NFL Owners Shouldn’t Be Involved in Draft Process (Hour 2)

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Price and coverage match limited by state law. Alrighty, our number two of the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. The defensive player of the week is sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union who proudly serves the armed forces, DoD veterans and their families. The members are the mission.

Learn more at navyfederal.org. This week's players, Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov in last night's 3-2 win over Boston. He saved 27 out of 29 shots that came his way.

That series now tied 1-1 as the two teams head to Toronto and sources say during one of those saves, you did have Samsonov look up to Sully who's in the crowd at TD Garden and said this one's for you Sully as I don't think Sully was all that happy as he was in attendance for game number two. Just wondering, before we get into this Jonathan Craft story regarding Diana Russini and her reporting, how warm is it in your side of the studio? Stu and Samtor, what is the temperature currently read on your side of the studio? It'd be 73 degrees.

73. I'm out for a few days. I'm sitting here.

I am schvitzing. I'm like, I'm sweating like a pig. And I looked up at the thermostat and it said it was also at 73 degrees in here. Now there's a lot more lights. There's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen lights that are on shining down on me.

I don't know why there's this many lights here that are on, but that being at 73 degrees is ridiculous. I just threw it all the way down to 66, which tells me that Ack is not going to be happy when he comes in for his update because it was up to 73. There's only like two people that are three people that could change that. All right, three, three potential, four potential people, Maggie and Perloff, Amy or Ack. I don't know the people that are really in here during the Infinity Sports Network lineup with Rome out in Southern California, Bill Reiter in LA, JR and Bart with JR in Atlanta and Bart in Milwaukee. So someone must have been really, really cold in here.

They have to jack it all the way up to 73. By the way, Ack isn't happy with me. Ack and I may not be on talking terms right now. So a few weeks ago, Ack and I got into a heated conversation about our hockey team, our beloved New York Rangers. And I said to Ack, you know, Barclay Goudreau and Jacob Truber are both way overpaid and they need to start showing up. Barclay Goudreau to open up game one of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the Rangers game that I was at up against the Capitals who are old and just if the Rangers don't win this series in five games, I'll be very annoyed.

The Capitals just look like they don't belong. But Barclay Goudreau had two assists. So I text Ack on Sunday after the game, like an hour after the game ended. Hey, your boy 2-1 really showed up, played well.

Like, right? Nice thing. Ack in all capital letters. I'm DVRing the game.

I don't know about you guys. If you're DVRing the game and Ack and I talk enough about the Rangers, you got to make sure everyone knows you're DVRing the game. Also, how do you DVR a playoff game? And I know Ack's a little bit older, but we're all connected to our phones.

You know someone's going to spoil it for you. So if you're actively trying to DVR the game, you got to put your phone on on airplay mode, on airplay mode, right? Like, I'm trying to, for example, if let's say I had a conflict on Friday, I thought I was going to have a conflict on Friday after the show where I wasn't going to be able to watch game three.

And I moved around what I needed to move around. But if I was going to DVR or watch the game later, I would put my phone on airplay mode. Or do not, so no one can get in contact with me.

I'd probably put an airplay mode because then it totally shuts off the cell phone connection. But is that on me? Like, I'm innocuously trying to congratulate Ack on his, one of his favorite players playing well after I was critical. And then Ack sent me an all capital letters text that he's DVR in the game and he was very, very, very, very, very, very mad at me.

And Ack looked at me today and he was just like, not good. You ruined the game for me. So should I feel bad about that, Samter? Just wondering.

No, a hundred percent. It is up to the person who is DVR in the game to be responsible. Like if I don't know if you guys talk significantly about these games during the game, we talk not during, but we talk a good amount about the Rangers throughout the year.

Yeah. But I mean, like, like if you guys have normal conversations during games, absolutely has to let those kinds of people know. But like in general, if you are trying to DVR a game, do not look at your phone. If it's coming from somebody who you know is also in that field, like sports, you definitely don't look at your phone. Like if my mom texts me during a game, I'm DVRing, I'm not worried that she's like, Oh man, Yankees blew the game. No, there's a family issue potentially.

Right, right, right. So like, you know, you don't necessarily have to go on airplane mode, but you certainly have to avoid looking at any message from anybody that you know who might be watching that game. So it, the weird part about this whole thing is there have been moments like, have you ever, have you guys ever got screwed over? Like I, my text wasn't immediate in the moment. Like if I'm texting act, act immediately in the moment, that's different because now you have to be cognizant with streaming that the person could be delayed.

Like I have not cut the cord yet and I refuse to do so because two times where I was not watching on cable and I was watching at a buddy's house, I have had endings of games ruined for me with either someone sitting there looking at their phone, knowing the ending on social media, or somebody texting me and ruining the ending. Remember the chief spills game this past year, Ray Martel texted me and I was watching at a friend's house that I didn't know it was streaming and he goes, Oh my God, wide right again for Buffalo. So I'm sitting there and I had to just be disgusted with myself. I didn't want to ruin it for everybody else, but I knew that the kick was going right. There was also a Patriot bills game.

I want to say it was the COVID year where cam fumbled the ball down the left sideline and we're, it was on red zone and we were streaming. And my friend goes, Oh no. And I turned to him and I'm like, what do you mean? Oh no.

He goes, I can't say anything more than that. So I knew something negative was going to happen. So I think the rule of thumb here is if you're watching a game, just stay off your phone until you have to go on your phone because someone's going to ruin it for you. Have you ever tried the fake out on the text sending a buddy or a friend of faking that happened? That's just cruel. See it's cruel. But then if they do ever look at a text from you during a game, they don't know whether or not to believe you.

So you cover yourself for future instances in which you accidentally spoil the game. Let me, let me tell you, try that out. It'll be fun. I've done it before. Yeah. I'm not friends with people that do that. Oh, I'm definitely gonna do it to you.

Rangers game seven overtime. I'm definitely going to be sending you some sort of fake text. Yep.

And we will have a new producer coming in next week. I will go right to the new boss, Ryan Hurley and be like, Sam, they're out. Would you be more mad if I sent you a fake ending than the actual real ending of a game that you were watching? Well, I don't think it's an issue for me because a game of that magnitude that I actually care about with my team, I'm watching on my couch with cable.

Sure. But maybe you're like, you know, maybe I have to run to the bathroom. So you paused it. No, never run to the bathroom with two minutes left in a big game.

No, no, please. Maybe you ran to the bathroom, pee in my pants before I go to the bathroom. But maybe you went to the bathroom earlier in the game. You just didn't catch up.

No, no, no, no. Well, that's kind of what happened to me at the Super Bowl when I'm watching my Chiefs and I was behind. Yeah, I forget about your story. Ended too early because of overtime. Yeah. And you missed the whole thing.

I missed all. No, I call it the first four plays of overtime and I missed my Chiefs winning a title. And then you see McColl-Hardman just running around celebrate. You're like, what the heck just happened? No, I saw Travis Kelsey giving a postgame winning interview and I was like, you got to fight for your right to Lombard.

And Santa's like, what the heck just happened? Anyway, I got to get to Diana Rossini. So she said the other day the Patriots are listening and taking calls from teams looking to move into three. No, no reaction from me. What happens on the back end though of this tweet is what I'm very concerned. While Elliott Wolf is running point, I'm told Patriots President Jonathan Kraft is heavily involved in the decision making. I know some people have refuted this. Diana Rossini, though, is a pretty credible reporter.

So someone pretty significant had to tell her this. That's concerning to me because there's a difference in being heavily involved, but doing what your football people tell you to do. If he is usurping the football people, then I have a big fear that my Patriots could end up becoming the drama Dallas Chokin' Cowboys. Because Jerry Jones runs that organization.

I know Will McClay and Stephen Jones play instrumental roles. But Jerry Jones before has made football decisions because he thinks he is the football guy. Jonathan Kraft, it was always told this way to me. And I've said this since it's got to be like 2017, 2016, that I was told Bill will be in New England until Jonathan Kraft takes a big time role. And even though Robert Kraft will always be the face where Robert starts to get a little bit older and starts to slow down a little bit, not that Bill had any animosity with Jonathan, that would just be eventually a time where Bill will walk away.

Now, things have obviously changed. Bill is no longer there. But now I feel as if this is Jonathan's time where he's like, okay, Brady's no longer here. Bill's no longer here.

My father's getting up there in age. I'm starting to really take control cuz I'm going to be, right, the guy running this team one day. I think it's a bad decision for owners to meddle their way with their football people. Whether you like to be a football player, whether you like Elliott Wolf or not, Elliott Wolf should be making the decision on who the Patriots are taking at three or if they're going to trade the pick. But let's say if a King Ransom offer comes in, Elliott Wolf's like, I don't really love any of these quarterbacks once Daniels and Williams are off the board and he wants to make the move. I could see Jonathan Kraft saying, no, we need a quarterback, take a quarterback.

And the ambiguity there, and I'm not saying that this is definitely happening, but the fact that there's ambiguity there scares the living crap out of me. Because, Sam, I think it's a very dangerous formula where obviously the owners are the owners of the team. They could do what they want.

There is a difference in being in the loop, checks and balances, right, being involved. But at the end of the day, I want my football people making the decisions. And where Elliott Wolf, right, he has control of the roster. It's such a bizarre thing on his long term with the organization that we still don't know what's going to happen. And remember, they hired Gerard Mayo first.

They didn't bring in a new GM. And they said, OK, Elliott Wolf, you're going to basically be that de facto GM without knowing exactly how that's playing out. And now Jonathan Kraft is heavily involved. It makes me think that, yeah, OK, Elliott Wolf is running point, but Jonathan Kraft is grabbing on to him and basically making Elliott Wolf be the puppet, where Elliott Wolf will have his suggestion.

Gerard Mayo will have his suggestion. But ultimately, it feels like this is Jonathan Kraft's call, and no decision will be made unless Jonathan Kraft signs off on it. And when you have a boss saying, oh, I want to do this, and you're trying to keep your job, that could end up the Patriots making the wrong decision. Full disclosure, I do think the Patriots are going to take quarterback. I think the Patriots are going to take Drake May at three. But these are where the offers start to intensify. And could a team like Minnesota, could a team like the Raiders, the Broncos, the Giants call and make a godfather offer?

I guess they could. And if Elliott Wolf isn't in love with Drake May or J.J. McCarthy or Michael Penix Jr., you don't just take a quarterback, you just take a quarterback. And I hope that this is just Jonathan Kraft being involved, being briefed on everything, saying don't do anything until you run it by me at the end. But ultimately, Jonathan Kraft should hire, should follow the football people that are in place. Because that concerns me, where we've seen what Jerry Jones has done, where they've always been solid, they've been fine. But there are some decisions that you wonder, if Jerry was out of the way, maybe the Cowboys would have had another championship by now. And Jerry can do what he wants, because A, he owns a team, and also B, he's won championships in the past. But when you haven't won since 1995, a lot of people didn't question Jerry Jones. So for the Patriots, maybe that's them in 10, 15 years from now, it's like, oh, remember that last championship that you won?

Remember that? And Jonathan Kraft is taking the power and taking control. So that's my fear, is how this pick is actually made. And even though I don't love Elliott Wolf, if he's making the decision, I can live with that. If this is Jonathan Kraft holding Elliott Wolf's hand and really making the decision, that's a problem for me. All right, we'll take a time out here on the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network.

Jason Kendall, the head coach of Toledo, is going to stop by on the other side for a little college football fix. Brokerage Services LLC member NYSE SIPC. 68 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates.

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Minimum $10 per order. Additional terms apply. We miss college football. We can't wait for the 2024 season and we're counting down the days to kick off. Toledo a season ago.

They were 11-3 in 128 days. They will kick off its season up against Duquesne. They're also going to have a big party on Thursday evening, I would imagine, as Quinon Mitchell, who was defensive back for their team a season ago, had an illustrious career with Toledo, and he's now being projected as a top 15 pick in this upcoming NFL draft that is two days away. So let's welcome in the head coach at Toledo, and that is Jason Candle. Kind enough to join us right now on the Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network.

Coach, thanks so much for doing this. How you been? I'm doing great.

I appreciate you having me on, Zach. How's everything with you? I'm doing fantastic, and I know this is an exciting time as you guys are zeroing in on seeing Quinon Mitchell get drafted on Thursday evening in the first round, just kind of describe the emotions as now draft week is here.

Really excited for Q. Obviously, a great representation of our football program, and really just happy for him because I really feel like he perfected this entire process of being true to himself, staying true to what he wanted to get done from when he was a high school senior to a college freshman, and now seeing this thing through to potentially being a first round NFL pick. Man, oh man, I say all the time to our team that man's greatest struggle is being who you said you were going to be because I think the behaviors that are required to do that are really difficult to master, and this young man has been first class every step of the way in that. These are my favorite kind of stories when you have guys that aren't in power five schools, and they make these crazy just ascensions, and now you're seeing him. I've seen him projected to be the eighth overall pick in the draft. When you go through the journey since you've been there, when you look at him from 2020 until now, how do you describe how this is even possible with what he's been able to do?

Well, elite physical traits first and foremost. I mean 4-3 all day long, six-foot corner, 225 in the best bench press over 20 times for the last few years here, and a ton of ball production knocked a ton of passes down, some coming out party a couple years ago at NIU, four interceptions in that game. He's just been able to answer all the bells, and as I mentioned before, just to watch him kind of perfect the process and really hone in on his craft, just a special story and one that we're going to celebrate in the city of Toledo for a long time. I know you talked about the four interception game. Was there like a moment though in practice that you maybe realized that we were talking before you came on?

I told you I'm a Temple guy. I'm still not over the ass kicking you gave us in that Boca Bowl a few years back when I was a senior at the university calling those games, but I remember Matt Ruhl once pulled me aside and said, hey, just watch this guy Hassan Redick. He's going to really be a player now. Hassan was a walk-on, ends up being the top 15 pick of the draft, but you saw something and you knew that you had a secret that would eventually get told throughout the years.

Was there maybe a moment or two behind the scenes you just remember saying, man, this guy's going to be really special one day? Well, I think I've been asked that question a lot and it always comes back to me of the consistency of the quality of play. I mean, I learned this as a Mount Union College coach and Pierre Garcon is a 24-year-old, you know, a wide receiver coach and, you know, you saw those highlight type moments every day at practice and you just watch an elite athlete perfect the process to where it looks the same every day. And the physical traits are off the charts.

The quality of the human being is superior to many, you know, but I think there's some intangible things there. Like I think he's got great eyes in the secondary. He's got a real feel for anticipation of what most guys can, they have the speed to recover on a double move. Others have great anticipation. This guy's got both and, you know, that's that creates a rare talent and that's why you see where he's probably going to be picked where he's projected to be because of those type of things.

But it wasn't a specific moment that I could point to. I think it's just the consistency of the moments and the highlight type plays that I saw every day. Jason Kanzel here with us, the head coach at Toledo. They were 11 and 3 a season ago.

They kick off its season coming up in 128 days from now up against Duquesne. Just staying here with Quinon Mitchell for a few more moments before we talk about your team for this upcoming season. Now we're in an era where you could develop someone, but before you get to see them fully develop, when they get a little bit of some recognition, NIL, transfer portal, they leave the school that they were originally at and maybe go to a bigger program. Why did he always stay? Well, I think that's a question he's answered publicly, so I feel really confident in telling you that I think it was about relationships. It was about the people in the locker room and he's a team guy and he's, you know, these are his words, not mine, staying loyal to the people that have been loyal to you. I don't want to say that's a rare thing today because I think that's selling young people short, but it's becoming more uncommon that this is the practice and this is the way that this works out. So to have him go through this and really do the right thing, you know, what was right for him and ultimately at the end of the day what I think was right for our program and for it to work out on both ends, I mean this is a great story to tell and one that, as you mentioned just from the opening, the one that you root for.

Absolutely. I'm just wondering when a coach calls you up and they're trying to do the due diligence on him in the final 24, 48 hours, obviously everyone could see what he was able to put out there on the field onto film, but what do you say about him as the person? Because those are always things right where every stone, these teams that are running their draft department, scout department, to all this, they try to leave every stone. They don't want to leave any stone unturned here. So what do you kind of tell them about him as a person, you know, outside of football?

Well, I would point to one story. He had a top 30 visit with the team this year. He stays overnight in that particular city. They're flying back on a 6 a.m. flight. You know, I look out of my window and he's in the 10 o'clock a.m. workout group running with our guys and they're running, you know, they're training. They're not, you know, hey, we're going to condition because spring football is over.

We go right into two weeks of real training to preview the summer and man, oh man, a guy that's a first round draft pick, he's on a top 30 visit, he gets a 6 a.m. flight, he's back in Detroit at, you know, whatever time, 8 o'clock and he's in his car and he's here to be in a workout and he's right there running with the guys that he played college football with. You can't make that up and then you can't script that and nobody's telling him to do that. His agent's not telling him to do that. I'm not telling him to do that.

That's just who this guy is each and every day and once you make light to that story, that's pretty much all they really ask about because that speaks to the character of the young man. Are you guys going to the draft together? Are you going to be spending it, you know, where he's from? We are going to the draft. You know, he's an in-person invite and, you know, myself and a couple of our coaches are going to go up, so super excited about that and really fired up for him and be able to, you know, to share a special moment with his mom and his grandma and then all the people that are close to his inner circle and going to be a special time for him. I know you guys have been very consistent.

You've been at Toledo for a long time outside of Quinon Mitchell and the story will get highlighted whenever he hears his name called on Thursday. As you guys gear up for another football season, what do you want people to know about your program going into the year of 2024? I just think we're a program that does things authentically. We tell each other the truth. We have honest conversations with our players and, you know, we fully understand and we fully embrace that we're a developmental program that, you know, gets guys at 18 or 19 years old and tries to, you know, allow them to reach their full potential and we do that in an authentic manner and I think our guys really appreciate that, you know, that way there's not a lot of corners cut and how the growth process goes when these things come up about Portal and NIL and the things that you mentioned and, you know, what I would call tampering. I think that, you know, you can deflect a lot of that because I think our guys really are connected team and they enjoy playing for one another and they enjoy playing for their coaches. So, I think it's real here. I think the relationships are real and we're starting to produce real results and real people from what I think is a very strong growth process. Yeah, and let me make myself clear here.

I'm not anti-trance reporter. I'm not anti-players getting paid through name image and likeness deals, but for the smaller schools, for the non-power five schools now, four with the pack tall pretty much dunzo, you know, it's so challenging. I think for you to navigate it as a coach and I'm just wondering, you know, it seems like guys have adjusted just fine to it because you keep on pumping out big-time victory seasons, but how has that transition been in this changing landscape where, you know, you look at Nick Saban, it's why he's walked away.

We've seen Jeff Halfley go from being a college head coach to an NFL defensive coordinator. It's an adjustment. How has that adjustment been?

I think the frustration becomes what's the, you know, there's so many uncertainties. I have no problem with adapting to the waters. Change is inevitable and you have a personal choice of how great you want to make your your situation that you're in and I fully embrace that. So, I get that it's my job to put our players in our program in the best position to be successful and we'll continue to work really hard at that. We've got a great thing here. We've got a great city that we're, you know, we've locked arms with. We've got a great institution that supports our athletic department at a high level. So, we have a lot of things positioned to where we can be really successful. Obviously, you know, first round draft picks help and you want to make sure that you recruit quality young men like the Quinion Mitchells of the world and, you know, our guys next year, the Maxon Hooks, the Jerwan Newtons, the Darius Alexanders, the guys that I think could, you know, you're going to be hearing these guys' names picked next year. So, we can continue to develop at a really high level if we know what the rules of engagement are and we're happy to play the game with whatever those are.

I just think everybody in college football would like some clarity on maybe what it looks like moving forward and sometimes you don't have the answers to that and you gotta adapt on the fly and that's the word we live in right now. Well said. Hey, I really do appreciate the time. I enjoyed coming up on Thursday. I know it's an exciting time for you, Q's family, and obviously it's going to be a great night for Toledo. So, thank you for doing this. I appreciate you, Zach.

Go Rockets. You got it. There he is, Jason Kandel with, let me tell you, the story of Quinion Mitchell, man.

He just laid it out perfectly, but you start to see that name where you hear about first round, and now as we're two days away from the draft, I see him projected as high as eight, you know, in the top 15. Some pretty neat stuff right there. All right, Yak. We gotta get to some business here.

Yes. How annoyed are you with me? We were telling the story before. Very. I saw some icy stares in the newsroom. I know you're not thrilled with me because on Sunday, about 45 minutes an hour after the game, I texted Ack after the Rangers go up 1-0 in the series.

Man, your guy Barkley Goudreau, who I've been critical of, had himself a good game, a good performance, you know, trying to rub elbows, you know, have a little fun conversation there, and Ack just foley text me in full capital letters, oh, I'm DVR in the game. So, am I forgiven or are you still gonna be mad at me here? No, you're forgiven now. Okay, good. That's why I turned up the heat before.

Man, 73 degrees, Ack. You didn't see that, did you? I was sitting here, I'm sweating my ass off, so that's the Ack payback. Yes, that was the payback. So, I have paid for my wrongdoing and now we could be okay back on the same team for our Rangers.

Yeah, yeah. So, anything I need to be made aware of if I feel like texting you an hour after the game tonight. You could do that tonight, but like in the before, you have to ask before the game. Okay, so now I have to, I don't get a text from you, I have to ask you, hey, are you up to speed with the game, are you in the club? Exactly, I don't like people, I like to watch my games, I don't text anybody, I shut myself off, I keep my mind on only the game. Gotcha, so maybe go Airplay Mode next time. Maybe go Airplay Mode, that way you could cut off communication to the outside world. Well, what if you get an emergency phone call?

That's true. Okay. Oh, if you get an emergency phone call, it won't be for me.

Yes. Just do what I do whenever Zack texts me, ignore it and don't even look at it. Well, I couldn't help it because I was sitting in front of my computer as I was watching it and of course it's all synced, so it pops up in the computer and I was not too happy. By the way, the best part about this story, act and text me back five minutes later and he goes, there's a guy that does TV obviously locally in New York, Steve Gelbs, my plural family members, I'm Gelbs, he's Gelbs, and he goes, don't worry, you're off the hook, Steve Gelbs just totally ruined the game for me. So what did he text you? He, no, he didn't text me, but he said the score of the game during, he was on the Mets telecast giving his, one of his reports about the game and I was doing a great job of avoiding everything until that moment and because Gary Cohen actually mentioned the Rangers in passing and I did the la la la la, I can't hear. Oh, so you worked in the Mets game? Yes, I was working the Mets game, so I had to watch the Mets game and I had the TV sound up and there was no spoiler alert and he blurted out the score.

That damn Steve Gelbs, no Kevin Burkhart. Now, at least with your text, I kind of knew what happened, but I didn't know what happened. Yes, so I still could go back, I kind of figured they would win the opener anyway, but I can kind of go back and not have an idea of what happened, just that the guy played well, which, you know, is fine, they could still win 2-1, they could win 1-0, you know, you have no idea.

You didn't even know the game was over. Yes, but when you hear the score, you're like, oh god. Yeah, it's like telling you what the movie is that you're going to see. Exactly. And you know how it's gonna end and you try to trick yourself that you don't.

Exactly, it's like, it's the difference of saying, you know, that Katharine Hepburn or whoever was very good, you know, I don't know why I just pulled her name, but you know, but you still want to see what the movie is like, you know, and but then when you say, well, the Butler did it, you're like, yeah, I'm not seeing that now, so. Alrighty, well come on back, we'll teach you some of the biggest stories in the world of sports with some audio, we call it The News Brief, now it's time for the latest Infinity Sports Network update with The Act Man, Rich Ackerman. We really need new phones. T-Mobile will cover the cost of four amazing new iPhone 15s, and each line is only $25 a month. New iPhone 15s?

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Hyundai, there's joy in every journey. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports, and reconnaissance from the day in sports. This portion of the show is brought to you by Wesley Financial.

Stuck at a timeshare and want out, contact Wesley Financial Group now and get a free timeshare exit information kit at wesleyfinancialgroup.com. Let's hear from Drake May. He was on the This is Football podcast on that joint visit last week that was somewhat highly controversial when the Washington commanders had Drake May, Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr, JJ McCarthy all in for their top 30 visit at the same time.

I actually thought it was one of the cooler events I've been on. I think you know we always kind of different places you go and see um kind of steak dinner spot and um you know just you're surrounded with you know the head coach and GM and quarterback coaches and then um the commanders took an approach of all of us being together and seeing how we interact and I'm getting a chance to swing swing the golf club a little bit um I enjoyed it you know be around the other guys um I got to meet a lot of different guys throughout the process um and a lot of you know guys I saw in high school recruiting I remember Mary Schmitz I tried to um get him committed to Alabama when I was committed there in high school again full circle uh I know JJ well and seeing Jaden and those guys was um I think it was a really cool experience for me I think yeah we all got our separate time with the coaches we need to it's not like we didn't do any of that um but talk about just a way for us to get out and do something fun um the evening before. The only thing I would have asked him is well I it wouldn't be to Drake May be to Jaden Daniels did or maybe you could ask to Drake May this way did Jaden Daniels seem unhappy because last week that was so bizarre when we heard about this and then you had Jaden Daniels agent jump on social media and kind of question what the commanders did and there was a little bit last week where I remember I'd do a take on it where I don't buy any of this and I think Jaden Daniels still gonna be the pick at two because he's the best player at two with Caleb Williams off the board talking about the quarterbacks and then this week now everyone seems like Jaden Daniels still gonna be the guy so I guess the only thing I'd ask Drake May about this since he was the guest on this and not Jaden Daniels did Jaden Daniels seem like he was disinterested or he was unhappy with this approach now May says he loves it but what is May gonna say he knows he's not going to the commanders it feels like that's been made pretty clear at this point let's go to Mike Reese long time Patriot insider for the ESPN he was on touch her and hardy in 98.5 the sports hub in Boston and uh Mike Reese was talking about in the pats maybe looking to trade the number three thing I look at the Patriots as an example like Elliot Wolfe says we're open for business for trading do I think that's the likely scenario party like I don't I don't like I think it's more like you know you're either a motivated seller or you're sort of a curious feller and I would put them more in the curious seller like oh if someone's gonna knock us over yeah we'll listen but we're not looking to move out of here that that's how I sort of view their position right now the Patriots right now are like a high-end seller on one of those pawn shop shows where you walk in with a really cool piece of memorabilia and you go we don't need to sell this but if you meet my price I will sell it because I know what it's worth and that's what the Patriots are basically doing right now they're saying make me an offer that I'm good with you know what my price is and I'm not gonna budge off of it and I think that's a game right now where I just wonder do the Patriots love any of these quarterbacks are going to be made available because if they don't love any of these quarterbacks they should absolutely then trade the pick here is Tyreek Hill he was on the million dollars worth of game podcasts and he was talking about a time recently where Mike McDaniel called him out a lot a lot of kids in the background there and you have Tyreek Hill dropping a thousand f-bombs now I'm sure and I was a counselor once at a sleepaway camp I'm sure those kids have heard those words before and they probably said worse words but I was not expecting to hear Tyreek Hill on this podcast dropping like a thousand f-bombs with like all these children in the background now for my serious take Mike McDaniel calls him up and he goes you're our best player I kind of think the Dolphins are a team that aren't gonna win Super Bowl and you may say Zach how do you put that together Tyreek Hill is awesome yeah no crap he's awesome as a football player but how many times has a team won a Super Bowl in the last 20 years or so with the wide receiver being your best player and I look at Tua Tonga Vailoa the Dolphins have said all the right things about Tua they've embraced Tua with Mike McDaniel ever since he did come in more so than Brian Flores ever did and that was the biggest flaw of Brian Flores he didn't have a relationship with Tua Tonga Vailoa they still haven't given him a new contract yet and when a coach calls up Tyreek Hill and who knows what he said to Tua and he goes you're our best player you were basically bleeping terrible in the game rarely in the NFL now do you win with the wide receiver being your best player like Kansas City doesn't have a number one wide receiver right now and even when they won a Super Bowl with Tyreek Hill Travis Kelcey was their best receiving option the Patriots never had a great wide I'm talking great wide receivers when they won the Eagles when they won a Super Bowl recently didn't have a great wide receiver you know the Rams didn't have Cooper Cup I'll give him credit Aaron Donald was their best player and Cooper Cup at a Triple Crown season he was phenomenal so there's one but outside of that like number one wide receivers as much as you would love to have them they don't win a lot of Super Bowls in the last 20 years let's go to uh Chase Daniel he was on Bleacher Report Live he says Michael Penix Jr is underrated in this draft I love Michael Penix Jr everything that this dude does this dude was an absolute beast everything that he did this dude legitimately can sling the ball he's easily easily the best deep ball thrower accuracy wise in all of college football if you just take pure arm strength pure arm strength for me this dude probably has the strongest arm of anyone in the entire draft like just the way he gets through his progressions the way he's able to throw the ball accurately downfield and people like don't talk about his athleticism because he never ran the dude ran a 4-4 so I do think the leadership quality is there I do think the experiences there everyone says the same damn thing about Michael Penix Jr and I've said all those things that Chase Daniels just said but no one highlights the flaw in his game which I'll get to in just a second he's going to be a first round pick I would think he goes in the first 20 picks if I'm being honest do I think he's a franchise altering player I do not I think where he gets drafted and the fit where he gets drafted is important he goes to Minnesota I think he could succeed you ask him immediately to go carry a team like the Giants or the Patriots I think he'll be a disaster we all know in the pocket he's the best deep ball thrower in this draft class everyone has said that but what happens on the underneath throws because Michigan basically dared him to throw the ball short up against them and that's where those mistakes happen they said we're going to try to take away the deep ball so I think he could be good do I think he's a franchise quarterback do I think he's a great quarterback no I do not here is Todd McShea I miss Todd McShea this time of the year since ESPN did let him go he was on part of my take he has high praise for Jayden Daniels if I'm just evaluating this past year 2023 I don't see a huge difference between Caleb and Jayden I don't like I think he's got a chance to be special I promise you of the dozens of calls that I've made from January to now with guys in the league general managers personnel directors scouts all over the league there isn't one person I've spoken to that believes that Drake May should be drafted number two over Jayden Daniels like going back to February where teams were like yeah we're still debating between Caleb and Jayden at number one okay like that first tier has been for for teams has always been kind of Caleb and Jayden and then the second tier is Drake and then the third tier is Jayden McCarthy and then you get into the fourth tier where you can start talking about Michael Pennix and Bo Nixon and I feel like a big reason why Daniels has separated himself from the other quarterbacks after Caleb Williams is those 1100 rushing yards that that's what I I think in this style of football now where mobility is so big and there's ways to be a mobile quarterback without having a ton of rushing yards but what have a lot of people said about Jayden Daniels they said he could be like Lamar Jackson except with a better arm so if that's the case man and Lamar's won two MVPs and people think that he could be Lamar except the better arm it's kind of like an ideal video game type of quarterback great quarterback moving forward in the year of 2024 finally here's Jamal Murray on his game winning shot against the Lakers I told my teammates when I was struggling like I'm gonna look for y'all I'm gonna look for y'all and every single one of them told me to keep shooting keep shooting be aggressive keep shooting even when I was throwing up that bullsh** floater you know they told me to just stay aggressive and keep looking for it keep hunting it oh and I had the ball a few seconds left and I knew once I made a couple you know the next one should go down as well shooters got to shoot that's the bottom line I'll never forget I talked to Steph Curry once in a game that I saw him play in Philadelphia he was like terrible he's like 0-9 0-11 didn't make a three-point shot I was so excited to see Steph play years ago and he didn't make a three-point shot he goes I'm gonna keep on chucking him shooter's gonna shoot that's what Jamal Murray needed to do and with the game on the line last night he was Mr. Clutch and he made Stu very very very frustrated as his Lakers go down once again and blow another game to the Denver Nuggets as the Denver Nuggets they own the Lakers and they also own my producer Troy Anderson take your time out of this is Zach Yeltsch on the Infinity Sports Network come on back talking more football T-Mobile has invested billions to light up America's largest 5G network from big cities to small towns including right here in yours and great coverage is just the beginning right now families and small businesses can save up to 20% versus AT&T and Verizon when they switch visit your local T-Mobile store today plan savings with three lines of T-Mobile essentials versus comparable available plans plan features and taxes and fees may vary baseball is back basketball is heating up and the NFL draft is right around the corner listen to the latest on the teams you love here on the Odyssey app the biggest sports radio stations in the country providing unrivaled local coverage of their teams all in one place exclusive interviews with players coaches and team executives streaming live and always available on 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