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REAL TALK! with Doc and Marlon
NFL Draft Winners & Losers w/ Shaka in Atl & Jon P
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We argue our way through a surprise-filled NFL Draft, from teams that nailed value to teams that lit a premium pick on fire. The draft talk turns into bold win-total calls, then we switch gears into Georgia vs Texas and an NBA playoffs debate about injuries, toughness, and who looks built for June.
• big-picture NFL Draft winners and losers across Round 1 and beyond
• why the Rams taking Ty Simpson at 13 feels unjustifiable
• Dallas landing Caleb Downs and what it changes
• Giants roster building questions and edge rusher redundancy
• Falcons additions like Avion Terrell, Zachariah Branch and Harold Perkins
• Saints draft praise and why it worries NFC South fans
• Chargers focus on offensive line depth to protect Herbert
• late-round steals and why this class feels deep
• quarterback draft capital shifting and why teams hesitate early
• George Pickens contract talk and the Cowboys negotiation drama
• early win-loss predictions and division picks after the draft
• Georgia vs Texas Week 1 argument and what swings it
• NBA first-round reactions plus Boston and OKC as favorites
• injuries, load management and why the playoffs feel different
• Hawks vs Knicks thoughts and a reality check on the Lakers
• closing moment with a personal tribute to John’s late father
Welcome And Guest Introductions
SPEAKER_00And welcome everybody to another episode of Real Talk. Doc, you doing all right today?
SPEAKER_02Yes, sir. I'm sure I'm in a great mood, man. We got two special guests going on. Let's do it. Do the intro.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. So John joins us. Uh he is back, and we have a new guest. Shaka uh in Atlanta joins us. He's a huge uh Falcons fan, obviously, and Georgia Bulldogs fan as well. So and a Hawks fan. He's he's talking about uh earlier how he's not looking forward to talking a little basketball, but uh we'll go ahead and try to get this uh giraffe talk in here. But what's up, Shaka? How you doing, man?
SPEAKER_04I'm good, man. I'm always I'm all hey Hawks might be getting ran through right now, but I'm still flying hot, baby. Uh uh.
SPEAKER_02Well bless both of y'all for joining us, man. This is good stuff. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00You doing all right, John? You doing all right, John? Yes, I am. I'm doing excellent.
First-Round Chaos And Early Winners
SPEAKER_02I'm doing fine. Yes, sir. Let's do it. Okay. Yeah. Just talking to Jim. NFL draft. All right.
SPEAKER_00So, Doc, we'll go ahead and start with you on this one. Uh, so we obviously had the draft. We had some uh draft episodes prior, and we we know we know Mendoza was gonna go first, but there was a lot of movement in the first round, some trades here and there. So, what were your thoughts overall uh on the draft? And if you want, you could just go ahead and give us your biggest winner uh if you want, or or winners of the draft. Go ahead, Doc.
Rams Pick Sparks Instant Backlash
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, you know, uh the draft is my baby, gentlemen. I love her, you know. I had about 10, 15 heads over on that Thursday night, the first round. It was a great draft in my mind. Uh, a lot of things went unexpected, Shocker and John. I think it started off with the Arizona Cardinals when they picked the running back out of Notre Dame, Jeremiah Love, you know, because they already signed Kyler Algiers, who was the back of the B. John Robinson in Atlanta. And then everything else was uh, you know, Helter Skelter, you know. Uh I feel like uh the New York Jets, you know, selecting uh, you know, Arv Reese, and then coming back in the middle of the draft to get the big tight end, Kenya Sadiq, and then they finish off the draft, picking Omar Cooper. I think they get an A plus, despite who the quarterback is, Geno Smith, who was wretched last year in Oak in Las Vegas. I think this is a big move for the coach, you know, up there Aaron Glenn in New York. I think the New York Giants, when they selected um their guy, uh oh shoot, they selected the big tackle out of Miami, but they started out. Yeah, and then I think that's gonna do good. They got two number ones. The other one escaped me, you know, it was a high, the fifth pick, and I should know that. But I think the Giants, what they did is gonna protect uh uh you oh, they uh it's one of those things where Jackson Dart has nothing to worry about relative to the defense and offense, go with Kenya, Gabon Thibodeau, and uh, you know, on the other side, Brian Burns. Now, that being said, I give them an A. And then, of course, Dallas. I think Dallas Cowboys did good. You know, they picked up Caleb Downs, who I think is the best pure football player in this draft, to orchestrate that defense and the freshman All-American, three-time, two-time consistency all-American at Ohio State. And it's one of those things where they came back and got the edge rusher, Malachi out of UCF, who led the nation and sacks. I think the Raiders did good, you know. The quarterback, of course, but they picked up Mike Washington to go with the incoming uh running back. The kid out of Arkansas ran a 4-3-3, you know, and then thunder and lightning, if you will, with what they already got in the backfield. And of course, they got Brock Bowles and all that. And then they picked up the corner, Germond, uh Germard uh McCoy out of Tennessee. And John, I tell you, man, it's one of those things, and Shocker, I think a lot of teams helped him. But out here in Los Angeles, we're still scratching our head of why they picked Ty Simpson at number 13. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, it's one of those things. I had to give them an F, man, because they really ready to win the fold now. And if they don't make the Super Bowl, you're gonna look back at this 13 pick and why you let Makai Lemon fall by the wayside, local city, local star, USD, and all that. Um the Falcon, the Falcons, I I love the pick of uh Avion Terrell, John and Shaka at the corner. We got Bowman coming back at the corner uh to go with AJ Terrell, and we got the safety Xavier Watts, as long as our other guy, R-Pro. So, you know, and then we came out and got the um Zachariah branch out of Georgia, you know. I think he's doing playmaker. Third, third, uh, third receiver to go with Drake London and uh uh Dotson we got from the Eagles. He's gonna be our special teams demon, which was a sore point last year, and Shocker knows this. And then we ended the draft picking Harold Perkins, the linebacker, hybrid. You know, we had a 4-3-8 of the pro day, but everybody remembers awesome freshman year. We're freshly all-American, you know, at LSU. I like what the Chargers did with their edge rusher, you know. Um Mesador, Akeem Mesador out of uh out of uh Miami, Tampa Bay, Reuben Bain. So I'm rambling on, man. I'm gonna want you to get your dialogue of what you thought. A lot of teams helped himself. And we gotta put the Cleveland Browns in here, too. You know, they trapped it with uh the receivers and and did what they did with the linemen and playing quarter. Yeah, kept them in Ohio. So go ahead. Uh I want you guys to weigh in.
SPEAKER_04Go ahead, Shaka. Go ahead, Donna.
SPEAKER_01I want to hear what you got, man. Go ahead, brother. Oh, there it is. I really I really thought, uh in my opinion, I mean, I know I'm getting a little hull. I'm a Cowboys fan, as you know, so I I gotta I thought that the Giants I really thought the Giants made a huge mistake letting Dallas get letting Dallas get Caleb Downs. I mean, I understand you want to get your your guy, your left tackle. They they've put a lot of money into that line already, but you don't have a really solid secondary in New York, right? So you have the best defensive back in the draft sitting there. You're you're right there. He's the guy who shut down your best offensive player in college. I mean, I'm not sure if you saw Malik Malik Neighbors uh talking about he said that he's got he said he said Caleb Down, he's not a he's not a man, he's a thing. He said he's a thing that keeps you up at night because you can't catch the ball when you're around him. He's frustrated that this guy is gonna have to play him twice a year for the rest of his career if he's a giant. Why do you let him slip knowing Dallas is right there? That's right. That I don't understand. That I don't understand. Um the the Ty Simpson pick for the Rams, I I'm not only bewildered by that, Sean McVeigh said he had no say in it. And that to me is the wildest thing I've ever heard. That the first round draft pick, he said he didn't know. I've never seen Philemon again. That to me is the is I'm still kind of blown away by that, that you would take the quarterback because a quarterback is a franchise position. In my opinion, the way you look at the draft is you take the best player available, and the top 15 players are generally going to be all pro to you know career players of your franchise. Those are those are elite athletes you take. So you use the guy who has a third-round rating, almost everyone. He's not even considered the best quarterback of the quarterbacks that were above him. They're white guys way back, and you take him at 13th overall. I I don't get why you don't trade back and take that same pick. Ty Simpson will be there at pick 29. I I don't understand why you do that. So uh the the real big I think they were the biggest, in my opinion, the Rams were the biggest loser in the first round. And I don't think it's I think it's hard to grade everything by by every round to say, like, okay, the entire draft, but the Rams lost the first round by wasting that pick. And then I think the Giants, Arvell Reese is great, great talent, but you spent so much draft capital, including the second overall pick on uh dual carter last year at Edge. You have Thibodeau, who was a top five draft pick. You you traded for Brian Burns. You put you put all this stock into the edge rushers. What where do you put them all? You can't retain all of them. You can't keep all of them. Now you can figure out what to do with them. I think that's a dumb move. I think I think that's a dumb move. That's just me. And I'm a Cowboys fan. I love it. I love dumb move for the job. Uh the Cowboys, the Cowboys also made a they used two fifth-round picks to move up from pick 12 to pick 11. Then you then gained two fourth round picks from the Eagles to move back from 23 to from 20 to 23. And the Eagles took Mikhail Lemon to uh Mikhail Lemon, who people were saying, oh, you know, he's gonna be a destroyer or whatever. I think that's a brilliant move. You gained two more picks, which they then turned into who uh was it LT Overton from Alabama? Yeah, I believe uh forgot the F. I forgot the uh forgot who they and they turned into um uh Sense Singh Stewson from uh Penn State, left tackle, but they turned two picks that weren't that they weren't gonna have, and they made them into guys that will potentially be rotation players in their defense. That's great movement. Uh what he said about Malachi Lawrence, the other thing that about him is the the Cowboys defensive line coach is the defensive line coach from UCF. He picked him, he wanted his guy. So they didn't get someone, like a lot of people are saying it's a reach. He wants his guy. He wants the guy he recruited. He knows what he's about, he knows he wants him there. I think that's a win. But so says me, and I'm not gonna take it all off of shock. I think you should yet go. So I didn't want to get sure you tell me.
SPEAKER_03Oh man, we got plenty of time, brothers. I so I I'll break the trap down in in uh terms of first round and then um I'll get to some personal stuff. But yeah, going to the first round, I think the Giants picking um, you know, first of all, the the Giants getting Arthur Reese in the house safe. That guy is a dude. He's a dude. Okay, and and then they pick the tackle which they wanted. I think that's really Harbaugh just putting his stamp on the draft, on his very first draft, as the Giants head coach saying, This is my my show, my way. And that's what that's what he did. Um, but I've been saying this for a minute. So, John, like I was talking about this before I knew this was even gonna happen. Uh I think I think the Cowboys are gonna make some noise this year. I I believe in the Cowboys as a playoff team in 2026. And then getting Caleb Downs. Caleb Downs is a generational type talent. Um I I really feel strongly about that. The other guy in the first round, who I think is also a generational talent, and may put on a gold jacket, is Sonny Styles. Line Bang. Yeah. Sonny Styles, I mean, it's not it's not just because what he did at the combine. Sonny Styles, if you watch him play, he does all that like he's like he's just getting up out of bed in the morning. You know what I mean? It's like he's it's it's like he does all this stuff rolling off the back of his hand. He just fashioned.
SPEAKER_01Do you think that he was more do you think he's a more versatile player than Arvell Reese? Because that was kind of my complaint of them taking Arvell Reese while Sonny Styles was still there, was that you could use Sonny Styles as an interior linebacker, but Rivel Reese doesn't really play that. He's more of an edge. So I I just wanted to wasn't sure if you wanted to uh if you had an opinion on that.
SPEAKER_03It all depends on how see it depends on how they run that defense. Like it's uh each team, each each coach has their own fit. Like I first thought you can't go wrong with Arvell Reese or Sonny Styles, but it just all depends. I think Washington basically went by what you said. They're gonna play take the best player available, which is obviously Sonny Styles at number seven. Arvell Reese may have been, I mean the Giants, I I know they did their homework. This they want to get off to a good start. You know, so I'm not gonna, and only time will tell. But regarding the Falcons and God knows this about me, like I'm looking at my I'm looking at my mortal enemies, which are the Aints, and there's nothing worse, there's nothing worse than my mortal enemy taking one of my own. They they dipped him not once, but twice. They went Christian Miller and they got Oscar Dell, both of whom Georgia Bulldogs that I love, which are uh you know, to the court, and they went and got him, and I know those are good players. And then to boot, they got Jordan Tyson at number eight, the receiver from Arizona State. I watched that dude. That guy, he's top two receiver in this draft. Okay, he was located in Dallas. Yeah, man, Jordan Tyson is that thing, man. I watched that. I wasn't I wasn't planning. Like I lived in Scottsdale, I lived in uh Arizona for a little bit. So I pay attention to Arizona State football every now and again. I watched two games. Jordan Tyson dominated, and I don't like that. I don't like that being a topic. But as far as my birds, like like Doc said, Zachari Branch, that's that was music to my soul, man. That's music to my soul. And then you turn around, like Doc said, you get Harold Perkins, which is talent in the late rounds for nothing. A guy who used to be thought of as might have been top three pick in the draft when he was ready. And of course things fell off, but then you get the linebacker out of Oklahoma, who's who's a thumper. Okay. He's a thumper. You get him, and you pair that up with your second round pick and uh AJ Terrell's brother, Aaron Terrell. I'm happy, man. I give the draft for the fact that a B. I give it a solid B, and I'm happy with what we got. But overall, the draft, there was just a lot of talent to be had, even in those late rounds. You guys saw it. There was talent all over the place to be had in the late rounds.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I think they're gonna go ahead, John. I'm sorry. I was just wondering, did anyone have an opinion on the uh Eagles using a seventh round pick on uh Uar Bernard, the Nigerian guy who's never played football before? Um I thought the they drafted a player that has never played organized football.
Chargers Plan Built Around The Line
SPEAKER_02And yeah, yeah, tremendous athlete, tremendous athlete. Your question, yeah, I have no problem with that whatsoever. You know, seventh round, you get excellent value if he turned pans out. I have no problem with that. The Nigerian kid. And Marlon, this kid is an athlete, man. And uh it's one of those things where with their coaching staff, it's a project for two or three years, seventh round. So that's your question, John. I don't have a problem with this. There's your division. Now, your NFC East, as you broken down, has some people. And by the way, let me make an adjustment here. I made a mistake. You know, Ries went to the Giants, and David Bailey, a pure pet edge rusher, went to the Jets. So that's my bad. That's my bad. So yeah, but uh the NC South, John and Marlon, as uh my man, I love soccer. He knows the Saints, I gotta get a safe an A, even an A plus for what they did throughout the draft, not just the first round. Tyler Shuffles, and we slept the Saints last year, but then to pick up Jordan Tyson, who I saw out here in the West Coast, and come out with Georgia Bulldogs and Christian Miller, an excellent nose tackle, and Oscar Delp, the leading guy, that hurts. And then they picked up a running back, too. You know, so they kept Carolina, John and the NFC South. They picked up Monroe Freeling at the giant tackle, 6'7, 320 from Georgia. Yeah, yeah. And it's one of those things where Tampa Payne got Reuben Bain, so the defensions did good. And Marlon, I want you to weigh in on your charges because I'm a team, Exodor. Yes, go ahead. What you got on your charges, baby?
SPEAKER_00I uh I think the tough part is um you you know the the clear talent that he has, but of course you look at his age and you're like, yeah, well, you know, he's 25, he just turned 25 for one. Um, but also to how many 20, 21-year-olds got drafted that just didn't find out because they probably weren't ready. So uh is this a man playing against boys? Possibly, but he should be able to be ready for the best available player uh at that time. So we had to go for uh and of course we know we needed we only have five points going into the draft. And then we need to make some choice right a few points or therefore and we need um uh uh seven uh seven or eight points, I believe. So we we did some mixed and noise there. Uh and then we got five offensive linemen, which we know that was one of our biggest downfalls as far as alignment death. You know, we got uh uh I guess a combo center guard in the second round, which is what we needed. Um and then the fastest we're still gonna draw Brendan Thompson uh out of the sixteen. So I mean he's gonna be uh this was a Mike McDaniel call because we have Harvard Kill, obviously, so we want a speedster on the team, which I'm all for. They gotta do the wizard and messed up with Harvard. I'm hoping they can make some magic. Um, but yeah, I mean that that's just the O line was the biggest thing that we needed to start enough with. Uh and then of course we got uh you know D tackle, uh and of course uh methodorf. I'm happy with what we did. Um I know you were talking about the Raider doc. I know that they they had a pretty decent draft as well, but um, yeah, I'm I'm hoping that we can at least full through if let's give Herbert more than three seconds, well really a second and a half to throw the ball. So if we can find a way to get our O-line set and solid, and if a guy or two goes down, we have decent backups to fill in and not the worst PFF-ranked guys that are out there. Uh we should be competitive, and we're definitely going to try to make a run uh deep in the playoffs and not lose first round like we've been doing.
SPEAKER_02Well, gentlemen, let me just say this about the AFC West. Um, I love what the Chiefs did with getting Mansur to uh Delaney, the top cornerback out of LSU because they traded both their corners to the Rams. And I just love that. Not a Chiefs fan, but you got to play against this fool twice a year, man. I'm telling you, the Chargers better bring it, man. And uh I love Lav McConkin the 30 out of Georgia, but the Chiefs helped themselves. I'm not privy what Denver did. Denver is another team that disappointed me in the draft, you know. I know they didn't have a number one, but they could have they could have did much better than they did. And um, you know, and and MC West, the 49ers, they traded out of the first round, knowing that they needed some top flight. They could have had Omar Cooper out there and again they traded out. So I don't know what the hell is going on at uh with with Lynch and the kids who were the 49ers, you know, and the XK.
SPEAKER_01They also sent in the wrong pick by accident. The second round pick was accidentally drafted. That's the other thing about the problem. They accidentally drafted their second-round pick. It was a mistake. They said they gave the wrong name. That was their first their first pick in the draft. They gave the wrong name. It was completely disorder, complete disorganization, in my opinion. But also, just to throw this in there, I also just want to realize uh the Panthers. You guys are gonna see him. Uh Will Lee the second, the Willie the third, the fourth round pick for the Panthers. That kid is a doll. Like he is he is a lock-up, lock-up corner. He is a he is a problem. Like, he's just annoying. He's a he's a player that kind of sticks around. He'll knock a ball, bat it down on third down. Not really a big interception guy, but he just sticks to a receiver's hip and just makes it really annoying. And he can pick the ball off, but he just does in college, you didn't a lot. But with JC Horn, all the guys, that's a that's a that's a tough secondary now. Yeah, yeah. What school did he go to, Johnny? Uh AM, Texas AM.
SPEAKER_02AM, okay. Yeah, yeah. And uh, you know, you you're your guy, your guy out of Texas Tech. You down there in Texas. I like this linebacker, uh Rodriguez.
SPEAKER_01You know, where did he end up? He ended up in Miami, took him in the second round. I actually was really hoping the Cowboys would get him because a lot of Red Raiders went in the second round. That's who um the Panthers took as well. They took Lee Hunter from um, they took Lee Hunter, a defensive tackle from uh uh Texas Tech. And he was on that same line with David Bailey. He's a good great technique. He's a big boy, but he's fast, man. He just he get he creates he gets a gap, he gets in the gap because creates pressure up the middle. He's he's uh he's a he's a problem at times. Well, I tell you, gentlemen, yeah, go ahead, Shaka. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_03No, I I thought the sixth round had a lot of stuff going on, man. It was just a lot of pop and sizzle. Uh, you know, um to to go back to Marlon's Chargers over there. They took old Twinkletoes. Uh one of my good friends with the Chargers coach was telling me about Alex Harkey, uh, the guard out of Oregon. Well, he's a tackle, he's moving the guard, but they he said he had some of the best feet from a lineman that he's ever seen. So I I was thinking about you, Marlin, when I was talking about it. And he went in the sixth round. We got um Harold Perkins in the sixth round to the Falcons. Um, let's see, another big name with the Penn State running back winning sixth round, sixth round. Um I think.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, singleton single singleton. Yeah, Nate Singleton. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03There was just a lot of late round like fireworks going on, and that made the draft watchable, you know? Like I had three, two, three screens going, man. There's just so much talent and so much flexibility with these players. They can do so many things, and they're smart now. They're they're able to move well. It's just like the NFL just keeps getting better, man. I don't know how they do it.
Quarterbacks Slide And Draft Trends
SPEAKER_02But that leads me to my next point. Oh, go ahead, John. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_01I just think we also have to notice a trend in the NFL. Other than Jeremiah Love, um, not too many running backs taken in the top and first two rounds. Last year, we saw only two quarterbacks taken in the first round. For some reason, Ty Simpson went, and we'll call him a irregularity. But you have from pick one to pick 13, next quarterback wasn't taken to 60 to 65. Then 76 was uh Drew uh Drew Alar taken by the um by the Pittsburgh Steelers. And then the next pick isn't taken again till Cave uh Club did by the Jets. But you have all these quarterbacks that were given essentially a uh first spot or first round grade. They're traditionally given a high round grade, and then they ended up in the draft. We have most of the quarterbacks taken after the fourth round. We have three quarterbacks taken in the seventh round, two in the fifth and one in the sixth. That's that's a lot of that's I mean, the the capital for quarterbacks is becoming such a premium position that people don't want to risk taking a quarterback in the first round because most of them don't pan out. That's what I mean.
SPEAKER_02And K Club, they got a Clemson, Drew Allen. Well, I think the Steelers had a D minus draft. They needed a receiver and they drafted a tackle, uh project.
SPEAKER_01The Steelers had the most draft picks, had the most picks in this draft with 12 picks. And I think they squandered it. I I really think I really think they squandered their picks. They they really didn't do much with them. They could have used those picks to move up, move into the first round, move around. They did nothing with it. And I I don't understand that. I still don't understand at all.
SPEAKER_02Well, me either. And and John and Shaka, I think uh while Cooper would have been an excellent uh complement to DK Metcalf and Pittsburgh, but they drafted the project tackle. And John, you mentioned running back and shocked, I know you'll agree. The backup that Jeremiah Love went to Seattle, which was a nice pick because Charbonnet is going to be out for at least the first two months, if not more. And they picked up to averaged seven yards to carry. Yeah. And Walker in Kansas City yesterday. So nice pick by Seattle, the world champs, you know, and uh it's just one of those things where Pittsburgh, the Rams, the 49ers, you know, Seattle's gonna win that division again and possibly go to the bowl based on the Rams. And and and, you know, they could have drafted a tackle. I'm telling you, they're killing the Rams out here on local radio here in LA, fellas. And I'm enjoying every bit of it. They could have gone tackle late, maybe uh the kid out of Alabama Propter to protect Staffish back or receive it like Omar Cooper for uh forgive him a kind of limit, you know. I don't know, man.
George Pickens Deal And Cowboys Drama
SPEAKER_01Um but I guess all of it the uh fifth round pick. The Cowboys traded their fifth round pick for uh D winners on the 49ers, the linebacker. So they took the uh he was Fred Warner's replacement last year. He started off 17 games, he had 101 tackles. Cowboys got him for a fifth-round pick. I I think that's again, you're not gonna get more better than that out of the draft. So they just took it, they just traded him. Oh well. We got George Pickens for a third last year, and they got D Winners for a fifth this year. I I'll call that a win.
SPEAKER_02The Pickens thing bothers me because I think the organization down here, he's an ex-Georg player too. Shocker knows this. They could have given him a long-term contract. Are you in any way, shape, or concerned about his character or his long-term prospects with uh Gallus? I mean, 24 million for one year ain't no joke, or 27 or whatever the things may be. What's your take on George Pickens, not getting turned signed for a long-term bill, John? Your call.
SPEAKER_01I understand why it's happening, because it's it's and Jerry Jones has been in this situation multiple times where he signed someone and they didn't pan out because they had one good season. So he's kind of on the thing of, yes, you had one good season, but in comparison, if you throw like CeeDee Lamb, CeeDee Lamb has had six seasons in the NFL. Five of those seasons, he's had over a thousand yards. George Pickens had one season over a thousand yards. So me throwing money at a guy who had one good year, I don't know if he's gonna have that year continually. I think what Jerry Jones is actually doing is a little bit petty. He's mad at his agent. And he said that if he didn't have an agent, he said he could probably make himself a lot of money right now. He's the same agent Michael Parsons had, he's the same agent, so he's he's going back and forth with him. He's nickel and diamond because he realizes that no team called to trade George Pickens during the draft. Because no one called, there's lower interest in him. And he's like, if there's lower interest in you, I don't have to pay you as much right now. It's it's is it business? I get it, it's part of the game. But in my opinion, you're playing a little bit too long with the team. You need to get him in camp. You need to get everybody on the same, on the same, on the same page. Even if you signed him to a short-term extension, hey, we'll do a two-year extension right now. If you want to do that, don't have to do a four-year. Let's do a two-year extension renegotiate in two years. Fine. But if you can't, you have to figure out something to do to get him in camp. I think it's a I don't think it's a mistake. I think at the end of the day, George Pickens will play for the Cowboys this season. I just think there's going to be a long bit of drama kind of going around the media before this happens. Because there's a whole Adam Sheffer thing today where Adam Sheffer said he was demanding a trade, and then George Pickens came out and said, I never said I wanted to trade. I want to play I want to stay in Dallas. Well, now it's creating drama because now he doesn't want to trade. And so it's it's it's it's headlines, it's what Jerry Jones loves. But to me, that that team needs to lock in, get everybody synced in together, and get ready to go.
SPEAKER_00Uh what?
SPEAKER_01Well, I tell you, man, I love this dialogue. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Shaka, you got something? Go ahead, brother.
SPEAKER_00Okay, yeah, go ahead, Shaka.
SPEAKER_03I don't have anything else to I'll I'll put my cap on like just as far as George Pickett is concerned. I mean, that's still a lot of money. He he I'm sure he's okay with performing, you know? Yeah. Yeah, he's not the dude that's scared to perform, and then he'll be like, okay, I'll get my money anyway. Sort of like what Kirk Cousins does every doggone year. That man gets I mean, Kirk, his his uh agent. I mean, good gracious, man. Yeah, yeah, we all made him.
Win Totals And Division Predictions
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exercise right here, Marlon. Real quick, I want to ask each of you based on the draft. You know, I got the Jets, Giants, Cowboys, Raiders, and Saints. Uh made A and A plus the Cardinals, Falcons, Buccaneers, Dolphins, and the Panthers gotta be. And you already know about my 49ers in Pittsburgh dialogue, man, and Denver. But I gotta ask each of you, including you, Marlon, right now, I know it's silly, your win, your win-loss record based on the draft. I'll start. I got the Falcons winning 11 games. Shocker, you you're up. What you got the Falcons? You like the draft? Let's go. And then after you join.
SPEAKER_03I like to draft, Doc. Uh my my questions are at QV, of course. And um, you know, I'm happy to hear Penix being excited and all that, but I still got questions, man. I can't give him 11 games. I gotta, I'll, I'll go. Oh boy. I I gotta give him 10 or nine games, man. I I got I believe the Falcons are gonna have to, if we get to 10 or 11, we're gonna have to pull some out the sea. It's gonna be total Bijon pulling it out to see in his pants.
SPEAKER_02I'm writing this down.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think it's it's the NFC South is gonna be tough, man. It's gonna be tough. And I honestly, I think the NFC East is really strong. And I I kind of but just my stance on the NFC West, I I know that you think the the 49ers and Rams have bad drafts, but I think those guys, I actually think the winner of the West is gonna be the Rams or the 49ers. I think one of those guys are gonna, it's hard to repeat. It's very hard to repeat. Especially when you're in a you're in like a uh war zone, which is the NC West. And I don't think that's right. We you you and I both know Kyle Shanahan very well. I don't think for one second he's you know taking this line down what happened last year with all the injuries. I I just think this 49 is gonna show up, man.
SPEAKER_02All right, that's good. John, you're up, balance, win lost. Go.
SPEAKER_01Win lost. I'm gonna go 12 wins. Or 12 and 5. Uh I think that's real. I think that I think that's realistic. I I have still argued this many times. I think top to bottom, the NFC, you have a tougher schedule getting out of the NFC than you do in the AFC. I think they're better off the wide receivers in the NFC are better. You have more elite receivers in the NFC. I think the NFC is a doghouse. It's hard to get out of the NFC. The AFC is top heavy. The teams are all good. Those teams pretty much kept their ranking. No one didn't do such a great draft that they're gonna change anything. The Jets got a bunch of young players, they're not gonna change anything. It's gonna be life changing, life altering this draft. Maybe the Raiders do. Maybe the Raiders do. Maybe they moved out of that. But they're gonna the competition level is getting so thick, as you said in the in the in the NFC East, that a team that was fourth last year for fifth last year could also finish first. And a team right now in the AFC South, there was so much parity last year, you're about to see those teams maybe one or two pull ahead of the rest. I don't know. I I personally, and I don't mean this because I know you buy as well, content, I took Carolina to win the South this year. I just think they're they're they're they're they're a more dynamic team and they can control the ball on one on both sides of the ball. I think Seattle made a huge mistake in not replenishing themselves a running back, either in free agency or in the draft, because they won those games not on their quarterback, but on the running the ball and ball control. And not having the ability to do that going forward, I don't know if they win the same number of games. Who knows? We'll see.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'm gonna interrupt you. If they did draft that back up to Jeremiah Love, and he was averaged 7.6 yards to carry, and they got him at pick number 32. But go ahead. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Oh, absolutely. I mean, I just don't think that's enough. I'm being honest. I just with Charbonnet being gone, I don't think you can go into a draft going out and say we lost our leading rusher or we lost, we lost Walker, our leading rusher is down, and now we're gonna defend on a rookie to hold us until our guy comes back. I don't know. They they won that with the Thunder and Lightning style running game, just grinding teams down. I don't know if they can play that style of football early in the season. Maybe they can get it late when he comes back, but I don't know if they can play that same style. And the way their division is shaped, they might be so far out of the playoffs or out of that standing by the time that happens, it doesn't matter. And like you said, repeating is hard. But now people have 17 games of footage on what you do well. So I I think I'm gonna go with the Rams in the West, uh, Rams in the West, Cowboys in the East, and the North, I'm gonna put a pull a little bit of a shocker. I'm gonna go with the Vikings. Wow. And I'm gonna go I'm gonna go. I think Brian Flores, his defense was solid. Kyler Murray, while he makes a lot of mistakes, Kyler Murray can hold that down with that defense. I think I think that they win the north, and that that's just my pick there. And then when the NFC works, we got socky for 10 more minutes.
SPEAKER_00We got socking for 10 more minutes, John. Go ahead. Go ahead, finish up.
SPEAKER_01I think I think K think KFC ta KC KC takes it. The South, I'll take the Colts. Um, I'll take the uh the Colts. NFC North, I'll take the I'll take the uh Bills, I'll take the Bills, and I mean uh NFC East, I'll take the Bills, and I'll take the uh Ravens of the North.
SPEAKER_02All right, that's a good dialogue there, John. Why are you up there? I know we've been rambling. How many wins the charges going? Based off the draft, your call right now, putting you on the spot. Way too early, but let's do it.
Georgia Vs Texas Week One Debate
SPEAKER_00Yeah, wait, wait, wait too early. But 10 wins, um, I think it's gonna be a tough division. Obviously, the Raiders have uh the Raiders they're only gonna be bad for so long. They're mostly gonna at least uh be halfway decent. Um the the chief when you look at what they're um drafted four defensive players and the and they're four for so obviously they know where it's on the defense, and the Hall is gonna do whatever we can do to come back already to go for and then the Broncos of the Broncos. So it's gonna be a tough defense. I would love to say, yeah, we're gonna win you know 12 ones or 13 buttons it's it'll be a tough defense, but that's that's that's more often, but yeah, we'll wait early. We'll we'll see how everything plays out this time. So we'll see if we can for on the mindset of 15 and 11. I don't want to start one of that, but I would of course get younger four and faster, and with all those things getting older and a little bit slower. We still have we have some other players that can get some playing talk to as well that can make some noise. So uh that is uh that's my prediction on the charter. So um now we do have uh we'll have you for about a couple more minutes, Chaka. Um get a little Georgia football talk in here. And I'm I'm stirring the pot a little bit. But if Georgia plays Texas week one, who wins that game? Go ahead, Chaka.
SPEAKER_04Oh, come on, man. Come on now.
SPEAKER_03You know who wins that game. You know who wins that game. It's yeah, look, the the dog, so everybody likes to point out how Bama has our number, even that though that's not the case. We destroyed it in the um, you know, but but Georgia really owns Texas at this point. And it's it's it's it's a boogeyman for Texas. And until they until they beat Georgia, I don't care if it's in Austin, in Athens or neutral site, until it happens, I'm going with the dogs. Dogs on time. Why? Because we have, first of all, if you look at the players that we have returning, Georgia should be one of the odds on favorites. I mean, we should be all on our favorite to win it all with what we have coming back. But as far as the SEC is concerned, we definitely um have like we have the starting quarterback, we have something like seven, eight starting returning um defensive players. It it's gonna be ugly, man. We got we we we got uh and then obviously um stock uh gunner or gunner stockman, he's coming back for for another campaign. We're deep, with Tarrington, Texas, they they're not ready for what the dogs have coming back this year, man. Kirby's on the warpath.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he is, and we got some receivers that were last year. And John, I know you want to talk about you know, Manning, you know, your boy standing there. Expectations is gonna be on him. The big time expectations, you know, and and you have a solid recruiting year. But uh, what do you guys think? I know you want to get some NBA in here. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00No, go go ahead, go ahead and respond, John, on that one. John, you there?
SPEAKER_03Johnny.
SPEAKER_02You there, John?
SPEAKER_01I think we lost John. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry, I had out of breath. Uh Cam Coleman transferred from uh from Tech from Auburn to Texas. Uh one big issue they had last year was that uh Arch Manning didn't have any receivers. All of his receivers left in the draft. They were all gone. Everyone that he had the previous year, he had a bunch of freshmen running around. The the the the water the um the uh transfer wire for the Texas is just pretty deep. But that defense is still the same. I don't know if that game, I'm not saying they'll beat Georgia because Georgia, if you play in Athens, Georgia, Georgia's winning. They play in Austin, I think Texas wins that. That's a hard place to play. But that the offense is going to be very different this year opposed to last year. Again, one more year of experience with Arsh Manning. That's a little bit different. They figured out what he does. It's a different game. But I'll I'll I'll digress from that.
SPEAKER_02Okay, we got plenty of time for that dialogue going on. Absolutely.
NBA Playoffs Picks And Rising Stars
SPEAKER_01That's right. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00So, Shaka, I know Shaka, I know you gotta jump in about four minutes, but what are your thoughts so far uh on the NBA playoffs uh uh as a whole in this first round? What are your thoughts on everything?
SPEAKER_03Well, I mean, I'll I'll tell you what, like it shocks me that Detroit was not able to muster. I don't I didn't like watching those games. Uh I don't think there was a lot of like Detroit, Orlando just it it didn't look like, you know, like when you watch, I'm watching my Hawks now against the Knicks. Even though the Knicks are thoroughly dominating the Hawks, the series as a whole has been pretty entertaining. Right? Orlando, I mean, they just bollywalked Detroit and it's they're gonna just take care of business on uh Thursday or whatever. Um that surprised me. I think the the the Timberwolves and um you know Denver, that's been pretty entertaining. But it's had all those injuries, which you hate. You know what I mean? Even um Joker was was banged up going in. So you just hate to see all these injuries, but I I think um to me what what I see lining up is I think Boston is gonna win the East, and then I think it's OKC it's it's bears to lose in the West, man. And my final statement is uh Rembiana is gonna he's gonna be the next face of this league. He's gonna be the next face of the league. We all see it. You know what I mean? When Yana is to see him play um in the in the playoff picture, even though he got that little concussion, just to watch him play, man, he's gonna be defensive player of the year for I don't know, at least a decade, maybe a decade and a half. It's just unbelievable.
SPEAKER_02I agree, man. You know, okay. But go ahead, John, what you got? NBA. Oh, by the way, down here in Texas, real quick, we down here in Texas, the Cooper Flag won the rookie of the year. But you already you expected that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's what I was about to say. Uh the Cooper Flag. But also also just want to also just want to throw out, I think that I don't know what the the NBA fine the NBA doesn't have a lot of drama this year. The LeBron, LeBron, the LeBron is great to watch. I want to I'm curious if we're gonna have another LA an LA fine an LA final when Luca gets back. I don't know if that I don't know if that happens. Um I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I'm just saying that would be fun to watch. Um LA versus Boston because I think Boston takes everything in the East. I don't think there's anything that can handle there's no one in the East really that can handle Boston to me. And I I think it is between I think it is between OKC and the Spurs right now. But I think it'd be interesting, it'd be interesting basketball to see that happen. I don't know if it's gonna happen. I just I like to root for the underdog. Uh the old guy with the young dudes, I'd love to see it happen, but I don't think it's going to. I still think I still think it's gonna be okay. I think it's gonna be OKC and Boston the finals. Yeah, that's fair.
SPEAKER_02And that's that's that's a good pick right there. Remember when Austin Reeves and Rollin would tell you this, being a Lakers fan, when Austin Reeves and Luca were healthy, OKC mopped them up like they was trash, you know, and mopped the floor with them. So you're not getting Luca back for AR-15, and in fact, I think the Lakers are gonna dispatch Hughes Houston. You mentioned injury, Shocker, that's interesting. It's it's taking the fun away from some of these superstars. I really wanted to see Durant do something in the series, and he just whoops out, man. You know, I'm old. And Shocker, you have too. It's one of those things where guys used to banish their thing. It's not an Ian, not an ATL, it's a quad. Guys used to banish that up and get out there, you know, and then they don't have to, you're not always gonna feel 100%, John and Marlon, relative to uh, you know, play out basketball, man. Banish that thing up, shoot it up, whatever you gotta do, and they're gonna miss them, you know. And and and I think the Lakers are gonna take care of business tonight. I think it's been entertaining for the most part, minus Phoenix, you know, but one of those things where we didn't see Orlando doing this. Go ahead, Marlon. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You just gotta say something, John. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_01No, I was gonna say, I think also Yeah, we have to remember I remember and this is old old school basketball. Go look at the 1969 finals. If you were watching this, you look it up on YouTube. Uh Wilt Chamberlain gets a cramp in his in his in his quad. And you can see. He just is a massive muscular dude. They spray free on gas on what you put in an air conditioning unit to set up his muscle cramp and get him back out there. Nowadays, guys are like like injury, guys don't play through injuries. Once there's an injury, it's like they're done. They're absolutely done. And I think that that's what part of the toughness I missed from the NBA was the kind of Iron Man aggression, like watching Jordan play with the flu. Man, if Jordan had the flu today, that's five games out. He's like, oh, I'm not feeling well. I'm gonna sit down. And it's it's just a it's a di it to me, it takes away from the kind of the the rivalry, the intensity of the playoffs. And right now, to me, this playoffs they don't have that intensity yet. Maybe the next round will, but this playoffs to me doesn't have the the desperation, the I have to win, or this is gonna define my career. A lot of guys aren't playing like that. And I kind of miss that in the NBA.
SPEAKER_02Well, it starts at a regular season, you know, because guys get a pampered, they missed games, load management, guys get a hangnail, they're out, you know. And one of the leaders in that was uh, you know, Kwan Leonard, but Kwan Leonard played seven to six games, so you really can't barely talk smack about him. But it but it goes no to John, relative to what you said about the intensity and toughness. But Bob Lanier, who I pad in my game at game battle, you guys might not heard of him. It was Mark off the book. He had two bad knees and still went out there to battle Larry Bird and Parrish and all that, man. We don't have that guys. I wanted to see Durant, you know, but that's neither here nor there, you know.
SPEAKER_01I mean, there's there's guys in the NBA history, the game was kind of like this this I don't know, the the playoffs meant something so much more. The guys that they didn't want to be the guy that went home, man, especially when they only had three games in the first round. Guys just used to give it their all. Now it's kind of like, yeah, we're up to we can coast it. And we we can lose one. I don't know. It just it feels different to me. That's that's just my opinion.
SPEAKER_00Last word, Saka.
SPEAKER_01Well, Marlon, what you got on oh, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_03No, I was just gonna say uh my last, my closing statement is is the laws of averages, man. Like when one it's the pendulum swing and supplying the so it if the money goes up for the players, right? It it seems like in Adam Silver's NBA, the players have so much money and power, they just they when that goes up, the desire goes down. Like I'm gonna get there regardless. It's guaranteed. I don't have to do that. I don't have to be in a dunk contest. As a matter of fact, if I'm in a dunk contest, it my chances of losing money are higher. So why would I do that? And that's that's always a lose lose for the fans. So absolutely.
Hawks Knicks And Lakers Reality Check
SPEAKER_02Yeah, man. Well, I mean, I don't take care of business and game six. We're gonna lose tonight. Your take on it. I think we can. I think we're gonna push it to Saturn. We're gonna get paid.
SPEAKER_03We ain't got no choice. I think the Knicks, I don't want to say they woke up, but they they're playing desperation. And it will be a real God, the the Hawks are ahead of schedule, man. They got the team kind of like surprise. We got all these these players that want to be here and and we got good chemistry. And now all we need, we might have a top five draft pick coming our way. And then so I think we'll be a lot more serious next year. But they had it, you gotta take your lumps. And the the Hawks are young, they never they haven't been in this position, uh, this particular group. So they gotta take their lumps and learn what it's like to play playoff basketball. And and the Lakers showing the move what time it is right now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. I have a little hope tonight in Madison Square. Marlon, before you go, I know you wanted to weigh in on your Lakers, man. You're gonna close it out and you get two games against OK. I'm already seeing you're gonna win. So you get two games against OKT, Marlon. You're a Laker. Bring it.
SPEAKER_00Bring it, Marlon. Not not a chance, not a chance. Um, I I was just just just going into this, for one, let me let me just say this. For one, I I said going into this with the two injuries that we had, there's no way, there's no chance that we can even get to the point to where we're at now where we're built up 3-1. I didn't know that uh LeBron still had a win being a 41-year-old, and he proved everybody wrong. So I think it's gonna be very interesting in the offseason because if you're pretty much saying that, okay, well, if LeBron's playing this gonna have to take a play cut, or he may he could maybe go to Cleveland or something like that, you can go back to this point right here. Look at what I did in these three games. Um and if you thought that we were probably gonna get swept, everybody gave us no chance. So um definitely hats off to everybody that's that's been balling out with with Luca and AR out and Kevin Durant and this this Rockets team, they they need to be steady because this was a team that that had the Western Conference uh finals aspirations. So it's it just was a crowd show. It's almost like you know, blow that thing up. But um, but yeah, no, next next round, uh no. I mean, we may get one game. I'll give us one game. That's about it. So yeah, but but Shaka, yeah, we appreciate we appreciate you for joining, man. I know you gotta run, and uh yeah, we'll go ahead and wrap this thing up too. You can hop off Shaka if you need to. Doc, John, you guys got anything else?
SPEAKER_02No, not really. We're getting to baseball next time. I know John uh John's a Ranger fan. My brain's got the best record in baseball. The populist are doing good. But but we'll talk about that another time, you know. So I love you guys. I appreciate it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Just wanted to give a quick just want to let you know, give a quick shout out. Um, my dad was listening to the program. He passed away in February. I know uh eventually my mom's gonna listen to the podcast. So give him a shout out to my dad, man.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. God bless his house. Sorry to hear that, John. Yeah, yeah. Right on, good job on that, Johnny. So we'll talk again soon, you know. So this is great, and we can talk there after all. Great conversation, guys. Absolutely, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Appreciate you guys, brother. All right, have a good night, man.
SPEAKER_00We'll catch you guys next time. Catch you guys next time. Peace.