Penix or Nix The Bigger Surprise (Hour 3)

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Hyundai. There's joy in every journey. We continue to react to the craziest first round of the NFL Draft that I've ever seen. Six quarterbacks in the first 12 picks, a defensive player doesn't go until 15.

Just absolute mayhem. You think you know where a franchise is going? They have Kirk Cousins for four years now. Kirk Cousins is on the clock because Michael Penix Jr. did go to the Atlanta Falcons at number eight. And after Michael Penix did go, it set a domino effect. Vikings, we know they had to land JJ McCarthy.

They did that. Some people were surprised by Bo Nix going to the Denver Broncos. Just absolute mayhem. You had defensive players who we thought were going to go in the top ten, fall out of the top ten, with Dallas Turner being one of them.

Just absolute mayhem last night at Detroit. And now joining us, one of the best NFL reporters in the business. He, of course, is my friend, James Palmer, who always does a sensational job whenever he joins us right here on the Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network. James, appreciate it. How you been, my man? I'm good, baby. Last night was awesome.

I'm not going to lie. I had an awesome time. Everybody knows I had an awesome time.

It was great, Zach. Let me start you off with what the Falcons did. I liked them signing Kirk Cousins. Now I don't because it's not as if they drafted someone that was 21, 22 that you need to develop and isn't NFL ready. I kind of want to see Michael Penix Jr. now play with all the weapons that he has in Atlanta.

Yeah, and the way it was described to me, and I've kind of been all over this to kind of toot my own horn. I've known for a little while that that was one of their picks. Just because Dallas Turner was the play that everybody had in the mock draft. You mentioned no defensive players in the top ten. They didn't like Dallas Turner at all, to my understanding. They didn't really have any defensive players in the top ten on their board.

Pretty similar to a lot of other teams. And when they looked at their board, it was, we really love Michael Penix. Some people in the building had him as the second best quarterback on their board. You could say maybe he was their third best after Caleb and Jayden Daniels. But after that workout that they had out in Washington where they went out with a contingent with Terry Fontenot and everybody was there. I was told, Zach, it was like 40 degrees, winds whipping all over the place, and he goes outdoors, throws the ball like he's working out in an indoor that's 80 degrees. And on the plane ride back, all of them are going, we might have a really difficult situation on our hands when we hit the clock at eight because people were falling in love with Michael Penix. You mentioned the age, but I could also look at the age of Arthur Blank. And I believe there is that video going around that everybody's seeing Terry Fontenot looking like he's describing what they did with eight to Arthur Blank.

I think it's the exact opposite. I think Arthur had a big part in making this pick of Michael Penix because of what happened with Matt Ryan and his departure and them not having a plan. I believe he wants to have a chance for a Super Bowl for the duration of the time that he ends up owning this team. He is 81 years old to have a plan past Kirk Cousins. You mentioned wanting to see Michael Penix with all of these weapons.

I kind of hinted at it. It was described to me that he's kind of a souped up Kirk Cousins, kind of a supercharged version with a better arm. But a lot of the same traits, which makes them think the transition might be easy, but also might make for a difficult time during training camp when everybody sees Michael Penix out there slinging it next to Kirk Cousins coming off the Achilles. How long do you think Kirk Cousins will actually be the quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons?

Right now it was put to me that he has an extremely expensive insurance policy. I don't know what that exactly means, but I know he's the starter right now. And I think we are all being a little bit naive, Zach, in all honesty. Like just with him and with Aaron Rodgers and their age and coming off of this injury that we all just assume they're going to be the players that we've seen before. Now there's a very good chance they both can go out there and play.

Running around is not a huge part of both of their games in all honesty. I think A-Rod could go out there in a wheelchair and probably sling it all over the field with his arm talent. But it's nice to have another quarterback in your room. I think Kirk Cousins is the quarterback for this season. I think the Falcons would like it that he's the quarterback for the two years that are guaranteed money and then you transition. I don't think, in all honesty, Atlanta cares how old Michael Penix is going to be.

We're all looking at that. We're probably all looking at that in terms of Michael Penix going, man, when's my next contract? How am I going to be when I'm trying to get my second deal as an eighth overall pick? But I think Atlanta is just looking at, let's see who's the most talented quarterback to play. We think that's Kirk right now and it doesn't hurt to have Michael Penix sit.

So from what you said, they went to the workout, the private work that they had, they fell in love with him, they were buzzing about him on the flight back. If Terry Fontenot could have a do-over, do you think he doesn't even sign Kirk Cousins, they just rock and roll with Michael Penix Jr. at eight and start him week one? I don't think they mind their situation. I really don't think he would ask for a do-over because then you're also asking, and they do believe that Michael Penix processes extremely well, throws with anticipation, can layer the football, put it pretty much anywhere, a lot of traits, doesn't take sacks. The big part that they loved is over 1,800 dropbacks in his college career, it took 31 sacks.

I mean, that's ridiculous. But I do think you're also with the team that they've put together, you would be trotting out a rookie quarterback to try and go out and win the division and they believe compete heavily in the NFC. I think they still think they're in a very good position. There weren't a whole lot of holes in this team. They didn't like Dallas Turner as an edge, you know, maybe they wanted to get an edge in the back end of the first round, they tried to get up for Lot 2, it came really close, and that would have been a perfect first round probably for Atlanta. And I wonder if they would have been able to get that pick, I wanted to get up, I think he ended up going 15th over to Indianapolis. If they were able to get him, what do you think the perception of what Atlanta did in this draft would be? Do you think it would be different if they ended up going and getting an edge rusher in the back end of the first? I think it would be a little bit different.

Well, it's a great question. Now, I was on an island, because I kept on saying that they were going to draft Roma Dunze at 8. Now, I know they needed a defense, but I still think there would have been a lot of blowback just because it feels now the Kirk Cousins signing is irrelevant, like you didn't need to do it. Because once again, you draft Michael Penix Jr., I think he's ready to go now. This isn't, you know, a Drake May that you hear, you may need to sit the entirety of the, this isn't Jordan, like people say the Packers model, heck, Arthur Blank said it to me in February. He goes, sometimes you need to find an interim solution, and then the long-term solution like what Green Bay did, but Jordan Love wasn't ready, he was 21.

Penix is ready to go, so I think it would have weathered the storm a little bit, but there still would have been a lot of pushback. Very much so, and I think you could always use the term we use in our personal lives, you can't help who you fall in love with, because they didn't have anybody else up there that they really, really loved. Like, you mentioned the receiver spot, they weren't in the receiver market, they weren't going to take a skilled guy for the fourth year in a row in the top 10. The one that they did love was Malik Neighbors.

That was the one that they actually really, really liked in terms of the receiver group, I don't think anybody dislikes Marvin Harrison Jr. Go Bucks, but in all honesty, they did like, you know, Malik Neighbors. In their meetings, they were going, I think we're going to have to make this move, because this is the guy on our board that is up there, and if Arthur Blank, this is in every building, Zach. If the owner has a major say, that's going to push the dominoes in that direction, and to my understanding, Arthur had a big say, and that Michael Penix would be the pick at eight. Yeah, I know I saw the video last night, and you have all these aggregators, and I'm not crapping on aggregators, because, you know, hey, we love when they come out.

It's like Seinfeld, everybody trying to determine what they're saying, you know, like Kramer's out there, we're going to sweep together, yeah. But there's no way that Arthur Blank, this is not draft day, where he found out, like, as the pick was being made, what the pick was actually going to be. I don't believe that for a second. All right, I know that you live in Denver, I know you heard some rumblings of how much Sean Payton was falling in love with Bo Nix. I would have never thought he would have been the 12th overall pick, but once you have Michael Penix go at eight, and then the Vikings say, okay, now we need to go get JJ McCarthy, I could see why Bo Nix was the pick at 12.

Do you like that move for Denver? First, I don't think Zach, whatever happened in front of them, would have altered them picking Bo Nix 12. No matter how many quarterbacks were off the board, I think they would have stuck with Nix.

They didn't like McCarthy, my understanding, that was a lot of smoke out there, they weren't huge fans of JJ McCarthy, they weren't super high on Michael Penix. I would think a lot of Penix's traits, like the sack numbers that I mentioned there, would fit Sean Payton, but Bo Nix was their guy, and this is a fascinating one, because I got, you mentioned, I live in Denver, the techs started coming in from war rooms, I can't believe they took Bo Nix at 12. That kept coming into my phone, but there's the other school of thought going, the quarterback position, if he's the guy you really, really want, it doesn't matter where you pick him. It's an outlier from the rest of the positions, and I do believe that when you always equate value, and where you're getting the value, the positional value, all these different things that come into play, but the quarterback spot, don't get cute, you could have maybe traded back, got some more picks, because they didn't have a second round pick, which was complicating this even further, but you don't do that and then have the opportunity that maybe the Rams like him, and maybe New Orleans was interested in looking around at the quarterbacks, and maybe they end up snaking him, or Seattle, some of the teams that were also quietly looking at quarterbacks.

This was the guy that Sean Payton really, really wanted, this is a guy that some people around the league believe is going to be a backup quarterback, that was his grade, middle of the second round, third round, and he goes 12th overall. But there are some things that some people around the league really, really like, like the comp that I heard, Zach, from multiple offensive coordinators actually was Derek Carr, but a more athletic Derek Carr that probably handles pressure in the pocket much better than Carr has in his career, but there's a lot of similarities there in some offensive minds in terms of mechanics, footwork, ability to get the football loose. I just think, and this was maybe the best way it was described to me, you put Bo Nix in the situation J.J. McCarthy's in right now in Minnesota, I think you see a vastly different Bo Nix than the one you're going to see this year. And that's just saying both of those guys probably play very well in McCarthy and Nix with a lot of talent around them, and I think it's a similar thing you could say with maybe like Brock Purdy. It was told to me that you put Bo Nix on the Eagles, on the Niners, maybe the Cowboys, and you're like, this guy's out here slinging it.

Like, it's a really good situation. Situation matters, and I think situation matters with the head coach he landed with, which is a big part of this as well, but there's going to be some growing pains because the Broncos roster is just nowhere near where that situation he would be in if, say, he landed in Minnesota. And that's my problem with it, especially in their division where you can't just have a good quarterback. You've got to have a great quarterback with who you're going up against in the best quarterback in the league in Patrick Mahomes. I don't think this guy, Bo Nix, has a ceiling of being a great quarterback. I think his ceiling's just good, and you just said it. I think he's going to play in year one. I think he should be the day one starter. They don't have really any other quarterback on that roster that moves the needle for me, but the weapons that he's throwing to right now, geez, they stink.

That's the issue. I do think he has a better offensive line than maybe some guys that are taken near that portion of the draft as a quarterback. I don't think the Broncos line is terrible.

And some metrics, however you want to go, analytics, they're kind of a top ten line in some people's minds. His center right now was his center from college. He has some help up front, but the weapons he has, there's an athletic tight end in Greg Dulcich that they thought was going to be a playmaker for them. He's going to run that joker role for Sean Payton when he came in. Every year he's been in the league, he's been unable to stay on the field. I think Courtland Sutton had some flashes, right?

Ten touchdowns, I think it was. Marvin Mims is going to be the guy sliding into the other spot. Tim Patrick hasn't played in two years, coming off of season-end injuries. It's not that group that, as I mentioned the Derek Carr comp, when teams were talking to me about Bo Nix, it was, remember when Derek Carr had weapons, you kind of were like, he can be dangerous at times, right?

He can light it up a little bit. Bo Nix doesn't have those weapons right now, and I think you're right when you mention his ceilings probably middle of the road. That's kind of what Derek Carr's been his whole career, right? Like a 15th best quarterback, somewhere around that range. That seems what we all envision for Bo Nix, but this is kind of a legacy pick for Sean Payton.

I really think it is, because he has made the comments publicly last night where you don't move back for the guy you really fall in love with. He mentioned Patrick Mahomes in the same sentence. He's not comparing their skill set, he's just saying you go get the guy you love, and the last guy you fell in love with was Patrick Mahomes. There's a lot on Bo Nix's shoulders right now. This is a team that's been struggling with quarterback play since Payton Manning retired after the 2015 season. I think the biggest winner from a team standpoint last night, James Palmer, and I know it's easy when you have the number one overall pick, but they also have the ninth pick, it's the Bears.

You get Caleb Williams and you get Roma Dunze, but the individual player that I thought was the biggest winner, it's J.J. McCarthy. If he would have landed in New England or the Giants, I thought it would have been miserable. He goes to Minnesota with Justin Jefferson, with Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones in that backfield. Now you have Hawkinson and O'Connell as the coach. I think J.J. McCarthy can be good with the Minnesota Vikings right away. It's one of the better quarterback situations, Zach, we've seen somebody walk into as a top ten pick.

I mean, I can't think of somebody going into that type of situation. I've had conversations with Justin Jefferson last season just about the mind of Kevin O'Connell and about the way other quarterbacks, remember, that stepped in. Josh Dobbs comes in and Kevin's just like telling him plays while he's in the huddle and they're out there winning football games.

Like to have that type of coach, that type of play caller, the ability to interchange these talented pieces with the line that's in front of them. Like this is a very, very good situation because a lot is not going to be put on J.J. McCarthy. And I think that's when we saw him thrive in Michigan, as much as it pains me to say that as a Buckeye. When he thrived in Michigan is when he didn't have to be a hero.

He didn't have to go out there and do what he had said to run everything. And he's done a lot of pro type things out of that offense in Michigan. So he's ready in some senses more than some of these other guys in terms of operating a huddle, puts them a little, you know, head and shoulders up than some of these other guys just getting the process going.

But I think KO calling everything for him and the group he has around him. This is just a phenomenal situation for him. The other team that I would say real quick, you mentioned the Bears and their two picks. I think Arizona did very well.

Yeah, I agree. First round as well. Got the best player in the draft. Then you go get Robinson, the edge rusher out of Missouri. That's a team that needs talent.

And I think a lot of people forget that Kyler Murray, I don't know if he'll be great, but he showed he could be good before. You have a quarterback that you paid and you could do something with. Now you got to go get some players around him and they did that. Yeah, this is the best line that I heard yesterday morning.

I had an assistant GM text me. I was like, we're just talking about Marvin Harrison Jr. And he was like, you know, I watched some games and I was ooh and ah, and then I saw his measurables and I was like, holy moly, like 220 he's doing this. Are you out of your mind? And I was like, what do you think? He's like, I'm going to tell you this right now. When he walks across the stage tonight, they shouldn't hand him a hat.

They should hand him a bleeping gold jacket. And I was like, that is a line right there. That is a line to describe a player that has not yet played in NFL down.

But he went about the process very differently. And I will say this about Marvin that didn't bother a single team. I talked to him preparing for rookie camp, not doing a lot of things into a pro day. They're going to see other players that are as clean of prospects as we had with Marvin Harrison Jr. Do this as well. And my understanding is if you are that caliber of player and there's no questions about your character, your work ethic or your game. The league is not going to have any problems with guys handling things the way Marvin did, especially if he goes out and wins say rookie of the year and balls out.

And they're like, okay, I want my guy ready for camp. What about the Giants? Like what do I make of the Daniel Jones situation?

Okay. They paid him. He's going to be the guy next year.

They didn't draft a quarterback. Maybe they take a Spencer Rattler tonight. I've seen that's the rumor.

You go get Malik neighbors. That's a big time talent. But what is the future of Daniel Jones with the Giants? They really seem to only be interested in Drake May. I was told the JJ McCarthy stuff with them was like a little bit of a smokescreen.

And I'm going to say this. I know Brian a little bit. If they've all thought let's go and visit with JJ McCarthy on Easter to make everybody think that's how in love we are with JJ McCarthy. That is like a tremendous elaborate draft process ruse. I heard they're really only interested in May and that, you know, kind of actually played in the part of New England going.

Brian Debo evaluates quarterbacks pretty well. He likes May. I think this makes us feel a little bit comfortable so they don't get the one guy that they really, really want. They stick with Daniel Jones.

You give them an added target. I mean, they've been lacking a threat of a receiver for some time. What I do think helps Daniel Jones and helps this entire team as a holes act. Explosive plays just weren't happening in the NFL last year. Like they just don't unless you're the Miami Dolphins, I guess.

They just aren't happening. The way defenses play this Vic Fangio shell system, you know, you mean just take away everything deep. Link neighbors can keep, you know, create different explosive plays from anywhere on the field.

And I think that is, you know, that's something that, you know, Kansas City went did with worthy but neighbors even better at it from more spots. I think that's extremely important when you're a team in the position like the Giants are with a quarterback like you are with Daniel Jones. If you can sneak a couple of scores out that you probably wouldn't have gotten where he's going to outrun any safety no matter the angle. And he's going to be able to get you some big scores in moments where drives just end in a lot quicker fashion than you would have thought. I think that helps out Daniel Jones tremendously. But it is they looked at quarterbacks and, you know, they liked May and he was gone. So that was essentially it for them. Whether it happens tonight or maybe at some point this offseason. Well, Brandon, I you can Deebo Samuel both be on the 49ers come week one.

They have the luxury to do it. I just don't see it. And I see there's a I the problem is we're doing this now, right? And then the second round is going to start and something's going to happen and I'm going to be wrong.

But my guess right now as we stand here, there's a greater chance. I look is on the team than there is Deebo Sam and I think I you is the better wide receiver, but Deebo is the better all-around player. New outside of New England because that's what the team everyone's talking about. And I think New England they have to go get an established play the tribe of Calvin Ridley. I guess his girlfriend didn't want to go to Foxborough.

Who are some of the funds? I've been to Foxborough multiple times. I love it. You know, I've seen a lot of championships there, you know, you go to the Red Robin before the game. There's a good steakhouse after the game, you know, over there to Davios. Yeah, Davios obvious 365 days out of the year Christmas store. Yeah, let's go Foxborough little movie theater. There's a hospital there.

If you got to go to one, there's a hotel that there's enough stuff there. There is me being a Patriot Homer. I will sell Foxborough. I don't I've spent way too much time in Foxborough, especially during deflategate.

Yeah. Yeah, a bunch of bull junk with that Commissioner. But anyway outside of the Patriots who else could be in play for a Deebo or naive trade? You know, I heard a rumbling about Deebo and maybe Buffalo would be interested because obviously they kept moving back.

We always knew at 28. They were going to be looking at receiver and then they go back and then they go back again. And first they go back and everybody in the AFC is just absolutely pissed off at him for going back and letting the Chiefs come up and take worthy which the rest of the AFC is now miserable.

The Patrick Mahomes has and so they go back again into the second round. There's some talk maybe Deebo those there. But I don't think that fits at all because they just they can work the middle of the field. They have talent that can do everything kind of in the middle with what you saw from Dalton Kincaid Dawson Knox. They have like three other slots.

They need an outside guy like they need a hook actually on the outside. I would assume they're going to go with the draft pick the interesting part about where they could land is there's still a lot of wide receiver talent on the board. Like what I was told was the guess was 14 to 15 wide receivers in the first two rounds.

What do we have in the first round? Was it seven? Is that what we had? I think so.

Yeah, I think so. Like half of it. So there's still definitely definitely players to go out there and get on these cheap contracts. I mean, that's a huge part. And I think the difficult part about it is what two contracts just got done in the last couple of days and drove the market up even further at the position.

Good point. So that's why I do think that makes Debo more attractive than I look because you're gonna have to do a new deal. Debo has to I think 26 on his contract so you can get him and not have to rework something right away. Like I look would which you would probably have to and the deals that just got done.

I think complicates that. And the other part is there's not a whole lot of teams that love to trade players during the draft. I mean, there's teams that do it.

Allie Roseman will do it every year, but there's some teams that just won't do it because of everything that goes involved with having to get this done while you're still trying to handle the draft. Last thing I'll ask you, James Palmer, outside of the obvious ones, take the quarterbacks, take the star wide receivers out of it. What was your biggest takeaway from the first round? I thought everything kind of fell the way I thought it would fall with the number of tackles. I talked to a lot of teams in the back end of the draft and they were trying to figure out the top 15 because 15 is really kind of I would say the average first round grades that were out there around the league. So then mostly the back half is picking second round guys.

I was wondering if there was going to be some movement for tackles, but that didn't really happen. I thought one of the most interesting parts of the first round was Howie Roseman made a boatload of calls. They liked Quinon Mitchell, they thought he was the best corner in the draft, and they were able just to sit there and stay and get their pick of the best corner in the draft in their mind. I thought that was one of the more fascinating spots where it just kept falling that way where they were just going, I guess we'll just, we don't have to make a trade for this. And Sirianni knows everything about the kid because his college roommate was Jason Kandel, the coach at Toledo.

Yeah, exactly. I mean, so some people had Wiggins as maybe the most talented corner in the draft and maybe some people in Philly's building had that. But in terms of the best prospect, the best player, it's Mitchell and they desperately needed it. And to me that also is a little bit telling the way things have shifted in Philly just a tiny bit because you and I both know how he wants to go. The trench is like crazy and a lot of people thought he was maybe moving up to add a tackle that could potentially play guard right now and then kick out when Lane Johnson retires. He wants to go trenches all the time in the first round. Hasn't picked a first round corner since what, like Lido Sheppard, I think.

And so I think this changes like Vic Fangio and that group on defense has a little bit of a say in the room about what they need to change and from how bad they were as a secondary last year. He's the great James Palmer. James, thank you so much. Appreciate the time today.

No problem, buddy. Good to see you. There he is. James Palmer joining us. What a comprehensive breakdown that was. And he's exactly right when you look at the wide receivers. You had Marvin Harrison Jr., you had Malik Nabors and you had Roma Dunsey all go in the top ten.

We knew that was going to happen. And then after that, you had Brian Thomas Jr. be the next wide receiver off the board, which puts even more pressure on Trevor Lawrence. Xavier Worthy to the Chiefs and then in the last two picks, you had the Paracel kid from Florida and then LeGette out of South Carolina. I like him a lot and I like that story too. A Carolina base told me they were going to pick him.

Then he revealed the thing. Canales said, oh no, I told that to like 50 guys and they ended up trading up one pick to end up getting him. Coming on back, it is the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. It is the Infinity Sports Network and it is the Zach Gelb show. Day two of the NFL draft after the mayhem that did occur on Thursday night in round one.

And I've never seen anything like it. Like if you would have told me Bo Nix would have been the pick for the Broncos at 12 a week and a half ago, I would have said, what crack are you smoking? I seriously would have said that. If you would have told me Michael Pennix Jr. would have been the pick at eight a week ago to the Falcons, I would have said kind of what Darvin Ham said when people were saying, oh, the Lakers should have lost the first playing game.

Like what insane asylum did you just come out of? Maybe those people are actually right with the Lakers are looking up against the Nuggets. But to be fair, Stu, you still weren't right. Even though you were right about that, the Lakers would have got their ass kicked by Denver. They keep on ripping your heart out, building up these leads and then choking them away. I didn't believe that the Lakers were in a spot where they could pick or choose how they get into the postseason.

You just had to find the way to get in. But the Pennix and Knicks selections define the first round because the Falcons part, it's like, why did you bring in Kirk Cousins to draft a guy that's ready to play right now? And the Denver selection of Bo Nix, I respect. OK, Sean, you fell in love with Bo Nix and you don't let a player, especially at that position and only at that position quarterback, you don't let a player go further down the draft board. You trade back and then you lose out at him and then he goes on to be great.

And you're saying, what if? But I don't believe Bo Nix has a ceiling of being great. And that Broncos offensive roster line, like James Palmer said, better than what you think.

But that receiving corps and the weapons are nonexistent in Denver. And Stu, I just wonder what your thoughts were. And this is just what James Palmer was told. He was like, people compare Bo Nix to Derek Carr. I don't know about you. When he was saying that, that was even more of the going off in my head.

This is why you don't take Bo Nix, because any time Derek Carr was on the cusp of becoming a top 10 quarterback and he's about to tiptoe into that conversation. He took three or four steps back. It was like a roller coaster ride where there's some ups, there's some downs, there's some thrills, there's some misery. But then like he got off and you're like, OK, I know there's better roller coaster rides out there. It gave me a little thrill.

There was a lot of misery during it. But at the end of the day, there's a lot of better options and more entertaining things to do. Yeah. And Derek Carr is a second round pick. So like not twelve, not twelve overall.

So I think there's a difference there. Like I think the Raiders got good value out of Carr. If the Broncos have what is Derek Carr with Bo Nix, they'll probably be disappointed in the end, I would think.

But put it this way. There are some people now that believe Justin Herbert is overrated. I'm not one of them, but there are some people that believe Justin Herbert is overrated.

He'll never be a great quarterback and he's never going to be able to put it all together with the Chargers. If I ask those people that say Justin Herbert's overrated and a lot of them are Denver Broncos fans. There's one in this office that I know of, cough, cough, Anthony Gallo. Would you rather have Bo Nix or Justin Herbert? They're lying, lying if they don't say Justin Herbert.

And that's the that's the big problem. Like in the NFC, you don't have a lot of elite quarterbacks. I don't know if there's any elite quarterbacks in the NFC right now.

Jalen Hurts looked like he was elite, then took a step back. Dak Prescott, definitely not elite. Brock Purdy, not elite. Kirk Cousins, not elite. Kyler Murray, not elite. You know, Matthew Stafford, very, very good.

At times, great, but I wouldn't say he's elite. So the NFC is there for the taking. That's why I really hope the Bears put it together. You have Caleb Williams, who could be elite. But in the NFC, you could get away with like a good quarterback to get you to a Super Bowl. But in the AFC, particularly the AFC West, you need a top three quarterback.

Like, look at Buffalo. They have Josh Allen. He's considered an elite quarterback. He's considered a great quarterback. They can't even get over the hump against Kansas City. You know, Joe Barr was the one guy that's been able to do it up against Kansas City.

He won one year, lost the next year in the championship game. Now, CJ Shroud is someone that I think will be elite. But for Bo Nix, I don't think he's ever going to be elite. And that's my biggest concern here is you have the AFC West. Everyone's chasing Kansas City.

I hope a second team emerges. And I like what the Raiders have on offense outside of the quarterback position. Stu, your team did a good job getting Brock Bowers. You have Michael Mayer.

You take a look. You have Devante Adams for now. You have Jacoby Myers. And I wish they still had Josh Jacobs, but you have offensive weapons.

You go get a quarterback. You know, that team, I'm not going to say they're going to go contend for the division title, but they could be the second best team in the AFC West. I don't think the Broncos are anywhere close. You look at the Chargers. I believe in their coach. I believe in their quarterback. Their offensive line shaping up well, but they have a lot of work to do. You have an agent defense. A lot of those guys are banged up. You got to get weapons on the offensive side of the ball. So let me just ask you this.

I'll go around the room here. What was more surprising and why was it more surprising to you? Michael Pennix at 8 or Bo Nix at 12? Because a week ago, if I would have told you those would be the picks at 8 or 12, no one would have believed it.

Stu, what's your response here? Oh, I don't know if it's Pennix at 8 necessarily, but Pennix to the Falcons at 8. It was more surprising. But if you take the team out of it and it's just the number, then it's Nix. Because I thought Nix would be like a very late first rounder, early second rounder. I thought he'd be the guy that would kind of fall back. And I thought Pennix would be a first round pick, maybe mid first.

I like the way that you said that because you're right. Like Pennix at 8, just at 8, you could sell me on that before the draft. Him at 8 to the Falcons would have never, never, ever believed that when you just guaranteed someone 100 million dollars. But Bo Nix at 12 to me, like at 12, I would have we were saying maybe the back end to the first round. Maybe. So I when I put out this poll question, because it was like one after another is bang bang.

And you can find it at INF Sportsnet or at Zach Gelb. What's the bigger surprise? Michael Pennix at 8 or Bo Nix at 12? It's because of Pennix going to the Falcons. I think that's what's going to win this poll going away in a landslide.

Sam to react on that question. What's more surprising? Pennix at 8 or Bo Nix at 12? Yeah, Pennix at 8.

And Ack, what are you going on this one? I go Pennix at 8 more because it was confusing and mysterious and out of left field. There's so much more to unpack there than Bo Nix. But Bo Nix is almost equally as surprising. And we knew that the Broncos needed a quarterback.

Yes. We thought it would maybe be a trade up for Drake May. We maybe thought it was going to be J.J. McCarthy.

And then you heard in like 48 hours, last 48 hours, maybe it's going to be Bo Nix. But taking him at 12? Stu, if we walked in here today and let's say Denver passed on him.

And your Raiders took him at 13 the next pick. Would you have quit being a fan? I would not quit being a fan, but I would be very, very annoyed. Probably more annoyed than any pick they've had.

And that's saying a lot. More than Darius Hayward Bay? More than Darius Hayward Bay because that's like you're taking a quarterback that I just really don't believe in. That you're drafting too high. And I just really think isn't going to be good. Like I think that's just a recipe for disaster.

And that's the thing, too. A lot of these quarterbacks now, we just went through the Trevor Lawrence draft. OK, he's still in Jacksonville. All the other quarterbacks in the first round. Zach Wilson, new team. Mac Jones, new team. Justin Fields on a new team. You know, these teams give up. Trey Lance didn't even make it. He barely started with the Niners.

A lot of these guys, they give up early. You know, Williams, I'll be surprised if the Bears are back there a few years from now. I believe as long as Jayden Daniels stays healthy, he's going to be really damn good. The Patriots just went quarterback to quarterback. I'm going to say that they get enough to make Drake May serviceable.

Michael Penix Jr., I believe it in my likeness situation. When is he going to get on the field, though? But Bo Nix, like out of all these quarterbacks, I'd be surprised if Bo Nix is getting a second contract from the Denver Broncos. So what's the bigger surprise, Penix at 8 or Bo Nix at 12? I think it's because Penix at 8 to the Falcons, that's what wins this one in a landslide.

79.4% to 20.6%. We'll come on back a little on-site, off-site update time first. Here is the act man, Rich Ackerman. Alrighty, it's time to answer Ask the Pros question of the day, brought to you by O'Reilly Auto Parts. Lewin Rochester says, Zach, who do you think the bill should take with the 33rd overall pick to kick off the second round tonight? You can submit a question by tweeting at infsportsnet or at Zach Gelby's and hashtag Ask the Pros. Think O'Reilly Auto Parts for all your car care needs.

Get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. I think Adonai Mitchell out of Texas or Ladd McConkie out of Georgia. One of those two players should be the pick at 33.

Without further ado though, I'm not talking about Freddie Adu. Sanford's got some questions for me. I'll get some answers for you, hopefully. Let's get to a little on-site, off-site. Stu, hit it! Zach's taking on the most polarizing issues in sports. Which side of the line of scrimmage will he end up on? Off-side, defense number 69. It's on-sides, off-sides with Zach Gelby.

Alrighty, what do we got cooking today, Samter? Not all season long, the Cowboys have talked about being quote all in and rumors swirled about the circus inside the Dallas organization. Yet, once again, there was a lot of bluster before the team made a boring, sound draft decision, trading back five spots and selecting offensive tackle Tyler Guyton from Oklahoma. We remember they did the same thing, there was all the talk about Jared Jones meddling and wanting Johnny Manziel. Instead, they got Hall of Famer Zach Martin, an offensive guard.

So on-side, off-side, for all the criticism that Jared Jones gets, he's actually very good in the NFL draft. So, I am actually offended with something you just said. You said they made a boring selection? I mean, offensive linemen, it's not sexy, it's not big splash, it's not like Dallas Cowboys big splash. You don't respect big people, you don't respect how the games are won. Well, I definitely don't like big people, no, but I'm just saying, offensive linemen aren't sexy. Wide receivers are sexy, quarterbacks are sexy, linebacker, defensive ends are sexy, cornerbacks are sexy. Offensive linemen aren't sexy, but the Cowboys, despite all this big Dallas star, we're the Cowboys, blah, blah, blah.

They don't always go with the sexy pick, they oftentimes don't go with the sexy pick. Can I give you their first round picks since 2010? Dez Bryant, Terron Smith, Morris Claiborne, Travis Frederick, Zach Morton, Byron Jones, Ezekiel Elliott, Tacko Charlton, Layden Vander Esch, CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, Tyler Smith, Mazzy Smith, and Tyler Guydon.

For a big chunk, that's pretty damn good. There's like a few busts in there. And there's a few guys that had their careers just derailed by injuries, but by the time they played, they were really damn good. So, for all the criticism of Jerry Jones, he's actually very good at the draft. On sides, I'll say this about Jerry Jones, he constructs a good team more times than not, but it's not a great team. Good team, not a great team. But no, I'll say on side with this question.

Yeah, I like it. Now the Broncos made a surprise pick taking Bo Nix 12th overall to compete with my boys Zach Wilson and Jared Stidham. Most had Nix as a late first round pick.

Your boy, why is he your boy? You're a Chiefs fan. Yeah, I know. Most had Nix as a late first round pick. You even maybe a second round grade, but Sean Payton wanted to get a signal call. So on side, off side, you trust in Payton leading the Broncos back to contention. Off side.

I'm sorry. The Sean Payton luster has worn off. And Bo Nix with no receiving core or a below average receiving core when you reach for a quarterback, how does that usually work out?

The player usually fails. All right, Mac Jones was pretty hyped coming out of college. Mac Jones never had a number one wide receiver. At least Bo Nix will get good coaching on the offense side of the ball. And the Patriots just picked a quarterback last night at three to replace Mac Jones, who's now in Jacksonville backing up Trevor Lauren.

So I'm not a fan of the Bo Nix selection. Now, after the Bills lost their top two receivers this offseason, we all thought they would take a wide out in the first round, maybe even trade up to get one. However, Brandon Bean went the opposite route, trading back twice with quality receivers like Xavier Worthy, Lad McConkie and Xavier Leggett still on the board. Now, both Xavier's are off. McConkie still there. Obviously, Adonai Mitchell is still there as well. Now, onside, offside, the Bills made a mistake not taking a receiver in the first round.

He was also there, Keyon Coleman, who I like a lot out of Florida State. I think the sexy take last night and the big take last night and the easy take is how do the Bills trade with the Chiefs? How do they do it? And don't get me wrong, I was saying that on my couch last night. And then, oh, you trade back again. You see two wide receivers go. I understand the PTSD that you get with trading with the Chiefs.

Fully understand that. But, let's see who they pick tonight. Because if they get Keyon Coleman, if they get Lad McConkie, if they get Adonai Mitchell, I'm not slamming what they did. Because Kansas City was still going to get a wide receiver. Carolina was still going to get a wide receiver. So if you're still able to get your guy, I don't believe the Bills made a mistake. So the Bills made a mistake not taking a wide receiver in the first round. I'm going offside because they can get a damn good wide receiver with the first pick of the second round tonight. Now my former team, the Jets, moved back one spot, adding a fourth and fifth rounder in the process.

Heck of a move. But instead of taking super tight end Brock Bowers' 11th that went to Stu's Raiders, they went more conservative, taking Penn State offensive tackle Olufoshunu. Foshunu. Say that name ten times fast. Olufoshunu.

Onside, offside. The Jets should have taken Bowers to pair with Rogers. I want them to draft Brock Bowers. I can't crush them though for taking a lineman at Penn State that only allowed one sack and played a whole lot. So the Jets should have taken Bowers to pair with Rogers. It would have been sexy. But remember Teron Smith, he has been in and out of the lineup a lot.

Has not played a full season in a long, long, long time, so I can't crush them for taking an offensive lineman, doing something that Samta would say isn't sexy, even though the big fellas can be sexy. So the Jets should have taken Bowers to pair with Rogers. I'll go offside. Offside. Now Zach, your favorite owner, David Tepper, is at it again after a local bar in Carolina posted a sign saying, What a bleep hole, by the way.

Let the GM and coach pick. Security camera footage shows Tepper walking into the bar, confronting the staff, and even removing one of the employee's Eagles hats. Now the staff at the bar, however, said the confrontation was jovial and pleasant, and he was having fun moving the Eagles fan's hat.

That's what the guys who were... He's an insecure man. Well, the guys who were at the bar who he was talking to said it was no big deal. He was having fun. He was just jabbing at us.

It didn't seem very serious. However... Yeah, because Tepper will like take a wrecking ball to the restaurant if they don't say that. Well, yeah, I mean when a billionaire comes in and makes some questions, I mean it's kind of threatening, even if it's in a fun jovial way, it's still threatening when a guy like that who owns the team, and his billionaire comes in here. And is an insecure man and likes to throw drinks at people.

These are kids who work, you know, like they're bartenders, they're waiters, they're hostesses. Well, I think that the guy he was talking to was the owner. He looked a little bit older. Well, no, the owner wasn't there. The guy whose idea was... That wasn't the owner with the hat that he took off?

No, no, no. I think the owner was the one who put the sign up, and the guy who... Good on the owner. Yeah, the guy whose hat he took off was not the owner. He said that guy who made the decision, the owner is not here right now. So either way, onside, offside, David Tepper is the worst owner, not just in the NFL, in all of sports. Yeah, because his team's a bleep show, and Daniel Snyder isn't in the NFL anymore. Onsides, and like the A's owner, no one just cares about him. I know he's a bad owner too. Dolan is up there.

Yeah, but at least the Knicks are winning right now, the Rangers are winning right now. I call him David Tepper Dolan Jr., but I'd rather have Dolan be running my team than David Tepper right now. And who do you think he was, like Tony Soprano walking over in that Italian restaurant telling the kid to take his hat off in the Italian establishment? Ripping the guy's hat off. Just what a creep David Tepper is. And David Tepper is the worst owner in sports, onsides, and the sign was 100% right, by the way. 100% right. Let the GM and coach pick.

Maybe you would have had CJ Strath. Alrighty, that does it. Another week of the Zach Gelb Show on the Infinity Sports Network. Big thanks to Mike Renner for joining us today, Brian Finneran, and James Palmer as well. Have a great weekend. Appreciate each and every one of you for tuning in today.

Sam through Stu, thank you as always. You guys are rock stars. We'll be back on Monday everybody. We out. Bye-bye.

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