JB's Sports Podcast
JB's Sports Podcast
Yankees Explosive Victory and the State of NBA, MLB, and NFL Draft Prospects
Sports takes a backseat to no one when fans like me get to go solo and dive into the biggest stories happening right now. Yankees dominated the Brewers 20-9, the Bulls are becoming fun to watch again, and the NFL Draft is just 26 days away.
• Aaron Judge hit three home runs in four innings in the Yankees' 20-9 demolition of the Brewers
• The Chicago Bulls are finding their identity as a fun, fast-paced team without championship pressure
• Josh Giddey hit a half-court game-winner for the Bulls against the Lakers, continuing their surprising four-game win streak
• LeBron James has been shooting just 8% from three since returning from injury
• Cooper Flagg looked sensational in Duke's tournament game against Arizona
• The Giants signed Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston but remain in position to draft a quarterback
• New England Patriots secured Stephon Diggs on a three-year deal to help rookie Drake Maye
• Deion Sanders has pulled back from public discussions about where Shedeur will be drafted
• Abdul Carter is only meeting with teams holding top-four picks
• Jackson Dart's draft stock is rising despite questions about his transition to NFL-style offenses
Make sure to like, subscribe, and rate the podcast five stars wherever you listen. We appreciate you sharing with friends, family, or even enemies! Follow us on Twitter at @JovanteBoozer, @JaceBoozer1, and @JBSportspod.
welcome back to the jb sports podcast. Today is saturday, march 29th, and we're back for another podcast. It's just me today going solo a while without jace for another week couldn't make times work out. A lot of things going on as of right now. We got our younger brother that's not playing ball, so we're kind of following him out and about trying to go around and watch him play, as he's starting his first year as a high school baseball player, and then we got work, we got some other things going on, so we just couldn't make the times work out this week. But honestly, as we get closer and closer to the draft, jace we'll just he'll be back, we'll make it happen. But we just going to make it happen this week and I figured, rather than not doing a podcast at all, I can come on, talk some stuff for a little bit, hopefully keep it to about an hour I don't want to necessarily go too long just by myself so hopefully I'll be able to keep it pretty, pretty nice and tight. But again, I've never I don't necessarily want to ever promise anything that I can't deliver on, because I know myself all too well to say, hey, I go on tangents and different things like that, especially when I don't have Jace like sitting here rolling his eyes at me when I go too long on a subject that he doesn't want to go into. So with that I don't want to go too. So with that I don't want to go too much longer on that, let's just go ahead and get on into things. There's just there, are. There isn't necessarily like a lot of major stuff to talk about, but there is plenty enough for for me to think that, you know, I could at least talk a little trash on a Saturday about not trash talk. I don't what is the word I'm looking for. Um, I don't want to say my, I guess you could say mindlessly, because, honestly, when you're out there you're a sports fan. You're just seeing different things go on all throughout the week and you're just kind of watching things as they happen, because there's plenty of stuff going on. You have baseball. That just started the last couple days. Uh, opening day, I think yesterday's officially, I think, for pretty much most of the MLB outside of the Dodgers and the Cubs that played, I think, like last week in Japan, but outside of that we pretty much have opening day pretty much happening. Yesterday We've had the men's college basketball going on the tournament and I know I started the whole tournament before it started, pretty much talking about how there's a lot of bad basketball going on. But honestly, as we've gotten to the Sweet 16 and now going into the Elite Eight and everything, you have some pretty good basketball teams all playing together, playing against each other, and you're going to have some good games going on. So I wanted to talk about that and what else? Obviously, nfl stuff's going on. I think. How many days? Until how many days? Until the draft? Now, 26 days. So we have 26 more days until the NFL draft goes on and we have some NFL news and stuff going on here.
Speaker 1:In the last couple In the last week, we just had a few things that I want to talk about, go go down, so let's just go ahead and get on into it. So the first thing if because I'm recording this on Saturday, so this is not like a Friday night recording that I'm posting on Saturday or anything this is, this was like the biggest thing that happened today. Honestly, it took over my purview there for a bit. New York Yankees played their second game in the last, I think, yesterday. They didn't play, they played on Thursday. I think they played Thursday. So Yankees played Thursday, beat the Milwaukee Brewers I believe that was. Let me make sure I get that score. We beat them 4-2. Got up to a nice little lead there at the beginning of the game. They kind of got tight there at the end when we had. Who was our reliever at the end? Uh, devon williams, the guy we actually traded for from the brewers. He kind of had a little bit of a shaky save there to kind of end the game. He kind of I think he ended up having the bases loaded and all that and manages to get us out of it even though we shouldn't have been in that spot in the first place Won that game 4-2. But there was a game that happened today and it was one for the record books.
Speaker 1:To be totally honest with you, I just think let me just get to my overall thoughts on the Yankees before the season's even started. So before you even start the season, you have Garrett Cole, manages to have to get Tommy John surgery. He's gonna be gone for the year. That's before the season's even started. So that's a huge blow to your team because, honestly, with the, with the signings that we had brought with the guys we brought in to the team before the season started. You're thinking, oh, we have a very, very strong pitcher rotation and you take away the ace of that rotation before the season even starts. Not a good start. And then you also have Giancarlo Stanton. He ends up going out. He probably won't play for at least a few weeks, if not a month, with the injuries he's dealing with. So that's another big bat on your team that you're not going to have for a while as you start the season. So you're coming into the season not healthy, not even close to what you thought you were going to be coming into the season, at least for me as a Yankees fan.
Speaker 1:And then we have the first game play. We have some of our younger guys actually come in and play some pretty good ball. And then we have an absolutely explosive day like today. The Yankees beat the Milwaukee Brewers 20-9. Let me repeat that and make sure if anybody wasn't like totally listening to what I was saying 20-9, the Yankees blew out the Milwaukee Brewers today and that was powered behind four uh, solo home runs to start the game for the Yankees, and not just those four straight, it was well, I don't think it was four straight. It was three straight, three straight, four, three straight home runs on the first pitch of the of the at-bat. So to start the game, um Milwaukee started. Obviously Yankees keep them blank. You had. Who started the game for us? It was Max Freed.
Speaker 1:Started the game for the Yankees today, had a good start, played decently well, but the Yankees, literally bottom of the first inning, paul Goldschmidt, first pitch hits it home run. Cool, fine, great Goldschmidt we brought him in to be our first baseman has a big bat. We all knew that and we're like okay, this is great. Not to mention the fact that Nestor Cortez was the starting pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers today and obviously Nestor Cortez was part of the Yankees for the last few years or so. So when we traded him away for a guy like Devon Williams, we're like, okay, fine, I like Nestor Cortez for the personality, but after how he played last year ended up getting injured, you can tell. I think it's understandable why the Yankees decided to get rid of a guy like that. Because we had so many pitchers in our lineup after all the signings we had it made sense get a guy like Devon Williams to be one of our closers. Definitely a big deal.
Speaker 1:Goldschmidt, first pitch home run. Bellinger, first pitch home run. Judge, first pitch home run. Pretty much a 3-0 start before the game really even gets going. And then I think it was Wells yeah, austin Wells also had a home run in that very first inning. So we end up going up 4-0 in that first inning. I'm seeing it all on social media because I'm like I didn't start the game watching it because I was busy doing other stuff today, going to watch high school baseball and all that.
Speaker 1:And then in the second inning the Yankees end up and then the Milwaukee in the second inning gets another three runs, kind of makes it a little bit closer. It was four, three at the top after the going into the bottom of the second. And then in that second inning let me make sure I have it here box. I don't need the box score, I need play by play. That's what I need. Um, in that, in the bottom of the bottom of the second inning, you have a walk, you have walk. Bellinger popped out to third judge, grounded. Chisholm, uh, singled, and then I also get it. Yeah, that was it.
Speaker 1:And then Volpe, volpe hit a three run shot in the second inning to make it seven to three, um, and then the top of the third Brewers. It managed to not really do too much. And then in the third inning, bellinger single to single to first got, uh, got a score. Judge homered again. That was a three-run shot. I believe One, two, three. It was a four-run shot. It was a grand slam. And then Chisholm came up and homered, so at this point it's 13-3, and this is like an absolute bludgeoning, but it wasn't over.
Speaker 1:Milwaukee comes back, scores a run in the top of the fourth, bottom of the fourth. Then you have Bellinger hit a sacrifice home run to make it 14-4. And then Judge comes up again, hits another home run. That's his one, two, that's his third home run in four innings. Absolutely insane. Judge hits another home run to make innings. Absolutely insane, judge. It's another home run to make it. I think that was 16-4.
Speaker 1:And here's the thing right. And when I see Judge going on an absolute tear like this, looking like the absolute amazing, one of the best players in baseball that you can possibly see. But after watching the World Series and how it did, with him having the struggles that he had throughout the whole world series, if not actually the whole playoffs. He pretty much he didn't really have the most amazing playoffs and that's really been his whole career is that he done season so well in the regular season to the point where we're like, look at him, it's like he's done things that we have never seen as a baseball viewing public Right. And then the playoffs. He has just major issues and he got like he made a few plays last year offensively when it comes to using his bat, but like it still wasn't enough for a guy that people widely recognize as a top three, top five player in the sport.
Speaker 1:So even with all of his success on a day like today and what he looks like, he's gonna have another great season if he keeps going again. It's hard to say he can. He can have these three home run days the way that he's going and keep that going the rest of the season. But like when you have a guy that is that have can have a day like this, a lot of the thing that people, most people, are going to say, if not yankee fans, but people that are not yankee fans that want to just down judge, just say, hey, wait till the playoffs. What is he going to do then? And I can't deny that I've had my issues with that, with how he's had some of his most his biggest struggles in the playoffs.
Speaker 1:So, like even on a day like today, where judge can be an absolute freak of nature that is doing things that it just doesn't even seem possible, it can be a little bit poo-pooed by the idea that, no matter how great he is in the regular season, again the regular season doesn't matter. It does matter. I'm not sure if I said it really clearly the first time, so I want to make sure I said it again it does matter, but the playoffs matter more. And if he is not able to kind of play I'm not even saying raise his play, but play at the level that we have grown accustomed to, see him playing out in the regular season, in the playoffs it does lessen the impact of the regular season. It does it lessens it.
Speaker 1:People are going to have those questions about is he that type of player? Is he the guy that can really lead the Yankees to the promised land? Those are questions that are going to be had and as much as I believe in Judge I really do, and I love him so much and I appreciate him for the player that he is the monster that he is, but that is a question that has yet to be answered. But even with all that, it doesn't change the fact that he's an absolute freak, a force of nature and again, like I said, can do things that not many people can even dream of doing with a baseball bat in his hands. So again, he's just an amazing player. But there are some questions to be asked.
Speaker 1:So all that goes through, judge ends up having three home runs on the day. Let's see, you have scoring plays. Judge has three home runs, almost a fourth, because he ends up hitting one right off the outfield wall, literally right off the top of the outfield wall. That could have been a fourth home run. You have Bellinger scoring a home run. You have Volpe getting. I think Volpe had one home run. Volpe had a home run today. He has two home runs, two a home run in his first two games of the season. Bellinger is doing a lot.
Speaker 1:Bellinger was a huge signing when we got him because we were looking for a left-handed bat that can kind of replace at least part, partially, what, um, why my Juan Soto gave you as a bat last year. So if we can get 75, 80 percent of what he was able to bring offensively. That's what we brought him in for and he's playing well so far, hitting the ball well, getting the ball into play, hitting home runs as of today, and it was just an amazing day. It was amazing day to watch some of the crazy things this team can do, even with all the injuries that they're having, and the fact that you can have such an offensive explosion as they had today. It does make you kind of think like what if they can kind of like the younger guys? Heck Jason Dominguez. He's finally going to be a regular part of the Yankees team again. He's still a liability defensively, but offensively he can play very well, he can hit, he can run the bases. He's absolutely he's lightning quick. But it's just his defensive prowess is going to have to get better and better throughout the season to make him a more viable player that you can kind of throw out there and leave him out there.
Speaker 1:Who else am I noticing that played well today? Bellinger. Chisholm also played well, coming off last year. We kind of know what Chisholm is at this point. We now get to move him to second base. He's doing a lot of good things. His bat's definitely needed.
Speaker 1:So the fact that the Yankees are able to start the year again it's against the Brewers. The Brewers aren't necessarily the best of teams, but the fact that the Yankees are showing so early on that they still can have a game like this, even with missing some of the bats they're missing a la Juan Soto leaving or judge not judge um Giancarlo Stanton being out to start the year like it's just cool to be able to see the Yankees be able to show their might like this and again. Are they going to keep this up for 160 something games? No, they're not going to be able to. But I do think that if they can just find some consistency and again, the AL is not going to be as easy as it was last year but if they can just play close to what they were able to do today, not even close just half of what they were able to do today offensively, and kind of just make some better defensive plays, I just think the Yankees are going to be a hard team to beat and they should be one of the favorites to go through the AL and meet the Dodgers in the World Series. Let's be honest the Dodgers pretty much have the NL in the bag, unless something major happens to that team because of how much more dominant the Dodgers are compared to everybody else. So it's really a question of if the Yankees are going to be able to pull off their side of the bargain and go through the East like they did last year. Again, it's going to be more difficult, for sure, than last year was. There's a lot of different contenders that we have to deal with.
Speaker 1:But yeah, no, the Yankees having a great day. I know it went a little long on that, but it was an absolute crazy day. The Yankees had winning against the Brewers 20-9, on top of putting freaking Nestor Cortez in a lunchbox because of just how much they beat up on him today. He didn't even get to the second inning. So the idea that they were able to kind of do that have a great offensive showing it was a great day. Great day for the Yankees. Let me get a drink here next thing.
Speaker 1:Chicago Bulls and I me and Jason made this a very, very clear that we are both Chicago Bulls fans and our biggest issue with this team is that for the longest time they were kind of just middling and not really kind of trying to be good but then not making the greatest of moves and then, when they do have bad seasons and aren't able to get into the lottery, be able to get the players that can become the superstars for this team, coming off of last year, made the moves of trading for Giddy, getting rid of some of the older guys they got rid of. Why am I forgetting their names now? See, if you listen to the podcast for a while, that's definitely something I do a lot of and that is forgetting names they got rid of. Oh no, this sucks, I'm forgetting their names now. They got rid of the older core, so that would have been. Is that for the Kings? Now? Dang, I suck. I'm sitting here forgetting some of the names. I definitely should. Demar DeRozan he was gone before last year, but that was one thing. They traded it way. Zach Levine brought in Josh Giddey. Kobe White's now a consistent starter for the team.
Speaker 1:This Bulls team has gotten a lot younger and they have a lot of players that are coming in playing and I think during the second half of the year, I think how many games do we have left? I think we have like 10 games or so, 33 and 40. That's 73. They have another nine games left and I think they're on a winning streak here so far. They're on a four-game winning streak. They beat the Lakers twice in the second game against the Lakers and that would have been last night or the night before. This would have been 28. Oh yeah, last night Faced the Lakers and they managed to come back. I think they were down nine with around six minutes left and, even crazier, I think they were down six with 10 seconds left and they managed to come back and win that game, capped off by a Josh Giddey three from half court to win that game.
Speaker 1:And again, I'm not sitting here saying Chicago is necessarily a great team. In the standings right now, chicago's sitting around the play-in line. They're sitting at the 9 seed as of right now, so they're in the play-in as of currently. I think they're two games behind Orlando for that 8 seed Again. Are the Bulls really all that like going to be able to go and make a huge run in the playoffs?
Speaker 1:No, that is not something that I'm foreseeing for this team, but as of recently, especially the second half of the year, this team has become a very fun team to watch and I think it is a breath of fresh air for me as a bulls fan, because the last time I had fun, really fun, watching this team was derrick rose, when he was younger, like kind of do his thing. That's like kind of where I'm at because, like ever since then we've been middling the whole time. We've had good players, um, we've had like players that we think like, oh, this team should be better and it just hasn't really worked out that way. And I'm not in again the there isn't a lot of pressure on this team whatsoever to do anything in the in terms of winning, and I think it does kind of slant what the perception is of this team, especially for me as a Bulls fan. But when I watch this team play they're young, they get up and down the court.
Speaker 1:Kobe White is an absolute monster. He's averaging over 20 on the year and I think for the last month or so he's averaging close to 30. Josh Giddey is like doing everything possible. He's doing a lot better shooting as of recently, and I think that was the reason why Oklahoma City, as of last year in the playoffs, kind of decided they wanted to get rid of him was because is that Josh Giddey became such an offensive liability because of his. It almost felt like unwillingness to shoot in the playoffs last year that it made sense why, like he doesn't necessarily fit Oklahoma City when they were trying to fit their ultimate goal, because they have Shea on their roster already that has the ball in his hands and Josh Giddey doesn't really do a lot without the ball in his hand it made a reason why they were willing to get rid of him and I think a lot of people looked at it as a steal when the Bulls traded away, why am I forgetting who they traded away?
Speaker 1:Dang, isn't that crazy. I'm forgetting his name. Now we traded away one of like oh crap, who did the Bulls trade away? I got to think of his name. It was for alex caruso, 3nd guy, very good player, uh, manager, we. So when we literally straight up the bulls traded out alex caruso to the okc for josh giddy and at the time I was like, okay, it's, it makes the team a little bit younger. He can kind of be the point guard for this team, because obviously we didn't have a real point guard on this team.
Speaker 1:With Lonzo Ball still dealing with his knee injuries, not really playing all that much, doesn't really seem like he can be an everyday starter as of now, with the injuries he's coming back from from his knee. And you have Kobe White. That is like a guard, but he's more of a two guard, more of a scoring guy. So, like being able to add Josh Giddey to this team. He's averaging seven, uh, seven assists per game. He's kind of doing everything, I think, against the Lakers. The first time they faced him, when they blew him out 146 to 115, he was almost got a quadruple double. And then against the Lakers this latest time he's doing big things, shooting threes, and I think if he can continue to shoot threes the way is he's been has he's had a really high shooting percentage from three as of recently, but like if he could just stay relatively good and be willing to shoot threes.
Speaker 1:And again, we don't have a superstar for this team as of right now. Which is still probably the big issue is that if you're going to face this team up against some of the best teams in the east, I think you need a star of that level, of the guy of the biggest players in the east, to be able to really have a chance, and we don't have that as of right now if the bulls can not make the play in and get, be able to get like maybe you know, cooper flag, maybe if they are ever lucky enough to get that first pick overall, which I don't think is really, really capable they're really capable of doing as of right now. But if they were to get so oh so lucky, like if, or to get like a just a superstar type of player on this team with what they already have, they, they can be a fun team that can grow into something. But I'm just going to sit here and appreciate them as of right now to being a fun team that I like watching. If I'm not actually watching the games, I can watch a whole lot of the game recaps of and just watch them play very fun, quick, up-and-down-the-court basketball and I could just appreciate them as they are as of right now without putting unreal expectations on them because, honestly, they're not worth of that, because they really don't have a team that is worth any type of crazy expectations. So again, it sounds sad a little bit for me just to be happy. My team can kind of be a little fun, even if they're not winning a lot of games. But that's my life as a Bulls fan. I I think I just have to. I'm just learning to appreciate that because I have other teams where I can have crazy expectations about winning. So I think it's just a little bit of a breath of fresh air for me just to be able to look at a team that I like and just be like hey, can they just play some fun basketball and I can just be happy with that. I don't know, it sounds sad a little bit when I really hear try to hear myself, but you know I'll push past that part. Um, but here's the thing about the Bulls beating the Lakers for the second time.
Speaker 1:Right in that late game scenario there was a part where Braun tried to have an inbounds pass. Where he did on the short side of the of the court. It was a bad pass, so it definitely wasn't something LeBron would usually do. He called a little mistake after the game. Uh, there was a bad pass. It definitely wasn't something LeBron would usually do. He called a little mistake after the game. There was a few mistakes Heck, josh Giddey, the three-pointer at the end of the game. Lebron wasn't really on him like he probably should have been to keep him from hitting that shot.
Speaker 1:There was a lot of defensive lapses for this team and for a little while when they first traded for Luka, it was for like a two-month period, about 20 games the Lakers were playing very good lockdown defense, kind of just based off of group effort, right, and that's credit to the players that were playing at the time. They were trying to prove a point. I think Luka was in his revenge mode where he was trying to show, hey, I can be the player that the Dallas Mavericks wanted me to be and what they claimed I couldn't be as forgiving the reasons why they wanted to trade Luka in the first place. But I think Luka has now gotten a little bit more comfortable in a Lakers uniform and I think he's kind of going back to what he is probably more naturally equipped to do and for him naturally he's more of an offensive guy. Obviously he always has been. But like he's showing a little bit less effort on the court on the defensive side of the ball he is getting blown by defensively when things aren't going his way, he's yelling at the refs. He's always done that, but he's kind of getting a little more back into that as of recently. I just think Luke is just not this team, with trading away Anthony Davis and like the fact you have an older LeBron and again, it's amazing that LeBron's able to do what he can do at his age.
Speaker 1:Lebron doesn't necessarily seem all that healthy ever since he came back from that injury when he was gone for a couple of weeks, I think, when he injured his I forget exactly what he injured, but it doesn't. He doesn't seem all that well and I think he's been shooting like eight percent since he came back from injury, from three. And usually if you're shooting such a bad percentage and I think, and if you're usually known for being able to shoot the three ball well which he has later on in his career, I think that's usually a sign. If they say that, it's usually a sign of a player not really having his legs under him. Maybe it's still potentially being injured, but a guy like LeBron shooting eight percent from three is insane. So I do kind of give some credence to the idea that me he may not be all the way healthy and he's rushing his way back to try to get them to be in the playoff contention, to not fall into the play-in realm, because that what's up, because they need that extra rest with LeBron being such an older player and them being on I I think they've had to play a lot of, they're going to have to play for the rest of their season a lot of very tough games against very good opponents.
Speaker 1:And the fact that the Lakers have been losing against only opponents they should definitely lose to a la the Bulls twice. They definitely should beat the Bulls and they're losing to a team like that is definitely not a great sign and with them their defense. If they're not totally focused on playing team defense, doing all the right things, including Luka and LeBron, they don't have the defensive personnel like they used to with Anthony Davis that can just kind of anchor their defense down and be that all-star, all-defensive player. They don't have that for this Lakers team. It is done with their coaching, but with J Reddick kind of putting in his own defensive schemes, it is with the effort of the players that are on the court and I think it's just a total buy-in from everybody.
Speaker 1:And I just think that if this Lakers team is at the point now where they can't have any type of mental lapse or just they just can't check out for a little bit defensively or they're going to get absolutely blown out, I think the Bulls have shown that over the last few games. So I just think this Lakers team as much as I am in awe of all the offensive firepower that they can kind of show, with LeBron playing the way he is in his 20th season, and you have a young Luka, even though he does seem a little bit out of shape, he doesn't look like he's like, he's look gassed all the time in a way you don't think he should be, and usually teams should be peaking at this point of the year and trying to get better going into the playoffs and it seems like they're going the other way. And I just think it just shows that and along with the fact that a team it was like the team, like the bulls that made them look the silly as they were, I think it does show that if you can have a team against the Bulls in I mean against the Lakers in the playoffs that can get up and down the court a la, a young Oklahoma City team that can kind of play with pace, I think it just shows that that may be one of the pieces of kryptonite against this Laker team that wants to play very slow and they don't necessarily play great defense in transition and I just think that if you can have a team that can get up and down the court quickly and keep it a fast-paced game, that may be a recipe for success against this Lakers team that I think at times look like a juggernaut in their own right. So you know, just a few takeaways when it comes to the NBA from, uh, you know, just little old me. I'm not saying I'm necessarily the biggest NBA fan of all time, but I've been making a lot of bets on NBA games. I've been watching more as of recently, but you know I'm keeping track of my bulls. So, with all that being the case, I just wanted to talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 1:Um, next thing, I wanted to talk about NCAA tournament. I don't think I necessarily want to go all too deep into this one, I'm just I just wanted to make a the proclamation, because I did make a big statement or like when this the tournament was first starting, about how bad some of the basketball can be, how bad some of the teams can look, especially offensively, where you have teams that just aren't scoring. I just think at this point where we've gotten to where I think we're in the elite in the Sweet 16, and they're playing their way into the elite eight, I believe. Let's see here Men's bracket. Let's see, let's see, I'll be with you. I'll be with you. Da da da. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Okay, yeah, we're in the Elite Eight playing their way into the Final Four. Ole Miss Iowa State. Yeah, we're in the Elite Eight trying to play our way into the final four. Ole Miss Iowa State. Yeah, we're really trying to play our way into the final four. Okay, that's what we're trying to do here. So, lead eight playing our way into the final four.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of good basketball going on right now. You have Florida and Texas Tech literally playing. Currently they're in the second half, 45 to 42,. Texas Tech is up. I've been making bets as of recently on a lot of this stuff. Michigan State Jace is a big Michigan State guy. Obviously if you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you should know they're making their way. I think they're currently. I think they play tomorrow against Auburn in the Elite Eight. Try to get their way into the final four. So I think, just a lot of good basketball going on.
Speaker 1:I just have to say that Duke, duke in Arizona was an absolutely amazing game that I watched the other night where it was really a back and forth affair. Cooper flag again. If you've been watching any basketball as of recently over this past year's Cooper flag is absolutely amazing. Watched him play. I think he scored 30 on that night against Arizona. He was absolutely a sensational player that night. He plays defense very well, he can shoot and again, that's one of his weaknesses is that he has to get better at his shooting. But when he was on a heater that night it looked like he couldn't miss. But he plays defense, he assist, he can play, make um, he does. He literally does everything on the court. Man. I think jace kind of made this when I was talking to him the other day. He's like he looks like a kevin durant right. I think a lot of people kind of made that type of statement, but it's just, he does. He's not necessarily as athletic, but he can do everything on the court. He's a bigger body and I just think whatever team manages to get him in the NBA, I think he's getting an absolutely amazing player.
Speaker 1:Caleb Love, I believe the player for Arizona that was keeping them alive. He scored like 35. And he was in the second half. There for a while I think he was by himself single-handedlyedly keeping his team in the race against Duke because Duke's kind of running away with it, especially offensively, and I think he was the only reason Arizona was able to kind of even keep the game relatively close in the second half. So a lot of credit to him. He looked like a very good player that night and I just again, I'm not necessarily trying to go into the deep end about college basketball, but I just wanted to make the case, not the case, but make the statement that there is a lot of good basketball going on.
Speaker 1:And if you haven't watched any as of recently, you have Elite Eight games that are going to be going on today and tomorrow and I think today and then the final four games uh no, it's lead eight, lead eight games going on the next couple of days. So watch some basketball, have some fun with it. And I think my way of doing it cause I don't really don't have a specific team to root for I've just been rooting for overs and unders and just kind of watching it from there Um, I think it's been my whole thing just kind of, you know, don't like under this because you end up rooting for teams not to play good offensive basketball. I think I'd rather root for overs and just watch teams score and just have a lot of fun doing that. I think that's kind of been where I've been living, at least betting on basketball wise. When it comes to the men's bracket so, and for women's bracket, I've watched a lot of women's basketball. To be totally honest with you, that has kind of been one thing that hasn't really hit my radar to really kind of jump into.
Speaker 1:But Juju Watkins getting hurt and tearing his ACL definitely sucked, because I have to say that when I have watched clips of her play she just looked like she's on a different level than anybody else and I think it's a different than like a um Caitlin Clark Cause I know Caitlin Clark in her own right was a absolute shooting star. That was like very obvious. She was different than everybody. But Juju Watkins is like it just seems different in a different way. She can shoot, she can do everything, the way that she plays. It's just. It just seems like mentally she's on a different level than everybody else when she plays and she just like, when it comes to her basketball moves, it seems like she's just playing a different game than everybody. So, um, it sucks to see her not be able to play in that tournament anymore. Um, but you know, hopefully she'll be able to come back stronger. She'll probably miss all of next year if she ends up staying in college basketball, but hopefully two, not next season after she'll be able to come back strong and play potentially her junior, if not senior, year of college basketball at USC and then be able to catapult her way into the WNBA. I just think and she has no rush to go and get drafted WNBA, because with the money that she can make, being the name that she is at USC, I think it will give her, get her a lot more money in the long term than what at least as long as she can stay is then what she'd get in the WNBA as a, as a draft pick. So that's it on college basketball.
Speaker 1:I definitely want to go to car to crazy into any of that, because I'm not necessarily a any type of pro at watching the game, any type of pro at watching the game. I just try to have as much fun with it as possible and I just say from my naked eye there's a lot of good basketball being played. So if you're not watching it, go find it. It seems like almost every day there's been basketball going on and it will be a little bit of a break after tomorrow, so hopefully you can watch some basketball. Then, if not, go ahead and watch the final two. So what would that be? Semi-final games, the final four games and then getting to the championship game. I think there's gonna be some very good teams playing dukes and gonna playing alabama, with some two of like the more talented teams in all of college basketball is gonna be playing, I think, tomorrow. So that's definitely gonna be a game I'm gonna try to watch. So a lot of things going on, a lot of basketball good basketball, at least, especially as of recently.
Speaker 1:Alright, I'm done with that. Let me get a drink here, alright? Next thing I want to talk about, there's some NFL stuff that was going on this past week that I kind of wanted to jump into and just give some thoughts on. So, yeah, let's just, let's do that. So, since last week I was talking about the whole Aaron Rodgers thing and him having the Steelers balls in his hands, it's kind of feeling like the Rod Aaron Rodgers thing and him having the Steelers balls in his hands. It's kind of feeling like the Rodgers Steelers thing is pretty much done and they're just waiting for and I think I made this statement on the last podcast that the Steelers and him were I think there's supposed to be a Pat McAfee show that's going to be in Pittsburgh and that Aaron Rodgers will come out make his grand appearance being the Steelers quarterback and all of that. So I do think that probably is a done deal.
Speaker 1:I think what made me definitely believe that was the fact that this week the Giants went and signed. Let me see here they signed Russell Wilson. I don't know why I had a brain fart there, as if I don't know who Russell Wilson is. Giants went and signed Russell Wilson to a one-year deal worth 10 million dollars, but it can be with incentives. It can be upwards of 100, like 20, not 100, uh and upwards of like 20 million dollars 21 mil with incentives, and I think it obviously it's all based off of how good they do throughout the season. Um so, but a base salary of 10 million dollars, which isn't necessarily a crazy number if that guy is supposed to be your starting quarterback, which makes me think as an outside observer, I'm not necessarily a fan of the Giants. Obviously I'm a Steelers fan and that's on top of that they just signed Obviously I'm a Steelers fan. On top of that, they just signed Jameis Winston, I think, the week before to a contract.
Speaker 1:I think Jameis Winston actually gets more than what Russell Wilson got. So what does this tell me? As a guy that just pays attention to the NFL the way I do, I think it shows that they have bodies in the room, as in the Giants have bodies in that quarterback room that can play the position. It doesn't take them out of the running to go and draft a quarterback. If somebody falls to them at three to go ahead, and just if it's Shador, if somehow it's Cam Moore which I don't really think it's going to be, I think he's going to be drafted by Tennessee. But if a quarterback falls in their lap, I think they'll be more than happy to take somebody, because the guys that they signed both Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson are not necessarily high paid guys. They're not going to be around for long and and I think between the two, jameis is more of like a very good backup type of thing where he understands what his role is on a team as of now and I think he'll. If he's told he's going to be the backup, he'll be more than happy to do that. If he has to come in and play some games, he'll do that as well and play it to his best of his ability until he ends up ruining it.
Speaker 1:With him being such a gunslinger and not really knowing when to stop sometimes Russell Wilson is the guy that is more of a. He's coming in thinking he's going to be the starter and I think obviously the kind of the same deal is what happened last year with Pittsburgh, where Russell Wilson was getting paid like 1.5 million dollars from them last year, like Pittsburgh's paying him like 1.5 million dollars and he was getting the rest like the 35 million from the Broncos. And even with that Russell Wilson kind of came in trying to be a leader and kind of it almost seemed like overstepping at times with how he felt like he had to take control of the team. Again, it's in a different way than Rodgers, which I think Rodgers kind of like took over and like to try to do. The try to do not necessarily was bad, but he's not necessarily a great leader and I think Russell Wilson on the uh is on a different hand because I think he tries too hard to be a leader and I think it comes off as inauthentic at times and if you're coming into a locker room that already has established leaders, you can start stepping on toes and if you haven't earned it with the guys that are already the like those leader of that locker room, I think it can come off a little bit weird and you can kind of start off on the wrong foot and with Russell Wilson not necessarily being the most authentic guy ever, I think can turn a lot of people off.
Speaker 1:So I'm not going to sit here and say it's disingenuous in any way, but that's what it seems like and so that can kind of turn some teams off. And I think it shows with the idea that Mike Tomlin believed in him so much to be the guy that can do so much more than Justin Fields did for you when he started the season 4-2 for the Steelers and he thought that on the field he thought Russell Wilson would do so much more. And when the season was over, I think the Steelers and he thought that on the field he thought Russell Wilson would do so much more and when the season was over I think the Steelers had in their mind between the two of them, justin Fields and Russell Wilson. Justin Fields was the only option. Once Justin Fields said no and didn't want to sign with the Steelers and ended up going to the Jets, they didn't give Russell Wilson a second look and they pretty much turned quickly to Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1:So I think he didn't necessarily work out in Pittsburgh and now that he's going to the Jets he looks like he's trying to hold on to whatever gas was it gas? He's like I'm not going to say he's drowning, but he's pretty close to drowning because he's kind of doing his last little thing to try to become a starter in the league and kind of find a home somewhere to a second team in two straight years, second different team in two straight years. And I just think that with the it's not. The Giants aren't necessarily the greatest spot in the first place. So I don't know, I'm not gonna sit here and make some. My stepdad is a Giants fan and I'm sitting here laughing at him because I'm sitting like man. I've already been through that year too, but Hopefully it doesn't go as bad for you as it did for me. And I just think that the Giants are in a different spot because at least they have an opportunity to draft their future guy. As long as the guy, whatever their plans are, they at least have an opportunity to draft their future guy, and I think it's different than the Steelers, because they didn't have their future.
Speaker 1:Justin Fields was technically the future guy, but like, did they really believe in Justin Fields all the way to make him their sole guy? I just don't think, with the way that he kind of left and just went to the Jets on a two-year deal that is very affordable, I don't think the Steelers were really all in on making him their guy long term either, because if if so, they would have matched that offer, if not paid more, because Jessfield's getting paid a lot less than what most starting quarterbacks are getting paid nowadays and the Steelers have plenty of cap room as of right now. If they wanted to pay him over $20 million a year, which is what he's getting for the next two years, it wasn't even that necessarily a crazy high deal that he got from the Jets. So I don't know's just with with Russell Wilson, with the Giants, who knows? At least the Giants have an opportunity if they want to then go and draft somebody to kind of be the heir apparent and be ready to go and maybe not play this season but be ready to go by next year. But they still have plenty of options. Even with the guys that they have signed over the last two weeks, it doesn't take them out of any opportunity to go and draft somebody if they fall in love, and I think that's the probably the best way to do it, because you don't necessarily want to do what the what the Falcons did and pay Kirk Cousins a bunch of money and guarantee him like two or three years worth of money and then go and fall in love there with a rookie quarterback and go and draft him and then make everything super awkward. I think that both quarterbacks coming in with the Giants know what the situation is and know that it's definitely a possibility. The Giants still go and draft somebody. So I have to give them the credit. At least they're figuring that part out and not necessarily leaving guys out to dry to kind of create some bad blood between the guys they're signing and the young guy they may draft. But you know again, again, we're dealing with people here, so not everything goes as perfectly as you probably would have liked. Um.
Speaker 1:Next thing I wanted to talk about was the bills and cornerback, christian bedford, one of the guys that they that's been on their team for a minute. He they drafted him. I think they drafted him in 2020. And he's going into the last year of his rookie deal and they decided, hey, you're one of our better guys, our young guys, we're going to keep you around long term. They signed him to a four-year $76 million extension. He's a good player, very good cornerback. I think they probably need to draft somebody else to be on the other side of him, but at his age he's 24 years old, playing very well. They got to keep their young guys because they kind of let a lot of their older guys go out the door. They're paying Josh Allen all the money he wants and they still need to get a lot better in the draft, but if you have a young defensive player that they can rely on, it is definitely a good idea to sign a guy like that, and Benford definitely applies.
Speaker 1:Texans add EJ Speed, a linebacker from the Colts. He's a good player. He's 29,. Not necessarily the youngest. He's dealt with some injuries, but when it comes to being productive, he's definitely a very productive guy and to be able to take a guy like that from your rival is definitely a big deal, and with the able to take a guy like that from your rival is definitely a big deal. And it's with the texans. They have a lot of defensive players, um, but it is going to be a guy that can add some depth to your team. Um has a lot of experience playing good football and I just think that the cherry on top again, like I already said, taking him from your rival definitely a huge deal to add to an already very good defense.
Speaker 1:For that for the Texans, ravens, hardball reaching an extension through 2028 here's my thing. I, I this isn't necessarily a big deal. I just think this shows that the hardball I don't even think it's hardball, because if I'm picking between hardball and Mike Tomlin, I and Mike Tomlin. I think Mike Tomlin's a better coach than Harbaugh right, I really do. But I think the reason why I attached myself to this signing and it made me think a lot more about it was the fact that I think that for the Ravens, the Ravens don't sit on their laurels and what their history is as much as the Steelers do and, again, the Ravens don't necessarily have as decorated of a history as the Steelers, but I'm not using that as a way to down the Ravens.
Speaker 1:I think the Ravens, I think to a certain extent it's a blessing for them because it's not like they have some long-standing thing. They want to like some long-standing um, what is the word for it? Uh, principles or guidelines that their, their owners and their GMs are kind of abiding to. They kind of are playing it by the seat of their pants and kind of making things up as they go. And I think to a certain extent, it's a good thing when you have a all like a huge changing landscape in the sport that is NFL and the idea that the, the Ravens were willing to take a guy that a lot of people didn't believe in for some crazy reason, lamar Jackson. Heck, a GM GM at the time was well said that Lamar should be a freaking running back or a wide receiver in the NFL. And the Ravens drafted back into the first round, took him late later on that first round and have given him all the support in the world and created an offense around him and his extraordinary skills and they have allowed him to be a two-time MVP. They have let him be the running quarterback that he could have been at the time and then they have continued to overhaul the offense as needed to fit his attributes at the time and as he's getting better.
Speaker 1:I think the things that were said about Lamar early on in his career is that he struggled at throwing the football and he's not necessarily all that accurate and I think he's gotten better and better at that. Again, some of those are misnomers but, like he did some of the things he did struggle at. But he has gotten better and better over his career and the Ravens have other than their drafting wide receivers, which hasn't really gone all that well. They have made it a point to help to try to improve around him every single year right, getting him better weapons, getting going into last year, getting him a new offensive coordinator in uh, why am I forgetting that guy's name? It's not bobo, it's the guy from. He used to be the coordinator for the george for georgia. I'm forgetting his name, but doesn't really matter.
Speaker 1:Like they have continued, the ravens have bucked the trend with getting a guyc Lamar that maybe didn't have everything yet, but we're willing to stick by his side and really invest in him from the get go and they have continued to do that they have like and they have done very good drafting and have keep reworking that team, be able to do what they wanted to do. And I think Harbaugh, being the head coach of that, has been the beneficiary of being of a head coach of a team that has a front office that is as forward thinking as they are and have allowed him even if he's not necessarily a coach of the same breadth as Mike Tom, which I really don't think he is but I think his GMs have given him support in a way that has allowed him to do what he can with the skills that he has to be able to make this team pretty good to be a contender pretty much year in and year out. While for the Steelers and Mike Tomlin in that front office for the Steelers have done just enough. They've stuck to their core values. They keep doing it, doing their quarterback situation. They haven't went and made the big swing to fix the quarterback issue. They keep getting all these band-aids and honestly, not doing the best they probably can with what they have and are expecting Mike Tomlin to go out there and just make it work.
Speaker 1:Now you have Steelers fans all over the world all over the country going crazy talking about how Mike Tomlin isn't necessarily that great of a coach because he can't go and win at least a game or two in the playoffs. He's good enough to get us into the playoffs, but not good enough for us to actually win any games there. That's what's going on in the Mike Tomlin world. Because of how I'm not going to sit here and say it's like I'm not going to take away all type of blame for Mike Tomlin, but I'm going to take away some of it and say that the front office deserves some blame as well. And a lot of times nobody blames the front office, at least not as much in comparison to how they blame Mike Tomlin for the issues with this team and what they have done signing wise, and how they haven't went and got the quarterback of the future like they probably should like. All that is not on Mike Tomlin. He doesn't have ultimate control. I think the owners have just as much of a footprint, at least a stranglehold, on things and if they want something to happen, they'll make it happen. I think they're much better about kind of staying underground, about it keeping it, it hush-hush. It's a we decision at all times. But I think, with making it a we decision at all times, I think they get high behind the shield of oh, mike Tomlin's the one making the decision, he's the head coach and it's really not all the way the case. And I just think that, with the Ravens resigning Harbaugh to another extension, I just think, maybe think about how those two teams are doing things very differently and I just wonder that, what if the Steelers got a little bit more like the Ravens in the front office? What they could have done with Mike Tomlin over this past 10 years or so, and how much more success they could have had if they were just a little bit more forward-thinking in the way they did their business in comparison to a team like the Ravens.
Speaker 1:That was my whole thing on that next, um, we have Stefan Diggs signs a let's a contract with the New England Patriots. I think it was a three-year deal, three years, $60 million. He signs with the New England Patriots to be their wide receiver, one for the foreseeable future. Diggs is coming off of a torn ACL that he experienced during the season last year when he was playing with Houston. He hadn't been signed as of yet. Then on the 28th, the deal gets announced. So how do I feel about this? Let me get a drink here. Make sure I have my thoughts together, all right. So my first thoughts right.
Speaker 1:I think it's good for the Patriots because coming into this the Patriots, because coming into this the Patriots definitely needed weapons to help out Drake May, because, heck, they need a lot of stuff. They need some defensive help. Actually, through the free agency I think they've gotten a lot of help for their defense. They need offensive line help. They need wide receivers that can help catch the football and make big plays for Drake May. They need tight ends, they need running backs. They need running backs. They need everything for that team. And I think at free agency they've mostly handled the defensive side.
Speaker 1:And I think, with signing Stephon Diggs, the guy apparently coming off the injury they're saying is ahead of schedule. I think they said he's already running at full speed and practicing that way. He still has has ways to go, but I think they're saying he might be ready by the start, start of the season. And again, with every year that goes by, the medical technology, that going through these injuries and stuff, it's not as career ending as it once was and I think it just gets year over year, just gets better and better and players come back better and better, as, as long as you don't get multiple, multiple injuries of the same kind, acl-wise you can usually come back and kind of be close to what you once were before the injury happened.
Speaker 1:And let me say, before that injury happened he was absolutely bowling for the Texans and CJ Stroud and I think if they can get anywhere close to what he once was with Drake May, I think if they can get anywhere close to what he once was with Drake May, I think it'll be a very big pickup, because this Drake May showed a lot of promise last year and I think one of their biggest deficiencies was not having enough guys to be able to help him make plays in the passing game, and I think getting a guy like Diggs gives them an opportunity, because it's not like this draft is whittled with wide receivers that are absolute bangers, especially early on the first round where they're at at pick four, I believe so, without having that banger guy that you know you're going to pick up, and it just gives you more opportunities to be able to draft the best player possible rather than being a desperate team that has very specific, desperate needs and I just think that it kind of opens up your whole draft so you don't have to necessarily do something out of fear. I think it just gives the Patriots an opportunity to say, hey, if the best player is at such and such spot, we can draft him. If not, it could be at something else. But we don't necessarily have to go in saying we have to pick a wide receiver and even if it's overdrafting him and potentially getting a guy later that might be as good, if not better, later on we're going to take this guy because we'd have another option. I think getting a guy like Diggs gives them a little bit of wiggle room to be able to make some different decisions on draft night that they may not have otherwise if they didn't have a guy of this stature coming in to help.
Speaker 1:Drake May kind of develop having a weapon of that stature on their team, and I think for Diggs it's very good too because he can go to the Patriots be the number one guy. It's not necessarily going to be the exact same type of culture that it once was with Bill Belichick at the helm. Mike Vrabel being the head coach for that team is going to be a little bit close. He is his own person. He's not going to be a Bill Belichick clone, because he's now coaching with the Patriots where he was playing when he was playing under Bill Belichick. So I don't think he's necessarily going to start coaching like a clone like Bill Belichick. He's going to have a little more personality. Any player that's ever played under him has talked about how much of a player's coach he is and how he has his own style.
Speaker 1:As long as you do your work and get things done, he's an amazing coach and I think the idea that they can for Diggs coming from that injury kind of come in, have a very young, capable quarterback to come and play with and you could just be the guy that helps him come into his own definitely a big deal and there's not gonna be any shortage of targets coming his way, because really nobody else for this offense unless they draft somebody, which they probably should. But it just makes it to where they don't have to they're not like forced into a corner to where we have to take a wide receiver here, even if it isn't a good value in comparison to what we can get now and maybe take a guy later. So I just think for all people involved, for digs makes total sense. Coming off injury and all that he gets to be the number one guy, got the patriots getting a number one type of wide receiver to kind of help out drake may, and then it kind of leaves, it opens up some wiggle room for this team to maybe make some different decisions on a draft that they probably wouldn't have made otherwise. And that's about all I get on that.
Speaker 1:I think it's a pretty good contract. It's not necessarily totally guaranteed, but three years $60 million is not necessarily. Was it three years? Let me make sure I have that now. Now I've got to make sure I just had it. Three years, $69 million. With how much guaranteed? $26 million guaranteed. So it's not even that much money that's totally guaranteed to him. I just think it can have up to $69 million stuff with the incentives built into that contract. So, all that being the case, definitely a good deal for everybody involved.
Speaker 1:You just hope that it all works out for everybody, because I think Stephon Diggs is a very good quarterback. I think Drake May. Stephon Diggs is a very good wide receiver and Diggs is a very good quarterback. I think the I think Drake made it. Stefan Diggs is a very good wide receiver and Drake made it a very good quarterback. If they can make it work, should have some fireworks throughout the season.
Speaker 1:Um, let's see here Boom, boom, boom. Oh, dion, dion, shador. So Dion, during this past week, came out and said that he knows where his heart is and he knows where. When it comes to Shador, he knows where his heart is and he knows where Shador wants to go in the draft and that he pretty much says that no matter who drafts him, as long as they're drafting him, I'm happy, team, I'm happy. So I think it is a very good play by a guy of Deion's stature to be able to come out and kind of take his hand off the wheel a little bit, because I think for the most part throughout this whole process, it's not like Deion's been there every step of the way, but it's just he's the guy on the side with a megaphone that as soon as something goes wrong, he's going to be the first person to say something.
Speaker 1:And I think a lot of teams coming into this whole thing, their question is going to be if I'm going to put my butt on the line to draft this guy, shador Sanders to be this quarterback's dad that maybe has the most cachet of any player throughout, like at least right now, when it comes to what he does, especially with him being a college coach. Now, uh, is there anybody that's going to be of his stature? They're going to have the voice that he has to where, like he's the one, probably one of the few players left on this planet that played for the NFL that has the voice that he does. If he talks, owners listen because of how great of a when he talks, fans listen when he talks other players listen, because Dion is that dude in name and in reputation and with what he's done in the league and what he's done in the college level.
Speaker 1:So the idea that Deion has at least kind of bowed out a little bit to kind of give Shador Sanders, his son, the space to be able to go through this process and maybe just let it be, let it be a little bit easier for him, I I do think one one that could mean that they already have an idea of how things are going to go down and they're just kind of letting things kind of play out without necessarily making too big a fuss about it, or they have heard that maybe there are some red flags around Shador Sanders that maybe might make him fall if things don't kind of change, might make him fall if things don't kind of change, and maybe they're just kind of playing a what is what is the? They're playing the pr game and potentially just trying to take away the cloud around shador sanders and what his draft stock is going to be and where he's going to get drafted. I just think maybe they're cooling off a little bit on that to kind of take away any type of question that these teams will have about. Oh, if I draft this guy's son, is he going to be the first person to go on Twitter and or X and talk about me and how bad of a job I'm doing and then potentially get me fired? Those are things you have to worry about, especially with a guy of Deion's stature. When he speaks, people listen, not just fans, not just players and former players, but owners do too, because Deion Sanders is just that type. He was that dude when he was playing and I think he even at this point, even though he's not playing, he's still that dude when it comes to his personality and I think it just makes things a little bit hairy for a GM and a head coach to kind of have to deal with if they draft his son, shador Sanders. That's it on that, let's see.
Speaker 1:Speaking of just a little bit of the draft stuff, abdul Carter is only going to be meeting with the picks in the top four. Abdul Carter is only going to be meeting with the picks in the top four, so that would be with the Tennessee Titans, at two is the Browns, at three is the Giants and at four is the Patriots. So pretty much he has made it very clear that he's only only going to meet with those four teams. I think he's making it very clear that, hey, if I'm not, I I know where I'm going to get drafted. It's probably going to be in these top four or five picks and I'm not going to waste my time with trying to go and meet anybody else if I don't have to.
Speaker 1:And I think if you're a guy in abdul carter's spot, I understand why you would do that, because you're kind of setting up a barrier to entry, because if you end up sliding for whatever reason and you're not one of those teams that's already talked to him, you really are doing it on a whim and you don't know how he's going to react coming to your team, of whether he's going to be a full participant or not, and I just think that I think it's it's a double-edged sword a little bit, because if something does happen and you don't get drafted inside the top four, it makes for a weird scenario. But I do understand why some of the people that are maybe around him are saying, hey, maybe we can just make this even more absolute if we only meet with these top four teams and just kind of alienate you from everybody else and just make it to where, if something does happen beyond you, it is not going to be with just one of these bad teams that are just going to go ahead and just take you anyway, even if without knowing what the problems may arise from it. So I get the whole planning behind that, but I just think things can go a little bit awry and if that's the case, I just think you're messing with your little drafts, you mess with your own draft stock a little bit awry and if that's the case, I just think you're messing with your little drafts, you mess with your own drafts, like a little bit. And again for her no, sorry, not for her, but for him. Abdul Carter it makes total sense. He's that good of a player. Everybody's talking about him being a top four pick, maybe the number one pick overall, if not top three or four. So I just think, with all that just makes a lot of sense why he would do so, even if it has a few risks in its own right and other draft stuff.
Speaker 1:Jackson Dart he's really starting to rise when it comes to draft stock man. It's starting to get a little bit weird. From the get-go. People have talked about how he's a second round pick. He's not really worthy of a first. But if you, if you really want to take him, go ahead and take him in the first round because you want that fifth round, you want the fifth year option for for your quarterback, because, again, that is the quarterback gold. Gold mine is that if you can draft a guy a la jayden daniels, cj Stroud, and then in their first second year they explode and then you have at least two to three more years worth of salary control that you have over that guy and then you can go and build the team up around him. That is where the goldmine is for having a young quarterback in the NFL and I just think that again, those top teams Tennessee's probably taking Cam Ward, and then you have the Cleveland Browns and potentially the Giants potentially going after Shador Sanders. I just think having that young quarterback in the first round, having that fifth-year option as a spot, something you can do, I think that is what opens up a real big window for a team to go and win.
Speaker 1:Once you have your quarterback before you have to pay him, do I think Jackson Hart could be that Maybe? I think the physical tools are there. He has a good arm. He can run a little bit. He's not necessarily the most athletic, but he can run. He can get your first downs. If you're not careful as a defense, if you're not careful of him, I do question his offense a little bit because there's just so much of lane kiffin kind of just again. It's kind of the same argument as what people were talking about for ohio state quarterback and I was battling that forever. But I watch ohio state basketball so closely I mean ohio state football so closely that like I get emotional about talking about that and people having their questions about Justin Fields, cj Stroud and all that. Dwayne Haskins and some of them have had their issues.
Speaker 1:I think CJ, coming out of Ohio State, had the most pro-ready offense that he was running because they just put so much on his play, especially in that second year of him being the starter at Ohio State, that him coming out I was like totally in because I had seen what he had done throughout his career there at Ohio State and what they with the offense, what Ryan Day put on his plate in order to kind of keep that offense going and like they really rely on him, him and I think in comparison, what Lane Kiffin does for Jackson Dart on this, in this offense there is a lot of Lane Kiffin just scheming things open and just saying, hey, as long as you throw it at this time at this spot, they should be good to go. And I think when you have that type of offense going in college and you're coming into the NFL, where guys aren't going to be schemed open as easily and as readily in the NFL as they were in college, so are you going to be able to make that adjustment in the pros where you're going to have to make some decisions. Once you read a defense and what they have done, you're going to have to get off your first read and go to your second read. Are you going to be able to do all that and keep things going and have the confidence to go and make those decisions and make good decisions? That is kind of like the biggest question about a guy like jackson dart and I.
Speaker 1:I have that thought as well, um, which is why when people were talking about potentially the steelers taking him with the 21st overall pick, it makes me a little nervous because I don't think, if you're the steelers when you already messed up a first round pick and Kenny Pickett a few years ago to be your quarterback for the future, ruining that pick again with taking a quarterback in the first round once again, if it doesn't work, I just think it can open a huge Pandora's box into bad things happening, because now those are two years with first round picks. Those are players that could be like very good players to you right now and you used it to use it. Use it on a lottery ticket in a quarterback and it doesn't work out. So I just think there's a lot of things that can go wrong with going quarterback in the first round if they're not already a slam dunk guy, but if the steelers like fall in love with them cool, but it's I hope it works out because I don't think the Steelers can and Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan as a GM can go and make another bad choice to the quarterback position and using a first round pick on that. I just think that can become a huge, huge problem for the future, especially after already messing up on Kenny Pickett and drafting him a few years ago with a first round pick that nobody thought he should have been picked with, even me at the time I was like he's not worth a first-round pick, so can't make that mistake twice so closely together. So I hope the Steelers, if they decide to take Alec Jackson-Dart, they know what they're getting themselves into and they have a plan to make him ready if he's not already ready to be a starter from week one. Hopefully they have a plan to kind of have him progress over the year, if not maybe partially through the year, to then make him the best player he can be, because you can't mess this up again. You just can't Again.
Speaker 1:I'm at the point now where I'd rather them just take a position of need at the 21 spot and maybe take a quarterback later in the third, fourth, fifth round, or maybe if they get a second round pick for george pickens, if they decide to trade him, maybe take a guy, then it's just a um, it's too much of a crapshoot man and taking a guy with that high of a pick in the first round is just, it's a huge dice roll and if it doesn't work out for you, you get snake eyes. It's a problem and I think they already got snake eyes once. Like I said with kenny pickett a few years ago, you just don't want to do that again. And that's it on that, um. Is there anything else I really wanted to talk about?
Speaker 1:There was the whole thing with dion and asante samuel about what is better the t-step, I believe, which, what the technique that asante samuel used when he was playing corner, and then, uh, what Deion Sanders did, which is a little bit more traditional. I don't know, man, and all the fighting is definitely a crazy thing. As of right now, you have those two fighting over what works and who's the better corner, and all that, and you have Asante Samuel saying that he should be one of the top corners of all time and and you have people taking up for Dion saying, hey, you're not even close to that guy. And then you have the whole thing with freaking LeBron James and Stephen A Smith. That was a problem in itself, man, and I'm just like can't everybody just get along With LeBron and Stephen A saying they just keep going on their shows? Lebron earlier in the week went on the Pat McAfee show and talked trash about Stephen A and how bad that was, like how much him and Stephen A don't get along. And then Stephen A goes on his podcast and makes a bunch of claims and then goes on First Take and talks about some things about LeBron and how they don't like each other and how people stab each other in the back and how people stab each other in the back.
Speaker 1:And I'm sitting there like it was entertaining at first and I think with every news that comes out it's going to be entertaining. But it just gets more sad the longer I sit with it, because I'm just like why can't people just go and do their jobs? Why can't people talk about Bronny without LeBron freaking out? Why can't Stephen A take the L of potentially being in a spot where he goes into an NBA game and a player was going to run off on you and have his issue and then you not be able to respond.
Speaker 1:I just don't know, like everybody, just everybody always has a problem and I think it's a lot of negativity going on. And I just think, while you have so many good things, positive things going on, to have that negative, that negative stuff going, it just makes me like I'm just like, oh, I'm like I want to be happy about sports right now and I just think that just so many negative things coming out about all this stuff. So I hope we can get kind of get back to being positive again and again. It's not gonna be totally positive ever because of kind of just how sports are nowadays, but if we just get closer to that, maybe learn just to enjoy some things sometimes and not necessarily have to have a huge deep discussion about everything, would definitely be a help. And I just like you know I don't necessarily go too deep in any of that, but it's just something I didn't notice throughout the week, because there's just a lot of players and media members just kind of beefing over anything and you have old heads in Dion and Asante, samuel, kind of bumping heads about stuff. I'm just like dude man, why can't we just get along? Why can't we just get along? And that's about it. I think I've rambled on long enough. Was there anything else? Talk about the NFL. Talk about the NBA. Talk about the men's basketball stuff. Talk about the Steel. Talk about the men's basketball stuff. Talked about the Steelers. I talked about that. Bentley Carter Talked about Dion and Shador. That's about it Again.
Speaker 1:We're getting closer and closer to the draft. We're going to have more mock drafts coming out. Maybe we'll reply to those. We'll definitely get Jace back on the podcast here soon, if not next podcast, the podcast after that. We'll definitely get Jace back on the podcast here soon, if not next podcast, the podcast. After that We'll just have a lot of stuff to talk about. I think heck, me and Jace have to do our own mock draft. I think we did that last year. We should do that again this year. There's going to be plenty of stuff to talk about. We'll get Jace back so we can have more of the back and forth nature of what me and Jace kind of do on this podcast. That makes it special, at least in my, me and Jace's opinion, and hopefully anybody else that listens to this podcast can consistently, can hopefully, appreciate. So, with all that being the case. I guess that's about. That's about it.
Speaker 1:So if you've been listening for a while, we appreciate you. If you're just now joining on and you managed to listen to this whole podcast with just me kind of rambling on, I would definitely appreciate you for that. It's not as long as usual, though, only about an hour 15. Usually I'm sitting here like an hour hour and a half hour 45, so definitely a plus that I haven't really gone on. It's probably as long as I probably used to. So listen for a while we appreciate you.
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