Most Interesting NFL Draft Storyline (Hour 1)

Instacart knows nothing gets between you and the game. That's why they make ordering from your couch easy. Stock up today and get all your groceries for the week delivered in as fast as 30 minutes without missing a minute of the game. Download the app to get free delivery on your first three orders while supplies last.

Minimum $10 per order. Additional terms apply. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue. And guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance too with the name your price tool from Progressive.

It works just the way it sounds. You tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance, and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates.

Price and coverage match limited by state law. The comfort of your favorite seat is now your comfy car selling command center, thanks to Carvana. It doesn't get any better than this. Your favorite seat's the best spot in the house. Make it even better by entering your license plate or VIN and getting a real offer in minutes. There really is no place like home. And speaking of home, Carvana will pick up your car from yours after you finalize your offer.

Visit Carvana.com or download the app and sell your car from your comfy place. Live from the play show, you're not overly ostentatious studios of the Infinity Sports Network. Welcome on in. This is a Thursday edition of the Zach Gelb show across all the great local Infinity Sports Network affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, the free Odyssey app, and of course, streaming live on YouTube. 855-212-4227 is the number to jump on in.

855-212-4227. You can always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good old cesspool of Twitter, at Zach Gelb, that's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B, got Stuart Kovacs, got Moist Mike. We're rocking and rolling all the way up until we say goodbye to you at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. We got not one, not two, but three awesome guests for you today. Chris Jenkins, who's getting set to hear his name called in the NFL Draft out of Michigan.

He's going to stop by, friend the show 20 minutes from now. At the top of the hour, we'll do a mock draft. A week out from the draft, we'll do a little top 10 mock draft with Eric Eger, the VP of Sumer Sports.

And then to wrap up the show in the final segment, or the final hour of the show, we'll be joined by former NBA and college basketball head coach and also player in Avery Johnson. So a whole lot to do today, but we start with some football. And I always laugh and get a good chuckle out of the nonsense that you hear this time of the year. The last month, anything I hear about the NFL Draft process, I don't just take it with a grain of salt. I take it with a massive and I mean a massive grain of salt because this is lying season and you never know what information or what report or what speculation is being driven and the principle and the intent behind that information. Like there is character assassination that is done by anonymous people through reporters and through sources and things like that to maybe try to damage a kid's reputation so he could fall like six or seven picks in the draft.

Now, that doesn't mean that everything that you hear isn't true. There are some things that are concerns about a player that end up being reality, but there's other times where we're trying to make something a big deal and it's not a big deal. Like how about the cognitive to test of CJ Stroud?

I think I got that right. It used to be the Wonderlic. Everyone was freaking out about his low score last year. And oh, my goodness gracious, you can't draft CJ Stroud. Oh, David Tepper doesn't want to draft him because of that reason. And CJ Stroud ended up going second in the draft and had maybe the greatest rookie season I've ever seen from a NFL quarterback. So this time of the year, it's a bunch of nonsense.

I actually think the biggest nonsense I've ever seen. Remember the Laramie Tunsil story with the gas mask on draft night where I think it was like a stepfather or something like that who wasn't in the picture or wasn't getting his cut and he leaked out this photo of Laramie Tunsil in a gas mask. That was a big deal then. Could you imagine coming up next week in Detroit?

I'm not going to name a player, but let's just say it's a big fella on the offensive line. There's a video that emerges of him with a gas mask on, having a little 420 time, let's just say. Would anyone care?

No, no one would care. But that's the unnamed, stupid, idiotic process and the over-evaluation and the over-freaking-out that we do in regards to this draft process. So, you know, I was in the newsroom today and I see Tom DeCelestino, who does a great job producing brighter than you right here on the Infinity Sports Network.

And I mentioned to DeCel, he goes to me, what do you guys lead him with today? And I said, we're going to lead with how stupid this commander's speculation is that maybe now they're not going to draft Jayden Daniels. Because if you weren't made aware, the commanders for their in-person visits, I guess it's called a top 30 visit, that they ended up bringing all the quarterbacks in at one time. And outside of Caleb Williams, you had Drake May, you had Jayden Daniels, you had J.J. McCarthy and Michael Penix Jr. all visit the facility at the same time.

I think they took him out to a Topgolf or something like that, too. So everyone's freaking out. Oh, why wouldn't you have individual visits? Why wouldn't you put your attention in one place and then divide it up? Like, why would you bring in all four of these guys at the same time?

You can't properly evaluate them. Like, is this what we're doing? We're a week out from the draft.

I know this happened earlier in the week. Does anyone actually think, and I know you got to cross every T and you got to dot every I and you got to make it appear like you're taking this decision down to the wire. But does anyone think that right now, does anyone seriously think that as we sit here today on the 18th day of April, in the year of 2024, that the Washington commanders don't know what they're doing with the second overall pick? Like, if they're keeping that pick, which I assume they are, they have to know by now who they're taking. And I don't think because you brought in all four quarterbacks at the same time, if maybe let's just say Jayden Daniels wasn't getting along with J.J. McCarthy. And that's not the speculation that, oh, now you can't draft Jayden Daniels. It's just stupid.

And you know who I also fault? Because it's one thing when there's stupid speculation on social media. Tell me another day that ends and why. Right. Like every day is stupid speculation on social media. But when people from Jayden Daniels team. They kind of put a little gasoline on the fire.

That doesn't make sense to me. Like if I was Jayden Daniels, I would fire this agent Ron Butler today. Unless Jayden Daniels truly doesn't want to go to the commanders. And I know there was that report that got me a little excited from Evan Silva two weeks ago. That the interview didn't go all that well, or the conversations didn't go all that well with Jayden Daniels and the commanders. And now he's intent on playing for the New England Patriots.

I would love that. But I'm not going to let my personal bias and my personal desire of wanting Jayden Daniels in a uniform separate me from actually thinking that he's not going to be the second overall pick. But what is the agent doing when Mike Florio, who I like, had a little commentary how he was not a fan.

And you're entitled to your opinion, even though I disagree with it. But he was not a fan. And he was bashing the commanders for bringing in four quarterback prospects all at once rather than individually. And Florio said, why would you dilute your ability to get maximum time and just the opportunity to evaluate? You were trying to evaluate four guys at once.

So Florio didn't like that. The agent Ron Butler quote tweeted it with a like thinking face emoji. And when you see the emoji, and I've always said sports radio and sports, we need people to analyze the intent behind the emoji. We need an emoji analysis and we need an emoji analyst. But when you look at this emoji, it's basically like Ron Butler saying this Florio guy knows what he's talking about. And then the speculation today, because you have this tweet from Ron Butler, the agent of Jayden Daniels, is, oh, my God, does this mean that the Washington commanders aren't going to take Jayden Daniels at two? I get it, folks.

I got to fill three hours each and every day. I don't personally find it difficult. But a lot of people that sit in front of a microphone do find it difficult to find a way to fill content for three or four hours. But if you were a talk show host today, that is seriously considering that the commanders are going to abandon their plan to draft Jayden Daniels, which has been the thought. Maybe it ends up being wrong.

Maybe it was the entire time we were deceived. But the last two months, all we've heard is Drake May stock is falling and Jayden Daniels is going to be the second overall pick and the two best quarterbacks in this draft. Caleb Williams won and Jayden Daniels, too. And now because they brought in Daniels, McCarthy, May and Pennock's junior all in at the same time and Jayden Daniels may have not liked that approach or at least bare minimum, the agent of Jayden Daniels.

Ron Butler didn't like that approach. If that's what prevents Jayden Daniels from being the second overall pick, there's a major, major flaw in the entire draft process. Because the commanders, if let's say for two months, let's just say this.

Entertain me on this. The commanders for two months, let's just say they were set on taking Jayden Daniels because Jayden Daniels maybe didn't play nice at this meeting and Ron Butler didn't like the approach. You're going to risk not drafting this quarterback and maybe taking someone else that has lesser talent or has a lower ceiling because you guys had these four quarterbacks there at the same time and either Daniels didn't like it, the agent didn't like it or both didn't like it. To me, that would be the definition of insanity. And if the Washington commanders don't take Jayden Daniels, I really want to hear their explanation.

Because remember, the commanders have new life. That pig, that SOB, Daniel Snyder is no longer there. You now have Josh Harris. You now have Magic Johnson. You now have Adam Peters. I know the Dan Quinn hire was underwhelming because of the speculation on who was going to get the job, but it's not as if Dan Quinn is this awful head coach in the NFL.

I know he choked away a Super Bowl, but he did get the Atlanta Falcons to a Super Bowl. So there has been some positive momentum here in this new version of the commanders, the Washington football team or the last name, however you want to refer to that franchise. It's a new dawn. It's a new day, right?

It's a new life. That's what it is with the commanders. And if they don't take Jayden Daniels, depending on their reason for it, could change the way that I view that organization. If you give me a football reason why you want to take Drake May and you can make that argument, God bless you.

It's not inconceivable. But if the truth is that whatever happened in the last few days altered your line of thinking of going from Daniels to maybe either May McCarthy or Michael Pennix Jr. Then give me a break. I'm totally out on the Washington commanders, and I don't think that's going to be the case. Once again, I don't believe what I read this time of the year, but I try to go on what the initial tone was and not always is the initial tone what ends up happening. Right. There was that thought years ago when the San Francisco 49ers made the trade up to three that when they made that trade, their intention was to take Mac Jones. Eventually they took Trey Lance.

So the initial intention can change over time. But when we've heard like for seven or eight weeks now. Jayden Daniels to Jayden Daniels to Jayden Daniels to Jayden Daniels to I'm not going to sit here and then think because of this meeting and whatever happened at this meeting and Ron Butler not happy with the approach. That now all of a sudden, Jayden Daniels is not going to go to and I stand by this. The three best quarterbacks in this draft. Number one, Caleb Williams. Number two, Jayden Daniels. I think those two quarterbacks had the highest ceiling in the draft class.

And then number three, it's Drake May, but Drake May comes at a big risk. So I'm still going to believe that Jayden Daniels is going to be the pick for the Washington commanders in at two when the NFL draft does commence a week from now. 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27 8 5 5 2 1 2 42 27. Who are the Washington commanders going to take with the second pick in the NFL draft?

We'll take a time out when we come on back. Michigan defensive lineman, national champion getting set to hear his name called. Maybe on Thursday, if not on Thursday, definitely on Friday.

Friend to show. Always love when he joins us. Chris Jenkins going to stop by on the other side. We have a very busy Thursday show. Chris Jenkins in this hour. Eric Eager in the next hour. And then the final hour of the show, we will talk to Avery Johnson. Call from mom. Answer it.

Call silenced. Instacart knows nothing gets between you and the game. That's why they make ordering from your couch easy. Stock up today and get all your groceries for the week delivered in as fast as 30 minutes without missing a minute of the game. You have 47 new voice mails. Download the app to get free delivery on your first three orders while supplies last.

Minimum $10 per order. Additional terms apply. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue. And guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance, too, with the name your price tool from Progressive.

It works just the way it sounds. You tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates.

Price and coverage match limited by state law. That's not just the sound of that first sip of morning Joe. It's the sound of someone shopping for a car on Carvana from the comfort of home. That's a good blend. It's time to take it easy, like answering some easy questions to get pre-qualified for a car in minutes. Talk about starting the morning right. Just like customizing your terms so your car fits your budget.

Visit Carvana.com or download the app to experience car shopping the way it should be. Convenient, comfortable. That's right. It is the Infinity Sports Network. Zach Gelb here with you on the Zach Gelb show. I'm rocking my sunglasses for this segment because the last time we had Chris Jenkins on from the Michigan football team, I guess he had a little bit of an eye injury so he wore these big sunglasses and I said, you know what?

I'll rock my shades with you. So I'm going to assume when he joins us coming up in a few moments that I'll either have some funky glasses on or maybe we'll have the same sunglasses. I hope that we've built that connection enough where now he knows when he gets set to do an interview on the Zach Gelb show on the brand new Infinity Sports Network, that he knows, OK, you got to come on the show when you're Chris Jenkins and you got to have some special glasses. And it's pretty cool, by the way, with his father playing for the Carolina Panthers and also the New York Jets. And you saw the success that his father had. And then we were talking to Chris this past year throughout the entire Michigan football team. And we know they ended up winning a national championship. We got to know him a little bit then.

So it was pretty neat to see what he was able to accomplish. And now not only having a father that played in the NFL, but also a uncle that played in the NFL, too. Now you're going to have another Jenkins coming to the NFL. And that is Chris Jenkins, who we're going to see when his name is going to get called, hopefully on Thursday night.

But if not on Thursday, then it will be on Friday. And ahead of the 2024 NFL draft, P&G and Meyer are teaming up to provide players with essentials from trusted P&G brands like Bounty to help them be ready for anything as they begin their pro careers. And now joining us is the national champion from the Michigan Wolverines. And he's getting set for the NFL draft. I even see him. He's dancing right now as we introduce him. And that's my guy, Chris Jenkins, kind enough to join us right now in the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. Chris, great to see you as always. Congratulations on all your success. And there we go.

He's got the shades on. How you doing, my man? Yes, sir.

I'm doing great. It's great to see you again, man. I appreciate you having me.

So let me also start you off with this. Football fans consume billions of wings every football season, and Bounty is the only paper towel that can tackle the mess. For fans tuning into this year's NFL draft, remember, you can't have football without wings, and you can't have wings without Bounty. So I will be eating a ton of wings on Thursday when we hope to hear your name called.

But I have to ask you a very serious question right out of the gate. You go blue cheese or ranch when you're eating wings? Ranch. Oh, 100%.

I'm sorry to disappoint you, Chris. We have a friendship. We have a bond. No, we can still just ranch at the end of the day. Why do you like ranch? It is ranch. I love ranch, man. It's a people that are ranch lovers could agree with me. Ran is some is something about that is something about the ranch, man. You know, I don't know about blue cheese. I met your mother at the national championship game. If I knew that she raised you and she raised you loving ranch, I would have said, What the heck did you do with Chris?

What's going on here? You gotta be blue cheese. I mean, she did.

I mean, I still I still use blue cheese if I run out of ranch. Well, let's look back at the Michigan season. Clearly, it was awesome. It was unbelievable. You guys win the national championship.

Now, I know you're getting ready for the draft, but when you look back at that chapter of your life, just one of the memories that still come back to mind. Really, just all the work we put in and coach Harbaugh said it best. He said when the confetti was falling on that on the biggest stage on that championship stage. He said every piece of confetti represents a moment. All the hard work you've done in all the other 220 pound med ball carries. We did in the off season, the 6 a.m. Workout spring ball practices, camp practices, all that work we put in to get to that moment and it paid off. There's no better feeling than that.

Yeah, it was absolutely awesome. And we know afterwards, right? You're getting ready for your NFL journey, Jim Harbaugh. There was all that speculation throughout the years that he was going to be leaving as well.

He finally did so leaving Michigan and taking the Chargers job when you saw that news. Just how did you kind of process that? Yes, sir. Will be honest with you. I wasn't too surprised because let's be honest. I mean, he took care of business. He did his business. He brought the national championship trophy back to where it belongs. So for him moving on after, you know, doing everything he could to put Michigan back on the map, he absolutely deserves it, man. And I'm excited for him and I'm excited for Coach Moore, who's not going to be leading the leading the team.

Yeah. What do you think Sharon Moore is going to bring to this team? I know we got to see him a little bit taken over through some of the suspensions, but him as the new head coach of Michigan, what what is that going to be for this next chapter Wolverines football? Oh, he's going to bring that passion, man. The enthusiasm unknown mankind that Coach Harbaugh talked about so many times. He has that passion, that love for the game.

Like you said, that smash mentality that he talks about all the time from the front line, the O-line, the D-line, like, oh, he's going to bring that physical smash mouth old school football. And I'm excited to see them go, especially this Saturday. Talking to Chris Jenkins right now.

Okay. How about the Chargers? I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of Michigan guys that get drafted by the Chargers with the Harbaugh connection. Is that something you thought about what it would be like to play for Coach Harbaugh in the NFL?

Yes, sir. And I'll be honest with you, like at the end of the day, I would be honored. I'm gonna be excited wherever I go. I can't wait, but it would be sick to run it back again at the next level.

It would be sick. I can't lie to you. So let's pretend I'm a GM and I'm debating on if I'm going to select you or not. Why should I take Chris Jenkins with the first round pick? Because I'm gonna get whatever you need from me.

A hundred and ten percent. I'm gonna give it to you. And I'll be honest with you. I'll do my own horn too much because Harbaugh gave me enthusiasm. I know the mankind for a reason and I'm just happy to be a part of this moment had these opportunities. If we doing conditioning, I'm be hyped up the role.

We working in the weight room. I'm hyped up the role. Anything to be better to get to that Super Bowl stage to be an incredible breaking player to be a gritty trench player. Whatever you need me to do, wherever you need me to play at. I'm a do it. No questions asked and I'm a do it with a smile on my face and you come from a football family.

Everyone knows who your father is. Your uncle also had some success in the NFL as well. How beneficial have your dad and your uncle been through this process and really kind of just developing you to the football player that you are today?

Oh, they've been amazing, especially with my mental because, you know, I already got the incredible genes from them. You know, that athleticism from that strength from them. But at the end of the day is really that type of mentality that allows you to be a great player at the next level. And, you know, all the guys are talented at that stage, but they know what it really takes.

The type of mentality that you got to have to not only play there, but be a great there to have a long standing career. So they've done nothing but challenge my mental, you know, competing and really just allowing me to be the type of man that I am today. So I love him and thank him for that. By the way, what is your training been like recently? Because you always look good with the with the sunglasses on. I know you got a little bit of a haircut, but you're looking a little bit leaner these days. What does the train have been like?

I'm recognizing this. Yes, sir. No, it's been it's been a lot of body training. A lot of strength training, a lot of conditioning because, you know, when you when we started is going to be working training camps, rookie training camp that we got to go. We got to roll.

We got to move. So whatever I can to be that the best physical shape I could be, you know, right now I'm at 308 right now. I'm a little chunkier than usual. I mean, shoot the hoodies kind of hiding it a little bit. But, you know, I'm yeah, whatever I got to do to be at the peak physical like standpoint on day one.

I'm doing it right now. Let me talk about your old quarterback and JJ McCarthy. He keeps on rising up the draft boards for people that are maybe doubting JJ. And they're saying, oh, I don't really see what others are saying about JJ McCarthy. What do you say about your former quarterback?

And I'm gonna take off the shades for this one real quick because we get serious, serious. What you got to get out of JJ, a top five pick, really a top three pick. You got to get the best out of that man. What really separates him from some of the great quarterbacks you see in college and what's going to separate him in the league is his work ethic, man. You know, not only does he have the athleticism, the talent to escape, to be accurate, to throw the deep ball. But he has that character, that leadership that other players feed on. And he's going to lead his team. He's going to do anything possible to get better every single day and to set his teammates in the best possible position. So he's really a guy that's fully about the team. One hundred and ten percent every single day and he will do whatever you need him to do.

No questions asked. And like I know you've seen it in the first big 10 championship game we played. If he could block for somebody, if he could block for his man, you know, you don't you don't worry about getting a little dirty sometimes. So he would do what he got to do to help the team win.

And that's what we love about. So you feel like there is a next year because everyone knows you had to be selfless this year when you have another great offensive line. You have Blake Corm, you have Donovan Edwards.

It would have been stupid not to run run those guys behind the offensive line that you've had the last few years. There's no doubt in your mind that there's a different level from J.J. than what we've seen, which has already been pretty damn impressive. Oh, absolutely. And he's really going to continue to show that at the next level. He got a chip on his shoulder and he can't he can't wait to show the world, you know, really how how well he could turn up.

You know, everybody that's down there. So I'm excited to see that coming to play. And he's going to do great things. All right. Chris, I know you're doing some great work today with PNG and Meyer. Tell me what we got cooking today with also Bounty as well.

Yes, sir. Well, I'm partnering with PG and Meyer. You know, like you said, to be ready for anything. You know, so being in a new city, a new career, you know, on a new team, new teammates, you know, they're really getting me set up to be ready for anything in the best possible way.

So shout out to PNG and Meyer for that. And also being with Bounty because like you said, we eating wings every single football Sunday on the drive day, especially we definitely eating them wings. So like you said best, can't have football without wings. You can't have wings without Bounty.

And they call it Bounty for a reason. What are you doing? Just wondering for the actual draft. How are you spending the draft? Oh, yeah, we're going to spend it with my family. We're going to spend it over in Belleville about like 20 minutes down the road from Detroit. And like I said, we're about to have a good old family barbecue. Everybody's going to pull up. I don't know if I'm wearing a suit because like I said, I'm gonna get a little messy. That's what we got the bounty for. But you know, we're really buddy is about to be good old trash dog. Love family environment, a bunch of food and we better have a great time. And I know that there's going to be so much emotion.

That's been the last thing that I ask it. And I saw kind of the family emotion that you guys shared when I was on the field when you guys won the national championship and that was cool to see it kind of behind the scenes. But you wear your emotions on your sleeve.

You're always fun to talk to. What do you think you're going to be feeling? Whoever the phone call comes from when you find out on Thursday, Friday, whatever it is that, OK, this dream that you had is now reality.

And you're going to be an NFL player when you get that call. Oh, it's going to be nothing but that type of energy that I got now times 10. And the second I get my name called my number call, I'm gonna be nothing but hype, you know, on just online for, you know, however long you might you might see a couple of tears or two come down. But at the end of the day, those are tears of joy because there's a kid I dreamed of this moment and we are a week away from this moment coming into fruition. So I can't I just can't wait, man.

A lot of sleepless nights. So I'm really excited for it. Well, congrats to you.

So happy for you and your family. Keep on kicking ass and we'll talk to you when you're an NFL player in a week. All right. Oh, yes, sir. We'll do. Absolutely. Stay cool, man. I appreciate you. You got it any time. There he is.

Chris Jenkins. I love whenever we talk to him. I get to wear my sunglasses as well. And no one has any clue where the heck that I'm looking at when I got these shades on. I think I'm going to rock these shades more often now because then I could give like Santa maybe a dirty look.

And he has no clue that I'm thinking all these bad things about Santa whenever he annoys me on the radio show, Santa. I think I rock the shades. I think I pulled the Chris Jenkins now moving forward, even though as much as I love Chris Jenkins and Chris Jenkins is like a 10 out of 10, dude. Awesome guy. Great personality.

Great football player. The ranch. The ranch. The ranch broke my heart. Broke my heart. I mean, I will say this. I'm a ranch guy. So Chris Jenkins just went from like a 10 to an 11 and a half in my book. And like I said, I'll also say this. There's some guys who can pull off the shades indoors.

Chris Jenkins can pull them off. You're anywhere. Oh, that's not nice. I mean, that looks terrible.

But like, I just don't know if you know, if you're one of those guys who can rock him indoors. It's all right. It's okay. I listen to C.J. Whoopty with the blue cheese. That's always my big song.

And I love blue cheese as well. We'll take a time out. Zach Yelpsch on the Infinity Sports Network. Update time.

Here he is. Patty Boyle. Doors take us to summers away. Or winter adventures. And afternoon getaways. Your dedicated Fidelity advisor can help you open those doors by working with you on a comprehensive plan to help you reach your wealth's full potential.

Because doors were meant to be opened. Visit fidelity.com slash wealth. Investment minimum supply Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC member NYSE SIPC. One, two, three, four. Those are numbers.

But you already knew that. If you want to know what number you're going to pay each month for your car, use Kelly Blue Book My Wallet on Auto Trader. They're really good at numbers.

Auto Trader. After the end of a good fight, you deserve an ice cold reward. Medella is the mark of a fighter. You've earned this rich golden lager with a crisp, refreshing taste. Because you know the bigger the fight, the better the reward.

You put in the hours, the energy, the tough labor. You are a fighter. Medella is your reward. Medella, the mark of a fighter.

Trick responsibly. Beer imported by Crown Import Chicago, Illinois. This portion of the show is sponsored by the new Hyundai Tucson.

Available with complimentary class-leading Blue Link Plus. Now it's easy to use your phone to control your Tucson. Our buddy Sully texted us. And I always love Sully. But every time Sully now texts me, I hate Sully.

And here's why. Because every time Sully texts me, I think about the veal parmesan that we had when he took us to that great restaurant, Pierro's. And now every time Sully texts me, I get hungry. And I think about that veal parm. And I know that I would have to get on a plane right now to get that veal parm. And I'd have to be on a five or like six hour flight to Viva Las Vegas.

And quite frankly, just not in the budget right now. Or I don't have the time to just get on a plane and go to Las Vegas. Now maybe we should just go out to Vegas. Maybe we should do that. Take a show trip to Las Vegas. And we just do the show from the affiliate on Las Vegas. That way we get some... There are a couple big fights coming up. Oh yeah? We do get pitched to go out to Vegas a bunch for the fights.

Let's go on one of those. Screw the fights. If it was the UFC, that'd be cool. But like the boxing fights, whatever, you know. The last great boxing fight that I saw was Tyson Fury. And I love Tyson Fury against Deontay Wilder.

But outside of that, there hasn't been a good boxing fight in a long, long, long, long time. But if we could find a way to go to Las Vegas. That way we could not only see Sully. But also get that Italian meal from Pierros.

I'm good. You know, Brian Jack McKeon, who used to work here. He told me he was going to Las Vegas with his girl. And I said, change your plans.

I go 14, 15 minutes off the strip. You go right to Pierros. One of the best meals I've ever had. So we thank Sully for introducing that great restaurant to us. I also just saw that Pat McAfee had Peter Schrager on his show. And Peter Schrager said from what he's heard. The Patriots really like Drake May and Jayden Daniels.

And Schrager then said, don't get cute. Take a quarterback. So going off what Chris Jenkins said about his former teammate and JJ McCarthy. I think that's actually the biggest storyline entering this draft. When you look from an individual player standpoint.

Where is JJ McCarthy going to go? Because I know it's different. But this time last year, the name that started to get hot was Will Leviss. And some people thought, and I never thought this for a second. But some people thought Will Leviss could be the number one pick of the draft.

Which I never understood. So you always knew Bryce Young was going to go one. And then some said, all right, when he doesn't go one, he could definitely go two. And Will Leviss ended up falling all the way out of the first round to the second round. You had with the first pick, Bryce Young to the Panthers. The second pick, you did have CJ Shroud to the Houston Texans. And then the fourth pick, the Indianapolis Colts did select Anthony Richardson.

So it once again falls in line with I don't believe anything that you hear this time of the year. But for JJ McCarthy, his name has been hot for like since February, I would say. And we turn the page right after the Super Bowl and we go right into the draft. And a lot of people have been talking positively about JJ McCarthy like this isn't just a week of a draft thing.

Where an agent's trying to use a reporter to create some buzz and move a player up and try to get some buzz and get other teams thinking, oh, well, there's a lot of buzz around this player. So maybe we end up taking a little bit earlier because you won't be available the next time we have a pick. But for JJ McCarthy, here's the thing. I fully believe where he gets drafted will determine how good of a player he is. He goes to the Giants, he goes to the Patriots. I just can't see him being worth a potential third or a sixth pick if he goes to those two teams. Because who is he throwing the ball to on the Giants? Who is he throwing the ball to on the Patriots?

And those teams are years away. Now, I know you could say, hey, but Zach, C.J. Shroud didn't have a whole lot around him. And look what he got out of Nico Collins in year one.

I understand that. But C.J. Shroud threw the football a whole lot more than JJ McCarthy when C.J.

Shroud was in college. JJ McCarthy two years ago in the game against TCU, even though they lost in that first half when they were trailing. I'm like, what is Michigan doing?

Michigan needs to utilize his legs because he can extend the play with his legs and allow him to take over the game. That's what I felt like for TCU. And then they made the game close and they didn't win it at the end.

They came short in the comeback. But this past year, a lot of people thought with Korm coming off the injury, the offensive line not being the best offensive line in college football that they had the two years prior, but still a great offensive line, that they were going to let JJ cook. But Michigan kind of realized with Sheryl Moore and with Jim Harbaugh, we don't need to have JJ McCarthy throw the ball 30 something times a game. Because our offensive line, even though it took a step back, is still better than most in the country. We have the best running back in football, in college football, from the last two, three years, right?

When you look at the totality of the career. You know, Bijan Robinson was the most explosive. I get that, but Bijan was in the NFL last year. So last year, yeah, they did have the best running back in college football, in my opinion. And then you also had Donovan Edwards, who had an up and down season. But in the national championship game, you saw his big play ability and his explosiveness.

So Michigan was cognizant that we're going to ask JJ to do less. And by doing that, you don't put as much film out there of him throwing the ball. But you look at that Ohio State game, and I know it's only one throw. I saw a ball that he threw in the big house when I was there, and it was to Roman Wilson.

It was in such a tight window, and that was an NFL throw. I believe where JJ McCarthy gets drafted will determine how great he could be. But we talk about, right, the floor to the ceiling. Caleb Williams, even if he's not great, his floor, I think, is still good. Jayden Daniels, even if he's not great, I think his floor is still good with the 40 touchdown passes that he threw last year and the 1,100 rushing yards. You get to the other three quarterbacks that are expected to go in the first round, Drake May, JJ McCarthy, and Michael Penix Jr. The floor for Drake May is a concern, but the ceiling seems like its infinite potential.

It really does. When you have people comparing him to a Justin Herbert or a Josh Allen, like that's big time praise. That's franchise quarterback stuff. But then people say he's not ready. And even though Josh Allen turned out to be a great quarterback, you know that that could go the other way. So there is a large range on what Drake May could be. And I also think there's a large range on what JJ McCarthy could be.

Because the NFL draft you want to sell based off of what that player is going to be for your franchise in the future. Now, when you make that argument, you could use past game tape. Like, I go back to the Aiden Hutchinson, Trayvon Walker conversation. And I sat there at the draft.

I think it was in Las Vegas. Yeah. And I sat there on the air on the CBS Sports Radio draft show, and I said I would draft Aiden Hutchinson. And there was a lot of speculation about Trayvon Walker. I even said I would draft Kayvon Thibodeau before Trayvon Walker. Because they were selling you off the potential of Trayvon Walker. And I get it, he's coming off a solid season, but not worthy of the number one overall pick. Thibodeau has been better.

Aiden Hutchinson, by far and away, has been better. Because those guys played more. Those guys showed you more.

So that goes a long way. But there are guys that are late bloomers. There are guys that come along later in the process where they project them to be a lot better than what they were in college. Which not everyone is at their best in college. And for J.J. McCarthy, he only has one loss in his college career as a starter. He has mobility.

But there is that concern. He didn't throw the ball as much as you would expect a franchise quarterback to throw the ball in college. So you are trying to say in the NFL, when given more of an opportunity, he'll go on to stardom. And I don't know if the ceiling of J.J. is great. But can he be very good in a place like Minnesota?

Absolutely. You put him with the Vikings, with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, I think he could be a really good quarterback. Even if he was drafted by Stu's Raiders, and I know Stu wouldn't like it. You put him with Devante Adams, he can make that work. But he goes to the Giants, he goes to the Patriots. You're asking someone who managed a game at Michigan to then be the focal point of the offense. And maybe one day he can be that guy.

But when you're starting off the first year or two or three, I believe the surrounding is going to be the most important part. Michael Penix Jr., just to wrap this up, when you look at the floor to the ceiling just because we did it for the other guys, what concerns me with him, and I think just like J.J., and Penix Jr. had a lot more throws, right, in college. What concerns me with him, the injury pass, and yeah, the wide receivers are pretty damn good at Washington.

Roma Dunze being one of them. The deep ball accuracy, he is as good of a deep ball thrower as you could see from a college prospect. Like that's how good his pinpoint accuracy is, throwing the ball deep from the pocket. But the underneath throws, the shorter throws, it seems like there's an accuracy issue.

So I do think there's a large range from the floor to the ceiling. So I rank these guys one, Caleb Williams, two, Jayden Daniels, three, Drake May. I do put Michael Penix four and then J.J. McCarthy five. But I do think McCarthy would get drafted before Michael Penix Jr. I think McCarthy, McCarthy will not be on the board past six. So if you kind of think about this, Williams goes one, I'm still thinking Daniels goes two. Three, four, five, and six, who's the team that takes McCarthy?

You know that the Patriots, I don't think the Patriots would do it. At four, the Cardinals would have to trade the pick. The Chargers, they would trade the pick, and maybe Harbaugh helps out a team that wants McCarthy and gets McCarthy the fifth overall pick and trades the pick. And then if he's still there at six, I think the Giants do take him with the six overall pick. So where J.J. McCarthy's going, where the hype is, for me is the biggest storyline of this draft when you talk about individual players.

Samter, how about you? What's your biggest individual player storyline for this draft? I still think it's Caleb Williams.

I mean, I know maybe we're a little bit like Caleb Williams fatigue. But we all know he's going one. Yeah, but are we talking about the storyline of what's going to happen on draft night? Yeah, on draft night. Yeah, then for me I think it's the Minnesota Vikings. Because the Vikings, I think, hold the key to what's happening in this draft. Because I think the commanders are staying put at two. Whoever they're going to pick, whether it's Daniels, Mayer, or J.J., or whatever, they're going to be there at two. What happens at three or four is going to be dependent on the Vikings. If the Patriots are saying that they're potentially looking for move up and down, open for business, the Vikings could go to three, they can go to four. If the Cardinals stayed four, then that fourth quarterback falls back if the Vikings move up. So I think the Vikings are the key to this draft. Because whatever they do, it's going to involve two first round picks and a pick next year for them to move up. And that's going to dictate the entire draft. Because could you imagine if Marvin Harrison Jr. goes fifth to the Chargers and they have Justin Herbert and Marvin Harrison Jr. Pretty damn good.

That's pretty amazing. And we've all said this and we've talked about this. Without the quarterbacks, Marvin Harrison Jr. is probably the most intriguing, talented player in this entire draft. So I think that the Vikings are the ones that really have the biggest storyline to them. Stu, 10 seconds.

What's your biggest individual storyline? 100% agree with Mike. It's the Vikings.

That's what I'm most intrigued by, by far. Look at that. So team wise, I agree. It is the Vikings. Individual player wise, I think it's J.J. McCarthy. And guess what? I know what's going to happen here. J.J.'s going to be on the Minnesota Vikings. They're going to trade up and they're going to get J.J. McCarthy.

Eric Eager joins us next and this is Zach Gelb's show on the Infinity Sports Network. Here's why April chose to vaccinate her child. I think actually meeting someone who was not vaccinated and now has a lifelong struggle with a childhood disease really cemented for me that it's super important that we as parents continue to vaccinate our children. Talk to your pediatrician or visit YVaccines.com brought to you by Merck.