NBA Playoff Takeaways (Hour 2)

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Like any Tom, Dick, and Harry after one game can get on the radio and say... Alrighty, this team won and the series is over. It happens every year and I'm sure there is at least one team in particular... ...where I do think their series is over that did lose over the weekend... ...that we will get to in just a second. But when you look at the big takeaways, it's the injuries. And what players are going to be able to play that got hurt over the weekend... ...and who aren't that can drastically impact the changes... ...the chances that this team has of coming back from down 0-1 in a series... ...or continuing their lead in their series for a team that won that suffered an injury as well. And the three injuries that we had... Giannis Antetokounmpo has a back injury, the MRI came back clean. I think there's optimism that he's going to play for Game 2... ...with the Bucs dropping Game 1 yesterday at Fiserv Forum... ...where they did lose to the Miami Heat. So I don't think that is something of great concern in terms of Giannis missing Game 2. But it is something to monitor throughout the rest of this series... ...and throughout the rest of the postseason. Because it is, whether you think he's the MVP or not, he's the preeminent player in the sport right now.

I think Giannis, even though Embiid will win the MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best player in the NBA. And they had to deal with injuries, especially with him, even when they won that championship. If you go back to that Easter Conference final up against Atlanta when everyone thought Giannis' season was over. And then you look at last year, there's a very good chance that they would have repeated or bare minimum... ...got back to the NBA Finals if it wasn't for the closer Chris, Chris Middleton injury up against Boston. So the Giannis injury, I would say the best way to say it now is they avoided the big scare. But you still have to be scared if you're a Bucs fan because you wonder how much of a lingering problem is this back injury. It's good the MRI came back clean is going to impact him throughout the rest of the postseason.

Or if you land on it awkwardly again, what else happens? So that's the Giannis side of it. Now also in that series, you did have Tyler Hero of the Heat break his right hand. And he's going to be out bare minimum four to six weeks. So he's done-zo maybe for the entire playoffs because I don't think anyone actually thinks the Heat are still going to be playing four to six weeks from now.

Actually, you never know how long these series do take to wrap up. But Hickey, I don't know about you, it's definitely not the way that you want Game 1 to happen. And I know Miami has the experience and Miami, we all know how great Jimmy Butler is. And Miami, even though they have not been playing like it, they have the capability of going on a run. Until I see it end differently, I'm going to assume that the Bucs not only come back but they end up winning this series. And we see how many times the Bucs lose Game 1s. And remember, it wasn't that long ago, it was two years ago, where they were down 0-2 in the NBA Finals.

They ended up winning it in the Bucs and 6, Bucs and 6, Bucs and 6 chant. Right, there's so much championship metal on this team where they're not panicking after a one game loss. It looks like Giannis should be back for Game 2. I mean, he landed on his tailbone.

It hurts really, really bad, but it's not one of those where you should be, at least from what we've heard so far. Nervous that he could miss significant time in terms of weeks. So, even if he's not ready for Game 2, you should expect him back Game 3. But it looks like Game 2 is going to be a go for him.

So, he's getting healthier. Chris Middleton played really well. Even if he can't play, you still, I mean the Bucs will have a game plan obviously for this team. Playing without Giannis, they're still a really good team without Giannis. So, I'm with you, no real concern even with dropping Game 1 and Giannis is right now uncertainty for Game 2.

No real concern with the Bucs losing this series. Here's what I would say about Giannis. I don't think there's any doubt in my mind that he's going to at least play in Game 2. It's going to be, is he going to be able to make it through the entire game? And how long is he going to make it through the entire game? And is there any chance of maybe him being on a minutes restriction?

Where they're guiding those minutes as well. But there's no doubt in my mind that he isn't going to play. I think he's going to play in the game. And remember, that Game 2, Game 1 was yesterday. They don't play tonight. They don't play tomorrow.

They don't play until Wednesday. So, we don't see him back on the court hickey for Game 2 until Wednesday. I think he's going to play.

You're just going to monitor A, how effective he's going to be. And then B, how long he's going to be able to make it through the entire game. Right, and again, you should feel pretty confident that he'll be, if he's out there playing, should be able to play a good amount of time and hopefully no limitations. Okay, now let's get to the one series that I think it's over. John Marant with the hand injury.

And John Marant sounded devastated after the game. I would be shocked if he plays in Game 2. I don't know if he'll end up playing again the rest of the series. I'm not ready to go to that level and say that he's going to be out for the rest of the series. But hickey, usually when it comes to injuries, teams kind of keep it close to the vest.

And you don't really get that much reaction from players. The way that you heard John Marant, who's clearly going through things and it's been documented. You know, obviously with him missing time away from the team and there's things going on. But very emotional and he sounded like he knows that even if he's going to be able to return at some point in this series, there's not much that he's going to be able to do to contribute to the team. Once again, these series are so long, so who knows how things navigate from this week to next week. But in terms of Wednesday, Lakers and Grizzlies Game 2, I would be very surprised, hickey, if we end up seeing John Marant on that basketball court.

Now you get a long break, but yes, I would agree. It does not seem like this is an injury where it looks like he's going to play. And the fact that it's already doubtful, still 48 hours before a playoff game even begins, that also underscores the severity of if he's already doubtful and leaning towards not playing on Wednesday, well then you think Game 3 on Saturday, even though you by that point have a week off in between games, if he doesn't play on Wednesday in Game 2, it's hard to even believe that he'll either play or be effective if that hand injury is really going to give him that big of a deal, which on his right hand, shooting hand, it should. And clearly I hope that he's going to play and you don't want to see a series get impacted this way. But I'll tell you this, I'm not rooting for the Grizzlies in this series.

Like heading into the series, I had no dog in the fight. We know how much smack Memphis does talk and I think that's good for the sport. And we've seen them go after the Warriors a lot and other teams as well. When you're talking that much smack and you do have this confidence about you, which I do think you need a lot of that in sports and I don't believe that players get to the level of being elite athletes without that bravado and that confidence. But it makes you almost want to root for the Lakers and seeing how confident the Grizzlies were going into this series and then the way that the Lakers played down the stretch the other day, that was a bad look.

And I know they suffered the jaw injury as well, but that was a bad look for the Memphis Grizzlies yesterday. Especially when you look at who was the difference makers. If you could tell LeBron James at 45 points and even at 38, LeBron still got a little left in the tank where he could just put an entire team on his shoulders and take over a game, okay. Anthony Davis lights up the court and is unstoppable. He should be and is the best player in the series.

Okay, it happens. To get cooked by Ruri Hachimura and Austin Reeves in the second half and have no answer for either of them, can't allow it to happen. And you know at least one or two games in this series, LeBron is going to find a way to win a game or two just based off of still. Even though LeBron has had injuries of his own and you saw Anthony Davis for a little bit give you a scare too, which I feel like is just a regular occurrence, you do know that eventually at some point in this series, LeBron is just going to be the best player on the court and LeBron on his own is going to be able to win you one or two games just on his own in this series. I hate to say it after one game, Hickey, but when you factor in the Marant injury and the uncertainty there and the Lakers being up 1-0 and LeBron, who was good on the game. He had 21 points, he gives you 11 rebounds, but LeBron not playing his LeBron way yet and you know that's coming for at least one or two games in this series where they'll win. I think the Lakers are going to beat Memphis. I thought going in this was going to be a seven game series. I thought it was going to be a toss up and I said from the start, I think at best the Lakers, you can only trust them to get through one round to the playoffs.

I do now fully expect the Lakers to win the series. I'm still not ready to go there yet. I'm not jumping off the ship just yet.

It's not looking good, but I'll give Memphis even without John Marant. No, I do not. Not at all.

Not at all. Let me ask you right now. You go through all these series and where we were before the start of the playoffs. If I gave you one freebie in terms of you get to change one prediction for Sixers and Nets. I'm assuming you took Philadelphia, right? Yes, sir.

You're not changing that. No, I will stay with the Sixers. Yeah, especially after game one. Golden State, Sacramento, where were you at? Kings. I'm assuming you keep that at 1-0.

Yes, sir. Boston, Atlanta, I'm assuming that you took Boston. Celtics, not changing.

You're not changing. New York, Cleveland, who'd you ride with? Knicks. Knicks in six.

Rhymes off the tongue. So far, so good. And they're up 1-0. Lakers, Clippers, and Suns, who'd you go with? I took the Suns. Now away to take the victory last night. I'm still taking the Suns.

I would agree with that. Miami, Milwaukee, where'd you go with? Bucks. And I was still stuck with the Bucks. Denver, Minnesota, where'd you go? I took the Nuggets and I will not get off that after the nice 30-point win. So then the one series that we did not talk about is the one that we're talking about now, Lakers and Memphis.

You went with Memphis before the series. Yes, sir. You changing that now? No. You sure? Yes.

Even if I give you that one get-out-of-jail-free card that I just gave you? Not, nope, yep, I'm sticking with the Grizz. Yeah, you're going to be wrong on that.

I love you. But you're going to be wrong on that because I know this team has had to play without Ja Morant before this year. But I think they are biting off more than they could chew with the hype around this team. And you still got LeBron.

And for now, I know we had a little bit of a scare yesterday. Anthony Davis is healthy. And the Lakers won a game against Memphis going away down the stretch where they didn't play their best game of basketball. So I kind of look at the Lakers as they're going to be advancing to round number two. Now we'll see if they end up getting the Warriors because you know the league would absolutely love that. But you look at this kind of feel through the first games and then we'll have two more games tonight. The Lakers, I think, are the big winners from over the weekend.

I really do believe that. Now, let's also get into probably once you get past the injuries, the other biggest takeaway. I've never seen anything like what Russell Westbrook did up against the Clippers, up against the Suns. Like, full disclosure, I thought that the Suns were going to sweep the Clippers. I thought they would in four. I said, OK, it's tough to still sweep in the NBA because not everyone gets it. They're all even in the playoffs for each and every game.

So maybe it's a gentleman sweep. But I thought this series would be over in four or five games. I still do think and I confidently think that the Suns are going to win this series. But last night when you come back and then the Clippers are trying to give you every chance for the Suns to win the game.

And you have that stretch. Well, Russell Westbrook is making these great hustle plays, but he's not hitting the shot and they're not capitalizing. You know, there was a stretch where he grabbed an offensive rebound, made the hustle play to get the ball to go off DeAndre Ayton. Then he misses a three and then he makes two free throws at the end of the game.

He makes the block and as the ball's about to go out of bounds, he taps it to go off Booker. For a guy, what was he, like three of 19 in the game? For his stat line to look that bad, he's still the talk of that series. He really is.

It's kind of crazy. And I know Kawhi was phenomenal. But to see Russell Westbrook, if you just look at the stat sheet, go three of 19 from the field, one of six from three and have nine points. And remember, Paul George isn't expected to play. If I would have told you that before the game last night, you would have said, how many points did the Clippers lose by? They ended up winning by five because Russell Westbrook had 11 rebounds. He had such a high motor and made so many athletic plays, also looked so ugly shooting the ball throughout the entire game. I know Kawhi had the best statistical night. But in terms of impact at the end, Tiki, Russell Westbrook to me was the biggest reason why they won the game in the last few moments with the plays that he made. It was crazy. Best three of 19 performance you'll ever see in NBA history.

It's also a lucky number. Give the ESPN stats and credit stats in it for their credit. Second time Russell Westbrook has gone three of 19 in the playoffs. This seems 2-0.

So I don't know what it is. I don't know what the hell it is when this guy is missing 16 shots in the playoffs. But his team's managed to win. And look, obviously you need a Kawhi Leonard's 38 points because without Russell Westbrook throwing a brick after brick after brick, you need someone to score.

But you're right. Impact getting rebounds, getting two offensive rebounds late in that final minute to keep possession on the Clippers end. Not allow the Suns to get an opportunity down by one to take the lead or tie the game.

Drawing the foul, hitting two foul shots as not really a great free throw shooter. And massive pressure to extend the lead to three. I thought he was going 50% there. He was tremendous.

I thought he was going to split. You got to give him a lot of credit. He, again, was super impactful and truly showed you, you don't have to score in order to impact a game. And he personified that perfectly yesterday. Is it safe to say that after what you've seen in Game 1, there's no team under more pressure than the Suns?

Do you agree with that statement? Yes, because I think the Grizzlies get a little bit of a break with the jaw injury. I would even say before the jaw injury, there's more pressure on the Suns. Because the Suns two years ago got to the finals, they blew that 2-0 lead to the Bucs.

Last year was a disaster with their performance or lack of it up against the Dallas Mavericks in that deciding game. But now you add KD. And I don't care that heading into this one, KD only had eight games with his teammates. You have KD. You have Chris Paul. You have Booker. I know DeAndre Ayton.

I don't know what the heck he was doing when you let Russell Westbrook keep on out rebounding you. But you got a team that has no excuses. I don't want to hear that they haven't had enough games together. And you have a Western Conference that's not that strong.

There's no team under more pressure this postseason than the Phoenix Suns to get out of the West to get to the NBA Finals once again. Zach Gelb's show, CBS Sports. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Welcome back in Zach Gelb Show, CBS Sports Radio, gearing up for the NFL Draft.

And now joining us is a member who is hoping to hear his name called and hopefully doesn't have to wait that long. That is Carrington Valentine from the Kentucky Wildcats who's a cornerback and getting set for the draft. And Carrington joins us right now.

Carrington, first off, Zach Gelb here on CBS Sports Radio. Appreciate the time. How are you? I'm doing good. Thanks for having me.

Alrighty. So now we are pretty much almost a week away from the NFL Draft. Just what emotions you're experiencing when you've done everything you can but now it's all out of your control? You know, you just got to let the chips, you know, fall where, you know, where they stand. You know, it's a little anxious that, you know, at first, you know, you just a little, you know, you're not too close to it so you're not really thinking about it.

You're just working out everything. But as you get, you know, closer to the day, you get a little, you know, a little butterflies in your stomach because you just don't know. How do you look back at this draft process? Because it's always an interesting one to me because you've showed what you could do on the field but then it feels like there's more value put in these last two, three months gearing up to the draft. You know, I just feel like, you know, just going out there, you know, like I said, you know, just going out there, you know, you know, you know, your value and stuff like that. You know, you just got to stay positive about it, you know, at the end of the day and stuff like that. So, you know, just have confidence in yourself, you know, throughout the process was my, you know, it was my thing, you know, just going out there and then just showing everybody, you know, now that I belong.

Karrington Valentine here with us. So you could have gone back to Kentucky. Why did you think it was the right time to embark on this NFL journey? You know, I've talked to like my family members and my coaches and stuff like that, you know, I got the feedback and, you know, I just felt like, you know, I was ready to cover some of the best receivers in the world. So, you know, to go out there and compete, you know, so I just feel like, you know, that just wasn't in college. And, you know, I say that humbly and, you know, I just, you know, you're not seeing, you know, when you go out there, you know, not everyone is like an NFL receiver. And I feel like, you know, you go out there and now you're in the National Football League and, you know, you're going to see like the greats out there, you know, playing and stuff like that, people who are still making a name for themselves.

So just that was kind of my deciding factor, the come out. Carrington Valentine here with us, defensive back out of Kentucky. We'll find out when he gets his name called. Coming up later on next week for the NFL Draft. If someone asks you, what do you bring to an NFL team and what type of player can you be? What's your response?

Someone who's durable. You know, I say that very proudly. You know, I've never missed a practice in my career and you never missed a game.

And, you know, a pressman corner was locked down. You know, I feel like I go out there and that's what works for me. And I go out there.

It's not many people that can say, you know, they go out there and they fight at the line of scrimmage and keep good technique. And I feel like I do both. You know, so just going out there, you know, it's a street fight when it comes to me.

And I feel like, you know, I always end up winning the street fight at the end of the day. So I feel like, you know, just going out there, someone who's smart, you know, who's willing to learn. I'm young.

I'm 21 years old. So, you know, I feel like I have a lot of outside as well. Do you have a few teams that you think have been displaying the most interest to you throughout this process? You know, I have a couple. So, you know, I just have a couple like the New York Jets, you know, the Raiders. And even, you know, you know, because I'm from Cincinnati, the hometown team, so bangles. So just, you know, just a couple.

I've had a couple more. But, you know, what would that be like? I know you're going to be excited wherever you get drafted. But if you're able to go play for your hometown team, that would be pretty neat.

Yeah, I know. You know, I feel like it'd be great. You know, just, you know, why not stay in the jungle of Cincinnati where you were born and raised? You know, I feel like it'd be, you know, an honor to go home and play for, you know, in front of, you know, all the people that you see when you grow up and everything. So even the fans.

So I just feel like it'd be a nice one. Carrington Valentine here with us. Growing up, what type of football fan were you like? Who were some players that you really gravitate towards and tried to not necessarily study it at a young age, but guys that you were a fan of? Well, I was a receiver before I was a corner. So, you know, I was, you know, I watched a lot of people. So, you know, I watched like, you know, clips of Chad Johnson. And then I watched clips of like Terrell Owens and everything. But, you know, when I got to high school, that's when I kind of made my switch to corner. So, you know, I kind of took bits and pieces from everybody, you know, even from, you know, watching Denzel Ward play or, you know, Jalen Ramsey or Stephon Gilmore. You know, just, you know, just taking bits and pieces from everybody and I try to see where it molds into my game.

Wrapping up with Carrington Valentine, I'm just going to give you a name. You tell me what you either learned from them or maybe we'll go into how they project to the next level. One that you learned from Mark Stoops, your former head football coach. What did you learn from him?

You know, I learned a lot. You know, he's a DB guy. You know, you know, he trusted me at a very young age to go out there. And, you know, as a freshman, even with, you know, some of the NFL talent that we had there, Kelvin Joseph and Brandon Eccles. You know, he taught me, you know, some like my zone schemes and stuff like that. So I was a young corner.

So, you know, I didn't know too much. So, you know, I learned a lot from him. So he's, you know, he really, you know, stuck his neck out for me even as a freshman.

You know, I learned the playbook pretty easily. And, you know, he's definitely a DB guy. Carrington Valentine here with us. Will Levis, your former quarterback in Kentucky.

What type of NFL quarterback do you think he'll be? I feel like Will's going to translate really well. And, you know, I feel like he'll be ready to start day one. You know, a lot of, you know, I'm the one that knows personally.

I've gone against Will for two years now. You know, and, you know, he's a competitor. He's a leader, you know, and he's smart. So, you know, I feel like all those things, you know, he brings to the NFL team, he'd be great. And last thing I'll ask you, you've gone up against both Anthony Richardson and Hendon Hooker. Their name's supposed to be called, at least Anthony Richardson early, Hendon Hooker maybe in the first round. How did you kind of look back at playing up against Anthony Richardson and Hendon Hooker? You know, they're very good quarterbacks. You know, we went out there and, you know, we, you know, we didn't have the success that we wanted against Tennessee.

We got the delve against Florida, you know. But, you know, I feel like, you know, just studying those guys and those guys will be great in the NFL. But, you know, just studying some of the guys, you know, and, you know, just learning, you know, the tendencies and stuff like that. You know, I know Hendon had a great receiver of Cedric Tillman, you know, big body receiver and stuff like that.

You know, so he gave me a little bit of challenge. But, you know, I feel like without the outcome, you know, not the outcome you wanted, but, you know, I helped, or I would say Cedric Tillman before reception, 22 yards. So, you know, I just feel like all those guys out there, you know, from Anthony Richardson to Hendon Hooker are going to be, you know, great NFL guys. Well, Carrington, good luck. We appreciate the time. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thanks for having me. There you go. Carrington Valentine joining us. Former Kentucky Wildcat cornerback. And we'll see what he does here. His name called in either day two or day three of the NFL Draft. If he took the over on five and a half, you know he's an each answer. And his response is, I think you can collect your winnings right now.

Just check with your local sports book. Alrighty. We'll take a time out. We'll come on back and we will give you 10 NFL Draft predictions. Help save lives. Donate today at your local CSL Plasma Center. And be rewarded for your generosity.

Alright, Hickey. I have 10 NFL Draft predictions. And these are all going to be based off the first round that will happen next Thursday. And we'll be in Kansas City. We'll do a regular Zach Gelb show in KC from 6 to 8 p.m. Eastern.

And then from 8 p.m. Eastern to the end of the first round. It will be yours truly. Then it will be the JR Sport Brief, JR. And then also Andrew Perloff. And of course, Hickey will be out in Kansas City with us. And he'll probably pass out after the fourth pick.

That's not one of my predictions, by the way. And Stu Kovacs will be out on location as well. I also believe, well, yeah, Andrew's going to be there. So you have Maggie and Perloff doing their show before our show as well. So there's the housekeeping notes from the network. Alrighty. Here are my 10 predictions.

And you tell me if you agree or disagree with these as we go through them. Prediction number one. Bryce Young has canceled all of his other meetings. I think Bryce Young knows or feels pretty damn good that he's going to be the number one overall pick. And even if he isn't, I think it's pretty damn clear that if the Texans could pick who they wanted the Panthers to pick, the Panthers would take shroud and then they would make sure that they would get Bryce Young because the Texans want Bryce Young. But I don't think the Texans are getting Bryce Young because I'm feeling more and more confident by the day. It was at 50-50. Now I'm at about 70-30. That Bryce Young is going to be the number one overall pick. I have waved the white flag on these strats to Carolina. 95 percent.

It's going to be Bryce Young. The cancer in the meetings for me was just kind of like, all right, this is happening. This is happening. OK, so we're not getting stubborn, Hickey. You know, 2023, I know we're a few months past past January and the start of New Year.

It could be a new year, though, because usually the old Hickey. Would drag his feet, stomp his feet and cry until he was proven to be wrong. I would not cry.

Oh, yes. I would definitely drag and stomp my feet without a doubt. There'd be no tears. You'd pout. You'd pout.

You would definitely pout. So I'm going Bryce Young one. All right. Then with that being said, the big conversation is if Bryce Young's not there at two, will the Texans trade or will the Texans not take a quarterback at two and go the best player on their board? That is a non quarterback.

I think there's a lot of smoke here. I think the Texans would definitely want Young over Stroud. But if Young is not there and we both expect to not to be there, I do expect C.J. Stroud to be the second overall pick in the draft. That is prediction number two. I will say C.J. Stroud is not a Texan.

Here we go. He is not going to the Texans. OK, so if that happens on draft night. Where the tech do you think the Texans make the pick or do you think they trade? I think they end up making a trade. I don't think they will sit there and take Will Anderson at pick number two.

When I'm sure I know what Adam Schefter is saying, that there's all of a sudden not an appetite anymore for C.J. Stroud and anyone else. I would have a tough time believing whether it's the Colts, maybe I don't like the Texans to trade for him, whether it's the Titans, which maybe they won't trade with them either, the Raiders.

I don't see teams looking at C.J. Stroud not going to Houston and teams say, nah, we're good. So let me just ask you this, and this is going to break away from the predictions for just a second on my end. My prediction so far, Young one, Stroud two. The Colts in terms of their pick at four without telling me anything else of your predictions with the draft. You're only contemplating a chance of it happening, not that who you want. That it's going to be Stroud, Richardson or Levis. Do you think there's a chance they don't take a quarterback?

No, at this point, no. So Stroud, Richardson, Levis right now on April 17th. Give me the hickey percentages on who will end up out of those three being the Colts quarterback.

I'll give you the name C.J. Stroud. What's the percentage? I will say. 30 percent, 30. That's low. Anthony Richardson, I'll say 40 percent. OK. And then 30 percent then for Will Levis. My math is correct.

Yes, sir. I think I think the Colts like him. Oh, unless unless they're the only Chris Ballard does not play games. He does not seem like someone who plays a lot of poker. I don't think he's. He usually says what he wants.

The fact that right now the Colts have been not rumored at all to be trading up with anybody or making any sort of phone calls. I that to me seems like they are content at staying at four. Which means if you're content, it's saying at four, you are content with Levis sitting there and you taking a word. So, yes, I am worried. My hope now is that, well, ideally, best case scenario, you get to your shot at number four. Let's go.

But that is, I would say, let's just stop bloviating for a second. Hickey, I know you well enough. These numbers of Richardson at 40 percent, Stroud 30 percent, Levis 30 percent.

Hickey's kind of bouncing around. Will should all that. You know that the Colts are getting Will Levis. Just say it. No, I think there's a chance he likes to do it.

I do. But I don't think he's going to be there. Well, that's part of it. And if the Texans are going to trade the pick and they're not going to trade to the Colts, then you get shut out. And not only that, even if the Texans keep the pick and they go elsewhere and it gets to three, you know the Cardinals are going to trade. And then it's going to be Evers trading that spot for quarterbacks that have to like Richardson or Levis more. I don't think that's in consideration for Levis at that spot for Evers trading to three.

So then it's basically that decision that you have to hope that a team takes Richardson over Stroud. And then do the Colts like any of those guys more than the other where they would trade up to number three? I think a trade up to number three is possible.

I'm just not sold it right now. If you have those three quarterbacks on the board, knowing you'll get one of the two bare minimum of Richardson, Stroud or Levis. I don't know if they would trade up. Well, that brings me to prediction number three, my friend, and that is the Arizona Cardinals make a trade. And the Arizona Cardinals with the team they trade to, I've been throwing out the Raiders, so I'll stick with the Raiders. Select Anthony Richardson and we have quarterbacks go one, two and three in the draft. And the last time quarterbacks went one, two and three in the draft wasn't that Lawrence Wilson and Trey Lance. Now I'll add prediction number four and we will see quarterbacks go not that they should, but I think they will. One, two, three, four, Will Levis fourth overall to the Indianapolis Colts.

This is just an observation. You sound very happy saying that. You sounded very happy saying Will Levis to the Colts more than Bryce Young to the Panthers or C.J. Stroud to the Texans or that the Raiders are going to trade up to number three. There's a little extra pep in your step.

Don't like that. Well, because I know that you're going to be very unhappy and you're going to think it's going to be this horrible draft pick and then in some weird way I'll be rooting for Will Levis to do well so I could see you try to navigate through those holes. And then when he wins a Super Bowl, I'm going to claim him as a Penn State. I'm going to claim him as one of our own.

Best case scenario. Let's go. Let's go, Will. You need help.

You need Colts rehab. Penn State's own Will Levis, Super Bowl champion. You know what's funny? Hickey, like a few months ago, we were talking about Will Levis.

I made some joke. Oh, Penn State's Will Levis. He's like, oh, we don't claim Will Levis. And now you're claiming him. That's right.

That's right. You need help. You really need help. It's like Ohio State fans trying to claim Joe Burrow. Give me a break. You need, you need to find the new NFL team and you need to find the new college team. There's no doubt about that.

All right. Prediction number five. Took care of the quarterback today. Record breaking deal to Jalen Hurts. One hundred and seventy nine million guaranteed.

255 over five years. I do think the Eagles sitting in at number 10 will have Bijan Robinson on the board. And I do think the Eagles will end up taking Bijan Robinson.

You know my philosophy. I do not usually like when teams draft a running back in the first round. But the exception is if you don't have many flaws on the roster and I don't think the Eagles have many flaws on the roster.

Even if it's just for four or five years and you never give them a second contract. You look at the window the Eagles have. You have a great offensive line. You just paid your quarterback. You have Devontae Smith. You also have your best wide receiver in A.J.

Brown. You got Dallas Goddard, who's still criminally underrated as a tight end to the NFL. I think they had Bijan Robinson and continue to make that push for Lombardi Trophy. My team. The Patriots. I don't know who.

But. After me wanting a wide receiver. After me wanting a tight end. Now they just signed Guseki and you still have Hunter Henry there. But I would love Dalton Kincaid and I do want them to draft a wide receiver. I think the Patriots with their first round pick. I'll just give you the position. They end up taking a cornerback. Number six. This has been a change for me because if you would have asked me all throughout the last few months, I would say, well, Anderson's the first defensive player off the board.

I think where there's smoke, there's a fire. Tyree Wilson continues just be jolting up the draft boards. I think Tyree Wilson is the first defensive player selected off the board. Prediction number seven. We at seven right now. Did my counting go wrong here? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Oh, OK.

Here we go. Eight. It's actually eight.

Young one. Stroud two. Richardson gets a trade up with the Raiders to three. We'll have his four Bijan Robinson to the Eagles. Pats take a corner and Tyree Wilson first defensive player. Told you. Me, numbers, math. Not that great. But we get to prediction number eight.

Hickey. If I'm taking four quarterbacks in the first four picks. And even if I don't end up being right about that, four will go in the top 10. That means someone else is going to find their way into the first round. And if Hendon Hooker didn't get hurt, I really do believe he would have been a first round pick. I think some team in the 20s, like mid 20s, whether it's trading back into the first round or towards the end of the first round, you go find a way to get back in it or you maybe move some spots back and a team swaps places with you. I do think Hendon Hooker is going to be a first round pick and we're going to see five quarterbacks go in the first round after Ryan. Last year, us being at the draft and we only saw one quarterback go in the first round. That was Kenny Pickett to the Steelers. I would agree with you, especially with the ACL injury, if you want to get the fifth year option and get an extra year, if he's not going to play half the year anyway, I think we'll see a team trade up, take him there late 20s, he'll go in the first round. Now, just a reminder, when Hendon Hooker joined us at the Super Bowl and this was in Arizona, he said he believes he's the best quarterback in the draft.

Now, I think you should say that if you are someone that has confidence and you're in top five, top six at your position. And also, he said his goal and the plan is to be ready for week one. Now, we'll see if he could do that.

It's one thing to have that plan at the Super Bowl. We'll see how long he does recover from that ACL injury. All right, prediction number nine. The first tight end in what is being called one of the deepest tight end draft classes we have ever seen. I do think it's going to be Dalton Kincaid out of Utah. I know a lot of people love Michael Mayer out of Notre Dame. I almost called him Matt Mayer, which you did once.

And that's one of our good mutual friends that not many people know. But I do think Mayer is going to go is going to be the second tight end off the board. And I do think that we're going to see Dalton Kincaid be the first tight end off the board in this draft class. I'm starting to go Michael Mayer. I think he'll be the first one.

OK. And finally, I don't know if this is going to be a bold prediction here. I would have never said this a week ago, but the fact that he didn't get an invite to the NFL Draft Green Room makes me think that he's falling. And I think the guy has tremendous potential in the NFL. And I love what he did this past year. I'm going to say Quinton Johnson doesn't go in the first round.

There's always one name that's a stunner. And I forget whose mock draft I was reading. It was on CBS Sports. They had him fall in 31 because there's not a 30 second pick this year in the first round because of the Dolphins getting a pick taken away. And they had him fall all the way to 31 to Kansas City. I was like, wow, maybe this player is going to fall out of the first round altogether. I think Quinton Johnson is going to fall out of the first round. Not that he should, but that's one of what I thought was a bold prediction for the first round. And I get it just because there are injury concerns.

I got to teach to you for how great he was. Like in one sense, it's wow, he's a really great receiver, really talented, big physical. But the other sense in every game, he's doing something every game. I think he was questionable to play, missed a few as well.

Like it was as much of his talent he was. It was also injury questions all year long. And remember wide receivers been a popular position has had a lot of success the last three years or so. It seems like Jackson Smith and Jigba will be the first receiver taken in the draft. After that, a lot of love has been showing the way to Zay Flowers out of BC, Addison out of USC.

And it was a pit the year before has been talked about a lot. Like you're not really hearing about a lot of these wide receivers. You cannot have as many wide receivers as you think just because we've kind of been accustomed to so many going in the first round with the success of the position for rookies the last few years. So the 10 predictions one more time. Young 1, Shroud 2, Richton trade up to 3, Will Levis 4, Bijan Robinson to the Eagles, Pat to take a corner, Tyree Wilson first defensive play off the board.

Henson Hooker goes in the first round, Dalton Kekade first round tight end, and Quinnen Johnson will not go in the first round. The amazing help save lives. Donate today at your local CSL plasma center and be rewarded for your generosity.