Michael Penix Jr Joins The Show! (Hour 1)

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Additional terms apply. Hey, I'm Andy. If you don't know me, it's probably because I'm not famous, but I did start a men's grooming company called Harry's. The idea for Harry's came out of a frustrating experience I had buying razor blades.

Most brands were overpriced, overdesigned, and out of touch. At Harry's, our approach is simple. Here's our secret. We make sharp, durable blades and sell them at honest prices for as low as $2 each. We care about quality so much that we do some crazy things, like buy a world-class German blade factory.

Obsessing over every detail means we're confident in offering a 100% quality guarantee. Millions of guys have already made the switch to Harry's, so thank you if you're one of them. And if you're not, we hope you give us a try with this special offer. Get a Harry's Starter Set with a five-blade razor, weighted handle, shave gel, and a travel cover. All for just three bucks, plus free shipping. Just go to harrys.com and enter code SMOOTH at checkout.

That's harrys.com, code SMOOTH. Enjoy! When you visit a state as big and diverse as Texas, there are a million different trips you can take. Let's say you've got an appetite for whitewater kayaking. You can get your own, so this is why they call it Devil's River. Trip to Texas.

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Go to traveltexas.com slash get your own for the only trip to Texas that matters. Yours. Live from the play show, yet not overly ostentatious, studios of the Infinity Sports Network. This is a Thursday edition of the Zach Gelb show as we sit on top of the 10th floor of 345 Hudson Street. And you're listening to us across all the great local Infinity Sports Network affiliates. Sirius XM channel 158, the free Odyssey app and of course streaming live on YouTube. 855212, 4227 is the number to jump on in.

855212, 4227. You can always get at me on Instagram where I'm straight flexing or via the good ol' cesspool of X, Twitter at Zach Gelb. That's Z-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Whole lot to do today. We're rockin' and rollin' all the way up until 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific.

Michael Penix Jr., the eighth overall pick of the NFL draft of the Atlanta Falcons. He's going to stop by in 15 minutes from now. So I'll have a guest for you very early today on the extravaganza as always.

I do have Stuart Kovacs with me and Moist Mike as well. I want to start with the NFL news today. And I'll do so in chronological order just telling you how I absorbed this news. So when I got up this morning, I looked on X and I saw an article from Mike Floria. And the article was basically talking about how all these wide receivers are getting paid. And it's only a matter of time before Tyreek Hill probably starts to demand more money. Because even though his contract is still talked about $30 million a year and it's dressed up as a $30 million a year contract, it is actually a $25 million a year contract.

So just the way that I am, it's something against Mike Floria who I happen to be friendly with and I like. I don't usually care about the money conversation where an agent dresses up a contract for it to be $30 million a year. And Mike called it fugazi and it's really $25 million a year.

That's just not usually a conversation that moves the needle from me when we do a national entertaining show like this. But I do understand when you religiously cover the NFL, like the great way Mike Floria does, that's going to be a story that's worth writing about for him. So the only reason I bring that up is because I read that story and then a few hours later, you see this news that Jalen Waddle of the Dolphins signed a long term extension with Miami. It's a three year deal, $84.75 million and $76 million of basically $85 million is guaranteed. And the moment I saw that, I had a bunch of different thoughts. My first thought was, hmm, what did Mike Floria know to write this Tyreek Hill article?

Because you could sell it that you didn't know the Waddle deal was coming. It was about other wide receivers that got paid this offseason are still in line to get paid. But I don't think that was just a coincidence that Floria has this article about Tyreek Hill and then Tyreek Hill's counterpart gets a new lucrative contract. The other thought was, now there's no more excuses for the Miami Dolphins because yes, the Miami Dolphins, this doesn't really change much for them this season. But you look at them with Tuatunga Vailoa, Mike McDaniel, Tyreek Hill, Jalen Waddle, Raheem Mostert, Davon Achan all happy, they should have a lot of success on the offensive side of the ball.

And I know defensively, new defensive coordinator, you're relying on two guys that suffered injuries in Phillips and Chubb, their one concern is their defense. But even though there's optimism on the offense, and this offense can be a great offense and a high octane offense in the NFL and put up a ton of points, I still look at that team as a team that is stuck on the overall part of just being good. And they're a team in a loaded AFC East. If you tell me they win the division this year, I could believe it.

I don't expect it though. Because I think you're splitting hairs with the Bills, the Jets, and the Miami Dolphins. And not only that, you look at the entirety of the AFC, like Miami, I think they're a wildcard team, but if you tell me they miss, and I'll go through the seven teams and I'll do that, but if you tell me they miss the postseason and they go like 10 and 7, 9 and 8 just because the AFC is loaded with teams like the Bills, the Jets, you know, everyone in the AFC North, the South, the Colts almost were a playoff team last year, you got the Texans, the Jaguars should bounce back.

Clearly you start with the standard in the AFC being the Kansas City Chiefs. Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers now, can they get back to the postseason in year one of Jim Harbaugh with Justin Herbert? So it's not crazy to say that there's a legitimate chance the Dolphins miss the playoffs. It doesn't mean the Dolphins suck, it doesn't mean the Dolphins are going to be trash, but I just don't think the Dolphins are going to take the next step. And I know all eyes now will be on the Dolphins and are they going to pay Tua Tungavailoa because he's in line for a contract extension. I wouldn't pay Tua that money this year.

I want to see Tua be good for another season in a row and stay healthy for another season in a row before I commit to him that long term money. But I just don't see a way where Miami is representing the AFC in the Super Bowl. I just think there are better teams and quarterbacks I trust more in the AFC than the Miami Dolphins. And a lot of teams would like to be in the position of the Miami Dolphins, but with that being said, they are a successful team you could say the last two years. They've made the playoffs the last two years, but when you really, really, really define success and the way that we want it to be as NFL fans, that's being a Super Bowl contender and even though Miami has an explosive offense and they're a good team, I just don't envision a way that they're going to be playing in the Super Bowl or even an AFC championship game.

Because this is a team that last year when you really go through their wins, how many dominant teams did they beat? And in big moments, Tua did not deliver and he came up small. But the other conversation here, and Samter does this a lot, and that's why I like different views on this show, but Samter always talks about the salary cap because the salary cap's a real thing even though I try to poo-poo it and say you can move money around. But you're about to pay to a Tonga Vailoa, inevitably I think they will. You already have Tyreek Hill paid. Now you just pay Jalen Waddle and the Dolphins aren't the only team operating this way where they're paying wide receivers big money.

And not just one, two. The Dolphins have paid Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle. The Eagles, we've seen this offseason, have paid A.J.

Brown and Devante Smith. The Texans for this year are paying Stephan Diggs a large salary just extended Nikko Collins. The Bears, they have Keenan Allen this year at a large salary. They have D.J. Moore at a large salary.

And the Bucks have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Those are the five teams right now in the NFL that are paying two wide receivers at least $20 million per season. And in other years, right, it would always be quarterback, left tackle, edge rusher.

Those would be the highest paid salaries. Now with how much of an emphasis we put on throwing the football and how pass heavy it is in the league, wide receivers are becoming not just you need one, you need two. And we'll do a wide receiver duo draft later and we'll go through it and there's like 10 or 11 really damn good wide receiving duos entering this year. And it creates this dilemma for teams when you have to manage the salary caps because you've seen teams like the Dolphins, Eagles, Texans, Bears and Bucks do it. But a team like the 49ers probably can't do it. They're probably eventually going to have to make a decision between Brandon Ayuk and Deebo Samuel because of what Trent Williams' salary is, what Christian McCaffrey's salary is. And you also got to pay Brock Purdy and all the guys that they have on defense. The Bengals probably can do it.

I don't know if they will do it because they may be cheap, but they may just go burrow and chase and then tell T. Higgins we're going to trade you. But you need a quarterback obviously. And you look at those duos that are paid, the five duos that are paid at least $20 million a year, Dolphins, Eagles, Texans, Bears and Bucks, quarterbacks and the two wide receivers.

Like I look at the Dolphins, I don't think the quarterback is good enough to win a Super Bowl. Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle are. The Eagles, I think Jalen Hurts is. AJ Brown and Devontae Smith are. CJ Stroud is. I think Stefan Diggs and Nikko Collins are. Kalo Williams maybe through time will be.

And DJ Moore and probably Keenan Allen will be out of it and then it will be Roma Dunze. And the Bucks, they don't have the quarterback like Baker Solid, but I don't think Baker is winning a Super Bowl. Clearly you have wide receivers that have won a Super Bowl before because they had the quarterback in Tom Brady. So not every team needs to do this. Like if you have Mahomes as the outlier, you could go win after losing Tyreek Hill in back to back years.

But you are starting to see a trend now where it's five teams and maybe soon to be more that are paying two wide receivers at least $20 million a year. And it's no secret, right? There's no secret in this sauce.

You know what the sauce is. It's because of how many times now teams throw the football in the NFL and how pass heavy the league is. It is the Zach Yelp show on the Infinity Sports Network. We will take a time out. Excited to reconnect with Michael Penix Jr. of the Atlanta Falcons. We'll be come on back as there's a lot to talk about with him, with everything that did transpire since getting drafted about a month ago. We'll come on back with Michael Penix Jr., the quarterback of the Falcons.

Well, the backup because we know our cousins starting week one when we return in five minutes. Ready to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely and invest with your guardrails in place. Parents can send instant money transfers, automate allowance and more. Plus, keep an eye on spending with real time notifications. Join more than six million families building healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. Get your first month free at greenlight.com slash odyssey.

That's greenlight.com slash odyssey. 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. Hey, I'm Andy. If you don't know me, it's probably because I'm not famous, but I did start a men's grooming company called Harry's. The idea for Harry's came out of a frustrating experience I had buying razor blades.

Most brands were overpriced, overdesigned and out of touch. At Harry's, our approach is simple. Here's our secret. We make sharp, durable blades and sell them at honest prices for as low as $2 each. We care about quality so much that we do some crazy things like buy a world class German blade factory.

Obsessing over every detail means we're confident and offering 100% quality guarantee. Millions of guys have already made the switch to Harry's. So thank you if you're one of them. And if you're not, we hope you give us a try with this special offer. Get a Harry's starter set with a five blade razor, weighted handle, shave gel and a travel cover. All for just three bucks plus free shipping. Just go to harrys.com and enter code smooth at checkout. That's harrys.com code smooth. Enjoy. All right. It is the Infinity Sports Network. That's right.

It is the Zach Gelb show. We should be joined momentarily by the eighth overall pick of the NFL draft and Michael Pennix Jr. We know that was the biggest story from the 2024 NFL draft. The Falcons season will actually open up with them at home going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers. And the former Falcons head coach in Arthur Smith is now the offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers with Russell Wilson. Most likely going to be quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. But right now, joining us on the Zach Gelb show once again, we always love when we get him on as the number eighth overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft. He, of course, is Michael Pennix Jr. And he's here today on behalf of Sharpie, the iconic pen and permanent marker brand. Michael, first off, congratulations on being the eighth overall pick of the draft about a month ago.

Thanks so much for doing this. And how you been? I appreciate it. I've been good. You know, I'm just super blessed, you know, just been working, you know, just trying to get better each and every day.

Yeah. How has that adjustment been personally? We all know what you did at Washington for two seasons. You overcame a lot of adversity that you suffered at Indiana, but the college career is now behind you. And now you start this new journey, this new chapter as a professional quarterback in the NFL with the Falcons.

Yeah, man, it's a blessing. You know, everything I've been through, you know, I feel like prepared and, you know, help me get to where I'm at today. And I'm super excited for the opportunity. I'm super excited for my future.

And I can't wait to get it rolling. So now we know back in college, right, with what you did the last two years, you were a highly touted quarterback. You got an invite to the Heisman Trophy presentation this past year.

We knew you were going to go in the first round. But when I was watching the draft and you went eighth overall to the Falcons, you know this, it surprised a lot of people because they had Kirk Cousins just take me through and relive that phone call from a little bit about a month ago when the Falcons called you. You found out where you were going to start your NFL journey. I mean, I was super excited. You know, I was excited for, you know, going through it throughout the drive process. I know I had I had a meeting with them.

You know, it was actually also a workout. I had an on-field workout with them and they were impressed. They liked the things that I did. And, you know, they believed in me, you know, and that's that's all that you can ever ask for.

You know, somebody to believe in you. And I'm blessed to be able to have this opportunity. I'm going to take full advantage of it. But it was a great night. You know, it was a great moment.

Something that I forever remember and forever cherish. So I'm just super excited and blessed. There's always so much talk about the quarterbacks leading into the draft and some of it's fair, some of it's unfair. I had no clue where you were going to go. I just knew you were going to go somewhere in the first round. Some days it seemed like you were rising up draft boards.

Other days. It seemed like you were falling. Did you feel at all? You were at least a little bit disrespect in the draft process.

Or when you look back at it, you go, hey, whatever that noise was, was just noise. I ended up being a top 10 pick. Yeah, you can't really focus on that stuff, you know, as far as the job rise and fall and I don't know why it would fall. I don't I don't know.

I mean, in my opinion, I don't know. You know, I feel like I did a lot of great things, a lot of the right things. You know, obviously I'm not perfect. I got a lot of things that I can be better at. And that's things I'm working on now, you know. But I definitely, you know, feel like, you know, I was always trying to prove my I was always proving my case, you know, and the person that, you know, I know I am and the person that, you know, that has been through a lot to get to this point. You know, nobody really understand, you know, or could ever get that feeling of what I felt to be here. You know, and the joy and the, you know, excitement for the opportunity.

You know, it's it's a whole different feeling whenever you you've been through some of the stuff I've been through, you know. So it's like I just that's why I always say I'm blessed. I'm blessed, you know, for it. I'm blessed for the opportunity. And like I said, I'm going to take full advantage of the opportunity. You know, right now I'm learning under Kirk and, you know, but I know whenever my numbers call, I'm be ready. Obviously, as Michael Penick Jr. is here with us, football fans know what you're about, but there are some NFL fans that don't watch college football for fans that have not been able to watch you the last few years because they're just focused on the NFL.

What are the Falcons getting in Michael Penick Jr.? Yeah, I would say you're going to get a winner. You're going to get a guy that's going to, you know, help elevate everybody around them as well. You know, that's that's the thing that I love to do, you know, just give my guys a chance. That's what my college coaches always tell me, you know, give your guys a chance, you know, and especially things that happen and obviously, you know, just touching your ability, you know, so and me, I believe in my abilities and I know what I can do on the field.

I can't wait to show you and I don't know, we're going to win some so. I know you kept on talking about no one's perfect and there's some things that you've been working on. What are the parts of the game?

I know you're going to probably tell me everything. But what are some specific parts that you're trying to get better at? I mean, each and every day is a process, you know, obviously, you know, going into the next level, you know, getting a whole new playbook, you know, you got to work on that. You got to work on getting that connection with the guys, you know, at the same time, you're trying to build a routine, you know, something that you can stick to, you know, throughout your career so that you're always, you know, putting yourself in position to be great. So, you know, for me, it's mainly those things, you know, those are the biggest things right now. You know, obviously, I didn't have to deal with some of those things in college, you know, but now that I'm here in the league, you know, it's a whole different story. But, I mean, on the field, you know, it's a lot of things, you know, that, you know, I can clean up, you know, that I've been working on as well too.

But, you know, the whole mental part of it, that's the thing that's going to separate you, you know, I feel like in this league. Everybody's talented. Everybody's talented. Michael Penick Jr. here with us on behalf of Sharpie. How has the relationship been so far with Kirk Cousins?

Yeah, man, it's been great. You know, he's a great guy. He's a great leader. You know, man, he's smart. He's real smart, you know, so I always just sit in the back, you know, sometimes just watching what he do, you know, how he does it, you know, so that I can incorporate that into my game and, you know, so that I can be able to, you know, be able to operate at a high level in this league because obviously he's been doing it for a long time, you know, and it's a lot to be able to take from him.

So he's a guy to talk to and, you know, like I said, he's a leader, you know, everybody, everybody always looks at him whenever, you know, it's any questions and, you know, he knows his stuff. So I saw after you got drafted, he did reach out to you. What was that conversation like? What did he say to you? Just wondering.

Oh, after that, the draft, it was just, you know, he was just welcoming me and telling me that he's excited to get to work with me. And you know what's going to happen. Everyone's going to pin you up against Kirk and people are going to try to make this a distraction. How do you guys try to prevent that from becoming a distraction to the team?

Just wondering. I mean, we just, we grown men, you know, we not worried about, you know, the outside noise, you know, we just want to win football games. So at the end of the day, we all got the same goal.

So it's no reason for, you know, me and Kirk to be bumping heads or anything like that. You know, so I don't know why people, you know, think that or expect that, you know, but we all want to win football games and, you know, coach going to do what's best for the team. And, you know, that's how it works. And, you know, like I said, you know, I'm going to learn. I'm going to develop, continue to, you know, get better. And whenever my number is called, you know, I know I'm going to be ready.

So that's all I can do. So now you're NFL ready. We just saw Jordan Love have to sit for two years. How do you kind of balance that? Because, you know, the competitor in you is going to want to get on the field. But by design, they're going to try to play Kirkier for a year or two, you would think, right?

You said, but what's the question, though, about it? So how do you kind of balance the competitive nature? Because you're going to want to get on the field. But you have Kirk.

That's going to be on the field by design so far early on. Yeah, I mean, you know, you compete in every day, every day you compete, you know, but it's like, you know, for me, it's just, you know, just understanding, you know, that, you know, I feel like my family, they always told me ever since, like, I got drafted, like, man, you're here for a reason. You know, God put you in this position for a reason. So I just truly trust that, you know, and that's how I go about my day. Like, you know, I'm in this position for a reason, you know, take advantage of it, take full advantage of it, you know, be happy that I'm in it, you know, because a lot of people, you know, even though I'm not starting this year, but a lot of people want to be drafted top 10 and, you know, go to the national championship, you know, but like, it's hard, it's hard. But, you know, so for me, I just, you know, continue to stay my stay with be me, you know, stay within myself and, you know, you know, just doing whatever I can tell this team one football game.

So, you know, you know what you're doing clearly. I don't know if you need extra motivation. It doesn't seem that way, but Jordan love just had to sit for two years. Do you have any relationship with him and now seeing the quarterback he's become? Is that inspirational?

Probably having to travel a journey similarly to what you did. Yeah, I mean, I have I don't have a relationship with him. I never seen him before, you know, but obviously, like you said, man, he's a great player, you know, and, you know, for him to be under a ride for two for two years, you know, I feel like it definitely helped, you know, and for him with his developing, you know, the way that he goes about his business each and every day, you know, just watching a vet do it, you know, and obviously Aaron Rodgers doing it at a high level as well, you know, I feel like that was something that, you know, definitely could possibly help them as well. So, you know, for me, I just take that same approach, like do whatever you can to get better, you know, learn, you know, continue to develop each and every day, you know, and just go about each and every day like this. It's just a game day, you know, like practice.

I'm going about practice like it's a game day, taking game time reps, stuff like that, you know, so that whenever I do get put in that position, you know, I've already been there, so. Michael Penick Jr. is here with us. How about the rest of your team? You know, I know we just talked about you and Kirk for about eight minutes or so, but you look at this offense, there's some loaded talent starting with Bijan. You got Drake London, Kyle Pitts. It seems like it's going to be a fun offense to be a part of.

Yeah, for sure, man. You know, a lot of weapons, you know, Darnell Mooney, River McLeod, like they're all good, man. We got a lot of guys, Tyler Algier, like, man, we're loaded, you know, so it's like, you know, I'm super excited, you know, for the future, super excited, you know, for this season, you know, just being able to see those guys do what they do. And I've been seeing it for a couple of weeks now and, you know, it's special. So I'm super, super excited, blessed to be a part of it.

Last thing I'll ask you before we talk about Sharpie is a wrapping up of Michael Penick Jr. I love your story. You know, I watched a ton of Washington football. We know Kalen DeBoer very well, who's obviously now at Alabama, but you were counted out after Indiana with all the injuries, and what you did the last two years was truly, truly special, and it was so cool to watch. When you look back at what happened the last two years, how were you able when you were counted out to ignore that noise and not only succeed but be an elite quarterback in college football? Like I said, I go back to just being you and just knowing who you are as a person and as a player, you know, for me, you know, I knew who I was, you know, I knew the abilities that I had, and I knew that, you know, it was just a matter of time. You know, I was held back from injuries each year, you know, wasn't able to, you know, come into the season in the spot where I wanted to. And once I was able to do that, you know, have the offseason, you know, it was all a goal.

You know, I was super excited, you know, but we won at Indiana as well, you know. So just, you know, I feel like for me, you know, just always doing whatever I can to help the team win football games, that's my biggest objective, you know, because that's the biggest goal, you know, is winning. So, you know, I've been blessed to be able to do it for a while, and I look forward to continue to keep winning, you know. But, man, like all the adversity, you know, it built me into, you know, coach, my OC coach, girl, he used to always say, man, you're metal. You're built into metal, like, you know, so I just go about each and every day like that, you know, and just go put it all out on the field. All right, tell me about what you're doing today with Sharpie.

The platform is yours, my friend. Yeah, I got a partnership with Sharpie, you know. You know, I've been working with them for a while now, and just mainly talking about the SGL pin, you know, which is a high-performance pin, you know.

You know, as a lefty, you don't get the smear, no smudge, no bleed, you know. And obviously, for my future contracts, I got a future contract coming soon that I haven't signed yet. You know, I'll be using the Sharpie SGL pin, and obviously Sharpie is a big part of sports, you know.

Obviously, from a little kid, you know, just getting people, getting athletes to sign your football, everybody always had a Sharpie, you know, so it's a blessing to be able to work with them, so. Have you signed your rookie contract yet? Not yet. Are we closing in on that? Is that close? Is that right around the corner?

Yeah, it'll be right in time. You got it. Well, Michael Penix Jr. was named one of Sharpie's inaugural Rookies of the Year.

In February, as a Sharpie Rookie of the Year, Michael Xousa used Sharpie products throughout his first year in the NFL, including the signing of that first professional contract. Michael, always great to catch up with you. Good luck. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you. There he is, Michael Penix Jr. I'm always impressed when we get a chance to talk to him, and that's going to be a lot for someone to handle just because people are going to try to make that a big deal, which they should when you draft a quarterback eighth overall and you just paid someone a four-year deal with $100 million guaranteed.

It's not going to be a problem for him, though. Like, hey, we peppered him. I peppered him with question after question about Kirk Cousins, and you could tell he is calculated, he is meticulous, and those questions aren't going to go anywhere, but he's going to handle it the right way. And Kirk, I think, will handle it the right way, too, because he is a professional, but naturally, there's going to have to be some frustration from Kirk Cousins, especially if Kirk's a little rusty coming off the Achilles, and you have a lot of people chanting or people demanding to see Michael Penix Jr., because a lot of people thought the Falcons were going to use that eighth overall pick on a wide receiver or a defensive player. They ended up using it on the replacement for Kirk Cousins before he played it down with the Atlanta Falcons, and you look through the schedule.

The NFL schedule makers know what they're doing. The first three games for the Falcons, they are tough. You get Pittsburgh, who's a good team, and you hit the storyline of Arthur Smith, your old coach, showing back up on the sidelines as the OC. Then, week two, Monday night, they are in Philadelphia against the Eagles, who have one of the better rosters in the NFL. And after that, you have the Kansas City Chiefs. That's an 8.20 p.m. Eastern Time game on Sunday Night Football.

So think about that. First three opponents, good, great, great. One o'clock on Fox week one, week two, Monday Night Football, and then week three, Sunday Night Football.

Prime time, prime time, back to back. If they're 0-2 to start off this season and Kirk is looking rusty and they go into that Kansas City game and they get beat up good, people talk about this being a two-year transition where Michael Penix Jr. will sit for two years and Kirk will play for two years, and you wouldn't think there'd be a lot of legitimate noise on that in terms of Michael seeing the field, but if they start off 0-3, imagine that. People are going to want to see Michael Penix Jr. And that's the unfortunate part because you hear him give his answers on it. Michael Penix Jr. didn't do anything wrong. He was the eighth overall pick of the draft.

He has a bright future ahead of himself. But the thing is, where he's going, it's a night of such excitement, but no one's talking about, oh, we're excited for Michael Penix Jr., he's eighth overall pick. Right away, that conversation becomes, well, what just happened and will there be a contentious relationship?

Will there be animosity? How much of a distraction is this going to be with Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins? Because Kirk will be a professional, but he's not thrilled about it. Everyone knows that, and I think from a human standpoint, you can't blame Kirk Cousins for feeling that way. But the way to not make this an issue is to go win and to go play at a high level what Kirk Cousins is capable of. Now, he's not capable of playing at the high level Aaron Rodgers did because they drafted Jordan Love and then Boom Rogers won MVP MVP. So you see the way that that worked, or he won an MVP.

So you see the way that that works, that fired up Rodgers, and it didn't become an issue. But then the moment when Rodgers dipped off a little bit and they didn't make the playoffs, Boom Rodgers is gone, traded to the Jets, and then Jordan Love played, and Jordan Love has exceeded expectations. But here's the difference between Love and Penix. Love wasn't NFL ready. Penix is NFL ready. And that's the shame of this because I want to see Michael Penix play.

But you know that by design, and sometimes plans are designed to change, you're not going to see him probably play barring an injury or really poor play from Kirk Cousins here in year one and probably in year two. It is the Zach Yelp Show on the Infinity Sports Network. We'll take a time out. There is a ridiculous media coverage by ESPN on get up regarding Jason Tatum. We will play some of that when we come on back, and I'll react to it.

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Price and coverage match limited by state law. 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. I was actually in a Hyundai Tucson this past weekend when I was going up to the Berkshires.

A buddy of mine just got one of the Hyundai Tucson's, so I was in it, very, very smooth and easy vehicle and a good vehicle to drive it. Anyway, this is the Zach Gilb show. And just real quickly, before we get to some of the just silly conversation on first, not first take, it was a get up on ESPN by Mike Greenberg in the last 24 to 48 hours in regards to Jason Tatum.

But I just want to go around the room here. Kirk Cousins is on a four-year deal. When Rogers had, when the Packers drafted Jordan Love, we kind of went in the line of thinking that it may actually be up until the fifth year of that rookie, of the fifth year option when we would see, like a lot of people thought Love was going to have to sit for four years. And you look back at the whole Rogers situation because Love was drafted in 2020 and he had no stats in 2020. So he sat 2020, played a little bit in 2021, 2022, but not much. But he sat for three years. And then they traded Rogers and going into the fourth year is when Love played and Jordan Love last year had a very successful season. So he sat for three years, Jordan Love, and over those three years only saw time in 10 games.

And that's Love who was not NFL ready. Pennix is NFL ready and a lot older. Like Michael Pennix Jr. right now, he just, I think he just turned 25 or maybe he's about turned 26. No, he's 24. He just turned 24 years old.

So think about that. He just turned 24 years old. Jordan Love right now is 25. So like you have Michael Pennix Jr. sit for two years, you're talking about 26. If he sits three years, 27 until you start to see him. And here's the thing, not everyone, and Brady kind of messed this up with the way that we think about it, not everyone's playing 20, 25 years.

That's an anomaly. And a lot of guys usually start to break down like 33, 34, 35. So let's say Pennix doesn't play until he's 27, 26 somewhere there. If he gives you like an eight-year run of great numbers, you take that in a quarterback. Like if I say to Stu, hey, Stu, your Raiders are going to draft Michael Pennix Jr., but let's actually pretend the Raiders had a quarterback in place and he was going to sit for two years and then go give you an eight-year career where he's constantly throwing mid to high 4,000 yards and is tossing like 30-something touchdowns a season. You would sign for that in a second, Stu, even if it was, as we would say, only eight years now. 100%, not even a question.

Sign me up right now. What's going to happen? Will Michael Pennix Jr. go through sitting behind Kirk Cousins, playing his career and finishing his career, that being option one, or Stu finding his next franchise quarterback?

What's going to happen? I kind of would bet the first part. I would too. Because here's what's tricky with your Raiders, Stu. They got to find a way to weather the storm this year because they got some talent. You got Matt Max. You signed Christian Wilkins on offense. I know they don't have Josh Jacobs anymore, but you got a good wide-receiving duo in Devante Adams and Jacoby Myers. They have two tight ends now. You have Mayer from Notre Dame, and they just drafted Brock Bowers.

So you got some talent there. But is Aiden O'Connell the guy? No. Is Gardner Minshew a one-year stopgap?

Could he be efficient? Yes, but he's not going to make you a playoff team in the AFC. The Colts had an okay roster, and he made them close to getting to a playoff team, but they didn't make the postseason. And you have Mahomes in your division too. So this year for the Raiders, Stu, I really think it's massive because, yes, if they suck, you have a top-five pick. You could draft a quarterback. But if you're that bad, is Devante Adams going to stick around?

No. And Josh Jacobs, I saw, will play this audio later. He was calling Devante Adams.

You ever want to come on back to Green Bay? It feels like this is the make-or-break year for Devante Adams, where year one he was all-pro, year two he's still very good, but the quarterback play was just such hot garbage there, and you had the whole McDaniel situation. But it ended on a positive note because of Antonio Pierce.

He gets the full-time gig. But if you're, like, bottom five, bottom ten in the league, I think you lose Adams, but then you could get your quarterback of the future in the draft. But losing Adams, then it makes you take a step back, too. So if the Raiders... Like, Stu, what's weathering the storm for the Raiders this year where it's not really good, but it's not horrible, and at least Adams will consider staying around there? Probably eight wins, I would say.

Right? Like, eight or nine, but they're gritty, and they lose, like, a game or two that's just tough. And they're not bad enough to win two or three games and get... Oh, that's fair. But they're probably, realistically, probably, like, a six-win team, something like that, and maybe seven. I don't know.

That's the tricky part. How many bad teams just outright? And I know it doesn't always play this year. There's always teams you think are going to be really good that end up being bad and teams that are bad that end up being good. But how many teams outright do you just look at and go, that's a rancid team entering this season?

The Patriots are one of them. No one in the AFC North. The AFC South, it's not like... Maybe some people... Tennessee's got talent.

The question just is, can Will Levis step up and deliver? The AFC West, the Broncos are going to be bad. But if the Broncos are bad, they're not going to be in the market for the quarterback.

They just overdrafted Bo Nix. You know, the NFC East, the Giants will be really bad. The NFC North, all those teams are solid. The NFC South, like, Carolina's going to be bad. Like, there's only four teams out of 32 that you look at right now that you just go, they're going to be atrocious this year. I would say, like, even the Cardinals, they were gritty last year. Basically, without Kyler Murray, they won four games.

I got to think they're going to go win six or seven games bare minimum this year. There's only four teams that are really bad entering this season. Giants, Broncos, the Patriots and the Panthers.

Is there anyone else? And do you even disagree with any of those teams? I don't think it's any other team that I could really think of still. Yeah, I mean, could you throw the Titans into that or the commanders? But again, I think both of those teams are probably better than the four that you mentioned.

Yeah, so Tennessee, they got Sneed. You have the two wide receivers. And I'm not talking about Traylon Burks, who supposedly is like the next Jerry Rice, according to Calvin Ridley. But you got Calvin Ridley, you got DeAndre Hopkins, you signed Tony Pollard, who's a solid back.

You got enough to be serviceable. And you're building it off the hope of Will Levis. And like the commanders, you know, you have Scary Terry, Terry McLaurin. Jahann Dotson's fine, he's solid. And you got the hope of Jayden Daniels. So I think there's at least optimism for the first time in a long time with the commanders. So that's pretty damn good that you go into this year with only four teams that you're like, yuck.

Just putrid and not a lot of hope to deal with. All right, let me play you this from get up. This is Mike Greenberg pointing out that Jason Tatum didn't really seem all that excited when Jaylen Brown won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP. When Jaylen Brown wins that award, in the moment that it happens, the rest of the team just goes crazy.

And you were talking about it in our meeting earlier this morning. They all were so genuinely, look at them, they're all so genuinely excited for him. And you did not seem to think that it was mirrored in Jason Tatum. I think Jason was just shocked. I think he played well down the stretch, he led them in rebound. It was something that you wouldn't expect him to do.

You'd think that a big man would take care of that. But I think Jason Tatum was shocked. That's such bullcrap.

It really is. So you can't see it because it's on the radio, obviously. But when they play you that clip on TV, it was almost as if it was a crime scene where someone was doing something wrong and they put a spotlight and blurred out everybody else. They put a spotlight on Jason Tatum. He's smiling. What do you want him to do? He was on the corner. He wasn't in the middle of the mosh pit. He was on the corner of it. Everyone starts to crowd Jalen Brown.

He smiles. People try to make such an issue the last few years with Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown. It's nonsense. This duo, they haven't won a championship yet. But they overachieved early. And for a while they were just stuck in the Easter Conference Finals, which is a pretty good starting point for a young team. Then they got to the Finals.

They lost. Last year we know they were down 3-0, almost were the first team in NBA history to come on back from down 3-0 where they lost in Game 7. And now this year it's championship or bust. And oh, yeah, by the way, they're already in the NBA Finals.

I think that's a product. What ESPN did there is a product of not having things to talk about. And they're overanalyzing things because the NBA Finals don't start until June 6 and you need some controversy. Quite frankly, that's disgraceful what ESPN did. And if you're going to highlight Jason Tatum and say he wasn't thrilled or he looked like he was shocked that he didn't win the award, and then when you highlight him and he's smiling, you're trying to create something where, quite frankly, nothing exists there. And that's just lazy TV. And what that is is clickbait garbage from ESPN. But here's the funny part, the next day Mike Greenberg is on with Jay Williams and they're on ESPN and they're saying, why is there so much hate with Jason Tatum? Listen up. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But maybe the reason I wanted to do this is because I think it is part of a larger conversation, which is that it feels as though there is, and I don't know where it comes from, and maybe you can help me with this.

You! There is this desire, I feel like, to sort of diminish Jason Tatum. I don't know why, I'm not sure what it is. There is something about the way he acts. Because people don't like the fact he's not as demonstrative. When we think about great players, we like people who are demonstrative. Why is everybody in love with Anthony Edwards? Because he's like, I'll talk trash to you, this is who I am.

Oh, we need that. And Jason isn't as talkative. He's a little bit more passive in that relation. But he's more demonstrative with his play on the floor.

It's different. Now, they were responding to, I guess, something that Josh Hart said, which he said Derek White is more impactful than Jason Tatum because he does everything at a very high level. But Mike Greenberg, starting that off, you know, I don't know where this Jason Tatum comes from.

Hey, Bozo! Literally the other day, you were on ESPN trying to say that there was beef between Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown because Tatum, to you, when he was smiling, did not appear to be happy that Jaylen Brown won the Easter Conference Finals MVP. That would be like if I punched Stu in the face and then a day later go, hey, Stu, why do you have a black eye?

Why do you have a black eye? Who hates Stu? Who punched Stu? Why is there Jason Tatum hate? You're spewing it one day and trying to make an issue when there's nothing there, and then the next day, you're shocked? That comes off to me as Mike Greenberg was someone that got some social media backlash from what he was trying to create an issue with.

I think it was with you, Don, as Haslamah, if the person that was on set, forgive me if I'm wrong, and they didn't like the backlash that they got. So then the next day, you're trying to defend Tatum, and you go, oh, I don't know why this is an issue. Come on. One day, you're trying to create an issue, and then the next day, you're saying, why is there an issue? Give me a break. That's hot garbage. That's people that have nothing to talk about, and they are just trying to reach, reach to try to create something to fill their show.

Just lazy. Bushley, too. It is the Zach Gelb show on the Infinity Sports Network. Who's the next wide receiver to get paid? What's going to happen with Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, Jamar Chase, Brandon Aiyuk, and T. Higgins? Discuss next.