Rice on the Mics
Welcome to "Rice on the Mics", where sports talk comes with no script, no filter, and just the right amount of chaos. Hosted by Ian Rice, this is the spot for real fans who love the game but aren’t afraid to call out the bad takes, blown calls, and overpaid benchwarmers. Whether it's a legendary performance, a brutal choke job, or your fantasy team crashing and burning, we’re here to break it down like it’s last call at the bar. No corporate PR spin, no forced debates—just unfiltered sports talk with passion, personality, and maybe a little trash talk along the way. If you’re looking for stats read off a teleprompter, you’re in the wrong place. But if you want bold opinions, real conversations, and the kind of debates that might get a drink thrown at you, pull up a mic and let’s go.
Rice on the Mics
Draft Day Swagger: Takes for the Group Chat
The clock is ticking toward one of the most anticipated nights in sports—NFL Draft night—and our rapid-fire breakdown delivers everything you need to sound like a seasoned analyst at your draft party. From the Titans' seemingly locked-in selection of Cam Ward at first overall to the potential Sanders slide and Chicago's rumored trade ambitions, we're covering all the angles and possibilities.
This year's draft hinges on several critical decision points. The Patriots sitting at number four hold perhaps the most pivotal spot, with their choice potentially triggering a domino effect throughout the remaining first round. Will they take an elite offensive lineman to protect Drake Maye, or will they field offers from teams desperate to move up? Meanwhile, the Browns face a fascinating decision between pairing Abdul Carter with Myles Garrett for a devastating pass rush duo or gambling on the dual-threat potential of Travis Hunter.
The Jets find themselves in a familiar position—needing offensive line help to protect their quarterback investment, yet possibly tempted by the athletic upside of Penn State tight end Tyler Warren if their preferred linemen are gone. For Saints fans, the possibility of Shedeur Sanders slipping to their ninth pick creates an electric potential pairing that would energize the New Orleans faithful. As we break down each potential landing spot and team need, remember what makes draft night special: these picks represent the currency of hope for franchises and fanbases alike.
Got strong feelings about your team's draft position or who they should select? Call our show at 732-588-6869 or slide into our DMs at rice on the radio on Instagram. We'll be back Friday morning to recap all the first-round action and analyze the winners and losers from an always unpredictable night of NFL drama.
I guess there's only one way to find out. Let's do it to it right. Ladies and gentlemen, get your booze ready for Mr Roger Goodell when he takes the stage, because you know what that means. Draft night is already upon us. Can you believe? It's the end of april already? Group chat is blowing up and you're about three notifications away from looking like an idiot. Okay, you want to sound confident at the bar? Tell some girl who really doesn't care about why that was a smart move for the browns. Well, relax, I got you. Rice got you. Here's your rapid fire pre-draft top 10 breakdown to get you sounding like Mel Kiper without that weird accent. Listen to me, boys, I'll take care of you. Let's get right into it. I wish I had a good Roger Goodell impression, but it's tough for me to sound like a corny dude that just dabs up players that are double his size.
Speaker 1:But with the first pick in the 2025 NFL draft, the Tennessee Titans select Cam Ward for sure. Cam is apparently their franchise quarterback. He goes first over all the Titans, not a doubt in my mind. Apparently, they fielded offers for the pick and after hearing a bunch of the bullshit thrown at them, they said you know what we're going to make our selection. So I guess whatever they were getting thrown at the juice wasn't worth the squeeze and they figured they'd rather ride it out with Cam Now, unless they're playing the biggest game of cat and mouse I've ever seen in the history of the league and they take Sanders one overall, which I mean. You know, baker, sam Darnold, you know Bad teams will be bad teams, browns will brown, right, but as of right now, it looks like Cam is their guy. Now will he be the guy or will he just be another guy? I don't know. We'll have to wait and see. But Cam Ward to the Titans Lock. That in Cleveland Browns at number two is where the draft really gets his first taste of little chaos. Every expert apparently has travis hunter. Uh, I don't see it. I think abdul carter is the better player and the better bank for your buck.
Speaker 1:In my opinion, in Cleveland at least, by pairing Carter and Garrett together as a dominant pass rush, they're going to wreck havoc for the next five years. Because oh wait, that's right, they just gave Myles Garrett a four-year extension and then, when Myles Garrett's time is up and, let's be honest, he'll probably be ring chasing by then you'll have the fifth-year option. On Carter, the rule GMs usually tend to follow, in the sense of the hierarchy of paying players, is you pay your quarterback first, then you pay someone to hit the quarterback, then you pay a wide receiver for the quarterback to throw to and then you pay a corner to cover that wide receiver. Personally, I'd say having a borderline Hall of Famer in Myles Garrett and a can't-miss blue-chip prospect in Carter would rank pretty high up in any book. So I think Carter and Myles Garrett is a no-brainer.
Speaker 1:But let's say they do take Hunter. Okay, look, I mean they could luck into another Denzel Ward or somehow another Joe Hayden. That's great. But Hunter's dual threat appeal is real. But Hunter's dual threat appeal is real.
Speaker 1:Do the Browns really want to juggle double injury risk potential or even like maybe some diva drama because he needs to play both sides of the ball? This isn't to say that the Browns couldn't use wide receiver help, because I'm pretty sure their starting wide receiver one is Jerry Judy right now, since Amari Cooper hit free agency Hunter's not to play for me. And now even more chaos. Let's just let's say they do it okay and they take Sanders. They don't listen to Daddy Dion. They, they take him.
Speaker 1:Okay, I don't think it's happening at all. But is there a world where Cleveland's I mean listen, he immediately becomes the coolest player in Cleveland? Okay, and the semi-circus that would come to town is a different circus that would not make its way to the Giants. It would be the Sanders show, but not the Sanders show in New York. Does that make sense? And you know, hopefully you're out from underneath the Watson contract. You found yourself a QB. You don't have to add another name to the list of the jerseys. With the 35 quarterbacks on it, you can just have a Sanders jersey. But I don't know, I don't think it's worth it. At two, I think Carter is for sure the play New York football Giants. At three, everything that last guy just said was a bunch of bullshit.
Speaker 1:Giants need to take Travis Hunter. That's the play. And all the reasons that I just told you why Cleveland shouldn't take him is exactly the reason why the Giants should take him. Let me explain. You have a solid, solid, wide receiver, one in neighbors, admittedly a little bit of a diva, but man, he produces results. Hunter fits the giants perfectly. Malik neighbors already shines as a number one. Okay, hunter compliments him and he's not stepping on toes. He's giving jamis or wilson two strong targets and flexibility. Wide receiver one diva isn't upset about losing some time on the field. Wide receiver two gets to fill in, building a little connection Shit maybe even works on his game. Where are some moves from neighbors that apply to both the cornerback side and the receiver side? And you know that'll help win games, because you need more help on the secondary than you need help on offense. Okay, so if he's going to be a primary corner with a sprinkle in receiver, it's a lot better when he's not the number one receiver and he doesn't have to play a shitload of snaps. And this isn't me saying that carter is a bad player either.
Speaker 1:Nfl Draft Night is all about fit. I personally think it fits a little better with the Giants. I mean, if the Bills took Sam Darnold instead of Josh Allen and the Jets took Allen, do you think they'd have the same career? No, probably not One, because the Jets have another ass in their elbow. But because the Bills were, you know they needed a big, strong arm. The jets needed I don't know the kid at a usc, it just it. It's about fit a lot of the times. I think carter fits much better with the browns, and travis hunter in new york would be a star. It would fit much better with the giants. Oh, I hate these bastards.
Speaker 1:New England, I picked number four. This is the key spot in the draft in my opinion, and it'll probably affect the rest of the first round. So obviously they don't need a quarterback. Okay, drake May looks great. Big Drake May fan too, by the way. I hate that he's on the Patriots, but that's a story for another time. So does a team trade up if Sanders is still there and panic and if they don't? This is where the Sanders slide begins, because every team after kind of mostly said a quarterback a little bit.
Speaker 1:There are rumors that the Bears want a nice complimentary piece to help Caleb and they're sitting at 10. So 4 to 10, you know it's not too bad. Word on the street is they mortgage some picks, move up to four to get Jante. Okay, now, with a strong wide receiver comp and, you know, little blue chip running back, that should help Caleb. A lot Just depends on how high the price is and if it's worth New England to lose out on the old linemen, because if they stay put they can either grab Will Campbell or Armand Membu, who you really can't go wrong with either one. Campbell's a left tackle at LSU. Membu is a right tackle at a Mizzou, missouri, mizzou one of them. But they're 1a and 1b in the o-line class and then it's, it's a. It's a pretty decent gap afterwards. So new england, depending on what they do, will literally shape the rest of this draft and I'm gonna go over some scenarios for the rest of that. But these, uh, these bricks at four can really shape this whole first round.
Speaker 1:Jacksonville, oh, jacksonville. At number five. This is where I mean new england controls a lot more outcomes for the rest of the draft. Most experts experts use that term loosely nobody knows have Jacksonville linked to Jante for like a Detroit-style deep dish running back committee with ETN. But if New England does trade out with Chicago or whoever and somebody grabs Ashton, that's pretty much going to force Jacksonville's hand to take an alignment and keeping Trevor Lawrence upright needs to start to become a priority. Plus, I know some fantasy owners out there who know who I'm talking about BTJ. Mr Brian Thomas Jr is a speedster and had a hell of a year last year, but he's going to need a little more time for the play to open up.
Speaker 1:So no janty there. They're grabbing a runner. They're grabbing a no lineman, excuse me, they're grabbing a runner. They're grabbing an O-line, excuse me, that's one through five down Number six. Doritos. That's one through five down number six.
Speaker 1:If janty hasn't gone by now, he doesn't make it past number six. Gino smith and p cal reunite behind a decent online. You're gonna look me in the face. Tell me that p cal doesn't want to make up for the marshall incident or running the shit out of the ball with another mean machine running back. If gianni's gone, then it's. It's probably, don't lie, I'm in. Or someone to bolster that defense, maybe, uh, mason graham, run up the middle, but gianni's there, he, he don't go any farther than pick number six. Raiders. Gm already pretty much said if he's there, we're taking him in so many words. Number seven in this year's draft, but number one in your hearts. J-e-t-s Jets, jets, jets.
Speaker 1:Now, if you've been listening to the pod, you know where I stand already. I either want Campbell or Membu. Preferably Membu because he's a natural right tackle, instead of trying to fit Campbell from left to right and I'm an LSU guy so I've watched Campbell all year but preferably Membu. Just runs some smash mouth football but, depending on New England, if they take an O-line, I think that forces Jacksonville to take an O-line and then the Jets are stuck holding the bag. Now now, now it's a very it's a very sexy bag, but nonetheless a bag, and that's right.
Speaker 1:I'm talking about Tyler Warren, tied down out of Penn State. Listen, he's going to be a fantastic player and this is a copycat league and with the emergence of Laporta and Bowers and McBride and the fact that the Jets could have had Bowers last year, so it's kind of like they're chasing a little bit, I don't know. That being said, if used correctly, he for sure would help open the middle of the field to Fields See what I did there and give Wilson some breathing room too. Look, he's a big, strong kid 6'6", 260. Shows great hands, shows he can move pretty well. He opted not to run the 40 for, you know, draft stock reasons, but look, he's also known as a solid blocker on the line. So again, look, it's a very sexy bag, but not the bag I'm looking for, and God forbid if he ends up looking like Kyle Pitts and the lineman that you could have missed out on. You miss on that. You set yourself back another four years easy.
Speaker 1:So honorable mention to Mason Graham here, also, just because Glenn is a defensive guy and you know that could play into the decision. It would bolster the run stop which the Jets got slaughtered with last year. Quarterback run running up the middle yeah, they got sliced and diced. Jets need to take an all-in. If there is no all-in, I'm okay with Tyler Warren and I just hope he becomes, you know, travis Kelsey, shit Go, jets Number eight, carolina.
Speaker 1:Oh man, honestly, they need so much help. If there was a team that we needed to trade out or wanted a team to move up with, it's them. I would move back as fast as I could and stockpile picks. Is Bryce Young even good? Do they have another receiver besides Adam Thielen, who isn't getting any younger, by the way? Not one of their defensive stats was under 25 last year. Not one Run pass turnover, nothing. I think their best one was turnovers and it was ranked 25th. Everything else was high 30s. You know, just forget it. I mean, look, if you want to build at eight, okay, you can try and find another luke keegly in. Uh, jalon walker. He's probably the best true linebacker in the draft. He can play the middle, he can play the outside. He's the true captain. If you're building a defense which is what Keekly was you can also go. I guess Mason Graham again if you haven't slotted him in yet or he hasn't gone yet, probably Jalon Walker. I mean, carolina was its best with Keekly and Jelon Walker is a coach's son and a middle linebacker that's every professional coach's dream. So I would trade out personally and I expect them to trade out, if not Jelon Walker out of Georgia, and the hits keep coming.
Speaker 1:Number nine New Orleans Saints. This is where things get pretty interesting. Saints are in dire need of a quarterback. Derek Carr seems to be done and even if he's not, he's on his last go around for sure. So if the Sanders slide happened and he hasn't gone yet, there is no possible way he makes it past the Saints. Sanders and the Saints go marching in and tell me that doesn't have a beautiful ring to it. They have plenty other problems, but Kamara and Sanders would be electric to watch in that city and the crowd would be electric to watch in that city and the crowd would be behind them every time. I can also, if Sanders does go, I can also see them throwing their hat in the ring for Jackson Dart and one as a reach and two just out of necessity.
Speaker 1:Strong conviction here that the Saints grab a QB and they make everybody else panic and you might even see a couple other guys get reached on. So we'll pause, we'll see. But again, a lot of things need to happen. I really think Saints go quarterback at nine, whether it be Sanders, if he slides, or Dart. And last but not least, for our top ten breakdown, chicago Duh Bears.
Speaker 1:I got a really good feeling they are going to make that trade up with New England. I think they're going to mortgage some picks, go into that top five, grab JNT and go all in on their generational rookie quarterback and trade away some stuff that probably you hope at least doesn't matter that the picks that you trade away are going to be mid-20s for the next couple years. Now if you trade them away and they're, you know, top 10s, top 12s, you're fucked up. But I really do think they make that trade and they go crazy in Chicago and Big Cat is pumped up. Now, if they don't, this is where mason graham goes. The bears defense was putrid last year. They got trampled by the run and the pass, for that matter. But listen, at least with graham you knock one of the two out of the way, you'll be able to stop the run now you, you can figure out the pass later. Why drive when you can fly right? But at least the roads are closed. So again, really think Chicago moves up and grabs the kid, makes a big splash. We'll see Would be pretty cool if it definitely helped the Jets out, from what I want at least. But things don't always go how you want them right.
Speaker 1:A couple quick, more honorable mentions before we close this episode out. Jerry Jones, making noise in the media, like always, said the Cowboys are looking to make some significant moves pre-draft or even during the draft. They are sitting just outside the top 10. They're at 12. So we'll see how that goes. Atlanta is another team to watch. For the last four years in a row they've taken the best quote offensive player available. First it was Pitts, then it was London, then Bijan and then the surprise, last year they took Pennix and Pennix looks pretty good. So they 100% should be going defense this year.
Speaker 1:Pittsburgh at 21 is still pussyfooting around with Aaron Rodgers a little bit doing the will. They won't they. You know, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. They came out and said based upon Roger's status, it's not going to affect our draft plans at all. So if, for whatever reason, jackson Dart is still there, he doesn't make it past 21. And I also wouldn't be surprised if, you know, a team gets desperate enough and trades back into the first round for a player like Milrow or somebody that's really high up on their draft board that they know they're not going to be able to get to at round two. That a team like I don't know Baltimore or the Rams because God knows the Rams don't have any picks and they trade them away anyway. So they might as well move out of this year's first and pick up another one next year to do something. Maybe even Buffalo, buffalo, I don't know. Those are all teams that can, maybe that are late, that could draft, uh, trade out and stockpile some picks. We'll see how all that goes.
Speaker 1:And that is it for this surprise episode of rice on the mics. And that is it for this surprise episode of Rice on the Mics that covers the top 10. Exciting night coming up for your team, whichever one it may be. Draft picks are the currency of hope. Hope that our GMs know what they're doing. Hope that our coaches can hone these players' skills, hope that we find the next Hall of Fame player for our franchise. And sure, hope fades quickly but it rises quickly too, especially in the NFL.
Speaker 1:This week to week do or die. Week one must win games that we Monday morning quarterback. But hey, that's all you can do, right Hope. So God bless, carry some hope in your life. Thanks again for listening and I hope that you all tune in Friday morning for the full recap around the sports world. We'll dig into anything crazy to happen during the draft. And hey, if you really want to get into it, call the show man, leave a voicemail 732-588-6869. Me how you really feel about your team or you don't want your voice. Fine, dm me at rice on the radio on instagram. Until then, folks spread some good energy, thank you.