six, three. He jumped 40 or 39 inches. I want to say 10 foot two on the broad showed a bunch of lower body explosion. And it made me feel good because he looked good in the All-Star game.
Now I got the same in a pair of gym shorts running around. He can threaten the scene, play action. He can get deep at level two and three, caught the ball really well.
So I think he's going, you know, late to early three. And the other kid I was really interested in was Billy Bowman, the safety from Oklahoma. He looked good. And, Rich, I don't know if Daniel has a comp on him, but all over my notes, I've got Antoine Winfield Junior written in Billy Bowman's notes.
They're really close size wise. The kid had 41 starts, 11 interceptions. He went back to the house.
So the tape for me was a big check. He tackles, gets guys on the ground. But I wasn't sure what he was going to run. He ran four, four, two. I think Winfield was four, four, three. So similar size, similar speed. They finish with the ball in their hands and they get ball carriers on the ground.
So I don't think he's going to get past mid second round, similar to Winfield. And both of them, Rich, you and I have talked for years about checking boxes. Both those kids check some boxes. So which guys need to continue checking boxes, even though maybe they looked like they checked the box over the weekend, Mike? Yeah. And I've had some conversation with scouts about both these guys.
And one of them is Maxwell Hairston. And, you know, he blew out the combine, right? He ran four to eight big buzz on him, jumped thirty nine and a half, ten feet nine. Two things jump off tape with this kid. I don't even know who he was when I put the first tape in and his catch up speed is breathtaking on tape like the four to eight translates. In other words, it's confirmed on tape against Texas on a couple of deep routes.
He made up some distance. I couldn't believe on those Texas wide outs. So the other thing that was apparent on tape was tackling might be an issue. And he missed four tackles against Texas.
Keep in mind, he's one hundred and eighty three pounds. I thought there was a concerning lack of physicality in his game. Now, he missed six, seven games this year with a shoulder. I think Texas was his first full game back after the shoulder. So if I'm a GM or coach looking at his tape, I'm going to be looking at all his special team reps because he was a gunner and a jammer. Made a great tackle against Louisville in the open field because he was too fast from the two guys trying to block him. So I'm not trying to say that physicality is going to be an issue.
But what I'm telling you is they're checking on all of that right now. All the movement skills and the speed jump off tape first round all day long. But at one hundred and eighty three pounds, NFL teams will force you to tackle.
If you don't want to tackle and you're one hundred and eighty pounds, they will force you to tackle schematically. So what bottom line, you better be comfortable with this kid's toughness, physicality and ability to tackle before you put a high number on Mike Mayock here on the Rich Eisen show. Let's talk about some of the quarterbacks who did, in fact, spin it. I mean, we were coming in looking at Jackson Dart, but the kid from Louisville certainly shined in my mind. And I'm wondering if you think we might have gotten another guy throwing his hat in a ring for a first round grade, Mike. Yeah, this is what this process to me is all about. I don't know if you saw the interview that Peter Schreger had with Sean Payton.
Oh, yeah. The answer to me was really good job by Peter was Sean basically said, hey, I didn't think that Bo Nix had a particularly impressive combine a year ago. And at this time last year, Bo Nix was apparently not their guy. And I think it's really important for fans and people to understand that at this point in the process, you really don't have a guy. You're still answering all the questions, especially at the quarterback position. So you put yourself in Sean's head, he's going, yeah, Nix wasn't all that impressive at the combine. But beyond that, he liked his tape. I'm sure they worked him out privately, spent a bunch of time with him and came out of that whole process with like, wow, this kid can be our guy.
He's the right fit for Sean Payton and the offense we want to run in Denver. And how we're going to go about our business. But that was the process they went through all the way up to draft day, which is what every team in the league is doing right now.
Rich, right. So teams are looking at the cap potential cap casualties. What's going to happen to dark car and Kirk Cousins? You know what's going to happen with all with Sam Darnold and Justin Fields. So this whole jigsaw puzzles going around. And I think Jackson Dart is saying, wait a minute.
What about me? I'm a first round guy. And he potentially could be rich. And I think he's really similar to Chador Sanders with the things they do well. I think they both throw with anticipation. I think they throw with timing and they throw with accuracy. Neither of them is a dynamic athlete, yet they can make you miss and maneuver in the pocket. Both of them have to win with anticipation and pocket mechanics. Now you bring in the Louisville kid who is now going to force me, Rich, to go back and watch some more tape on him.
Okay. He wasn't even on my list back in August to watch tape of quarterbacks. And now Rich Eisen is saying, is he in the first round conversation? He's a big kid. There's some issues with all the injuries.
You know, the best, the best ability is availability. He's had one full season as a college player. He's played about 17 years of college football.
So at the end of the day, I think the best thing this kid has done is he's wakened everybody up, people like me, people in all 32 buildings. And I'm going to go back and watch a ton of tape on this kid because I like, he ran 4-6-3. He's a big, strong kid.
I like the way the ball comes out of his hands. Now I'm going to go do some real homework on him. Yeah, Tyler Shuck, tallest quarterback at the combine, an eighth of an inch shy of 6'5". He and Graham Mertz tied for the largest hands, 9 and 3 quarters, which as you know, is, is an important metric for, for a starting quarterback. He is 25, but you did, as you mentioned, he ran and, and he was, he was, he had a personality, right? He was like blowing kisses to the crowd as he was finishing his 40 yard dash. He ran it twice. He ran it twice, exactly. And he had the whole thing going with the crowd.
It was fun. You know what I mean? Like, and, and, and those are, these are all things that you notice and pick up and I'm sure he's, you know, and, and Kurt Warner went up to him after the workout and you could see he was listening intently to what Kirk had to, to what Kurt had to say. So, you know, I mean, there's, there's a lot to like about him. And certainly we were just talking in the previous segment about a team, like say the Giants, that, that could go free agent veteran quarterback, and then maybe choose their next quarterback in the second round or trade back into the first round while snagging Travis Hunter. You know, certainly if the fan base is saying, you let our most dynamic face of the franchise go down to Turnpike and win a Superbowl, what better way to say, well, we got a veteran quarterback.
We're going to try and win now with Malik Nabors and Travis Hunter and let's go to work, you know, and maybe they could go Will Howard or some, I don't know. I'm just throwing some scenarios out there, Mike, you know, And, and I like it and all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle aren't in yet, but let's, let's talk about what we do know, Rich of the, the first seven teams picking in the first round, five of them have heavy quarterback needs. And if let's just say that cam warden and Sanders go in the first seven picks right now, I happen to think Dart might make his way back into that first round somewhere. I think there are just too many quarterback needs. And we've seen too often in the NFL draft where people say, Hey, he can fit for us.
He's our guy. Now, the intriguing thing is like a week ago, rich, we're talking about the LA Rams and Matthew Stafford, right? Stafford is now back with the Rams, but they might take a quarterback in the second or third round. Seattle could take a quarterback in the second or third round depending. Pittsburgh could take a quarterback in the second or third round. And that's not even including the quarterbacks that we talked about at the top end. They could shut out for quarterbacks with all those quarterback needs.
So it's not a particularly deep class, but I get a huge kick out of all of a sudden seeing this Louisville kid kind of step that big foot into this process and say, timeout, I'm going to force you to do the work on me. And you know, Will Howard, he might've tried to get cute a little bit with, with some of the throws he made. But again, all these guys are going to have private workouts and then they're going to have a majority of them are going to sit down with teams with the 30 meetings and spend a full day with them. And I think at the quarterback position, that's the most important thing. And I thought Sean Payton showed last year how important fit and vision are to a quarterback.
And I'm so intrigued to see what happens then. And let's not forget Jalen Milro. He is, but he won't be ready for a couple of years. So let's just say both Dart, Shuck, anybody else who you might be able to be, you know, who might be able to, to fit in is available at 21 and the Steelers are on the clock. What do you think, Mike?
And I understand that there, you keep talking puzzle pieces and, you know, free agencies right around the corner, but what do you think about that? Either of these guys for, for the Steelers 21st overall, what do you think? Uh, I think that, um, Pittsburgh could look at a Jackson Dart and say with what he does well, and we marry him to a run game and a defense.
And we might have a situation that's similar to what we saw in Denver last year. And this is a talented kid. Really, he can spin it. Um, I looked at him against Alabama in 23, and I think it was LSU last year, those, amongst other games, he got sacked 11 times in those two games, took a beating, hung in there, made a bunch of throws, but on throws over 21 yards in those two games, he was two for 16. Okay.
And a lot of it was, he was taking a beating and his receivers couldn't win one-on-one. So it's really, there's two sides to every story here and you got to get the fit and could Pittsburgh pull a trigger there? Sure. But I'm nowhere near ready to say that Tyler Shuck is ready to go at 21 or anybody else in the draft. The way it looks to me today, Rich, is I think three could go in the first round and I don't see a fourth yet. Mike Mayock here, a few minutes left with him right here on the Rich Eisen show. So again, we're, we're not looking at the MRI footage, you know, or film or whatever the heck we call it. And, you know, we don't have the medical team in front of us, but walk me through what, what flags pop up with Abdul Carter now with what happened over the weekend. There was no surgery that, you know, there was a conversation for 24 hours. Maybe he doesn't need surgery and he says, he's not going to have it.
What happens with this information, Mike? His agent is Drew Rosenhausen and I've got a ton of respect for Drew and Drew will put that young man in the best for one overall. He'll have the doctors lined up, he'll have, you know, and, and if things go well, the doctors will sign off on all the medical. But at the end of the day, if there's something that NFL medical departments are concerned about, it's often feet, believe it or not. And especially when you start talking about stress fractures or potential stress fractures, I have no idea what Abdul Carter's x-ray showed, and I'm not trying to say I do.
Sure. I'm just saying that if you're going to pick a guy in the top five and you're worried about his feet, you better make damn sure that you've got all your answers from your medical people, because with the amount of stress that the defensive end puts rushing a quarterback, supporting the run, changing direction, all the rest of it, you know, he's 250 pounds and he's going to be leaning on 320 pounders every snap. With the amount of stress put on your feet from the bottom up, you better be real comfortable with what you see on his imaging and what your, your doctors in your building are telling you. Have you been on the business end of a conversation with Drew about a medical issue before Monday? No, I love Drew because Drew will make a deal, but what I'm telling you is, for instance, I'll pick one from my Raider days. I mean, Trey Smith, who's been maybe the best guard in football the last year or two with Kansas City, he went in the sixth round and everybody in the league knew he was the first or second round talent. Kansas City took him in the sixth because of a heart situation, and when your doctors tell you point blank, you can't take a guy, you got to take him off the board, and most of the teams in the league did that year, yet Kansas City took a late round chance and they got an all-pro football player.
So just like off the field issues, Rich, all 32 teams pretty much get the same information, but how they look at that information and make internal decisions varies greatly. Well, before I let you go, I'll let you react to news that literally just broke during that last answer of yours, Mike, and that is the Bengals have franchise tag T. Higgins again. 26.2 million is the tag for him.
That indicates to you what? That they really do desperately want to make a deal with him and that ultimately they will probably get one done. I don't think they want them playing on the second franchise tag for that much money, counting that much against their cap. I think they're listening to their quarterback and they should, and I think ultimately what that tells me is they're open and willing to get a deal done. And does that open the door, you think, for Trey Hendrickson to get a deal or, I mean, how does that indicate anything to you about the triple play they're trying to pull off with Chase, Higgins, and Hendrickson for Joe and the team?
Yeah, and I think you prioritize how you're looking at that, and to me it's Chase in the order you gave. Chase number one, Higgins number two, Hendrickson because of age, because of age, because of age number three, and you and I talked a couple of weeks ago about how I think they've got to feed their offense. It's like Peyton Manning in Indy, feed the offense, get the best players you can out there. Joe Burrow's in his prime, he's willing to play games with his contract just like Mahomes going forward to give you a chance to sign people, prioritize those two wide outs, give Joe Burrow every chance he has, and then do what you can to get Hendrickson signed because the guys had 17 and a half sacks the last two years, but I don't know, you know, that's part of the jigsaw puzzle also, Rich, is how these things work out eventually. Last one for you, Mike, obviously the top players available in the draft didn't work out at the combine, and there's various reasons for that.
One, because, you know, their agents said, let's put velvet ropes around you, your tape says enough. Others are because they played so deep into the college football playoffs, they didn't get to prepare for the combine in a manner that they would be comfortable with, or they're still dealing with aches and pains because they played so darn deep into a college football season that is only going to get longer. And, you know, the league is already talking about once upon a time down the road playing 18 regular season games, and that would push things back. If the combine gets pushed back, maybe to accommodate more kids working out and a regular season in the NFL that gets longer, would the evaluation class, front offices, want to push back the draft, keep it where it is? Like, how would all this work if they want to push the combine back to get more kids working out in it?
Mike? Yeah, I think there's a couple things here, Rich. Number one is, you have to satisfy yourself as a league that if you do push it back and change everything with the off-season, that more kids will work out.
And I'm not sure that's the case. So I think more and more kids are choosing to take a step back and put their best foot forward on advice of their agent, whether, you know, some of the kids were going to run 40s but not do positions. Other kids were going to say, I'm going to do the jumps this week and my position, but I'm going to save the speed work for my pro day.
Some of the skill guys said, uh-uh, I'm going to throw and catch and do everything where I want to. I'm not sure we're in an era anymore where even moving it back, and really, you're only talking about a small group of athletes, Rich. You're talking about the guys that play in the semifinals and the finals if you move it back two weeks. So I'm not convinced that's the right answer anyway, but there are people a lot smarter than me in NFL headquarters that will figure that out. I'm just, another way of just me asking, is the evaluation season too long, or would people say we need to extend that, or are they making it smaller, just getting this thing done already? Yeah, I think most of the league is good with where it is today, as long as pro days continue, which is another conversation. You know, I mean, there's also a flip to your whole question, Rich, is what if we abolish pro days and you have to do everything at a combine?
We're at your all-star game. I don't know. I just think that they'll just be pro days behind people's backs.
You know, you never know, man. A hundred percent. I worked a kid out that was a former high round draft pick in a park in downtown Oakland one day, and it was legal, by the way. I called the league office first, and you know what the nuance was, Rich?
No. If I worked them out in our building, on our fields, that would have been illegal, because I worked them out at a public downtown field in Oakland, it was legal. Don't know why, thought it was the dumbest thing I ever heard, but I picked them up at the airport, me and the position coach went out to a little league field, and we ran them and worked them out.
And were you looking around to make sure there's nobody with a camera checking you out? Didn't care. It was legal.
I checked with the legal office and we ended up signing them. Wow. Okay. You don't want to say his name? You want to say his name? He's a defensive end.
Okay. Does he have a large wingspan and have a nickname for it? I don't even know who you're talking about. Crosby. Talking about Max Crosby. Oh, okay. It wasn't a college.
It wasn't a college player, but this was a guy that already did it. Oh, I got you. Very good. All right, Mike, you're the best. We'll chat again next week.
Thanks for the time. Thanks, brother. The one and only Mike Mayock.
Love that stuff. In the NFL, there's no margin for error. As we just saw, one mistake can change the outcome of a game and a season and the biggest game at that. Science proves quality sleep can help boost reaction time, recovery time, and overall athletic performance. And that's why Sleep Number is the official sleep and wellness partner of the NFL, because they provide players with data and insights to optimize their sleep for the ultimate competitive edge. Imagine what it can do for you. I know my sleep number setting is 60. My wife's is 70, just 10 numbers apart. But guess what?
It makes the world of difference. So why choose a Sleep Number Smart Bed so you can choose your ideal comfort on either side and now save 40% on the new Sleep Number Special Edition Smart Bed. Limited time exclusively at a Sleep Number store near you.
See store or sleepnumber.com for details. Can you just clean that up, please, sir? Thank you. I'm just trying to keep up with you.
Stop it now. That's it. I am.
You got you do this. You got TV shows. You're the face of a network. I'm not giving away cash and prizes. I'm not saying good morning to an entire nation every well, I guess on this show, I'm doing that.
Yes, you're doing that. But I guess maybe it should be the Good Morning Rich Eisen Show America or something. We couldn't move. Let's let's not push it now. Let's just say we need to workshop.
Got to workshop that idea a little bit better than that. It's good, man. I mean, and I'm one of these guys. I'm very grateful. And I understand I owe everything to the game of football. I know there's a lot of flack about football and a lot of the things that have come back, you know, the haunt, you know, some of the players in the game.
And I know a lot of players out there with a lot of issues and there's a lot of responsibility that needs to be had on their behalf and on all the players we have. But at the same time, I think, you know, I'm very grateful as well. And you've got a second season of Pyramid coming up soon, right? Yeah, $100,000 Pyramid, man. Come on, win some money, baby. Help somebody win some money. By the way, you know, I am a game show aficionado.
Are you good? You know, everybody said that. I'm not I'm not doubting you. But everyone says, oh, man, my mom the same way. We did Chunky Soup commercial years ago. Oh, boy, I can act. My mom. So we get there and her line was, you need a hot bowl of Chunky Soup to fill you up, right? Mm hmm. What happened, Denzel Washington? Where are you now?
So the game sounds easy and the game looks easy when you see someone who's really good at it. But it is tough when that clock is ticking. You got 30 seconds and that person across from you. Stray, who are you talking to right now?
Come on. Rich, I can give clues. I can receive the clues. I know all of the business.
I know you got to put your hands in the straps. You know, you set yourself up, right? Oh, I'm I'm ready to make somebody's one hundred thousand dollar dream come true on your show. It's going to happen. Like Joe Namath. I am calling you like Joe Namath.
Now you're like you're calling a hundred thousand dollars for whatever lucky individual your producers care to pair up with. Oh, yes, I love that show. It's the truth.
We're going to make that happen. I watched the Dick Clark daytime version. I watched Dick Clark nighttime version.
And I watched your version. It is fun. I love it because if Pran can do it, I can do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Prime, I got to say, wasn't Prime's finest moment to do the show? He was given body signals that didn't match up with the words. I'm like, what? How does that mean money?
I don't get it, but the Prime it made sense. Oh, yes. I can't believe I got my first residual check from that. Unreal.
And if I'm making this, I don't know what Stray's making. You need to go back. Oh, yeah. That is for sure. What happened? I found it.
You're right up there. I'm trying to find them. You know, I'm going to do a Hyundai read. Well, you've been gone for a few days. It's understandable. Some things may have got moved around. No, no, don't. No, no.
I found everything where it's supposed to be today. Yes. It's my doing, not my wife's. What are you looking at me for? What are you looking at me like that for?
You just, now you, when he looks down like that, he's like, don't come to me. I'd have nothing to say, nothing to say that can get me in trouble. Nothing to add. Okay, very good. Those two were going at it this week.
By last week, though. Back on The Rich Eyes and Show, everybody. Here's a riddle for you. What do yoga mats, a toothbrush, and a Hyundai have in common?
Time's up. What it is, is you can get it all on Amazon. And the best part, you won't even have to break down a car-sized Amazon box after, because you'll pick up your Hyundai at the dealer. Hyundai is now available on Amazon.
Call 562-314-4603 for more details. Visit HyundaiUSA.com. Limited availability. Pick up through a participating Hyundai dealer in select markets. Does it at least come with like a bow, you know?
I don't know. Yeah, you got to get a bow with a new car. Hey, everybody, you know how it works. When you're franchise tagged and you don't mind it, it's placed on you. When you're franchise tagged and you don't want it, it's slapped on you. That's the way we work in our business. They slap the franchise tag.
Like Travis Scott slapped Cody Rhodes. Hey, listen, when you're franchise tagged to $26 million in change. I mean, that's not terrible. That's not the worst thing. The only issue is it's a one-year deal. That's fine.
I'm still not feeling bad. So how do we take it from T Higgins? He posted just one word, tag. Like, he's it? Is that it? Tag. That doesn't seem enthusiastic.
I don't know. That's like, that's from the Magic Johnson school of tweeting right there. But you heard Mike Mayock's first blush reaction is that they're doing that with the intention of sign them to a long-term deal.
Well, Ayuk signed for $28 million per last year, a long-term deal. One that apparently, I don't know if the Niners would like to redo that right now. They're trying to move them.
That's apparently right. But Cincinnati getting this, at least Higgins is not going anywhere. Yeah, I don't love this.
Well, we just saw a team- I had dreams of number five wearing red, white, and blue. Well, you don't love it, but Cincinnati fans should be fine with it. And then certainly they should find a way to stop dealing with this every single year and figure out how to get Jamar done, how to get T done. And if they can get Trey Hendrickson done on top of it, then they look at Burrow and go, see, we got it done, Joe.
You said, get it done. We did. You said, well, how come the Eagles can do it? And we don't.
Well, we can. And hey, anybody wants to beat the Eagles? That's AJ Brown. That's Devante Smith. So if you have Chase and Higgins, keep them. And it looks like the Bengals intend to do just that, which is great news. For Cincinnati.
