0:00

Empire. Yeah, I come after football. I've

0:02

seen it. Hello and

0:05

welcome to

0:10

my podcast. Do

0:15

me a favor, subscribe to the John Con Report. Wherever

0:18

you get your podcast, you watch it on YouTube,

0:20

hit that like button, hit that subscribe button. You

0:22

can find us there as part of Empire Media.

0:24

That's A-M-P-I-R-E. Always much appreciated

0:26

when you tune in. And don't

0:29

forget, you can read my work

0:31

on espn.com. Couple programming notes. Got

0:34

the draft finally almost

0:36

here. Yes, I'm just as

0:38

anxious as you guys to get this

0:40

over with. I am also tired of

0:43

the what are they going to do and want

0:45

to get into what does it mean and what

0:47

does this guy add? So the

0:51

starts Thursday. I will have a podcast

0:53

up Thursday morning, but also I have

0:55

one shortly after the selection is made.

0:58

And possibly with another reporter, possibly

1:00

with Bram. But suffice

1:02

say there will be one up Thursday with probably

1:04

about it within an hour or about an hour

1:06

and a half or so after the pick is

1:08

made. And then I'll have

1:10

one. I'll have podcasts throughout the weekend, going

1:13

over the picks, wrapping up the days, wrapping up

1:15

the draft, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So

1:17

look for that. Anyways, in a few

1:20

minutes, I'll be joined by a bunch of my

1:22

colleagues on the beat. I

1:24

wanted to get their opinion on one

1:26

thing. Who do they think Washington was

1:28

well-drafted and who would they draft? And

1:32

we brought on a bunch of

1:34

them. And it's JP Finley from

1:36

NBC Sports Washington and Monumental, Nikki

1:38

Gival from the Washington Post, Mitch

1:40

Tisler from Monumental Sports, Ben

1:42

Standing from The Athletic and The Standing

1:45

Room Only podcast, Michael Phillips

1:47

from 910 the Fan in Richmond, who obviously

1:49

used to cover the

1:51

team for the Richmond Times

1:53

Dispatch, Steve Wino from the Associated Press.

1:55

And I wanted to have Sam Fortier

1:57

on, shout out Mrs. Fortier, but. Sam

2:00

had a last minute call for a project

2:02

he was finishing, so unable to join us,

2:04

but I'll have him on at some point

2:06

for his thoughts, whether it's during

2:08

the draft or after at some point. Anyway,

2:11

so I wanted to get in that, and we did

2:13

discuss a few other things, and we kind of wrapped

2:15

up on one topic that I want to explore later,

2:18

which is at what point should this guy start? Is

2:20

he a day one starter? How

2:22

long could you afford to sit him, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera? And

2:25

we did talk about some other spots, you

2:27

know, tackle, but I did... There were

2:29

some follow-up questions in there, and it was a good

2:31

discussion, so I enjoyed it, and I hope you

2:33

enjoyed it as well. And

2:36

I made my pick for NFL Nation Mock Draft,

2:38

and that was on Tuesday

2:41

night, but I'm going to wrap up

2:43

what I did and why with

2:47

a longer discussion for Thursday

2:49

morning, so to get you ready for the draft. Anyway,

2:52

that's it for me. Nothing

2:55

more to say. We're getting close, folks. Nothing

2:57

has changed. Still think one

2:59

guy, the buzz is still there. We'll

3:03

see. Nobody knows for 100%.

3:06

I will say that. That's the fun part

3:08

of this, I think. Anyway, here's my

3:10

conversation with a bunch of my colleagues

3:12

who cover the commanders. Enjoy. Trades,

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www.theadventurepark.com backslash kind. That's

4:28

www.theadventurepark.com backslash kind. First

4:39

thanks everybody for joining me. This is going to be

4:41

fun I think. And I also just have to point

4:43

out that Ben

4:45

was a little upset because at first he thought he was

4:47

the only reporter who was invited to this. And

4:50

he thought we were going to go golfing or

4:52

something or putt-putting or whatever. So

4:54

I had to go off to the side

4:57

and say like Ben, they're coming here for a

4:59

reason. I explained it to him. And he was

5:01

okay. So Ben, I appreciate your mature response to

5:03

all that. Thank you. Anyways,

5:05

so all I want to come on

5:07

here and answer is two questions. Who

5:09

will they pick and who should they

5:11

pick? So I want

5:13

to start with JP because you clearly have some

5:16

other stuff going on. I'm

5:18

not sure what that is in the background but let's shoot.

5:20

I'm at a rave, John. I'm at a rave. I'm

5:25

at the garden for Caps Rangers game two. Why don't you,

5:27

I thought you were here. When are we going to meet

5:29

up? I can see you later.

5:32

Okay. Also, time. I love

5:34

that joke. I love it just as much the

5:36

third time as I did the first time when

5:39

you initially put it on the text drive. It's

5:41

a test crowd. I

5:46

think they should and I'm trying to get

5:48

this light fixed. Sorry, dude. I think they

5:50

can't, I think they will and should take

5:52

Jay Daniels. I think you make

5:55

an argument he's the best quarterback in this draft. I

5:57

definitely think he's the best quarterback available at

5:59

number two. I think it's

6:01

a playmaker league and that student makes plays.

6:03

I think the amount of improvement he made

6:05

this past season at LSU is

6:09

just astounding. And I love

6:13

the way he can get the football down the

6:15

field. I think he's

6:18

a pocket passer first and foremost, and he

6:20

can run. Like I don't describe him as

6:22

a runner. I

6:25

get the concerns about the weight, but he

6:28

can add it. All these guys can get hurt, all

6:30

these guys can get blasted. So I think

6:33

it will be and should be Jay Daniels. Was there a close

6:35

call for you? I

6:39

said all along that I think

6:41

there's a lot of reasons to like Drake. And I

6:43

like JJ, I know some art. I

6:45

also wouldn't mind, like if

6:48

they got a crazy haul and went to 11, I

6:50

like PENIX. I feel like they

6:53

have a lot of really good options. But

6:55

I think staying at two and taking a

6:57

guy that can maybe be an electric playmaking

6:59

quarterback for you for a decade is the

7:01

best option. There you go. Thanks, JP. Steve

7:04

Rhino from the Associated Press. Thanks

7:08

for letting me do this. So I'm kind of with

7:10

JP. I think they're going to take Jayden Daniels, and

7:13

this is going to be the pick even after the

7:15

whole kerfuffle about the bringing all four quarterbacks in at

7:17

the same time and all that. I think Jayden Daniels

7:19

has been the kind of leader

7:21

in the clubhouse this entire time. I mean, I

7:23

agree with JP that I think if I were

7:25

in this spot, I would have considered trading down,

7:28

getting a haul of picks. There are so many

7:30

holes on this roster of other things that need

7:32

to get fixed that I think if there were

7:34

other options, whether it was in free agency for

7:36

a stopgap quarterback, that if you don't love one

7:39

of these quarterbacks, if you don't fall in love

7:41

with a Jayden Daniels or a Drake May or

7:43

a JJ McCarthy, and you can move down, take

7:45

some of the pressure off and try to fill

7:47

some other holes, that's what I think they should

7:49

do. Ultimately, though, I do think it's going

7:52

to be Jayden Daniels in number two. So you'd

7:54

want to move down to pick Michael Penner from

7:56

the University of Washington? From

7:59

Washington, yeah. Yes, the Wawa representative on

8:01

the call, or if Bo Nicks happens to

8:03

like Wawa, he'd be okay too. Okay.

8:05

How far down do you think they could go to

8:08

get a guy that maybe they would want, you

8:11

think? That's what's so fascinating here,

8:13

John, is that I don't know how soon

8:15

the run of quarterbacks is going to be, because we're

8:17

all over the map. Is JJ McCarthy a top 5

8:20

quarterback? Is he a top 15? Is

8:22

Michael Penix a first-round pick at all? And kind

8:24

of where these guys get sodded in, do all

8:26

of a sudden, does the team panic and move

8:29

up? Does the Vikings need a quarterback? The Patriots

8:31

obviously at number 3 need a quarterback. There's a

8:33

lot of spots there that you could tell me

8:35

Michael Penix is at number 10 or 11, or

8:38

is at number 33, and nothing would surprise

8:40

me. The question is, you need to

8:42

figure out if you're Adam Peters, if he's even

8:44

considering, what you told us last week, they weren't

8:46

really considering this. How far you could move down,

8:48

and how many guys are on your list you'd be

8:50

comfortable taking before saying, we're not

8:52

going to go with a high quarterback in this draft?

8:55

And that makes sense. And I think

8:57

let's go to someone with their own

8:59

youth movement, Nikki Givala from the

9:01

Washington Post. I'm

9:04

with JP and Wino. I think they should

9:06

and will take Jaden Daniels. I've kind of

9:09

like waffled a little bit throughout the pre-draft

9:11

process. Like at times I've thought, you know,

9:13

they're taking May. I don't agree with it.

9:16

I've always thought they should take Jaden, but

9:18

I've kind of waffled a bit. And this

9:20

is all not anything

9:23

I've heard or been told from

9:25

anybody within the team, but just a hunch. But

9:28

I agree with what JP said. I

9:30

just think Jaden is the superior candidate

9:32

in this case. I would also agree

9:34

that I think he could be argued

9:36

to be the best quarterback in this

9:38

draft. You know,

9:41

I think he's a dangerous runner. I

9:43

think he's a very good

9:45

passer to who happens to be a dangerous

9:47

runner, similar to what JP said. I just

9:49

think he gives you so many options. And

9:51

frankly, they need a stud playmaker there. They

9:55

need a lasting quarterback there.

9:57

That's why I'm firmly against them trading back.

9:59

I know they could get a haul but

10:01

what good was is a haul if you

10:03

don't have a quarterback Which is what you

10:05

know, they've been cycling through for years,

10:08

you know, Marvin Harrison is an exceptional

10:10

talent But if you can't get

10:12

him the ball, what are we doing? So

10:15

III think it's Jaden I think they

10:18

put it to I wouldn't mind

10:20

seeing them try to come back into the first round

10:22

though and try to get a Tackle for that quarterback.

10:25

I think that would make a lot of sense and this is a

10:27

year. They have the resources to do it No,

10:29

no, can I can I

10:31

hijack your show John? How

10:34

come how comfortable are you because they're not gonna

10:36

get a good tackle like it isn't Jaden gonna

10:38

get killed in the first year That

10:43

would be illegal I mean like the last

10:45

ten quarterbacks in Washington got killed in the

10:47

first year So and that was

10:49

with a veteran. So well,

10:52

I'll just Hijacking

10:54

sorry since we're hijacking the show I'll

10:56

just say to Michael points like if

10:59

the assumption that everybody has I've been there too that

11:01

like they trade up for a tackle To then go

11:03

play and help the kid the most

11:05

of these tackles are wildly inexperienced so the idea

11:07

that you're gonna just like take one and put

11:09

them in there is like I don't

11:11

know that that's Reasonable if we're assuming that the

11:13

boards are their accurate. I do think that's like

11:15

a fascinating question I think that's

11:18

where it a lot of people do it

11:20

by the way your core deal is Lucas comes into play

11:22

for maybe four Or five games. Yeah. Well,

11:25

that's the question. Is it four or five or is it ten? By

11:27

the way, your ventriloquist act is amazing Yeah,

11:30

I'm your Nikki's. Oh, oh, what do

11:33

you mean? Well,

11:35

you know you get your little one here. He's like

11:37

talking on your behalf. Oh, yeah, yeah little

11:40

man Sorry, just hiding under here Nikki

11:42

how close do you think it'll

11:44

be between Jay Jayden Drake and

11:46

JJ? For the

11:49

commanders are for the commanders or for you. How close

11:51

was it was it close for you? No,

11:53

I mean, I I think he's he's

11:55

I think he's perhaps the best quarterback

11:58

in the draft frankly and

12:00

that someone is a North Carolina person. Sure,

12:05

exactly. How

12:07

close is it for the commanders? I mean,

12:10

I don't know. I hate admitting

12:12

that, but I don't. I

12:16

do wonder if the public

12:18

announcement that they're gonna stay at

12:21

two, it would take a miracle

12:23

for them to move back from two. I

12:25

think that tells you they have their guy. Or

12:29

at least they feel comfortable with one or two

12:32

of them. But I don't know, it's hard to

12:34

say. Here's to hear from

12:36

Adam after the pick. And then

12:38

I would welcome on America's podcast guest,

12:41

but Michael Phillips has his own podcast now.

12:44

So Michael, first of all, good to see you again. What

12:47

say you? Really hurt the brand

12:49

for me to get my own podcast. So

12:51

that was pretty disappointed, obviously. Look,

12:54

I think who you trade with is important as

12:56

where you trade, right? The Vikings have two picks

12:58

in the first round, but are you gonna be

13:00

picking in a good spot next year and the

13:02

year after that? I don't think so. I think

13:04

they're playing to win, obviously. And I think they

13:06

can win. I love the idea

13:09

of trading with the Raiders, honestly, in that

13:11

division with Harbaugh joining the division, with Peyton

13:13

needing to win right away, the Chiefs aren't

13:15

going anywhere, obviously. That's a team that could

13:18

be saddled, with some bad

13:20

seasons in the next couple of years. If you

13:22

can get me to 13 and you can guarantee

13:24

me that JJ McCarthy is gonna be there, I

13:26

wanna do it. But what did

13:29

everybody just say, right? There's no guarantees JJ

13:31

McCarthy is gonna be there. If you take

13:33

that gamble and lose, now you don't have

13:35

a quarterback and now it's a failure of

13:37

a draft in your first draft in DC.

13:39

It's just a really, really risky situation to

13:41

do that. Now, do you read into JJ

13:44

McCarthy? He wasn't invited to the draft, right?

13:46

The NFL didn't put him on that list

13:48

of elite guys that's there. Does that mean

13:50

anything? There's all sorts of things you can

13:52

read into. That's

13:54

the team I would wanna trade with or

13:57

trade with the Giants at six, but you know you're not gonna get

13:59

much in return. and you're still running the

14:01

same risk in the end, ultimately. So, yeah,

14:03

at the risk of being boring, they'll take

14:05

Jane Daniels. Of course, I think it's a

14:08

great selection. I thought JP had

14:10

a great line, right? It's a playmaker league. Drake

14:13

May could develop into Justin Herbert, right? But

14:15

but Jane Daniels could develop into Lamar Jackson.

14:17

And one of the two was playing for

14:19

the AFC title at the end of last

14:21

year, trying to drag his team across that

14:23

finish line. That's what you want. That's

14:25

that's the model in this league now. That,

14:28

you know, it's funny because the guaranteed of

14:30

where JJ McCarthy is is a big key,

14:32

if that's the guy they would want among

14:34

Kolesa. Of course, they did have Pennick's here

14:37

and as well on the

14:39

top golf visit. But I

14:42

don't know who knows where that guy is going to go

14:44

either. So, all right, cool. Thanks. Go

14:46

ahead. That makes it intriguing to me as a

14:48

as a stopgap option, right? As a guy who

14:50

can play a few years while you figure the

14:52

rest of it out. But again, if you move

14:54

too far back, are you going to lose on

14:56

your tackles to write, you know, Ben, Ben's my

14:58

guy on that. But I think there's probably only

15:00

at least two who are ready to go right

15:02

out of the gate and they could be gone

15:04

by 13 as well. And

15:07

Michael Pennick's to that point, Michael Pennick's is the same

15:09

age as Sam Howell right now. I mean, if you're

15:11

talking about a stopgap, he's probably more of a stopgap

15:13

than he is your long term solution. Possibly,

15:16

possibly. It depends. I think the medical to with him

15:18

is an issue. But,

15:21

you know, I think that that would be, you know,

15:23

I think you give him a shot and you can go back

15:25

in there if you don't if

15:28

he's not the guy. So then standing standing

15:30

room, standing room only podcast, the

15:32

athletic. Now, just one note, Ben

15:34

has done 12 mocks. So

15:37

he is guaranteed to get this right. But my

15:39

favorite one, Ben, is when you traded the second

15:41

pick and got 12 third round

15:44

picks and took Spencer Rattler and Joe Milton. I

15:46

always that was brilliant. Is that what you want

15:48

to do here or not? Not

15:52

today, OK, but

15:55

look, I rule nothing out. You

15:57

can't you can't do these things

15:59

without exploring. Boring every scenario and that

16:01

that was a fun one by the way,

16:03

then I'm gonna cut you off real quick

16:05

I do remember when they took Robert and

16:07

Kirk in the same draft You

16:09

actually had a podcast way back then or

16:12

some sort of show because I remember going on

16:14

and talking to you about that That's how long

16:16

ago it was. But anyway, yeah, it's been a

16:18

minute. Um, it was quite a memory old And

16:22

it's still standing room only Yeah,

16:25

sure Alright, so

16:27

can I just say start with this? Like

16:29

I'm not why no mentioned the

16:31

idea of Daniels being leader in the clubhouse and maybe

16:34

I Don't

16:37

know what anybody else thinks I think we're veering

16:39

into Ben John Ben Johnson territory here the idea

16:41

I was what for the draft then? You

16:44

know, well, he would make he he'll actually be in

16:47

the trade doesn't need to get on a plane or

16:49

anything But I'm gonna go ahead. Sorry. No,

16:51

that's right. Like I don't know what leader in

16:53

the clubhouse means. They're not talking You

16:57

know to the national insiders if they

16:59

mention anything nobody says sources this

17:01

entire thing is becoming We're all

17:03

saying X therefore we're gonna change it. I saw

17:06

Daniel Jeremiah I'm out of this speculation leader

17:08

in the clubhouse according to all rumors

17:10

and speculation Am

17:12

I right and the betting lines to be fair in

17:14

the betting line? The betting lines are based on what

17:16

we're saying like that. They're not based on anything My

17:19

only point is that we just went through this

17:22

with this organization That everybody's assuming one thing and

17:24

then it becomes something else Entirely

17:27

if I had to bet I would say Jaden

17:30

Daniels, but that's been and that's

17:32

been where I've been at since like early March But I'm not

17:34

you said there's no leader in the clubhouse and you had a

17:36

leader in the clubhouse No, I had

17:38

to pick somebody they make me this is the

17:40

point they force us all we have to we

17:42

have jobs We have to talk we have to

17:45

write you got to put something down the fact

17:47

that Daniel Jeremiah this week said all his guts

17:49

Says Drake may but because everybody

17:51

is talking about Jane Daniels He switched a guy

17:53

who this is what he does. He talks to

17:55

everybody. He is switching because of the

17:57

rumor So I'm just saying be cautious I've

18:00

been going with Daniel. The

18:03

JJ McCarthy thing, I very, if

18:07

you gave me another week, I might go with JJ

18:09

McCarthy, but I'll go Jayden

18:11

Daniels. I just, I

18:13

would say just be prepared, because I think

18:15

this idea that like it's some slam dunk

18:17

is that that it's going to be Daniel's, because we're all saying

18:20

it is, we just went through this. So I'm not

18:22

buying that. Well,

18:25

way to suck the life out of the air, Ben. What do

18:27

you mean? I'm kidding. I just

18:29

got quite listen, I agree with you. I

18:31

even there with that was the lesson from

18:33

the Ben Johnson thing is, is exactly that

18:35

you don't know. And the curveball would not

18:37

surprise me at all. So I also want

18:39

to bring on Mitch Tischler, because I know

18:41

Mitch, you got him. Is it Joe Alt

18:44

and number two, or what are we doing

18:46

here? I would love

18:48

any other draft. I would love

18:50

a Joe Alt or Olufeshano or whoever it

18:52

may be. But this one,

18:54

I'm not trading unless our ball

18:56

goes off the reservation and makes

18:58

Herbert available to maybe

19:00

bring JJ to the chargers,

19:03

which I don't expect to happen. So in

19:05

that case, I'm not making a trade because

19:07

I think you need it. You

19:09

need one. If you stick it to, you

19:11

get to make the decision on who you're going

19:13

to take. And more so if you start looking to next

19:16

year and two years from now, you

19:19

know, obviously the quarterback classes will change as they

19:21

go through their their years in college, but they

19:23

don't look nearly as strong as this group of,

19:25

you know, three or four guys that are coming

19:27

out this year. And so I want my pick

19:30

from from the strongest class and from the strongest

19:32

group. And to me, I think it's going to

19:34

be Jayden Daniels, kind of like everybody else. To

19:37

Ben's point, I don't think it's a slam dunk by

19:39

any means, just because we're saying that we

19:41

think that's that's who it's going to be. Doesn't mean that,

19:43

you know, that's the top name on the board in Ashburn.

19:46

But for me, it's all along. It's

19:48

been the things that Jayden Daniel needs

19:51

to improve on, I think are easier

19:53

to adjust to at the NFL level than

19:55

the things that Drake may need to may

19:58

need to improve on. And for that, reason

20:00

I want to go Jaden because while he's

20:02

improving on whatever deficiencies you want

20:04

to point out for him he can use

20:06

that elitiflesism to make plays and keep an

20:08

offense moving so to me I like Jaden

20:10

in the spot I also like them to

20:12

trade back into the first round to get

20:15

an offensive tackle but we don't want that be

20:17

who would that be Mitch come on I know

20:19

you got do you have a guy there are

20:21

a bunch of dudes that I like and

20:23

it's gonna be interesting to see kind of

20:25

everyone keeps talking about eight nine ten offensive

20:27

linemen in the first round there's

20:29

only 32 picks there I don't know that that's gonna be the

20:31

case and they might be able to stick back closer to 36

20:34

and and and get a guy but

20:37

to me a Mariusman is my

20:39

favorite my favorite tackle of the

20:41

class and outside of the

20:43

Joel and Olufishanu group who I

20:45

think are far and away the top two how

20:48

excited would you be if 10 oleiman went in

20:50

the first round like what would that

20:52

what would admit what would Mitch Tischler like

20:54

on Thursday night if that happens I

20:57

would only be super excited about that if one of them

20:59

comes to Washington because the point being

21:01

this team filled so many gaps during free

21:03

agency that they're not boxed into taking anybody

21:05

anywhere two positions are boxed into taking

21:07

early in the strap offensive tackle in

21:10

quarterback and if they end up wanting to

21:12

wait or sit back at 36 and

21:14

see what happens I don't want to fall

21:16

into the you know into the

21:18

into the the back end of

21:20

that the back end of those kind of top eight

21:22

top ten offensive linemen who can step right in and

21:24

make a difference right away and draft a guy like

21:27

Patrick Paul or whoever it may be that

21:29

might need a little bit more time to develop before you can get

21:32

on the field well very good so

21:34

my pick also would be Jaden Daniels I think

21:36

that's who they will pick I think that's who

21:38

they should pick and I thought you know early

21:40

on I was on Drake May very early in

21:42

the process the more I watched the Daniels the

21:44

more people I talked to in the league so

21:46

like some of you guys like the more people

21:49

you talked to the more Daniels name would come

21:51

up and the guy who's ready to help you

21:53

right now but also can still get

21:55

better I think the assumption is that he is

21:57

he's closer to his ceiling and then

22:00

And then you talk to some other people, like they don't,

22:02

I think they would dispute that because I think the strides

22:04

he made as a passer at LSU over the last couple

22:06

years really showed some

22:09

of what he could do when he starts, when he's

22:11

able to have more coaching with it or whatever, whatever

22:13

it was to help him get there, maybe putting a

22:15

certain amount of work into it that I think that

22:17

makes a difference for him. Then you add the legs

22:20

that can be a weapon and every

22:22

defensive coordinator or coach that we've all

22:25

talked to hates facing guys like Jaden

22:27

Daniels. And I think that's,

22:30

to me, that's a big separator. And as other

22:32

people said, he's a passer who can run. And

22:34

I think the other thing that's interesting would be if

22:37

they did trade back a couple spots, let's say,

22:39

I think then the target would be JJ McCarthy

22:41

because I think May would probably end up going

22:43

third to New England. I don't know

22:45

that you could take a JJ at number two.

22:48

I just think that's a pretty big swing. So

22:50

that's where Ben, I agree with the Ben Johnson thing

22:52

where it's like, there was, it was

22:54

a little bit of a surprise, except that it

22:57

was a going through the process and people jumping

22:59

to conclusions before they finished the process. But

23:02

I think in this case, there's too much

23:04

too many people who that I respect who

23:06

keep saying Jaden is the guy

23:08

in this class and that the gap between

23:10

Caleb and Jaden is closer than the gap

23:12

between Jaden and some of the others. So

23:15

I would not be shocked if they went a different

23:17

way, but that's the way I'm expecting them to go.

23:20

So that's it for the conclusions on

23:22

Ben Johnson besides Boomer size. There

23:25

was everybody. He

23:28

was the one that said they're going to hire. I mean, there's

23:30

a lot being a favorite. I

23:32

think it was just the assumption. I think it was more

23:35

just the assumption. Yeah. Nicky,

23:38

would you say he was the leader in the clubhouse per

23:40

se? Yes,

23:42

I would. Yeah. Yeah. Just

23:44

because they are doesn't mean. Yeah, but just because he's a favorite doesn't

23:47

mean he's the one that don't get hired. I think

23:49

it was, I think he was a favorite. I don't

23:51

know that he was D, right? Would

23:53

you agree that? Yeah. I

23:56

think you wanted to go through the process, right? fence

24:00

point, would there be another,

24:02

you know, I guess for election

24:04

terms, October surprise, right? And that's what I

24:06

think that's what going away from Jaden would

24:09

be at this point. So one

24:11

small thing, John, that I would maybe push back on a little

24:13

bit, at least just for me, if they

24:15

decide to go JJ McCarthy at two, I

24:18

think it would certainly raise eyebrows across the

24:20

league and across the fan base. But

24:23

the second that you trade back, you allow other

24:25

teams to dictate what you're going to do. And

24:27

there's no guarantee that that guy's going to get

24:29

there. If you're confident that JJ is the guy,

24:31

and that he's the second best quarterback

24:34

in this class, or the best quarterback in this class, whatever

24:36

it may be. I mean, you're putting

24:38

your you're putting everything out on the table.

24:41

And you're, you know, making a move that might not

24:43

be the most popular. But I want Adam Peters

24:45

to go get the best quarterback who they think is

24:47

the guy that can do it. And if that's JJ,

24:49

take him at two and deal with all the pushback

24:51

and hope that he develops into the guy that you

24:54

think that he is. I agree

24:56

with that. The only reason I would when I'm thinking

24:58

to trade back would be Minnesota jumps to let's

25:00

say four or five. And then

25:02

you swap with Minnesota and you're probably still

25:04

gonna that's that's as far as I would

25:06

probably go. And that's you better

25:08

make sure if that's the guy you want, because

25:10

I you know, if he is number two on

25:12

your list and you want them there, okay, short

25:15

of that, you take the guy you like it too,

25:17

because it's not worth risking it. I agree. I definitely

25:19

agree with that. If he's the guy you like, and

25:21

you say, well, people might not like it with so

25:23

what if he's the guy you like, that's who you

25:25

you like and you build and you go with it

25:28

from there. So anyway, hey,

25:30

listen, man, I appreciate everybody come on everybody have

25:32

any last minute thing they

25:34

want to plug or say to to

25:36

the project one more time. I'm curious everybody else who

25:38

is the week one starting quarterback for this team. Mark,

25:42

it's Marietta. The number two

25:44

pick. Well, if the

25:46

if it's Jayden Daniels, yes, if otherwise, it's Marietta.

25:49

What if it's been whoever is the

25:51

number two pick will start whether it's Jayden

25:53

Daniels or Drake may or

25:56

JJ, you don't you don't draft a

25:58

kid at number two and don't use them. I wouldn't even

26:00

play some of these guys year one but that's just me.

26:02

And you don't draft them. If you can't play right away, you

26:04

don't draft them. That's my feeling. The

26:06

Green Bay Packers would very much disagree with

26:08

you. The Green Bay Packers. They had

26:10

Aaron Rodgers. The team doesn't have Aaron Rodgers.

26:13

OK, the Cincinnati Bengals with Carson Palmer would

26:15

disagree with you. The Chiefs, my home was

26:18

a disagree with you. We don't have Alex

26:20

Smith anymore. The home's been played the first

26:22

year. The Chiefs are a playoff

26:24

team. Unless you think the team is legitimately a

26:28

playoff contender, there's zero reason to rush a quarterback.

26:31

No, there is because they don't have a

26:34

good veteran behind them. Marcus Miriota is not

26:36

that. But what does that have to do with

26:38

the goal is to develop a quarterback, not win

26:40

the first five games. Not to develop learning

26:43

behind Marcus Miriota, with all respect to

26:45

Marcus Miriota. Guess

26:47

you're dissing Taveeta Prichard then because isn't that the whole

26:49

point of having a quarterback, guys?

26:51

If you wanted a guy to start week one, why did you trade Sam

26:54

Hal? Exactly. Thank

26:56

you, Mitch. I think maybe I'm not

26:58

going to be sitting next to each other Thursday night.

27:01

I would say like that. I just narrowed down

27:03

my list of podcasts, guess, with this conversation. Good

27:05

Lord. I don't think I could be

27:07

further off the list, so we're good. We got two

27:09

minutes. So I'd say, Jayden, if they pick Jayden, he starts.

27:11

I think if it's JJ or Drake, I think you're going

27:13

to see him sit for four or five games. That's how

27:16

I, that's what I would say. And

27:18

I agree with you, John. At least

27:20

I've talked to so many people who say Drake may

27:22

should not play year one. Whether that's right or wrong,

27:24

I don't know. But that's what's out there. I heard

27:26

that with other quarterbacks, they always are going to play

27:28

week one. Or not week one. They're always going to

27:30

play the first year because it

27:32

just happens. And we've seen enough of that here.

27:34

And I don't think Marcus Mariota is going to

27:37

hold off a young kid like that for too

27:39

long. But I think they will get him in

27:41

there after about four or five weeks. But

27:43

we'll see. But I do think it's Jayden. It's week one

27:45

because the legs make the difference for him. It's

27:47

a business at the end of the day. And if

27:49

the argument is that Josh Harris says, we need people

27:52

in the seats, then they're where he starts. But from

27:54

a football perspective, I'd hit some of these guys.

27:57

How much does it? I don't want to go

27:59

down this road. How much does it hurt the rest

28:01

of the offense if you are starting with Marcus

28:04

Mariota at your quarterback? How can Cliff Kingsbury

28:06

accurately bring his offense to this team if

28:08

you have a quarterback that you

28:11

don't even know if he can run that offense particularly well? Is

28:16

the counterpoint there that was

28:18

Ron maybe done a disservice by making the

28:20

playoffs in his first year, right? Because it

28:23

raised the expectations on what the roster... Well,

28:25

no, he also lost getting a picking

28:28

where he should have been picking. Even outside of the draft

28:30

though, people are like, oh, it's a playoff team. And he

28:32

didn't diminish that at all. You

28:35

know, that maybe starting slow wouldn't be

28:37

the worst thing in the world. There you go. Can I

28:39

go back to... Nicki, we got

28:41

about 20 seconds. No, that's fine. All right.

28:43

Sorry about that. We'll save it for the

28:46

next podcast. Appreciate everybody coming on. Thank you

28:48

very much and hope everybody enjoyed it. Thanks.

28:56

That's it for this episode. Thanks to

28:58

JP, Mitch, Nicki, Ben, Michael,

29:00

and Steve for joining me. And thank

29:03

you as always for tuning in. I'll

29:06

be back on Thursday morning with

29:08

another podcast when the draft is

29:10

finally.