Top 10 NFL Wide Receiver Draft (Hour 2)

Yo, yo, our number two of our radio program.

That's right. Zach Yelb shows CBS Sports Radio. Avery Johnson is going to join us 60 minutes from now.

You won't want to miss that conversation. But yesterday we had the draft lottery and I think this happens each and every year at the draft lottery. Maybe I'm wrong on this, but I feel like we get an exclusive conversation with Adam Silver and Malika Andrews. Or for many years, I believe it was Rachel Nichols when she still worked for ESPN. But the commissioner usually makes himself available at the draft lottery, and it's a one-on-one kind of conversation with whoever the host is at ESPN.

So the biggest story of the night is who's going to land Viktor Wambunyama. But from a current NBA perspective, when you have the commissioner on, the biggest story to talk to him about is John Marant, who we know last year had to miss eight games and got suspended when he was at a nightclub and had a gun. And there was a bunch of other instances as well, incidents as well. Well, as you saw over the weekend, John Marant and his buddies were driving around. They were listening to music. One of his friends was on Instagram live and the friend knew the moment when John Marant pulled out the gun and started waving it around to drop the phone because he probably couldn't believe what John Marant was doing.

And everyone ended up seeing that. And now we're going to figure out what's going to happen to John Marant. He's suspended from all team activities right now, but you're not in the middle of the season.

It's the off season. So I don't really know what that means. We'll get to the Adam Silver audio in just a second, but Hickey, I actually was looking back at the video that was posted where when you first watch it, the 15-second video, it's very tough to see the gun because I was on Twitter and I saw everyone saying John Marant was waving around the gun. Here's the video. Go look at the video. And the first three or four times I watched it, I go, I don't see a gun at all. And then someone commented on the video, pause the video at the 13-second mark.

And when you pause the video at the 13-second mark, I guess I'll fit in with the rest of the media. It did look like he was allegedly holding a gun and waving it around. But here's one part of the video that I did not catch Hickey. Did you see how many people were watching that video when John Marant's friend was on Instagram Live? It wasn't John Marant's page. And they were just going live on this car ride that they were having.

No, did not see the number. It was only like 100 people. Think about that.

And I know how this works. Only one out of the 100 something people that were watching has to see it. And then I don't know if it was archived because when you go on live at the end, you could archive it. I would imagine that the friend didn't archive it and post it to his story after the live video ended with the friend's reaction, how he dropped the phone the moment when John Marant pulled out the gun.

Maybe I'm wrong on that. But only 100 something people were watching that video when it was live. And the next thing you know, it gets blasted out and everyone is seeing that video. So I just thought that was interesting on a side note where where a buddy of mine said, you know, like only 100 something people are watching. I go, really? And I went back and watched the video. And yeah, it was like, I think like 118 people that were watching that video live. Listen, stupidity lives in public, in quiet. And there you go.

Yes, it lives forever. That's probably the easiest way to say it. And now the big question is, what is Adam Silver's reaction and how is Adam Silver going to handle this? Let's hear one of the cuts from last night. This was Adam Silver talking to Malika Andrews of ESPN, saying he was shocked to see the John Marant video.

I at least was left with the sense that he was taking this incredibly seriously. So honestly, I was shocked when I saw this weekend that video. Now we're in the process of investigating it and we'll figure out exactly what happened to the best weekend. And it's again, it's the video is a bit grainy and all that, but I'm assuming the worst, you know, and but we'll we'll figure out, you know, exactly what happened there. What are they investigating?

That's I know that it's a video, but it's pretty obvious that's a gun in the video. Now, I know he's going to use that hickey to kind of not have to say much last night in probably the three or four questions or two questions that ESPN said that they'll ask the commissioner about John Marant because I've dealt with commissioners before. Any time I've had a conversation with the commissioner on the air, not that you have to send every question, but it's the most extensive. What do you want to talk about with the commissioner when you put in that request?

And there is a bunch of really an exhaustive process, an extensive process just for an interview that you have to pretty much give a lot of detail on what the conversation is going to be. So I'm sure the same thing applies here with Adam Silver. But what is there really to investigate in this manner? It's clear as day. I know the video is grainy and I know it was tough to see at first, but when you pause the video 13 seconds in, you clearly see a gun in that video. So that's more of just Adam Silver just kind of using filler there and kind of saying, oh, it's the company line of an of an investigation.

And eventually they'll come out with with some sort of punishment. Buying time. Hey, we're investigating. Just to confirm again, it was like a split second. So it's not like John Moran is the picture is him holding the gun and you're like, oh, wow, that's obvious split second.

It's a gun. I think he's just buying himself time to figure out the next steps in order to figure out what a lengthy suspension is going to look like. And also he said he was shocked. When I first heard that, I go, how could you be shocked? This just happened a few months ago. But that's to me what makes this video of John Moran shocking is because I said this the other day when we were discussing on Monday, like how dumb are you to get caught in an incident one time? And whether you think it's right or wrong, and I'm not saying that he can't own a gun, and I'm not sure of all the rules and the laws and all that. But waving around the gun in a car, what are you trying to prove?

What are you trying to accomplish? And there's no good that's going to come out of this. So that's what made it shocking, Hickey, is that even though really nothing happened the last time, he pretty much survived the entire thing. For this little time to elapse, and you have an incident like this again, that's the part to me that is shocking here. It's not that John Moran continues to make bad decisions. It's just with what you just went through the last time, and how you survived it, and you did the interview with Jalen Rose, and you only missed eight games, and you returned.

And even though you got banged up in the postseason, you had a pretty good postseason series, it's how quickly, like the moment the offseason starts for him, he finds himself in hot water. That's the shocking part to me. It shows, I mean, immaturity at best. It shows that he thinks he's invincible, that a lot of kids that age do, especially when you have a lot of money in your bank account. Nothing I do is going to cost me. I can basically make my own rules.

I do whatever the hell I want. Even that eight-game suspension that, look, frankly was a slap on the wrist, because at that point, he already missed six games. So it really was a two-game suspension in terms of games he was eligible to play for that he was not allowed to play in. So he did not take that seriously. Clearly, since the first time he got, first week, it feels like, of the offseason hitting for the Grizzlies, he's out there doing stupid things. That's a guy that I just don't understand truly the situation he's in, and how much he has to lose. Yeah, and he's trying to prove to people that he's something that he's not. And that's clearly some type of image that he wants to portray, that he's a tough guy and a bad guy and all that stuff.

And it just doesn't make any sense because you have $200 million and you're going to basically bleep it right down the drain if you keep on acting like this. And he's lucky that he didn't fire the gun or misfire it and, you know, he could have killed someone. He could have accidentally, you know, injured himself.

So he's lucky that this is all that happened, but it's once again, what the heck are you doing? So let's hear one more from Adam Silver. This Adam Silver saying he thought John Moran took last year's suspension seriously. An eight-game suspension was pretty serious and something that he, at least to me, seemed to take incredibly seriously in that time. And we spoke for a long time about not just the consequences that could have on his career, but the safety issues around it. Could have injured, maimed, killed himself, someone else with an act like that. And also the acknowledgement that, as you said, he's a star.

I mean, he has an incredibly huge following. And that my concern, and I thought he shared with me that millions, if not tens of millions of kids globally, would see him as having done something that was celebrating in a way, you know, that act. That's why, and that's the real part of it. When you hear that Silver, when this first infraction happened, that they had a meeting and you knew about that, the fact that you talked to the commissioner, and he kind of gave you the benefit of the doubt, and he sent some remorse from you, and then this quickly it happens again. It's almost as if you're like a high school student or a middle school student, and you get caught doing something wrong in the cafeteria, and you get a few days of in-school a few days of in-school suspension. And then a few months later, after just a few months prior, you pleaded with the principal not to kick you out of the school and suspend you for the entire semester.

And you say that you're gonna change and that there's remorse, and you understand the duty that you have as a student and what the goal is. When you quickly wind back up in the principal's office for the same thing, your words mean nothing. And you basically lied to the principal, who in this case, it's Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA. And I know there could be a fight here with the Players Association and the commissioner, but I think him saying what he did in that first meeting and quickly not meaning really any of it because here you go again, an avoidable incident that should have never happened, and it gets caught on video. Even if it didn't get caught on video, it's just dumb. It's dumb either way, whether it's on video or not.

But the fact, Hickey, that he's back in the principal's office this quickly after doing the same thing again, Adam Silver really has no choice in this because even though I say all the time Adam Silver's spineless, which I do truly believe, and I know a lot of times he works for the governors, the owners, whatever you want to call them in the NBA, but the fact that he talked to you and basically didn't value that conversation to be in this hot water mess of a situation again, if you want anyone to take you seriously, Adam Silver, you have to give a pretty significant suspension or no players really going to fear you or think you have any power in this league. Yeah. Oh, absolutely right. You have to come down to send a message to, I mean, even forget that just at a place at this point, you got to send a message to Ja because this guy, again, clearly is not hearing whatever you get back on the basketball court. Right.

And so this is right. That's why I think a longer suspension would be beneficial to him because clearly for someone who has a problem and needs help, what was it, three weeks? I mean, it was eight games he missed.

I forget the exact time length, two and a half weeks. And he wants to re I don't know what he went to rehab for. So I want to be sensitive about that. But he went to rehab. I don't know what it was to deal with stress.

I believe to help cope with stress and how he would, you know, have coping mechanisms that would improve those. And so does that make any sense? And I don't know what he's going through, but you for this incident, you go to rehab to deal with stress and then you're twirling around the gun like that. That doesn't line up to me. Well, I think that the part of the excuse was, oh, I had my gun because I was just kind of letting loose the stress of being a NBA player.

And so you bring a club into a gun, into a car, and that relieves stress. You're talking to the wrong guy on that one. That's for sure. But you need time. I think that's more than you need time to improve an issue.

And two and a half weeks and the entire time is not spending rehab in those two and a half weeks away from the Grizzlies is not enough time to actually implement real change. The best commentary I've heard on this discussion actually happened down the hall. Evan Roberts from the Carter Roberts show on WFAN. I think the best way that Adam Silver should go about this is anyone can get on the radio and say, oh, suspend the first season, suspend him for a half a season.

You need a big time number. I think the most important thing is getting John Marant help. And this is the point that Evan was making, and it was a brilliant point. I would kind of just suspend him indefinitely. And he has to prove to Adam Silver and also the Memphis Grizzlies, but Silver has to sign off on it.

And Silver gets is the end all be all person here that he's in a better spot. And you could get, you know, doctors involved in things like that where they go, OK, we're seeing things where he's in a better spot. That's where I would kind of go about this, where I would just suspend him indefinitely. And I know he's suspended right now, but I wouldn't put any number of games about it when Adam Silver feels comfortable allowing him back on a basketball court. That's the way that I would go about it. And if a doctor says to Adam Silver, I think he's in a better spot and then the season starts, OK, but this is his last strike, in my opinion, and this is his last chance.

And the next time he does something like he's lucky, something worse did not happen here. I would kind of go, I don't know how you think about this, the indefinite suspension kind of route and let Adam Silver decide when he thinks he should, you know, John Marant should be able to come on back on a basketball court. I like that idea.

Yeah. Whatever it takes to get this guy help, because, again, that's obviously the first and foremost thing is we're seeing a recurring issue. And before you get back on a basketball court or figure out trying to get the Grizzlies over the hump, you need a lot of time to truly be able to fix the issues you're dealing with. And I like that clearing, you know, setting parameters and making, you know, you clear a few hurdles or steps before just say, oh, you know, he's fine. We'll come back.

It's all good. I like that idea. Yeah. And Evan was was using that kind of model after what happened with Kyrie Irving and the anti-Semitic video that he posted and how the Nets came on out and they said, we'll let Kyrie Irving return when he completes a bunch of different things. And that's what he was kind of using that as, like, even though it's a totally different situation as a as a framework for for John Marant, you have to do X, Y and Z before we even are going to think about putting you back on a basketball court. Because if you if you keep on saying you're all about the the well-being and safety of players, you know, just giving a guy 50 game suspension, it should serve as a wake-up call. But if you make it more so we're going to give you an indefinite suspension, you have to prove to us that you're in a better state of mind, hopefully that would be more beneficial to John Marant and making him realize sooner that he needs help. Because if you just give him like a 50 game suspension, let's say, then, you know, the players association will fight it. Maybe the players association will fight this idea that Evan threw out there.

You never know on that. But you could then just see Jaws saying, OK, I'm not getting money for 50 games, you know, bleep this, bleep the NBA, and then it gets even worse. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a break. When we come on back, we will do a top 10 wide receiver draft based off the Devontae Adams comments from yesterday. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show.

You can think O'Reilly Auto Parts where your car care needs, get guaranteed low prices and excellent customer service from the professional parts people at O'Reilly Auto Parts. We delved into yesterday the comments from Devontae Adams where he talks about how he doesn't necessarily agree with what the front office is doing right now in a conversation with the ringer. And that goes back to clearly his love for Derek Carr. They were college teammates together at Fresno State and he goes to Las Vegas and that trade leaves the Green Bay Packers. And the next thing you know, he's reunited with Carr. And then after one year, Carr was sent back in and now he's the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints. And the Raiders this offseason, I don't even know if you could argue that they got better in the quarterback position.

Jimmy G wins more than Derek Carr, but Jimmy G gets injured a whole lot more than Derek Carr. And I don't think the world of Derek Carr, but if they were going to get rid of Derek Carr, who's a fine quarterback, you know, anywhere from like 12 to 14, 15th in this league at times could show that he could be a top 10 quarterback, but then takes two or three steps back whenever you start to think that he's going to be a top 10 quarterback. But if you're going to move on from Derek Carr, who's clearly good friends with Devante Adams, you needed to bring in a wild name. And one of those names I thought could have been Tom Brady, Brady retired. Another one of those names could have been Aaron Rodgers. Never seemed like the Raiders were actually interested in Aaron Rodgers.

So when you wind up with Jimmy G there and you also traded right down wall of this off season and Hunter Enfro may not even be there, I'm looking at the Raiders and I go, how'd you get better? And Devante Adams made it clear in that article yesterday that he wants to win and he's closer to the end than he is to where he started his career. He's not saying he's going to retire tomorrow, but you look at this Raider situation, it's a dumpster fire right now. And Hickey, they're one of the more intriguing teams to me in the NFL, not the most, but one of the more intriguing teams because I kind of feel as if everyone believes that the Raiders are going to be a messy situation this year. And there's one thing for everyone to say that, but I just want to see how we're going to talk about the Raiders at the end of next year. And in all likelihood, it's going to be marinated in dysfunction and this team just being a mess. And it wouldn't shock me. And I know you got to deal with the contract if next off season, next off season.

And I probably think it would be a great probability in this happening. And in all likelihood that this would happen, that Devante Adams bare minimum is going to request a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders. Even though we talked about, I wanted to get closer to home with this family and all that stuff. The guy has all the money in the world, even though you're closer to home, not only goes there so much, if you're in a bad organization and we know that Devante Adams sometimes gets in his own head. You just see in that article the other day that he was annoyed with the conversation that Rogers made him. And he can't do this and that without Rogers. And he goes, even if I have a terrible year this year, you can't say that I wasn't able to be an All-Pro without Aaron Rogers, because that's just what happened last year with him being a first team All-Pro. If you already have publicly voiced some of your frustrations at the front office, I know we tried to tone that down today by posting a photo of him and David Zeigler on Instagram.

There's probably a very good chance, bare minimum, that Devante Adams next year, heck he is requesting a trade from Las Vegas. Without a doubt, I mean, you're a guy that's looking to win right now and you are on a team and within an organization that has literally no clue what their plan is. Like you said, their only plan this offseason was move off Derek Carr. And when they did that, they looked around and goes, oh shoot, we don't have an upgrade. And then you assign Jimmy G, but you did not intend to sign Jimmy G when you went into this offseason, that's for sure. And that was kind of the panic slash backup move.

And you have no idea what the hell you want to do going forward. Maybe you'll get the Caleb Williams or Drake may sweepstakes next year. And that could change the future and the fortunes of Adams and the franchise, but there's no plan. And that's a problem. Caleb Williams and the Raiders would be awesome.

That'd be a lot of fun. And if they luck into it, okay. But they're going to luck into it. Not like that was the strategy the whole time.

I don't know what their strategy is. Because when you bring in Jimmy Garoppolo, even though Josh McDaniels has worked with him in the past, you bring in Jimmy Garoppolo and no one thinks that's the answer. And he's on a three year deal. I know Geno Smith just had a really good year and Jared Goff's those two years left in his contract, but those quarterbacks kind of reviewed the same way as Jimmy G where they're there. They're the starter.

They could maybe perform well. I know Geno Smith had a really good year last year and Jared Goff did as well. And Jimmy G got hurt, but no one actually believes in those guys long term.

And that's where there was a thought. Maybe they were going to take a quarterback in the draft, like a developmental player, like an Anthony Richardson, or maybe even a Will Levis and have Jimmy G be there for a year, year and a half before you eventually move on from him. I actually do think where they were at seven and how the board did break, that it was smart that they didn't take a quarterback in the first round. Because if things go south this year, as a lot of us expect it to, and who knows the Ziegler and McDaniels will be kept there.

I don't know the answer to that. Then you have to do everything in your power, whether it's on just your own failures of being one or two. But if you're like four or five next year, you got to do what Carolina did this year where they were at nine, I think it was. And they found a way to move all the way up to one. One way or another, they have to figure out their long-term quarterback, but it wasn't for this offseason. It's going to be next offseason. And then just remember, they cut Derek Carr. It's not like they traded them and they got, oh, we got a first round pick next year and this is a deal we couldn't pass up. They cut him.

They gave him away for nothing. But I don't have an issue with them moving on from Derek Carr. It's what they've done afterwards because they were better off to just keep Derek Carr and then just get rid of him the next year. I don't think you're ever getting this great return for Derek Carr just because of where the contracts, where the money was and how much money was getting guaranteed to him. It benefited really Derek Carr in a big way where the Raiders knew that they were going to move on from him. And Derek Carr had a lot of power in where he was going to go. And with how much money by that certain date that was going to be due to him if he was still on the roster, it almost worked into Derek Carr's advantage where he held all the cards in his hand to basically expedite his release and force that release from the organization.

But what you just said before is the problem. You didn't like what they did after Derek Carr because the Raiders didn't have a plan after Derek Carr. They said, okay, the number one priority is let's cut Derek Carr. After they do that, they're sitting around looking around the quarterback carousel, the quarterback room, whatever you want to use.

And so there's no upgrades, there's no options. There was two guys, I think Brady, they really wanted Brady, Brady retired. And the Aaron Rodgers thing, I do think Rodgers would have been interested if you go off that interview with McAfee, but you also take whatever Rodgers says with a grain of salt. But if Rodgers really wanted to go to the Jets, there's nothing you could do. And outside of those two names, there wasn't really this great plan unless, which you did hear the reports that maybe they're trying to move up in the draft, but other teams beat you to it. So I look at the Raiders as this does feel like it's gonna be a lost season, and it's gonna be a wasted season. And it wouldn't shock me because no one could predict Mark Davis, even though if they're horrible this year, everyone's gonna be saying fire Zeigler and fire Josh McDaniels. But I think that Mark Davis is gonna keep on giving these guys the benefit of the doubt. And if they're telling behind the scenes, yeah, we brought in Garoppolo, and I don't think they're trying to be bad this year, but what can you realistically expect from this team? And a loaded AFC, an AFC that you look at a team that's much better than them, for example, the Baltimore Ravens or the Miami Dolphins that you could struggle right now legitimately to put those two teams in the playoffs with how deep the AFC is.

Well, you mentioned ownership, and that's where all the issues truly start. He's blindly trusted John Gruden. If he didn't have to, would not have fired John Gruden. That guy was not taking the Raiders to the playoffs. What do you mean by they blindly, they know John Gruden as well as anybody. But I'm saying they blindly trusted him, I mean, whatever he said goes. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. They listened to every word, and if they weren't forced to fire him, I would bet he would sell probably coaching today, even without any playoff appearances.

Yeah. They love Gruden. They gave him a 10-year deal. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard from a guy that is so overrated as a coach. And they fired a guy in Jack Devery who actually had success on the field for that vision, for that fantasy for Mark Davis to come true. And now you hire Ziegler and McDaniels, probably blindly trust them as well. And yeah, Mark Davis is not a guy who's a fiery owner. I don't think they will get fired this year, no matter how bad it is. Probably get four years bare minimum, even though it's probably four years too many, but that's a Raiders organization that, talking about the real issue, start all the way at the top because there's truly no direction there.

You know where I'm really surprised you didn't end up becoming the coach there a few years ago when that was open? It's Harbaugh. Harbaugh wants to go back to the NFL.

That was the off season where it was just last year, so it was the Vikings. That was the only interview that he did select. I don't know if there was actual genuine interest there from the Raiders, and maybe there was an interest there from Harbaugh more so. But doesn't that seem like kind of the perfect marriage where you know Mark Davis is gonna look for a splash? You could pay him a ton of money.

I know his financial situation called into question, but you just banked rude on all that money that you did. I'm actually surprised with Harbaugh wanting to go back to the NFL, and that's been clear the last two years, that the Raiders and him didn't end up happening. I wish I had a better explanation as to why. I wish I had a real reason as to why, but I don't know if you wanted too much power. I mean, that didn't seem to be an issue with John Gruden, so I don't know. I have no idea.

Yeah, I don't think the power would be anything. You hired McDaniels and you allowed his best friend to be the GM pretty much. Those guys are attached at the hip with Zeigler and McDaniels. No idea. It's Mark Davis. Good luck trying to read him. It is Zach Gelb's show on CBS Sports Radio. You have a tough time reading him because every time you look at him, whatever he's doing with that haircut, I don't understand whatsoever. Yeah, I know. I just got a haircut to act like you don't like my haircut.

Are you saying on the Mark Davis here of CBS Sports Radio? It's a little short on the side. It's a skin fade. That's what's hip. It's a lot of skin.

Yeah. Well, it's the summer cut. You know, it's a little bus cut in the summer.

Well, not even at Memorial Day yet. It's like, you know, white pants. Ack, I am a large man and I had a lot of hair on my cabeza. When I am walking around the city and I'm sweating like a pig, I said enough. Don't want to deal with this. I got you. So I just cut off all the hair.

I got you. Yeah. So one day you're going to be wishing for all that hair back. Yeah.

Well, don't worry. I told Levi my barber to scoop some up and save it in a nice little apartment building in case I ever need to get that hair stuck right back on my head. It works. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll do our top 10 wide receiver draft when we return. You're listening to the Zach Gelb show. Alrighty, Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio.

Hickey, take it away. Give me a little NFL music por favor. Okay. We do this each and every year. We do our top 10 wide receiver draft. Hickey will get five selections. I will get five selections just to give a little disclaimer. This is not whose list is better type of draft. We're just trying to put together a list of who are the top 10 wide receivers in the NFL. So Hickey, this popped up on my memories from a year ago and I listened back to it. I didn't write down all the names, but I started off the clip saying I was in a good mood.

I did not flip a coin. I allowed you to go first. So to not break tradition, and I think traditions are important and the kindness of my heart, I'll be a good guy and I'll let you go first here. I'll let you have the number one pick here on who's the best wide receiver in the NFL. Wow. Okay.

Thank you very much. I will then take the guy who has been in the media the most recently in Devante Adams. Things don't change because that's the only pick that I remember from last year. And you did take Devante Adams last year and I can't debate it. Devante Adams to me is the best wide receiver in the NFL. The only, there's a few other guys that you could argue it, but what I will say is with the longevity and how long Devante Adams has been doing it at this elite level, that does give him the tiebreaker on some of those other guys. But number two for me, friend to show, Justin Jefferson, I put him in at number two.

He is one of the more explosive wide receivers in the NFL and someone that is just so intimidating with just the dominant plays that he's put up in such a short time in the league. So I put Justin Jefferson in at number two. I'll go with maybe the man who is most uncoverable. I agree with this one.

Reek. So far three picks in and I have my top 10 list in front of me. Those are the first three guys. Devante Adams, Justin Jefferson and Tyreek Hill.

Now here's the difficult part. Cuz there's so many guys that I think are close for that number four spot. I'm gonna go though, with Jamar Chase here.

I know he's only two years in, but I will put Jamar Chase right now as the fourth best wide receiver in the NFL. I will go- Would you have done that by the way? Yes, I would have. Wow, we're in agreement so far. So far, so good. Let's see if we can go five for five. Cooper Cup.

Okay, we're in a disagreement, but it's only off by one. I had Cup as six. The guy that I had in front of him was DeAndre Hopkins.

Both kind of similar from last year. Now Cup got hurt, Hopkins was suspended. But when DeAndre Hopkins came back, my oh my, my oh my, he was phenomenal. Even after a six game suspension, he put up 64 receptions or 717 yards and three touchdowns. And towards the end of the season, he didn't have a quarterback because Kyler Murray got hurt. So I did have DeAndre Hopkins in front of Cup, but it's basically neck and neck with those two guys. And it was just unfortunate that Cooper Cup got hurt last year. Cuz the year before that, triple crown in the wide receiving department, he was sensational. So, so far, Adams won, Justin Jefferson two, Tyree kill three, Jamar chase four, Cooper Cup five, DeAndre Hopkins six.

Where do you go next? And we'll go with the man who is big, fast, strong, touchdown machine, AJ Brown. Wow. So AJ Brown was just in my top 10, but I think that's a little early. Because a guy that has to be in front, there's two guys I think have to be in front of AJ Brown. But now with the names that are still available, and this is one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. So this is my eighth pick. It's the eighth overall selection. I'll still get one more, but I will go with Stefan Diggs here at number eight. I know at the end of the year, I didn't like how that ended in the playoff game. And that was ugly between him and Josh Allen, Josh Allen, but Diggs is still a heck of a wide receiver. On my list, I had him right behind DeAndre Hopkins, but you put Brown in front of there.

So I got to deal with what we have. And AJ Brown was in my top 10, just not that high up. Okay. Next name.

I'll go with AJ Brown's teammate, DK Metcalf for my final pick. Oh, from college. Wow.

Okay. I did not have DK in my top 10. I think he left out. I think there's two names that, that need to be before DK Metcalf. Deebo Samuel, he has to be in the, in the top 10. And the other name now we already got to 10 would be Mike Evans as well. All that dude does is year and year output, 1000 year wide receiver, wide receiver seasons up.

So that's the 10 list that we did. Some other guys that are in consideration, DJ Moore, Terry Maclaurin, CeeDee Lamb, Keenan Allen. I did, I wasn't going to put him in the top 10, but I think Amari Cooper needs to be under consideration.

And then here's one that I'll throw out your hickey. I think we've got to see more from him, but he looks great so far. It would not shock me if Amman Ross, St. Brown is, is in that list in the, in the very near future. Gar Wilson reigning offensive rookie of the year, I think is another one that can climb the ladder as well. Kind of similar to Amman Ra with big breakout, you know, in this case for Gar Wilson year two for Amman Ra, I believe the year three for him. Yeah. There's a, there's no shortage of good, talented receivers in the NFL.

And, and this is tough to do. I feel bad though, having Mike Evans on the outside looking in and all this guy has, he's been in league since 2014. He has 10,425 career receiving yards every year in the league. He's had a thousand yards and he just had 1,124 receiving yards this past year. The only unfortunate part for Mike Evans.

And I know he missed some games from time to time with injuries. The unfortunate part for Mike Evans, he has no quarterback this year. No quarterback whatsoever. Well, for most of his career, really Brady's been the outlier in the sense that, you know, in Tampa Bay, Jamis Winston, I think he was there for Josh Freeman. At least Jamis Winston put up some yards though. Now you would go score a touchdown and then he would go give a touchdown to the other team. Bruce Aarons was not afraid to throw the ball and throw the ball at Tomo Jamis Winston.

So yes, he definitely got plenty of balls his way, even if you're throwing 30 picks in a year. Could you imagine you go from Tom Brady, who is the definition of what a quarterback is, to Baker Mayfield or Kyle Trask. And that division stinks. That's a bad division. But you look at your quarterback situation.

I know that you're a Baker believer, Hickey. I don't get how any Bucs fan could have any confidence heading into this season. Even with that just dreadful division that they're in. Like, I know you're early in the offseason. You said you were going to pick the Bucs to win that division. Are you sticking with that still?

I'm going to stick with that. I think Baker bounces back. You just highlighted Mike Evans.

Chris Godwin now a full year removed from the ACL injury. Now the one thing that scares you, honestly, is Todd Bowles more than anything else. But I'm going to roll with Baker Mayfield putting the team on his back and being above bad coaching. You just don't learn from your predictions. Baker burned you last year.

Really? You called them a top five quarterback in the NFC. And you said that that team is going to go to the playoffs. Wolf Wolf.

Well, yes, I did not learn. But when you look at this division like, I do not trust the Saints to stay healthy whatsoever. Dennis Allen is an even worse coach than Todd Bowles. How do you trust Tampa to stay healthy? I'll trust them more than right now New Orleans. And I don't know if Dennis Allen is a worse head coach than Todd Bowles. The Falcons, I mean, they are scrappy. Should I be looking at them more?

Maybe. They got a lot of talent. I don't trust their quarterback situation though.

The Panthers I'm intrigued by. And I think Bryce Young can have immediate success now. I don't think that's going to equate to a division title, but can you go six and 11?

I think so. Which in that division, you may be in play for division late in the season. Oh, I mean, what was it last year? Seven in the box, eight, nine. So six and 11 would have been in play late in the year.

And everyone was in play late in the year last year. But you have six wins. You're not going to win a division title. That division, you could be more bad than good.

And you'll probably win that division at eight and nine. Tampa has lost so many pieces that all fence aligns a mess. You have just block at quarterback.

Yeah. I hear what you're saying with the two wide receivers, but that defense has also got old really quickly. And Bowles is just a disaster, but Todd Bowles is the definition of a guy that tremendous defensive coordinator. But when you ask him to be the head honcho disaster, and I know he was phenomenal in that Superbowl and I know what he did with that defense.

It was masterful, especially up against my homes. I don't even care if he's missing the two offense alignment, but that entire postseason, that defense and that entire, that defense was awesome. But then all of a sudden it's like, Oh, Todd Bowles deserves to be a head coach again.

And it's like, we forget about what happened in New York. Now it doesn't take much to get a second chance in the NFL, but people that actually thought Todd Bowles was going to be good. I don't understand that whatsoever because when he was with the jets, he was just, he was brutal, absolutely brutal. His entire team no-showed in a winner go home game at the end of the season.

So I, because of who the coach is and who the quarterback is, that's why it's tough for me to believe at Tampa at all. But our top 10 receiving list, Hickey started off, then I did go. Devante Adams won, Justin Jefferson two, Tyreek Hill three, Jamar Chase four, Cooper cup five, DeAndre Hopkins six, AJ Brown seven, Stefan Diggs eight, DK Metcalf nine, Deebo Samuel ten. And I am protesting Hickey's pick of DK Metcalf. And I think Mike Evans needs to be in that conversation over DK Metcalf. So that is the yearly top 10 wide receiver draft right here on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio.

Okay. We are going to take a time out right now. When we do come on back in five minutes, we will preview the Eastern Conference Finals, Heat and Celtics with Avery Johnson. We will also get Avery Johnson's thoughts on Victor Wambunyama ending up with the San Antonio Spurs or expected to wind up with the San Antonio Spurs after the draft lottery last night. And we will recap game one last night of the Western Conference Finals between the Nuggets and Lakers. Nuggets were tremendous in the first half. In the second half, the Lakers delivered a bunch of counter punches and almost found the way to win the game. I thought LeBron at the end with 15 seconds left on the shot clock, just under a minute left in the game clock. He rushed at three. He should not have taken a three and Murray on him.

He should have gone to the hoop, but he elected not to do so. So Denver does win game one, 132 to 126. By the way, Hickey, with all this talk about Victor Wambunyama, it's not going to happen, but imagine if San Antonio with Pop and all of them go, yeah, we're going to take someone else. We're going to take Brendan Miller. Trade the pick.

Get a King's ransom back for that. You would. You start to hear that Victor Wambunyama's friends didn't go to his birthday party and maybe they end up trading the pick. So Avery Johnson will join us to come on back. We will talk all the latest in the association.