0:00

The Around the NFL Podcast,

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Worldwide Football.

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Pants, Welcome

0:09

to another edition of the Around the NFL

0:12

Podcast. I'm

0:14

Greg Roosevelt stepping in

0:17

for one day in the host chair for Dan Hansas in

0:19

a room filled with one hero, Mark Sessler. That

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room being at Chris Westling's

0:24

podcast studio.

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But Mark, yeah, it's

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uh, you know, it's it's always tough

0:29

not to have Dan with us, but it's like, I

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think the toughest part is again I get put in this

0:33

seat where I'm like, my body feels

0:35

awkward. I don't know what to do, but I'm.

0:37

Body looks good. Your body looks good.

0:38

All of our bodies, considering we're getting older,

0:41

is looking good. I can say

0:43

the same about our guests, and it's rare. We just go right

0:45

into it. But this is an important man at

0:47

our company. He's so important.

0:50

Actually, he insisted that

0:52

Dan and him not do the show together, and

0:54

I thought, we thought, like, that's

0:57

that's like a lot to ask, that's kind

0:59

of diva behavior. But

1:01

he's that important at draft time that we're

1:03

gonna welcome in Daniel Jeremiah move the sticks.

1:06

Thank you Daniel for joining us.

1:08

Well, first of all, this is Jariffolo Colin

1:12

call him back later. Two

1:14

things. Number one. I

1:16

had two conditions for me to come

1:18

on this show. One, Dan's not

1:20

there, that's a given, right he's there, I'm out.

1:23

That's done.

1:23

Yeah.

1:24

The other condition was, I said, here's

1:27

the thing, I'll do it. First of all, I love

1:29

Sessler, so I'm happy to do it for Cessler if

1:31

I'm gonna If I'm gonna work with Greg, though, I

1:34

need him to dress up like Fonzie. If he dresses

1:36

like Phonsie.

1:37

It's funny, then I'll come on.

1:39

I just like kind of took off my jacket

1:42

was a little hot in here, and I thought, what

1:44

are the odds that Jeremiah doesn't

1:46

mention this almost right

1:48

away? So you've made me self conscious?

1:51

And this is why we're getting such

1:53

big numbers on YouTube.

1:54

Is action like this? You can actually watch me

1:56

now, says.

1:57

Anybody watching you even know who FANSI.

1:59

Is not at this point, not at

2:02

this point. And I feel like I've escaped your eyre

2:04

for a decade plus. And I appreciate that it

2:06

feels sincere. But you have incredible power

2:09

to remove Dan from the seat and

2:11

also alter Greg's wardrobe. That these things

2:13

are not easily done.

2:15

Yeah, I just lost money on the fact that that's not a

2:17

leather jacket that he draped over his white

2:19

shirt, So I lost that bet.

2:21

It's d Day's time of year.

2:23

I'm sure you're thrilled because we're taping

2:25

this Thursday, exactly one

2:27

week away from the NFL

2:29

Draft. It's a long process here for

2:31

Jeremi. I mean no, no, it's crying for you here.

2:34

But you switched straight from the Chargers into

2:36

cranking these players out, and now you're only

2:38

one week away. What do you what

2:41

is your post draft

2:44

plan? You have to work for one more week and then what

2:46

happened.

2:47

I've shortened it down. I used to the

2:50

draft would end and then literally

2:53

would work the next day and work that entire

2:55

week. We would do Path to the Draft, very

2:57

ironically named after the draft

3:00

for a week for a week

3:02

afterwards, and then over the years

3:04

that got shortened till okay, just you can just work

3:06

till Thursday. We'll give you that Friday off and then you're

3:09

free to the point now where I only

3:11

have to do that first day, So I think I do

3:13

the Monday show and then

3:15

that's it, so I get a little bit

3:17

of a break, but it's kind of weird, and you guys

3:19

know with kids, like I still have two

3:22

in the house and then they you know, they're

3:24

still in school. So everybody's like, oh, do you

3:26

go on vacation? What do you do after? I'm like nothing,

3:29

I'm just sitting at home, like looking

3:32

at baseball box scores and trying to

3:34

figure out if I'm gonna run on the treadmill or ride

3:36

the bike. Like that's that's the that's what's

3:38

going on.

3:38

I think what you should tell us at least cook up some

3:41

sort of misadventure that makes us think.

3:43

You know, Daniel jeremis at the forefront

3:45

of a Personal Experience post.

3:47

He's listening to eighties R and B. He's watching

3:49

the padres nothing that could make him happier.

3:52

I'm going to start my questions here, DJ

3:54

by putting you in the minds of

3:56

all thirty two gms. So this is a world where

3:58

you're actually running every team, but

4:01

you can't make trades because

4:03

you'd be trading with yourself. This is it's a scary

4:05

world to think about. But if you were the

4:07

GM of every team, who is

4:09

the first team you would take

4:12

brock Bauers for because the closer we

4:14

get to this draft, like the more I'm just fascinated

4:16

by him as a player and

4:18

his discussion and value and all that.

4:20

Like, which is the first team if it was your

4:22

team? And we know ya look, yeah, some of these

4:24

teams, you know, they they sprinkle around interest. Maybe

4:27

someday when the kids are older, DJ Willy will

4:29

be working for a team.

4:30

Which team are you taking Bowers with?

4:36

This is gonna mean, this

4:38

is saying this as somebody who hasn't rated

4:40

very highly, like maybe

4:42

seven or eight. I think on my list somewhere around there.

4:45

The first team where I would personally take

4:47

him with my team would be fifteen

4:49

with Indian Rose Coults. So

4:52

and that's for you know, different

4:55

reasons. There's not needs for some of these teams

4:57

at that position. Then there's teams

5:00

that have you know, you know, golly

5:03

you've got if you're if you're picking right before

5:05

them. The New Orleans Saints have to take

5:07

a tackle. Like they've painted themselves into a corner

5:09

here. They can't do this penning. They can't do penning

5:11

anymore. They can't try that.

5:13

I mean they are they're not even trying to do it now. They

5:15

they they'd rather play like their fourth string tackle

5:17

than him.

5:17

And then ram check is gonna be done. So like

5:19

they have no they have to they

5:22

have to take a tackle. So and then you

5:24

look at you know, I see the I see

5:26

the Broncos twice a year. You

5:28

know, uh, they they have functional

5:30

tight ends. They have other needs.

5:33

That they can ye Jets,

5:35

I thought, so I

5:37

I to.

5:38

Me, with the Jets, I go, I

5:40

go a couple different ways. I

5:43

to me, Romaduonday is a home run pick. Like I

5:45

never thought in a million years in that draft that Garrett

5:48

Wilson would get to them with their second pick. I thought

5:50

it was going to be a decision. And I had them touching

5:52

each other on my list, which was Sauce Gardner, Garrett

5:54

Wilson, can't go wrong. You're gonna get one,

5:56

no way you get both. And then somehow

5:59

it happened with Garrett Wilson following a lap. So I won't

6:01

rule it out that somehow, after

6:04

everything went against them last year in terms

6:06

of good fortune, that maybe they get

6:08

that good fortune that they had that draft, and somehow

6:11

Roma dunsays there I would take Rome over

6:13

Bowers. And then it comes down to, well,

6:15

if it's Bowers versus the tackles

6:19

I've been saying I have and I

6:21

would have a higher grade on Bowers than

6:23

the second rated tackle, but I

6:26

you know, and having some conversations over the last

6:28

twenty four hours, one of the things that was brought

6:30

to my mind was if you don't

6:32

look at him as a tackle, like if you look at

6:34

Fuaga or Fatanu as guys

6:37

who can play different spots for

6:39

a team that has been so you

6:42

know, so hit with

6:44

injuries. To have them, I think

6:46

either one of those guys, in my opinion, at least

6:48

they beat out John Simpson right

6:50

away and they start at guard. And

6:53

then if Tyron Smith,

6:55

some might say, when he

6:58

gets hurt, you have one of these guys as

7:00

it can you know now he can kick out and play tackle.

7:02

So when I stop looking at him strictly as

7:04

just a tackle, but saying okay, I can still get him

7:06

on the field right now, while also

7:09

gives me a little bit of insurance for these two

7:11

thirty three year old tackles. That's why

7:13

I bypassed Bowers there as the.

7:14

Jets interesting, you know, I

7:17

found it enjoyable

7:19

and intriguing to watch you and Mel Kuiper

7:22

in you know, headshots next

7:24

to each other talking about these picks.

7:26

I mean, I grew up Mel Kuiper, we all did,

7:28

like, so it was kind of fasting.

7:30

So he's the guy.

7:30

Yeah, and it's just like, I mean, at this point, I think people

7:33

turned him into almost a caricature, and it's like he's still

7:35

grinding and doing all this. So I when I watch only

7:37

one player, because you guys brought up Michael Pennox

7:40

Junior, and I believe you had

7:42

him at about thirteen, going around

7:44

thirteen, and Kuiper has him all

7:46

the way down at thirty seven. We had Chad Rider

7:49

in here yesterday who had him the Raiders

7:51

trading up for him, but in the second round taking Carolina's

7:53

pick. So it's like, this is a quarterback. I know

7:55

those the top four, but this guy seems to be all

7:58

over the map. Why is there beyond

8:00

the injury history? And what is the disparity between

8:02

you Kuiper and person X and Y and Z.

8:05

So here's the here's the fascinating part about that. And

8:08

first of all, I'm glad you brought that up about Mel because

8:11

I think you know he's got the voice, He's got

8:13

the hair, he's got the iconic moment, you

8:15

know, the flashback, the mailman, the whole, the

8:17

whole thing, right, I think people

8:20

need to put a little

8:22

bit more respect on the work that he does. Like

8:24

he puts in a ton of work, and you

8:26

can't fake it. It's one thing that I've learned,

8:28

you know, obviously from the scouting side, but then to

8:31

this side of it. You can't fake it.

8:33

Listen, listen to people.

8:34

When they're talking about players, and

8:36

when you hear people reference when

8:39

I watched him against Notre Dame, when

8:41

when I saw that, Like they're referencing

8:43

moments of the work that they've done versus

8:46

some pluralities and generalities that

8:48

can get tossed around that I can pick

8:50

up a you know, the stats and look at him

8:52

and I can give you that like he the guy works

8:54

hard.

8:55

He we we do fake it, Daniel,

8:58

It's fine, but the show is

9:00

doing.

9:02

The people won't know.

9:03

Yeah, it's the whole.

9:03

Like, oh, what is the huge difference between

9:06

Fashanu Fuaga and

9:08

Fatanu Like we'll

9:10

get back to you on that next time.

9:14

But I did want to make that point

9:16

about mel because I love him and he is literally

9:18

like he is a sweetheart of a man, like

9:20

he is such a nice guy who treats people

9:22

really really well. So anyways, outside of that, did

9:25

Pennix So Mark,

9:27

I have Penix as I think my thirty fourth

9:29

rated player, but I had

9:31

him going thirteenth, and I think that confuses

9:34

people, and so I try to explain it the best

9:36

of the way that I can. There's

9:39

taking players where you have him rated, but

9:41

then there's also like, let's have some common

9:44

sense here and this if we're going to all

9:46

agree, is we I'm sure we do. The quarterback is

9:48

the most important position on your team and it's going to be the

9:50

biggest indicator whether or not you're going to be successful

9:53

or not if you're the Raiders. I

9:55

couldn't get by this point of saying, yes,

9:57

he's my thirty fourth player. Some of that's injuries,

10:00

you know, factoring into that. But

10:03

I have Gardner Minshew and

10:06

I have Aidan O'Connell. Sure is

10:08

he better than what I have at the most important

10:10

position. Yes, he is

10:13

infinitely more talented. Like that's not debatable,

10:16

it's not even close. So if

10:18

I man, I can

10:20

say, well I have this player rated that higher,

10:22

that player rated higher, well, me upgrading

10:25

a tackle or me upgrading you

10:27

know, a corner. Is that the

10:29

same as me I can upgrade the quarterback

10:32

position here, like, don't you have to consider

10:34

that? And that's why I have the thirty fourth

10:36

player on my board. Going with the thirteenth pick makes

10:38

sense.

10:39

It does make sense, and you can see. Look, I

10:41

don't think it's crazy to imagine him

10:43

slipping into the second or late first. No, no,

10:46

and then they get in the mix forum there or

10:49

they just stick with their two picks and they

10:51

get him in the second.

10:51

We've just seen that very often.

10:53

And if he's the fifth quarterback, let's say, or the

10:56

sixth, those guys

10:58

do fall far farther than people think. I want

11:00

to get more to the top quarterbacks because

11:03

I want to ask you. I have my takes, I have a theory

11:05

on this, but I want to hear yours, yours first,

11:08

because I know how you like to steal my takes.

11:11

Dade topping here, DJ, I'm so, I'm so

11:13

sorry.

11:15

No, I know, Mark, Look you your place is

11:17

secure on my on my board. Okay, you don't need

11:19

to even chime in on that.

11:20

Jayde and Daniels or Drake may

11:22

just which evaluation is harder.

11:27

That's a good point. They're

11:30

they're they're they're equal because

11:32

you're trying to evaluate one guy for what

11:34

he doesn't have and evaluate the

11:37

other guy for an excess of riches in

11:39

terms of what they're playing with. And

11:42

you know, so the thing that's that

11:44

I look at is I've seen I've

11:47

seen Drake May you know, with

11:49

a lesser cast last year

11:52

than what Jaden Daniels had this year played

11:54

a really high level with

11:56

just a with a with a solid B

11:59

level supporting cast. I've seen him play at

12:01

a really high level. Now, his supporting

12:03

cast this year was terrible, and his play,

12:05

you know, took a dip, and it wasn't all

12:07

their fault. He got some mechanical things

12:10

out of whack, his delivery got a little bit long,

12:12

he wasn't quite as firm with his feet,

12:15

like there was things that he

12:16

he let go a little bit. With

12:19

Jaden Daniels, I have, you

12:21

know, all these other years of him playing at kind

12:24

of just a huole hum mediocre

12:26

level and then this year skyrockets

12:29

with you know, a unbelievable

12:31

supporting cast. But I

12:33

also look at it and say, I saw,

12:35

even though he had more playing experience than Burrow.

12:38

I saw Burrow take off like a rocket

12:40

ship when it just all clicked, when they put an offense

12:42

in place that matched his abilities, he exploded

12:45

and took off. So I'm not dismissing

12:47

what Jayden did by any stretch,

12:50

but I am more forgiving of Drake.

12:52

And I think you always look in the past to try

12:54

and help predict the future, and at least

12:56

at least from a theory standpoint.

12:59

And when I look at, you know, Josh

13:01

Allen from his second to last year to his

13:03

final year and the regression that took

13:06

place as the erosion of the supporting cast,

13:08

it was awful. I looked at Jordan Love

13:11

the exact same situation the year before at UTAs

13:13

State. I watched him and I was like, Hey, this guy's gonna

13:15

be great. Can't wait to watch him the next year. The next year,

13:18

they were terrible and he was terrible. So

13:20

I've seen those guys. In other words, I've

13:22

seen Drake may do it. I know he can do it right. It's

13:24

a bigger guy, he's more physical. I've

13:27

seen him throw with anticipation. I've seen him work

13:29

in the in the mud in the middle of the field. I've

13:31

seen him create things when pressure

13:34

comes, like, so I don't

13:36

get beholden to what's the last

13:38

thing I saw in the last year. It's more of a body

13:40

of work. And that's why I ended up with Drake May over

13:42

jayde and Daniels. Sorry it's a word salad there, but it

13:45

is kind of tricky too.

13:46

I think it's the most fascinating thing in the draft, especially

13:48

for basics like us on some level that

13:50

like I, my theory

13:53

is May is the easier because

13:55

you've seen him be in a tough spot and you've

13:57

seen him do such high level stuff. When

14:00

I went and I went back, and yeah, the quarterbacks

14:02

are the most exciting thing for me to watch certainly,

14:05

and it's like.

14:06

You see it all and even this year.

14:08

When you watch this stuff this year, it's like, did he take

14:10

that biggest step back? I I hear you that he's

14:12

like misses, he misses throws more

14:14

than.

14:16

More than more than you would want.

14:18

But he also has a consistency

14:20

where every single game, even

14:22

this year, he's doing stuff that wows

14:24

you. You can see him as a red zone beast. I love

14:27

the guys that you mentioned, Alan and love because that's

14:30

the same sort of type of prospect he reminds

14:32

me of, just that he's just physically just who.

14:34

Wouldn't want to work with that? And you love him both you have

14:36

five and six.

14:37

But to me, Daniels is extremely

14:39

hard to evaluate because people

14:42

get on McCarthy that he never you

14:44

know, he didn't have to do much, didn't have to throw the It's like

14:46

Jane Daniels threw the ball three hundred and twenty five times

14:49

this year. He wasn't that highly

14:51

thought of a prospect till his last like half

14:53

season of five seasons,

14:56

and he's surrounded by great players. I think it

14:58

was you or it was Mina. It was you and Mina that

15:00

mentioned the RG three comp and that's really stuck

15:02

in my head since, and not as like a negative

15:05

because RG three was extremely accurate.

15:07

You saw how well he fit with Shanahan and look,

15:10

he outplayed Andrew Luck as a rookie. It

15:12

wasn't like he was a bad prospect. But he reminded Jane

15:15

Natals reminds me of him, which I find it kind

15:17

of hard that he gets pressure

15:19

on him and then he just he

15:21

just goes, which is not necessarily

15:23

what you want. Right at the NFL that like

15:25

he doesn't stick stick there and throw a lot under

15:28

pressure.

15:29

Yeah, that's it's kind of one or the other, you

15:31

know. And to me, even as a runner,

15:33

he reminded me of RG three and that he's kind

15:35

of a narrow frame guy who's extremely fast

15:38

but is not super elusive and who

15:40

takes shots.

15:42

Right.

15:42

I think was was a Holodi that broke

15:45

his leg. I think it was Helodi who hit him

15:47

at RG three and.

15:48

Right, it may take shots

15:50

too, to be fair, but he's bigger, but he's

15:52

just sturdier dude.

15:55

So you know, that's that's

15:57

what I struggle with a little bit. But he is.

15:59

He is a really good thrower, like I've

16:02

I was texting with a Ben Kurd

16:04

about it. Who's you know. I love the fact we have

16:06

so many people that are like watching these guys

16:08

and putting their opinions out there. I think it's great. I think it's

16:10

fun discussion. But you know, I try

16:12

to communicate with as many people as I can. And we

16:15

were having a little chat about

16:17

it and I said, you know, mechanically, he

16:20

looks like he looks like a really

16:22

skinny CJ. Stroud, just in terms

16:24

of posture, feet in the ground,

16:26

throwing the ball accurately, you know, touch,

16:29

drive, you can do all those things. But Stroud

16:31

and we saw it in in samples

16:33

in college and then saw it in bulk with

16:36

the Texans has he is more.

16:38

He's just more creative and more natural

16:41

in terms of when things when he's getting moved around

16:43

and making things happen. And I

16:45

just didn't see Jayden quite like that.

16:48

I mean, this draft has it's

16:50

every draft has their own characteristics, and it's

16:52

like very quarterback heavy and the

16:54

wide receiver class it may be possibly

16:57

unprecedented. But then on the flip side, I

16:59

was driving down from my place today

17:01

listening to you and Bucky do your all

17:03

defensive mock draft where you've got to

17:05

pick thirty two defensive players and

17:08

ignore all those guys. It

17:10

was almost comical because you got to about pick

17:12

nine and it's like you were doing it live.

17:14

And I listened to that weeks ago DD because I'm

17:16

more of just like a real you know,

17:18

this is why this is why we need Greg in

17:20

the host chair kno Man, because we get that kind of duck

17:23

kind of l that's self.

17:25

When he's out there working on the motorbike. He likes

17:27

to throw on this shah. I'm just saying I didn't at

17:29

the last.

17:30

You know, I was, well, I like to I like to

17:32

get crash, but I just I do find it interesting

17:34

is I can't remember a draft like this where, like you basically

17:37

said, it's going to be an s show when you get you get down to the mid

17:39

twenties and you guys are really struggling

17:41

even try to find fits for what the team needs

17:43

were. And it's like, have you seen a defensive

17:46

draft like this where the first

17:48

round talent maybe withers

17:50

away as quick as it does.

17:52

No, And that's why, uh, I

17:54

was curious on that exercise how

17:56

it would go because offensively, I

17:59

mean, we finished the first round with thirty two offensive

18:01

players, and I'm like, dude, I got six more receivers.

18:03

I could I can justify taking

18:06

you know here if we were to extend this out

18:08

into the second round. And then defensively,

18:11

it's like, holy crud, like what

18:13

are we doing here? Like this is not a first

18:15

round player. So

18:18

that's it was. It was a healthy exercise,

18:20

which to me can inform some decisions

18:22

and could push up some of these defensive players

18:25

like I've I've been saying over the last couple

18:27

of days, like Byron Murphy

18:29

to me from Texas, the defensive tackle, who

18:31

is the best interior disruptor

18:33

and pass rusher in this draft? I think is going

18:35

to go higher than people think. I think

18:37

there's a premium on that. I was talking to a general

18:40

manager two days ago and we were having

18:42

this discussion and he posed an interesting

18:44

question, which was, right down, if you write

18:46

down on a sheet of paper, you

18:49

know how many dominant edge rushers

18:51

are there in the NFL. You go pretty deep on

18:53

that of really impactful dominant

18:55

edge rushers, and now write the impactful dominant

18:58

defensive tackles and you'll come up with seven or eight

19:00

and then that's that's about it. So

19:02

if you've got a chance to get one who you think

19:04

can be one of those guys, hey, there's value. Look at the

19:06

Look what these guys are making. Look what Christian Wilkins,

19:08

look at all these guys that got paid in

19:10

the off season. The value of that position for

19:13

those types of guys. And

19:15

it was his argument was like, why

19:17

would Byron Murphy not go ahead of these edge rushers

19:19

like they're similar type players? And he's

19:21

a heck of a lot harder to find.

19:23

I guess, like from an esoteric ang why

19:25

like is this just a one

19:27

year type thing? Like why is there such a dearth of defensive

19:30

talent? It feels like that there'd be a

19:32

similar amount.

19:33

Each yeir nah, just ebbs and flows.

19:35

I mean like last year's tight end class

19:37

was the best that I'd seen twenty years. I mean, I'd

19:39

never seen anything like that. This year it's not

19:42

very good. So it's just, you

19:44

know, it's how you hit it. It's just how it falls.

19:46

The one thing that we're going to see consistently is they'll be you

19:49

know, they'll be receivers every year, no

19:51

matter what, They'll always be receivers.

19:53

All right, what if I took you

19:55

your Byron Murphy take, but

19:57

I replaced it with Johnny Newton.

20:00

Donny Newton's my guy.

20:01

I mean, okay, I don't

20:03

know, I'm not. I guess explain to me why

20:06

he's not like a potential

20:08

top ten pick, because he is

20:11

a guy that I that you watch and it's

20:13

like he wins every snap, it seems

20:15

like, and the more the more, the more you watch, it's just

20:17

like he wins and wins and wins and wins and wins, and

20:19

you can just see that working. Like he

20:21

seemed next level and he seemed

20:23

like a guy that I was like, is this one of those guys

20:25

teams aren't talking about because they all want to take

20:28

him because they love him? Probably, but probably I don't know if

20:30

that really happens. Why Why wouldn't

20:32

he be higher? Because he seems like a really exciting

20:34

guy along with Murphy.

20:35

Murphy's great too.

20:36

Yeah, he's a really good player, right to me, Like, if you told

20:39

me that he was going to be a top fifteen

20:41

pick, I wouldn't I wouldn't bat an eye

20:43

on at that at all. And he's part of that

20:46

discussion and rightfully so to bring

20:48

him up that I think you'll see him get raised

20:50

up now in terms of like what

20:52

I thought of him, like the concerns I had.

20:55

I thought he was unbelievable with his hands,

20:57

like he has like it's like a car bomb

20:59

goes off when he hits guys.

21:00

He has got violent jolting that

21:03

translated.

21:03

That's awesome, it's really good.

21:05

But you if you're not a force generator

21:07

from the ground, that's a little more difficult

21:10

against NFL players. So In

21:12

other words, if you're generating, if you're

21:14

if you're twisting guys and torking guys and

21:16

turning guys in college, you can do

21:18

that a lot easier than it is to

21:20

do that against a twenty eight year old man up here.

21:23

If you're gonna beat, if you're gonna beat really

21:25

good NFL offensive lineman, you have

21:27

to beat him with leverage and roll your hips

21:29

and have your legs underneath you and win from

21:31

kind of the floor up, not just the hands.

21:34

So that to me is, you know, one

21:36

of the reasons why there was a separation there with him and Murphy.

21:39

I know it comes as no surprise to you that Greg

21:41

and I we've kind of cornered the market when

21:43

it comes to studying offensive lineman, what they should be

21:45

doing on the field, how they react, the physical

21:48

nature of it. But I found

21:50

it interesting, he said that executives kept mentioning

21:52

to you over and over Graham Barton,

21:54

for his versatility, plays all like

21:56

that. This guy sounds like he could go anywhere

21:59

and be of a meet at service.

22:01

Well, he's played He's played center as a seventeen

22:03

year old freshman at Duke and played it

22:05

well. And then he's played left tackle. If you can

22:07

play center and left tackle, you can play left and right

22:09

guard, so you're a five position flex

22:12

guy. And he's incredibly intelligent.

22:15

So it's he's one

22:17

of those guys who he's good on tape

22:20

at tackle, but you're like, he's not. That's not probably

22:23

his best position. He's going to be better served to get

22:25

inside at center. But the tape is good, so

22:28

you get good tape. Then the testing

22:30

was outstanding. He had a great workout,

22:33

and then, as you can imagine, when

22:35

you have those two things going for you and

22:37

your Duke level smart

22:39

you get in and meet with these teams so

22:42

many of which which I think is a big theme in

22:44

this draft, and I think you know something

22:46

to keep an eye on going forward, is this league is so

22:48

full of young starting

22:51

quarterbacks and we're going

22:53

to add a handful more this

22:55

year, so teams are trying

22:57

to do everything they can to serve those young quarterbacks.

23:00

Having a freaking genius center that

23:02

he can play with for a long extended period

23:05

of time is a nice quality to have.

23:07

That almost sounds like uh landon

23:09

Dickerson coming out. Other than I know people were concerned

23:11

with the injuries but just like that was when you

23:14

were you were very high on they'll give

23:16

you your props coming in and that

23:18

was absolutely right. He's turned into a bargain. They

23:20

just gave him a ton of ton

23:22

of money. That actually makes me think, do

23:25

you have some what are some picks

23:28

or maybe just one like one one

23:30

uh selection over the years.

23:33

Take one of your guys that

23:36

you're like at that you're proud of that, yet

23:38

you want to stick your chest out, and then to balance

23:41

it out one that you wish you had.

23:42

Bounce a wish fifty

23:45

whiffs the hits because.

23:47

You could you remember him better? You mean,

23:50

yeah, yeah.

23:50

Because you're just like, oh gosh,

23:53

but I mean the the hits never

23:55

make their way to the front of your brain. Those were always like

23:57

lodge somewhere in the in the back of your brain.

24:00

I always just did a fallback with Kelsey because

24:02

that wasn't you know, that was a fun one. But

24:04

I mean, that's like the greatest

24:06

example of scouting to me of what scouting

24:09

is is that you're

24:11

going to come out, Okay, you really want to come out to

24:13

the front of the stage. As one of the people

24:15

who evaluated Jason Kelcey and we took him,

24:18

what was he the sixth round and he's going to go into

24:20

the Hall of Fame and you know, one of the best centers

24:22

of all time. You want to beat your chest on that, or

24:24

do you want to remind everybody that we took Danny

24:26

Watkins in the first round of that same draft.

24:29

Well that's like I think, Scott piol you got

24:31

to keep keeping his on his

24:33

office.

24:34

There were some guys from tight End Stakowski.

24:36

I believe they took a round in front of Tom

24:38

Brady, so he always kept that framed on his desk

24:41

as a reminder of like, you're not as smart

24:43

as you think.

24:44

Yeah no, but like you know, the fun ones like Geno

24:47

Stone, I could not want. He was

24:50

watching him coming out and I went

24:52

back and I was watching some of the old draft stuff

24:55

and that was my kind when it got picked him, Like

24:57

I didn't, I don't understand it. Like I

24:59

I him like a he was like

25:01

a third round grade. And I would talk.

25:03

All I do is talk to gms and buddies around

25:05

the league, and I'm like, nobody liked the guy, and I'm like, what

25:07

am I missing? Like he's just a good player,

25:10

gets his hands on the football. He's super instinctive,

25:12

smart, tough. And then the

25:14

Ravens I think took him in like the sixth or seventh

25:16

round, and I think he just got

25:18

paid a nice chunk of money in free agency.

25:20

He's been a really, really good player. So those

25:23

are the those are kind of the fun ones. But then

25:25

for every one of those, there's ten where

25:28

you're like, oh, man, like, I

25:30

mean, look like, I didn't trailing

25:32

Burks. I thought was a really good player. I didn't necessarily

25:34

think, you know, he was going to be an All

25:36

Pro, but I thought he'd be doing more than he's doing.

25:38

Now, we'll let you go in a minute.

25:40

Here. There's so much wide receiver

25:42

talk, but there's one guy, and I know that he

25:45

had like concerns with whether it's off the

25:47

field or what happened on the field after a game.

25:49

But yeah, Jermaine Burton from Alabama.

25:51

Like watching him. I

25:53

know, because of all that other stuff, maybe some teams

25:55

don't even have him on their board, but I loved

25:57

what I saw, Like, is it is this person

25:59

like draftable or is it gonna be what happens?

26:02

What's the destiny here?

26:05

There's a lot of ability there. Yeah,

26:07

No. I mean, look, everybody's it's

26:10

all different, right, everybody has their things.

26:12

I don't ever jump into that stuff. There's

26:15

no win for me and doing that, So

26:17

I just say he's he's got to have a lot of ability.

26:19

But that's why there's a little bit of a challenge

26:22

in terms of the stuff you learn, you know, talking

26:24

to everybody and doing all the homework versus

26:27

the pure Like in some ways, Mark, like

26:29

what you're doing is just a pure scouting, you

26:31

know, like this would be an example of that because

26:35

you did it. Remember you asked me about George Pickens, the

26:38

George Pickens yere Greg did.

26:40

Yeah.

26:40

Greg's like, what am I missing? This guy's

26:42

a freak. I'm like, I know,

26:45

it's not that the tape is

26:47

great, but everybody's got to figure

26:49

out all the other stuff.

26:50

And it's sort of what Pickens is.

26:52

He's kind of born out on both sides of like, yeah,

26:55

the talent is the

26:57

charts, but there's there's some headache there.

27:00

What's up?

27:00

So I mean that's what I'm getting to Mark,

27:02

And that's why, like when you're in the draft room, this

27:05

is the discussion that takes place where the

27:07

area scout who went into the school,

27:09

got all the information. He might have a lower grade

27:12

on a player, and then they'll give cross check

27:14

assignments and the guy in in the southeast

27:16

or you know, other part of the country is going to watch the same

27:18

player, and he's like this area scout's an idiot, Like this

27:21

guy's much better than that. And it's like, yeah,

27:23

well you're just doing the pure football evaluation

27:25

and he's doing the whole the whole picture,

27:27

you know, So then you have to have that discussion.

27:29

It makes sense.

27:30

Who's uh? And yeah, I know, I

27:32

know. You got mina times later and Move

27:35

the Sticks. Everyone should check that out.

27:38

You've probably got a million things.

27:39

We did a home and home. We did a little uh one

27:41

on her podcast's coming on Move the Sticks.

27:44

That's nice trade.

27:45

Everyone wins.

27:46

It's the ESPN crossover.

27:47

Does she also have the same role that she

27:49

doesn't come on unless Dan's not on your show?

27:52

She has engaged with Dan on the show many

27:54

times, many times.

27:55

Really yeah, so he wasn't supposed to be there

27:57

and showed up any She.

27:58

Doesn't have a ten year grudge Matt, whether

28:00

it's real or fake with I.

28:02

Think it really is.

28:03

It might really be I think

28:05

it is, it is, it is. Do you remember what the

28:07

first iteration.

28:08

Of that being, No, it goes back to like ancient

28:10

Greece. It's like, it's it's deep ancestry,

28:13

do you.

28:14

Yeah, it's the wholesome fun

28:16

of.

28:16

Him for dressing like an uber

28:18

driver, a Lemo driver or something on

28:20

the very first episode.

28:22

That's the wholesome assassins. And

28:24

now I'm now I'm Fonz.

28:27

All right.

28:27

Last last football one for you is we

28:29

just haven't talked running backs, Like, who

28:32

do you like? Who's your favorite running

28:34

back in this class? He thinks gonna step

28:36

in and do some fantasy damage.

28:38

Maybe Yeah, I like Marshall Lloyd from

28:40

SC He's like got the perfect running

28:43

back bodies five a's two hundred and twenty pounds.

28:45

He catched the ball out of the backfield. He's not bad as a

28:47

past protector, so to me,

28:50

I'm a fan of his. I like Ray Davis from

28:52

Kentucky another one who's like two fifteen sturdy

28:55

guy. And then just

28:57

in terms of like two guys, I think they're going to have

28:59

a roll and catch balls next year, Bucky

29:02

Irving can really catch it out of the backfield

29:04

from Oregon, who like kind of gives me a little Devin Singletary

29:07

vibes coming out of college, so

29:09

that would be one. And then Dylan Lowby,

29:11

who might he might not even get drafted, he'd be a six

29:13

to seventh round pick, maybe even a free agent. But the

29:16

kid out of New Hampshire, he caught a bazillion

29:18

balls. So like, to me, I don't

29:20

think it's a great running back year, but you got

29:22

a couple interesting guys who can kind of be more feature

29:24

backs, and then after that those

29:26

are a couple guys will be kind of third down guys

29:28

catch the ball a little bit.

29:29

That's why I like DJ, even though sort

29:31

of on some level, you're

29:34

and you know this, your prospects list

29:36

set the tone in some ways for the rest

29:39

of the draftnick industrial

29:41

complex out there, Like your your prospect

29:44

list has real impact.

29:46

But you ask him about the running backs, like that's way

29:48

off a lot of those consensus boards, and

29:50

I like that.

29:51

DJ's thinking, yeah, you know, I was talking.

29:53

I talked to someone last night

29:55

and we just got the running backs, and it's like his

29:58

top three running back would be

30:00

like my eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth rundbacks.

30:02

Like it's just a weird year with that group.

30:05

All right, Daniel Deremia, it's

30:07

your week, it's your time of year. I'm

30:10

looking forward to uh watching you

30:13

round one.

30:14

You know, be nice.

30:15

To to the rest of the guys, like, don't

30:17

don't flex so much more, you know than all them.

30:20

No, I'll tell you what, Mark, It's been great to be

30:22

with you as always. As always, you're absolutely

30:25

the best. I don't know anybody who

30:27

has endured more. We talk about players like

30:29

can you overcome adversity? And then like whatever's

30:32

next for you in life? What you've endured, what you've

30:34

been through. Yeah, I think it

30:36

just bodes well for your success. There's a there's a grittiness,

30:39

there's a callousness, there's a

30:41

just having been literally refined

30:44

through the fire aspect

30:46

to you and what your future holds. And I couldn't

30:48

be more excited. Greg. We'll see next time.

30:50

Yeah, this is why your scouting abilities

30:52

tower above any other humans that I can think of.

30:55

Yeah.

30:55

A lot of misses though, too, DJ, thank

30:57

you, We'll see you next time.

30:59

Thanks for hit me with Herbert.

31:01

No, No, I've kind of put a little I'm

31:04

waiting till we actually have just I want

31:06

to have justin Herbert on the pod and ask

31:08

him about that at some point.

31:09

That's my dream question.

31:11

All right, well let me know, thanks, thanks

31:13

d J, Thank you you guys.

31:15

Bye, and yeah, as

31:17

Daniel mentioned back in the

31:19

day, he was a little lower on Herbert then

31:22

contensus, I'd like

31:24

to give him the business of it because well,

31:26

you know, call in every game guy

31:29

changed the franchise. We're

31:31

going to take a quick break a little different schedule

31:33

than normal that we just like start right off

31:36

the meet with you

31:38

know, a plus guests Daniel,

31:41

Jeremiah. We will be back and we're

31:43

going to actually bring in the audience,

31:45

the listeners, and we're going to get some mail

31:47

bag questions.

31:48

The first tick quick break.

31:51

All

31:55

right, welcome back.

31:56

You know, can't beat

31:58

the master exciting

32:01

times here. Draft is only one

32:03

week away. We'll have you covered all

32:05

next week. We got the Mark Sessler mock

32:08

draft coming up. It's going to be like

32:10

the sixth or seventh annual.

32:11

I think it is the sixth or seventh. And then, like I know, the gist

32:13

in the past was I just you know, thrown a couple darts

32:15

at a wall. It's like I've been grinding the tape this time,

32:18

Greg, No, Mark's.

32:19

Been He's been doing it, and

32:21

we're we're working on some extra

32:25

motivation, some extra spells

32:29

and whistles. We're adding to the Mark draft, so that'll be exciting.

32:31

And then on Thursday, of course

32:33

we'll recap round one. We'll we'll have

32:35

another preview show as well. We'll do some sandwiches.

32:37

But for now, we thought we would open up the mail bag

32:40

and get your draft questions to

32:42

just try to hit as many as we

32:44

can before we go Mark. So if

32:47

you're watching on YouTube, we'll fly the questions

32:50

up. But the first one is from Daniel

32:52

Hall and he

32:54

asks, had the Panthers given

32:57

the Bears the third overall pick instead of the first

32:59

overall pick, do you think Justin Fields

33:01

would be their starter for twenty twenty

33:03

four. I find this interesting because it is

33:05

a good reminder that the Bears great

33:08

moves last year, they did get lucky,

33:10

how bad the Panthers truly

33:12

were, and you need luck to

33:15

build a dynasty along

33:17

the way. It's like, you know, the Chiefs needed Patrick

33:19

Mahomes to fall that far to make the smart move to

33:21

go to go get them, and they're lucky.

33:24

I don't think Fields would be

33:26

their starter, no matter what. If

33:28

they had a top three pick, you chose

33:30

the right number, number three. If they were further

33:33

back then, I think it becomes more of a

33:35

discussion. I tend to

33:37

think they did not really see Justin

33:39

Fields as a true difference maker, and

33:42

that Drake Maye Jaden Daniels

33:44

would also, you know, provide a

33:47

window into a new field.

33:48

I wrote down the same thing. I think they made

33:50

their evaluation on Justin Fields and in top

33:52

three, I think they would have found something to like in

33:55

each one of those guys to

33:57

move on from Fields, right. It seems clear to me every

33:59

teams different.

34:00

It really sounds like, based on everything we're hearing,

34:02

more teams have Daniels two than

34:05

May, and that there are some teams

34:07

out there, and who knows if the Bears would have been one

34:09

of these teams that agree with the Chris

34:11

Simms and the JT.

34:13

O.

34:14

Sullivan's of the world. And like some people just aren't

34:16

in on May.

34:16

They're just like nah, right, And

34:19

I'm surprised by that because to me, he's

34:21

as exciting and maybe

34:24

as good as any

34:26

prospect I can remember watching since

34:28

like Andrew Luck along with Calla Williams is

34:30

even better. So it's crazy there's two of these guys, but just in

34:32

terms of pure excitement level and talent,

34:35

he seems to be at that level. But some teams aren't into

34:37

it. There are three really

34:39

good quarterbacks in this class, though, so yeah,

34:41

I think they would not be

34:43

keeping fields. The next question is from Patty

34:46

seven to ten on Twitter. Could you pass on to

34:48

Mark Sessler that I was watching Winnie

34:50

the Pooh with my daughters and

34:52

Rabbit uses the phrase heavens

34:55

to Betsy, so he is in good company. More of

34:57

a comment than a question, but I liked it.

34:59

Yeah, I think I've I've mentioned before multiple

35:01

times that it was my grandmother that used to

35:03

say this in various situations when flustered

35:06

or something was surprising. Yeah,

35:08

so maybe she caught it from Winning the Pooh's

35:10

Friend Rabbit. I'm not sure.

35:11

It's always just a trip back in time

35:14

on the Around the NFL podcast, whenever that comes

35:17

up. Next one is from Tom Marsh, A longtime

35:19

listener recognized Tom a serious

35:21

question, could Justin Jefferson be

35:24

traded at the draft? He also says, unserious

35:26

question, is Mahomes really nowhere near

35:29

goats status? Let's start unserious. First, we didn't

35:31

say that he's nowhere.

35:32

Who would have said that?

35:33

Yeah, I think he's responding to our conversation.

35:35

On Wednesday that it was like his

35:38

start his We were

35:40

saying, like, it's just hard to compare someone

35:43

who's had an entire career, like if

35:45

Mahomes' career ended this moment. Yeah,

35:47

his his peak was brilliant, But how

35:49

do you compare that to guys like Montana or

35:51

Brady or especially

35:53

Manny that played so long. I don't know, it's hard

35:56

guys who won three or four.

35:57

It's like a goat farm. There's a couple, So it's

35:59

not.

36:00

He's nowhere near.

36:00

It's just like he's got to keep plaining and he'll get

36:02

there. There's almost no question the Jefferson

36:05

question. I was glad someone asked this. I

36:09

do think there's like a greater chance that Justin

36:12

Jefferson is traded than probably public

36:15

perception is out there. I would

36:17

still be shocked, but you do

36:19

have the recipes here for

36:22

at least it being possible, which is really

36:24

great quarterback prospects,

36:27

and the Vikings

36:29

being this motivated to try to

36:32

go up, like I would only trade

36:34

Justin Jefferson, and if I'm going up to one,

36:37

then I would maybe think about it, But I

36:40

wouldn't think about it if I'm the Vikings,

36:42

but he is not as valuable

36:44

making thirty million dollars a year or whatever. It's going

36:46

to cost one hundred million dollars guaranteed as he

36:49

is this moment on this rookie deal,

36:51

and that's what it's going to cost. But

36:53

I still think like it would be crazy for them

36:56

to do it.

36:56

I think it's like there's this assumption because they've got

36:58

the two number ones, that they have everything they need to

37:01

move up. But if teams aren't going to play

37:03

ball with those those picks and they want if

37:05

it's you, we need Justin Jefferson to get

37:07

up to two or three or whatever. Like I

37:10

think the trend is you move on from some of these

37:12

like massively starry wide receivers when

37:14

the contracts become insane and you find,

37:17

like DJ said before, like these players

37:19

will not Justin Jefferson, but great wide receivers

37:21

will be available in every draft from now until the end

37:23

of time.

37:23

Hmm.

37:24

But yeah, Jefferson's so unique that quessi

37:27

adopomenta that their GM's comment that

37:30

like, we're ready to make them the highest paid player in the

37:32

league. To me, that just said they

37:34

know what they have and I don't think there's

37:36

almost any chance. But if you if

37:38

I'm individually looking at Ayuk and Jefferson

37:41

and you want to throw some surprise

37:43

T Higgins and some surprise names out

37:45

there, like a like an AJ Brown or divide like

37:48

individually, I don't think any of them are close

37:50

to likely, but odds,

37:52

you know, the history would say, like there'll be one

37:54

surprise out I.

37:56

Think I uke to the Steelers. There's little buzz

37:58

and whispers around that, so we'll see.

38:01

Next one is from Eric Blazel,

38:04

who would be your dream non NFL

38:07

figure to announce a draft pick for your

38:09

favorite or any franchise?

38:11

You go ahead.

38:12

I came up with a quick list. Oh I

38:14

like this, Brad and Leo. This

38:16

is from Myle's just like from my pick, Like this is

38:18

who I like. It's my team, your guys,

38:20

So they would be one.

38:21

But what about Leo potentially

38:24

playing Frank Sinatra in an upcoming

38:26

Biac biopic?

38:27

Did he see that?

38:28

I did?

38:28

I don't.

38:29

I don't see the resemblance, but I

38:31

don't know. But why not, Well, you don't

38:33

have to look exactly like No, No, I mean I like I liked

38:35

I like him in any for the most part. Yeah,

38:37

I think he could pull it off. So

38:40

I have them.

38:41

I have Chelsea Clint Jennifer Lawrence would play

38:43

his his second wife. I believe

38:45

in that movie she's too old for tough luck for

38:47

the first one in real life.

38:48

Yeah, I have Chelsea Clinton dressed

38:50

in a suit in medieval armor. King

38:53

Kong Bundy. Although King Kong Bundy that was this would

38:55

make news because King Kong Bundy died in twenty nineteen,

38:58

so we'd be back from the dead. Dana Harvey

39:00

announcing the pick is ross pro that would

39:02

be nice an AI version of Julius

39:04

Caesar or Raggedy ann Andy.

39:06

Those are all amazing.

39:07

I can't top that. When you get to day three,

39:09

though, they had they have animals announcing the picks.

39:11

And sure my and my

39:14

just first instinct was Nicholas Cage.

39:17

I just love him and I just feel like

39:19

I don't know what he's gonna do. That's the whole beauty

39:21

of Nick Cage. I just feel like he

39:23

will own the moment. Our next one

39:25

is from our friend Matt Tanton had

39:28

some barbecue with him in Austin. He's

39:31

a big time Bears fan.

39:33

He addresses this directly to tug Bot. I'm

39:35

gonna take that as a slight, but you know, Dan did

39:37

send out the prompt. Is the world prepared

39:39

for the Bears to have an actual legit QB

39:42

If Caleb Williams is as generational as

39:44

US Bears fans, hope, pray, believe he'll

39:47

be.

39:48

My answer to this is are the Bears prepared?

39:51

Hmmm?

39:52

The world's prepared the world. The world's not thinking about

39:54

the Bears. We're excited about new quarterbacks coming into

39:56

the league. I think he's gonna be fantastic.

39:59

Not I guess I needed to do this, but just

40:02

watch it's just like I just can't see how it's

40:04

not gonna work. I just can't see how he's not

40:06

gonna be. And now, generational is

40:08

one thing, but if like Trevor Lawrence

40:11

level, like you're in the top ten quarterbacks

40:13

in the league is the floor and I'd

40:15

be surprised if he's you know, like long term.

40:17

I just can't imagine him not being higher in that.

40:19

Like we're ready. It's fine, it's

40:21

another great quarterback. We love quarterbacks. Are

40:23

the Bears ready because they have been a somewhat

40:26

unserious franchise for

40:28

a long time in terms of their offense,

40:31

and people are like, oh, they're in great position

40:33

now. It's like, I guess,

40:35

like it's a new offensive system

40:38

that bringing in. I like Shane Waldron, fine it

40:40

I like Keenan Allen, but they don't really have

40:43

a number three and you know, he's had his injuries

40:45

and stuff the offensive line. It's like, Okay, it's a new offensive

40:47

system. Are they ready?

40:49

Well?

40:49

Is Matt Eberflus ready? Is the

40:51

GM and ownership already?

40:54

I'm not that I'm moment, I'd say.

40:56

Especially if at number nine they get one of these like

40:58

top white outs. I I've talked to Tanton

41:01

dating back like a decade plus in our newsroom

41:03

about the Bears, and he's frustrated from

41:05

the top of the heap all the way down with how

41:07

the whole place is run. And I get it. But even

41:10

under Levy Smith and even previously that they

41:12

always had these like thirteen and three seasons

41:14

with no quarterback where it was like there's always defense

41:16

in the same you know erlocker and like a great

41:18

secondary and stuff. It's like if they

41:20

were quarterback led and the

41:22

Bears had like a top two or three guy.

41:25

I think from a fan angle, having watched football

41:27

for like forty years, that is something

41:29

that I'm not totally prepared for in the sense they have been

41:32

sort of the same thing forever and if

41:34

not milk toe's sort of the weird, wrong type

41:36

of good team. When they've been gone to the playoffs, this is this

41:38

would be different, right?

41:39

And are we ready for the fans because

41:42

they are among the best fans in the league.

41:44

It would be great for the NFL. They have

41:46

been irrationally optimistic

41:49

about their team on an annual

41:51

basis. Adam rank here at the NFL I think

41:53

represents that well and been so wrong

41:55

so many times that when they actually have a

41:58

real quarterback and a good team, I mean, They're going to.

42:00

Get wild and I love it. It's a great sports down.

42:02

Was reminded of that watching the

42:04

nine to ten playoff playing game. I don't know if

42:06

you were in on Bulls Hawks, it wasn't much of a

42:08

game, but then that.

42:10

Crowd was insane for

42:13

a night.

42:13

Like the Bulls fans, it makes sense they

42:16

they just want a winner and this team's been sub

42:18

mediocre forever. They're ten games under five hundred,

42:20

but they're going freaking crazy because

42:22

they you know, they want a winner and.

42:23

That ball is completely different than basketball.

42:25

True, and in this case, I think it's it is the same,

42:27

great, it's similar, similar, and.

42:29

Yet it's a Bearstown for all those titles. Everyone

42:32

in Chicago will tell you it's still Bears

42:34

and everything.

42:35

I thought Bulls would have put that to the test for a

42:37

while.

42:40

I had a question. This was the most common question.

42:43

This one's from Mode Design Things, but we got about seven

42:45

or eight times asked,

42:47

will there be an ATM draft show?

42:49

Quite enjoyed last year.

42:51

Unfortunately there won't be, so we we had to

42:53

mention it at some point where.

42:55

Advice rewatch last year's that's still that

42:57

would be great.

42:58

It's got two million views on you, which

43:00

is wild, but

43:04

don't have enough resources to do it. So we're very

43:06

disappointed and would love to bring it back.

43:08

Not happening this year. All right, we're gonna take a quick

43:11

break. We'll hit more of the mail bag after this.

43:14

Okay, we are back. Next question

43:17

is what do the heroes think is the most Chris

43:19

Wesseling type prospect

43:22

of the draft and look, I just want

43:24

any reason to uh to mention Chris

43:26

on the show. And it got me thinking, actually,

43:28

what is that even? What what is a Chris Wesseling

43:30

type podcat prospect.

43:32

I came up with. I remember how

43:34

much Westling

43:37

loved the physical nature

43:39

of Steve Smith, and I'm

43:41

not saying that the same player, but Roman, don't say, to me,

43:43

was like someone that I think Chris would have been. Like I

43:46

I get Marvin Harris and all said, it's

43:48

like no one's looking past that. But like Rome,

43:51

to me, is this kind of guy that's going to come in and be a

43:53

nasty, physical player. And I think Wes always

43:55

appreciated.

43:56

That that is a perfect pick. You're absolutely

43:58

right, that was his style. Well, uh

44:01

an ankwon bold and type of who I asked

44:03

too. But Wes was unpredictable

44:05

on some level in that like he liked what he liked

44:08

and that was what quarterbacks

44:10

he could be.

44:10

All.

44:11

You know, he loved Mariota, but he also

44:13

loved like big physical guys like Herbert.

44:17

So I thought Drake Drake made to

44:19

me popped up. I

44:21

felt like, you know, that's when I think we would have like agreed

44:24

on that just watching

44:26

someone do things, and I think

44:28

May could be like this in terms of the throws

44:30

that he makes, do things that you just haven't seen guys

44:33

do before. That he loved. He loved

44:35

a running back that could just pop a big play.

44:37

When I was thinking about what what is he like running back like?

44:39

He likes ones that are physical. Certainly I

44:41

don't know this class well enough, but

44:44

Trey Benson is that guy who can just pop the

44:46

big play like Wes was early on

44:48

on Jonathan Taylor really thought he'd be great

44:50

and loved Chris Johnson. Right,

44:53

So that's the thing, different types of players. He likes the physical

44:55

type, but he likes the big playmakers. It's about

44:57

me, it always is.

45:00

And uh yeah, if you want to check my Twitter

45:02

account this week, I sent out randomly

45:06

this what West

45:08

saw as his football syllabus.

45:10

It was just a Excel

45:13

spreadsheet essentially of all the

45:15

books that he believes would be a

45:17

great And I know you're not active right now on Twitter,

45:20

so you well, I have a copy of this though, right yeah,

45:22

right, And he had sent it out. We have copies,

45:24

so it but just randomly I clicked

45:26

on it this week and I and I thought, oh, that would

45:28

be cool to send it out and people really like seeing

45:31

it. And got all the

45:33

best football books of all time, category

45:36

categories and million wains long his

45:38

best long forms. He really spent a lot of the time

45:40

the first time he was sick going through all these long

45:42

forms. I was like a project form those sports

45:45

long forms, nonsports.

45:46

It's really great.

45:47

Check check that out on

45:50

my Twitter account if you want. This week

45:52

next one is from Bradley Sadler,

45:56

who says who has a better chance of drafting a first

45:58

round qb Rams, Jets or Seahawks.

46:00

Uh. You know, it's interesting because I was going to bring this up

46:02

with DJ, and you know, we moved on, but he

46:04

and Bucky had a conversation about the fact that

46:08

the Seahawks could be a very good destination

46:10

for Michael Pennox junior. That they are you know,

46:13

they've got people in the building, they're the guy running

46:15

their offense is a Penix. He's

46:18

a he's a tutor of Pennix. They're up

46:20

in the Northwest, like no Pennix knows how to play

46:22

in that in that world, in that weather, and

46:25

it's someone that you could kind of nestle

46:27

behind Geno Smith and Sam

46:30

Howell for a season, which makes

46:32

sense for him. But it's like the arm talent

46:34

and what they have, It's like, I think they should look forward

46:36

to the quarterback. The thing is this, though, because they

46:38

have a they've got their first

46:40

round pick, but they don't have a second, I believe, and

46:42

so they have to like figure out if they even

46:45

wanted to package picks now right.

46:46

Up, I thought they I think they do not. They

46:48

maybe sold.

46:49

I think they got rid of one of theirs, but they had

46:52

they got rid of the they lost one in the Leonard Williams

46:54

trade, but I think they had one from

46:56

the Broncos, So I think it even even.

46:59

I'm looking at Seahawks dot com and it's

47:01

round one, round three, two

47:03

fourths, two sixth and a seventh. Uh

47:06

So, I mean, I guess it would be it would

47:08

be that's kind of your draft right there, and it would

47:10

be not their number one need at the moment. But

47:12

I'd say that over the Jets. To me, it's like, why are we

47:15

first round Jets? Like they Aaron Rodgers

47:18

just telling to me wants to play multiple years. Rams

47:20

that's a little spicy. Depends who would fall to

47:22

over or what they would do. Yeah, I thought, and you're right,

47:24

there isn't a second round pick. That was a brain

47:27

part by me.

47:28

I thought it was an interesting

47:31

question because we haven't heard quarterbacks associated really

47:33

with any of these teams, and yet they're

47:35

all strong surprise teams.

47:37

The Rams have to start thinking about

47:40

the post Matthew Stafford world. First round

47:42

would be a surprise, but if the right guy fell

47:44

to them or second round. I kind of opened

47:47

this up in my head as like, okay, but mate,

47:49

what about a surprise second round pick if the right

47:51

guy fell, like if Penix falls the

47:54

Jets.

47:54

It's not crazy to think about that.

47:56

And we had another question that was first round though

47:58

not first round probably and someone

48:00

said, well, so the that would just be Jets

48:03

to the Jets do.

48:04

The Jordan love thing.

48:05

It did motivate Aaron Rodgers to win into

48:07

uh MVP Awards, and then

48:09

the Seahawks. It's almost weird how little

48:11

connection there has been made that, like the Washington

48:15

offensive coordinator is their offensive

48:17

coordinator. Pennix picked

48:20

the right year to come out with that, so he's there,

48:23

and then he also has a close relationship

48:25

and I think you know, played with played for

48:27

Antonio Pierce, and those are two teams

48:29

that might be drafting quarterbacks.

48:32

I don't think it's going to be a priority for Seattle

48:34

in round one, but round round two maybe.

48:36

Never know, and

48:39

I hope not.

48:40

I'll just be like a lot of drama. Next

48:44

question is really for you. It's

48:46

from Sam Brown.

48:47

He says, please, can you just give Mark three

48:50

minutes uninterrupted to talk about

48:52

what he was.

48:52

Doing in the year nineteen ninety seven. I'm excited.

48:55

Well, I don't think. I hope this won't take three minutes.

48:57

But I came up with a bulleted list.

49:00

I had to go through the memory banks on this one,

49:02

and here it goes. Completed an internship

49:04

at Baseball Weekly in Washington, d C. Top

49:07

of the year, bypassed a low level

49:09

newspaper job, moved to New York City and lived

49:11

in a West one Oaight department with my friend and a female

49:13

painter. My room

49:16

had a mattress, three changes of clothing,

49:18

and a typewriter. Dated girl for a month

49:20

who was very severe, wore librarians glasses

49:22

and gave me pink eye. Worked as this as

49:24

an assistant at a private investigator's

49:26

office. I was asked to investigate copyright

49:29

infringement, mainly like little companies

49:31

calling themselves things like Costco two. On

49:34

these calls, I used an aka Drew Corbette

49:37

and would compile a case to bust their asses.

49:39

Then left New York City to take a job at Camp Jewel

49:41

That camp Happiness place is what you guys call it. Along

49:45

with a female counselor named Amy, took a gaggle

49:47

of youths on a week long hike through the woods, where

49:49

it rained on us for three days. When summer

49:51

camp ended, I stayed at the camp and went on a twenty one

49:54

day waterfast where on days eighteen

49:56

and nineteen tapeworms came out of my body.

49:59

Moved to Boston and for a month and did it. It is gross.

50:01

Moved to Boston, but it was helpful. Moved

50:04

to Boston for a month and did a ten day sleep study

50:06

for nine hundred dollars. You'd stay awake for seventy

50:08

two hours in a row as an example,

50:10

had a spiritual had spiritual visions by the end,

50:13

got on the Greyhound bus and moved to Boulder, Colorado.

50:15

Found a farmhouse for twelve hundred dollars

50:17

a month with my friend Kristen bowls and waited

50:20

for five friends and housemates to come west,

50:22

watched football for nine plus hours on Sundays

50:24

at a bar called Barrelhouse two. Brett

50:26

Favre was the center of my world. No Browns.

50:28

Back then worked at a string of ten

50:30

to twelve temp jobs, including putting together miniature

50:32

flashlights at a flashlight factory.

50:35

I was fired And.

50:37

Did you fit that all in one year?

50:39

Yeah? Well it was a transitory year, though I don't

50:41

know how that person knew to pick that year. Other years would

50:43

have been less movement oriented,

50:47

so.

50:52

That was a perfect year to pick. Yeah to what that, you must

50:54

have been just out of college, so that was a yes.

50:56

Yeah, with no uh no money.

50:58

I was a lot of different.

51:00

I mean yeah, like I

51:02

I when I was trying to get a real job. I had

51:04

a friend, like some sort

51:06

of industry expert look in my resume and said, like, you

51:08

look like someone who's just sort of on the run from

51:10

the law.

51:11

So tape worms not what

51:13

you want.

51:15

Walker had some like they literally

51:18

like see him look like worms is

51:21

poop?

51:22

Yeah, that's that's where they appear.

51:24

Discussed the outside of the body. Next question

51:26

is and I love that that that is our

51:28

social clip.

51:29

Brandy Dan

51:31

of The Avenue asked, can you ask Greg

51:33

which order would he draft the three members

51:35

of Boy Genius in, Well,

51:39

I'm not gonna do it for football because that just

51:41

gets weird. But Julie,

51:43

it's it's a clear one two three here with big

51:45

tiers in between. So it's Julian Baker

51:47

first, Lucy Dakis second, Phoebe

51:49

Bridges third.

51:51

Next one is from polled

51:53

Alpha. It's just obvious.

51:55

Any words of advice for a very near

51:58

future first time that my

52:02

immediate thought was would be like don't

52:05

worry, and I guess this would apply to you Eric as

52:07

well, is don't

52:10

stress or plan too much before

52:12

they get there. Seems like a waste of time

52:15

that like, enjoy that, not like you have to

52:17

like desert your

52:20

your lovely wife. You should be supporting

52:23

her and helping her in any way obviously while

52:25

she's pregnant. But like I

52:27

see a lot of times people like, well I got to plan this,

52:29

I gotta do this, I gotta.

52:30

Come up because it's like.

52:33

It's all got to be meaningless anyway, So you might as

52:35

well just like enjoy enjoy

52:37

the time before it's a.

52:38

Little bit of a calm before the storm.

52:39

Yeah, I really agree with that. I

52:42

think in general for a dad, one

52:45

on one time is very

52:47

valuable no matter what you're doing. But the

52:49

second thing I thought it was like the child with a child.

52:51

Yeah, with our first born, Luke,

52:54

like I had I was home four

52:56

days a week, like during because I was working in NFL,

52:58

but it was only three days a week, and like I literally

53:00

was like taking care of him as a

53:02

newborn for like hours

53:04

a day, and it formed

53:07

this incredible bond. So I know a lot sometimes dad's

53:09

like out on all that until like until the baby

53:11

can talk or the child can like interact.

53:13

It's like get in there early and like

53:15

be part of that because it really creates something

53:18

that I never expected. So there you go.

53:20

Eric, Right, I'm actually pretty excited. I

53:22

don't know, I mean, obviously I'm pretty excited I'm

53:24

having a son, but I'm really like gung ho.

53:26

I've had weird radio hours before, so I feel

53:28

like I've been primed and nurtured to have

53:31

be up at two am every two hours through

53:33

the night. So like I'm actually kind of excited about

53:35

like being my wife has done enough, Like I'm

53:37

gonna be like ready to go

53:39

and take take over whenever needed.

53:41

So good messaging five wakes out.

53:43

That's exciting.

53:44

And although I do find it,

53:46

I feel like this happens for a lot of couples

53:48

that they realized with the second kid.

53:50

It's like, well, we don't both

53:52

have to get up every time.

53:54

Second, my wife just made that clear

53:56

that there will be a

53:58

period of time where I am the guys.

54:01

But the key being like.

54:04

Either she's the overnight woman

54:07

that night or in general

54:09

that week or whatever it is.

54:10

And you know, it doesn't have to be the same person every

54:12

day.

54:12

Lug each other.

54:13

You don't need to be like, oh, come, you know you're

54:16

again. It's like do one or the other? You want

54:18

the other stronger in the day. Also, people

54:21

don't know this, but every human child

54:23

is dramatically different, and

54:25

so these like base sort of like recommendations

54:28

for what to do and how to think, Like, you

54:31

know, it doesn't exactly work because every child

54:34

reacts completely different. Look at the Westling

54:36

Brothers, right, my even my two children, one

54:38

advice for one would have been terrible advice for the

54:40

other, and vice versus.

54:42

Right, well, we'll get through this first one. Before I got to worry about

54:44

trends. I'm just you know, just.

54:46

Saying you're all different.

54:47

It seems like a fair plan.

54:48

Jeff Yates, what would, in your mind

54:50

be the most polarizing pick your

54:53

team of fandom could

54:55

make this year? Oh, I didn't read this right the first time.

54:57

Well, for me, it would be the Patriots trading down

55:00

and just doing that like

55:03

that, no matter who's on the board, whether it's May

55:05

or Daniels. And I would be

55:07

personally more into it if

55:09

it was if May is gone and

55:11

Daniels is on the board and they traded down to

55:14

like the Giants and they still get one of the receivers.

55:16

To me, I'm gonna I'm gonna ride

55:18

with that and just see what happens. But

55:20

that would be the most polarizing. Everyone wants

55:22

the QB, I think.

55:24

So if I'm coming from a Browns angle, like, don't

55:26

they don't pick till the fifty fourth pick?

55:28

And so I kind of was like,

55:31

I mean, quarterbacks stupid just because they're not going

55:33

to take a quarterback at ninety four. But like I thought,

55:35

the one thought like this, the heart, the beating

55:37

heart of the Browns is Nick Chubb.

55:39

But there's questions about his health

55:41

still and where will be and like his future

55:44

to some degree in terms of like what is this

55:46

player post injury? Like if they went and picked

55:48

at fifty four, it could work like a starting

55:50

type running back. I think that would yeah,

55:54

cause some problems with certain Browns fins.

55:55

Yeah, that wouldn't makes it.

55:57

The thing is, like everyone loves all these

56:00

offensive players and like none of the tackles

56:02

are are going to be polarizing. It's

56:04

always a team that just

56:06

looks at their board differently

56:09

than the rest of the league. It's often been the Seahawks lately,

56:12

used to be the Patriots often where it's

56:14

just like they take a guy who's on the consensus

56:16

board at like forty three, except they take them

56:18

at sixteen and everyone goes crazy. But it's

56:20

like, you don't know anything. Finlay

56:23

McClure, which you know sounds suspicious.

56:27

Is that a made up name, Finlay McClure. I

56:29

think it possibly is from overseas,

56:32

I don't know, or it's a character from like Ducktails.

56:34

If you are Sean Payton and the Broncos, which

56:37

scenarios do you pick trade up to four, give

56:39

up three first to

56:41

get MacArthur or may Stan Patt

56:43

twelve and take Pennix or take best

56:45

player available non quarterback at twelve

56:48

and build the team up first. Of

56:50

those three, I would go

56:52

for the third option, but I

56:55

I like to take a quarterback. Yeah,

56:57

I just think reaching at twelve seems so

57:00

and I don't.

57:01

I wouldn't. I wouldn't give up all those.

57:02

Picks for for the third quarterback

57:05

in this CLUBB even though I love me, I

57:07

think, uh, you stay at twelve,

57:09

and I think there's a real chance that Bo Nicks

57:12

is available at your second round pick, or Michael Pennix

57:14

is available, Like all these guys aren't gonna go

57:16

like, don't force it.

57:17

I I'm with the don't force it, but don't ignore

57:19

quarterback just because like this concept

57:22

of we're going to build a team and wait for a quarterly

57:25

if they go four and thirteen, you don't

57:27

have time for that, Like no one has time for that.

57:29

I'm Layton might of anyone, but yeah, I

57:31

hear it. I don't know.

57:32

I feel like the Peyton thing like needs

57:34

to work for like this invincibility

57:37

shield around him to continue to be accurate.

57:39

And there's it's like the quarterback draft is going to allow

57:41

someone to come down there. I but I

57:43

I would do it. But if you're saying, may is

57:46

this potentially player

57:48

that we've never seen before and he's sitting there at three,

57:50

it's like, then you then why would you not trade? Sure,

57:52

get your first or three first round picks.

57:55

Sure, but if he's that if he's that guy you know who

57:57

knows that's it'll look genius.

57:58

But that's fair.

57:59

I don't know if you.

57:59

Paid your it's also or whoever it would be, would have

58:01

to take that pick. So you need to two

58:04

teams to tangle there. Other Elliott Wolf,

58:07

the GM in

58:10

practice not in name for the Patriots,

58:13

said on Thursday, we're open for business.

58:15

We're open for business on pick three and everything

58:18

else. But we're open for business, so I

58:20

think they'll be listening. What's

58:22

your favorite draft memory, as

58:25

Brandon Smith, what draft pick are your favorite

58:27

team? Were you most excited about at the time

58:29

of the pick? A player most

58:31

surprised by turning into

58:34

a bust?

58:35

What do you got?

58:36

I mean, I know mine happened on this show,

58:38

and like there's a clip that

58:40

I wish wasn't out there to some degree when

58:43

the Browns did this with.

58:44

The twenty second pick in the twenty fourteen

58:47

NFL Draft, the Cleveland

58:49

Brown select Johnny Manzelle

58:53

quarter. That

59:04

was Dave Damashek.

59:08

Will you be saying that Bryan shayze Er

59:10

kills him Maury's one now?

59:13

Anyway, it's a boy on Christmas?

59:16

The Christmas is coln. I mean we

59:18

were shoved into those Radio City musical

59:21

seats which were made for people in the nineteen tens,

59:23

and h you know, I had walked

59:25

around like Manhattan for days

59:27

kind of wishing this would happen, and when it happened,

59:29

it felt like Cleveland is the

59:31

most exciting thing in the National Football

59:34

League and then it went completely, completely, totally

59:36

south into hell.

59:38

It's pretty rough. I mean, you look younger

59:40

there, but I think you look better now. So that was nice.

59:42

Everyone should check that out on YouTube.

59:45

Thanks that.

59:46

Uh, it was Dave Danishek's

59:48

voice, and just like you can't really

59:50

put words to Mark's expression

59:52

there, I read this question wrong and just thought,

59:55

like general draft moments, I'm trying

59:57

to think.

59:57

Of the Patriots player I was most excited about it.

1:00:00

Weirdly, will Fork fell so

1:00:02

far to them and seemed like such a Patriots

1:00:04

guy, and that was about the peak of like Patriots

1:00:07

always make the right picks

1:00:10

fandom for me that I just remember being so

1:00:12

pumped when Vince Wilfork fell to

1:00:14

them at the time. But otherwise,

1:00:17

you know, when when the Vikings didn't take their

1:00:19

pick and the other two like ran up

1:00:21

to take it in three, that was just like an incredible

1:00:23

draft.

1:00:24

We're like, what am I watching the four

1:00:26

draft?

1:00:27

To me, nothing will top Rivers,

1:00:30

Big Ben, Eli Manning.

1:00:32

There was a lot of stuff going into their aft.

1:00:34

But literally as it happened, we

1:00:36

all thought they were gonna trade and

1:00:39

make the trade ultimately that they did make, but no

1:00:41

one knew for sure. And then

1:00:43

the Chargers take Eli and

1:00:45

he has to hold it up, and there's

1:00:49

there's not Twitter at that point, and so it's

1:00:51

just like you're living in this total netherworld.

1:00:54

It was like, Wow, they really took them.

1:00:55

They're putting the giant's feet to the fire,

1:00:57

Like, what the hell is gonna happen? I guess they're just gonna keep

1:01:00

them, and and he's holding it up and he's like

1:01:02

not happy about it, and so that like

1:01:05

twenty thirty minutes, it was fifteen picks

1:01:07

minutes per pick. Then before Rivers

1:01:10

and the Eli trade actually happened,

1:01:12

and that was just so ballsy by their GM.

1:01:14

Who it's escaping me. Who that was was? Aj

1:01:18

Heg Smith, I believe was his name, who

1:01:20

just sat there, took Eli and

1:01:23

just waited until the best offer came in and they

1:01:25

got a great one and then they ended up getting Rivers.

1:01:27

So they were both I.

1:01:27

Think both those things you mentioned, the best pick by

1:01:29

the Vikings and in

1:01:31

that scenario right there, like they've never that's

1:01:33

never really happened since that way at all.

1:01:35

So yeah, that was incredible. The Ricky

1:01:37

Williams I was in New Orleans.

1:01:38

That was crazy.

1:01:39

I was in New Orleans for that draft.

1:01:41

That was that was when I was in college.

1:01:43

That that hasn't happened again either.

1:01:44

So now that was a wild thing and that

1:01:46

that was a rare I think I just wanted the weekend off.

1:01:48

Right in the postgame, the press conference

1:01:50

where he came and showed up

1:01:52

in Ricky's dread, wearing Ricky's dreads,

1:01:54

it was just it was a different time.

1:01:57

All Right, We're gonna take one last break and wrap

1:01:59

up the mail bag. Next,

1:02:03

let's go to our next

1:02:06

tweet. Oh yeah, you know, I

1:02:08

brought this one up last year's Greg

1:02:10

hit on Sam Laporta, who

1:02:14

is Greg's only fantasy sleeper superstar

1:02:17

that Dynasty Keeper managers

1:02:20

need to keep their eye. I still want

1:02:22

to watch some of these running backs. I can't pretend that I

1:02:25

have a hot take, and that's usually the fantasy

1:02:27

thing. But for me, it's

1:02:29

Brian Thomas Jr. I just I just

1:02:32

love me some Brian Thomas Jr.

1:02:34

Love him like.

1:02:34

I just think that he could be up there

1:02:36

with those three guys in the end as just this crazy

1:02:39

explosive year after year, big time wide

1:02:41

receiver.

1:02:41

Yeah. And Chad Ryder, who had on yesterday had him

1:02:44

falling all the way down to the Bengals.

1:02:46

Yeah, there's a lot of disagreement with him that he could

1:02:48

that would be on any incredible landing spot that

1:02:50

would be if he landed there, he would be big

1:02:54

time players sooner than later. Where on

1:02:56

the peace scale? Our next, sweet

1:02:59

ass? I think this is the last one. How about that?

1:03:02

Cranked? Is Greg Rosenthal

1:03:04

in terms of the peace scale? In regards to the

1:03:06

Delaware tapes being released, I have

1:03:08

an update on this situation.

1:03:10

I was, I been. I'm gonna go poop now,

1:03:13

that's not the

1:03:15

update.

1:03:16

I've been ready all week for this update, but Dan

1:03:19

just hasn't brought it up. I don't feel like it'd be right to

1:03:21

do without Dan here, So we'll

1:03:23

save it.

1:03:23

We'll, we'll just we'll just.

1:03:25

You don't seem too unnerved by the whole situation.

1:03:27

Fine, Okay, Fine, I'm

1:03:29

proud. That's

1:03:32

it, Mark, what a week of shows. Next

1:03:35

week we're onto the draft. That

1:03:38

will be a bigger week than this week, by leaps

1:03:40

and bounds.

1:03:40

It will.

1:03:40

But it's just the adrenaline. The excitement

1:03:43

carries you through. We'll be back on Monday,

1:03:46

Eric, right, and then uh, we'll

1:03:48

also have the Mark Sessler mock draft

1:03:51

will be there on Draft night.

1:03:53

We'll wrap up the draft with winners and losers

1:03:56

over the weekend. So I'm excited. The adrenaline

1:03:58

kind of carries you through draft week. I'm a think for the pre

1:04:00

draft process to be Let's go from

1:04:03

Mark Sessler, Randy

1:04:06

Chavez, Daniel Jeremiah.

1:04:08

Thanks for coming on, Eric,

1:04:10

We miss you.

1:04:11

Dan Heed.

1:04:12

The call