The Sports Junkies: Best of April 20th - April 24th

Mayor Muriel Bowser, did you guys know about this?

The Queen of DC Sports, right?

I knew something was going on with Drab was fiddling with papers and getting the chair ready.

Big surprise, very cool. How are you?

Hatch on keys. I know you're having an anniversary.

We are, yes.

Can you believe these four dummies have been on the air for 30 years?

I wrote, that's amazing.

Congratulations, right?

Yes, we've seen a lot, we've seen a lot change in 30 years.

Yeah, we have.

Oh yeah.

And by the way, since we've had John, you announced that you,

this is it for you, right?

How much longer do you have?

I'm running through the tape till January 2nd.

So January?

Yes, we're running out of the tape.

And then you're going to go, this is going to go work for a company and make some big dollars.

Oh, yeah.

Don't leave those personal days on the shelf either.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

We're running through the tape.

Look, we have a lot of sports that's going to happen in the next seven months.

So we have to stay focused on that.

By the way, congratulations, because not only do you get the stadium deal done,

you get the NFL draft coming.

I mean, she's not going to out the park with everything.

Right, the NFL draft is a big deal.

We work many years on that.

Some people will remember I went to the Oval Office to announce it.

It's going to be on the mall.

They're going to be incredible views.

But I think for, you know, not this table,

but a lot of people, they haven't believed yet that we're the sports capital.

And so this is going to.

You're kind of a sports queen.

Yeah.

It puts us on the national stage.

It shows the NFL that we, that we're going to do a big event.

And I think it lines us up nicely for Super Bowl.

I don't think we ever, did you get a seat?

I did.

I don't think, did we ask her?

Did you play sports at Seaton?

Not well.

No.

But did you, did you play basketball?

No, I, and when I was a sophomore in high school,

I think I played like four games in a basketball season.

I did.

I decided because it wasn't for me.

I got you because you are a big sportsman.

You are a big sportsman.

I'm a Washington national fan, a Washington commander's fan,

a Washington wizard's fan, a Washington biscuits fan,

where my soccer fans.

So yeah, I'm a DC sports fan.

She knows what the people want.

That's what she's good at.

That's got my impression from afar.

Did you know coming in at some point that that would be your kind of your niche?

Like that would be what really,

what you're going to bring to DC?

Well, I think what I saw a million accomplished with that.

I tell you don't, I watched what baseball

and bringing a baseball stadium did for DC.

You've heard me say this before.

I didn't grow up with baseball because we did not have a team as a kid growing up in DC.

And I just saw how we, the city invested,

we reinvigorated the neighborhood,

but we exposed a nevthir generation of children

to baseball.

And I also watched how sad it was when our football team left our city.

And how, you know, how we love our team and we wanted our team here.

And so now by 2030,

we're going to have all of our professional teams in our city.

Very nice.

I mean, when's the statue of Mayor Winnock?

I'm getting it right.

But we need, that's the next thing we need to do.

Well, we're working on RFK, as you know,

and I think the, the very first kind of construction project is not the sexy part.

It's the infrastructure part, but it's happening.

I sent down what's needed to get that done to the DC council that's going to happen.

The team, all the architects, all of the review panels are excited about

what's going to happen at RFK.

Not just the stadium, but as you know,

we're going to have a lot of multi-uses connections to the river.

We're going to create thousands of jobs, housing,

and opportunity for DC businesses.

So we're really excited.

Are the residents over there kind of accepting it now?

Because I know there were some that said,

no, it's too much, too much construction.

It's going to be expensive.

I think the residents realized that we weren't just talking about doing what's there now,

a stadium and parking lots.

They saw the vision.

I mean, they live close to there.

They know the value is going to bring to the neighborhood.

More opportunities to do things where they don't have to drive anywhere.

They're going to be able to stay right in their neighborhood.

That is going to be a 365-day-a-year campus.

So I think people are excited.

Now, obviously, neighbors are going to focus on the logistics like we are.

Where's the parking going to be?

How are people going to get in here?

We're going to be improving a lot of the streetscape and bridges and approaches

to the campus as well.

So I think it's going to work out.

People are excited.

Mm-hmm.

Very cool.

Mayor Bowser will be watching the NFL draft tonight when the Washington

commanders select at number seven.

Yes, that is exciting.

And I know, listen, I have a lot of faith in this team.

They've done well at the draft before.

They're going to do well today.

I'm sure.

I think all Washingtonians just want to make sure they're protecting Jaden.

Yeah.

Well, you could have drafted better than Ron Rivera.

That's not sure.

Coating.

We just want them to protect Jaden.

We want them to pick the best players because we're going to be there.

We're going to be there no matter what.

Have you met Jaden?

I have met Jaden.

You like him?

I do.

I mean, I don't know how well, but I want him to win.

I want him to be healthy.

And that's a big sign.

If you struggle, would you be like benches ass?

Would you be like that?

Yes.

I'm going to have to win.

She said that, but she's forgot to win, baby.

We got to win.

All right.

So that's important.

But I came because I was told that you are having your big 30th birthday on May the 4th.

And you know, one of the things that I get to do as mayor is proclaim big days.

Wow.

And so we want the world to know that you've been doing this for 30 years.

You began on public access cable.

The junks.

Some toes.

Is that right?

And the junks TV.

The junks TV.

And you have become a daily staple for listeners here and across the country,

providing a unique of mix of sports, talk, humor, and relatable stories.

So it is my pleasure.

Because I believe it was here that I proclaim that we would get RFK done.

You didn't believe me.

But I told you we would and you told everybody else that your listeners have been great supporters

of what will be a transformational project for DC.

So I want to congratulate you on a three-decade run.

Wow.

Wow.

Look at that.

And they are for one.

They are for one.

And it's a mayor of Washington, DC.

I proclaim Monday May the 4th, 2026.

As sports junkies day in the best city in the world.

Look at that.

That's awesome.

Oh, Washingtonians to help celebrate your success

and impact on our community and the sports junkies day.

Wow.

Congratulations.

Footnotes, that's Jason's birthday.

There you go.

It is.

Well, thank you.

Thank you, man.

There's a monetary gift that comes in here.

No, sports junkies day.

The pride of helping DC and making the world know that we're not just the capital and the

White House, but we're entertainment, we're sports, and we're a lot of fun.

Thank you.

Thank you, sports junkies.

Well, this is probably the last time she'll be in studio with us.

It could be, yes.

Well, she could come in after.

You could come whenever you want.

I'll be here definitely for the Super Bowl and invite me back.

Okay.

You're welcome.

You're invited.

Well, we don't see you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

Have a great show.

Thank you.

Very cool.

Bye, bye.

Bye, bye.

Wow, when she comes in, she comes in.

And she leaves.

Hey, she's, she's a powerful woman.

All right, we need to go to break because we're going to go take some pictures with the mayor.

I don't know if that's going to happen.

And then we'll come back.

She's already going to call our mock draft.

2026 is all about celebrating 30 years of the junks on the air,

brought to you by Main Street Bank, cheer local, bank local.

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All right, so at this time tomorrow, tomorrow's Wednesday,

we will be hosting our NFL draft insiders draft here on the show.

We will pick names out of a hat.

We'll get a draft order.

And then we will draft who we feel is going to have the closest mock draft to the actual NFL

draft that is happening on Thursday night.

And we're going to put some money in the middle and see who is the best insider.

I didn't want to back our horse.

And we're going to hope they have the most accurate mock draft and collect some money at the end of it.

I didn't want to be argumentative on the text.

Draft, I don't know if you want to put your headphones on.

But I would almost rather just put my mock against your mock against your mock against your mock.

I would say the same thing.

My own mock.

But I'll pick a guy if you want.

I'll pick a guru.

I like back in a horse.

I don't have a problem with that.

Okay.

It's okay.

I'll find one.

I've got a couple of guys that I then I have in mind.

It's all about what you guys do.

I just think it's a fun.

It's just funny for that you guys just back some random Melkiper, Todd McShay.

I want not to be Chris Sins.

Whoever you want.

We should almost have a draft.

It's like the golf pool.

$10, whoever gets the most accurate between the seven or pick.

But in other words, we're going to okay.

So we're going to have a mock draft.

Just nobody wants to go around the room and ask all seven guys here.

Who they pick at this.

It's just too much.

So you have to do that.

We're doing the junkies mock draft on Thursday anyways.

No, no, no, no, no.

I'm not saying we don't have to do that.

I'll just turn in my mock draft.

Turn in your mock draft.

Turn in your mock draft.

Post it and whoever's got the best mock draft.

I'm old, but you want to do it your way.

So you're saying we're going to draft guys.

So like a bent standing is known for being the guy.

You've been hyping up Ben.

You've been hyping up his mocks and he's the best the best.

So if you get one, one tomorrow, you pick bent standing.

Okay.

Okay.

Well, what if they put out multiple mock drafts?

It's going to be the most interesting one.

They're the last one.

Every final mock draft.

Any mock drafts are worth their salt.

They have a final mock.

It's going to be a final mock before the actual thing happens.

All right.

All right.

That's fine.

So that is tomorrow.

So all seven of us are all doing it.

I think so.

We're all in the mess.

And how is that scored?

One point for the correct team.

One point for the correct slot.

So I guess you could get two points.

If there's two points.

So when those that goes one to the Raiders and you picked them,

you get two points there.

Yep.

Gotcha.

Right.

But if the Packers, for example, traded up,

right, right, it picked Mendoza.

So you got one.

I'm guessing Daniel Kelly's mock draft won't be selected

with Carson back at number one.

Probably not.

I mean, you missed that case.

Well, hold on.

That wasn't his number one.

That was his number one play.

It's different than his mock.

Yeah.

Be fair.

Be fair.

Oh, I'm just going to shout.

I'm going to actually turn the corner on Kelly a little bit.

I didn't see his mark.

I'm going to guess he goes on draft in tomorrow.

I don't mind a guy.

I don't mind a guy having his own ranking.

Like, it's fine for me.

I agree with that.

Yeah.

But maybe he's purposefully going outrageous

with this quarterback stuff for every year.

For like bait.

It's possible.

Or he just maybe really believes it.

Yeah, I don't know.

Yeah, I thought I think most of his boot.

When he had him on, he had a couple outliers.

But most of the things were very reasonable.

Actually, what are we saying?

You know, the back thing is an outlier for me.

Maybe saying Mendoza is a fifth round.

But if that's what he believes,

I just saw somebody.

I did hear that Mendoza a year or two ago.

You looked at the number.

I did this.

I may have closed it.

But the top three quarterbacks going into the draft

prior to last season was like the guy from Oklahoma

was archmating.

It's a mother guy.

I can't even remember who it was.

Maybe Club Nick.

I think it might have been Nuss Meyer.

I'm not sure.

Yeah.

But in other words, it was true.

Somebody that it is right now.

Yeah.

So that's all I was probably Nuss Meyer.

It might have been.

Might have been.

All right, definitely archmaning.

Definitely archmaning was up there.

Nuss Meyer was up there.

Definitely the, the Oklahoma guy.

Who mature?

Yes.

And they cited like 10 different rankings

prior to the season.

Yeah.

Anyway, I think I've got a dark horse guy.

That I'm that I'm trying to figure out a draft guru.

Yes.

Okay.

All right.

Got a late convert to the party.

Right.

Might be my guy.

I know you as probably from Walter football.

Look at him.

Carly Campbell.

Possibly.

Is that your guy?

That takes me back to the Walter football guy.

I have a Walter football.

I don't know how Walter football got so popular in the mock

draft game, but they did.

They've been around a long time.

Apparently he's super accurate.

Yeah.

So you want to.

I'm tripping my head.

What am I doing?

So you want to talk about DC sports futility.

And where it ranks.

I mean, I brought this up a couple of weeks ago.

All four major sports teams missed the playoffs.

Yeah.

And two are just in massive rebuilds

in the nationals and the wizards.

So he FD comments are recently on part of my take.

His quote was, I think that the last 12 months in DC sports

has been a top five all time bad sports year for a city.

Okay.

I agree.

Apparently, according to a guy that does stats

for bar stool sports, it wasn't even close to being a top five

worst four sport city season.

I remember one.

He had no, no, he has a model that goes back.

I think like to the 60s.

The word like I feel bad for Detroit.

The two of the three worst ever four sport year cities were

Detroit in 2020 and Detroit in 2019 Detroit in 2019.

It's the all time worst.

So the lines were terrible.

The Tigers were 47 and 114.

The lines were three and 12.

The pistons were 20 and 46.

Oh, wow.

And the red wings were 17.

That's good context.

49.

I don't want to get that.

That's the worst.

But this is what I'll say.

Right now, if you look right now and you go through all

of the US cities with four major sports teams,

Washington is by far the worst.

So just alphabetically Boston got the Patriots

win the Super Bowl, Red Sox,

Celtics, Contender, Bruins, Chicago.

They've had some lean years.

But the bears all of a sudden are contender.

Bulls kind of stink.

Cubs are pretty good.

White Sox and the black hocks.

Dallas, you got the Cowboys.

Okay.

They underachieve Rangers.

Mavericks got Cooper flag Dallas stars.

Denver Bronco's pretty good.

Nuggets pretty good.

I don't know much about hockey.

So you got to fill me in on the avalanche.

They're hockey.

They're very generally so.

The avalanche were studs.

So Detroit went through those lean years in 2019 and 2020.

But now you got the lions as a contender.

You got the pistons as a contender.

Tigers, Red Wings, not so sure.

But this bar stool model has

Washington's 2025 season as only the 39th

worst since 1950.

Where did it go major sports?

All right, I appreciate that.

It's not it's not an all-timer.

All right, so 75 years.

Okay, it's 39.

New York has been up there a bunch.

New York has a lot of entries.

Isn't that crazy that New York has been up there?

Let's see in the top 39.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

a let like 20 times.

How many are recent?

Because the Yankees have been good really for the last 20, 30 years.

Yeah.

The nicks have been pretty good.

The context is important too,

as far as relative to us,

is that the worst Washington year in recent times?

In 2023, Washington had the 19th worst

all-time season or a city that has four T's.

Even just a couple years ago, it was worst.

In 2020.

Because the nationals still stung.

The nationals were 20 games under 500.

The Wizards were terrible.

The commanders were 413.

Wizards another 15 and 60, 67 season.

And the caps will play off.

So you're kind of mediocre, 40 and 31.

But very similar.

Similar, but yeah,

the 20 spots, 20 spots, yeah.

I don't know, man, I just look at the current context.

I can keep going through the major cities.

Most cities have at least one team that's popping,

usually two.

Washington have four teams just dreadful.

I guess my bar is just a little way lower than you guys.

I just assume most our teams will be mediocre.

Maybe every once in a while will pop.

That's how I'm just beaten down.

I'm beaten down.

Yeah, but it's just rare that one that all four teams missed the playoffs.

I mean, look at Philadelphia right now.

You got the Eagles want to Super Bowl a couple years ago.

They're a contender.

Phillies run the World Series.

They're a contender.

Now, I know that they're not DC.

They're struggling.

Six players.

Okay, they're not identity.

Okay.

Five players.

But our losers.

Yeah, but it should really shouldn't have anything to do with the city.

It is.

It's it's it goes to the owners.

That's how you get right.

The organizations.

It's not that great.

We have terrible lock.

Most teams beat us.

Yes, sports radio hosts.

We have terrible lock.

I'll give Philly credit on this list.

They only.

I think I only see one entry.

And that was back in 1972.

They had 13th worst in 1972.

But that's 50 plus years ago.

That's a long time ago.

It's a long time ago.

I mean Detroit had two of the top three worst.

And those were back in 19.

Well, 2020 LA hasn't been in there that much.

I see three times LA in the top 39 right.

Not bad.

So they've got the Lakers.

How many times have the Lakers had bad years where they missed the playoffs?

I know some during like the coviors, let's say recently.

Yeah, but that's not how they rank them.

They take the worst since the

since New York has two baseball teams.

The LA, you know, two baseball teams.

They take the worst of the two.

Okay.

So they don't factor both teams in.

Well, I mean, the amazing thing is is in the NBA and the NHL.

It seems like everybody makes the playoffs in the NBA.

Literally two thirds of the team.

Make at least the playing game.

So 20 out of 30 teams and the NHL.

It's 16 teams in the playoffs.

And we can't get one of those teams in.

I know the caps have had a lot of success.

Yeah, I'm giving them a pass.

If they were better, it shoots out there in the playoffs.

And the nationals win a world series and having had a winning season since.

By the way, on this list, that fall has been shocking to me.

This to not have one winning season after you win a world series.

And that's strictly ownership too.

Yeah.

This list is kind of getting up.

They gave up.

They don't want to spend entries on this list of the 39.

20 are New York City Metro.

That's what I said.

Yeah, but a lot of those are really old.

Okay, but how many in the last 10 years?

2025.

I mean, they're the 38th worst last year.

2017.

They took the match, the giants, the nets and the Rangers.

New York City Metro 16.

They skipped over the Yankees and the Nix.

They take the worst of the two teams.

Yes, that's what they do.

No, they had the, yeah, they had the Brooklyn nuts in not the Nix.

Man, the 1962 through 65 stretch for New York City Metro is very lean.

They have three of the top eight.

But if you're, but if you're only take it,

if you're taking, if you're kind of picking and choosing

because the match for spectacularly bad,

the Yankees have generally been good.

I know this is a nice long-watched Tony.

And as you guys are, but I, I actually,

you guys have different favorite teams.

Mine are always the local teams.

I'm a local guy.

I had a swagger in the, from the 80s that lasted probably

until about mid 2000s.

And then, you know, with the dance item error and everything,

it's just finally just beat it out of me.

I've just accepted meat and authority.

But I had a swagger for probably 15 years.

It just, oh, yeah.

Of course, we're going to be in there.

We're going to be in the mix, we're going to be in the mix.

Even for quite a while after when we weren't.

But eventually, it's gotten knocked out of me.

But it's good that, I know it's been bad recently in the last three years,

but they're only in there twice.

There's only two Washington's in there in the time.

Right. Right.

It's actually not.

And one of the guys is because the cat's like,

and one's 39.

So it's been bad, this caps in the Nats before,

you know, you know, before they traded up their place.

They're run where they were always relatives.

Right now, just in the last year,

you can't find another city even close to his bad as Washington.

Right now.

Yeah.

The closest you might find is not necessarily a city is Arizona.

Okay.

They have the Cardinals, the Dbacks, the Sun.

Well, they're not, they're not, they're not.

Yeah.

And they're not even a force 14 anymore.

They're hockey team left.

You know, if you were going just bad teams,

I guess Oakland, but you got to kind of mix in.

The 49ers.

Yeah, you can't do them.

But the Oakland Raiders who are now in Vegas,

so that wouldn't even count.

They've been there for several years.

So if you go San Francisco slash Oakland,

you got to toss them out.

Well, the easiest way to change all this

is to hit on this draft and have Jayden stay healthy.

Yes.

And then we ride and high again.

Well, and then the wizards need to get significantly better.

They're going to turn the caps.

I think will be relevant.

Whether they make the playoffs or not,

I don't know, I'd probably bet they would.

I think next year will be, will be better.

Speaking of the commanders draft,

when we come back, we will get Peter Shrager's latest intel

on where he thinks the commanders are going to go.

At pick number seven, we will do that next.

Also, Ben Standing joins us in 925 to talk commanders draft.

And we'll get some enemy intel from Paul Dutino from WFAN in New York.

That's coming up at 845.

So lots to get to here on the Junk's.

Welcome back, Junkies come to you live on 106 of the fan

and the team 980 here in the DMV, 910 the fan 105.1 FM in Richmond,

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Wednesday, it's 9 o'clock.

That means we check in with the president of baseball

operations for the Washington Nationals.

Paul Taboni, hey, Paul.

What's going on, guys?

How are you?

So Paul, we've been talking about it.

We haven't you on after wins, by the way.

Yeah, that's great.

Well, we'll get to the baseball portion of it.

And this is baseball related.

You know, the NFL draft is coming up,

and we always see the warm room.

I'm wondering, what have your experiences been like

in the Major League baseball draft and warm rooms?

Yeah, in your warm room.

What does that look like for in the past for you?

Oh, man, I feel like I've seen a number of different versions of this.

So, dating back to when I was in intern with the Oakland A's,

we're actually in the Oakland Raiders locker room.

And there were about 30 scouts

and a bunch of front office folks.

Like, that was back in the old days

where it was like you're moving the magnets on the board.

Yeah, that is all cool.

Yeah.

Yeah, that draft we had.

So, being with the A's at the time passed up on,

I think Aaron Judge, when he was a,

like a local Norcaw guide.

Oh, yeah, it wasn't great.

But yeah, through the time with the Red Sox,

you know, we experienced like small rooms, big rooms, the whole deal.

But there's nothing that compares to it.

I love obviously not just the Major League baseball draft,

but the NFL draft and Bay draft.

I love it.

When you weren't the guy in charge when you were, you know, on a lower level,

did you ever like change the mind of somebody last minute about a guy?

Did you get up on the table and really sell somebody

and actually listen to you?

Has that ever happened?

You know what, a lot of those conversations typically happen

in the weeks leading up, like I would say 24 hours out,

like you pretty much know what you're doing.

At least, you know, we have.

And, you know, so like, I think if you're going to make the case for a player,

you know, that probably happens through four days out.

And then, you know, the scouting director, you know,

whoever is in charge is, you know,

has some time to actually think through like, okay,

should we do this?

Should we not do this?

And, you know, did it happen at times?

Yeah, I'm sure it did.

I can't remember a specific name.

But yeah, I think that was that was a cool part of being with the Red Sox,

who's, you know, even those leading the draft carried themselves

with the humility to, you know, listen to junior folks in the room

if they had good points and it was a fun culture to be around.

Did you ever, you guys approached, you probably didn't feel this way,

but like, like those of us to do, like fantasy drafts,

then they immediately have regret and hate our team when we're done.

That never happens to you guys, right?

Like, you guys are committed to your picks,

at least until they show you otherwise.

You're pretty happy always after the draft.

Yeah, the only time I've seen regret is,

and it hasn't happened often.

Usually it happens in the later rounds when it's moving really, really fast.

But, you know, you have your,

your board lined up for like, let's say the next eight or nine picks,

and so you got the next eight or nine players,

and you get basically swiped clean and you're sitting there alive.

You got nothing.

Okay.

Yeah, and that's, that's to me.

That's actually one thing I feel pretty strongly about, like when I'm talking with,

with Des, our scouting director here,

it's the one thing that you can't screw up in my opinion.

Like, you have to be prepared and have a really good understanding of who you're taking.

If we're picking 11th this year, like,

the board better be built out, you know, really deep.

So that, that doesn't happen.

It's just, there's no excuse for that.

So, um, but yeah, that's, I have seen it happen,

and it's not, it's not a comfy feeling.

Hey, Paul, if I were to told you in spring training that after 24 games,

you, you guys would be leading the majors and run scored.

Would you have fallen over?

Yeah, um, I don't know if I would have fallen over,

but I for sure would have been, uh,

I for sure would have been really, really happy about, uh, about what's going down.

And I think part of it for me is, you know,

they've been remarkably consistent, which that's been my favorite thing about it.

Like, it's, it's rare that they just give away at that.

And for a young team in my opinion, that's uncommon.

Like, they're, their strikeout rate is low.

They're hitting the ball hard.

All those things really good.

But they're just, it feels like even last night, right?

Like, before we ported on, it felt like in the fifth inning,

I know we're only up four two,

but it felt like it was six or seven or two because we had eight or nine walks

or whatever it was.

And we were really just consistently putting pressure on them.

And that's been really fun to watch.

Yeah. And you guys jumped on Lopez early.

And he'd been pitching pretty good.

I'm just kind of looking at his game log.

Uh, you know, he doesn't go deep into his into the game.

He only goes about five, but he's been pretty good with his,

you know, ZRA was, I don't know, three, two or three, three before last night.

And you guys jumped on him early.

Yeah, I think it's, uh, honestly, it's a testament to, uh,

Matt Borgesholti and the rest of the hitting group.

And just like the, um, you know,

I think what comes with like a really, a really clear plan.

And then obviously our hitters to, uh,

to stay disciplined to that plan.

You know, it's, uh, they've just done a really, really good job.

You know, basically having simple clear-minded dots where it's like,

hey, if you got, you know, if you're facing a guy that is going to have a ton of success,

for instance, the sinker baller at the bottom of the zone.

And like, if you,

if he commands the ball, you know, 100% of the time, like, to the bottom of the zone,

like, let him have it, you know what I mean?

And we're probably going to have a tough day if that happens.

But let's stay really disciplined to getting the ball up and taking good swings when it is up.

And, uh, you know, that, that, I think, belief in that trust in Borges

and the rest of the hitting group has allowed, um, you know,

some clarity for the hitters.

And, uh, hopefully it's contributed to, uh, to their success a little bit.

Paul, one thing that really surprised me last night.

And I don't know if this was the first time.

But, um, Jacob Young was hitting in the three hole.

And, you know, last year he was way, you know, normally he was at the bottom of the line up,

hit nine. And then we, I think we talked about it a couple of weeks ago.

He, he was bumped up to like six and a couple of different games.

Um, talk about the decision.

You know, I've blaked putting them up to three last night.

Yeah. So, uh, you know, I think one thing I didn't mention about our offense is

that I think we're, uh, pain in the, you know, what to game plan against, right?

And part of the reason is because of how, how Blake has been setting up the line up, right?

So, for instance, last night when you go Woody, uh, Louis and then Jay, why, um,

you know, if you're up one in the seventh, they're probably thinking like, okay,

we're going to get one of these really good lefties in at, uh, at Woody, right?

Right. But the way we're situated is, you know, then you can, if they bring in that lefty,

then, hey, we can either choose to go left on left with Louis or we can bring in me or Brady,

uh, as we have in the past, right? So then this lefty that thought he was going to be facing a

couple of lefties right off the bat is facing Woody, who's no fun at that, right? And then,

and then Curtis and then J.Y. And so we're just, we're trying to create those advantages where, uh,

it's not, you know, like we don't just have, um, you know, six lefties, um, in a row where,

you know, we create like easy, easy pockets for them to bring in a lefty or, you know, if it's

six righties, a row, a righty, uh, because it's, you know, it's, it becomes really challenging for

the opposing manager. So part of it's a little bit of a game and, um, the good thing is we're really

aggressive, um, you know, using our bench too and opposing managers know that, which it just,

it makes it difficult for them and, um, it's, it's part of the game. It's a fun part of the game.

Yeah, you guys brought in house and meat early in the game yesterday.

Yeah, and now yesterday was, uh, uh, a little bit of a rare one and then we did it, uh,

deeper in the lineup. I think it was, it was, it was Viva Santana, right? So, uh, and then,

you know, I think what happens is when you, when you do that, you got to be comfortable with

later in the game, uh, them getting right on right at bats, right? And so, uh, and it worked out

great, right? Like Curtis obviously came in. He had that first up at and then he comes around

the next time and, uh, he got that right on right sinker in and, and hit a homer. So, um, that's

I think what, what Blake probably wrestling in his head in the moment is like, hey, if I bring him in

now, there's, there's no one that's going to come in after him probably, um, and are we willing to,

to roll the dice at this point in the game and, uh, it worked out last night, which was good. Yeah.

And then, uh, all right, so let's talk about, uh, Foster last night. So, he's now got his third

win as the RAs less than three and a half. That's a really good lineup. He was facing last night,

through 96 pitches, only walked one, um, solid man. Foster grip has been really good for you guys.

Yeah, he's been good. He's been, um, you know, he's been, uh, he's been exactly what we thought he'd

be like and, and I know we talked about it briefly in a past call, but, uh, when these guys come over

from overseas, you don't know exactly what you're going to be getting. Uh, and, uh, in Foster's case,

he's been, he's been good. He's just, you know, it's a little bit of a lost art, right? Like, he's got

however many pitches. Yeah, seven pitches. And, uh, I think, um, I think Kader's in the league has

become so accustomed to facing guys that are two, three pitch guys. Uh, you can just eliminate an

offering or two and, and sit on one and hope you get it. Whereas with Foster, you really got to,

um, you know, you got to be on time to a different, a bunch of different, you know, uh, pitch speeds and,

and pitch shapes and, and, uh, he commands it to both sides of the plate, up and down, and, uh, it's

not fun. So, um, and that was cool. Yeah, Blake, Blake, uh, visiting him, um, to do balling up at,

and, uh, having them stay in and it working out. Um, I was, uh, it was a great outing from, uh,

from Foster and, uh, we hope he can build upon it and, uh, even better next time out. Do you consider

some of those international leagues? I don't know in Japan, wherever, uh, like four A, like above

our triple A, but below our major league, is that fair or no? Yeah, they're good. I mean, they're

good leagues. They, uh, I've actually never been over to Japan. Um, I got to it at some point,

but they, um, no, they're good leagues. And, um, you know, there are just some, some different,

um, some like different elements to playing over there that are tough to, uh, to really figure out

how to, how to capture. So, for instance, like, they're, you know, their pitchers are on six-day

schedules instead of five-day schedules. Um, and, uh, and not only that, there's just like some

interesting, like, so when you're over there as a pitcher, you are, I think you're technically,

like, you pitch for them and then you're technically, like, taken off the roster and you basically

do whatever you want. And then the day before your next start, you put back on the roster. It's

wild. It's like the Roger Clements deal that he had, right? The Astros. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

The whole, the whole dynamics, different, which, um, which is, you know, creates a little bit of a,

uh, you know, it creates a lot of conversation, like when you go into signing a guy, like how,

how it's going to transfer and, um, we're just happy in Foster's case that, uh, it's looked good

so far. We're joined by Paul Saboni, the President Baseball Operations for the Washington Nationals.

Can you give us a Dylan Cruz update? Yes. Uh, honestly, not much has changed since, uh, the

last time we talked. Uh, he had a couple good days last week. Um, he's, he's getting there. Like

I said, like we, we've challenged him, uh, in some areas and he's, he's responding great. Um,

you know, he's, uh, he's continuing to control the zone well and, um, you know, when he's at his best,

he's, like he's not swinging at balls and when he gets, um, strikes that he can hammer, he's hammering

him. So, uh, I probably sound, uh, redundant mentioning it again, but that's, it's, you know,

I don't think it's something like crazy, complex formula, uh, with Dylan. It's just, hey,

stay really disciplined, uh, going after the pitches that you can handle and when you get him

hammer him and, uh, he's trying to positively, which has been good. Hey, Paul, I was going to ask you,

I brought it up a, I think on Monday, but Andrew Alvarez that you called up, I think on Saturday,

he faced the giant Sunday and got the win. He think through four and a third got the win,

and then you optioned him back to Rochester the next day. I was wondering what the thought process

was there. Yeah, those ones are really tough. So, uh, first of all, that was a huge outing for us.

Yeah, it was big. Yeah. So, I mean, you probably remember that Saturday game was,

yeah, was, uh, was floppy and we just, there were probably five or six, uh, different moments in

that game that if we execute any one of them, we probably win that game. And so, you know, it was,

it was a deflating loss. Um, we bring Alv up, um, PJ opened, I think, and then, yeah,

miles through great and then Alv through great. Uh, and so I mean, we need, at a time, we really

needed it. Uh, he was huge and, uh, it wasn't just huge because of, you know, like, they'd get

in the five is back up, but it gives our whole bullpen a reset, right? And like we talked about,

uh, you know, last week, when we're in the stretch, we're playing 17 straight without an off day,

it becomes really difficult to manage. You know, I mean, you need to figure out ways to get

your guys, um, arrest without, um, taking them off the roster. You know, so, um, yeah, Alv,

coming up, giving us that, you know, those four, uh, four plus,

I can't remember exactly what it was. Four and third, yeah. Yeah, four and third. Um, he was going to be,

we weren't going to be able to use them for, um, for whatever it would have been, you know, four or

five days and so, um, getting them back down, um, and then, uh, being able to bring up another guy

that can give us endings, uh, I think it just takes the load off of others in the pen. What I will

say about Alvin and we told him it, like he's going to be back and, uh, soon around later. That was,

that was awesome. And, um, what I told him is like, you know, I don't worry about this with Alvin,

but don't be the guy that goes down the triple A and feels bad for himself, right? Like,

go down there, continue to shove and he'll be back with us soon and, and help on us.

All right. So game three of the brave series tonight, it's a Perez going for Atlanta and Zach's

going for you guys. Zach's last start wasn't great against San Francisco, but just kind of talk

about this matchup and what you expect from Zach. Yeah. So I think they actually, uh, I think they

swapped out their starter. I think they're going to point is, did your point, point is now.

Oh, okay. All right. I didn't see who's a, uh, who's a, um, you know, promising, uh, picture for

them really young, um, but it's strong. Great. So, um, he, uh, he'll be a, uh, a challenging one for

us to match up against, but, um, but, you know, obviously the, the offense has been, has been good. So,

um, and then was that, um, yeah, Zach, he, so, you know, I, I don't want to forget that he was,

uh, because he was a late signing, right? Like his spring training was, um, basically the first

few weeks of the season, you know, so, um, I think in these last few starts, he's still been kind of,

you know, finding himself and he'd probably be upset with me, uh, saying that just because I think

he holds himself to a, uh, a much higher standard, but, uh, I think the key with him is, uh, you know,

he's gonna come right at you and attack you and, uh, when he does that, almost similar to foster,

like he's got a lot of different ways to, to put guys away. And so, key for him is, is getting

ahead of these guys and then, uh, when he is finding a way to, uh, to sit him down. So, um, we're excited

for him and, um, I think he's excited to get out there after this last start. Yeah.

Well, Paul Taboni be doing during the NFL draft. Will you, do you sneak some peaks?

We have one eye on it. Yeah, I'm gonna guess. No, you're a Niners guy since you grew up in San

Fran. Is that where you're relieved? Yeah. First of all, I'll be locked in. Uh, I love it. And, uh,

I was actually texting with AP yesterday. Oh, give us a hint. Come on, come on. Give us some.

Oh, really? Are we going offense? Defends? Where are we doing here? They'll pick your brain.

Yeah. No, I, uh, I grew up a big time in Anderson, but, uh, I'm all commanders now. So, I got to, uh,

I'm a lot of preference smart man. Yeah. So it sounds like you're locked in. Is there a guy

there that you would be thrilled if they drafted him? Okay. So I'm, I'm probably the least locked

in I've been in the last 10 years, but, uh, understandably, I've, I'll say that, uh, we got the seventh

pick. Is that right? Yeah. Seven. Seven. Yeah. So, um, it might be a pipe dream, but how I think

about this is like, I've never heard an NFL GM say like, man, we got enough guys that can put

pressure on the, on the quarterback, you know what I mean? And so, or, or we got like enough, uh,

I don't know if there's one available, but enough guys that are, uh, you know, like stud tackles

to protect Jaden Daniels, right? So, uh, probably the, the, you know, unsexy path, but, uh, I think

that would be my preference, having no understanding of, all right, let me just say this.

I like your first part. If they draft a tackle, I'm gonna puke. We got to

locks a tackle. I don't want to know the one, but if we get a, a rush shirt and edge rush

shirt or lineback or something, um, perfectly. How did you get to know AP? Didn't know him before.

Did you? Uh, knew him, uh, a little bit, uh, very briefly. We, um, I think it was like during

COVID, uh, we, we chatted a little bit, um, forget how we were connected, but just, uh, you know,

I was, um, I was obviously with the Red Talkies with the Niners and just figuring out like, hey,

what are you guys doing while, while you're, while you're down during the stretch? And so, I remember

how, talking to them then and then, um, you know, once I got this job, uh, reconnected and, uh,

and he's been awesome. So, yeah. Very cool. Well, tomorrow's day game for you guys. I don't know,

like your travel schedule and all that stuff, but he's locked in. Yeah. Good. Yeah. We'll be locked in.

That's awesome. All right. Thank you, Paul. If they trapped a offensive lineman, I'm coming for you.

Yeah. I'm going to blame you. All right. Thank you, buddy. See you guys. All right. Thanks, Paul.

Very cool. That's Paul, Timoni, president, baseball operations. Next, we open up the entertainment

page here on the junkies. Remember to join us tonight for 1067, the fans draft night watch party

at honor brewing in loud and come hang out, listen to the junks. That's us from 630 to eight,

followed by Grant and Danny from eight until 11 p.m. It should be a really fun night.

One's the last time we did a live broadcast. I don't know, but we're going to do one tonight.

Not sure. Our drinking show at MGM National Harbor two years ago. No, no, we did one last year

in a turkey show. We just did one in December. Yeah. At the bar in Arlington. Yeah. Oh, that's

right. All right. Let's head to the hard guest hotline. We'd say good morning to Ross Tucker,

Odyssey NFL insider calls are brought to you by Liberty Mutual Insurance. Only pay for what you

need. You can follow Ross at Ross Tucker on Twitter. What's up, Ross? Big day NFL draft day. How are

you? Huge day. I am fantastic. I love the NFL draft. It's like the NFL and college football

having a baby and I don't know. You guys remember like back in the day, but like we knew who most

of the top picks were going to be. I remember like the Sean Taylor, Kellan Winslow draft that like

we already knew for the first seven picks were in order. I love that the fact that it's not like

that anymore. It's changed so much and we have no idea that we have a decent idea who might go

it to no idea three. It makes it a lot more fun. Yeah. Now you were undrafted, but I wonder what

was your draft day experience or did you have an agent at the time? Like what happened with you?

Oh, man. We haven't talked about this. I think we have. We might have, but I don't remember.

Yeah. So I was a bottom of the barrel prospect, meaning I knew for a fact that wasn't going to get

drafted and my agent had been pushing really hard, but he said it was 50, 50, whether or not I

would even get signed. You know, that's then there was only 80 guys, not 90. And also there was no

like rookie minicamp or rookie tryout. Like when I got signed by the skins four days later,

I was with Bruce Smith and Darrell Green and Steven Davis and Jeffrey and all those guys, you know.

So that was back when we had just a Saturday Sunday draft. Yeah. Which by the way was amazing.

Because I remember the first three years of college, we would have practice in the morning

then we would get like five 30 packs and just sit there and watch the draft all day Saturday.

It was it was incredible. What was your go-to beer? Yeah. Yeah.

Probably something cheap. I had a board of my senior year. My senior year, my parents had just

gotten me in March for my birthday, my first cell phone. This is 2001. Okay. So I'm sitting there in my

dorm room. I have my new cell phone and my dorm number. And if you remember, the bangles had

gone like 10 years in a row without a winning season. They called me during the first round.

So I answer the phone. I answer the phone. I'm like, I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. What's

doing this? And they're like, yeah, Ross, we have you on our list as a possible undrafted

free agent. We just want to let you know that. I'm like, oh, okay. Thank you. But I'm ready now.

I have many of you guys are. So then the crazy thing is my agent had told me and it's funny

we're talking about this because I just posted this on like Instagram and TikTok at Ross Tucker and

a fellow. But my agent said, the longer it takes for us to call you, the worse of a sign that is.

So I sat there all day and then it's 15 minutes, 30 minutes, it's an hour after the draft.

No call to do. I want everybody listening to to picture this. I got up at 5 a.m.

every day, second semester senior year of college to train for the draft to try to get to try

to get a shot at my dream. When I would get up at 5 a.m. to go train, that's where my roommates

were coming in most of the time. I can have senior year. Okay. So I'm starving now. I have to walk

out to the eating club, which is a long story, but it's a fraternity and sorority combined in a

one eager meals there as you need to print them. I walk out there. Guys, they're having a cookout.

All the guys are drinking beer, eating burgers and hot dogs. The girls are all, you know,

and they're sundressing the whole deal. I can't even look at them. I can't even make eye contact.

My eyes are filling up because I think I just totally blew my second semester of college.

I grabbed two burgers. I walked back to the dorm. As I get close to the dorm, I hear a phone ring.

We were on the third floor. I grabbed the phone and my agent, Joe Winters says,

Ross, I said, yeah, he said, where were you? I said, well, you told me the longer it took the

worst of a sign. It wasn't I had to get dinner. He said, well, congratulations. You are the

newest member of the Washington Redskins. Wow. And guys, I immediately said, thank you hung up.

I sprinted back out to the eating club. I bust open the doors to the courtyard where everybody is

and my friends turn around and they see me and they can see my face has changed to 180.

And I just said, redskins and they all run over and we're all jumping up and down. It was amazing.

Girls that had no interest before suddenly had interest. It was incredible.

Nice. Very nice. Very nice.

All right. So what I mean, obviously, as you mentioned, it is kind of a unique draft. We're after

one kind of anything can happen as it felt like that in a while. I know here in Washington,

there are quite a few guys. We have so many holes that almost anybody there would fit.

Are any of the guys that are kind of being talked about in the top 10 to you, like potential

busts? Like did you just say it? Wow. This one I'm not sure about or any of them,

will you look at it and you go, all I know is that guy's a star.

Well, I think Caleb Bounds is a star, right? The safety from Ohio State.

I think that that position is so much about natural instincts, football, intelligence.

And you go back and watch this high school video. I called a game against Ole Miss for CBS when he

was a true freshman at Bama. He is just, he's like a prodigy. He really is. I would be stunned

if he's not a really good starter and probably a perennial pro-bola. So he's the guy that I would have

the most confidence in. He and probably Jeremiah Love, right from their name, the running back.

Interestingly, they both play positions where the top of the financial market is like 19, 20

million dollars a year. So why that matters is because if you're like the years on the Cardinals

at number three, you can get either David Bailey or Arvel Reese. And they're going to get like 10

to 12 million a year with a third pick, okay? If they end up being what you think they are,

you're essentially saving almost 40 million dollars. Really interesting for the Texans.

Just got 50 million a year. Michael Parsons, 42 million a year. So you're saving a ton of money.

Whereas if you're the Cardinals and you take love, you know, he's already near the top

of the running back pay scale, meaning, you know, you're not really getting any salary cap savings.

And we can have a long discussion as to how valuable that is or how much people should discuss

it. But I do think that that is something the teams take into account. The other thing I would say,

the guy I have a little bit more reservation about the others is Arvel Reese from Ohio State.

A lot of people will tell you that he's the best player, you know, he's the best overall player,

all those things. But he was kind of primarily an off-fall line back here to Ohio State.

They rush them sometimes and he has unique, unique physical ability. I would just say

at the NFL level, a lot of guys have unique physical ability. If you actually watch

the best guys, a lot of times it's the technique of Miles Garrett or Hendrix and or even Micah

who he's compared to. Micah has some really good hand moves and technique. You know, there's a risk

that that stuff never comes naturally for Reese and that he never really becomes what his

physical ability suggests he should because at the NFL level, it still is about like any other job,

skill, technique, and refinement. So who do you think would be the better pick at that position,

Reese or Rubin Bain?

Well, I think I would take, like if I were the Jets, I think I would take David Bailey

from Texas Tech because he is really polished and I think he has significant upside.

I think between Reese and Bain, I'd probably take Reese even with the concerns I have

because of how much higher I think his upside is than Bain. So if I had to peg him like for me,

it would be Bailey 1, Reese 2, Bain 3. I think Bain's a more accomplished edge rusher than Reese

now, but I don't think the ceiling is quite as high. I will say I think Bain would be an

excellent pick for Washington. I think his floor is super hot. Listen, he plays as you know what off

and he's very physical. The way I look at it guys is those guys make it and those guys feel like

at worst case scenario, they're like five to seven and a half sack guys that you can count on

to give you an honest day's work every Sunday. Now, you know, maybe not a 20 sack guy

or maybe he doesn't become the elite guy, but the floor is pretty high for Bain. He kind of reminds me

of like a branding Graham type in Philly. I don't know if that excites people or not, but it should

because Graham's going in like year 17. He's been a really good player for the Eagles for a long

time. Maybe he's only made a full board, but I think the Eagles are very happy. They took him at 12

or whatever. All right. So with the number seven pick in the 2026 NFL draft, the Washington

commanders select. I put you on the spot. By the way, it's insane how much different

information is out there. I know. They really want Jeremiah love. Then I just read I guarantee it's

a defensive player. Then I read they really want to receive her for jade in. It's kind of funny.

I actually think if they could, they would maybe trade down a couple spots to try to pick up a

two. I bet you it really bothers Peters that they don't have very many picks and don't have a

second round pick in a draft like this. So they're probably hoping someone falls to them

that they would enable them to move down. I think I'd probably go with Cornell Tate from Ohio State.

I think, you know, I really want Jane Daniels if I'm the commanders to not only have an excellent

number two, but to have a guy to grow with and build with, you know, I thought Terry, you know,

I called that week 18 game on CBS and the Eagles still couldn't cover Terry and McCormon. They'd

never have been able to. And so I think Terry can still play at a high level, but you don't know when

that's going to drop off. You don't know when Terry's no longer going to be worth the money that he's

getting. I like the idea of having a really good number two who could grow into being number one.

Sort of like, and this is the guy everybody compares into sort of like the Vante Smith for

the Eagles. The Vante had three out of his four years and over a thousand yards. He's been a

really good player and the Eagles feel good enough about him that it sounds like they're going to

trade AJ Brown and the Vante is going to be the number one. That's kind of what I envision for

Cornell Tate if he gets to Washington. Ross and Joy NFL draft night. It's always a great night.

We know you're going to be out and about in the great state of PA with the drafts being held. So we

appreciate your time, man. Thank you, Ross. Yeah. What a scam, right? Like a draft watch party.

Right. Hey, Ross, can we pay you to come over to our bar? Yeah. Eat the drink beer and watch the

draft. Like, wait, is this scam? No, no, it's real. Okay. Yes. I will do it.

Same sort of deal. Ross. Thanks, man. We appreciate the time, man. Have fun.

Ross Tucker hosts the Ross Tucker podcast. You can follow him on social media at Ross Tucker NFL.

This NFL insider call brought to you by Liberty Mutual Insurance only pay for what you need. Red

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Main Street Bank member FDIC equal housing opportunity lender. It's Bish, EB and JP running the

three man show. Cakes will be back tomorrow joining us right now on the root guest hotline.

Roots most reliable heating and air conditioning products in the DMV is a former NFL scout with

the jets. You can follow it first round mock Daniel Kelly. Hey Daniel. Hey good morning. How's

everybody doing? Are you pumped up for the draft like we are? Oh yes I am as one person said to me

this is Christmas for you and he was right. Yeah for sure. What was it like being inside a war room?

Intense. Yeah. Very intense. Yeah. I mean I stood at the doorway. I remember the first draft

I was there with the jets when Bill Parcells was there and Bill Billet check and all those guys

and you could hear a pin drop in the room. I stood kind of at the doorway and just kind of watch.

There was you can hear anything. Scouts were ruffling a little bit of papers here and there.

The draft was on TV at the front of the war room. Maybe a phone call came in. The decision

makers are saying at the back table and you know Mike Cannonbaum who was our contract guy at the

time we give a thumbs up or thumbs down based on that you know what trade was being proposed and

Bill Parcells would get up usually and he would walk out of the room and come back and

and he would say to the speaker phone you know he would he would say the name of the player he wanted

and you know send in the card and you will walk back all the room. It was really intense. Nobody

spoke unless they were spoken to. I remember reading this past weekend you guys I'm sure you saw

the same story where I can't remember who it was. It was a giant somebody but they were reward

scouts if your player got picked and made the team and so guys I mean it's your lobbying for your

guys. Really lobbying and you're really presumably getting the best from these guys because they're

getting cash bonuses if they're if they're guy that they lobbied for and they got credit for

made the team. Do you think that would work today in 2026? Yeah I think it would absolutely. I

know for us at the Jats I mean when the scouts really had their their moments of shine was in the

later rounds and then especially for the unwrappedable free agents that's when the scouts really

shine and that's when they mix into them and that's when they really jumped on the table for their

guys to bring in the camp and stuff but yeah absolutely every you know every scout light loves to

be heard and every scout works really hard and beats the pavement and travels to country and

does a lot of work on these reports so yeah they definitely wanted to you know have their

contribution for sure. So Daniel here in Washington there's a lot of excitement they have the number

seven pick when you look at Washington's roster now after free agency what are the holes that you see

the most? Well you know I always listen to NFL.com because I feel like they're you know they really

have their ear to the the league and and as far as what they say Washington needs the most on April

9th they came out they said you know really upgrade the weapons for Jayden Daniels. This is a huge

year for Jayden Daniels as we all know whether or not they're going to pick up the fifth year

you know option what they're going to do the kind of track extension they can start talking

about next year so to me it's like you know you can go offense with that said and you know what

receiver there's a guy that I have targeted at that pick at seven if they don't trade up I mean

I love Jeremiah Love which I've said on a previous show if they can trade up to that three spot

absolutely if you'd have best running back they've had the Washington's John Reagan's but if

they stay pat and he goes early which he may to the Titans or Giants at three or five or whatever

Carnell Tate is a guy that I have circled I use number five on my first round value board the

wide receiver Ohio State 6 2 and 1 4 1 92 or as combine numbers and he's a special player who

produced very clean tape he has a size and physicality of a big receiver speed and quickness

of a small receiver and what that does is allows him to dominate the short the intermediate level

of zero to 19 yards and that speed enables him also to take the top off a defense and really

create a guessing game guys for the corners like you know what you could do is you gonna sit

underneath as you go go deep and really I think for some Washington fans who remember back when

art month played I when I watched the film there was reminders he reminded me of an art

month type player he has a great hands he has a 78.5% catch rate this last year and also he has

that selfless component that of course monk brought the Washington back in the day special

player be a great weapon my favorite Ohio State receiver in the past you know five graphs have

come out is Carnell Tate I think you get great weapon for Daniels so that's interesting that

you're so high on him because many people like him but they think he you know he the best guess

is he tops out like a two a very good number two because he never played one and I don't know

that's crazy guys out of college our backups and come in become studs at the next level

but that seems to be the kind of the consensus why why do you like him so much and like him more

than a bouquet and all these other guys that have come out of there in the last couple of years

it's just something about I think he kind of combines what all those guys do and I loved

the macro bouquet and I loved Jackson Smith the Jake but he has the element of everything

he can he can dominate it all three levels and just how graceful and how nimble he looks when he

runs he's got the alpha demeanor he's got a crisp change of direction he wins at the break points

he comes back helps out his quarterback when he's in trouble and he's a blocker I mean he blocks

like he means it so this is a complete football player number one and never to a great receiver

and I mean when I watch I have a hard time I mean I'm probably the hardest grader I mean I feel

I'm the hardest grader in America that does is I mean I look for you know I look for weakness is

I I scoured the tape for my evaluate every single game I've I've looked at every game that

tastes played in the last two years and and really I had a really tough time finding weaknesses this

guy it just produced that clean of tape where you know I there's like maybe if I nitpick there was

three times you didn't lay out for a pass you know something like that a little tightness in his leg

you miss three games but outside of that I couldn't find any weaknesses so I think he brings a

lot to the table for Washington and a great weapon for Daniels how much of a gap is there

between Tate and Jordan Tyson on your board well my board I have Tate at number five and then I

have Tyson at number 21 and what's the reason for that the injury history the injury history yeah he

messed over like I believe 40% of his games it certainly has nothing to do with his playing style

I mean Jordan Jordan Tyson is a guy that I really really liked you know just big time receiving

skills you know he wins at the break point he's a guy that that is a master of creating route

windows he can win at the break point at a number of different ways he's good with the

act you know yards after the catch with the ball in his hands I love Jordan Tyson he would be

a lot higher on my first round value board had a nop in for the injury pass but I have to take

consideration I mean when I watch Tyson I mean his body type and his body movements and his

mannerisms I mean it reminds me a lot of what I remember Larry Fitzgerald looking like and also

when he runs his route so I love Tyson the only reason I discounted him on the value board was

begun because again because of the injuries talking to Daniel Kelly former NFL Scout with the

jets you can follow him at first round mock on Twitter you mentioned that Tate was number five on

your board who were the four guys ahead of him I have Carson Beck the quarterback at number one

overall Jeremiah Love at number two Mansour Delaney at number three and then David Bailey the

edge wrestler from Texas Tech at number four all right we're not in the market for quarterback but

I got to hear your 30 seconds on why you have Beck so high and especially over Mendoza who seems

to be the man of this number one I've looked at 43 games every game the Carson Beck has played

in his college career I feel that he has the best NFL head on his shoulders he's the most NFL

ready quarterback in the 2026 NFL draft he's a guy that can read go through his progressions he's a

guy that's comfy from a cleaner dirty pocket and what he did on Miami this year I think it's the

most understated story in this draft is how he went from George to the mighty and reinvented

himself it did just play a few games actually pull a whole locker room together a whole new locker room

and took him all the way to the national championship again that to me was a litmus test to show

what was really inside Carson Beck so one guy I didn't hear in your top five who a lot of people

here in Washington want them to draft is sunny styles the linebacker from Ohio State give us your

read on styles because I hear you're not as high on him as others I'm not I couldn't get into

sunny styles film I evaluate every game he's playing the last two season 30 30 games I mean

hopefully if anyone's listening out the commander's headquarters please stay away from selecting

this guy because I feel that he's going to be a bust in the 2026 NFL draft he's one of these guys

it has you know the law athletic traits the combined traits but on film he looks like an athlete he's

trying to learn to play linebacker that's not a good you know look I mean he's awful versus the run

he looks awful blitzing he tends to be an after the fact damage control pass defender meaning he

makes the tackle after the catch doesn't use his hands well zero pass rush move shown and really

from the neck up that's the thing is cutting the game is one loss from the neck up I feel he was an

underachiever who lacks fight as questionable instincts lacks motivation sure can he run around

make plays if he's left on blocked yes he can but who can't he just was not a difference maker on

his game film and that's what he put on his film I just wrote it down so the way you're describing

it reminds me of a fairly recent Washington redskins now commanders traffic jamin davis who was a

guy who had great athleticism and and all these scores but just never worked out at linebacker do

you remember jamin davis and is there some sort of comp there yeah I do I like davis better coming

out than I like styles um but yeah I don't I could definitely see that when when davis is coming

out what Kentucky and um yeah I just there's just you know it just doesn't translate the traits of

the combat just don't translate to the film and the production you know kind of backs it up too I

mean this is a guy in 2025 you know styles there are two sacks one quarterback hit twelve hurry

so he's not really getting to the quarterback too much and he gave up an 85.3% reception rate per

pf and his catches so I mean he's you know he's not a guy that's out there making plays it's not

just what I'm saying and what I've seen on film but also the numbers also back up with the film

confirms what about a guy like Caleb Downs who doesn't necessarily have that the world's greatest

measurable but everybody says he's so instinctive he's a leader on the field right away he's a step

ahead of everybody else but he doesn't have any particular attributes maybe that you would take

him necessarily like with the top five pick or something potentially yeah I really love Caleb Downs

he's number seven on my first round value board I've watched all 30 games with him as well he's

he's a standout five eleven five eight two oh six combine numbers compact muscular frame I mean

we've all heard a shutdown corners you know and and this guy to me is a shutdown safety is a true

difference maker he's the fastest safety I've ever evaluated and why that be important the

Washington's defense if they were to get him is because with that speed and desire that he shows

on film he can cut off explosives and that's importantly we're 26.8% of the games are decided by

three points or less I mean he's an athletic quick twitch defender he's a heavy hitter offers a

lot of gameplay and flexibility can move around the different spots he has a high football IQ

dialed in discipline I love his short area of clothes no problem covering backs or tight ends

nose where they hang on zone coverage he brings blitzing upside he would you know Downs would be

the best safety Washington has had since Sean Taylor so just out of curiosity getting back to

the quarterback position you have Carson Beck is your number one overall so you think the

Raiders should take him number one overall where do you have Mendoza in terms of what round he's

projected in I mean he's going to go one but where would you have him in what round

fourth round you're gonna value I have on his film fourth round or yeah QB7 QB7 because I'm on my

board explain well what Fernando Mendoza he he's his film I had a fifth round grade on him

heading into this season when he played at Cal I upgraded to a fourth round grade his skill set

does not translate well to the National Football League what he did in college he did in college

I feel Indiana built everything they did around his limited strengths and did everything possible

to expose his weaknesses from from being shown and illustrated I mean this guy is so limited in

what he does he claps he stands or he claps he takes a snap he does one about a few different

things he either hands the ball off most of the time it's a very one heavy offense they were a

second most one heavy offense in in college football or he you know he basically you know loves

the throw outside he tries to throw it to the outside he tries to throw outside the numbers he

tries to throw a deep he tries to avoid coverage he tries to throw throwing inside the numbers

and like the plague he tries to just throw passes it offered him the most possible throwing leverage

and to me that's so limited and the thing that's really going to get Mendoza in trouble is his throwing

mechanics because he stands there he has to align his body perfectly with the trajectory of throw

there's a hard set that he always does as he's staring where he's looking he's going to throw

and he stands there and has to perfectly align his body with the trajectory of throw

and then he packs the ball on top of it to the further telegraph where he's going to throw

and then he has below average the average anticipation I think this guy's an NFL cornerback stream

hmm that would be interesting I tell you what he says though I think there's some validity to it

it rings true with me like that I'm not sure that Mendoza should be the universal number one overall

isn't throwing it outside it's just you can say smart hard

maybe they're you are you asking him you are like going down and out is a long throw compared to

throwing some of the stuff over the middle yeah but you got to read to make over the middle you

got to have the confidence right to to needle those throws in there you got to hit the small

windows have you taught any other former scout or scouts that agree with you on Mendoza that he

would be like a mid-round pick or should be a mid-round pick versus number one overall no

okay so you're the only guy you're you're on the island he likes being on the island yeah

I kind of like he had Spencer Ratler ahead of Caleb Drake May JD where'd you have Ratler number

one overall right I did absolutely and last year I mean he was top 10 completion percentage in

the league and he had the fifth fastest time in the throw I just feel he's in a bad situation with

the Saints right now but I mean outside me he's got the second highest completion per

stage of the 2024 draft class next to Drake Bay out of all the guys do you do you think jaden

will ultimately be successful here no because because of injury or performance both okay

the thing that concerns me the most about what I saw to Jay and Daniel's last year wasn't the

injuries I mean yeah he you know he loves to run like he's dairy country and Henry he doesn't have

the bill for and is the completion percentage plummeted last year in terms of his accuracy but the

thing that concerns me the most about Jay and Daniels is I didn't see the same confidence or swag

that he showed in his rookie season I that didn't show up at all and that's the thing that concerns

me yeah one last one for you a lot of commanders fans would love Jeremiah love to be there at number

seven to draft him how does he compare to other top running backs drafted recently whether it's

like a beijon robinson or some of the other top guys jambier Gibbs who who's Jeremiah love in your

eyes the best out of all of them yeah he's the best of all of them I mean might come for him at

the sake one Barclay I mean he this is a guy that is an explosive cup back home run hitter

he's a guy that there's a space space architect it's what I call him he squeezes space

better than only running back I've ever evaluated he's a guy that's very calculate as a runner he

optimizes the angles as a runner he's a legit receiver on the back field he's a guy that's

as selfless as they come I mean he he blocks with the same passion as he runs with and he's a guy

that's very durable he's ever missed the game because the entry and he's a guy that doesn't

fumble no fumbles lost to go in ESPN the last three seasons this guy would be a true difference

maker in Washington would be the best running back Washington's had since since like I said since

John Reagan's so I feel like he's the these the best dance your question of all the running backs

have come on the past few drafts hey real quick before let you go would you be opposed to

if the commanders were at seven and Tate was gone and you know some of these other loves gone

but they still wanted to stay in offense and they drop down a few spots to take Kenyans to

the tight end out of Oregon or ran a four three yeah I would be all for that I love you

even even though they didn't sign a tight they signed a tight end obviously in for agency yeah

absolutely I think what it does is it creates a different kind of component for Jayden Daniels

that that isn't available to a lot of teams and now all of a sudden Washington has two good

tight ends they can run different packages because a lot of times these tight ends are matching

up against linebackers and safeties who are stiffer athletes and these good tight ends basically

can change direction fast and they can get to the break point faster and they catch windows

and they catch points because Kenyans speak yeah I mean he's a special player he's the best blocking

tight end I've ever evaluated he also has great hands I really love how he matured on his

Oregon tape in 2025 he ran about 18 routes that really sold me I had a third round great I was

2024 film but when I saw those 18 routes I was like okay yeah he's running sophisticated routes

now he's running he's gotten a lot better I feel like he'd be a tremendous weapon for Washington

on offense if he's there somehow they they fall into him I would love that pick Daniel always

enjoy having you on that's Daniel Kelly former NFL Scout with the Jets you can follow him on

Twitter at first round mock thanks pal thanks buddy thank you man and thank you guys enjoy the

graft everybody all right we will I tell you I think there's something to the Mendoza like

he doesn't have necessarily the physical traits that you would think because historically at one

overall I think that could be something there and then styles I worry he could be of combine

free too well you don't have huge numbers at Ohio State 50% of the basically 50% of the first round

picks bust right yeah I think he might be on someone's back look Peters might look at styles

we're not touching him I think it's with seven we watch we don't know we want sack last year we

watch Ben Doza take on Carson Beck and who looked like the better quarterback in that game

well to me it wasn't even close man Doza yeah every time he needed to make a big throw maybe it was

on the outside yeah he made the big throw I'm not saying then he made the big scramble back

is his back is as quick as me I'm not outside the pocket and then he under threw when he had a big

throw on a chance he under threw it I'm not saying I agree with his evaluation of back but I

might agree with it on Mendoza yeah but you wouldn't slip him down to the fourth round maybe I

have four extra ratler ahead of Jaden Daniels and Caleb Williams and Drake May yeah I mean every and

and the other guy be out every scoundler every scoundler I'm forgetting his name the Norland's

quarterback that was drafted every scout that I've listened to kind of evaluate Mendoza

has him number one overall and a good fit I know you don't know none of them have said

Carson Beck I don't want to say that I officially do want to say I'm not convinced he's going to be a

star I'm not convinced I don't know there's going to be a star I'm just saying in terms of the

evaluation yeah people don't have Carson Beck above Mendoza for the most besides Daniel I don't

yeah clickbait 1-800-636-1067 if you want to chime in we're the junkies coming right back

be sure to join 1-067 the fans draftite watch party at honor brewing and loud and that is

this Thursday night we're going to be hosting live from 630 till 8 pm leading you right up to

the NFL draft kick off and then Grant and Danny take over they've got the live coverage from

8 until 11 pm that's going to be packed oh I would imagine yeah because it's the weather's

going to be nice yeah it's going to be the 70s the places awesome inside now it's going to be packed

perfect hope to see a lot of people there for our draft night watch party hopefully goes better

than the last time we were there at honor brewing remember because the eagles smoke the commander

yeah well it was particularly one side yeah but you know what at least they were there it's right

they made it got that far all right let's go to the root guest hotline rude the most reliable

heating and air conditioning products in the DMV were joined by Ben standing commanders

reported for his last man standing sub stack Ben by the way tomorrow at 8 o'clock we're going

to be doing an NFL draft insider draft amongst the junkies and producers and because you have

three time NFL mock draft champion in your Twitter bio I'm guessing you're going to be a pretty high

pick somebody's going to pick Ben standing early tomorrow I would guess if they're smart what wow

I I don't know what to say I wasn't prepared for this I didn't prepare speech I look forward to

I look forward to seeing where I go yes somebody's going to be backing the Ben standing horse yeah

could be me you know I draft pick who knows for sure all right well I feel bad now I mean if

why if standing's up there he's on the board and it's my pick I gotta take him back I need some

context who did you win against yeah good question well the yeah the the huddle report it's

I mean pretty much anybody answers and we dangled Jeremiah Peter Schrager whoever I don't

know if they were in big time like exact years but yeah I mean it's a lot of randos of course I

was a randot when I first try to do it but but yeah I mean it's it's you know it's got

legit haters in there have you ever heard of a guy question your bonafide so I was not I know

your legit hey Ben have you ever heard of a guy named Brendan Dona you from sharp football analysis

I haven't heard of him I don't know him but I've heard of him yeah okay all right why I was

just doing some research he's on your board he's on my board he's been he's been one of the more

consistent mock draft guys since 2017 so all right he's on the board all right so Ben let's

talk about you keep him off your board let's talk about this draft here I know uh draft was

kind of breaking my balls because he's like look all these guys aren't going to hit and of course

there'll be bus but on paper I think you know I'll be excited who they pick if they stick and pick

it seven which I would hope that they do actually uh I think we're going to get a really really

good play play player on paper sure they can bust I never thought chase young would basically

bust but he sort of has um do you feel the same way that that that that that it's like the first

seven or eight guys that we all can kind of agree upon at least in the media that if they get one

of those guys you should feel pretty good about it yeah I mean I this whole draft cycle right now

is breaking my brain it's all over the place there's no form to what's going to happen in front of

them and and that's you know made it hard to figure out exactly what might be there but to the broader

picture that you're talking about whether it's Jeremiah love whether it's Caleb down sunny styles man

Jordan Lane you know whichever like I think that that player you're gonna be like okay they got a good

player and we'll see what happens like I don't it would be pretty hard for them to draft somebody

that I'd be like well that's weird right uh you know so I think they're in a pretty good

but I mean I don't think even if they took an offensive lineman which is not gonna we've all been

talking about would be a little bit out of that but I think it would be like I think it would be

stunning if they did it would be it would be it would be curious or sure but I can even that like

I'm never going to yell at a team for taking an offensive lineman but that's that's that's

further down the list I don't think that's completely yeah I mean they're in a pretty good position

to get a player of eat I mean you know some of yours that works out were the draft the prospects

kind of fit all your all of your issues right and that this is one of their years right so I think

we're gonna take windows off the board right and you know they're not gonna draft a quarterback uh

Reese Bailey love styles down state a listen to media we don't know we're not in the real war rooms

we're just guys that study this right and people that do this of those guys I kind of like them all

but the one that I'm the most scared of seems to be the one that everyone claims that they love

sunny styles I'm scared of a guy who's a combined freak but the production doesn't necessarily match it

I don't hate your thinking here um you know look obviously the the the combine numbers

for off the charts his versatility the explosive athletic explosion would be really good fits for

what we believed Dorante Jones wants to do with his defense now I will say that in talking to people

over the last you know several weeks I've not heard a single negative thing about Caleb Downs

I've not heard a single negative thing about Jeremiah love other than just like the the usual

running back and safety or you know the young typically back in that high but this is right yeah

style that it's uh there's a little bit more and sort of in the vein of what you said it's like

okay he you know he was like looking to you there's like a top 12 pick prior to the combine then

all of a sudden it blew up that there's like you look at the tape that there's some plays where

he's not making the the the impact with that athleticism that you would like to think this is

again what people are what people said to me but maybe nobody's like well this would be terrible don't

do it right it's more like okay maybe the hype is just a little overcooked um so I get your

trepidation for sure but at the same time you know the athletic package it's all pretty impressive

and no doubt yeah and you know for work you know for where this defense is to add a piece like

that would be a pretty fast thing so since you just used the phrase where this defense is we

were talking earlier about edge rushers and defensive line what is your kind of assessment of what

they have right now after free agency at end well I mean look obviously you owe away from a

you know but look the number one goal to me for that going into this fragmented period was get

younger get faster and this you know this guy that checks both of those boxes whether he's

ultimately a true like alpha number one pass rusher we'll see he doesn't have Cleo Mack or

guys like that around him he'll be the main guy that people focus on but you got to like

the potential there for sure and then chase on had a really good year with the patriots last year

you know kind of a former first round pick who finally kind of found that level it felt like last

year so I think that's a good combination you know the the death behind him that I had to

throw all the men who obviously dormant so I'm strong coming off the injury I mean I think

that's a pretty good group right there so I think they're I think they're good there and then

you know inside is a little bit interesting because I'm still not positive if you're really going

to run a traditional like three four look and then everything moves around it I'm not quite sure

who the nose tackle is but okay with Tim settle and some of the guys they had before they at least

have a few off and so I think it's a pretty good group and then you add you know maybe the real

key is wouldn't you have Leo Chanel and Frankie Louville being moved all over the place and

running you know both those guys are sea ball get ball type linebackers that you know that's

maybe where the secret sauce comes in you're gonna have you know six seven guys coming hard at the

quarterback rather than just the traditional lineman so you know I'm not suggesting that they are

the 85 bears by any stretch but certainly it looks like it's gonna be a lot better more options

than they had a year ago ban on your sub sack you have an article where you have six mock draft

scenarios for the commanders let the listeners know what the thread the needle concept is where they

move down in the trade with the chiefs and still pick a name that they're interested in.

God I'm such a nerd um okay uh yeah so I mean I think to me like you know the biggest need

this year is more picks right the they only as we know they only have the two in the top 100

even if they nail those picks like you know you still could use a little bit more so how do you

but the problem is this is a draft it's pretty thin at top after the top a 10 or 11

picks prospects it does seem like there's a real legitimate drop-off in terms of tier

you know talent the tiers so how do you do both how do you get more picks and that um I I think

every time I look at the two teams right behind them the saints and the chiefs it feels like

those two teams are buying for similar players whether that's Rubin Bane whether that's uh you know

what K.A. Cardel paid or Jordan Tyson it still like maybe there's a little bit of a bidding war

there and with the chiefs you're obviously they should be back in the Super Bowl contention so

they want to get a guy maybe they move up so the deal I had was the chiefs moving up from nine to

seven Washington gets an extra force this year and next year it's not it's not another top 100

pick I understand that but it's something and they don't fall all the way out of the top talent

here so in that one um they would get uh I think this the one right they get man toward the lane

yeah the LSU cornerback and the the way I've tried to look at Washington the last

since uh the last few weeks is because the rumors are all over the place is look at Adam

Peters track record and then try to define it that way and they have drafted nothing but high-end

athletes so far you know if you've got rascals I'm sure you guys are familiar with every single

player they have drafted has been in the top part of that group and then in this draft that would

mean Jeremiah Love that would mean Sonny Styles David Bailey or uh Mansor Delane so I don't know

the cornerback is necessarily the number one thing that they need but if they do need one so

that's how they to meet it would get an extra pick and still get a player that would help them a lot

if they do trade down Ben we kind of talked about this yesterday on how far they should go down

but if they did trade out and go down how far should they go what's the limit I don't think they

should go to 16 I think that's a little far down to the jets I was saying like nine that maybe

12 would be okay because I still think you're still getting a real a good stud and those top

nine to 12 players once you get down to 16 yeah you could get a really good player um I don't know

what what's your opinion on that yeah I mean I've done everything I've done a mock draft and I

get to the Cowboys at 12 I'm always like oh poor Dallas I don't think they've got I think they're about

to they get the clip here I think they're getting you know what where there's a drop off no again

if you like some of the offensive lineman that could change a few things but we're you know

assuming that that's not Washington's top priority I kind of feel like 11 is where is it probably

the outer limit for them now again I'm assuming there'll be a couple of offensive lineman pick but

every time I do a mockery look at others whether it's the lane or tape or down somebody still seems

to be on the board but once you get past that it's where it gets tricky now I would say this if

they do decide that getting picks is the thing um I had another trash scenario where I get

I called it yolo basically look if you go past that tier point right you get into the 12 or 13

go all the way because it's that point that the gap between picks 12 13 14 15 doesn't seem

to be that much different than picks 30 31 32 etc so keep trading down will be my call uh to get

more picks because I just don't it does not seem like the town gap is that great once you get

outside of that initial blue chip tier gotcha all right good stuff that I want to ask you do you

want to give us one surprise pick in the top seven that you think could kind of upset the whole mix

oh boy um yeah you know look I think Caleb damned is the cleanest prospect yeah here it's just

that whole safety thing plus he doesn't have these crazy athletic traits that that that seems

would typically like to get but in a year where there seems to be a lot of uncertainty the most

certain thing might be that he is just a stud so the giants now with that extra second round with

that extra first round pick I could see them maybe single let's just take the guy that we know

will be the leader of the of our defense for years to go take him at five then worry about an

offensive lineman or a receiver at 10 so down to five maybe that's not a big surprise but you know

it's still an odd one to take a safety that high right Ben I expect to hear your name called early

tomorrow eight o'clock during our insiders mock draft tomorrow so that's I'm ready I'm ready to

accept the the honors and yes there's a couple people out there you got to just pick me ahead of

I don't want to say who but you know you know tell me

I don't want to stop Brendan don't you all right Ben stand and command us for two or last man

standing substats thanks buddy we will do that draft tomorrow at eight when we come back

will give you a chance to win a pair of tickets to the R&B tour starring usher and Chris Brown

that comes in northwest stadium this summer keep listening for your chance to win

so we had Daniel Kelly on the show earlier always controversial some people hate us having him on

he's the former NFL scout with the jets first round mock on Twitter most controversial thing he

said on our show was Carson back should be the number one pick that over Fernando Mendoza

that's a hot one who he grades as a fourth round quarterback that's fine that's controversial enough

Mendoza being a fourth rounder but Carson back number one let's go Carson back of course

transferred from Georgia to Miami yeah got them all the way to the national title game

this is pretty interesting apparently Ty Simpson who most people believe is going to be the

second quarterback drafted after Mendoza possibly a first rounder from Alabama considered staying

in college why because Miami offered him six point five million dollars to transfer to play

for the hurricanes yeah now if he's a first round pick in the NFL he's guaranteed for your contract

20 million five million year he could go play at Miami for one year make six point five what would

you do I'd probably go back to college I probably would do yeah I mean back said he'd even take

classes for two years because then Simpson could get even better because a lot of people kind of

criticize him just because he hasn't played a lot of college football I basically played one year

I mean he was in college but he was he was a backup and then played one year so you can go make

six and a half million get better and improve your draft stock for next year that's draft stock

could lower it could if you had a bad year but if you assume he's going to get better draft class

next year's better because you've had archmaning and maybe but he could have a great year and he

could be a top five pick and then a minimum for a quarterback star of team six point five million

dollars even a minute that's life changing that is you can make it six point five in college at Miami

well he's probably already had life changing money at Alabama yeah for for one year probably not

six and a half million no no two or three million maybe yeah I mean that's that alone is like yeah

but then you make another six six and a half yeah but last year Nussmeyer and Clubnick and

sellers they're all first round QBs and none of them are there right now so it doesn't that's why

I think you do it when the stock is hot you go and he's maybe not be hot to go one yeah because

it drives exactly right because I looked at it like but he can easily be a second-rounder like he's

not a lock first-round pick right but he's a second-rounder he gets hurt as a bad year then he

could go to fourth fifth like yeah but he can make a six point five lock up that six point five

now yeah and then if you invest it right you should be gold I mean we'll never know how it's

gonna work because he he's obviously gonna be in the NFL but that would have been tough to turn down

right six and a half million would have been tough to turn down me he himself said it would have

made me the highest paid player in college and it was something to where I was like I just can't

ignore this I have to sit down and think about it that's how I am I don't want to do anything

sporadic I want to sit down and think about it but man six point five million dollars to stay in

college I know especially down on Miami we got a chance to win a national championship all right

let's connect with our next guest Charles Davis NFL network analyst you can see him on NFL

networks coverage of the 2026 NFL draft in Pittsburgh starting Thursday at eight pm what's going on

Charles hey yeah you guys doing one house everything hey Charles did we were just talking about it

I'm sure you heard about it that Ty Simpson was offered almost seven million bucks to go play

at Miami and decided no I'm gonna go yeah try it in the NFL and and look if he gets drafted in

the first round he'll get a big deal but right would you turn down six and a half million dollars

just to play one year and possibly get better as a player and maybe increase your draft stock for

next year I think all those are valid questions and in a lot of cases other people would say yes

I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna go to another place and try and prove my draft stock while pocketing

sixty seven million dollars I heard what he said about it he said he wanted his legacy to be

Alabama Alabama only that makes sense the other part of it that makes sense to me is he and his

group believe that there's a good chance he's going to go in the first round which is understandable

they've done their homework and look he's no babe in the woods as you guys know his dad's a

longtime college football coach he was probably doing his first three to five step drop when he was

four years old and dad was critiquing that so this kid's been raised in it and gets it here's

what I think and this is just one person outsiders opinion okay I think because they understand the

process and are a little saviour in the average bear they watched okay um chambles at all miss

fight to get an extra year they watched Dante Moore to Oregon and down he was going back to school

they saw how things fell this year and I think they realized we're the only one standing is this

number two quarterback right we're it yeah and worst case scenario we go in the second round and

probably early like we're looking at Arizona 34 and I think they were willing to take the chance

and go ahead and do it now maximize as opposed to do I go back it's supposed to be a deep pool

again next year right what if something goes hey why are because you remember this year's class

was supposed to be a really deep pool we were really excited about the quarterback from 2006

and boy is that falling by the way side so maybe they hedged their beds a little bit and said you

know might be as hot as we're gonna get right now guys let's give it a shot that's just me I've

not talked to the Simpson camp they could refute me in a heartbeat that's just one outsiders

observation of the whole thing but to your point when yours last year going in the seventh round

to the dolphins I think tell me if I'm wrong did you guys hear the same thing somewhere in the

neighborhood of six every million dollars go to another school yeah play that year because you

know it was time time was up in Texas and I don't know if he just didn't want to go back to school

you know didn't want to do that that was entirely up to him but seventh round money did not equal

what he could have made back in school no right it's up it's up to each person and I never

as I've been taught along the way never mess with anyone else's money and don't do domestics

they added domestic all right that's not your place to go I just wish them all luck but it's a

valid question especially in this day and age where if you look at quarterbacks with less than 20

starts in college right and they're successful rating the NFL not real good not good I know Charles

let's get to what the Washington commanders are looking to do at number seven assuming they don't

trade out of that pick one of the names we hear about is Caleb Downes you played college safety

what do you see from here down on film he's complete safety I mean he can play in the post he can

play by the live as he'd be a hangar by the line of scrimmage box guy you know he'll cover

of cover people in the slide who do all those things about 205 pounds well constructed and look

leadership off the charts football IQ off the charts Nick Sabin as you know if you want if you

were on the coach of staff at Alabama you did not want to be the secondary coach because that was

coach Sabin's expertise so that's where he spent all of his time but he turned the secondary

over to a freshman named Caleb Downes you know you know you know rare that is for Nick Sabin

do something like that that tells you about this kid he's a complete package here's the difference

he's not built like Eman Worry he's not built like Darwin James not built like Kyle Hamilton

can he do all the same things yet to an extent I would say yes but I think it's going to be a

different style that he brings to it and he's well aware of it excellent football player though

one of probably one of the top five talents in this draft even if he doesn't go on the top 10 in

the draft just because a lot of times we won't take us 80 that high remember Hamilton went 14

okay Darwin James went why 18 19 and Eman Worry went in the second round so maybe that helps Caleb

Downes where people go let's not make that mistake again and maybe there's just someone takes

him early in the top 10 who knows we had someone on the show a little earlier who was a former scout

and he they don't like sunny styles they say he's a great athlete but they they don't think he's

worth a top 10 pick I think he had him can't remember where he said he had him on his board but

I think sunny styles as a stud and maybe he's maybe he's just going to be a freak because of the

combine numbers but what you what you're taking on sunny styles and would he be a good fit at seven

for Washington he'd be a great fit at seven for Washington I mean you know the Bobby Wagner thing

you need a new guy in the middle he's very intelligent raised in the game remember the old man played

the whole deal I think I think all of those things fit I do understand the reticence of the

scout that I've not met just going off with which you've told me and here's why I've had someone

that I trust very much in the league and you know what he said what he said to me was he said my

issue with linebackers is production over time in college matters in terms of pro potential and what

they do going forward I said we'll give me an example he said the guys that I've seen be the

most productive in the NFL when you go back to college he said stats are on everything but they

do mean something the hundred tackle guys you're in a year out hundred tackles bang bang bang bang

back and then it then it then it translates he said I'm not saying it can't and I know things

are different how he's run offense and all that but that's part of what it goes into it with him

look member styles was a safety who moved forward to linebacker that's not unusual

okay I'll just leave it at this and I'm not saying he is this guy Brian Urlapper was a safety

first in New Mexico who was running back punched before he became an all-world linebacker you know

at New Mexico and then in the NFL it can be done here's the only thing that and I know nothing

you're not going to find anybody knows less than me but when I when I see and he looks so long

and lanky almost styles for a linebacker and that just throws me a little bit you're worried

about him getting chopped down aren't I don't know I don't know I mean you're worried about those

legs and the whole thing that goes along with it like kind of like an Eric Gentry USC is like 65

right okay playing linebacker and I think he's probably going to convert more to an edge rusher

but all those things do come into play but if guys can play with leverage and can be protected

well by the guys in front and and run and move sometimes that doesn't really apply and let's face

it it's much more of a space scheme than it's ever been you're not as insane confined quarters

and that allows a guy like sunny style to to run and hit which is going to be perfect for him

when you're running 4 4 6 at his size what about uh take give me what you think is the upside for

for take because most people seem to just be they just assuming this guy's going to be a two

because he was a two in college and he'll just be a two yeah I think it depends on where he goes

like if he's going to get picked at number six by Cleveland he has to be a one right that doesn't

mean Jerry Judy look Jerry Judy's there and Jerry's going to be a one but you're not picking a guy

a six to be a two that is a legitimate thing though people have talked about that I had a

scout tell me he said I really like him a lot he said he's never been a one you know and and

ones typically blaze on the on the edge and do all the other stuff that he doesn't do but as

he a guy goes get the football yes as he a guy runs good route yes he ran to 4 5 2 and we act

like you know that's running in mud so that's so crazy I mean that's like he was three 100s away

from a four four I mean that's what Jerry Rice ran and he killed everybody Jerry Rice ran like a

force I mean the whole thing whole thing is wild I just put it to you this way it's not a

consistent thing but it's funny to how how it all works out Jake Bobo the reserve receiver for

Seattle okay special teams guy has stayed in the league he caught a touchdown pass in the playoffs

last year you know he ran for his 40 you ran a four nine so sometimes you find a way to play

now look you're not consistently going to win on the corner for nine all I'm saying is there are

places for people who know how to play the game and how many Ohio State receivers have we seen

not know how to play the game for Brian Hartlock not many it's pretty rare isn't it so I'm

well I'm willing to think the car now tastes gonna be okay Charles always I've having you on good luck

on Thursday of course NFL network all over it coverage begins at eight o'clock from Pittsburgh

thanks Charles thanks buddy hey thanks for having me guys you take care of yourselves okay all right

you two pound he's the best he's all good dude coming up next give you a chance to win those tickets

to the R&B tour starring usher and Chris Brown where the junkies coming right back