Cam A New Man? (Hour 2)

Alrighty, Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio. Brian Finneran going to join us coming up.

20 minutes from now we'll do a little QB carousel feature the Atlanta Falcons today. Scott Drew will join us next hour along with Jerome Tang as well. Scott Drew, his team did go down over the weekend to Creighton in the NCAA tournament. We all know coach Drew did win the national championship back in 2021 and Jerome Tang was his assistant and now coach Tang is off to the sweet 16 here in New York at Madison Square Garden where they will do battle up against Michigan State coming up on Thursday. Kansas State by the way was picked to finish last in the Big 12 before the year did commence and Isaiah Wong by the way for the Miami basketball team the ACC Player of the Year is going to join us coming up later on in the show at 9 20 p.m Eastern, 6 20 p.m Pacific.

Hickey, I did not have this on my bingo card last night on things that would pop up that we would then talk about coming up tomorrow which would be today. So Cam Newton took to Twitter last night and I don't know about you I haven't thought about Cam in two years because as much as I like Cam the football player and what Cam did for the game he lost that job to Mac Jones and he's never outside of of Carolina when he went back that was last time you you thought of Cam right when he goes back to Carolina he ripped his helmet off and screams I'm back up against the Cardinals. After that he was a disaster in Carolina. He failed in New England so last year when he does not get an opportunity kind of out of sight out of mind and we'll play you some of this audio in a bit and I'm someone that likes Cam I have a superman shirt super cam shirt I've always rooted for Cam I thought some of the pushback he would get for celebrating and giving footballs to children was absolutely ridiculous. Cam Newton was great for football but the guy's not a good quarterback anymore. He's not anywhere close to being a starting quarterback in this league anymore and there's going to be teams that don't want to bring him in as a backup. Because we know the way that Cam is viewed or the way that he was viewed in the past and when you've been to that level it's tough to then take a backup role like for example and the guy I'm about to mention Carson Wentz has not even come close to accomplishing anything Cam has accomplished on a football field but Carson was a number two overall pick Cam a number one overall pick Cam won an MVP in this league Carson if he didn't get hurt in that year the Eagles won the Superball would have won an MVP and when you are picked that high up in the draft and eventually your career starts to fade out and for Cam it happened a lot longer and later in life than it did for Carson Wentz it is tough to take that number two role because you have an alpha persona and an alpha mindset that got you in the spot to be a first or second pick in the NFL draft and I don't think that a team and a coaching staff is going to want to deal with Cam even though Cam did a nice job in that Carolina locker room when he went back there two years ago but I don't think it's as easy as what people make it out to be like can Cam be a backup quarterback in this league just based off merit yeah absolutely but if you're developing a young quarterback or if you have someone there it is tough for your starter to deal with with what he's done in the league because look at this like for example Hickey you have Panthers fans that still think Cam is a great quarterback in this league because of what he did for that team and what he meant for that organization years ago I know people in Carolina are obviously not fond of Matt Ruhle with what happened but I was fine with the initial move and still am to get rid of Cam because at that point it was a few years after Cam was great and what has he done ever since he went to New England and outside of one great game against Seattle in week two he did nothing in New England he fumbled away a lot of games and there were moments like the Denver game where all Brandon McManus it was kicked field goals he couldn't late go down the field and get a touchdown I think he missed the kill Harry so wide and I never defended kill Harry but he wasn't even close to hitting to kill Harry and then there was that game against Buffalo where they're driving and he fumbled the football where they're gonna either I think tie the game or go win the game and I think it was 24-21 if memory serves me right so someone that was originally excited about Cam coming to New England very quickly I realized wow he's not good anymore forget being great he's not good anymore and then Mac Jones who the jury thought of Mac Jones walks in and beats Cam out for the job so now with all those things happening if you haven't been able to readjust where Cam is now in the year of 2023 as a football player there's nothing I could say to change your mind but Hickey for someone like Cam that's been synonymous with greatness the fact that he has to release a pump-up video for him to throw at the Auburn pro day which I gather was today is it's kind of embarrassing like don't get me wrong if you're an Auburn football player it's pretty damn cool that Cam's coming back for the pro day he's gonna throw to you but you shouldn't be making this about yourself it's about the kids that are getting ready to go on to the NFL but the fact that he feels like he has to throw out a pro day to at least get on some team's radar of the scouts that are going there to watch these kids in the pro day and that you're gonna hype this up it's kind of embarrassing for Cam that that's how far his career has fallen where you're still trying to get back into the NFL and the only way that you're gonna make the rounds and make a a wave of of really moving the needle to get your name out there is that you have to hype up that you're throwing at a pro day like if that's ever a sign Hickey that the NFL career as a starter for Cam is over I've never seen more of a sign than that video last night Cam Newton in this day and age sucks that's that's all we can say he sucks he is not good the NFL has told you he's not good he was not good in New England he was not good in Carolina he thinks it's still 2015 it is long gone from there and like you said it's pathetic that we're sitting here hyping up a pro day that you're gonna now all of a sudden be back and better than forget 32 guys because he thinks that they're not even 32 guys better than them there are 64 guys at least better than you right now and I wouldn't say that there's not there's not 64 quarterbacks of the NFL that have been there's not one person right now in the NFL roster I would I would take Cam Newton over there's not good hold on you could say he's not good but there's a lot of bad and I mean brutally bad people at the quarterback position that end up making a a roster and they get thrown into it and you never want to see them play again like at least he will always have the running ability and that could be used to win a game still in the year of 2023 in the NFL there are some really bad you can't tell me there's 64 better quarterbacks than Cam in the NFL I I would say maybe even 70 like he is so far down on the list and I don't know what anyone has watched that would say otherwise like once again I'm not making this argument that Cam could still be a good quarterback you know my thoughts on Cam but if you're telling me you need to win a game tomorrow in the NFL and let me just go to the Bills roster so I'll go to the Bills roster for example was it Matt Barkley Matt Barkley I would take Matt Barkley you rather have Matt Barkley over Cam what is Kayla what is Cam's done okay what is that left in the tank to show you that he can even you know play it like a competent level but once again arm strength is gone his body is gone it's a shame enough to back up Josh Allen oh he's the third string guy they have Kyle Allen in there now okay come on what are you come on to win one game you rather have Matt Barkley over Cam or at least you can still run Cam 18 times a game why is no one signed Cam Newton why did Cam Newton go unsigned last year well no one thinks he could play no one he's not as great as what he thinks he is and that is tough to bring someone that is an alpha like that into your locker room and have them be in that backup role because I don't know if Cam can handle being in that backup role that's what I think it is I'm not telling you that I think this guy is a great quarterback anymore I just led the segment saying that how it's embarrassing that it's got to this rate but if he was willing to accept the backup role and you know when he goes into place you say I'm still a starting quarterback in this league I still always believe in myself I'm better than 30 you know some of the 32 guys that are starting right now that does make it difficult for the coach to deal with on that roster now don't get there's still guys that start in this league or guys they get opportunities to start in this league throughout the season that are worse than Cam but anyway let's hear some of this audio last night this is via Cam's twitter Cam is excited to show everyone why he still has something left in the tank tell me how these randoms keep getting times don't worry about it I'm gonna say I can't wait a second I love it I love it this is a weird video it is and here's the thing that Cam's not realizing he is now one of the randoms like based off play he's not someone that people are now saying unless if you're just a panther sycophant or a cam sycophant wow he needs to be a starting quarterback in the nfl so you are now even though you have a great history in this league and you've been a tremendous player and you've been someone I've rooted for you are in that random conversation where no one expects you to ever be a consistent starting quarterback again in the nfl let's hear one more this is cam saying there aren't 32 better quarterbacks than him right now in the nfl seeing a lot of people telling the idea and it's official I will be throwing at albert's pro day tuesday ain't 32 better than me so there you go I appreciate that he still has the confidence but when you just set out an entire year of football and to our knowledge no one really came calling it's tough to then sell that there's 32 better starting quarterbacks in the nfl right now now I will say this the most damaging part about where cam's career is at and I've said this before is that Ron Rivera and him were attached at the hip and we know what Ron Rivera accomplished with cam as his quarterback the commanders have had a gaping hole at the quarterback position ever since Ron Rivera's got there and even though Ron Rivera once said oh they were they were close to bringing in cam there's never seen to be genuine interest from the man that supported you the most in the nfl and knows you the most and knows you the best in the nfl than Ron Rivera like if I'm cam hickey that has to be the toughest pill to swallow when the commanders have been such a joke of an organization and the commanders have had so many bad names in at the quarterback position recently that you've never got at least in that building in the last two three years for Ron Rivera like that's the most damaging part of this and like you said it speaks volumes to where cam's play is it's a shame because his style has kind of led to his body breaking down it's sad again because it's just all the hits he was and what led to his greatness is now also leading to his decline but it's the reality of the nfl and that's again why players want to get paid as much as they can as soon as they can because you see the toll it takes and for cam is he's the shell of himself he's nowhere near what he was in 2015 and that's why he said Ron Rivera even when he was desperate never called no team last year called you see Carolina they tried to call I would say regretted that call when he went back to Sam Donald after he was arguably the worst quarterback in the nfl Sam Donald was and then there's Matt yeah saying oh thank goodness Sam Donald's off IRL like that's how bad it got also that's got to be tough though think about the human side of it as well when you go from being that great and then it quickly just fades and cam isn't an old man like if he would have stayed healthy and if his body didn't break down on him you could think right that at 30 he's 33 I think and he'd go play for another five years so you still feel like that's going to be the toughest part you still feel young you still feel like you could play but then whenever you get out on the field in the last two years that you're able to get on the field you didn't really put out a great product you never had anything consistently stick if you're cam and that part I have sympathy for cam because I do think that's very difficult to handle personally no I would that's fair because first of two his first two his decline it because of his body just like you know declining his decline happened so rapidly we're just like it's almost like a year and a half and it's like he's 10 of what he used to be but part of that now of cam not being with the job and not you know having any teams calling now you having to go to a pro day and hype up this pro day is you know basically another tryout is the fact that he is not accepted where he is he's not accepted reality still is living in the past so thinks he's superman he is not and that if you want to call it hubris is preventing him from getting another job do you dislike cam just wondering I'm I'm done with cam because this is the first time he's talked about being 32 guys being better than that quote before right so I am sick of him because he's not good anymore and I'm sick and tired of him preaching that you know all these guys suck and how he is better than you know 20 other quarterbacks or there's not 10 other quarterbacks that better them I'm sick of it because you you do stink right now you are not good and you don't accept that and you so that's what it is yes that's okay I don't hate cam doing the person I hate cam doing the fact that all he's doing is spewing this garbage of how he's so much better and putting down everyone else around him instead of realizing that you're the problem the reason why I asked that I didn't know if there was something before that you just didn't like about cam because I don't usually see you get this worked up about someone but when you do consistently say that you're still better than 32 guys or or some of the 32 guys that are starting in the league I can understand where that does get tired he's for really I used to be a big cam fan I'm not saying that's changed at all when you say it like that but he's just been out of sight and kind of out of mind because he didn't play at all this year and when we've seen him actually get opportunities in Carolina when he came back and then before that in New England and this is something that was optimistic as a pats fan when he got to New England he never did anything that was like oh and ah this is wonderful and there's always excuses that get made by his most loyal supporters oh they had nothing to New England oh I know okay don't turn over the ball in a big spot be able to make sure that Nikhil Harry go catch a ball even though he'd probably drop it anyway when you were going up against the Broncos don't fumble the ball away up against the Buffalo Bills and the team is going to drive to win how about beat out Matt Jones you had an advantage over in terms of knowing the playbook and knowing the players you could say 2020 covid he got there late you can make excuses if you want well then training camp he got beat out by a rookie court like who's been there for a few months and he couldn't keep a job right so it's just like I just animate the playoffs by the way if you are telling everyone how great you are over and over and over again there's a reason for it because no one else believes you it is Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio we'll take a break we'll come on back with Brian Finneran who will join us next nothing's better than feeling comfortable in your own shoes maybe you're a parent raising a little rock star or a tech nomad working from anywhere Allbirds wants you to be comfortable in your actual shoes too their wool runners pipers and loungers are so cozy you might forget you're wearing them and they're crafted from natural materials that tread lightly on our planet so get comfortable in your shoes get to know the wool runners pipers and loungers at allbirds.com that's a-l-l-b-i-r-d-s dot com you're listening to the Zach Gelb show the super bowl is over but the NFL quarterback carousel is just beginning you gotta ask yourself a question do i feel lucky what does the future hold for all 32 NFL teams at the QB position now i'm going to give you an opportunity to spin this wheel right here let's spin the wheel and find out which teams we hit today the Atlanta Falcons all right we'll chat it up right now with the former Falcons ride receiver that of course is Brian Finneran kind enough to join us right now on CBS Sports Radio Brian appreciate the time it's been a while how you been good Zach how you doing man i'm doing fantastic so week one well do you think it's going to be desmond ritter or taylor heinecky starting for the alliance of falcons oh my gosh it better be desmond ritter he spent some draft capital on him last year got a chance to start four games at the end of the season with some mixed reviews and i think taylor heinecky understands his role on the football team right now unless he does something spectacular in training camp and preseason which is very hard to do at the quarterback position i think you push all your chips in on desmond ritter what are your expectations if they do give desmond ritter this entire season as a starting quarterback that's a great question um they are they're measured i can promise you that i'm not sure exactly what we have you have a guy that started i think how many games he started in college of three or four years straight in college so he has some experience he got four starts last year kind of threw him into the fire in new orleans on the road uh where he was sacked four times and completed 50 of his passes so a little rough there and then he welcomed that with a trip to baltimore another top five defense so it was an early kind of wake-up call and a tough go for the first couple weeks and then settled in a little bit got a couple home games against an arizona team that was struggling in tampa bay that bench tom that sat tom brady a quarter and a half into the game got a couple wins and a couple touchdown passes so expectations are measured um consciously optimistic i'd like to see him put on a little bit of weight and um and do some of the things he did in college you know soft touch passes across the middle good to go routes uses athleticism a little more it was such a soft small sample size exactly it just it was hard to tell exactly what we got but you got a guy that looked like he belonged which i think is first and foremost when you get in the huddle with the rookie quarterback i did it with michael vick and i did it with matt ryan and you just see something in their eyes when you get in that huddle and if it's the right thing that you see it feels good and he looks like he is comfortable there so that's first and foremost and then it's a matter of learning the system learning your guys and getting comfortable in there how about the talent around them like i do enjoy what i saw from tyler algier this year drake london i think is going to be a good player there's high expectations for kyle pitts you think they have enough to really get a full evaluation on desmond ritter this year with the roster around him yeah no doubt he added uh tied in johnny smith the last time he was with our head coach arthur smith um was up in tennessee and that joker through caught eight touchdowns up there for for the squad when arthur was calling was the offensive coordinator calling plays he just added matt collins from the raiders who had a breakout year himself so he has enough weapons the run game is what this team is is backed by tyler algier did a really nice job last year tough to bring down you just solidified your offensive line with the right tackle and caleb mcgarry the new contract chris lynstrom broke the bank with a huge deal at the right guard position the only question mark left is left guard so fill that void and um i think you got good protection you got some nice weapons he didn't have the he didn't have the pleasure of working with kyle pitts last year he was banged up and missed um the last part of the season so throw him in the mix with drake london like you said it was a really nice rookie season with 70 catches and did some nice things i think he got enough weapons to do something and then you still have the draft where you're going to have some pieces as well what ended up happening with calvary i know he's now with the jaguars even before the gambling suspension and that news came out there was a big belief that he was going to get traded last off season he gets dealt at the deadline what is the the truth there between ridley and the falcons and why that relationship didn't work out i don't know if you did you end up reading the um the article he put out in the players tribune not yet yeah it's really good and it kind of goes through and it's all written by him and it goes through some of the things he was dealing with football is tough and then he got family and kids and he had a few off-field situations he had to deal with he was i think robbed at gunpoint at one point i think his house got robbed he had a lot of stuff go on where his mind was not in the right place and then he was banged up as well apparently which he let us know he had a foot injury that was misdiagnosed he wrote in the article so apparently at the end of that deal was playing with a broken foot and just couldn't do it mentally and physically towards the end of the season and then got himself in a world of hurt and he broke one of them i guess one of the top rules in the nfl is do not gamble on football especially on your own team for god's sakes and he did that when he was off away from the falcons and put himself on the suspended list so um it was unfortunate it was um somewhat nasty social media wise for a while because a lot of people didn't understand what was going on and what he was going through um i think as a falcon fan you're hoping he does well in jacksonville because if he re-ups for a deal there you get a second round pick from jacksonville so you can get that coming back but an unbelievable football player really good wide receiver and just had had a really tough couple years personally and physically on the football field now definitely check out the article talking to brian finneran right now and also i know that there's going to be some rust to knock off when you basically haven't played football in two years but i could see him having a monster season at jacksonville like that right now talk about a good destination to land in with trevor lawrence and some of the roster and the talent they have on the roster i think he's gonna have a big year no he's gonna i would agree with you i mean he is he's a special receiver even towards like the end of his tenure in atlanta in the middle of the season he was doing some strange things he was avoiding contact running backwards after he caught the ball it was super frustrating as a fan watching and a former receiver and i was very critical of him but he has all the skill set and then match him up with trevor lawrence who really is coming into his own and then a head coach like doug peterson who was my quarterback in philadelphia back in 99 running that west coast offense with creativity and being a quarterback himself wanting to see receivers succeed i think callen really is in a great spot in jacksonville should the atlanta falcons pursue lamar jackson in your opinion no no no no i think this team is has been so bad defensively for so long um especially like trying to kill the quarterback that you have to find either you have to spend two or three draft picks in the second and third round on guys that can go get the quarterback or at the number eight pick you can go get a uh the miles murphy or tyree harris or whoever these guys are big long strong six foot four six foot five 270 pound defensive ends that want to get after quarterbacks it just it doesn't make sense in my opinion you got to rebuild this team defensively before you start worrying about lamar jackson and it's been interesting zach and and i don't know what the what the national take is but the fact that nobody it was for a while there all the fans and pundits around atlanta like go get lamar he's our guy two first round picks who cares 50 million guaranteed a year whatever we can do it and then the whole time i was like we're trying to build a football team here lamar jackson is a phenomenal football player but this is an ultimate team sport where you have to be protected you have to guys make plays for you have to have a run game you have to have a defensive sacks a quarterback and the falcons had too many holes uh in that regard to be spending that kind of money and throwing away that kind of draft capital to go get a guy um like lamar jackson but i just think that's risky i get what you're saying you want to build the rest of the roster but if you go get a quarterback like lamar i kind of think it would be a little foolish by the falcons to try to wait because who knows when you're going to get someone like a talent like that again very true um we had a guy like michael vick for a while it was pretty special um got us an nfc title game when i was playing we had a guy like matt ryan got us a super bowl listen lamar is a generational type player uh with that said i didn't even mention the injury history he's had the last two years scares the hell out of me um i i've played with a couple running uh in quotations quarterbacks athletic quarterbacks and there's just so many more opportunities for those guys to get banged up sitting here and watching matt ryan play for 15 years and miss two games i mean that was pretty fun to be a part of so um i get it it's a it's just for me it was too much to give up and i guess i'd ask you where where is every other team in the nfl looking for a guy like lamar we're not the only team that needs a quarterback i think it's probably going to happen after the draft i think they're waiting to try to get that money to go down and all it takes is one team to really show that interest and i saw there was a florida report out there today that his rep who's not certified by the nfl player association has at least talked to one team or more than one team so i would think after the draft maybe it starts to pick up but who knows the whole thing has been really bizarre the one thing that's just bizarre to me with the falcons is they were ready to do whatever it took for the sean watson it felt like last year just from covering from afar and then a year later to not at least make an offer for lamar jackson maybe it happens in a month or two now that's what's always been weird to me yeah no it's a good point it's a great point that the whole to sean watson thing blew my mind and hasn't worked out yet and it's still early in cleveland another guy is a special football player but i mean again i'm not there's a very few guys in the nfl aaron rogers drew breeze uh obviously tom birdie when he was playing that can lead a team to victory and patrick mahomes josh allen that can lead their team to victory really based off of themselves with their athleticism their arm strength their know-how how smart they are on the football field um i don't know i think it's i think it's more risky to spend all that money give up draft picks and go after this guy and hope the guy doesn't get hurt hope he doesn't you know um struggle i mean his nlbp here was what four years ago i mean he's a really good football player but it's not and this is and i'm in the minority here i can promise you that i i just i'm not all in on that one you got a lot of blowback in atlanta are you doing your daily radio show uh on that topic or in general that topic yeah trust me i know i know the pushback comes all the time it's the nature of the business that's right no definitely i got we have a five man showdown here which is hard to believe at the locker room it's called i'm 680 the fan um you're the lone wolf in that locker room it seems i was i was pretty much the lone wolf in that group of people inside the locker room so i'm standing pat and uh and fighting my way out oh i bet you this you're gonna catch a lot of heat in like december when taylor heinecke starting games for the falcons because that seems inevitable to me that eventually heinecke will start this year oh god i hope you're wrong let the young kids learn and come into our schedule is not that tough man we can we have an opportunity to take advantage of a suspect nfc south although they've made some nice moves this this um free agency and and the carolina moon up in number one spot is intriguing but i think we have a chance to improve our defense which we've done already through free agency get after the quarterback we've been worse the worst in the league and sacking the quarterback the last few years and i'm worried about that man it just it's been tough to watch teams go up and down the field and not be affected by our defense very much baker and car what's kind of your reaction to them joining the nfc south party with baker going to tampa and then derek carr going to new orleans yeah um i like derek carr's game does he scare me no um i think he'll throw you the football every once in a while baker mayfield is i don't know what he is he just can't keep bouncing around different teams i think he's 14 and three years and trying to find his way so it doesn't scare me i think they improve their rosters with those guys for sure uh but those guys don't scare me as as far as the nfc south is concerned but um i do like derek carr a lot i think he's a good football player and another guy just playing the last couple years with one of the worst defenses in the league really hurt his his cause so i'd like to see him succeed uh but not in new orleans so he's in big trouble now brian finner before we let you run you talked about those panthers moving up to the number one overall pick i know you watch a ton of college football you think it's shroud or young as the number one pick i am i am another one i get blow back on uh his quarterback i i had a chance to play with chris chandler and michael vick and matt ryan and there is something to be in a six foot three six four six five 220 230 pound quarterback in this league it gives you an advantage over the line of scrimmage gives you an advantage to take a beating when your offensive line breaks down so 5 11 quarterbacks 190 pounds scare me to death i will take the six foot three uh 225 pound cj strout who's done everything that they've asked him to do in ohio state and i know the ohio state quarterback run in the nfl has not been impressive uh but i'll take my chances at that one although bryce young is a special talent as well but if i'm picking i'm taking cj strout since you're in georgia country stetson bennett what do you think a team's getting if they take a late round pick on stetson bennett stetson bennett proved me wrong time and time again what a competitor um and a football player again the size scares me but i could see him if he does the right things and keeps his you know keeps his stuff together and stays clean uh i think he can have a nice career as a backup in the nfl have an opportunity to start and do some different things here and there and guys get banged up i think he's a uh fifth sixth seventh round free agent type guy that um can can have some success so he can throw the ball he can spin he's sneaky athletic and um i think he can do a good job in the nfl brian finner and always good to catch up with you appreciate the time thank you all right have a good one there's nothing better than feeling comfortable in your own shoes and that doesn't mean flopping down on the couch with bunny slippers maybe you're a parent raising a little rock star or a technomad working from anywhere and jumping from one thing to the next whoever you are all bird wants you to be comfortable in your actual shoes too their wool runners pipers and loungers are designed for a level of coziness that makes you feel like you can do anything you might even forget you're wearing them and their shoes are so stylish they go perfectly with a wear whatever i want attitude all birds is all about loving mother nature too because no one wants to leave a bad footprint each shoe is carefully crafted from natural materials that tread lightly on our planet from zq certified merino wool to a bouncy midsole made from sweet foam the world's first carbon negative eva material made from sugarcane you're listening to the zach geld show kelp show time for your daily news brief we get you caught up on the rumors reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports it seems like they're starting to become a little bit of a shift in the number one overall pick when the trade happened the general feeling was it was going to be cj shroud or that was the first name that was thrown out there from it was joe person who covers the the panthers and then other people did kind of echo that sentiment now last week we played you that audio of adam shefter on nfl live saying that he's hearing it's bryce young today one of the more respected mock draft guys nfl draft guys and daniel jeremiah mocked bryce young to the carolina panthers as well let's hear from scott fitterer the gm and what he's looking for and the quarterback he drafts with the now number one overall pick i mean obviously it comes to that leadership guys that can process quickly accuracy someone who can run the team you know get you in and out of place it's not just about making throws it's about managing the game with the line of scrimmage it's about doing all the little things right during the week and mel kyper by the way he's predicting that it's cj shroud so there's a different voice in that conversation hickey right now if you had to take a guess who's the number one overall pick in the nfl draft i would say when it's all said and done it'll be bryce young it should be bryce young should be bryce young but i think it will be cj shroud now the hold up for me is i don't trust david tepa now david tepa may be right here though because reportedly right his preference is that it's bryce young and according to reports frank reich really likes cj shroud if you're being a good owner you should trust the people that are making the decisions right you brought in to make the football decisions don't just make the decisions on your own when it comes to picking players i would think that eventually or i would hope eventually tepa listens to frank reich i don't know who scott fitterer wants that's a different part of this conversation but since it's been reported that reich prefers shroud i'm still gonna think that it will be shroud until i'm proven wrong but if i was making the pick i would go bryce young i think bryce young's the better quarterback bra frank reich never worked at the quarterback under 6-4 which obviously would be an issue for bryce young who is not 6-4 yeah nowhere close to that you're taller than bryce young uh i am taller than bryce young you're one of them no 5 11 he is 5 10 and one eighth so i tower over bryce young but that said it's still love to be my quarterback if you're listening wait you say you're 5 11 yes do me a favor keep both hands up in the air sure okay i could see 5 11 what what what i am standing here then my hands on my head like i'm playing good legal guarding defense and now that makes it look like i'm 6 11 5 11 yeah okay you don't look 6 11 no i do not look 6 11 nor would i want to be 6 11 that's too tall maybe when we go to the draft in kansas city if we get some one-on-one time with bryce young we have him go back to back with hot take i would love that you think he'd be down i that i'd say hey whoever draft should boycott it go to the cult right bryce trust me i had someone tweet me remember when he walked into the combine with that large tight end yes from i think michigan yeah someone goes is that zack gild next to bryce young if i stood next to bryce young i would make bryce young very very small i mean i'll say this there's not a lot of people that make bryce don't look big we'll say that i forget who i took a picture with recently but it was oh i now i remember i reposted a photo that i took with iron eagle at the ncaa tournament last year and someone commented are you a giant or is iron eagle just really small i do think it's a mixture of both i was going to say both sound like they are right you know who chimed in and gave that line it's a mixture of both who oh oh iron's not on twitter oh wow that we know of i was gonna say doesn't he have like a burner somewhere i would think he has a burner when you're in this field i feel like you have to have some access to a twitter account well you gotta have gotta get out the information's going with i don't know but when you're a play-by-play guy i feel like they'll just give you all the information right but you know especially that level but he's also a guy who's in the know and he's knowledgeable i would be great at twitter he's very witty i would say he's great too i bet you he's on twitter i bet you he fires off some good tweets maybe if he ever retires one day we'll he's definitely an egg face right now oh definitely follows maybe kevin durant maybe maybe he just for fun has gotten into twitter fights with kevin durant goes after kyrie a little bit i doubt could you imagine adam thielen says he believes the panthers are close to winning a super bowl this via the pat mackenzie show honestly wasn't really planning on going to the the panthers and uh went on a visit there just to see just to hear him out uh because i wanted to go somewhere that that i felt like i had an opportunity to win a super and when i went there i sat down with coach i sat down with the gm sat down with all the the coaching staff and i felt like carolina was the place to do that i feel like there there is a real chance to win a super bowl that means the interest and the deal wasn't as robust on the market as adam thielen thought it was going to be you can't sell me carolina is close to winning the super bowl and i've been someone that said they have a chance to win the division this year i like their defense i don't know what to expect out of the quarterback because we don't know who the quarterback is going to be yet offensively i like their line their line's fine but i can't sit here and say they're anywhere close to sniffing a super bowl hickey is he that far off i don't think he's that far off you're not competing this year but you look at the nfc it's the eagles it's the 49ers question marks after that your division stinks there's really no team even this year that really scares you that much if you hit on the quarterback which is a major massive major with it whether it's cj shroud or bryce young but the panthers i think have most of the pieces they're ready to go to where your first time on 2024 i think it's crazy to say that they could compete and win some games and be a threat in the nfc play me this clip one more time go ahead honestly wasn't really planning on going to the the panthers and uh went on a visit there just to see just to hear them out uh because i wanted to go somewhere that that i felt like i had an opportunity to win a super bowl and when i went there i sat down with coach i sat down with the gm sat down with all the the coaching staff and i felt like carolina was the place to do that i feel like there there is a real chance to win a super bowl okay a real chance to win a super bowl but when how many years is adam dealing playing at a productive level well he signed what a three year deal i would say he's cutting it close dude i would guess right now your window is probably year three because remember frank reich comes in year one's a wash year two you improve and then you're three that's what you're really supposed to contend now don't get me wrong you can expedite that process if you hit on the quarterback and they have a really good defense in place but there's still a lot of questions for me on the offensive side of the ball remember dj moore is no longer there i'm feeling who's solid you have myles sanders who's productive like you and you're not gonna have a number one overall or no first round pick next year which i was gonna use a bangles reference because they were kind of team that went from jamar chase zero to hero and they helped with jamar chase but again yes yes you can but there's a difference of being a really competitive team and then a super bowl team i don't think right now they're close to being a super bowl team austin eckler and why he's looking for a new contract courtesy of the green lights podcast look man like i'm i'm so underpaid right now as far as my contract and when i contribute to the team it's like i am i am relentlessly pursuing this like i want to get something long term done i want a team that wants me long term yeah right because look i i'm at the peak of my game right like i'm i'm gonna score you another 20 touchdowns as long as i'm healthy i'm gonna score you 20 touchdowns i'm gonna have you know another 1600 all-purpose yards yeah right i'm getting half my value of what i could be getting yeah right so it's like i am relentlessly pursuing someone who wants me i think the charges should find a way to get it done the question just is where do you go from here and running backs get very tricky when it comes to getting that next contract i know buffalo just signed damian harris if i'm the bills i'd still be interested the dolphins it seems like they're not leaving any stone unturned they've been aggressive i go make a move i don't know if they want to get a deal done in division but if you're a team like denver at this rate why not go get russell wilson some more help and i don't know when gervonta williams is coming back so those are three teams that come to mind like after that a lot of teams already made moves at the running back spot so it does get difficult even though we all know austin eckler is a tremendous tremendous talent but if you're the chargers i think they're close i would not risk or i would not play around here and then you lose austin eckler when another team comes calling and they get a an agreement and then maybe you get a trade dog scott true joins us next