Ranking the NFL Draft QB's (Hour 2)

Alrighty, our number two of our radio program, it is the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. You know, real quickly, before we get back to some football, we talked a lot about Aaron Rodgers right out of the gate, with this pretty much nothing-burger interview on the Pat McAfee show today. We really didn't learn anything, but the speculation will continue about Aaron Rodgers at his next destination.

I think it's really the Steelers' retirement. We spent a lot of time yesterday on Nico Harrison with the Dallas Mavericks and this terrible trade, you know, now two months later that he's made and clearly has not aged well. And he did this media availability the other day that was on the record, off the record, you know, selective and all that stuff. And there was a lot of embarrassing quotes.

Well, Tim McMahon, he was on with Brian Windhorst and the Hoops Collective. And this was a quote he got from some executives about Nico Harrison. Listen up. And I was talking to an executive today and, you know, listen, everybody asks me about Nico's job security all the time. And all I can say is to this point, Patrick Dumont has given him strong public support. I think this press conference could be considered proof that Patrick Dumont has some significant concerns.

Duh. But this executive is saying, man, I hope he makes another transaction cycle. It's always good to have a desperate GM out there. I look at this, if I'm running the Mavericks right now, here's what I would say. You got one year, Nico Harrison.

Alrighty. This wasn't a full year. You made this move that was not popular. And let's also be real. Ownership signed off on this. They had to get the approval of ownership before this deal did go down.

And if you think otherwise, when it comes to the player of a caliber of Luka Doncic, you're out of your mind. And I'm not a big conspiracy guy. But the more and more I think about this and how nonsensical this trade was and how baffling the return was that the Mavericks got, I'm believing in this theory that they're trying to get the fans to have this much apathy and this much animosity towards the organization. And even though it wouldn't make sense for the NBA to want to get out of a market like Dallas and having the Mavericks then go over to Las Vegas. You know, I have seen that been thrown out there right online, like, oh, this is what like the only explanation. And at first I'm like, oh, that's crazy.

The more and more this goes on, though, the more and more I'm thinking to myself, maybe there are some legs to that theory and also to that rumor. With all that being said, though, if I'm running the Mavericks, even if I had a say in approving this disaster of a trade and I know people could sit there and go, oh, get rid of the owners. Right. We've seen this in sports. Rarely do you get rid of the owner when you don't like the owner.

There has to be something that the owner does that is despicable, reprehensible, and then it's still even tough to get rid of the owner. But in this case, the face of this disgrace is Nico Harrison. And if he's going to sit there and remember, he gave that one quote of, oh, I'm going to make moves that aren't popular and I've lived with that. But even though people didn't like it, when they see the results and we got caught up in a bunch of injuries this year, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. All right.

You could sell me even though I don't buy it. But you can at least say you can't say I'm wrong yet, even though I think you're wrong in terms of you didn't get to see the positive return of this trade because of all these injuries. And our players weren't able to gel and mesh together because everyone got hurt. You get to use that excuse once. This is how disastrous this trade is when you're already using that as an excuse and you're already justifying this. So you get next year.

That's what you get. And if I'm running the Mavericks and the Mavericks are a disaster next year or the Mavericks don't look like they're going to be a good team, whether the players are healthy or not. I'm going to Nico and I'm saying I got to throw somebody to the walls. Because my fan base, they hate our franchise. I can't imagine the attendance for Mavericks games next year are going to be wonderful.

All right. I'm going to say they're not going to be good. I'm going to say this. The season ticket prices or the season ticket sales, excuse me, the prices already went up. The season ticket sales. They're going to go down.

That's what I would assume. But whether you think Nico is the point person on this or not, and he is, even though there's checks and balances, that clearly all the the holes were there and all this was passed along for this to get passed through to the top and get approval, which still is nonsensical to me. Outside of maybe they want to move this team from Dallas to to Vegas, then, Nico, you better get this thing right next year and we better be talking about you.

Well, even though I still don't like the trade, it's working right. Hey, they're a top three seed. Hey, they got a chance to go to the NBA finals.

That better be the tune and that better be the tone in the way that we're talking about the Mavericks next year. If not, goodbye, Nico. That's what I would do.

I would say snip, snip. You're gone. You're out of the organization. You're fired because until you get this guy out of the organization or he's proven to be right, which I think it is a huge uphill battle for him to get to be proven right. People are going to want him to be out of the organization. That's just the reality of the situation here. And you know what? I don't think I'd be rooting for the Lakers this year.

I really did it. And I still do believe that the Thunder get to the NBA finals out of the Western Conference, but the Lakers play the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves, even though they're only separated by a game, don't have that same kind of flair, that same kind of feeling that we got last year with the Timberwolves. It doesn't mean they can't capture lightning in a bottle and have it work and start to look like that team. And maybe they're just one of those squads where, hey, the regular season, the NBA isn't all that important. So let's just get into the postseason. Let's not be in the stupid play in tournament and we'll find the way and we'll trust what we have, even though we made some changes and we tinkered with our team once we get to the postseason.

You know, maybe Anthony Edwards is that much of a killer that he could find the way to do that. And if that happens, great. But I'm going to assume, Stu, that your Lakers, they get out of the first round. And then if you look at the Rockets or the Warriors, whoever prevails there, I could tell you this right now. If it's Lakers, Warriors, I'm picking the Lakers. If it's Rockets, Lakers, I'm still picking the Lakers. So I don't think the path for the Lakers to get to the conference finals where then it's a different ask to go get to the NBA finals. And that would be a tough one if it is up against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

I don't think it's that crazy. And if you have the Lakers, like, let's say they just get to the conference finals and they lose in Game seven. Yeah, Nico will be happy, but it's not a good luck on Nico. And if they're somehow in the NBA finals.

Oh, boy. And therefore, wins away from a championship. And can you imagine? I don't expect Lakers to win a championship.

But can you imagine? You're the same fool, Nico Harrison, who's like defense wins championships, defense wins championships. If you see Luca go from being in the NBA finals. And I'm not saying Nico isn't wrong. I'm not saying he's wrong when he talked about how Luca need to change things up.

He does. But what you were working with was a guy that was in the NBA finals. And let's be real on a team that had no business of being in the NBA finals last year. So if you put Luca in the finals and then he gets back to the finals on the Lakers, where he basically salvaged the Lakers season, that would be wild. Because like Stu, did you ever have any expectations this year for the Lakers to go to the NBA finals before Luca Doncic arrived? No, no, definitely not. Maybe win a playoff series at max, but definitely not sniff the NBA finals.

And now we're looking at it. I think if you look at odds here to get to the NBA finals out of the Western Conference, I would say that the Lakers had the second best odds, in my opinion, the way that I would handicap it. I would put the Thunder in at one and then I would put the Houston Rock. I would put the Los Angeles Lakers, excuse me, in at two.

So that's the way that I would look at it. All right. Now let's welcome in Adam Brenneman. Does a great job. Former college football player. Does a bunch of work with CBS Sports and Yahoo Sports. He's also the co-founder of the College Sports Company, which built athlete hosted media networks and partnership with NIL Collectives at Penn State, BYU, Louisville, Tennessee and South Carolina.

The company recently raised $5 million from Tom Brady's company, Shadow Lion, NBA player Kevin Love and other investors. Adam, appreciate the time. How you been? What's up, Zach?

How are you, man? Appreciate you having me on. Appreciate the introduction. I'm excited to talk. Yeah.

So let me start you off. The big college football story this week, you know, outside of the draft is coming up next week was this Niko Iemaliava situation. Now we know he's going to UCLA.

That's going to be the next destination. How about how that whole thing went down? Craziness, right?

I mean, I think it's a few thoughts. It's clearly we need some rules and regulation around what's going on with NIL in college football, college sports in general. I think at first I was I get excited when I see players trying to maximize their NIL and use leverage. I mean, for a long time, Zach, you know, this players for a long time, coaches and administrators and schools and conferences have used leverage to try to switch, to try to get more money. And the players have been able to do it. And now we have players that are actually able to take a stance and try to do that.

This thing has been a business for everyone but the players for a long, long time. At the same time, I don't think Niko handled it very well. And I think clearly he managed it at a poor time with some bad advice from people.

Both things there can be true that we want the players to be able to do that now. But also you've got to manage it the right way. And that, listen, when you play the leverage game, you take on some risk. There's some risk that doesn't play play out very well for you.

And that's clearly what happened. I think I think we will see pretty soon that there's going to be some regulation, obviously, revenue sharing is coming to college sports. But just we've got to get the one transfer portal window here and get to one window where everyone then can go through the offseason, knowing who's actually on their roster and not having to deal with two portal windows.

I sat down with James Franklin yesterday at Penn State. And, you know, he's dealing with the second time now as players can leave. And then having to figure out, you know, you're a few months from the season, not sure what your roster is actually going to look like.

It definitely gets chaotic. And I know, right, his father and him are very close. And clearly the father plays a big role here on the business front.

And I'm not saying this is easy. But eventually, like you're your own man, you got to make your own decision. I'm not saying you can't consult with dad like right. I make decisions. I can still consult with my parents, but ultimately I have to make the decision.

It's tough to do. But, man, this is a bad decision. You go from the SEC, Tennessee, and I gather you get less money now to go play for UCLA, which nothing against UCLA. But they're they're not Tennessee.

And I understand Tennessee isn't the the golden days of what Rocky Top used to be. Yeah, I'll say this, though. I do think that you don't always know how the situation really played out. And there's been so much he said. She said, you know, I Big Nick is Nico's dad is very involved in everything. But Nico also has agents and who have conversations.

It's tough because we don't really know what happened behind closed doors to hear how the whole thing actually transpired, how it actually played out. You know, but clearly it was mismanaged. Clearly, it wasn't handled well by Nico. If it was really about the offense and not liking Josh Heupel's offense. I mean, you knew what Josh Heupel's offense was going to be in January, in February, in the first transfer portal window. So not much has changed since then.

I think it was definitely mismanaged. But now the exciting part is for a guy like Nico is that you've kind of become the laughingstock of NIL here for a few months. I mean, go have a career year at UCLA.

Go prove everybody wrong and prove that you made the right choice. Now, it's definitely a storyline we're going to watch to see what happens with Tennessee and also UCLA. But I think the biggest point of intrigue heading into this college football season, Adam Brenneman, is what Arch Manning is going to look like starting an entirety of a college football schedule, just because of how much hype that comes with him with his last name, going back to high school, even the last two years at Texas. What do you think Arch Manning is going to look like in his first true year as a starter with the Longhorns?

Yeah, I think he'll look great. He's my my Heisman favorite right now. I think the thing that Arch brings to the table and I was wrong about him. I did some scouting and talking about Arch before last season and really had him in the bucket of, you know, just because of his last name, probably, of that pocket passer who can't create, who is going to be kind of a progression guy going through his three reads and then throwing a check down. Where Arch really brings something to the game, we saw Texas use someone's short yardage and in the red zone. He can run the football and he can create. And one of the one of my favorite things when I'm scouting a quarterback, looking at a quarterback, I think to myself after watching him play, when things break down, do I believe that this guy can figure it out when nothing else is there? And and the answer for Arch is yes. I think Arch Manning is an athletic guy. He's not a dual threat quarterback, but he can. He's a capable runner who can create with his legs, who likes to keep his eyes downfield when he's trading with his legs. And I think we'll be we'll be a really good player in the SEC. So I'm going to see how it plays out. Another great story.

I like guys who who maybe it wasn't it wasn't always rainbows and butterflies. Like Arch was, you know, so, so much hype, so much excitement doesn't start right away. I'll so much talk about it. Is he managing his NIL right? Is he sitting behind quinures? Is he going to transfer? And Arch just kind of stayed the course, kept showing up, kept working, kept learning that offense with Coach Sarkeesian.

And now he's going to have a chance to play on the biggest stage. Adam Brenneman here with us when we get to the NFL draft, which we're a week away next Thursday. It will be round one of the NFL draft. The idea and feeling right now is that Cam Ward's going one with the Tennessee Titans. And now all the questions are what will the Cleveland Browns do at two and what will the Giants do at three? What's your best educated guess as we sit here a week out on what the Browns will do at two and what the Giants will do at three? Yeah, I think I think the Browns go Abdul Carter at two. I think that I think Abdul is is a is a I guess I should say they should go out to Carter at two.

I'm not sure what they actually will do. But, you know, I think Abdul is is a guy who, you know, can completely change a franchise. He's a he's a great edge rusher. He can make plays all over the field.

He also brings some some position versatility where he can where he can play different spots on the defense. So I think they go out to Carter, you know, and then, you know, the Giants is where it really gets interesting. You know, obviously from a quarterback standpoint, you look at the Giants and what do what do they really need?

What do we think the Giants are going to are going to take from a position standpoint? I think that if the Browns go out to Carter to the Giants, go Travis Hunter at three and take, you know, a generational talent who can impact the game and play both sides of the ball. I just don't think that, you know, teams are high enough on Chidor Sanders to take him right there at two or three. What's your evaluation just wondering of Chidor Sanders? Because it felt like when the season ended, Cam Ward and Chidor Sanders, it was 50-50.

Clearly in the last few months, Cam Ward has pulled away. And I still thought Chidor was going to be the pick to the Giants at three. Today, I don't think like what you're saying, he is going to be the pick.

And a lot of people start to feel as if Chidor is going to fall. I think he could be a good quarterback at the next level. I'm not going to say great right now. But your evaluation of Chidor Adam Bredeman is what? Yeah, I think Chidor Sanders is a great quarterback. I don't think he's a top five quarterback, a guy who warrants a top five pick. I have some concerns with intermediate and deep ball accuracy with him.

I've seen him miss some throws in that range of the field. I think he's an okay athlete. He's not a great athlete. And I do think that for better or for worse, there's a lot of external evaluation that comes with Chidor Sanders because of being Deion's son, because of the spotlight, because of some of the off-field things.

Some of it's been good, some of it's been okay. There's just been a lot of chatter about Chidor Sanders off the field where it forces GMs and head coaches in the NFL, and I've heard them talk about this, forces you to evaluate a player almost more off the field than you are on the field because you know, hey, if I miss on this guy, this could be a generational miss for our franchise. And I think that hurts Chidor Sanders almost as much as it helps him with that big personality he has.

And let me be clear. I roll my eyes every time I hear people talk about off the field. What's the off-the-field prop, like what, that Deion's his father and there's always going to be that maybe thought that maybe Deion will coach him in the pros and the kid has a big smile and he speaks his mind? Those are things I want out of my quarterback. I want a quarterback that has a lot of confidence that is an alpha. I agree.

I agree. And I think there's been no serious off-the-field issues with Chidor, so that phrasing wasn't great. I'll say I think there were moments in Chidor's career, especially early last season, when they had a tough game, who was it? Nebraska.

Nebraska game. There were some moments where I looked at Chidor and didn't feel like I saw a guy who would go lead an NFL franchise because of some of the leadership traits, like some of the, you know, getting frustrated with his team. And there were moments and lapses.

I'll say this, though, and I'm on the record talking about this. I thought that he really improved a lot of those areas throughout the season. I think after that Nebraska game, you know, that he was kind of open around at times in that game, and it seemed like he was, you know, not too happy to be out there by the end of it. And I thought he really improved that body language, that leadership throughout the rest of the season.

But as you said, that is what I think teams mean. It means that you're Deion Sanders' son, and there's always going to be chatter about Deion coming to coach the NFL, and there's, for better or for worse, whether it's warranted or not, there is more evaluation put on Deion Sanders externally and off the field than any other player in this draft. So we talked about Abdul Carter. Personally, I think he's the best player in this draft, pound for pound. When we get also to your school in Penn State, Tyler Warren, I think he's also a top five player, but I don't think he'll go in the first five picks. I think the earliest he goes is seven, and I think the Jets would kind of be foolish to pass up on Tyler Warren with the seventh overall pick.

Yeah, I'm with you. I mean, Tyler Warren is generational for a lot of reasons, from his athleticism to how they can make plays. When I was talking to James Franklin, I said, every great player to me has an elite characteristic.

They have to have something that's elite about them. And James Franklin's comment was, Tyler Warren's elite trait is that he doesn't have one and that he's just great at everything. Like, every single thing that you could want him to do, he's great at it. He may not be an elite athlete, but he's pretty darn great at being a good athlete.

He's got great body control. He can catch the ball, and he's so smart. So he can play so many different roles in an offense where you can teach him seven spots, running back, fullback. He can play quarterback, wide receiver. He can play tackle over, left tackle.

I mean, he's got so many different things he can bring to an offense that I'm with you. I think he's a top ten pick. I think he's a guy who can, you know, it's tough to make an impact that early or that much as a tight end. You know, to be a guy who's worthy of a top ten pick, maybe even top five. I've seen people having them go in the top five. I've seen some of those mocks with the Jaguars. And I think that having a guy that can change the game like he can is pretty rare for the tight end position and pretty rare to get drafted that high. You know, and it's not obscure, right? Obviously, a quarterback, a wide receiver, a defensive end, a quarter to go in the top five, you know, or even the top ten.

Obviously, it happens all the time. Running backs and tight ends, though, we don't see a lot of it in the top ten. We already talked about Warren, Ashton Genti as well. I'll be shocked at this point if he's not the pick with the Raiders with the sixth overall selection. Yeah, I think he's going to be. And listen, I saw the letter that Ashton Genti wrote yesterday.

It was great. He said, you know, it's tackle football. I think you should draft the guy no one can tackle.

And it's the truth, man. I honestly wasn't as high on Ashton Genti during the season last year. He was getting all the hype, playing at Boise State. Didn't think he had a great, you know, he wasn't playing great teams. You know, he didn't play great against when they played Penn State. It was kind of, you know, was trying up and down a little bit in my evaluation, but I hadn't watched that much of them.

I just was kind of, you know, it was in season evaluation. I turn on his film now, man. And this is a dude who's got serious juice, can change the game every time he touches the ball. And he's got so much explosiveness to him and how he runs the football is so hard to tackle. I think he'd be a great pick for Vegas.

Yeah, I said it to him when he joined us on the show in September. He reminds you of a mix of an Alvin Kamara, Marshawn Lynch and a Derrick Henry. So those are three pretty good running backs to play. That's a pretty good mix.

That's a pretty good mix. He's Adam Brenneman. Adam, appreciate the time. Thanks so much for jumping on with us. Thanks, Zach. All righty, there you go. Adam Brenneman joining us on the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll take a break. When we come on back, we'll give you my top five quarterbacks in this upcoming NFL draft.

All righty, this NFL draft preview is sponsored by Ego. Tools that deliver exceed the power and performance of gas without the noise, fuss and fumes. Hmm, that's used to after a tripto barbecue joint, fumes, noise, gas.

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Ego, power beyond belief. All righty, let's do this right now. I'm going to give you my top five quarterbacks in the draft, and we'll try to do this as quick as possible because I think Ahmed Hasidin is going to join us in about 10 minutes from now.

So let's get back in there and we'll get to the update by 32, if possible, as he just texted me that. We'll figure it out during the break. But when I look at the top five quarterbacks in the draft, I'll go five through one. I think for most people, Jackson Dart is three. I have Jackson Dart in at five where he was at the end of the season. I don't for the life of me understand this crazy rise of Jackson Dart.

I just don't get it. He was fine. Put up some good numbers, not great numbers, good numbers at Ole Miss. And at the end of the season, that game against Florida left a lot to be desired. So I'm not this huge fan of Jackson Dart. I put him in at number five. Four, I actually think this is the most disrespected quarterback in the draft process. Now, he may be a career backup, but I think it speaks to the quarterback draft class. But there was some hype at the end of the year about Dylan Gabriel going at the end of the first round, definitely a second round pick.

And now if you put a gun to my head and say, when is he going to go? I'd probably say the fourth or fifth round at best, which is not good. But Dylan Gabriel, everywhere he's gone, UCF, you look around Oklahoma and Oregon, this guy's produced, produced, produced, produced, and he's not the tallest guy in the world. He's not the biggest guy in the world. How many smaller quarterbacks have success in the NFL?

At three, I said before I would not use the first round pick on this guy, but it is Jayla Milro, because of the handful of moments when he pops off, it is at a crazy high level. It really is. But then there's no middle ground. He's got to find just some average games, right? It's okay to be average at times. You can't always be great, great, great, great, great. That's what we strive for.

But it's either you're great or you're horrible. No middle ground for Jayla Milro. Two at Chidor Sanders.

I look at Chidor. I think he's a pocket passing quarterback. You know, I don't want to say a zero mobility because that's not true. But you know Patrick Mahomes has mobility is more sideline to sideline. And there's other guys that just run downfield like Lamar Jackson and also like Jalen Hurts. Mahomes is a great job sideline to sideline when his offensive line doesn't play well, moving around, even if it's outside the pocket to extend the play.

I think Chidor does some of that stuff as well. But he's all about timing and precision and accuracy. And I like the alpha personality of Chidor Sanders. And then at number one, it's Cam Ward. Cam Ward, I'm not saying he's Big Ben because that would be just too high of an expectation. But he reminds me of a lesser version of a Big Ben Roethlisberger. And we've also had other people like Mixon.

It was Gino Toretta, I believe, who said this. He goes the way he throws the ball, not running, but throws the ball. It's similar to Michael Vick and also a little bit like Warren Moon as well. So I think, yes, Cam Ward should be the number one overall pick in this draft. It'll be the face of the Tennessee Titans.

Alrighty, those are my top five quarterbacks in this draft. Jackson Dart in a five. Dylan Gabriel in a four. Jalen Milro in a three.

Chidor Sanders in a two. Cam Ward at one. The guy I thought for the other fifth spot was Kyle McCord.

But I didn't end up doing so. I like his bounce-back season at Syracuse and a little bit of adversity that he faced at Ohio State. I'm not big on Will Howard.

I'm not big on Tyler Shuck. So those are my five quarterbacks. Dart five. Gabriel four. Milro three.

Chidor two. And Cam Ward one. We'll take a break. Zach Gelbshaw, Infinity Sports Network.

Update time first. Let's get to Rich Ackerman. And this portion of the show is brought to you by Ethos Life. The easy way to get life insurance in ten minutes. Up to $2 million in coverage without medical exams.

Just a few health questions. Get your free quota. Check Ethos.com. Not available in all states. Zach Gelbshaw, Infinity Sports Network. We're going to tap into the Boise State football program once again. Ahmed Hassanin has a tremendous story from Egypt to the NFL and via Boise State as well. He joins us right now. Ahmed, appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this. Love your story and how you've been. Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's an honor.

I've been great as I've been working out. Interviewing with teams. Just been seeing where God is going to leave me. So take us through this story. How did you find football from Egypt? I know there's a family component to this as well, which makes it a pretty cool story.

Yeah, absolutely. So I was born in the United States. The story is super long, so I'm just going to try to summer the best I can. I was born in the United States in California, Orange County. I was born there. I left the United States when I was six years old. I left my older brother, Corey. We're half brothers. He stayed with his mom. I left with my dad.

We're half brothers. I went to Egypt and I lived there for ten years. Only spoke English. Didn't know any Arabic.

Didn't know anything at all. I kind of had a rough time growing up in Egypt. I was – I don't know. I wasn't the best kid. I was just angry all the time. I grew up with a single parent. My mom left when I was three years old and my dad kind of raised me.

So it was kind of hard for me growing up with a lot of mom. But I found my outlet, which is doing a lot of sports. I did a lot of like CrossFit, jiu-jitsu, judo, ping-pong, like hip-hop, breakdancing for a little bit because I felt like family and culture, right? So I felt like people are just happy for me that I'm doing good in sports. I was ranked in CrossFit. I was the first on Egypt, top ten on Africa in the CrossFit Games.

So I was – sports was kind of my outlet. But man, ten years go by, my brother that I left in the United States, he was playing semi-pro football in Austria. And he saw me and he was like, come play football for me. And he was visiting Egypt. My sister booked him a ticket and he was like, hey, come see the family. Ten years you haven't seen, you haven't spoken to them, you haven't – you didn't know anything about them.

So come talk to them. Ten years and he moved and he moved to come visit. And at that time, I couldn't speak any English. Didn't know any football. Didn't know nothing. And at that time, I suggested to my dad because I had the American citizenship.

My cousin went to a military school in Georgia called Riverside. He woke up at 6 a.m. He had a disciplined life. He just – he was very disciplined. I was like, I love that. I love that about him.

I want to have that kind of lifestyle. So I wanted to go to a military school in Georgia. So I suggested to my dad. I told him, like, hey, I have the citizenship. Why not just send them to – I want to go to America and go to a military school. And my dad agreed and he was like, okay, we're going to send you to a military school. But at that same time, my brother was visiting after ten years but hadn't talked or haven't seen each other.

He saw me and he suggested to my dad and he told my dad, hey, send them to America with me. I'm a high school football coach and an English teacher. And at that time, I didn't speak English or play any football.

One month later, I moved to the States and I went to Loera High School in California. I didn't know – I didn't have a D-line coach. I didn't have a sled. I didn't have nothing. I had to go both ways, play two positions, like never get off the field. But I did not know what football was or couldn't speak English. So you had to put like an assembled – it's like the simplest form for me to understand. Because I could understand English but I can't speak it. So I can't tell you what I know because I had a little bit of English background.

But my brother is very smart and he really translated easily for me. He coaches the wide receivers. I had to try to know the right receiver, couldn't catch the ball. He tried him as a linebacker.

There was so much stuff going on. So he just put me in a D-line and told me to go get the guy who has the ball. I was like, all right, perfect. Get ball, get ball, I can do that.

Then I had to start because I started just grabbing face mats, just throwing people, kicking people. I didn't know what the hell I was doing until one day my – really my head coach, which Mitch Olson, taught me the way and taught me how to be like really – like I don't know, successful in life and how to become like a young man and have – like hold my own and really taught me how to do everything. What are you going to ask? Yeah. So I'm – what year was this when you first started getting on the football field? 2018.

Wow. So you go from 2018 coming back to America. You don't speak English anymore.

You basically have no clue what football is. Ahmed Hassanine is here with us. And now we're sitting here in 2025 and you're on the verge of becoming the first Egyptian player to ever get drafted. So like when did it all start to click for you that you realize, okay, this isn't just a way of life and this is something that I like.

I'm pretty damn good at this. I mean by God's grace, man, it was like I did not know anything just to see where God has led me. It's all God. Like all word to him and all praise to him, man.

It was – to see where he led me and what he brought me through, like out of 150 million people in Egypt, I'm the first one to ever do it. It's kind of crazy to me. And a kid that didn't know the language, didn't know the game, didn't know anything. But where it started for me is I was watching Aaron Donald play, right?

And on Sunday, and they were playing his highlights and he was just dominating everybody. And I did not know what the NFL was. I did not know what the D1 level is. I did not know what scholarship.

I didn't know any of them. So, I watched Aaron Donald play and I was like – I talked to my brother and I was like, hey, what high school he goes to? And he was like, bro, that's not a high school. That's the NFL. And I was like, NFL?

What's that? He's like, bro, that's the National Football League. I was like, okay, I want to go there. And this is when it started and he was like, bro, I understand there's only one of the two percent that makes it, right? And I was like, okay, I'm going to become the two percent.

I want to make it. And he was like, okay, I got to start taking the camps and I got to start getting known because you don't have a D-line coach at your high school. So, you're not going to get seen from Loera. I love Loera and I'll praise them, but it's a D14 school. It's a very small school. We barely have a weight room.

It's just like this is the only thing that's nice that we have. So, I started going to camps. At that time, it was COVID, so I only played two years of high school football. And it was COVID, too, so I couldn't get recruited and couldn't get known or anything. But my brother started taking me to camps that people were like hosting in their garage and I started doing one-on-one with the mask on. And I just literally was watching YouTube videos about how to pass rush and how to win your one-on-one. And I was really watching and I was watching everybody, what they do, and I was like, okay. And I simplified it and I was like, okay, a point A to point C, but B is blocking me. So, how do you either go through them, go around them, or go inside of it? Like, just make it work. And I just start dominating people from like five stars, four stars, three stars, you name it.

I just start dominating everybody. And people were like, who the hell is this kid? And my brother is like, that's my brother. He's been only playing football for two years and he wants to go D1. You know, he wants to go D1.

And, man, it's just by God's grace. It's Spencer Danielson, my head coach at Boise State now. He was the D-line coach at Boise State. So, when I was getting recruited and getting offers. Didn't he play with your brother?

Exactly. So, when he texted me and he was like, hey, I loved your film. And I got excited that Boise State texted me because my brother told me something about Boise State and he has a guy there. And I was like, oh, bro, check this out, Boise State texting me. And he was like, wait, I played with that guy. That's Spencer Danielson.

Wow. And so, I felt by like God's calling to be at Boise State and the best decision I ever made to be at Boise State. And it just really taught me everything. It taught me from the first down to the fourth down to the parts of the field, how big the field is and the football IQ starting to grow. I came to play as a true freshman because I was like physically developed, I would say.

But I always can grow. But I came to play as a true freshman. Started a few games my sophomore year. Started all my senior year. Started all my junior year. Started all my senior year. I was a team captain for the two years. I was voted by my teammates. So, man, it's been awesome to just see where God's leading me and where God's going to take me.

So, I'm so honored just to be able to share my story and just be an inspiration for some people. Because some people told me that it can't be done and you can't do it. You can't make it. You're going to come back to Egypt in two weeks.

You can't speak English. Look at me now. I'm about to be the first, hopefully, by God willing, to be the first to ever get drafted.

And just keep going and just have that focus later, focus that I'm going to accomplish whatever comes my way, you know? That's the crazy part of the story, the way that you just laid it out. How little you knew. Nothing about football. And the last two years, with only two years of playing in high school, the last two years at Boise State, you had 22 sacks. I still think you are unknown nationally.

You are a great kept secret. So, sell me a little bit. If I'm an NFL GM, why should I take a chance on Ahmed Hasidin? Why will you turn out to be a great player in the NFL? Because it seems like you are just getting started and you still have a big, bright future for you.

Man, I love that you asked that question. I literally, Coach D believed in me, you know? And believing in me means a lot to me. And if you want me to come develop, die for that team, build a team culture, I would do it. Because that's the type of person I am. You know, I'm not in it for the money. I'm not in it for anything. I'm in it for my teammates. And for the coaches to do good and to do good for them, you know, and to do good for myself. Money will come at the end of the day.

I could have left, I could have had some offers at college, but I didn't. You know, I stayed at Boise State because they believed me. And I'm loyal to whoever believes me. And this is something in my culture that means so much to me. I'm ready to die for you if you believe in me.

And you're ready to do the same for me. You know, literally, me and Coach D, every time, before game days, I look at him and I was like, Coach, I will die for you today. You know, because this is like, what's a bigger sacrifice than that? You know, so I just, I'm the type of person that if you bring in a building, he wants a team culture. He wants to lead and he wants to grow and learn and develop and develop other people. You know, it's just not, it's not about me all the time.

You know, it's about other people as well. And I'm just ready. You know, I'm ready to, I'm the type of guy, if you block me once, you better come again. Because I'm going to come after you every single play.

No matter what happens, no matter if I got blocked, I got pinged. No matter what, I'm going to come, I'm going to get it back up, I'm going to get right in your face. You know, it's just like, I'm the type of player that's like, never stops.

I will never stop. You know, get blocked, find another way. Find another way. Find another way.

Because this has been my whole life. You know, I couldn't speak English. I couldn't understand English.

You know what I'm saying? It's just like, everything that's like, I couldn't play football. I didn't understand what football is. Like, I just understand that people are running and hitting each other.

That's all I know. And, two sacks in two years. Fifteen plus TFLs, back to back.

So, you're talking about consistency and you're talking about somebody that will lay his body out for the team. You know? If you watch the Penn State game, man, the last game, I was literally hoppling on one leg. And the trainers and the coaches were telling me to get out. Your future, your future. And I was like, I don't care about the future. I care about this team, this moment right now. You know what I'm saying? Love the answer.

Love the answer. I'm at Hasanin here with us. I got to ask you about Ashton Genti because he could have left and gone other places as well. He elected to stay. I'm a huge Ashton Genti fan. And I got to watch a lot of you this year because of watching Ashton Genti. Some people will say, hey, running back is too early with the sixth overall pick to the Raiders.

What would you say to people that are like, oh, it's too early to draft Ashton Genti? Man, if you want a franchise changing player, that's Ashton Genti right there. I mean, he's the type of player, like we were team captains together and we led this team together. And you're talking about brotherhood and somebody that can have so many offers and so many opportunities to go to.

Every team he wants to, to get as much amount of money he could have made in the NIL. And he stayed with the Boise State. That tells you enough about his character and who he is as a person. Other than he's a dominant football player and a great athlete, look at him as a person. He would love to have him on your roster as a teammate. And I believe that he should go the first overall, to be honest with you. Because that's the type of person he is and how his work ethic is. You know, he's a game changing player and he a franchise player. So I love that guy to death and I'll die for him.

But he's my brother. So I love that. I got to ask you a fun question to wrap it up.

This is our biggest character assessment whenever we talk to prospects when you're eating a chicken wing. Do you go rancher? Do you go blue cheese ranch?

Oh, it's such a good conversation. Really? Yeah. More and more people are saying ranch. I'm a blue cheese guy with wings. I mean, I can see it, but I think so.

It takes away the flavor a little bit. I met has to do. Hey, I love your story. I love what you're about. We can't wait to hear your name called next week.

And when you become the first Egyptian player to get drafted, it's going to be very cool thing to say. So thanks so much for doing this and be well. All right. Yes, sir. Thank you so much for having me.

You got it. There he is. I met has any joining us in the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. And what a program Spencer Danielson has with the Boise State Broncos. And Ashton Gente clearly was the face of the offense.

The face of the defense is right there. And Ahmed Hassanine comes over in twenty eighteen to play high school football and only was able to play two years of high school football, two years. And then the last two years at college, twenty two total sacks. And he's going to get drafted, you know, probably a fourth, fifth round pick, something like that. But he is just getting started now, if you think about it, with how late he got into the game. So if he could do this in college with more and more room to go, imagine what he could do on the next level of that conversation will come on back. We'll do a news brief on the other side of the biggest stories of the day with some audio. And guess what we're talking next. Aaron Rodgers. Back with more after this.