Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 12: The Greatest Shows in Sports (NHL Playoff Check-in + NFL Draft Recap)
16 Plays1 month ago
Hope springs eternal in draft season as every draft pick unlocks a world of what ifs, ceilings, and potential. The busts, the floors, the downside...save that for the fall! The sports world continues its spring heater as the NFL draft brought hope to all 32 fan bases this weekend. But which fan bases should actually have hope and which should prepare to be crushed? Plus, how should Texans fans specifically feel?
Plus, the NHL Playoffs continue on with some of the best matchups in recent memory, the MLB has no chill as we see our first managerial firing less than 30 games into the season, Mason Miller gets more flowers, and we have gambling drama in college sports again. All that and more on this episode of the Coastal Launch Sports Talk.
Recommended
Transcript
Welcome & Episode Preview
00:00:01
Speaker
hello and welcome to the coastal launch sports talk i'm cody coming to you from the bayous of houston texas and i'm justin coming to you from the magic of orlando florida and today we will be your destination for the nfl draft the texans walked away this weekend with eight new pieces to build towards this first ever super bowl appearance that feel like we've been building towards forever but feels more Real than ever as well. So we will be locked in on those eight players and how they help build us to that. ah Beyond that, the NFL playoffs never cease to deliver, and they certainly don't this year. And we've got our first managerial firing in the MLB, but will it be the last? Is there anyone on the table? We'll get to all that on this episode. So with our trajectory set, it's time to sit back, lock in, and get started with the
Texans' Draft Analysis
00:00:54
Speaker
rundown. This is the Coastal Launch, and we are ready for liftoff here on episode 12. All right, man. Let's jump right on in here. i The rundown this week, topic number one, as you have declared over the last couple of weeks, um we are officially a Mason Miller podcast. So this week, just to give everyone some stats,
00:01:14
Speaker
Two games pitched, two innings pitched as well. So one inning per game, one hit allowed, zero walks, zero runs, zero Ks. um And so from there, just kind of give everyone an update on what we're looking at.
00:01:27
Speaker
The stakes for the week are going forward. 34 and two thirds regular season scoreless streak um is the is where he is currently at. Is that what the note is here?
Mason Miller's Performance
00:01:38
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he's currently at 34 and two-thirds. But like we mentioned last week, there's some that does not include playoffs or WBC.
00:01:45
Speaker
So if we if we add playoffs in WBC, he's at 41 and a third. um Because I think that was like i think that was like six and what is that come to like six and two-thirds innings between those two. so But yeah the official like company line is 34 and two-thirds. So I'm sticking with that one because that's what we're – When we compare them with these other streaks, like that's that's what they're using. But I like to nod that like it's actually way more impressive than that.
00:02:13
Speaker
No, it's still very impressive. Obviously, we're talking more into it as well. Login's scoreless streak in Padres history, which is massive. um That's an organization that's been around for forever. um And then looking at um what we should be looking for going forward with the record, 41 innings pitches, the longest scoreless streak since 1961 for a reliever.
00:02:35
Speaker
um So that's massive for him. um And then as we mentioned last week, 59 innings pitched by Oral Hershiser is the longest of any pitcher um to go scoreless.
Miller's Strikeouts & Future Potential
00:02:44
Speaker
So still a little ways away from that, especially with Emily pitching one inning a game.
00:02:49
Speaker
um But still all all to be said, still very impressive. um You did want to talk about zero strike shots. Is this a sign of runs coming? So I'm going to let you plead your argument here.
00:03:01
Speaker
Yeah, and not much of an argument here, just a nod to say like one of the things we've been highlighting for Mason Miller is this insane strikeout rate that had to normalize eventually, I think, last week.
00:03:13
Speaker
I guess I keep all the notes on the same page, so I can scroll down to last week. It was still at 71% K rate. So this is the first week in a while where we have seen him get through without strikeouts.
00:03:26
Speaker
um and And just the kind of the thought on that is just the more balls that go and play, the more baseball can happen, right? Like the more a bloop single drops in no man's land or you get one of those Texas leaguers or a ball hits off the base, caroms and a single turns into a double. Like that's just the the more balls put in play, the more baseball chaos can happen or he gives up a run where you watch it. You say he pitched better than that. He shouldn't have given him that up.
Miller's Historical Comparison
00:03:58
Speaker
That's just baseball, baby. um And so that's just, that's kind of my thought. Like, Hey, zero strikeouts. Maybe, maybe we're trending towards the, him letting run by, but even writing that felt ridiculous because like, we're talking about like him giving up one run in like chaotic fashion as if that's like a bad thing right his era is still like 0.01 or something you it's it's kind of a ridiculous thing to think about but if we're gonna poke holes anywhere maybe a week without a strikeout is a sign of of runs to come potentially um i think for for where he's at right and just kind of where the padres are right i mean
00:04:43
Speaker
only going in two games is a sign of making sure that that team is also still playing in contention in games. So there also is, Hey, if he's only pitching twice, maybe that's a couple days apart. So is he going longer stretches without, without throwing? What does that look like for his routine?
00:04:57
Speaker
um Obviously closers have a much more stricter routine because they need to be ready just about every single game with maybe the exception of a few. So what does that look like for his routine and getting ready? You know, is he getting up in the ninth and or in the eighth they' be ready? And then all of a sudden,
00:05:10
Speaker
the other team was putting up runs, so now he's not needed in the ninth. So what does that look like? um So only time will really tell, especially with the Padres, you know, not necessarily being the most reliable team later on in games. Obviously, the goal is to get it to Mason Miller and let him do what he does best, but I don't think strikeouts down is a sign of runs up.
00:05:30
Speaker
um I agree with you that any time you start putting more balls in play, you allow the the unknown to happen in baseball. So for sure, it's something to keep an eye on, but I don't think strikeouts
Padres' Strategy with Miller
00:05:40
Speaker
is there. um I did see an interesting stat, and I don't have the stat in front of me. I wish I did. um is that I think where Ward is the the offensive player stat, there's a pitcher stat as well. think it's like FIP or something like that. Oh, yeah. XFIP. Well, FIP XFIP.
00:05:59
Speaker
Yeah, the stat basically said that Mason Miller would be better without the defense behind him, which is just insane. So he had negative, a negative fit, which I guess means somehow he managed to score a run. He not only gave up none, he scored one himself. Somehow he had a negative fit where fit is, I guess for anyone listening is similar to ERA. Like you're looking at a 3.5, 4.2 numbers like that. He had a negative.
00:06:28
Speaker
Yeah. So like insane numbers. So, mean, you know, we'll, we'll see, you I mean, if you look at it, basically 35 games is, ah pretty close to a quarter of the season, a little bit underneath that of a quarter of a season. So the fact that he is there already and, you know, we're talking what 15 more innings. So 15 saves ah if he can continue it away from it. So, mean, he could be there and about a month, month and a half. um if If the, if the Padres put him in that position for it. So, you know, we can definitely be in on record watch here, you know, mid ah at the beginning of summer mid summer range and just depending on the Padres, but,
00:07:04
Speaker
I'm running out of words to describe how impressive this is, especially when you include WBC in the playoffs from last year. Like what an insane run. mean, we're talking, you know, sorry, my math was off 25 games away from 25 innings. But if you include 41, that's where you're 18, you know, 17, 18 away from just the seven away from 41.
00:07:22
Speaker
that's where you're eighteen you know seventeen eighteen games away from just those seven seven away from forty one Correct. That's not a math day for you. Yeah, correct. No, no, i was talking about with including a WBC to get to Oral's record.
00:07:37
Speaker
i Oh, gotcha. Okay, no, I thought you were saying he's 17 away from 41. I was like, no, that's seven. No, no, no, no, no. No, yeah, he's he's really close to the reliever one. But yeah, for, you know, including WBC in playoffs, you know, we're, what, 17 innings away from the the record if you include everything. So and it's super impressive and it's something that the baseball world is definitely keeping an eye on. Like I've seen it pop up so much this week talking about how impressive he's been. So, but yeah, I'm, I'm running out of words to to describe this.
00:08:06
Speaker
Absolutely. I got nothing else
Red Sox Management Changes
00:08:08
Speaker
to, we can go on to, do you want me to start this next one? Because I think I don't, if I go second, I don't think I'm going to do justice to the victory lap you might end up taking. I don't know what you've got planned, but I feel like I'm going to fall flat if I go second.
00:08:22
Speaker
Yeah. You could take, you could take the topic. Yeah. Yeah, I'll take the topic that Alex Cora, the Red Sox have fired um Alex Cora, along with several other members of the staff, including hitting coach Pete fat see fats Fatsy, third base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramon Vasquez, assistant hitting coach Dylan Lawson, and hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin.
00:08:46
Speaker
um The Red Sox have handed over managerial duties to the triple A manager. um So a little call up to the big leagues for the for the triple A manager didn't see that one coming. I forget his name because I did not write that one down, but he's taking over. The the question I had here, which is just a question for myself, was, is it justified?
00:09:08
Speaker
um I started with the answer no, because I'm like, look, 10 and 17, you're 27 games into the season. This is a guy that has won you a World Series. This is a guy that has kept you relevant and competitive for, you know, this was his eighth season with the team.
00:09:22
Speaker
um he had 621 matchup.
00:09:25
Speaker
621 wins to 541 losses. So he's a 534 win percentage. And then I started looking and kind of realized that he has not kept them relevant for eight seasons like I had in my mind. I know you're more locked into the Red Sox.
00:09:40
Speaker
than me because they're a division opponent. I felt like they've been more competitive. I felt like they had been in the playoffs more. So first year with the Red Sox 2018 World Series champs, put an asterisk on that because people like to forget that the Red Sox were also ah incriminated by the MLB in a sign stealing scandal.
00:09:59
Speaker
to a lesser extent than the Astros the year before, who he was also a coach on that staff. So he's got two. They both have asterisks. 2019 and 2020, they missed the playoffs. 2021 bounced back with an ALCS appearance that they lost.
00:10:13
Speaker
I believe it was four games to two. Misses the playoffs for the next three years, 2022 2024, and then he loses in the wild card in
Alex Cora's Tenure Assessment
00:10:22
Speaker
I like, I kind of looked at this and looked at his win percentage. This five 34 win percentage is very buoyed by that 2018 season where he had over a hundred wins. Like,
00:10:33
Speaker
Dude, Alex Cora, I went from being like the Red Sox are overreacting. That's crazy. Like somebody's going to jump at this guy right away. He's he's young. He knows what he's doing. And then I like kind of walked away after, you know, maybe 30 minutes of looking at this being like, actually, Alex Cora was mad overrated as a manager. And like, yeah, it was good to go. So um that's my stance on it. I was still shocked by it.
00:10:57
Speaker
very early in the season to have let this guy come into the season and drop him after one month. um So shocking. But i'm going to hand I'm going to say that that's my piece. And I'm going to hand this over to you because I think you got a victory lap because you i dont you didn't call this specifically, but you called this dysfunction and I didn't believe you.
00:11:20
Speaker
Yeah. First off, i want to hit I want to hit you with a little bit of logic before I take my victory lap. I want to say just... Yeah, there you go. We're going to get demonetized. Sure.
00:11:33
Speaker
In terms of what he inherited, in terms of a Boston Red Sox team, he inherited Mookie Betts. He inherited um Crochet before before he moved on. like He had a stacked roster that won that 2018 World Series, and world series and you know as an AL East fan and myself in the Tampa Bay Rays, like you see these guys and you see the money, like they, they continuously spend money on the levels of the New York Yankees and, and the Dodgers and the Mets and all that stuff. So when you talk about what he is able to do and what he can, what he can do as a manager for this type of team.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah. It's a letdown for sure. It's a letdown because at the end of the day, like, you know, When you can spend that amount of money and you have the name and you have the ballpark and you have the reputation that the Boston red Sox have, especially since 2004, I think they've won at least four world series in that timeframe, like if not more.
00:12:24
Speaker
So you're easily talking about outside of the Dodgers
Red Sox's Strategic Shift
00:12:27
Speaker
being the most winning is franchise and and the last 20 years, 20 plus years. Um, so so yeah, just so looking from a justification standpoint for sure. Like this makes sense, right?
00:12:39
Speaker
Does it make sense this early in the season? I don't think so. Like that's in the, to put it in football terms, this is you firing a head coach like two weeks into the regular season.
00:12:49
Speaker
Yeah. Like it just doesn't, it just doesn't make sense. Yeah. This is like after game one, basically. Yeah. Like you're, you're a month into the regular season for, for baseball or just short of a month into the regular season for baseball. Like you haven't even gave them him a chance to call up triple A players. You haven't given them a chance to, you know, of course, correct the players that are up on the main roster all and all this stuff. Like,
00:13:10
Speaker
So like, is it fair to fire someone this early on in the season? No, I think at that point, you're basically tanking your whole season. Like you're at that. And that's, and that's an indie sport when you cut a coach this early on, right. That you're basically saying to the Boston Red Sox fans, Hey, don't show up for the rest of the year. Like there's no reason to to come to baseball games. Cause we're just gonna, we're gonna sell the team. We're gonna sell the roster and we're gonna getting ready for, for next year. We're gonna get ready to spend buku's of money going forward into the, into the off season or into whatever next year looks like.
00:13:39
Speaker
Um, But now I am going to transition to my victory lap because this is well-deserved. Cut the promo. um I want to start off real quick by saying that you, Cody Atkinson, told me that I was crazy for saying at the red so that the Red Sox were going to finish dead last in this division. I sat there and told you that it was going to be ah ah ah a a challenge between the Red Sox and the race for the basement of the AL East. And I want to sit here and tell you that I am right. And you were wrong. As you tried to tell me last week with the lightning, um, I'm gonna take this opportunity and sit there and tell everyone that I was right. And this is all coming off from the fact that if you look at what the red Sox have done in the last two years, by moving off of Devers, when they shouldn't have moved off of Devers, when they brought in Bregman and didn't have a plan for Devers that immediately should told you that Alex Cora didn't know how to feel the team.
00:14:28
Speaker
When you could have sat there and moved Bregman to short or moved Devers to shorter first base or whatever it was. and make everyone happy or just let Bregman DH. I know he's a great defensive third baseman, but you could have found a way to make that money make sense and then kept two all-stars on that roster, two people who have won World Series rings, two guys that have veteran presence in that locker room, and now they're both off
Red Sox Roster & Management Issues
00:14:50
Speaker
the roster.
00:14:50
Speaker
That immediately should have told you that the Red Sox were ah were a dumpster fire and didn't know how to field a team. And ah unfortunately for Alex Cora, this all falls on him because he couldn't put a lineup together that could win baseball games.
00:15:04
Speaker
and you And we talked about the only reason why he won that 2018 World Series is because of what he inherited. I don't remember the manager before because I think Francona had already moved on from there, so I don't know who was there before him. But that general manager and then put together a World Series winning roster and Al Scorra walked into probably the best situation in Major League Baseball.
00:15:23
Speaker
and all And you listed out. you didn't i didn't have to do it. You listed out for me. They have done nothing but been mediocre ever since 2018. You lose. He's still mediocre. Yeah.
00:15:33
Speaker
And yeah, you, you can see you the mediocrity this year, right? You, like i said, you, you lose Mookie who's a generational talent in baseball. Right. So when they can play on by eight out of the nine positions in baseball.
00:15:45
Speaker
right outside of maybe pitching. I don't know. I haven't said seen him step on the mound, but I'm sure if he found a way you could put behind the plate and he would still do it like a generational talents and playing any position on the baseball field and you let him walk and then, actually you trade him, you trade him and then get nothing back in return.
00:16:00
Speaker
You trade for Bregman, you do nothing. You get Rafael Deverson. Bregman was free agent, but they gave him a massive contract with too many opt-outs and he opted out after one year. ah That was free agent though. So we didn't, we didn't Astros didn't get any picks back for that, unfortunately. Okay. Okay.
00:16:14
Speaker
And then you homegrown Devers and then Devers walks on YouTube because you don't know how to manage it. Like, and those are just three names. Like, and those are three huge names in terms of major league baseball. So like, yeah, I'm going to take the victory lap because I I'm right in that the red socks are garbage. and I'm so happy that they're garbage, um, as a race fan, but it's also for, from a major league baseball standpoint, always good when one of these giants aren't, aren't relevant.
00:16:36
Speaker
um Obviously, i never I never wish ill upon anyone, but these guys are millionaires, and you know you got you got to you know kind of put up or shut up when you're in this type of positions. And ultimately, he didn't do that, and I'm right. So I'm going to take that victory going to ride that high for a little bit um and then go from there. But bre yeah, Red Sox sucks, and hopefully the Yankees fall apart down down the regular season too.
00:16:57
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll keep, we'll keep waiting on that one. The Yankees, unfortunately, they they piece it together year by year a little better than the Red Sox too. But no, it's interesting, man, because i think a lot of what you said too comes down to not only the manager, but the GM. And I don't know the, I don't know the,
00:17:14
Speaker
the org structure at the Red Sox super well. I don't know who their general manager is, but you you have to think that that he's got to be on the chopping block soon too. Oh, for sure. um Because like you said, you you bring in Bregman, you lose him after one year with no replacement. Now you've got a guy that was like,
00:17:31
Speaker
A small contributor on the Brewers, I think, is their their third baseman trying to find a a place. And, you know, he brought bringing in Bregman and having that create tension with Devers and moving and moving Mookie Betts. And they paid Ranger Suarez this offseason, who has a four yeah ERA. And they...
00:17:50
Speaker
you know Garrett Crochet is not bouncing back this year. He's got a six ERA after being a Cy Young candidate last year. like There's a lot going wrong, and it's it's manager and gm and so I don't know the the state there. Maybe it's a new GM.
00:18:04
Speaker
Maybe it's a guy that's just not on the block, but you've got think Cora might not be the last to go in that front office. I mean, I've heard chatter. not going be the last manager to go.
00:18:14
Speaker
Oh, for sure. to mean i mean and I mean, as in with any major league, any major sport and and and and at all in the major four, right? um But I've heard chatter around Tampa, right, of like, you know, obviously Tampa's not going move on from Kevin Cash. Like, he finds a way to put a roster on the field and and and field a team that makes a lot of a lot of headway.
00:18:33
Speaker
We've already talked a lot a lot about them. So, like, Kevin Cash is probably going to be a name that pops up. And is Kevin Cash one that can be successful with, you know, hundred million dollar salary every year.
00:18:45
Speaker
Right. And, and it as opposed to the $40 million dollars salary that he continuously is competitive with. Right. You know, what does that look like? What is, you know, what, what else, is what else is available? Right. In terms of major league baseball, it's tough to find the next guy um that's out there, especially because a lot of these old heads are are moving on the dusty Bakers or they're retiring from baseball and, you know,
00:19:04
Speaker
what What are you going to do out there? So, I mean, you know, I hope the Rays don't lose Kevin Cash, but money talks. And when you sign that number across the table to someone, tough to not it's tough to turn that down. Yeah.
00:19:16
Speaker
Yeah, well, we'll see. um this ah I'll just a little slight nod when we get to the wrap up. This topic is going to slightly resurface again.
Brendan Swarsby's Gambling Issues
00:19:29
Speaker
Very good. um Moving on to the next one, something that broke today, breaking news out of college football. Brendan Swarsby, who is a transfer from Cincinnati Bearcats to the Texas Tech Red Raiders this offseason, is checking himself into a residential treatment program um for a gambling addiction.
00:19:47
Speaker
um I don't know too much about Brendan as a whole in terms of as a player. But obviously, you know, we talked about, you know, mental health and such like that on the pod.
00:19:57
Speaker
And obviously, you know, get the help that you need that you need and all that stuff. So glad that he recognizes that himself and himself. But I know you wanted to talk about this even more so from an on the field perspective as well. So I'm gonna let you run it.
00:20:10
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I wanted to talk about it a little bit from the on the field. i mean, like you said, the personal side of things is like good on you for getting help. I will say he sought help after,
00:20:23
Speaker
The investigation was opened against him. So um I hope it's an authentic seeking of help, but it also might be kind of his only play to not lose eligibility.
00:20:37
Speaker
don't know. just I feel like this is kind of a a move you see out of the celebrity realm of like, you know, get a DWI and then go to rehab and then nothing changes until you get another one kind of thing.
00:20:47
Speaker
So I hope it's I truly do hope it's authentic. um I think there is a lot to be said from an eligibility standpoint, obviously, with the the legalization of gambling, it it is it has made it easier to find people who are, you know, gambling in and like find athletes that are gambling in ways they're not supposed to, but it also opens up.
Swarsby's Impact on College Football
00:21:10
Speaker
so many avenues for athletes to gamble that may not have before. We had the Kayshaun Boutte at LSU. He ended up getting drafted, ah but and it hurt his draft stock that he was a gambling addict. and And now we have Brendan Sorsby as well. And this is a huge, huge deal for college football because there is every chance that he will not be able to play next year.
00:21:31
Speaker
the um I believe the standard of the NCAA that I saw in the ESPN article, all of these facts are coming from the ESPN article, um is that if you gamble a gambling of over $800,
00:21:46
Speaker
ah could lead to a suspension of up to 30% of a season. Gambling's cumulative cumulative over $800 warrants the NCAA to review for an even longer suspension.
00:21:59
Speaker
And the note is that he has gambled thousands of bets over his four years, including gambling on Indiana games when he was a redshirt at Indiana.
00:22:11
Speaker
um yeah Supposedly never on a game that he entered the field of play. ah But again, you're gambling ahead of time. You don't know for sure that you're not going to enter the field of play. yeah So that's going to be a big hurl for him to overcome. And just from the from the football perspective, he was the number one rated transfer quarterback this offseason.
00:22:32
Speaker
ah By all the services, I disagree with that. I think he's kind of mediocre. um i think the but But I think the mix of transfer quarterbacks this offseason was largely overrated. You had the Arizona State dude whose name...
00:22:46
Speaker
escapes me at the moment. It's going to LSU. He had a great year, like two years ago, it was really injured last year. have Brendan Soresby, whose numbers at Cincinnati, like they really don't, they they look very similar to like Marcel Reed, who was just getting, you know, crapped all over at the end of the season for being not good enough against stiffer competition. So, um,
00:23:09
Speaker
you know I think Brendan Sorsby is being pumped up, but this is a guy that's going to Texas Tech who is the big spender in the Big 12, the favorite in
NCAA Rules on Gambling
00:23:16
Speaker
the Big 12 playoff appearance with a lesser quarterback last year. Their backup quarterback tore his ACL last year, is not expected to be ready for the start of the season. This puts them in an absolute bond.
00:23:30
Speaker
um So there's going to be a lot of on the field. um impact for this. and And my general takeaway from this is i do personally hope that they lay the the hammer on him because i think you have I think you have to make an example this early in the process.
00:23:48
Speaker
College athletes are not allowed to gamble on sports as a product of their involvement in college athletics. That is the rules they signed up for. He was supposed to be making $5 million dollars this year, reportedly. I'm sure it's actually lower than that because these agents all report inflated numbers.
00:24:08
Speaker
It's not that hard. just I get it. It's an addiction. um But if you're paying, I think anybody who's listening to this show that enjoys gambling would take that deal any day of the week. I'll give you $5 million dollars this year.
00:24:21
Speaker
ah The only rule is that you have to live your life the same as you were before, but you're not allowed to gamble for the next year. It's a deal you take. um yeah i i want I do slightly want to come at it from a more caring angle like you took when you started. but I am cynical. like the old head cynical yells at cloud about some of this stuff.
00:24:42
Speaker
but with And, and for me, I just look at it and I go, it's not that hard to just not do it while you're a college athlete. Like pro players, I'm 90% sure pro players can bet on sports that are not their own.
00:24:55
Speaker
So just wait one more year and then do all your betting on baseball and basketball and college and whatever you want to do, but just don't for a year, make $5 million dollars and set yourself up for success. And if you can't do that, I, I'm not going to feel sorry for you. And I don't want this to, I need the punishment to be at a level that deters the next person who is thinking about doing this.
Swarsby's Future in Football
00:25:19
Speaker
So I'll kick it to you from there, but that that's kind of my stance is we, we gotta make sure that the punishment fits the crime so that we, that this doesn't become a more common scandal.
00:25:31
Speaker
Yeah, I think, I mean, we've talked about it already on this on the show, right, in weeks past, that the NCAA is a joke of ah of a governing body, right? It's so easy that all you gotta do is go sue the NCAA or have the have a ah ah judge in your state overrule it or whatever may happen.
00:25:48
Speaker
So all they have to do, whatever NCAA comes out and says, all they have to do is go find a judge that went to Texas Tech to put a cease and desist against the NCAA, right? So, I mean, as much as I'm with you that the NCAA needs to come down with the hammer and be like, all right, we're going to make you an example, similar to what MLB did with Pete Rose back in the eighties. Right. So, you know, you kind of do that same thing and, you know, you, you, you set the precedent.
00:26:12
Speaker
um But with the way that the NCAA is, I don't even know that's going to matter because at the end of the day, still think he plays week one. So, you know, it's crazy. I can't be wrong with you, but that's crazy.
00:26:24
Speaker
yeah I hope to be wrong because obviously if you if you do the crime, you need to do the time in terms of it all, but i with the current state of affairs in college sports, I don't see i don't see that happening. You have boosters that are paying, obviously you already said $5 million for him to come play quarterback in a town that is literally the size of my neighborhood. so No one wants to go Lubbock, Texas and play college sports, but you do that when you get a $5 million dollars contract in front of you. so you know We'll see what happens, but
00:26:54
Speaker
You know, I do take the caring aspects of it. you know, I hope it's I hope he gets the help that he needs. I hope it's true. um It is easier now. It's easier now to gamble than it ah than it ever was. Right. All you yeah to do is download Calci or download ah Hard Rock Bets, whatever may be, even Sleeper group for fantasy football has.
00:27:11
Speaker
has betting on it. So it's super easy to bet and gamble these days. So I mean, that addiction is there, like the opportunity is there. So I hope he does get the help and I hope it's true. But in terms of the in terms of him not playing football, I fully expect him to play football come week one.
00:27:27
Speaker
I hope he gets the help he needs because i if hopefully it is overcomeable. I mean, Kayshaun Butte is the example I brought up, has had no issues since he joined the NFL, has been you know As far as I can see by all accounts, just a ah model citizen.
00:27:44
Speaker
um So hopefully Brendan Sorsby can do the same thing. i just hope that he is suspended for the season because of this and um is allowed by the NFL to go ahead and just sign a for Because he was draft eligible this year. he decided to come back because the bag was that big. And, you know, that's the rules. So I hope it...
00:28:08
Speaker
I hope the suspension comes down so that we can kind of nip this in the bud and make sure that it doesn't become a common offseason scandal. But I do, that does not stop me from hoping that he finds a free agent deal with the NFL and and can just kickstart that part of his career instead and with whatever, you know, success he's able to accomplish.
NHL Playoffs Excitement
00:28:30
Speaker
Yeah. Well, moving out of sadder topics into probably the most fun topic we've had on this show for a long time now. And NHL playoffs, man, it's something that you and I have talked off air a whole lot about is that the Stanley Cup playoffs is easily the best playoff system and in the best playoff format and in all major four sports.
00:28:50
Speaker
And this year is no exception to that rule. um I wanted to talk to you about a couple of these series as we kind of get into it. I guess we're going to recap all of them. So just to kind of get you up to the speed, Colorado has swept the LA Kings to no one's surprise.
00:29:06
Speaker
Dallas, Minnesota tied at two to no one's surprise. um Utah two and one um as of the recording. Vegas leads Utah two to one as of recording.
00:29:18
Speaker
Anaheim over Edmonton three to one as of last night. um And then as of recording still, once again, Buffalo leading Boston three to one. I do believe they play tonight or tomorrow. Montreal and Tampa tied at two tomorrow. Okay. And then Carolina sweeps Ottawa to no one's surprise. And then Philly and Pittsburgh having another tight one as well at 3-2. That just ended a few minutes ago. So that is an updated 3-2. Pittsburgh takes two in a row to keep the series alive.
00:29:48
Speaker
So there you go. i mean That ended maybe three minutes ago. A lot of these series, man, are looking like their variable could go to seven. pretty much almost all of them at this point with the exception of maybe Buffalo and Anaheim.
00:30:00
Speaker
um well We'll see where Vegas ends up tonight. and Vegas kicks in the 3-1 or Utah ties it. But a lot of these series looking like they could very easily go six and potentially going all the way to seven games.
00:30:12
Speaker
So I'm going to let you kind of talk about it from it from an outsider perspective into it all. What's been the best series so far from the casual fans? So there's there's an obvious one that I'm going to leave for you.
00:30:25
Speaker
um If you've been listening to the pod, you know which one Justin's going to bring up. I'm going to let him take that one. So I'm going to go with Dallas versus Minnesota. A series tied at two. um This is a series that I thought leaned Dallas's way prior to game one.
00:30:42
Speaker
Then we recorded our prediction episode after game one, and I was all the way on the Minnesota side because it was a 6-1 beatdown. Dallas got up off the mat. Game two in overtime takes it, ties one to one, goes back to Minnesota. Both games go to overtime, split one to one. So now we're headed back to Dallas, tied two.
00:31:01
Speaker
ah I don't know what else to say really like this at three of the four games have gone to overtime. Um, they've split in each location. So this is not a one team goes up two to zero. You think the series might be trending to over, but Oh no, the home team bounces back and we got us a series. Like it was a series from game one when the road team won.
00:31:22
Speaker
And, and it's a series again, um after four games tied two to two, ah Minnesota is really struggling on the power play because Ottinger is having the series of a lifetime since game one. He is insane behind the net. It it feels so difficult for either of these teams to score in five-on-five hockey.
00:31:46
Speaker
It is so much fun. And I know you're about to say so you're you're about to say much of the same thing for the next series, because these things are darn near mirror images of each other. And that's why I had to go the other way.
00:31:57
Speaker
um but But it's been incredible. i think we've had double overtime. We've had overtime. We've had road game winners in overtime. We've had home game winners in overtime. We've had dominant. um Goaltending performances on both sides. Wallstead is putting up just as good of a performance as Ottinger, who's playing out of his mind.
00:32:17
Speaker
ie Every second of every game, I'm on the edge of my seat trying to will the Wild to victory because that's who I decided I'm rooting for this year. And you're and and you're just stressed out of your mind the whole time. And it is it is just pure adrenaline.
00:32:34
Speaker
I love it. There's nothing negative I can say about this series. It is virtually the same as the one you're about to go to, but but just to make sure that we get more coverage here, I'm going to Dallas, Minnesota.
Tampa Bay vs. Montreal Analysis
00:32:47
Speaker
i Yeah, yeah i'm gonna I'll tip my hat as well before I dive into my series, right? But, you know, we we did the predictions last week, and we talked about this series, and it I believe the the direct quote for me is it sucks that these two teams have to face each other in round one um because this would have been an electric Western Conference final.
00:33:04
Speaker
um Obviously, we're seeing that in in a series that I would be willing to put money on that is going to go seven and it's going to be an insane game seven. um but So but it sucks that we're getting this in the first round and not, you know, deeper into the playoff run. um But it just goes to show how deep the West is and how entertaining the West is going to be going through it that. I don't think Colorado has an easy path going through the West like we thought it was. um you know, you and I and I got you know, we'll we'll we'll touch a couple more series later. But like there's some other teams out West that I think are garnering a lot more attention than I thought we didn't even what we gave them last week. But um I will not be remiss. I will talk about my my bolts for a second here. Tied the series of tied the series up two to two last night.
00:33:49
Speaker
um in a thrilling game um the the first game to not go to overtime uh this entire series um the the one thing i do want to note as you kind of talk through you know the dallas series where you know you talk about dominant goalkeeping there has not been a dominant goalkeeping game yet in this montreal tampa series um and you know we talked last week about the rivalry between montreal and and tampa um this going back you know 10 plus years now, right, of being very chippy hockey and and back and forth hockey over the years. Obviously, this goes back. there some There's some bad blood over um the 2021 Stanley Cup when the Lightning eliminated Montreal and the Montreal fans were pissed because Kucherov came back and when the playoffs started, which was perfectly in the rules. But the Montreal fans no one would do not want to acknowledge the rule, the fact that the player can come back.
00:34:41
Speaker
um, in the playoffs and you can now be over the salary cap. Uh, but I digress. Um, don't put an ass right now. So that, the company did the same thing during their, their runs. I think it was flurry maybe that they were doing that with.
00:34:55
Speaker
Something like that. Yeah. But like, it's perfectly in the rules. Like there it's written that way that as long as your player doesn't come back to the playoffs, you can be over, over the salary cap. Um, going into this series, right. We knew it was going to be chippy. We knew that it was going go back and forth.
00:35:09
Speaker
um At no point did I think that either team was going to sweep this series or going to go 4-1 or even 4-2. This is going to be a series that very much goes to six or seven games.
00:35:19
Speaker
And it's going to be one that, like, it's it's going to come down to Kivazi. um um but go back to where he was, you know, four or five seasons ago where you got to game seven and Vazzy looked like the best goalie of all time.
00:35:32
Speaker
The dude shut down everyone in game seven. You're talking about zero goals. um I think he gave up one in a stretch of like six straight game sevens that he just would not allow a goal to go in.
00:35:43
Speaker
um But I do want to talk about the emergence of some names that obviously Tampa fans have been really locked in on. But I think from a national media perspective, because of names like Kucherov,
00:35:54
Speaker
like Victor Hedman, like Stephen Samkos, a lot of these names aren't getting a lot of media traction, and now they are. um Someone that very well, if Hedman is done after the season, he hasn't come back to the to the locker room yet. um you know Someone that may come back for the second series if we get to the second series.
00:36:10
Speaker
um But I do want to talk about Braden Point. um This is a guy that you know, Cody, that I've been talking about since we pulled him up from Syracuse i mean every bit of six years now six years ago now, right before the the second and Stanley Cup run.
00:36:22
Speaker
Someone that I've been talking about that he's going to wear the C on his chest for for Tampa Bay. It's only a matter of time. If it wasn't for Victor Hedman being on this team, he would have worn the C starting last year when Stamkos left.
00:36:35
Speaker
um But he is now fully in the spotlight on the national media. He's out there, you know, out skating. the best skaters on Montreal. He's putting pucks in the back of the net. He did it last night on that power play. It was sick. Little little little stick drag that he did to poke the puck in past the goalie.
00:36:53
Speaker
ah The dude is electric to watch. He reminds me so much of like how McDavid skated when he was younger, and it's something that Braden Point has had to learn how to do um where mcdavid obviously had it early on i'm not saying that he's on the same level as mcdavid but i say he's playing like mcdavid did especially earlier on in his career in terms of the the raw talent um but another name brandon hagel that's someone that's going to get a lot more media attention as this year he goes on um and then the name that i told you last year when when you asked me about when the play or when the regular season started uh jake gunsell is someone that is going to continue uh to flourish as a winger um playing next playing next to brandon hagel um
00:37:30
Speaker
it's we got some electric young players on this team and it so it seems like for where Tampa was three years ago where it looked like the window was completely closed for Tampa, um you're now in a position where the window is back open for Tampa because you have moved the right pieces along and and you're back in a position where you still have Vazzy on the tail end of his prime. You have Kucherov who looks like he'll never stop playing hockey as long as his body doesn't fail him.
00:37:55
Speaker
But in this series, man, you're seeing it go back and forth and it's something that You know, as long as Tampa continues to play that they have, and, you know, just but in particular last night, Tampa was the better team for 90% of that game.
00:38:08
Speaker
They gave up, you know, one but one goal or one goal on the power play, one at full strength. The one on full strength was ah was a flu like was a fluke that bounced off the guy into the net. and That should never have happened.
00:38:20
Speaker
The power play goal, it is what it is. Montreal's really good on the power play. um But that game should have been, you know, all Tampa all the way. And there was no reason the momentum shift shouldn't have happened. If you look at this like the stats, shots on goal went in Tampa's favor.
00:38:33
Speaker
Puck possession went to Tampa's favor. Penalty minutes went to Tampa's favor. i It should not have been as close as it is, but it's the playoffs. And anything can happen in the playoffs. um But this game, this series has been electric from day one.
00:38:46
Speaker
We talked about it last week. you know, overtime game starting it right off. Then we had it for the first three games. um Row team is our is now, um has now won on both sides.
00:38:57
Speaker
So you don't have the row team or the away team having that that disadvantage. So Tampa going back home on Wednesday night, you know, you have a chance to go up three to two and have a chance to eliminate them back home before you come back to Tampa for game seven.
00:39:10
Speaker
So, you know, it's, everything's in favor of Tampa as long as you can go in and perform and, You know, I think if you play the same way that Tampa played last night, there's no reason why we're not talking about the lightning in the second round here in a couple of days.
00:39:24
Speaker
I like it, man. It's, it's been such a good series. I do feel the momentum swing from Montreal being up to a late in the, in the second to to losing three, two and in game four young team, emotional. I mean, this is subjection or a yeah.
00:39:43
Speaker
Um, Young team potentially rides the emotional wave more than a veteran team.
Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh Series
00:39:50
Speaker
ah you could see You could easily see that being a momentum swing that that flips the series on its head um and gives Tampa the the run just from here to the end of the series. I hope not. I want to see seven.
00:40:04
Speaker
um obviously I picked Montreal, so I would love to see Montreal in seven, but I want to see seven regardless because I just want seven games of of what we've already seen. Although even as somebody who picked Montreal, I will say right now it's, it's ah it's definitely advantage Tampa.
00:40:20
Speaker
Yeah. And I, and the announcers last night talked about too. And he, and he said this morning, um JJ Moser, who scored the overtime winner um and you know, he scored the overtime winner a couple nights ago.
00:40:33
Speaker
laid out, um, Sivarski, I think is's how you pronounce his name on center ice last night. And I seem like the emotional Slavkovsky. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Layed him out with a, with a massive, a massive hit. Um, and that was really a big emotional switch, um, for the game as a, as a whole. So, I mean, yeah, I mean this, this series looks like it could go into Tampa's favor. Um, but I do think, I mean, game five is going to tell a lot because now you have two opportunities to close the series out and that's all you can ask for from an NHL perspective.
00:41:03
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. um I'm going to kick to you. What has been the biggest surprise so far from you in the playoffs? Yeah, I think there's two two easy ones for this one as well.
00:41:16
Speaker
um I'm going to say the biggest surprise for me is Philadelphia-Pittsburgh because this is the series that has had the most swings in no in In no way, shape, or form did I expect Philadelphia to jump 3-0 against Pittsburgh by taking, i mean, I think it was the first two games in Pittsburgh. They take those, they go back home, take three.
00:41:42
Speaker
And at that point, you're thinking the series is over. Like it's it's got to be dead. and That's not the situation you want to be in as the favorite on the road, trying to start the reverse sweep. And and then Pittsburgh takes game four. and And, you know, just a few minutes ago, I didn't really get to watch it because we were prepping for this. But takes game five.
00:42:02
Speaker
um the The fight left in Pittsburgh is incredible. So it's the biggest surprise in this series is Philadelphia jumping out 3-0. And then the second surprise in this series is that Pittsburgh still had the life to to kick it back 3-2. And this is this is why I ended up picking this one over the other one that I think you're you're likely to pick is just because... And the other one, we haven't seen the turnaround yet, right? That could still end in five, which would be utterly shocking. But in this one, I feel like we have two massive swings and it's, ah you know, it's partly guys like Porter Matone, right?
00:42:37
Speaker
who was playing at Michigan State three weeks ago you know in the in the Frozen Four championship. when i was like you know the What the bracket looked like, Porter Martone was on Michigan State, and now he's up with Philly, making an impact, trying to beat Pittsburgh in in the playoffs, and it's just been amazing.
00:42:57
Speaker
an incredible watch i've loved every second of it a huge surprise uh even even though by the time we came on and did our predictions there's 2-0 philadelphia so we both picked philly naturally but i don't think two games before that going into the series none of us would have predicted three o philly to to start it off it's been an incredible incredible series so far so that's my biggest surprise Yeah, i mean and all signs pointed to it right? If we actually would have paid a little bit of attention to to Philly, like just how hot they got over the last month and a half um in the regular season,
Anaheim vs. Edmonton Series
00:43:30
Speaker
right?
00:43:30
Speaker
um Neither one of us wanted to see you know that core in Pittsburgh go out on go out in a sweep, um whether it whether or not it ends up being SIDS last year or not or whatever happens with that roster.
00:43:41
Speaker
So you definitely don't want to see that happen. Happy that we're getting some fight out of that Pittsburgh team. They know how to win hockey games, and they're they're showing it. But my biggest surprise, and i think you know where I'm to go, it's this Anaheim Ducks team, man, out west yeah is where iss where I'm going, man. Two-time Western Conference Final champions going down last night three to one um to to the Ducks. um And a very controversial ending if you're an Oilers fan. um I think if you're just a fan of hockey and just understand how the game works, you know that's a good goal.
00:44:11
Speaker
But Oilers fans want to be like, well, we can't see the edge of the puck. It doesn't matter. You know that puck's And if it was on the other side the round, you'd be arguing it too. um but Yeah, i blog to page there yeah this was it was the skate's over the top of it, so you can't technically see but that is so clearly. like The puck's not that big. Unless the puck has a growth the size of a golf ball on the edge of it that that would stop it from being eligible for play.
00:44:38
Speaker
then it's over the red line entirely. Like I, I get the controversy cause you can't fully see it. If I was an Oilers fan, I would probably be at least for the first few minutes after the game, like melting down of like, why this is unfair. I wanted another chance, but it was a goal.
00:44:54
Speaker
Yeah, it was a goal. um But yeah, this Anaheim and Ducks team, and we, I talked about it last week. This is just a team that was happy to make the playoffs, happy to be here and, you know, bow out early to to Edmonton. And I, I'm,
00:45:06
Speaker
I will be the first to tip my hat, you know admit defeat that I'm wrong. This team is showing a lot of fight. I was talking to Dallas last night as this game was going on, and that you know he was like, this is just duck hockey 101. They start slow, and then they're the the heart attack comeback kids, and they've done that in just about every game this series and just keep finding a way to outskate this behemoth that is Edmonton, you know the team that you know we talked last week.
00:45:32
Speaker
about, the what you know, you know are you know are they a team that can talk like knock off Colorado going forward? So, you know, obviously now are they even going to be in a conversation to face Colorado?
00:45:44
Speaker
Who knows? um Obviously, it's still very much like... At this point, certainly looking like they're not going to get that far. Obviously, the series ain't over. Yeah, the series isn't over. that but But yeah, I mean, you have... Anaheim has three opportunities to to close out the series now, and that's that's a prime position to be in to to close the series out. And, you know, I was talking to Dallas this morning about it, that you got to feel pretty good looking at the other side and, you know, the, the, the the bracket is set up where they're going to face the winner of Vegas and Utah.
00:46:13
Speaker
And you got to feel good that if you beat Edmonton, you have to feel pretty good, at least not making it to the conference finals, you know, no, no shade to Utah and to Vegas, but like, you know, those two teams definitely seem to be the lesser on the, on the Western side, you know, ah and it's, you know,
00:46:29
Speaker
what ends up happening ends up happening, but you got to feel pretty good about your odds. If you're an Anaheim Ducks fan of, of getting to the Western conference final and that, that has to be the biggest surprise of the entire tournament at this point. And that's even to be said, like, I think we're all surprised of what Philly has been able to do, but I think ultimately Anaheim knocking off two time defending Western conference champions, like that's, that's no small feat.
00:46:50
Speaker
Yeah. I I'll stop short of predicting the winner of this series to certainly beat the winner of Vegas, Utah, but, To your point of all of the matchups you could have, i would rather play the winner of Vegas, Utah than currently Colorado or the winner of Dallas, Minnesota. That gives you your best path to compete.
00:47:12
Speaker
for the conference championships rather than running into the juggernauts on the other side of of this Western Conference bracket. So I'm with you on that. I think we get a really good series, even if it's Anaheim that makes it through. I think we get a really good series between them and and the winner of this Vegas-Utah series, which I still expect to be Vegas.
00:47:32
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. And I agree with you that it was a goal. And I agree with you that the series isn't over and that this is – Utterly shocking because we both dismissed Anaheim pretty outright in the the playoff prediction and we're not alone in and in kind of having that opinion going into it. So a lot of people saying McDavid's skating hurt.
00:47:52
Speaker
um I guess let's see if he can bounce back from that, right? Like the series isn't over. because Edmonton has the team to do it. But if that's the the kind of stuff you're throwing out is that McDavid's hurt and he's feeling the pressure of still never winning a Stanley cup and not winning the gold medal in the Olympics and all this and all that. And will he stay with Edmonton or does he need to get out of there? Like Anaheim could crumble them. like Like there's a lot of pressure on the shoulders of McDavid and Dreisaitl.
00:48:24
Speaker
um This definitely, if Anaheim, you know, throws a couple more punches, they could definitely land the final haymaker here in the next couple of games. I mean, you gotta, you go from getting a really terrible plushie for winning silver medal in the Olympics to losing to the Anaheim Ducks, which is as we're learning right now, no small, no small task at this point.
00:48:45
Speaker
Obviously any team that makes it into the Stanley cup playoffs and deserves the respect to be in the playoffs and, you know, and I'm just proving it and Edmonton, I guess, listen to the pot and, and, yeah and realize, hey, we can sleepwalk through this series and quickly realize that they can't sleepwalk through the series and the Ducks are, as you just said, one one haymaker away from from moving on to the to the conference semifinals and having, i would wager, a decent chance moving on to the to the conference championship.
NHL Playoffs Least Engaging Series
00:49:12
Speaker
um Now moving on to the next topic that we have in here for you, ah what's been the least entertaining series so far for you? I mean, it's it's definitely one of the ones that's over already. For me, it's Colorado, Los Angeles. I just did not feel like there was a lot of fight in that game. I know LA played, they played well, like for what they can do. And they ah but put up as much of a fight as they could. And it just wasn't a fight really. And,
00:49:42
Speaker
So truthfully glad that's over. i I will happily soak up any of these series that are on TV if I see the NHL playoffs are on that's going on the split screen. Unless it's Colorado, L.A., I just had no interest in yeah and watching what ultimately was was was very boring and dominant hockey. So for me, it's Colorado, L.A. was the the least entertaining.
00:50:03
Speaker
Yeah, just for the sake of coverage, I'm going to say the Carolina game or the Carolina series. um Ottawa only scoring six goals over four games. It's just a ah massive embarrassment.
00:50:13
Speaker
um Obviously Ottawa team that barely snuck into the playoffs, um but obviously showing that they had no reason to be here. I would have much rather had someone else from the Atlantic make it in and be the fourth team out of that rather than, than Ottawa making it in here. But,
00:50:29
Speaker
obviously that's not what we got, but so only only scoring six goals and none of and not taking or being zero for i for what the number was on power play um through the entire playoff series. It's just, it's a joke um of ah of a playoff um series. And ultimately when you talk about, you know, we talked last week about these young teams taking the next step up this ladder.
00:50:50
Speaker
Ottawa didn't even get experience out of this, didn't even get a win, didn't even do anything to to prove why they need to be here next year. yeah, Could not care less about that game or that series. And ultimately, I'm very thankful that Lightning don't have to run into Carolina until the conference championship.
00:51:05
Speaker
um That does mean that I have to run into either Buffalo or or Boston. And I don't want to face either of those teams either. So um one way or another, Tampa's got a tough road ahead of them. But glad I don't have to face Carolina until the the conference championship.
00:51:20
Speaker
Yeah, I will say as somebody whose Stanley Cup prediction last podcast was Colorado over Carolina, I'm feeling really good about this being the only two teams that swept the opening round. And just from a 30,000 foot view to Carolina and Ottawa, you know, there's a double there was an electric double overtime game snuggled into that.
00:51:41
Speaker
uh that series the seventh most entertaining series in the nhl i'm taking it over almost any nba series going on right now like oh like we just dogged all over you just i guess more you than me i dogged on a different series but you just dogged all over the series is still it it was still objectively entertaining just its competition is insane yeah yeah Yeah, when you're talking about, you know, five other series, potentially going to seven games. Yeah, like when you're we're talking about two sweeps, they're obviously going to be the least entertaining. But obviously not for those fan bases that are going to get two weeks off um and rest your guys up.
00:52:18
Speaker
You know, it depends on how you feel about that, if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But, you know, you're going to get about two weeks off before you face you play your next playoff series. So, you know, we'll see how it shakes out for for Carolina and Colorado here in a couple weeks.
00:52:31
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. your Your last question that's in here, what are you – I'm assuming it's supposed to be waiting for next or watching next? Or I guess it's what ah what's exciting you going forward in in the playoffs?
00:52:44
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I guess I'd – probably waiting for next maybe. But but for me, um I'm excited in round two to see Colorado challenged. I want to see how much of a juggernaut they really are because, like you said – like we've said, they – kind of have been viewed as just like leaps and bounds above and um the odds on favorite in the Western Conference, the odds on favorite in the whole thing to just number one in the league, win the trade deadline, stay number one in the league, who who can take them out. And and we didn't we didn't get to see them tested in this first round, but they're going to get tested in the next round by the winner of Dallas, Minnesota, who's going to be very familiar with them.
00:53:26
Speaker
um you're gonna have the rest versus rust aspect coming into a cold colorado team going up against the dallas minnesota team that probably just played seven games of the most intense hockey you've ever seen i'm excited to
Young Teams in NHL Playoffs
00:53:39
Speaker
see that because i want to see colorado challenge so i can see just how good they are and and that's what i'm that's what i'm looking for next we didn't we didn't get to see it in round one or we're certainly going to see it around two yeah for sure um I think for me, it's what can these young gritty teams do? I think is what's exciting me in these playoffs. Like, yeah, it's fun to sit back and watch a Carolina or a Colorado sweep a series or whatever, because they're expected as a number one seed.
00:54:06
Speaker
But what can the Philly do? What can Anaheim do? Even Buffalo to an extent, you know, these teams that are young and hungry and playing with a lot of emotion, lot of vibes, you know, what can they do as these, as these playoffs go further and further in and,
00:54:19
Speaker
becomes increasingly more difficult. You're going to play ah Tampa team, ah a Montreal team, um even a Boston, you know, for Buffalo teams that have decades of of playoff experience.
00:54:32
Speaker
And even out West, you're talking about, you you know, the ducks are going to run into Vegas more than likely who have won a Stanley cup. And more recently than Nana has, and if they get through, they're going to play the winner of three teams of Colorado, Dallas, or Minnesota, like,
00:54:46
Speaker
but you're you're talking about teams that, ah you know, have not been in this conversation in a long time. And are we going to see a passing of the torch? Are they going to, or is the inexperience going to falter? um And I think from a, even just a sports fan, that's exciting, right. To, to see, you know, the old regime still hanging on, you know, a Pittsburgh, a Tampa, a Montreal, and even, even a Colorado to that, to an extent, um holding onto their, to their prime and let these young teams come up and,
00:55:11
Speaker
you know, what do you got? So it's, it's fun to watch. And that's, what's going to be very exciting going on. Cause definitely seems like a few of these young teams are going to make it through. So what, ah what do they got this coming this next round?
00:55:23
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. it's gonna be really fun to see these, these round one stories, how, how far can they go? Is, are they round one stories or do we also get round two stories, championship round stories, Stanley cup stories?
00:55:36
Speaker
It'll be really interesting to see how far these teams can go. Yeah, for sure. And ah still got bolts going all the way. So still feel pretty good about that as of right now. All right, man. Well, that concludes the rundown. Let's do the wrap up real quick. For you this week, the the Tampa Rays are 5-1 this week, dropped the Cincinnati series. They won the go-home game on that of that series and then went to Minnesota and swept the Twins um in a pretty convincing fashion.
00:56:05
Speaker
um And then today took the first game against Cleveland. um Cleveland will wrap up the road trip that the Rays have been on for the last two weeks. And then they will come home to face the Giants. And then Toronto comes in next Sunday.
00:56:18
Speaker
But ah my only topic that I really want to talk to you about the Rays is that Caminero has officially joined the home run conversation. I know you're going to Yordan, who is the AL home run leader.
00:56:29
Speaker
But Caminero has officially joined the conversation at eight. So only three behind Jordan. um But the the talk of the talk of the town this week is Caminero, 450-foot home
Tampa Bay Rays' Recent Performances
00:56:42
Speaker
run to dead center in the trough. That's crazy.
00:56:46
Speaker
Correct. um And probably could gone farther if it didn't run into a wall. um But an insane home run. If you haven't looked at it, definitely take a look at it. um but I mean, obviously we talked a lot about him in in the world baseball classic. He's, he would look like he was already primed and ready for the MLB season. And he has not taken a step up, taken a step back from the world baseball classic.
00:57:08
Speaker
So officially in it too, I think he has enough to get, you know, to whatever Jordan or Aaron judge or Cal Riley gets to by the end of season. I'm not sure. But we did, I did say that if there was going to be a bright spot in this, in this Tampa Bay Rays season, it was going Camonero and his power. He hit, i think,
00:57:25
Speaker
30 something home runs, 40 something home runs last year. So obviously going to be in the conversation going forward. And, you know, if he can, if he could take that next step and be someone that can produce a home run about every other game or so, you're going see him be in that conversation with the those top three dogs. um And it's something that we haven't seen in Tampa and in quite some time in terms of the power header.
00:57:47
Speaker
um So fun to watch because and you can go to a Tampa game and maybe get a moonshot that you only see from a, from a Yordan or Aaron Judge. So exciting to watch ah some Rays baseball with Camonero going yard quite a bit so far in the season.
00:58:02
Speaker
Yeah, he's he's a guy to watch. And I've never addressed this previously on the podcast, but I will notice that you have corrected your pronunciation of his last name. Yeah.
00:58:14
Speaker
I never called it out. i was I was waiting for us to go to to YouTube, which we're still figuring out before i called it out so we could get a clip out of it. But I see you've corrected it from Camarino to Camonero, so I appreciate that. but Shout out to the Rays broadcast team for helping out with that one. yeah Yeah, he's a stud, man. He's exciting to watch. 450 is crazy. And um as ah a neutral observer of the Rays – I think I understand how good he is, but I don't think I get the full, like, I don't think the, the, I think the sport knows who he is, but I don't think they know just how great he is because he's not on the Yankees or the Dodgers or the Phillies or, or somebody like that. So it's exciting to see him continue to kind of make that announcement. So people see really just how, how great he is. And ah and if if he stays in that conversation, especially through, you know, you gotta stay in the conversation at least until about July.
00:59:07
Speaker
And I think that's where you really start getting that that relevance in the national media. So if he can stay relevant in this conversation for the next three months, three, four months, um like i said, I don't know if he has enough to to get there to the end of the season in this conversation.
00:59:20
Speaker
But if he can stay relevant in this conversation, so a little bit past the all-star break, you know, that's that's instant stardom that you now have on the Tampa Bay Rays. And we haven't had a player like that and in quite some time. Yeah, because you get the All-Star game as the almost a platform that he gets to announce himself to the rest of the baseball world that's maybe not paying as close of attention.
00:59:42
Speaker
you're definitely excited to to see i him have the opportunity to do that. Is that all you got on the Rays? Yeah, a pretty uneventful week. pretty Like i said, pretty easy sweep of the Twins. want Not much fight from them. And then I've got Cleveland in right now in Washington. very early game today for game one, but yeah, not much to talk about. um I think we'll, we'll you and I are definitely planning on talking more MLB next week. So you saving me a lot of my thoughts for, for next week's show on on the race.
Astros' Season Highlights & Challenges
01:00:11
Speaker
Yeah. That's going to be the same theme here for the Astros is, is kind saving thoughts for the the coming weeks. I have a ah bit just percolating in the back of my mind that I'm waiting for the right moment to release. So um it's going to quick one, three and three week for the Astros, which,
01:00:29
Speaker
actually might be like tied for first or second best week of the season so far. Like I think it might be two and two opening week against l LA and then three and three this week. Other than that, like you had the three Oh red socks, but you followed that up with,
01:00:46
Speaker
Maybe that week you went four and three. i think you I think you might have played seven that week and went four and three, and like that's your best, and this one's tied for second, which is depressing. I think it's 11 18 overall. ah You had a two-in-one series win on the road in Cleveland. You felt really good after that, but the the Yankees came to town and and took the series two-to-one against you, and I knew it was bad on Saturday when the Astros went down three-to-two in the seventh inning.
01:01:15
Speaker
And I was watching the game and my thought process was, well, you know what? They really hung in there with them today, much better than yesterday. and And then I was like, oh God, it's that bad, huh? Like it's that bad that we were losing to the Yankees.
01:01:28
Speaker
And I wasn't even upset about it. I was just like, you know what? At least it's not 12 to four. Cause that's how they got us yesterday. At least there's some bright spots we can take from this. And that's ah that's a really bad place to be in as a fan. So I don't have a lot of thoughts on the season as a whole. I just wanted to cover a few, I just wanted to rip a few things off for Astros fans.
01:01:48
Speaker
Um, The emergence of Spencer Arregetti. He went seven innings, one run against the Yankees on Sunday. he has a two ERA after three starts this season. He's really found something. He's a guy that's been in the minors that they've been waiting to take the next step.
01:02:04
Speaker
While fans were throwing him out with the bathwater because he was struggling to to come into his own in the majors as all of these pitchers do. They take time to come into their own in the majors. Fans are ready to throw him out. We've seen enough. He's done.
01:02:19
Speaker
um He's looking like a potential Hunter Brown replacement or at least a mid a mid-tier starter that you can count on as ah of a third starter or a fourth starter. It's been a great emergence. He has a lot of swing and miss.
01:02:35
Speaker
Jordan might be the best hitter in baseball. and And I don't think people have ever really appreciated that because Shohei exists and Judge exists and Jordan struggles to stay healthy. And I don't think people have ever appreciated just how good this man is, but they're going to this year because he currently leads the league in all, true or he currently leads the AL in all triple crown stats.
01:02:58
Speaker
He has, let's see, a 358 average. he has 11 home runs, which is tied with Judge and Munitaka Murakami at the AL. He has 26 RBIs, which is ahead of your boy, Jonathan Aranda.
01:03:13
Speaker
Or at least he has a raise hat on in this picture, so I assume he's still in the right. Yeah, Aranda, yeah. And he has a 1.22 OPS, which leads Ben Rice and Aaron Judge right behind him.
01:03:25
Speaker
He leads... in in In all these categories, he hits for power, he hits for contact and average, he is patient as can be at the plate. He has always been one of the best hitters in baseball and he's gotten better this year and I think the league will finally take notice and not...
01:03:45
Speaker
Just focus on Aaron Judge. So if you're watching the Astros, watch for Yordan. We might be out of the playoffs, but we might be enjoying a home run ah triple crown chase coming into the season. And then the other thing to keep an eye on is the Alex Cora effect because there's a lot of similarities between the Red Sox and the Astros this year, not only in their record, but the the Red Sox have an outfield surplus that they've had a lot of trouble managing with an infield deficit.
01:04:13
Speaker
And the Astros have the opposite. They have an infield surplus with an outfield deficit, and it's creating incredible roster issues. And after Alex Corr was fired, you had Dana Brown, who is a lame duck GM whose contract expires at the end of the year, and they also get fired himself, come out and give the vote of confidence to the manager.
01:04:31
Speaker
which is not a good sign. So I don't expect the Astros to do anything super quickly, but with the draft in July and the, your current bench coach being the guy who managed Venezuela to a world baseball championship gold medal, think there's a chance that you do see movement around halfway through the season where they don't want Dana Brown managing the draft and trade deadline because he's not going to be there any longer. And they want to give Omar Lopez enough run to see if he can win the job before they go outside of the organization
Texas A&M Baseball Success
01:05:07
Speaker
to hire. So those are definite things to keep an eye on.
01:05:11
Speaker
i don't expect anything soon, but come June, I would say, um if if they're still struggling, come mid-May, late May, early June, I think you could you could be looking for for a movement there.
01:05:26
Speaker
And I guess I got the next one too with A&M baseball. I'm going fly through this. or just ah This is a lot here. So A&M baseball midweek against UTSA canceled by rain, but a two in one week, ah two in one in Gainesville against Florida, who was, I think, ranked number 21 at the time. Now number 25. That was a huge, huge, huge win.
01:05:49
Speaker
They lost 9-2 on Friday, not as bad as it looks because we have we don't have a lot of pitching depth. So you saw them in the, it was I think 4-2 or 5-2. And they went to a handful of pitchers who had never pitched against SEC players before. So they're just like, let's get these guys a look.
01:06:06
Speaker
And maybe one of them stands out. And honestly, they all pitched very well, except for one who gave up four runs and we lost nine to two, but incredible resilience to back bounce back and win Saturday eight to four and then Sunday five to one. So when it comes to the pitchers that really matter, i think you're looking at probably 10, nine to 10 runs attributed to them over the course of the weekend, which is a, you know, a three ERA that that'll do.
01:06:34
Speaker
the offense that A&M has. So pitching continues to solidify is my main takeaway. um And i don't know. i'm goingnna This is going to be just fully – Just storyline as well.
01:06:51
Speaker
I don't know if you watched the clip that I sent you on Sunday. I did. Yeah, i did. Yeah, where I said if you and Mike had gone to this game, you would have gotten to see this absolute cannon. Jorian Wilson out of Howitzville, Texas, under-recruited. He played quarterback in high school. He looks like he should be playing defensive end or linebacker in the SEC.
01:07:12
Speaker
He hit two home runs that I believe measured at 420 feet and 445 feet over the weekend. Absolutely insane. And then you see the absolute cannon from a left field to gun down the runner at the plate to save. That would have made it 5-2 with a lot of momentum heading in Florida. Actually, at the time, we hadn't hit the home run yet, so it would have been 4-2.
01:07:35
Speaker
With ah runners on second and third, giving Florida tons of momentum with our closer already out on the field. Nobody else to go to in the pen. We would have been in a really sticky situation there. He catches the sack flag, guns the runner out, ends the inning, flip it over to the to the top half of the next inning. Momentum carries over into Bear Harrison hitting a home run and you walk out of there five to one.
01:07:58
Speaker
It was incredible. If you're not locked into this team yet, lock in now, have some fun. you are so You are even more so than ever in the driver's seat to host a regional and to host a super regional so that omaha the road to Omaha goes through College Station.
01:08:15
Speaker
We will be there, me and Amanda and my dad will be there Friday for the game against Auburn. So i'm looking forward to that. And that is that is the message, same as it was last week and the week before.
01:08:26
Speaker
What you did last weekend no longer matters because you have number eight Auburn coming to your house on Friday for what is now the biggest series of the season. The last three weekends have been the biggest series in the season, and this is the fourth in a row.
01:08:43
Speaker
Current rankings, you finish with number 17 and number 10 after that. it It doesn't stop, and oh my gosh, it's a good baseball man.
01:08:52
Speaker
Yeah, I'm pulling up the schedule because I want to make sure I know where we're at in terms of what we have left. see i yeah We have three weekends left to SEC tournament. I think there's two midweeks in there. so I think it's Tarleton State tomorrow. then you have Auburn at home, Ole Miss on the road, and Mississippi State at home with a random Tuesday opponent that I don't remember. Yeah, you have you you have two weeks left. You have Auburn this weekend, Tarleton State, as you just mentioned, Prairie View A&M next Tuesday. Then you have Ole Miss at Ole Miss.
01:09:28
Speaker
um um And then home one game? One game in Mississippi at home against Mississippi State. It should be a three game series. yeah Yeah. For some reason, the website wasn't loading. So, yeah, you have ultimately this seems like the last big test. Obviously, every SEC opponent is a big test.
01:09:46
Speaker
But in terms of what's what's left in front of you, obviously, Mississippi State and and Auburn, right, is the the bigger ones that are left over. um for what's coming up for A&M baseball. Yeah. Ole Miss on the road is no slouch either. that's ah That's a difficult team. But I think Auburn is the biggest test, I think, because of the arms that they have.
01:10:05
Speaker
So, I mean, you've got to feel good, like you said already. You've got to feel good of hosting a regional. But, you know, having the the road to Omaha going through College Station feels real good, especially after the season we had last year.
01:10:19
Speaker
Definitely good to see. I keep seeing over and over again the the the clips of Gavin Grochovic hitting nukes to center field over and over again. um so I mean, this A&M team is definitely feeling like they're coming into their own as we get deeper into this season, and that's the right mentality to have rather than than faltering down the stretch. So, you know, stay healthy, walk into what this rotation needs to be as you get closer and closer to SEC and then regionals.
01:10:45
Speaker
um
NFL Draft Overview & Critique
01:10:46
Speaker
But yeah, let's let's get ready. We got we got two more or three more weekends left to go, and let's get ready for some playoff baseball and in College Station. Yeah, absolutely. Lock in. It's going to be a lot of fun.
01:10:59
Speaker
Absolutely. Well, man, that is that concludes the wrap-up for this week, so I'm going let you run what is your your Super Bowl. on The NFL draft happened this weekend, so the show is yours, my guy.
01:11:11
Speaker
Yeah, NFL draft this last weekend. um I will say I, after watching the NFL draft this weekend, I think I side lot more with the um overall national narrative of this being a very weak draft than I did coming into it. i was like, oh, we're just talking it down. Like every draft's important.
01:11:31
Speaker
um It was definitely a weak draft. One of the As far as energy and excitement goes, it it didn't live up to a lot of drafts of of recent memory, but but teams walked away with pieces to help them build for a championship, and the Texans certainly did that too. But before we dive into the Texans, um I don't want to – go crazy analyzing other teams in the draft because we're not fans of those teams we're not locked into what they do but but we can look at outside the texans from a you know a 30 000 foot overview perspective so i've just got some lightning round questions we can get through before we get to houston so day one round one um what was your what was your favorite pick
01:12:14
Speaker
exception of Except excluding Houston, right? Yeah, excluding any Houston picks because we're going to go through all those separately. So non-Houston favorite pick day one.
01:12:26
Speaker
I'm going to say – man, tough, tough, tough, tough. ah I'm going to say a team that needed this player – um desperately because their defense really kind of faltered the last couple of seasons and their ah offense is ready and looks like they're ready to take that step in and win, you know, not just our division, but keep going in the NFC.
01:12:52
Speaker
um I love the Reuben Bain pick to Tampa. um They're a team that could not stop the run to save their lives. um Couldn't get pressure on the quarterback. Couldn't really do anything. You know, the Texas played them in Monday Night Football last year and it was one of CJ's best games.
01:13:07
Speaker
of the season, which is not saying a whole lot. CJ didn't have a lot of good games last year, but ultimately one of CJ's best games. And the only reason why they won the game is because the defense for the Texans couldn't stop the run up the middle, um which is something we'll talk about a little bit later.
01:13:21
Speaker
um But, you know, when you when you add someone like Ruben Bain Jr. that's going to take pressure off the middle of your defense because you're just going to let him go, you're talking about a Will Anderson Jr. type of effect, and that's the comp for Ruben Bain. He's a little smaller than Will Anderson Jr.,
01:13:35
Speaker
But someone that can beef up a little bit and he already has the the the tangibles to to make a presence in the NFL and ultimately on a team that is ready to win right now. um and ah And a head coach in Todd Bowles who loves the defensive side of the game. So I like that pick a lot.
01:13:51
Speaker
And I think you got him at a steal at 15. That's to me, Ruben Bain was a top 10 pick and falling to 15 is insane for Ruben Bain. Yeah, he he fell because he had he measured out to have short arms, but that's not something that stopped him at Miami against A&M's offensive line or at Ohio State's offensive line or Indiana's offensive line. like he He had success.
01:14:18
Speaker
He had incredible success at Miami, and that is an absolute steal to get him all the way down. and I think it was pick 15. yeah Yeah, that's a good one there. I'm going to with my favorite.
01:14:29
Speaker
I think partly because of the drama associated with it was Makai Lemon to Philadelphia. Having him, they traded up to get him was one thing. i don't know if you've seen the videos, but he's on the phone with Pittsburgh telling him they're going to draft him with the next pick.
01:14:44
Speaker
And his agent runs over and gets him off the phone and puts him on the phone with Philadelphia who just drafted him. That's electric stuff. um He's also just an incredible, like I think he yeah he's an incredible receiver. I think he's up there.
01:14:57
Speaker
with ah Jordan Tyson as the best receiver in the draft. I know there was a a third receiver drafted just as highly. i will get to them in a later category. um But I think he's up there as potentially the best to bet the best wide receiver in the draft, and you get him all the way down it. I think that was pick 21 or 20, somewhere around there. And it creates twenty yeah the storyline of A.J. Brown as well. Yeah.
01:15:24
Speaker
Just that was rumored before AJ Brown's headed to New England, but they can't finalize it until the June 1st cut date. And it it seems like it seems like that really is the case. He's going to be headed there. They just got his replacement. and And I'm excited to see how that shakes out for him.
01:15:41
Speaker
Yeah, I almost also said Makai Lemon until I remember that Jalen Hurts is throwing him the the football. And I just don't have faith in Jalen Hurts to get him the football on a consistent basis.
01:15:52
Speaker
Yeah, that's fair. i think that's a bit that I think that becomes a more popular opinion each day. But it still remains, I think, a really good pick. well yeah Whether you can maximize it or not, I think it becomes a different question.
01:16:09
Speaker
I'm not going to separate those two.
01:16:12
Speaker
I mean, I had Makai Lemon as the number two wide receiver in this draft. I mean, I didn't have Jordan Tyson, number one. um We both know who our number one wide receiver on the board was in this draft, but Makai Lemon was my number two. And when there was a chance that he was going to fall to the Texans at 28, you and I were texting back and forth. i was like, if Makai Lemon falls, you you have to take you had to take him at 28.
01:16:32
Speaker
um Ultimately, didn't get the chance to. But um yeah, I mean, he's he's a phenomenal football player. And if Jalen Hurts can figure out how to fill the football, not 60 yards on the field all the time, then McKinley might not you have a chance to be ah a stud wide receiver one, especially when you still play across from Devontae Smith, who is a Heisman winning wide receiver.
01:16:52
Speaker
So whenever you can figure out how to spread the ball between those two guys, that Philly offense can still be special. Yeah, I think it really can be. So it'll it'll definitely be fun, fun to watch. And my hope,
01:17:06
Speaker
not as a fan of theirs because I'm not a fan of the team, but and as a fan of good football is that the just the vibes index will increase for the offense. And you'll see um a lot of the the play come together through that. The way you can maximize the talent of the, you know, of the receiving core, which which they have a really good one.
01:17:25
Speaker
So, all right. Day two or three. So anything round two or later, favorite pick. If you don't have one ready, I can go first, but if you're ready, I'll let you kick us off. Take that one. I don't know the second and round as well as I knew the first. So you take that one. So i'mnna I'm going to go with round four.
01:17:42
Speaker
There's ah the very first pick of round four. Las Vegas takes cornerback Jermod McCoy out of Tennessee. I think this is a really good value pick. He was originally projected as a late first pick.
01:17:55
Speaker
I guess a first second type of player, but he had, ah he he kind of, I think recently within the last couple of weeks had announced ah that he has to get another surgery. So his injury history kicks him from, you know, potentially day one, day two, all the way down to the first pick on day three. But the value there is incredible.
01:18:18
Speaker
If you get health out of that, I think it's well worth the risk in your first pick of, of round four to potentially get a first round talent once he gets healthy. I think that was a really good, um really good value pick by the Raiders there. That was,
01:18:32
Speaker
five or six picks before Houston went. I was really hoping that Houston would be the ones that could have the, the team structure around to, to take that pick and wait for him to get healthy.
01:18:43
Speaker
Good on Las Vegas for not allowing him to fall to a team with a, with a nearer championship window. So I'm going to go with Jermon McCoy overall pick one. One Oh one. I'm go on the offensive side of it.
Quarterback Picks Analysis
01:19:01
Speaker
And I, my brain is going between two and coincidentally enough, they're both the quarterback position in this draft that we talked about last week um was not a very heavy quarterback draft i' outside of Fernando Mendoza, which I'm still, and I will die on the Hill. I'm not a big fan of Fernando Mendoza. i don't think he, i don't think he's going into as good of a situation as a lot of people are making it out to be.
01:19:20
Speaker
But I will admit when I am wrong, if it if it happens this season. But I am between two picks right now. I'm between, um round three pick one which was 65 to Carson Beck and then um pick number so want to get the pick number right and pick 110 Cade Klubnik both players going into a situation where they're not expected to be quarterback one both teams in Arizona and the the Jets both picking up free agent quarterbacks making some moves to
01:19:56
Speaker
to figure out where they're going to be in the future. um i don't think either quarterback is the answer, but they could be. There is a tremendous upside to both players. Obviously, we've seen Carson Beck play competitive football at a high level for the last four years between between Georgia and then Miami, obviously, this past season.
01:20:14
Speaker
And the Clay Kluvnik playing four seasons in Clemson, an amazing dual-threat quarterback that has tremendous upside, um someone that plays with his heart on his sleeve.
01:20:25
Speaker
And in any quarterback that comes out of the Davos Sweeney offense is pretty much ready to go for the NFL. Um, it's just whether or not they can make that transition. Um, so I think either one of those, there's so much upside for both of those teams to really showcase that they can develop a quarterback and get rid of this notion that they can't develop a quarterback.
01:20:44
Speaker
Um, but I think I like both of those picks a lot and, you know, we'll see, we'll see ultimately what happens in the long run. Um, I think if you if I had to pick one that I think has the success long-term, I would go play Kutnik in New York.
01:21:00
Speaker
Okay. I like i like that. i was I was glad you didn't say Drew Aller because I would have to rant on that and I don't want to keep us here forever. No, I'm not. I'll accept both of those.
01:21:12
Speaker
Yeah. I'll accept
Titans' & Rams' Draft Criticism
01:21:14
Speaker
both of those. So let's go with, we'll kick it over to a slightly less positive version. Worst pick from day one. I guess I'll i'll kick us off on that to give you a second to look if you need it.
01:21:26
Speaker
um I'm going to Carnell Tate at pick four. i I don't get it. He was behind Egbuka. He was behind Jeremiah Smith.
01:21:39
Speaker
He was behind Marvin Harrison Jr. I think he's a guy that took really a few years to be a contributor on this Ohio State team. I know they're regularly stacked, but He's behind guys that got there before him and guys that got there after him. I think, I guess in a way I get it, they're trying to take the next, like they're trying to take Igbuka from last year and they think Cardinal Tate is that this year.
01:22:05
Speaker
But with Jordan Tyson still there, with Mekhi Lemon still there, and with these defensive pieces still there, Arvel Reese, Mansoor Delane, Sonny Stiles,
01:22:16
Speaker
offensive like caleb downs like no offensive lineman had come off the board yet they had so many options and i feel like they took yet another mediocre wide receiver that will continue to make it look like him ward is not ready for the nfl because like he they keep going to get more receivers but it's like calvin ridley's washed after they like they went got him he's washed they got carnell tate who you know i think you could As easily as you could argue him the best wide receiver in this draft, you could argue him the third best.
01:22:48
Speaker
And I take him at pick four. um this is This is the theme of how I view the Titans. I think the Titans how are the most aggressively mediocre team in the NFL. Free agent acquisitions and in the draft. All their moves are aggressive and they're aggressively for average players.
01:23:04
Speaker
And I think that's what they did here. And to me, that's a worst pick day one.
01:23:10
Speaker
Yeah, i don't I didn't understand that pick when you sent it to me. I was like, i didn't for a team that has so many needs across the board, and you can go for an off offensive playmaker round one in a position where you could protect Cam Ward. Or you like you said, there's so many defensive edge rushers and everyone that you could have got or a secondary pick or whatever it may have been. um you can You can go get a receiver. You can spend draft capital and go trade for – hell, you can go get A.J. Brown.
01:23:35
Speaker
And now you have someone that is established in the NFL. Yeah, I'm i'm with you. That probably would have been my pick if you didn't go ah that way. So I had to go to my second one. um And the draft where there was so many reaches, and I am sure we're going to talk about that with the Texans because there's a lot of controversy around the Texans reach and all that stuff.
01:23:52
Speaker
The biggest reach for me is Ty Simpson at 13. Ty Simpson for me. Ty Simpson for me and, you know, where you love the draft, I love the combine. Ty Simpson, obviously no quarterback throws into the combine anymore.
01:24:06
Speaker
um But just in terms of his pro day and everything that he had, I never graded Ty Simpson as a round one guy. I never understood the hype. He's played one year at Alabama in that system and actually, you know, of actual competitive football.
01:24:20
Speaker
And it wasn't great. Like they snuck into the playoffs under name recognition alone um and only beat a equally mid Oklahoma team in the first round.
01:24:32
Speaker
Um, so I never understood that. And then for the Rams, well, I understand you're probably only have Stafford for one more year, maybe two at the max. And obviously you missed on, on, um, Stinson Bennett, um, a couple of seasons ago, obviously him not making this, the step into the NFL.
01:24:48
Speaker
Um, but now you have Ty Simpson. I don't, and I never believed in the hype. And now you're taking him at 13, like when you could have putt, a Reuben Bain Jr. on your roster that went two picks after you. And like you could have had another another edge rusher or another ah sack person um to replace Aaron Donald. that you i mean, obviously that defense has not missed a beat, but you could have added on a a piece in there that's ready day one rather than a project in Ty Simpson who, granted, is going to sit behind Matthew Stafford for a year or two, but what if that doesn't hit? And now you've sat on Ty Simpson for two years when you could waited until next year where the quarterback draft is supposed to be much better
01:25:27
Speaker
And then you' you've reached on this and you could have got a much better first round talent. um And in at all honesty, you probably could have Ty Simpson in the second round. I don't know whether Rams picked in the second round, um but you probably could have got him in the second round ah if a team didn't sneak back into the first round. And looking at the last five picks, I mean, you have the Dolphins, the Patriots, the Chiefs, the Jets, the Titans, and the Seahawks. Only two of those teams need a quarterback.
01:25:52
Speaker
And I don't think they were going to Simpson. Yeah, this is one that I would have picked too. They have a championship window that's open right now. They had a chance to improve it and they they just didn't.
01:26:04
Speaker
and they They took a guy and now they have a replacement plan for Matt Stafford, but also next year's draft is supposed to be so heavy q b like It's supposed to be one of the better QB drafts of the last few years. so it It feels like you didn't need to get the insurance plan yet. You really could have gone and tried to do it next year and use this year to, to build for your chance to win it all this year, because you were so close this year. You were, you gave Seattle the best run, like whoever won Seattle, they was going to win the Superbowl.
01:26:38
Speaker
Um, you had a chance to improve on that and and, and you didn't. And I think that, I think they'll really go on to regret that. Um, which I'll use this as a transition. We have overall winners and losers to consider. and I'll just transition out of overall loser. For me, it is the Rams because you had a chance to, um yeah you had you had a chance to improve on a Super Bowl ready roster and you you chose not to do that. The Rams only had five total picks or they only ended up taking five total picks.
01:27:07
Speaker
And the first one of those five picks you you spent on a guy who is in best case scenario, going to ride the bench the entire season. And so in my, in my mind,
01:27:19
Speaker
I don't know that you got even one difference maker for next year. And that is a real shame when you had the 13th overall pick because it wasn't your pick. That's Atlanta's pick.
01:27:32
Speaker
yeah you know You had a chance to get a difference maker that you didn't that you didn't you know you didn't deserve it by being bad enough to art to get it You had somebody else's pick. that you know That GM, I think, got fired for that.
01:27:45
Speaker
and And you used it on on a guy who best case scenario won't impact your team this season. Yeah, I think that makes you an overall draft day loser for me. Yeah, draft day loser for me. I'm quickly scrolling through to make sure i can talk on it.
01:28:04
Speaker
My brain is initially as my browser crashes. There we go. There we go. Back on it now. um Where's the round four pick? Did they have a round four pick?
01:28:15
Speaker
No round four pick.
Cleveland's Draft Potential
01:28:17
Speaker
I'm going to go to the Cleveland Browns because of the Cleveland Browns. um Oh, man. i Dude, we're going disagree here.
01:28:27
Speaker
i love Casey Concepcion. um You have a significant issue on the offensive side of the ball at both quarterback and offensive line. You lose Wyatt Teller to the Texans. and you lose, like I think, two other positions on your offensive line. like The entire O-line is gone, and you don't take an O-lineman until the third round, and it's ah it's a guard from Florida. Their first pick was an O-lineman. They had pick nine.
01:28:52
Speaker
Pick nine? Where it They took the first O-lineman off the board. They took Fano. Fano. I don't know if that changes your opinion or not. It doesn't, no.
01:29:05
Speaker
It doesn't mainly because I don't know Utah football that much. So I don't know how much of a stud this guy is. Obviously you have a top 10 grade on him and you traded for that pick whether or not they traded for a day of or not. I don't, I don't know. I wasn't able to watch the draft. I'm sure they traded back from six to nine with Kansas city.
01:29:24
Speaker
Got it. I assume that's how they picked up one of these other picks that they use later. No, six was from the Giants because the Giants, ah they were so they were six. I remember that now.
01:29:36
Speaker
Yeah, never mind. It would have been a natural nine for Cleveland, I think. So regardless, i just you have so many issues on that on on that team. And for you to go to you to draft too tight or two wide receivers, bat-to-back rounds, and your offensive line is garbage and you're going to run out a bunch of rookies.
01:29:55
Speaker
You still have you saw question marks at quarterback. Are you going Shador day one? You still have Dylan Gabriel on the team. You draft a quarterback, I think, in the last round.
01:30:06
Speaker
They took Taylor Green very late. Yeah, I don't remember if it was last round or the second to last round. It was like the second to last round. like I just don't – I never understood the the Browns draft strategy in in all my years of watching the draft, and this still – it accentuates that point where I just, I don't understand what they're trying to do. and you don't spend money in free agency. You don't have the draft capital to spend the right way.
01:30:31
Speaker
And you just continue to try to put a bandaid on your issues and run out rookies rather than actually going and getting NFL ready guys to run out there. I, we saw it with the Texas last year. We run out of Ariante nursery at left tackle.
01:30:44
Speaker
You've got to live through the growing pains. I've left tackle at that point. Like, so you're going to run out, uh, Fano, who is an offensive tackle, i'm assuming he's a left tackle because you don't spend a top 10 pick on a right tackle.
01:30:57
Speaker
So you're going to run out a ah rookie left tackle. And that means you're going to have to live through the hits on either Shador or Dylan Gabriel or Tate. I don't get it. i never understood it And until they figure out how to fix their issues, I'm going to continue to say the Cleveland Browns.
01:31:12
Speaker
And i just I don't believe in the Shador hype. I've never believed in Shador hype. And I don't think Dylan Gabriel is the answer either. So like you still have a quarterback issue. And maybe maybe you're building for next season. with the with the the quarterback heavy draft. and Maybe you're playing for an Arch Manning type of situation or the Oregon kid that I can't think of his name right now.
01:31:31
Speaker
um Maybe that's the direction you go, but I don't i don't know, man. i don't see the I don't see the vision for the Browns. So we're goingnna we're going to disagree here because Cleveland is actually my draft day winner. Now, I don't disagree with much of what you said ah like on the outside of the draft, right? Like they lost a lot in free agency. They didn't spend a lot of money in free agency because they have both the miles Garrett contract and the Deshaun Watson um Alcatraz of a contract. I don't like their quarterback situation. I'm not a Shudder believer. I'm not a, um,
01:32:07
Speaker
Dylan Gabriel believer. I'm ultimately not a Taylor green believer, although I think that adds fun to the mix, right? Like just from a, like if he were to play, like it would be entertaining.
01:32:19
Speaker
I'm not saying it'd be positive for Cleveland, but it would be fun to watch because he's athletic and he's going to make big plays for your team. And he's going to make big plays for the other team. Very, um johnny manzel bo nix diego pavia you know like so some of this stuff and so i think that's entertaining but but to me i think it comes down to to to very simple i think your first four picks of this draft were first round talents spencer fano you took him at nine um i think he's generally the first or second highest rated offensive lineman by most services
01:32:54
Speaker
Casey Concepcion. I know what we both believe about him. I agree with you. I don't think he gets utilized well this year, but that doesn't mean that I think it was a bad pick. um Denzel Boston is another guy. and it's two You got two first round graded wide receivers by most mock drafts.
01:33:12
Speaker
um And Emmanuel McNeil Warren, the safety, is another guy who in mock drafts and things leading up to the draft was expected to be a late first rounder. So to me, it looks like you walked away with four first round talents.
01:33:27
Speaker
um And I think that makes you a winner, but I agree. I don't think you see the, I don't think you see the results this year because you're going to have the growing pains of the offensive line. They also took an offensive tackle at the end of the third and they took a center at the beginning of the fifth.
01:33:45
Speaker
I don't know the full plans on that, but you might have three rookies on your offensive line, and that's going to be ugly for at least a year. But in two years, it could be less ugly. In three years, it could be less ugly. And if you're Cleveland, you're not going to be – there was nothing you could do in this draft to be good next year.
01:34:03
Speaker
um You just weren't. And so I like the build, and I think if you start with this – I think this core, if it hits – um, could make this a much better landing spot for whichever quarterback you take at the top of the draft next year. So that's Arch Manning, Dante Moore, um, CJ Carr.
01:34:23
Speaker
I think there's, and there's another one that I'm like, yeah, Marcel Reed. There's ah there's another one, another obvious one that I'm missing. I was looking at the, uh, way too early, 2027 the other day.
01:34:34
Speaker
Um, there was a ah third name up there that's going to bother the heck out of me, but, um, you know if you If you find your quarterback replacement next year, you could bring him into a much more successful situation than you could have otherwise. and so I like what Cleveland did, but I also don't necessarily disagree with any of the points you made. I just think I have to exclude those from what they did on draft day. There's stuff they did outside of draft day that I don't like, but I liked what they did on draft day.
01:35:00
Speaker
Yeah.
Seattle Seahawks' Draft Success
01:35:01
Speaker
Always I will tell, and I just don't have faith in the Browns to actually put it together and make it work. Yeah. I think that's my, my winner. And it's, it might be ah a chalky answer for a lot of people.
01:35:16
Speaker
um I'm going to say the CLC Hawks is my, my draft day winner. um End of round one, pick 32. You take Jadarian price, who is obviously running back to behind, behind love that went what second overall, right?
01:35:29
Speaker
Third overall Jeremiah love to to Arizona, which don't get me started on Arizona outside of Carson back in Jeremiah love. I don't know what you're doing in in Arizona. Um, um But, and then looking later on in the draft, Seattle just spends a whole lot of draft capital on the defensive side of the ball. They take safety and cornerback around two and three.
01:35:46
Speaker
um I didn't go past that because ultimately that's, once you get to round four and five, it's a lot of names that a lot you're just taking flyers on. But answering the question of what do you do losing your running back one, you go ahead and get that in round one, basically around two talent in round one and Jadarian Price.
01:36:03
Speaker
And then shoring up your secondary. with the cornerback in safety in round two and three. um Whether or not they're a name or not, you know, obviously, Mansour Delane obviously was the big cornerback on the board.
01:36:15
Speaker
But once you get past that point, you know, you're talking about a team that didn't need a lot of help. um In Seattle, obviously, we saw what their defense was able to do last year, only rivaled against the Houston Texans defense last year, and an offense that You already, you locked up JSN on a long-term contract.
01:36:33
Speaker
um You really just needed a running back one or maybe a running back by committee, a running back 1A, 1B. And it seemed like you got that with Janarian Price. um So like you're talking about a team and the way that we're going to about the Texans here in a second that doesn't have a lot of holes and you fixed it with with rookie talent. You're going to be on rookie deals and you know instantly answering the questions that you that you had as a Seattle fan.
01:36:56
Speaker
You have to feel real good about this draft where you didn't need a lot going into it. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, they let Kenneth Walker walk and they replaced him with Jadarian Price ah right away and you have to feel really good about that replacement. They've had a lot of success hitting on defensive players in early and late rounds and and so you got to feel good about taking Bud Clark round two, Julian Neal round three.
01:37:20
Speaker
um yeah you and In the moment, they they seem they get the benefit of the doubt that these guys are going to hit and you just you like the positions that they went after, definitely.
Texans' Draft Strategy & Reactions
01:37:30
Speaker
I mean, with that, let's let's let's so send this over to to Texans thoughts. So I'm going run this by you real quick because we're already at an hour 35. I'm going to cut this pick by pick thoughts because I think we're going to go another hour if we have that. Let's just, um what do you think? Let's try to maybe maybe maybe try to do this in like 25 minutes and keep this closer to two hours.
01:37:53
Speaker
um initial Initial thoughts was it's fine. But don't delete the picks. I didn't mean to do that. I want to keep the names. There we go. There we go. um It's fine. But we I think we both talked about it that the Texans were going into this this draft with BPA, best player available.
01:38:12
Speaker
I know we're going talk about that with with the third pick here in a second. But, um you know, they addressed what we needed to address. I remember texting you Saturday morning and being like, if I was Nick Casario going into day three, I'm looking for cornerback help And I'm looking for a wide receiver, some sort of playmaking type position. I need someone to bolster these rooms. um And he immediately does does that with going out and getting Kamari Ramsey and then going in Lewis Bond. None of them flashy picks. Kamari has a a high upside, obviously, coming out of USC.
01:38:45
Speaker
um But that's where i that's what I wanted to see going into day three. And we immediately addressed that in your first two picks on day three. um But the stress was fine, but I didn't need it to be amazing. I needed this to address a couple of issues that we had and we did that.
01:39:02
Speaker
Yeah. I'll say after the first two picks, I was flying high. i really liked the Keelan Rutledge pick. I know a lot of people think that was way too early. um i texted you that I thought he was a pick 38 pick, not a pick 28 pick and you traded up to get him. But it seems like Intel was probably that San Francisco was going to take him at 27. So you had to jump them to go get him.
01:39:24
Speaker
And if that's how you feel about him, then I'm here for it. And once it was announced that he not only plays guard, but is open to playing center, I think that became an absolute take because you did nothing to improve center in the off season. And to even have that as an option could, could prove huge.
01:39:41
Speaker
And then we'll get into it later. Caden McDonald being there at pick 36 insane value and saying what he can do to this defense. So I was flying high. And then after that, I'll say I was, it was kind of a dud for me from there. Like,
01:39:56
Speaker
ah They drafted Marlon Klein. I think my text to you was, who is that? They drafted Fabecchi Weewoo is apparently how you pronounce that. yeah I don't know who that is. Like I wasn't, he wasn't on my radar going into this. They drafted Wade Wood as he was not on my radar. I parked back up at Kamari Ramsey. I got really excited about that pick. I think he was falling, and that's a huge value.
01:40:19
Speaker
Did not know who Louis Bond was. And i aware of Aiden Fisher because he played for Indiana and was the heart of that defense. But I was really hoping they would take a running back at some point, too, to add to the mix of – Montgomery and Woody Marks. And so there was a little bit of disappointment there also that we didn't go running back um anywhere in here just to give us another piece. So we're not having Jawar Jordan run out at some point in the season, although he performed well. um
01:40:51
Speaker
So yeah, it was it was mixed. My immediate reaction was probably was a little bit of like, I've got three guys that I can circle and get get excited about. And then the rest of it just felt like, what happened?
01:41:03
Speaker
Who are these people? And why did we go after them? I'll say that has changed as I've taken in a little bit more. So i'm curious if if your immediate reaction has changed over the last few days as well.
01:41:15
Speaker
i think i mean I think I ultimately came in i came out of the draft a little bit higher than you did because I think my expectations for the Texans was a little bit more tempered, um, on what we were goingnna do in this draft.
01:41:27
Speaker
Um, I agree with you. I think there's a reach with a Rutledge, but there has obviously been a lot chatter since that, not just San Francisco, but Tennessee was looking to move up as well. Um, and they were looking to potentially go up and take Rutledge.
01:41:37
Speaker
Um, so, i mean, and then the report coming out that Casario has missed on on a couple of off offensive linemen in the last couple of years. Um, so that he wanted to be aggressive and go get his guy. Um, so obviously good on him to go do that. Um,
01:41:51
Speaker
So, I mean, I think ultimately the the back half of this draft, I think, yeah, it's not very exciting names, but they don't need to be. These are guys that are going to be special teamers and they're going to be guys that play in rotation to give a guy a snap off, right?
01:42:04
Speaker
You know, Kamari Ramsey is someone that, you know, long-term maybe could perk up and be a rotation guy to play out their next symbolic or give Petrie a day off. Cause I heard that he also plays nickel, which I think is the depth piece that we're looking for that,
01:42:17
Speaker
When you look at the last couple of seasons, Petrie's had some missed games. So maybe Ramsey is someone that can develop under Petrie. Now you have a good second behind Ramsey or behind Petrie. So they're not relying on Bullock to play the nickel position.
01:42:30
Speaker
um So a lot of this stuff, even Aiden Fisher, Wade Wood, these guys are depth pieces. These aren't guys that are going to be starting day one, but you're looking at the future of what you know, Texas football is right.
01:42:43
Speaker
Aziz looking for a contract after the season, right? That's a big one. Henry Tootow's rookie contract ends soon as well. So does Wade Woodhead step up? Does Ada Fisher step up and become the the new guys behind them that D'Amico can develop? Obviously we're going to look at these top two picks as guys that need to start day one.
01:43:01
Speaker
And I think we both agree that they need to start day one. But I don't think, don't be as down on the back half of this draft as much as I think a lot of Texans fans have been over the last couple of days.
01:43:12
Speaker
but I definitely think, I think there's some talent there. Let D'Amico do what he does best, especially because you've a lot of, a lot of defensive pieces back there that are going to be looking for contracts very soon.
01:43:23
Speaker
um The other Kamari looking for a deal, Kalen Bullock looking for a deal, Aziz looking for a deal, Henry Tooto, like you've got a lot of people on this defense that are going going to want money and we don't got a lot of money to go around here soon.
01:43:36
Speaker
um So, I mean, you've got to, You got to figure out some rookies that are going to make impacts. So I think that's what you're seeing here, whether or not it pays off or not. That's what the back half of the draft is for is to see what you can get in, what you can develop.
01:43:48
Speaker
But I agree with you, like Rutledge and McDonald are are the the guys of this draft. And we need to, we need to figure out how to get them starting day one, obviously religious easy one to to put in there or sorry, Rutledge is the McDonald's cheese is the easy one to plug in there. You have it. ah You had a very evident hole on the defensive line.
01:44:07
Speaker
Rutledge, you just got figure out what you're going to do with him. I don't think where your initial thought was right guard. I don't think that's the answer. You paid Ed Ingram a lot of money to play right guard. The answer needs to be how do you get him at center and is he ready to play center in the NFL?
01:44:21
Speaker
Yeah, I think the first choice is is center, but I think just because he's never, like he was the reserve center, but he doesn't have a lot of game reps at center. So I think um for me, it's like if he can, if if he proves to take to it quickly and and is ready for it, then absolutely, like I want to see him at center. But if he doesn't,
01:44:42
Speaker
um I'm more than happy for him to beat out a guy at guard that we're paying too much money and and but get them off the books next year. you know like the The future is brighter.
01:44:55
Speaker
no no matter what, if Rutledge comes in and succeeds at either center or guard, the future is brighter as a result. And so I'm more than happy for him to beat somebody out and us say, well, maybe that was a wasted contract, but it was also great.
01:45:10
Speaker
um plan B. and And so I'd be more happy with that. I think my general reaction to the draft has improved since the draft ended. It appears that Well, one, I was very disappointed in the Marlon Klein pick, but I think that the a couple picks before that when the Jags took Nate Borkescher and many picks after that proved that that's just how the NFL is valuing these tight ends this year. like So many tight ends went off the board in rounds two, three, and four that I thought were round five, six, seven guys.
01:45:47
Speaker
and And that means not that the Texans were wrong to take him at 259. It means that all the rest of us were wrong as a round two pick 59 that all the rest of us were wrong and how we thought the NFL valued them so like that's one where I come down on my feeling towards that pick just viewing what everybody else did and saying okay no like if they wanted him this is where they had to take him they couldn't wait until round five where I thought they should and so that one improves and then generally you know I've been kind of watching some videos on these guys just to get an idea of who they are because not names I was
01:46:20
Speaker
familiar with and there's a trend these are these are guys that rate really well athletically um these are guys with high football character high engines um and nasty streaks at the same time like like high football character but also like don't quit and play with intensity and aggression like we see with um but like Like Wade Wood has a video out where he talks about like, all I have to do is get angry and then I'm ready to play football. And like, that sounds kind of like Aziz, you know, and then like Lewis Bond, not and not a name I knew, not a name I still know much about, but very productive. He had 993 yards last season at Boston College, a very productive receiver to get.
01:47:06
Speaker
in the sixth round, Aiden Fisher, there's so many reports out about how big of a key he was to that Indiana defense. And especially when you're looking at linebacker and safety, like we have a track record of development there now that I'm going to lean towards, like the staff knows what they're looking for and they know what to do with that. So, um,
01:47:26
Speaker
there's enough of a thread for me to say there was a lot of intentionality behind those. um And I can take a step back and just say, I can get excited for this because these are the guys they wanted and that's who they went and got. So it aged better than my immediate reaction, but my immediate reaction to every pick being like, I never heard that name was very ah uninspiring at first.
01:47:48
Speaker
Yeah. I I'm with you, man. It's I think only time will tell, especially for probably from, yeah we will down, ah you're probably going to, it's a wait and see to see what this, what this, what the, the system can do.
Caden McDonald's Impact on Texans
01:48:01
Speaker
And I, and I have faith in the coaches and the position coaches to develop these guys. um Especially when you start talking about the defensive side of the ball, like D'Amico has proven now to, to, to develop guys, um especially third round talent guys. Right. Obviously we didn't pick in the third round, but like when you look at the guys that we've taken in the later rounds, even the Jalen reads that are going in the, um and everyone else that we have from that point on,
01:48:24
Speaker
there's guys that we have proven to develop over this time. And, you know, it's only better for their development to sit behind Aziz, Bullock, Petrie, you name it, like Henry Toto, you name these guys, it's going to be good for them to sit behind them and learn and potentially be their replacements here in a couple of years when we can't afford to pay everyone.
01:48:44
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So with with that being said, man, what's your, what's your favorite pick? I think we probably will both end up with the same answer for this one, but, what's your What's your favorite take out of all these?
01:48:57
Speaker
a Man, I don't want to go chalky with it, but just it's easier. It's Caden McDonald. it's It's tough to not be Caden McDonald, to see the emotion that he has, to to hear him talk after the draft, to see his reaction, to go out there and find the the one little cluster of Texans fans out there um in Pittsburgh and celebrating with them and the the emotion that he had. And There was an interview where his nephew called him and was talking to him about how proud he was and how much like his nephew, that but that's his hero, like Caden is his hero and that he plays for him and all this stuff. Like the dude seems like just a genuinely good guy. And it's hard to not root for a person like that. And, you know, he's the only one that didn't leave the green room on day one. So, you know, that immediately he has that chip on his shoulder to be the only guy to come back on day two and get drafted.
01:49:48
Speaker
and even still fall another four or five picks after that before he gets taken. um I think you know you and I talked about D-tackle very easily is was the 1A, 1B to offensive line in this draft for us, and D'Amico got his guy and seen D'Amico's reaction when he drafted Caden, spoke volumes on the state of the Texans and what he wants to do with Caden.
01:50:14
Speaker
He's going to sit there right next to to Tommy T., and Sheldon Rankin's playing the D1 for him. Like D-tackle one, he's going be the very clear D-tackle two. But seeing the stats and the put and the type of player he was at Ohio State, um obviously he played there with CJ a couple years ago and was on the national championship winning roster, so he knows what it takes to win football games.
01:50:36
Speaker
It's tough to not get excited about that position. I don't want to go without saying a lot without about Rutledge. think there's a ton of upside for Rutledge, but seeing the reaction of not just – the the coaches, but seeing his reaction in Pittsburgh when he finally did get picked spoke enough for me to be like, this is this is the guy to keep an eye on.
01:50:54
Speaker
Obviously, he won't have flashy stuff because he's not he's on a sack person, but he addresses a major hole for us where we couldn't stop the run at all last year. And he's going to be a guy that's going to stop the run and he's going to be a physical guy up front and only makes Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter better.
01:51:10
Speaker
Yeah, indeed D tackles the one position on this team that they've continued to fill with journeyman free agent acquisitions. ah with with incredible success right like tommy togei plays out of his mind for houston sheldon rankins plays well above what you thought he would be for houston and you see what tomiko and also obviously the d-line coach do with this d-lineman and it feels like you just handed them a ferrari and asked them to to to see what they can do with that and it really feels like the sky's the limit for this like
01:51:45
Speaker
you have you're gonna run a D-line out there that has, you know, there will be a snap where Will Anderson, Daniil Hunter, and Caden McDonald are all on that line. And that offensive line is gonna be just beside themselves, trying to figure out how to block all of these threats.
01:52:06
Speaker
i it's i It's my most, it's my favorite pick. It's the most exciting pick. I would have been over the moon if that is who they drafted when they traded up at pick 26.
01:52:19
Speaker
That was part of the disappointment with the Rutledge pick at the moment is like that could have been Caden McDonald and then you take Rutledge at 38. And so you end up with both anyways.
01:52:30
Speaker
and And which is a win-win. Like, I don't care which order you took them. And we got the two guys I wanted to get with those two picks. And I just, I just cannot wait to see the track record of development of defensive linemen specifically, but every position on defense and you give them the best you give. You give the best defensive lineman in the draft, in my opinion, to D'Amico and the DL, the line coach to work with.
01:52:55
Speaker
I cannot wait to see how this helps us in the run game and what it opens up for Will Anderson and Daniel Hunter or what they opened up for Caden McDonald. Cause you're like, he's not a sack guy, but if he's the third, you know, most important person they're figuring out how to block, he could become a sack guy. You know what i mean? Like that could open that up for him. So I, I,
01:53:19
Speaker
Cannot wait to see. All right, folks. A little technical difficulties there as we continue to figure out the... the software we're using to record this. um I was just wrapping up thoughts on the excitement for Caden McDaniel or Caden McDonald because of what D'Amico can do with defensive tackles and track record of development. So we're going to wrap this up pretty as quickly as we can before we run into any more technical difficulties. Justin, what's your least favorite pick or highest risk pick or kind of however you want to view this, whatever lens you want to paint it through? Yeah.
01:53:53
Speaker
I don't think there was a pick that we really missed on i think when you When you talk about this draft, I think the position that we needed was tight end. And I just don't think we answered that question with Marlon Klein, especially where we got Marlon Klein. I just don't think that was the right spot.
01:54:10
Speaker
I get that we picked in the run of the tight ends and we needed to go out and get the guy that we wanted. But I just don't think Marlon Klein's the clients that guy. You already got a blocking tight end in and and Foster Moreau from New Orleans. So I didn't understand why you went out and drafted another blocking tight end when you have Dalton Schultz that maybe only has.
01:54:28
Speaker
three years left playing the position of of tight end. So like you need to get another type of tight end like Dalton Schultz at some point. And obviously, Revin Jordan can't stay healthy. Kate Stover experiment seems to be over.
01:54:42
Speaker
So getting a guy in Marlon Klein who I think had six catches for 300 yards in his collegiate career and a system that uses the tight end quite frequently in Michigan, I think it's the position that we, it's my least favorite pick because it's just lot for me and I don't think it answers the questions that we have in that in that room I know when first texted you about it where you were immediately super low on it and I tried to find the the silver lining on it retrospectively I just can't find because he's so similar to Foster Moreau and you already spent money on a draft pick to get Foster Moreau away from New Orleans I just don't understand why you now essentially use two draft picks to get a tight end um
01:55:23
Speaker
It just doesn't make sense to me And I don't think, I think there's so much more, more talent in the draft that point that you could have gone with rather than taking, you know, another project for the tight end room.
01:55:35
Speaker
Yeah. I think unfortunately we're both going to agree here again. um Nothing against Marlon Klein. It's the guy they believe in. So, and, and I watched an interview with him earlier where he talked about, this is the team that he wanted to play for. This is the coaching staff and the organization that he wanted to play for. He,
01:55:53
Speaker
you know talked about winning championships or a championship at at Michigan and knowing what it takes to win a championship and seeing the the core and the threads of what's necessary here in Houston. So shout out to him for ah bringing that with him. But a second round pick is a pick that you anticipate making an impact, either you know preferably year one, but especially year two, year three. like Second round picks are incredibly valuable. And so when you look at these names of of guys that I didn't recognize, the the one I'm going to be the the least excited for is the the the one that they took the earliest. And I know there's there's reason behind it, right? Like he only played one year at Michigan, but that's because he was behind a first round draft pick in Colston Loveland and a I think it's AJ Barner, who's playing very well for Seattle and Luke Shoemaker, who's a dude back up in Dallas. Like
01:56:48
Speaker
these there's reason why he didn't play it much. And then when he did get his chance to play, it was a rookie quarterback, you know, Bryce Underwood, who is not developed as a passer. So there's all these things you can look to and say, you know, these are the reasons why he's better than his production. And this is why they believe in them, believe in him. And I will choose to believe in him too. But at the same time, the track record for development that we bragged about with Caden McDonald is just not there for the tight end room. You mentioned Caden Stover or Kate Stover. You mentioned Brevin Jordan.
01:57:17
Speaker
Um, I mean, even if you look at a Dalton Schultz, like they didn't develop. He was, he is what he was when they got him. um And so you look at that and, and it, it makes me worried like the, they, but they got a project and they have not shown to be successful at projects at this position. So that's the one that I will be, I'll say has the most risk or i have the least hope in, although I will root like crazy for him. Cause if we, if we get a tight end to,
01:57:49
Speaker
replace Dalton Schultz when his contract's up and open that money up for another position, that would be a huge benefit to this team. So I'll just, I'll kick it to you, Justin, final thoughts, whatever else you want to get off your chest before we before we get on out of here.
01:58:04
Speaker
Yeah, I think the the only guy that we really and really out and something, someone that I want to shine some light on is Fabichi Weewoo, I think is how we
Texans' Defense Post-Draft
01:58:14
Speaker
pronounce the name. Weewoo. Like you're doing an ambulance noise is what I've been told.
01:58:19
Speaker
Yeah, there was a camera in the Texans war room when this pick happened, and this was Cole Popovich's guy. This is the guy that we wanted later on in the draft. And D'Amico shouted him out, pointed to him, when and handed him the phone. He said that D'Amico had taken the phone when they took him.
01:58:37
Speaker
And so I want to make sure that we we put some attention to that, that Cole Popovich is... one of the biggest reasons why the offensive line was improved last year um granted you're you were piecing it together with whatever you had available the scraps that were available um but you go out obviously you get keelan rutledge in round one uh but then you get we woo in the fourth round and the way that cole popovich responded is that this is his guard depth after brayden smith and it and kind of fades out and after his two-year contract is up, um that this might be your guy to kind of float on the inside to back up, you know, a Rutledge and heading room type of position or maybe even develop into an NFL starter, Leonard Lopovich. So I want to make sure that we at least had a chance to talk about him. We didn't really get to because obviously Keelan Rutledge is going to deserve and we garner a lot of the spotlight for the offensive line in the in in this draft. But
01:59:30
Speaker
the response from the war room and Cole Popovich spoke a lot for me on what they what they think of this kid coming out of Oklahoma. And obviously you're talking about out of Oklahoma, you're you're going to get a really good offensive lineman, you know, those country fed boys up there in Oklahoma.
01:59:46
Speaker
um But yeah, I think that that can be a sleeper hit of this draft and someone that to keep an eye on over the next couple of seasons.
01:59:56
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, if you're looking at, at people in the the offensive coaching room to to trust. I think Cole Popovich is at the top of that list right now, just what he did, you know, taking over the offensive line last year and the improvements you saw there from his predecessor, who we he was on the staff, but he wasn't in charge of the staff. and And seeing him take over and and the development of Ariante Ursary and the Ed Ingrams of the world, if there's a guy on me,
02:00:27
Speaker
offensive coaching staff that you're going to say, all right, I i develop, we'll take your guy and you develop him. I think Kol Popovich is where you put that. So definitely more excited for Wiewu after hearing that. My final thought is the best defense in the NFL got better this weekend.
02:00:50
Speaker
There were two yeah assuming health. you You have to assume health at this point of the season. There were two positions of weakness on the defense. One was defensive tackle where you got a lot out of a little, and now you put a lot of investment into there where you can get even more out and secure the run.
02:01:14
Speaker
The other was the second safety spot opposite Kalen Bullock where you often saw, I think it was like, I think his name was like MJ Stewart would play that. Yeah. What was that? whats that He's the linebacker in J. Stewart and and EJ Speed or the back of linebackers on special season. I'm thinking of a different guy then there was a There was a guy – because there was a kind of a rotating – like Jalen Reed played it when he got back healthy.
02:01:38
Speaker
But there was a different guy um who I thought's last name was Stewart, but maybe I'm getting them mixed up, who was playing kind of this opposite safety, I think likely when Petrie wasn't on the field. Yeah.
02:01:51
Speaker
That was the other point of weakness I felt like where if you could get a second safety, then you would have Ramsey, Stingley, Petriot, Nickel, Bullock, extra safety, linebacking core, defensive line you were going feel really good about. At every level, you were going feel incredible that there was nobody that they could really target and and or weakness that they could threaten. And you went out and you got – Reid Blankenship in the offseason, which I think has a lot of potential to be a very good acquisition. And then you've got depth there in Kamari Ramsey in the fifth round, who I think is not a fifth round talent. I think that's a day two talent, but the NFL will regret letting slip that far.
02:02:29
Speaker
And so in my mind, my final thoughts, the this year will still come down to CJ Stroud. If CJ Stroud plays, if CJ Stroud plays up to his potential or even Just league average or slightly above league average, I think this is a Super Bowl caliber team because the defense that led you as far as they did last year just got better and the offensive line got better. So if if he if he's more comfortable and he gives you more, this team is going to be a threat.
02:03:02
Speaker
And I think there's a lot of reason to be excited for that. So that's my advice. My final thoughts on the draft. I think given the the technical issues we've had here, I think that's a good place to wrap it up unless there's anything you wanted to add before we kick off.
02:03:17
Speaker
No, I think you tackled it pretty well there. It's going to come down to CJ, and obviously we'll see how the next couple weeks go. well We had the optional workout last week before the draft, and OTAs and minicamp and everything is going to be here very soon, so we're going to see what state of mind and physical state that CJ's in.
02:03:35
Speaker
And for all intents purposes, it's Casario who has putt the pieces around CJ could be successful. He rebuilt the offensive line, gave him a true running back. You have a wide receiver room that's going to get better when Tank comes back. So everything is on CJ. So let's see what we can do. And I mean, the the sky's the limit for the Sexton's team. And the defense got better, which is tough to to even un know fathom.
02:03:57
Speaker
So what what can we do? And that that makes it very exciting to start sitting start sipping the Battle Red Kool-Aid here in a couple of weeks. Yeah, it's Kool-Aid season. So with that, we'll we'll call it a day. Thank you for joining us here on the Coastal Launch Sports Talk for episode 12.
02:04:15
Speaker
I'm Cody. I'm Justin. And we'll catch you next week. Peace. Peace.