Panthers Trade Up To No. 1 Pick! (Hour 1)

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We got a whole lot to do and we're rocking and rolling for the next four hours all the way up until 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific, Christmas in March. That is what this show is today because for the last two, three months, all we've heard from Hot Take Kiki is that the Indianapolis Colts are going to find a way to go get Bryce Young. Pay the price, go get Bryce is what he was saying and we just got a gift, an absolute gift from the sports gods. I'm getting down on one knee, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you sports gods because the Carolina Panthers have traded up to the number one pick spot in this year's draft. The Bears get a haul back, they get the ninth pick in this year's draft, the 61st pick, a first round pick in 2024, a second round pick in 2025, and then they get DJ Moore. So I love the move by Ryan Polls, I love the job by bringing in DJ Moore to go help with your young quarterback in Justin Fields. We get him a number one wide receiver, still a guy who is criminally underrated in the NFL.

And if you're a Panthers fan, it's very simple. You may think you gave up a lot and right now it looks like you did, but if you hit on the draft pick and if you select the right quarterback, it's absolutely worth it. Time will tell whether it's Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson, or CJ Stroud, whoever it may be, Joel Levis, I don't think he'll be Levis' number one pick, whoever that guy is, Scott Fitterer and Frank Reich need to get that pick right. And if it does, and if they do hit, then that's your quarterback for the next decade plus in the NFL. But the reason why I'm so happy is even if Bryce Young isn't the number one overall pick, which he should be, he's the best quarterback in this draft class, there is no way that the Texans, if Bryce Young is available at two, are then going to pass up on him. So ding dong, the witch is dead. The cold stream of getting Bryce Young is over, it's finished.

And maybe this is going to be bad football karma on my behalf, but if we see the Panthers pass up on Bryce Young, which I'm actually rooting for now, I would love to see Bryce Young as a member of the Houston Texans for the foreseeable future. So I'll be really curious from this show standpoint, how he handles it. He's not even looking at me right now. He is so annoyed, I've never seen him, he is about as red as a tomato.

He cursed yesterday, he can't then curse today, cuz then there will be a problem with management, I think they gave him a pass yesterday. You know why you're getting away with that back to back days, and I was getting dinner. I was right across the street at Westville, and I was getting a salad and some yucca fries, and I'm paying my bill and I looked down and I'm like, whoa, I can't believe it. And I ran right back up here, and I did not see Hickey. And then about 20 minutes to the star of the show, Hickey just sat in silence, cuz he realized now that the Bryce Young dream is dead.

But Hickey, maybe I'll cheer you up here. Maybe the Panthers are doing this to get Anthony Richardson. CJ Shroud's a really good quarterback, maybe the Texans will take him at two. And then you're gonna have to pay a price to go get your man Bryce at number three with the Cardinals. But all kidding aside, I think it's very unlikely now that Bryce Young is in play for the Indianapolis Colts.

So that's the immediate thought on this. From the Bears side, I thought they did a heck of a job for Carolina. You're gonna be really annoyed that you gave up DJ Moore. But if we're sitting here three years from now, and whoever it is, whoever the quarterback you draft is an absolute stud, you're not gonna be missing DJ Moore. You're not gonna be missing the draft capital that you gave up.

So right now, yes, absolutely, advantage Bears. And for the Panthers, this is their most important draft pick. I know they had Cam, and Cam was wonderful. And Cam, an MVP, and got him to a Super Bowl, was 15 and 1. With what they've seen the last few years, Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, you now bring in a new regime, another GM stays, you bring in a new coach though, Frank Reich, they made a move. And they are shooting for the stars in year one to go get their next franchise quarterback.

And just because you're in the number one slot doesn't always mean you hit. You've seen a lot of quarterbacks go in the top five and be absolute disasters in the NFL. So once again, Panthers, it's a risk, it's a risk you take. For the Bears, it's a move you had to make, not only for the picks, but most importantly, you get DJ Moore to pair up with Justin Fields.

You have Chase Claypool in there as well from a deal that you made last year. So you are now putting some pieces and will continue to have the assets moving forward to build around your young quarterback in Justin Fields. But now for sure, we know the first two picks when you go to the entire NFL are going to be quarterback, quarterback. And then that third pick, pretty much Arizona, you're on the clock. We'll see who ends up going one and two, you know it's going to be quarterbacks.

For Arizona, you could have the best non-quarterback available, or you could trade the pick and see a team that's desperate, like the Raiders, or maybe like the Colts, whoever that is, to move up into that third slot so they could assure they're not on the outside looking in. Or, Hickey, I hate to do this to you, but Maggie from Maggie & Perloff, who's on before us, I'll be a good company guy across all the great local CBS Sports Radio affiliates, Sirius XM, Channel 158, and the Free Odyssey app, Maggie actually floated out an idea that I think would literally make hot take Hickey's head explode. Where Maggie threw out this scenario, and you gotta be careful with Maggie, she could have some really evil thoughts, and this one would make Hickey's head explode. She said, what about whatever quarterback goes one, two, and three, like let's say someone trades up, the Raiders go up to three, and in whatever order, it's Anthony Richardson, Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, one, two, and three, Coltsville compelled to take a quarterback, Hickey can't stand Will Levis, even though he's a friend to the show, imagine Will Levis as the Colts quarterback, get it, four?

Aye, aye, aye. Alrighty, I probably just set myself up for a decade of failure in the football world with all the bad karma that I'm wishing upon Hickey, but now I will turn the microphone over to hot take Hickey and get his reaction as he is starting to realize, or has already realized that his Indianapolis Colts are not getting his main man, Bryce Young. Hickey, how are you today, my friend? Number one, I wish I saved my curse for today, I was 24 hours too early, very prescient on my part to drop that F bomb, not in Russell Wilson's, or discussing Russell Wilson, but in fact, knowing this trade was coming.

Russell Westbrook, you mean? I was trying to say, Russell Wilson, my brain is just screwed up right now trying to process my hopes and dreams of the last three months getting just ripped apart, ripped to shreds and then hearing it being stomped on by you for the last nine minutes, so it's been a pretty crappy, let's say, last 45 minutes, I will say, but I have not felt this dejected since the day Andrew Luck retired in 2019. That was the last time I've ever felt like this with the Colts, they've had some bad losses, last year, or two years ago at this point with Carson Wentz, and that disaster in Jacksonville, we've had your code percent in that 2019 year just was horrible, this past year was embarrassing. The Vikings game was pretty bad this year? The Vikings team, by that point it seems was already over, there's been some opportunities to feel the way I feel right now, it has not been this bad since the guy, the last time they had a franchise quarterback, walked out and ended his career at age 29, in a preseason game, I have not felt like this since then, and I feel those feelings I felt on that August day in 2019, all back again right now thanks to Chris Ballard's inability to get the simple job done and now settling for the third, maybe the fourth quarterback and essentially getting himself fired, so congrats to you Chris. I hate to say it, because this is an I told you so moment, but I understood, and I was the first one to advocate to you to start to make that push for your team to go get Bryce Young a month before you wanted to embrace that idea because you thought your team was better than what they were actually going to be, but the thing that I always said to you, and I know how you work, when you get caught up in something, you go all in, which I appreciate that, and I respect that, and you don't change your opinion until you're proven wrong, and maybe by the craziest of luck, everything I just said the last 10 minutes will end up on freezing cold takes, all takes exposed, when the Panthers and also the Texans become the two dumbest teams ever, and they both pass up on Bryce Young, but I've said this to you from the start, you sitting at four, and I know you knew you had to go up and go make the deal, but it wasn't a guarantee, even if you got to one, that you were going to draft Bryce Young, and that to me was always the thing, whether you thought this internally and just would never say it publicly, how you really got to the line of thinking that this was a lock, that this was definitely going to happen, and also your owner gave you probably the worst blue you know what in your life, when he was talking about how good the Alabama quarterback was, that was like what a few weeks ago, I remember that line at that press conference, so you never thought this day was coming, but there were so many obstacles in your way, and the other thing I'll say, I was surprised that this deal got done right now, like what a Friday news dump this is, but I got to commend Ryan Polls, and I appreciate the aggressiveness of Scott Fitterer, but right now the Bears won this deal, but if we look at this five years from now, and let's just say you have the Panthers with their franchise quarterback, then this deal is going to look back a lot more positively for the Panthers, but for the Bears, you haven't had a quarterback in forever or ever, now you could build around your young quarterback with these picks, what you already had with all the capital, and also you get a ready player that you know is really damn good in DJ Moore, so it's just kind of crazy to me Hickey, and I don't know maybe take me through your thinking, because I've never heard you verbalize it, did you ever even go to the space where this was not going to happen, because I think your raw emotion right now, and I'm not, folks this is not shtick, this is Hickey wearing his emotions on his sleeve, if you would have been in our newsroom, you would have thought he like lost someone that was extremely close to him, like I have never seen that look on someone's face besides in death, and that's where we sit here today, where the kid that is usually walking around this studio smiling, happy, everyone likes Hickey right, good guy, you look miserable, you look like either you just came off a weak bender and you haven't seen daylight in a week or you look like you just lost your puppy dog, so how do you process or did you ever process the other side in an unlikely way that you were going to get Bryce young, that uh oh, maybe we actually won't get him. No, I never crossed my mind because it didn't seem realistic, because number one, I went this through this entire time, you hear what Ryan Polz talks about, you hear and you look at what the Bears are trying to accomplish, I thought for me they were trying to trade down twice, that to me I thought was their goals, which means if you're going to trade down once, it's either going to be two to Texans or four to the Colts, the Texans by all reports are interested in Jimmy G, they seem pretty content and happy at pick number two, so I thought okay fine, basically it's a guarantee, the Bears, Colts are going to make the trade, the two sides know each other very well, the Bears need help on defense, the Colts have a lot of defensive pieces they could send over to Chicago, for me it was just a matter of when not if they're going to trade to number one, and I thought for sure if you trade to number one, Bryce Young is by far the best quarterback, there's no other reason to consider CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson will love us, it was a done deal again, I had basically pre-ordered number nine in the Colts blue, Young on the back ready to go, ready to go, ready just to make it official, officially official, boom hit order and let's go, and to sit here, and not only not get Bryce Young, now get the at best the third best quarterback in the draft class, which outside of Bryce Young I don't like anyone anyway, so now you're settling for the third option in a crappy class outside of Bryce Young, and now you're sitting there, I mean who the hell knows if the Cardinals at number three, why wouldn't they trade down, if you're the Raiders you better get on your horse right now and move up to number three to get someone, and so now there's a chance to get the fourth best quarterback, this was supposed to be, this was supposed to be the time to get a franchise quarterback, let it out, go ahead, and to sit here and look at now the reality, they are gonna get someone that's not gonna pan out, and not gonna be the franchise guy, we're gonna go through this stupid carousel for another three years until they realize this guy's not the guy, admittedly, this is a terrible day, I was a jerk in the first eight minutes, I feel like Stephen A. Smith, today's a really bad day, I need that meme, admittedly, I was a jerk in the first eight minutes, but can we both come to an agreement now that Bryce Young is not gonna be there at three, I already told you he's not gonna be there, no just hear me out, they're not taking him, so I'm going to actually be a good sport here, I'm gonna be a good friend, and I'm gonna help you on the other side, I'm gonna tell you what you want to have happen in the first two picks, and then see your team trade up from four to get to three, and who you should take, I'll tell you that when the Zach Gelb show returns on Christmas in March, on a big football Friday, in five minutes after these short messages.

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During the break, I saw Paul Rosenberg come by, I saw Connor Greene come by, now Rich Ackerman did come by. Hickey, you are really the face and the voice, the national voice of the Indianapolis Colts, and I love our listeners and how many people tweeted me right away when the news broke out, the Bears didn't win the trade, the Panthers didn't win the trade, the Zach Gelb show won the trade. So I got to thank you because we're going to have a lot of fun today at your expense and I just hope at 10 p.m. Eastern you're able to walk out of here with a smile on your face. I guarantee you that is not happening. That is not happening, laugh it up, but there will be no smiling, that is for sure.

All right, I want to try to uplift your spirits. I know pretty much anything I'm going to say, you're not going to be happy because you're not being reasonable and you weren't being reasonable from the start. All you were saying was it's Bryce Young, Bryce Young, Bryce Young, Bryce Young, and I tried to tell you that there was a chance and a good chance with having you having to move up, other teams being interested, maybe you moving up to one and then Bryce Young not being the quarterback that you were going to select, there was a lot of long shots here. So now you really have no choice, Hickey. Outside of maybe what should be the greatest victory for you of all time, if you see the two teams, like now the Panthers and then the Texans, if they both pass up on Bryce Young, you know what, well actually, it's not going to happen because then you would move into three potentially, but Hickey, wouldn't this be the worst nightmare for you ever? If that does go down, let's say Richardson won, then CJ Stroud too, could you imagine if Josh McDaniels and the Raiders, who I've never seen you hate someone more than Josh McDaniels, imagine if he steals your man's in Bryce Young at the third overall pick. Like I will even say as evil and as twisted as I could be, even though I'd probably love to root for this, I wouldn't want to see that for you.

I really wouldn't. You know what, congratulations. You found the one scenario that is worse, that I would feel worse about than I do right now.

So you found it. There you go. If Josh McDaniels, that clown trades up to number three in drafts Bryce Young, then yes, I will feel worse than I do right now, which is very hard to do. You said clown without that word before it, like last night when you were talking about Russell Westbrook. I really had to think about it. Okay. So do me a favor here because four months ago I came to you and I said, you need to lead the charge, lead the push, embrace the tank, embrace the suck and go get Bryce Young. There was skepticism. There was arrogance met with that where you didn't think your team was going to be that bad and then a month later, to your credit, you went all in. You now need to find someone else.

I'm not going to say fall in love with right away, that you got to get looking at and saying, that's the guy that I want. And this is where I'm going to help you. You want this Anthony Richardson hype to continue and not only continue, continue to soar through the roof. What was the MJ line that he once said about the ceiling is the roof.

The ceiling is the roof. You want Anthony Richardson to be the ceiling and the roof and then go through all that. You want Richardson to go in the top two picks. Then you need Bryce Young to go in the top two picks as well.

Then you sit there at three, you trade up or in an ideal world for you, the Cardinals take Will Anderson, whoever they view as the best defensive player or the best player available. And then sitting at four, you get CJ shroud. If you get CJ shroud, who I think is the second best quarterback in this draft class, even though it's not Bryce, even though it's not the guy that you love, you should be happy. Because if you get Richardson, there's a major risk.

If you get Will Levis, there's a major risk. I think CJ shroud, bare minimum is going to be a good quarterback in the NFL. And at this point, you would sign up for having at bare minimum, a good quarterback in the NFL. You want CJ shroud now, the worst thing for you, I think would be if young and shroud goes one, two.

I do not want to just grab. I do not want a good quarterback quarterback. Here's who I have my eyes on 2023 draft. Will Anderson, Jalen Carter, 2024 draft, Caleb Williams. I'm already moving on. I'm on a 2024 play, Sam Ellinger, all 17 games. I don't really care. Let's go. I'm getting up where we are. You really got to go for it now. I'm not taking a flyer on the third or fourth best quarterback. I love head to hooker. He was tremendous when he was with us on radio.

Really is just a very charming person, especially in person. I'm all in now at this point, Caleb Williams tank. The tank is on go two and 15 go three and 14. Do not leave any doubts. Hi. We want to rehire Jeff Saturday. I'll bring him back. I'll bring back for one year, one year contract. Bring him back change that I can just can hang on the couch, watch USC games or get a better coach.

Let's I mean, this is, there's no quarter. I think it's going to be any good personally. I hope I'm wrong and I've been the mush. So CJ shroud could be the next Tom Brady and the Richardson could be Josh Allen times 10 with the way my luck has gone prediction wise, but how I see right now, I would not be happy with CJ shroud. I would not be happy.

They're Anthony Richardson. I would absolutely not be happy with will of us. This is a one quarterback draft and they screwed it up. You know, you could bring back, screwed it up. You want the number one overall pick that Ryan shore? No. Well, Nick falls even better.

Nope. We bring him back. Where's the photo of Carson Wentz Carson, Carson, Carson. You know, I'd sign them. Honestly, at this point, if Carson might lead me to two wins in 2023, sign me up.

I'm in. You know what this is leading to this is, you know what this is leading to. Caleb Williams, there's going to be a fight in the, in the AFC South, Tennessee and Indianapolis because Tennessee is unloading a lot of players on that roster. We may have the ultimate fight between Tennessee and Indianapolis for the number one overall pick.

That would be the best thing for the Zach. You know, it's actually going to happen the culture and get the number one over a pick Caleb Williams says, actually, you know, I'm going back to USC for my senior year. I love school. I'm going to make sure my eight five five two one two four CBS eight five five two one two 42 27. Let me go to Mike in Charlotte. Mike, what's your reaction to this trade as the Panthers move up to the number one overall pick and the bears get a whole back. Zach, I'm absolutely loving it.

I would love it. Mike, you got to speak into the phone. Come on. All right. Can you hear me?

Yes, I can hear you now. This isn't a waiting room. Let's go, Mike. Bring it. Come on. What do you got?

All right. I love it. I love it down here in Charlotte. I love it. They finally made a bold move. They got off the sideline and they're finally doing something. They're going to go and get their man. I'm loving it.

And they're not still doing anything anymore. It's a move that I love and I'm very, very fond of it. You got it, Mike. Well, hopefully they select the right quarterback.

Mike sounds like he could endorse McDonald's with all the love in it that he's doing right now. All righty. We'll take a break.

The poll question is out there. Who won the trade? Make sure you jump on an Instagram and Twitter at Zach Gilbs, ACH GELB.

You could always hit us up as well, 855-212-4CBS, 855-212-4227. It's very simple. Who won the trade? Is it the Panthers or is it the Bears? Make sure you get on in and Hickey, I think we're breaking Twitter with how many people that are checking in on you because I can't even find the poll question up. There we go.

It finally did load. And 81% right now say the Bears have won this deal to 19% for the Carolina Panthers. Take a break. When we come on back on the other side, a man that played in the NFL for the Panthers and Saints and does a great job as an SEC analyst, so give us a lot of intel on these quarterbacks. Roman Harper will join us when we return on the Zach Gelb show.

You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. Alrighty so the big news of the day, the Carolina Panthers trade up to the number one overall pick slot. The Bears fall back to 9. They also get pick 61 in this year's draft and then a first round pick in 2024, a second round pick in 2025 and then a big part of this deal as well. Justin Fields gets to welcome DJ Moore who is going from Carolina to Chicago.

We now welcome in on the Zach Gelb show. A man that is in the Saints Hall of Fame, also played for the Carolina Panthers. He won a Super Bowl with the Saints and now does a great job as an SEC network analyst and that is our pal in Roman Harper.

Roman, appreciate you jumping on board on the short notice. Just got to get your reaction to this deal that the Panthers made with the Bears today to move into the number one pick slot. Well, big time move by the Panthers. You got to appreciate them wanting to go up there. Obviously they have somebody in mind. You're not doing this to be like, okay.

Well maybe you are doing this. It's just to say I want to just be the first one in line to say which one I want. But it's got to be a quarterback and it's got to be their guy. And the biggest kicker for me, the biggest shock is not what they had to give up, but adding DJ Moore to the package, that's a huge gift for Chicago Bears. Not only that, but they're still going to be able to get a great defensive player at 9. So the Bears are in great position here to really try and build going forward. I love this move for the Bears specifically. I know I'm more related to the Panthers, which now they're going to go out there and get their quarterback number one.

And I can't wait to see what it's going to be. Is it Bryce Young or is it C.J. Stroud?

I would love to know. I truly have no clue, but you got to be happy. The Panthers, they showed their hands. That was a great move by them.

Nobody really saw this coming. And I would say great gift by Chicago as well to go out there and not only get a whole bunch of picks, I mean, what is that, two first rounders, two second rounders, and a top tier wide receiver in the NFL. You love what you, if you're Chicago, you can't be more happy. You got to be thrilled because now you could get a piece right away for D.J. Moore, for Justin Fields with D.J. Moore, and you have more capital moving forward into the future.

You already had a pretty good amount of capital anyway. Here's my follow up, though. If you're running the draft, if you're Scott Fitterer, there's a big push now for Anthony Richardson. What have the D.J.

Shrouds done? Bryce Young has been the best quarterback in college football, feels like, for the last two years. Who are you picking with the number one overall pick? Well, just on my board, I mean, I got Bryce Young number one just because of his ability to just go out there and just be a magician with the football, his accuracy, his understanding of being in command of an offense, understanding that he's the one quarterback that I saw consistently set up protection, doing all the little things week in and week out that you love to see on Sundays and that you expect to see on Sundays.

C.J. Shrouds is a maestro with the football, though. You got to give him credit. The man throws one of the most not only accurate, but one of the more catchable footballs that I've seen out of quarterbacks the last few years. And then, of course, everybody's going to continue to talk about and harp on the fact that how well he played against Georgia, knowing how great Jordan's defense has been the last two years. Well, he shredded them and he ran the ball. He showed his athleticism, which is one thing that everybody thought he was a little bit missing.

And so I think the biggest difference outside of size between C.J. Shrouds and Bryce Young, because those are the top two guys, you got to go with one of those. I don't think you give up all of that to all of a sudden go get Anthony Richardson.

If you do, it kind of feels like San Francisco a couple of years ago when they made all those straight trade away, all those all those those picks and things, and then go get Trey Lance in him for a year. And now you've got to play. And now you're stuck with him. You look like he's still battling for Brock Purdy. So you just don't know what you're going to get sometimes when you go out there a little bit more and reach in for some guys that maybe haven't played as much as you would like them to have played, especially on the big stage, like C.J. Shrouds and Bryce Young is done. So C.J. hasn't always shown that he's able to create when things break down, which Bryce Young really flourishes in those times. But C.J., there's no doubt about it. You love his side, arm strength and everything he else brings, he brings to the table. Talking to Roman Harper right now, is Bryce Young's size a concern?

Because that's the only knock people have on him. Well, so the funny thing with me, because I was just talking to my man Kyle Bailey about this just last week or so, is that, you know, it's not like Bryce Young just got this size. It's not like he just snuck up on us all that, oh, my God, he just look, he's been like the small hand stings with Joe Burrow and Kenny Pickett. Yeah, it's like up until all of a sudden now and we got to understand, too, this is talking season. This is when people get to talk and pick holes and all the things that we got and everybody that they're showing on ESPN and all the other sports channels right now, they're all going first round.

They're all going first round. So you know, this is the only knock we have on Bryce, so we got to talk about it. And the only knock you're really going to have on C.J. Shrouds is that he plays at Ohio State, where other quarterbacks at Ohio State haven't done it. So those are the knocks. And that's what you're going to see over and over really talked about.

But you can't knock the tape. And when you see the man perform, are you going to be able to build an offense around what they do good and allow them to flourish in your system and under your tutelage? Look, Carolina has like they got Caldwell, who's a quarterback guru. They got Frank Wright, who's a former quarterback and head coach and quarterback coach and offensive coordinator. You also bring in Josh McCown, who's a quarterback whisperer. And also and all does all play quarterback for like 14 teams. So you got three quarterback guys in the room. So wherever you bring in, you got plenty of guys that can coach them. So you're the Carolina Panthers. You got to go and get your guy. And if you hit the home run, it sets your program up to be successful the next 10 to 15 years, hopefully.

And so that is what you're aiming for. That is why I look at giving up D.J. Moore is a big loss. But at the end of the day, you're not even in the conversation for championships until you get that quarterback. But without the quarterback, you're not in the conversation.

Doesn't matter what you have out there. So if you get the quarterback, you can be talked about and that's what they're trying to do right now. Agreed. Wrapping up with Roman Harper, when you look at CJ Strad, I talked to him at the Heisman and he said he's more athletic than what people give him credit for. And he was looking forward to putting that on display soon. He did that using his legs in that semifinal game up against Georgia. So my question to that is, why didn't we see more of that throughout the season when you had to wait until the last game of the year to really put that on display? You know, I would ask the same thing, because when I watched him six, seven, eight games before that Georgia game, I'm like, he doesn't create when things are not clean and the pocket's not always there. And just like he has a pocket to throw from, it's kind of hesitant.

It's not it's kind of blurry and you don't love what you see. But all of a sudden, Georgia came out. He knew exactly where to go with the football. And when it didn't happen, he was taking it down and scrambling. And a lot of those two man coverages, he understood that Georgia was playing a little bit more man and their zone turned into man.

So when guys have their backs turned for me, I'm taking off. And you want to see him do more of that, especially in the Big Ten, where they are better than everybody else. They play as far as talent wise outside of Michigan.

They're better than everybody. So that's what it's weird because you only saw it one game and you loved it because it was against the best competition, which every scout is going to watch when you're playing good on good. But man, I wanted more of it. And you just did not see that. So that is going to be a knock on him. And that's but these are decisions that are going to come down to it. And I think both of these quarterbacks are going to be great in the league.

So I don't think you go wrong with either or. But nine out of 10 times, if I got two quarterbacks that I love, I'm usually going to go with the bigger guy. So I wouldn't be shocked if you see CJ Stroud come off the board. But I know Bryce Young's coming right after in Houston is going to be elated because, you know, D'Amico is going to get Alabama quarterback that's proven and won. And he failed to me.

So I didn't even have to waste my time trying to go get him. I was able to get it and secure all my draft picks with Houston still had plenty of draft capital. They got two in the top 15 picks.

So Houston is another team that's like, yes, we're good because now we're just going to take whatever is best and nobody can be mad at us for whatever pick comes to us. Roman Harper, when it comes to Anthony Richardson after the combine, everyone loves him. What do you say to people about Anthony Richardson and how do you think his game, even though it seems like he's a project, his game will eventually translate in the NFL has? Well, just to see what the NFL has become, look, I knew he was going to do everything he did at the combine. The only thing that shocked me was I didn't know he was 244 pounds. I mean, he looks like a machine. He looks like Superman and he runs like him and jumps like him.

But that does it. That doesn't have anything to do with playing quarterback. I watched him last year at times in certain games that said, this guy is amazing than other games. I'm like, not only should he not be drafted in NFL, but he needs to stay in college and learn how to play the position a little bit better.

So it's going to take some time and tutelage. And I know some people say, oh, he needs to sit. Some people are saying like, how do you learn when you need, you need to get them out there and let him play, but it's going to take the right team, the right situation. And everybody around him really pulled him behind him to say, Hey, look, this is what we're going to have to do because he was tricked in a lot of coverage is that he just didn't see them when you roll up a pointer to the field and he throws it right to the flat and you get blown up or picked off. And this coverage has shown up multiple weeks in the past concept that Florida was able to run. It was a lot of one-sided reads.

You're not fulfilled reading and that's okay. But at some point you got to start to evolve from these things. So when you draft this guy high, you got to understand what you're getting with this player and you got to understand he's going to wow you with his size, his arm strength. But if you can't complete passes and people don't understand that there's two yards on the top of the numbers in the NFL, two yards on either side of the hat, that's got to be a freaking layup and you've got to be able to dive that ball in there from 12 to 18 yards. That's where the greatest quarterbacks are won and lost at right there. You gotta be able to make those passes. There's gotta be layups and timing throws matters.

So you got to see it. You got to have the release point and it's got to be an accurately thrown football. And if you do that, you'll be successful, but Anthony Richardson did not always show that. He showed all the flashes of greatness, but the little instinctual things that I'm looking for, it wasn't always there consistent. Roman Harper now with the Panthers having the number one overall pick, you played with Cam. Are any of these quarterbacks in this draft, can you see them being a better quarterback than Cam?

I mean, possibly so. I mean the thing about Cam that was so, was that he was so electrified, you know, you just, you know, he comes out, Oh, he can't throw the ball. Can't throw the ball. His first game he throws like almost 400 yards.

It's like, Whoa, okay. He can throw the football. And then the first couple of years in his, in his quarterback process, you were like, okay, if you keep them inside the pocket and make him beat you throwing the football, we got him, but he wouldn't always stay there. And then eventually he evolved into now he can beat you from the pocket. I saw him when the MVP, I saw him have the whole world dabbing. I saw him take us to the Superbowl and lose it.

And then all of a sudden, as his health deteriorated, he was not able to continue to evolve and become more than that. Not only that, but I don't know if everybody could have a cam who has such a, you know, he's such a larger than life personality and person that now he can't, he's not accepted in every locker room because he's going to outshine your starting quarterback. You put him and Kirk Cousins in the same room, everybody's going to enter every camp.

They ain't talking to Kirk. So it takes the right locker room to deal with those guys as well. I don't see that with this group of quarterbacks, but as far as star power, you love what Alabama Bryce young brings. He's very soft-spoken, played at a big program, won a Heisman, all those things matter. CJ Stroud played at a big school, appears to be very soft-spoken, great leadership qualities, all these quarterbacks you love. It's going to be really hard to say who's going to be better than cam that just right out, flat out and say it, but he will be compared.

It will be compared to cam until they replace it. Well this is breaking from Joe person of the athletic. He says the Panthers will say they're keeping their options open regarding which QB they'll take. They should know, but the sense around the league is according to Joe person that they're going to go and draft CJ Stroud. So how do you react to that?

I'm not shocked. I just said it, you know, if all things are even and said and done in the NFL, you always take the bigger one. That's why, you know, Julio Jones is drafted before AJ green or however else that works, you know, or you know, if I got two defensive linemen that are the same and they're all the same productive. I'm gonna take the bigger one. That's what the NFL is.

It's big people running fast and in a collision sport and grown men in a gladiator arena. So that's what happens and Houston's got to be elated. It's the same way when I was in 2006 playing for the same and everybody thought Reggie Bush was a consensus number one overall pick in lo and behold, Houston, Houston, Texas and say, no, we're going to take Mario Williams, New Orleans was, they couldn't do it fast enough. Turn that pick in fast.

Okay. We're taking Reggie books. So you never know how this thing's going to play out and it's always a little weird and we do not.

We truly don't know. The only thing to expect on draft day is the unexpected Roman Harper. We always appreciate it. Thanks so much. Appreciate you carving out some time in the short notice things that man appreciate as always, brother, I'll be listening to you in the car. You got it.

Thanks so much. We have a brother who listens to us of course on w FNZ. So that person report is pretty big. The expectation now is CJ shroud with the number one overall pick to the Panthers and hickey. You got to feel even worse now cause I would be stunned if the Texans don't take Bryce young with the second overall pick. I'm now about you, Anthony Richardson to me, I thought it was the best quarterback in college football last year.

He, he was screwed and he said himself, he's a hundred percent right. The amount of drops the receivers had in Florida. It is not indicative of the quarterback.

He is. Did you see any of the combine last week? See how fast he ran? See how far he jumps?

Barcelona high. He jumped. You see those deep balls. He threw on air.

I was eating a meat cone. You can't teach that. And you know what you do when you're picking number two, you draft based on what you can't teach.

I mean, look, if I'm going to value it, if I was taking the number two, I'm already putting the pick in it. But she just had one. She ran into Roger Goodell, Anthony Richardson quarterback, Florida. That is my guy. Tamika Ryan.

You can't go wrong there. Two things with the legal situation that's going on with Jalen Carter. A lot of people thought the bears would trade down to like four or two and still get Jalen Carter.

Maybe they could still get Jalen Carter at nine. And the other part about this lovey Smith, he took the bears to a super bowl and then lovey Smith as the coach of the Texans defeated the cults at the end of the season, which got the bears the number one overall pick and allowed them to trade back today to nine with the Panthers and get all those assets for Justin Fields, for Ryan Polls, Matt Eberflus for the foreseeable future for the Chicago Bears. Goodbye Matt Nagy. Goodbye Ryan Pace.

And hello, a nice new era for the Bears. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio, we'll have more reaction to the news that is stunning the NFL world. The Carolina Panthers have traded up to the number one pick and according to Joe Person, they prefer right now, it seems, CJ Stroud Attention sports fans, your favorite sports book betus.com is back for our 29th year of football action. With the industry's biggest signup bonus of up to 200%, BetUS offers our members the opportunity to cash in on all your favorite leagues, including NFL, NBA, MLB, and more. We've also got hundreds of new casino games, including the coolest slots and our live dealers are waiting for you at the table. Sign up at betus.com or call 1-800-79-BET-US and get into the action. BetUS, where the game began.