SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the season, episode 39. Uh, we got some NFL draft discussion, we got some AJ Brown discussion. We've been talking a little bit about Kirk Cousins, which we haven't talked about since he made it over the Raiders. I'm looking forward to that. Uh Nick, um as always, I like to remind our listeners to hit subscribe on YouTube. If you're listening, uh please do us that favor, hit subscribe. And if you're listening on Spotify, Apple, five stars, follow, whatever you do on there, that would be very much appreciated. Um, I want to just give a quick shout out to something we have in the pipeline. So, as everybody knows, next week, April 23rd, is the first round of the NFL draft on a Thursday night. And then the draft runs through the weekend. Second and third rounds on Friday, and then the rest of it on Saturday. Um that following Monday, which I believe is April 27th, uh, we are going to have Joel Clatt join the show, likely from studio as well. Uh, for those of you that follow college football, Joel Clatt is probably the best in the business at Calling Games on Fox. He also will cover the first round on television. Uh, so he'll be there front and center, and he's been all over this thing from the beginning. So Joel's a good friend of mine and Nick's, he's actually my next door neighbor, and we are super pumped to have Joel on on April 27th to do some recap and kind of reflection on what plays out in the draft. Excited about that, Willie?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

That's gonna be a fun conversation. Just when we've played golf with Joel, just talking ball, talking quarterback play. Um, obviously, we're covering a lot more NFL and the the college landscape is just totally different. Um, Howie Roseman made a comment the other day in an interview um about how the different thing with the guys going to the draft now is they're actually a lot of these guys are taking pay cuts to come to the NFL. So that's crazy. You know, a big part of the draft process is figuring out how much the individual that is potentially going to be drafted loves the game of football. Because you and I both played football a long time. Everyone has a love hate with football. It's it's a it's a it's an intense sport that demands a lot on your life in many different ways, but there's got to be something deep down inside you that loves the game of football and loves the grind that is more so than you know the struggle of the sport because you see a lot of guys when they leave the game, like it's a struggle, let's keep it real, but you gotta love part of the game, and a lot of that's like the locker room and you know, game day and things like that. So it's a lot more intense diving into that now because these players are getting paid so much in college. So Joel will have a pretty good pulse on that and just the love of the game and how these guys are transitioning to the NFL. I'm really interested in having that conversation in studio with him. I think that's gonna be a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

Yeah, it's gonna be great. I mean, Joel's such a pro, he's really good at what he does. And generally, I think we'll hit on like some high-level draft discussion, then we'll also we'll talk about what the Eagles did in the draft, too. Um, because he's already spent some time talking about that on his show on what could be available there for the Eagles and where they can get better. Um, we know offensive line might be a direction they go. Edge rusher, those are needs for the Eagles. They haven't drafted someone in the first couple rounds on the offensive line in, I don't know, three or four years, I believe it is, since like 2022. Um so it's gonna be an interesting draft for the Eagles, no question about that. Uh staying on a positive note, like you just did, like you always are. Um I saw a video the other day. I thought this was really cool. Doom scrolling is like bad, but sometimes, sometimes it produces, like when you're just finding yourself in that deep dark place. Sometimes Doom Scrolling produces some pretty cool things. I came across a video the other day, I sent it to you, and it was this guy who was on the street and he walked up to someone randomly. He said, Let me ask you a question. He goes, if I offered you$10 million, would you take it? And the guy's like, Well, yeah. And he goes, Okay, but here's the catch. If I offer you$10 million, you don't get to wake up tomorrow. Would you still take it? And the guy's like, no. And he goes, Great. He goes, you know what the takeaway is there? The guy's like, What? He goes, Waking up tomorrow is worth more than$10 million to you. So when you do that tomorrow, do it with a smile on your face. I thought that was pretty cool, man. It's perspective, right? Like sometimes you forget the bit the little things in life. Like that was that one, I didn't know where this was going, and it hit me. I'm like, whoa, that's really good. That's why I sent it to you.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

I thought it was so good. I shared that with some other people, sent it to some other people. I think you know, I talk to Tori all the time about perspective, you know, our faith, you know, reading the Bible, just that gives me great perspective on life in the tough times. Um, even like when we played, um, I was in games, you've been in games where uh adversity hits. Uh adversity is always gonna hit during the game. I've never played a game that adversity didn't hit. Maybe the seven touchdown game. That was a pretty like just wow sort of game, but almost every game it's gonna be major adversity. And what it really comes down to what's your perspective in those moments. I mean, even a two-minute drill, you could have all the pressure in the world, down several scores, or in a two-minute drill with everything on the line. But something that I always think about before I'd go on the field was man, no matter what happens in these next couple minutes of playing football. One, you know, I'm a son of God, I'm a believer in Christ. I have, you know, I'm I'm blessed to be out here playing with my teammates and doing this. Two, I get to go home to an amazing wife and Tori and my kids, and no matter what I do right here, they're gonna love me. Henry, our dog is gonna jump up and hug me no matter what happens. That's what matters in life. So just play free, take a breath, and trying to get on that field with that perspective of just being free and realizing like this moment seems like everything right now, but in the grand scheme of things, like you could be like, Nick, do you remember a two-minute drill from da-da-da-da? Or even saying, like, hey, Ev, who won the Super Bowl seven years ago? Right now, you have no idea. You could think about it and you're smart enough to figure it out. But perspective is like sometimes in the moment, things become bigger than they need to be. And even as athletes, like we have to find a way to rewire our brain in those moments to lessen what's going on so we can just go out there and play free and let it rip. No matter what happens, like, you know, I got to go home to my wife and my kids, and that's what matters.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

I think that's really good. And like I, you know, we're at a stage of life where we have kids, um, we have other careers, like obviously your football career is over and you're working on other things now. Uh, wife, there's a lot of balls in the air, right? And there's a lot of things between work, between life, between kids, between wife. There's a lot of things that stress us out and could go wrong and things we worry about, right? Um short of, you know, in addition to prayer, like one of the things I really like to do, because we all have bad days, right? We all have days where there's a lot of things on our mind, things we're really worried about. I mean, there's probably somebody listening to our show right now that is struggling with a number of things going on in their life, right? And some things are very serious. I'm not trying to reduce those. Other things though, I like to like either at the beginning or the end of the day, I like to take inventory. And even if I have to grab a pen and write down the things that are bothering me, or the things that I'm worried, the things that I'm worried or stressed about, I like to write them down. And then I go through each one individually, and again, not always. Some of these things are life and death type situations for people that they're dealing with, but generally our day-to-day worries, if you write them down, you start to see how trivial they can become. And then if you take that inventory and you go through each of them one by one and you say, Okay, I can deal with that. I I've got that, I'm good there, I can deal with that. Then you get to the end of that list and you're like, my gosh, like now that I've put this into perspective on a sheet of paper and I've taken inventory of what's what's bothering me, it's so much more manageable, right? And it just puts it all into perspective, and then you can pair it with other things like I just said just now in that video, and life becomes a little easier when you just take it kind of step by step like that.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

Um, that's really good. Where'd you learn that?

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Honestly, I'm not trying to pat myself on the back. I just it was it was kind of a coping mechanism. And I just because lately it's been a lot going on with work and other stuff, and it's just been a number of things that like can go wrong, and so therefore, like you're worried about what kind of like you know, what can go wrong will go wrong. All the things that can go wrong, you worry they will go wrong. And so you find yourself laying there at night, like I've slept two hours and it's already 3 a.m.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Why am I so why am I so anxious about these things? I go write them down and I go through each one of them, and they and they all become much more manageable when I just like take that list of inventory. So sort of the thought of the day in that regard. And again, I get that some people are dealing with things that go far beyond what that strategy will help control. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 8:21

No, I think that's super applicable. The reason I asked that is, you know, I I think back to 2017 when Carson got injured and we went on that run. Um, everything was overwhelming me. And, you know, I leaned on my faith, my face surrounds me. Nate Sapel was there. Obviously, Carson's in the quarterback room. But that's when I started journaling. Like I like you you were saying, pen to paper, right? There's something powerful about just like writing down your thoughts. I was writing down my prayers and I didn't know what would happen. I I still have it somewhere in here. We used we used the journal to help write the believe it books because I had so many details in there, but I wrote out all my thoughts, all my emotions and everything, and just put it out there just so I could feel it. And then it just sort of like allowed everything to subside. And I think that is a great mechanism when we are overwhelmed because there is different seasons of life. Like you said, um, I felt the same way as you have, and I've started journaling again, just like putting it on paper and just being grateful. I think a big thing is just like focus on gratitude because there's so many things like you can focus on all the things going wrong, or you can look at it and be like, man, what am I so grateful for? Right. And the great gratitude rewires the brain, gives you a strong perspective to accomplish and you know, tasks and treat people with love and respect. So, you know, I didn't know we'd get into this, but that's all good stuff. And there's a hundred percent listeners that are gonna listen to this show that are gonna want to hear about the draft, they're gonna want to hear about Eagles update, they're gonna want to hear about Kirk Cousins being in, you know, Las Vegas with the Raiders. But I'll tell you this like all that's awesome, but the life stuff is so important. And I know everyone's going through it. So our prayer is like, hey, if you're going through it, um, we just pray that some one of those mechanisms helps you and just take that next step and then lean on your community around you, your family and your loved ones in those moments, and just you know, that's big.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah, really good stuff. Um all right, so here comes the NFL draft. We are a little over a week away from the first round. Now, I'll say this like seemingly much less hype this year, at least it feels that way. I mean, I still follow everything, but I think the one of the biggest reasons is um there's really less QB drama, uh, especially towards the top of the draft, right? Like oftentimes when you have two or three quarterbacks and you're wondering where certain guys will go, the discussion is just endless. And this year it's it seems pretty clear. Now something could change, but it seems pretty clear Fernando Mendoza will be a number one overall pick. And then Ty Simpson, I think, is jumping. This is the Alabama quarterback. He's jumping, the perception of him is jumping because there are quarterback needy teams in a really quarterback weak draft, more or less, even though Fernando looks like he's gonna be a stud. And I like Ty Simpson too, but I've even heard him as high as three because there are teams that need quarterbacks, right? Jets possibly, and like, you know, there are teams out there that need quarterbacks, so you've heard him jump up a little bit. I think that's one of the reasons it feels like there's less hype. But let me let me lead with this, Nick. When you hear NFL draft, what comes to your mind? You gotta have like some some interesting story or something relating to your own experience.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Man, the first thing that comes to mind is like a broken golf club and losing my phone. And let me expand. So uh my draft grade, I had no clue. I mean, it was anywhere from like a mid-round. I mean, I was prepared to go free agent because I just didn't know. I did one visit to Philly. You thought you might not get drafted? I didn't know. I didn't, I mean, listen, there's some guys out there that are like, I was confident in myself, but I was prepared to do anything. Okay. Uh, just like when I went to Arizona, I didn't have a scholarship my first semester.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

I went there because I wanted to play for Sonny Dykes, who is like 10,000 yards at Arizona, and you're like six, but it's like 250 yards.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

No, but what I'm saying is like going, you just don't, I think you just prepare, like you got to know who you are as a player. I knew I was good enough as a player, but like I didn't, I wasn't gonna let like the the big talk about Aaron Rodgers, like how upset he was that he went later in the first round. I I there's perspective. We talked like, dude, you win the first round, you went to Green Bay, like if you went to a bat a worse team, you might not be in the league. Like we've talked about it. If you went to the Browns at that time, you might not be Aaron Rodgers. You got to be a break. So listen, I just want to go to a great team and just the the dream of playing in the NFL, like how amazing the opportunity to play in the I dreamed about that as a kid. I wrote that in first grade. I would love I want to be a professional athlete. Um, but like day one, first round. I mean, there's a chance, you never know. Um, I went out and played golf with my dad, and I think I was so just like I didn't realize how like you your life's about to change, you're about to potentially be chosen in the draft or undrafted and go live somewhere where you did not decide to live and play football, which is very new. So I remember playing golf. I think I broke a club after like shanking a ball into the water on a par three, and I think we ended up leaving after like seven holes. My dad, this is just too much. I just need to chill. Um, but not drafted in the first round. Next round, uh, next day, uh, second and third and fourth round. Uh, we're all at my house. Uh, I have friends over, my grandfather's over, we're hanging out, we're watching it on TV, phones by me, and uh, I think I'm just wearing like baggy basketball shorts and whatever my Arizona basketball shorts and gear. And the power in our neighborhood goes out. The entire neighborhood goes black. The TV, everything's off. And this was before your smartphones had flashlights on them. So you couldn't just grab your cell phone and like turn on a flashlight. So we're running around the house trying to find candles and trying to find flashlights. And I didn't realize it, but my phone fell out of my pocket. And once again, everything, it's really dark. And uh my sister Katie said, Hey, there's a phone buzzing. Uh, hey, and I'm like, Whose is it? I don't know whose phone it is, but because everyone had an iPhone, you know, at that time, I've since switched to Android. Hey, it's a it's a Philadelphia number. And I was like, Let me see. Oh, that's my phone. So I stepped outside. My dad's outside by the garage, looking for flashlights, doesn't know what's going on, and I answered phone, and it's Howie Roseman. Um, and he's like, Hey, and Andy Reid, and he's like, Hey, um, we're about to pick you with the 88th pick in the NFL draft. Are you good with that? And I'm like, absolutely. And I think at that moment, um, all the emotions hit you. My dad had no idea, but uh he was looking at me from afar, saw me on the phone, saw my emotions change, and I just saw like tears coming from his eyes because he wasn't like in striking distance to come hug me, and he slowly walked up um to me, and just you know, eventually I hang up and he he I I told him what happened. Obviously, we embrace, and it's a very emotional moment because you know, my mom and him sacrificed so much to allow me to play sports, allow me to develop all those things. So very special moment. And then you're like, man, I just got in the NFL draft. All your buddies are like, you're in Austin, Texas, let's go to 6th Street. Let's go have some fun. You're young. So we go to 6th Street, and in this time, I got a phone call from Philly, and they were booking my flight. I think it was uh who was it? Was it Kathy or whoever, but they were booking my flights and I was out at 6 a.m. So I get this information because you thought you I thought I'd have more time to like celebrate. And I'm like, I got out to 6th Street. We entered a bar and I looked at my phone and I said, guys, we're going back home. I'm not going to Philly with a late night. On no sleep, hungover. Yeah, I'm not gonna do that. So then we went back home, flew out to Philly the next day, meet all the coaches, press conference, whirlwind, uh, then eventually come back and then go back to OTA. So it was a uh, you know, it was a whirlwind. It's in a very emotional thing. We weren't getting paid in college, so this was a huge pay bump for us because then you're calculating your signing bonus a little bit different nowadays. That was my draft story. What was like the draft leading up for you? Because we both have different stories.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Yeah, I mean, so like you, I had the same suspicions that I may not get drafted, and except my suspicions came to fruition. Um, I had a lot of injuries in college. I had a really, really terrible injury. I dislocated my right hip and or like Bo Jackson style. And my hip like came all the way, like my femur came all the way out of my pelvis. It was really bad, and it stayed out for like an hour. I got horse collar tackled in a game at Navy my junior year. That was a big reg fly. I missed the whole season, and like the following season broke my foot, and so I think I missed like 25 games in college. And so I was like considered a draftable prospect, went to the combine. Um, but I was such an injury risk. At the combine, they set you on a table, um, at least it's the way they used to do it.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

That was the worst part.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Terrible. It was a big room, they set you on a table, and every team in the league has doctors or a representative but from their medical team in the room, like listening. And this guy comes up, stands next to me at the table, and starts reading off my injuries to the room. And if anybody wants, they can step up and do like a quick exam on you if they want, right? So he's like reading it, he's like, you know, left knee, left foot, like groin, and he goes, uh, right hip dislocation, like all 32 heads went like this, like what? And one of them goes, Hold on, and like then they start making their way up to do like a little basically a manual little uh inspection on me, more or less, uh exam, and to look at my hip. I knew it was a problem. I mean, I my hip's fine even to this day, but like that scares people away. And so um, I ended up not getting drafted. I remember I was at my aunt's house uh for the draft, and I was like, I was being told like late fourth to to possibly even undrafted, depending on how things went. And every round that went by, you're seeing guys that like you thought you were rated ahead of get drafted, and you're like, oh, this isn't good. And then another receiver get I was a receiver in college, another receiver gets drafted, another guy gets drafted, and you're still sitting there when it's over, and like your family had all come for this, but I think they all knew like our let's temper our expectations here. We're not really sure where this is gonna go. Um but the process was tough. Like at the combine, get this at the combine the night before running the 40-yard dash, and I was scheduled to run it, which was really important for me. I'm I was a big receiver that was gonna transition to tight end, so my speed was important. I was scheduled to run it at like eight eight a.m. or eight thirty a.m. in the morning. And the night before, my roommate was Josh Morgan. Remember that name? He was a receiver from Virginia Tech. Really good player. Josh Morgan was my roommate, which is random. I just got paired with him. It's not like I selected him. And he got sick that day. He was up the entire night vomiting. Like, you know how some people like scream when they throw up like they're really loud? He was one of those guys.

SPEAKER_01 18:27

That's me and you're your brother Ryan.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

I mean, people four rooms down in the hotel probably could have heard him. And I'm laying there at 3 a.m. still wide awake because I can't sleep because he's throwing up, and he's taking phone calls on his phone, and I'm not calling out Josh, but it was like so. Needless to say, I think I slept 30 minutes the night before the 40. Yeah, which made me which turned me into a head case because I'm like, I've been training for three months for this, and now I don't sleep at all. Like, this is not gonna go well. And I think I ran like a 4-6-5, which was not great for like someone that was had been playing receiver, and so the process was not good. But for tight end, that's solid. Well, but I didn't know if I was like transitioning a tight end, though, you know. So like it was um what was the best one you ran in training? I ran a sub-4-6 in training, I ran like a four-five eight at our pro day, which was good. Like four five, seven, four, five, which is I wanted to be in the four fives. That was like really important to me. But bottom line is the process sucked, it was brutal. Yeah, not getting drafted sucked, but it made it that much more sweet when I make it when I get all the way to Cleveland, stick, and then you know, stay in the league for six years, whatever it was. Like, that is something I'm obviously super proud of because it was the road to get there was broken big time, and a lot of injuries, and quite frankly, like it stunts your development, not just the physical part of it, but just like missing so much ball. Yeah, like you just don't ultimately become the player that you probably could have become had you just stayed healthy, right? Which a lot of guys have that story. Even the really, really good players like can point to a period of their career where they're like, that screwed up my development, right? Even like very high-level players have those stories. So I'm not unique in that regard, but um draft was tough, and so yeah, every time the draft comes around, like I think of these things all the time, you know.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

So when they when they examined your hip um on the tables, did they had they already done an MRI at the combine, or at that point where they're like, hey, let's take him out, let's do one more MRI.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

No, I went to get MRIs. In fact, because I had so many things, I spent this is the day before the 40. I was in an MRI machine for a total of like three hours because they did like 10 different scans. That's probably good for the body, which is crazy, right? It's like you're here you are, like the okay, like they're not they're not sending a bunch of people out to my pro day. So like it's important that I run well and do well at the combine, right? Given that I wasn't like a projected first rounder, you know.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

So it's it's amazing what they do. I mean, I was on, I think it was like different rooms, and there was like you know, eight teams in each room, like four rooms. And so they they did those and everything went well, and I'm in my last room, last exam, everything's getting checked out. And one guy, one dog, I forget who it was, I wish I knew who it was. Um, he goes, says here you had like a psychic nerve injury in your lower back, and I was like, Yeah, uh as a freshman in high school, um, I was growing so fast. Um, I had a little bit of a back thing, but it went away and never I've had never had issues with it since. Let's get an MRI on that. Let's take them, you know, an MRI is like an hour away. So you're like, Are you serious, dude? That was freshman year, but they have to because there's they're investing so much looking back. But man, that was one of those things I was so frustrated about. But yeah, I mean the NFL, NFL draft and the combine and all that stuff, it's a crazy thing. But once you get to the league and you get with your team, it it gets back to ball. Once you start training and you're in meetings, it's nice because you're like, all right, I'm back to what I know. I'm back to lifting, I'm back to training, I'm back to practicing, I'm back to throwing, I'm back to watching film, and then we're practicing. That's the best part. All this leading up to it, I honestly don't like. I didn't enjoy it at all. I was grateful to be doing it, like these guys are, because there's always it's a really cool thing to be able to to be good enough to do it. But once I got drafted to Philly and I could just be in the facility, that was what I enjoyed.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Yeah. Well, I'll tell you what, we're we're gonna get more into how the draft played out after the draft with Joel Clatt on our show, like I already mentioned. Um, but the first round is loaded with interesting talent, right? There's a lot of good solid edge rushers in this draft, like Arvell Reese from Ohio State, Ruben Bain Jr., Miami, David Bailey from Texas Tech, um, likely a high running back in Jeremiah Love from Notre Dame. I mean, it's gonna be really interesting to see where he goes. I think he's a star in the NFL. Um, there's some intriguing whiteouts. Carnell Tate from Ohio State, uh, Makai Lemon from USC, who I've talked about on this show. I'd love to see him. Like, I thought the Eagles have they're not gonna they're not gonna grab uh unless they trade up, they're not gonna get Mekai Lemon, but I would love to see the Eagles add a guy like Mekai Lemon, who can own the middle of the field. He's a playmaker in the middle. He's got some Steve Smith to him as well, like the Steve Smith from the Panthers back in the day, the Hall of Famer. Jordan Tyson is another ASU wide receiver that is gonna be pretty good. KC Concepcion from Texas AM. Here's a couple wild cards, too. Uh Kenyon Sadiq, the Oregon tight end, uh, just an absolute physical freak as a blocker and a receiver. He's a very interesting, um interesting prospect that could go super high or could go mid or late first round, just depending on need. Caleb Downs being another, some people see him as a little bit undersized, like as a safety, but he's very versatile from Ohio State, could be a great player. Um then you have athletic freaks like Sonny Styles from Ohio State who tested off the charts. Broke like every record at the combine. My goodness. So it'll be a fun first round to watch. Um again, I think, you know, when we talk about a team like the Eagles, which we focus on a lot, offensive line, edge rusher, I think those are two areas where you could see them go. Um but we'll we'll hit the draft after the draft. I think it's gonna be really interesting to follow. I just, again, I think there's a little less dr less drama and hype this year because the quarterback position seems pretty it just seems pretty solved at the top, um, with Fernando Mendoza and then possibly Ty Simpson early. Uh Nick, one thing we we haven't talked about on here is one of the really interesting moves in the quarterback market this offseason has been Kirk Cousins, right? Like everyone has jokes, there's jokes like endlessly right now about his agent and how that guy needs to be the one negotiating with Iran because of how unbelievable this guy is at getting the deal he wants. Uh Kirk goes to the Raiders after leaving Atlanta on a five-year deal, but that's kind of a lot of fluff. It's basically a one-year deal for about 20 million bucks in 2026. Then the Raiders can get out of it if they want. But there's a lot of fluff in it. Just think of it as basically a one-year like bridge quarterback deal. He goes to the Raiders and we all expect the Raiders, this all makes sense because we all expect the Raiders to sign or draft Fernando Mendoza's number one overall. And much like like what the interesting thing here is that Kirk Cousins was in a similar situation a couple years ago when he was in Atlanta, he signed a four-year deal for like 160 million. And that was not just a one-year approve it, like one year bridge deal. That was like a real deal.

SPEAKER_01 24:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

And in that draft, in the first round, they take Michael Penix, and that surprised a lot of people. And Kirk started most of the first year. Penix comes in in December of that season of his rookie year, and then the following year, which was his second year this past season, he's named the starter going into the season. So Kirk is back in this situation, although this time he's expecting it. He was a surprise by the Penix pick a couple years ago. Kirk is back in this situation. So my question for you is if you're the Raiders, this whole dynamic of like bridge guy that's a veteran that's more than capable in Kirk and bringing in what we all know is the future in Fernando, how do you think the Raiders should handle this?

SPEAKER_01 25:30

Yeah, I mean, honestly, I thought it was a great move. Um, before they even made that move, I think you and I are talking about Fernando Mendoza, and just he reminds me so much of Kirk Cousins, his personality and how he is, and you know, just seems like a sharp guy, solid guy, very disciplined with his preparation, always wanting to get better. Reminds me a lot of Kirk. Um, and then Kirk ends up there, obviously knowing that Fernando is probably going to be there, but it's also Coach Kubiak's a familiar coach for Kirk. He knows that system, he knows him well. Um, someone that Fernando can tutor under and learn from. I personally know a lot of NFL fans won't agree with this because they want the young guy out there, they want the first-round pick. You know, they're paying for tickets, they want it, they're wearing his jersey. Everyone expects him to go to the Raiders. The Raiders have not been great for a long time. They have a really good head coach. Now, I mean, first-time head coach, but his dad was a head coach. He's been a he's done a great job. So he has people he can reach out to on how to run things, how to schedule things, how to structure things, the disciplines and the pillars of the team. Um, you know, there'll be growing pains because it is the Raiders. I mean, they haven't been good, but I think the best thing they can do is. I know there's gonna be a quarterback competition. I would be shocked if Fernando could win this thing because Kirk's.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

I think there will be an open competition early on, or you think they'll just say Kirk, you're the guy, then Fernando, you gotta learn things and maybe play later in the year. You think there'll actually be a competition?

SPEAKER_01 26:52

I I I there might be a competition just because it perception, like you're drafting this guy who was the Heisman trophy winner and won a national championship of Indiana. Like the fans are gonna want him to have a chance to start and let the best guys start. Like, so I don't think they're just gonna give it to Kirk. I think it'll be a competition. I think Kirk might start with the ones, but I I I mean there's a decent chance the guy's the day one started just because how the league works. We talked about Jackson Dart last year. You know, they they obviously had Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, and I was totally against them starting and playing Jackson Dart early in the year because he came into the NFL, he came in the preseason learning how to win. He he all he knew was how to win and how to play great. Statistically, he and he still played great. He still had a good year, but he learned how to lose. He learned how to lose in every aspect of the way, and that was something the Giants taught him in his rookie year. Fernando's the same thing, like he knows how to win, he's been a winner, he's been playing at a high level. I mean, he brought Indiana a national championship. Obviously, it's more to that in this NIL NIL era, and you know, he obviously had a great coach in Signeti, but I do think the smart thing is to start Kirk, let Fernando learn how to play the quarterback position in the NFL. Kirk is very disciplined with his preparation. So, like, let's let's be with Kirk and let's watch him prepare for games, let's watch him practice for games, let's watch how he conducts this offense that he's familiar with. And then, you know, if Kirk leads him, I mean, who knows? Maybe they have a great year and he takes him to the playoffs like Sam Darnold did, you know, in Minnesota. And then you're in a position where, you know, this is really a one-year deal for Kirk, but Fernando's set up for the future really well. I think they need to take a page out of Green Bay's playbook and do something like that personally, um, just to set him up for success. A lot of fans out there and be like, oh, well, they draft him, he needs to play. It's like, yeah, but I'm I'm uh I was thinking about Richard Sherman and his analogy. It's like, all right, well, I'm not gonna give you this Ferrari and say, hey, but we're gonna go off-roading, all off-roading. You need, you know, suspension, you need four-wheel drive, you need shocks, you know, but hey, take the Ferrari off-roading off all these jumps, hope it works out. It's like, no, like let Kirk smooth the roads out to get you to ample, you know, the ample situation to where this Ferrari can go and do that. Will they do it? I don't know. I mean, the NFL is crazy with marketing, putting guy people in seats, you know, Sunday night football, Monday night football. They want to see the number one pick. So all that plays into it, but I think the best for the future is Kirk Cousins starts. Kirk Cousins can play at a high level. A couple years ago, when he went to Atlanta, he had a shoulder injury he was playing through. That's when his play started dropping a little bit. You know, that was part of it, in my opinion, because I think he's a good player. But all that being said, I think getting Kirk Cousins was the key thing that any team did this offseason, especially the Raiders, because they have Fernando Mendoza that can now learn from a great veteran.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

I I agree with you because we've said this many times on the show that NFL organizations primarily, I say more so than actually winning, are really just concerned with selling hope every year and keeping people interested. Because a lot of them know they just don't have a roster to win a championship. And so they're like, how do we sell hope, right? And Fernando sells hope. And so from that standpoint, to your point, play him because it puts butts in seats and gets people excited. Yes, but as a bridge, though, I mean, look, even if you don't love Kirk Cousins, like as a bridge, it's a fantastic option. Because you with what they've had at quarterback there in recent memory, you immediately get better with Kirk Cousins under center. Kirk Cousins is better than Geno Smith. There's no question in my mind around this, especially when he's healthy. Right? And so I think that it's a good move from that standpoint because even if you go into the season starting Kirk, I think it's still is that if I'm a Raiders fan, it there's still some excitement to that for me. Is that we're gonna be better in that regard. The second thing that I think is really important is you have to know as an organization if you're ready, not just whether or not Fernando himself is ready, but is the infrastructure around him ready to support him? Right? Because if you use a first-round pick on a quarterback, then you're not using a first-round pick on an offensive lineman. You're not using a first-round pick on another key piece that could support Fernando Mendoza to help him be a better player. There's nothing you can do about that. I'm not saying that they're wrong for that. They should draft Fernando Mendoza. But if you can't protect Fernando and you end up doing what Jackson did for a better part of the year in the blue tent almost seemingly almost every single game, because you're taking so many hits by ad-libbing and getting outside the pocket and trying to make plays, which Fernando can do. He's a pretty good athlete. Then you're playing with fire because this very important asset, this valuable asset on your offense you have out there running around with disregard because you can't protect him. Indiana could protect him, and he shined because of it. So you just have to ask yourself, too, I don't and I don't have the answer to that question today, but you have to ask yourself as an organization, are we do we have the infrastructure around him for him to be successful? If the answer is no, even if you feel like he's ready, like hey, he's grasped this offense, he's done really well in practice, even if you can check those boxes, if you don't have the infrastructure around him, I hate to say it for Kirk, but Kirk, you're paying$20 million to absorb this, you gotta throw Kirk out there and let him deal with it. Some people tell that's that's that's dirty, man. How are you gonna do Kirk like that? Well, that Kirk knows what he's signing up for. Kirk wants him, he's getting 20 million 20 million guaranteed on this deal. He's also still getting like eight to ten million bucks from the Falcons this year. And this is just part of the deal. Like when you he knows he's a mercenary, he knows he's getting signed, just uh kind of he's become a little bit of a when I say journeyman, a very highly paid journeyman. But he's a stopgap. And he knows like he might be the one that has to go out there because they don't want to put Fernando out there and ruin him, right? So all those things will come, will will shape up as they continue to go through the draft, as they go through the offseason and figure out if they're if they're ready to put Fernando on the field. But I I tend to land about exactly where you said is I think if I'm Clint Kubiak, I love the situation I'm in with this new shiny piece at quarterback and Fernando. Sit down. Kirk's gonna be in there for now. Kirk's done a ton of good things in his career. We're gonna go this route for now. We'll revisit this later in the season, possibly next year, and put and getting a chance to play him.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

Yeah, I think the key is just get Kirk to be get him through 10 games. Like, I mean, if for some reason you're at a point and you know, with seven games left in the season or something, like something manageable, and Fernando's had a a lot of time to run the scout team, and you're not gonna have a great pocket in the scout team. And every day when you're running the scout team, you got to work on your footwork and your pocket presence and climbing in the pocket and moving in the pocket to prepare you for game day. Yeah, you know, at that point, you're just it's just a different game in the NFL. And I do think he'll do well. It's just they gotta make sure they nurture him the right way. I mean, you're investing a number one pick in the NFL draft in this kid. I know you're gonna want to play, but you got to make sure it's the right situation and let him learn, let him adapt. And, you know, the argument that everyone will say is, oh well, look what he did at Indiana, a team that had never done it and surprised everyone. Yeah, I agree with you. He's going to a similar place like at the Raiders the last you know couple decades, where they haven't done anything too special. Um, but this is the NFL. This is a very different thing. So, you know, I just hope the kids in a good position. And you know, Kirk wants to play, he's a competitor. And the thing about Kirk is he's gonna he's gonna take when you call play with Kirk, he's gonna run the play the right way, he's gonna run it the way the coach wants it run. He's probably not gonna change too much of it. So he's gonna give a strong foundation for Nan for Fernando to learn from. And uh I don't assume if they can protect him pretty well, like he won't turn over the ball too much, he'll be pretty sharp. And ultimately that might lead to some early success for the Raiders with Kubiak as the head coach. I mean, that's what you want is you know, Kirk to just make good decisions, not turn over the ball, and that'll be huge for them.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

In the Netflix quarterback documentary. I I don't know if Kirk has any editorial control over that. I really I don't I would assume he I don't know. I don't I don't know if he does, right? But the reality is like they make him look good, right? And when you watch that, it's really easy to tell how Kirk keeps getting big money everywhere he goes. The guy's a pro, right? There might be certain things about him you don't like or you like or whatever. But when you watch that, you realize this dude, like he's got young children, he's married, but he commits every waking hour outside of his commitment to those things. He commits every waking hour to being the professional player that he's paid to be. And from that, for from that standpoint, I got a lot of respect for him. Watching that documentary, I came away from it being like, Kirk is an impressive dude. Like he is. He is he is dotting every I and crossing every T to do what he can to help his team. And I think other teams see that, and that's why everywhere he goes, he gets 20 plus million per year, even when he's it feels like he's on the end of at the end of his rope here.

SPEAKER_01 35:15

You know, what and what's crazy about that is, and there's a lot of fans that talk about that, and Kirk's had a heck of a career. Wait till you see how much he gets paid to do broadcasting when he's done. I mean, exactly. He's gonna be a top broadcaster. Guy is sharp, he prepares, he knows the game of football inside and out, he knows how to articulate plays, he knows how to describe different things going on in detail. I mean, you've seen him talk about pure progressions last year in a simple way, but the way he did it was like so easy to digest for people that it went viral. So those are the things all these you know TVs and all the companies doing the games, they they want him. So he's gonna get a lot of money outside, and he's gonna have a long career in broadcasting if that's what he chooses to do.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

Did I believe I saw this? Did you know that his career earnings will now surpass Tom Brady?

SPEAKER_01 35:58

It's crazy. I mean, Tom Brady wasn't always taking max. Yeah, but Tom wasn't always taking max deals.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

He was always taking it's still crazy. No, it's crazy. I mean, I don't even care if Tom was taking like a little bit less. It's still crazy to think that like because Tom also played, I don't know how many years it was, but it that's crazy, right? Like 20 is he is Tom still is Tom not playing still?

SPEAKER_01 36:17

He retired.

SPEAKER_00 36:17

Uh I thought he was still playing.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

Tom's broadcasting now for like 40 million a year or something.

SPEAKER_00 36:21

I mean, he's playing five.

SPEAKER_01 36:22

I mean, what's crazy about Tom is this he can still play. Like, if he wanted to go play in the NFL right now, he still would be in the top 20 quarterbacks. Like, he's agree with that. Like, he would be he could do it.

SPEAKER_00 36:34

Like it's unfortunate. You could still play. I have no doubt in my mind about that. Like, I've seen you like all these things we're still doing athletically. Like, it's just the could the time comes to hang it up, you know.

SPEAKER_01 36:43

I mean, I don't know. Maybe should I just like go out and go play again? You know, maybe if Bodie came in here and gave me a couple more tantrums, I'll be like, Torah, I'm gonna go back and play. I'm going back.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

Kirk is an extremely unique player. Um, it's just incredible how what he's been able to, from a financial standpoint, that's always the biggest topic is what he's been able to do everywhere he goes. Um But it it's a it's a case study that will be looked at in depth um as as he continues to go through his career and when it's over for that matter. Um, okay. The generally this time of year, um when we're talking draft and free agency, teams that are really good, organizations that are really good and that it have experienced a lot of recent suc recent success are generally pretty quiet this time of year. They're almost invisible sometimes because they have all the key pieces already in place. They may make a move here or there for some support players and all that, but generally like they're almost invisible. Um the Chiefs have been that for a long for a while, right? But they've had to be a little more active in this offseason, like going and grabbing Kenneth Walker was a big move for them because last year wasn't very good for them, and you know, there's some aging components there they have to fortify. The Eagles are very interesting to me because this is a team obviously last year that underperformed, but overall has had so much recent success their GM is not on the hot seat. Howie Rosman's considered one of the best GMs in all of sports, alone just football. Um and yet they're still front and center in so many of the so many of the discussions because that's just where the Eagles are. People care, right? Not only do Eagles fans care, but nationally people care about what they're doing. If you're not an Eagles fan, you love to hate them. If you're an Eagles fan, you love to love them, you're hard on them, but only you're allowed to be hard on them, right? Other people that don't like them aren't allowed to be hard on them, only you're allowed to be hard on them, right? It's like protect your own. So the Eagles are front and center in so many discussions right now, um, which I find really interesting, given all the dynamics of what's going on. And so much of that continues. And I think Howie Rossman is so tired of answering these questions. He most recently was asked about it. He's like, What do you think the likelihood is that I'm gonna give a different answer to you than I've given the last six weeks? 50-50, 70-30. He was kind of messing with the reporter, right? He was he was being nice about it though. But he continues to field questions about AJ Brown. And it's always the standard one-liner of AJ, AJ is an eagle. AJ's a great player, it's hard to it's hard to get better when you're getting rid of great players, all those things. He will not stand up and say, I'm squashing this right now, he will not be traded. AJ's on our roster this year. He will not stand up and say that. I think that's twofold. Part of it is because he knows he may end up trading him. And the other part of it is he wants to see, he wants to maximize his value if he does end up trading, wants to see people step forward and possibly offer him something he can't refuse. Nick, I want to hear what you think about this with AJ and where things are at at this moment. But at this point, I would be surprised. I'm just gonna be honest with you. I would be surprised. And some of this might happen after the draft because the post-June 1 designation for a trade will help everybody from a cap standpoint if they end up moving him. So it might it's it's likely gonna be a post-June 1 thing if they do it. I would be surprised at the meaning, I'm putting it more than 50% chance that AJ is not an Eagle this year. I think AJ's a very good player. I think he's a game-changing player at times. But philosophically, if I'm a GM, and this is also what I want to hear you you you talk about, if I'm a GM, the wide receiver position for me is never something I'm gonna hold on to that dearly. If there's problems, not saying AJ directly is a problem, but if there's just smoke around a problem and I can get value for a guy to possibly fortify other key positions on my team, receiver is one of the first places I'm going to do that. And it just so happens AJ Brown, who there's been a lot of smoke around, some complaining, he doesn't seem happy, is a receiver. So philosophically, with the position alone, I'm doing it. And then secondly, just based on the nature of this relationship and how it just seems to me that AJ Brown is just not thrilled to be an Eagle, I just wouldn't be surprised at this point at all if he's not an Eagle when we roll around next season. In fact, I'm I'm basically expecting it at this point that he will not be an Eagle by the time we roll around to training camp.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

What do you think? I mean, I I had a different stance a few weeks ago when we did our we did our episode. One, how upset, and we'll look in the comments, but our Eagles fans, because they're all gonna be there and be like, hey, they finally started talking about Philly at 41 minutes into this. They finally got there. Like, why do you guys start with I mean, and if you are that person, hey, thanks for the comments. Um, we're still gonna structure our show the way we do. And we did talk a little Philly because I was drafted to Philly, and that was how we opened the show. Um, but we always appreciate the comments, it makes us better.

SPEAKER_00 41:17

Um, and they always act like it's my fault too. Like I'm the one that kept us from talking about Philly until 41 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 41:23

Just keep blaming Evan. That's totally fine.

SPEAKER_00 41:25

Yeah, bam me. We will not talk about Philly until the 41st minute. Now we can go. Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

Hey, I will say this. Doing this with Evan, Evan is just amazing with how he structures the show, how he runs the show. So thank you, Evan, for how you run it, how you structure it, how we do it. Uh, you don't get enough credit, and I'm uh I'm gonna tell everyone out there this this man is a genius at this, and it's and we're just gonna keep getting better.

SPEAKER_00 41:46

We've had some we and we've had some commenters, Nick, that want you to abandon your brother-in-law and go do your own show. What are your thoughts? Uh I'll tell you.

SPEAKER_01 41:52

These are for those people that act like I had I had opportunities to do uh stuff like this when I exited the league, and every opportunity, you know, every new season, an opportunity arises. And I'm a firm believer that I knew that if we did it together, because one, you play in the NFL for six years, broadcast for seven, we're in the same community and we're best friends. That's who you want to do the podcast with, is someone you want to enjoy having a conversation with, uh enjoy working with, enjoy being around, which we're already around each other all the time. Um, we coach you sports together. If you can coach you sports together and make it through a season, that's someone that you want to be in battle with and win championships, and win championships, and try not to get in arguments with the other side, even though they're being knuckleheads. And but I I digress. So, but that being said, like this was the the this is something we really want to do. We're very blessed to do. It's so much fun. We appreciate the comments. Uh, we do this ourselves, we don't have someone behind us, like we're the ones figuring this out, and we got our boys, you know, at Change for Balance helping us out. Tanner, thanks for the clips, but like we we figured this out, which's fun. We're learning, we're structuring it, we're growing, and we're doing it ourselves, which is really cool because we care about it. But all that going back to being said, let's go back to AJ Brown. That's what people want. Everyone's like, he's what they want. They talk about AJ Brown. It's like the algorithm on YouTube. It's like this is where everyone skips. Everyone else skipped here too. So thank you for skipping. But now the algorithm's gonna shoot up because I'm gonna speak about Philly and AJ Brown. Ev, you know, two weeks ago I'd have highly disagreed with you. I said, man, he's he's an eagle, he's super talented. I know a lot of guys around the league, and I hate asking them questions because I don't want to dive into everyone's business because I didn't like that as a player. I still don't like that personally. Um, but there was guys and you know, talking about the AJ Brown situation. I do think, like you said, Howie Roseman's not shutting it down. He's not saying he's gonna be he's an eagle right now. That makes me think and what they're doing, like you talked about, they're they're making their receiver room stronger. They have a first year coordinator and Sean Mannion. You don't want to deal with you know that what they dealt with last year with AJ. Now, AJ had merit looking back, like. Why was he frustrated? Well, it was why the the concepts of the offense and how it was ran with Kevin Putulo. Looking back, that's maybe what the frustration was. Was it with Jalen Hurts? I don't know. I'm not in the facility. No idea. But because of those things and different people I know around the league that know AJ a little bit, uh I would think he what I've gathered is uh wants to be traded, but I also think like he wants to be traded to specific places. I think New England would make a lot of sense because of his history of Rabel. I think that's obvious, right? And I think he even said he grew up a Patriots fan, if I'm correct. So that would be like a two-fold situation. Um, but really because Howie's not shutting it down. Um, that's a big thing. And I I I he's gonna be he's gonna have a lot of strategy behind it. He's gonna get something he wants, but I do think it's gonna come to a point where he realized last year was very difficult. Um, this is Howie, and he doesn't want to do that again with the first year coordinator. And if AJ Brown's not happy, which it seems like he's not super happy in Philly, but he's got to give the lip service to say he is. Um, they're gonna try to find a way to hopefully make it right for him and make it right for the Eagles. And I'd I'd imagine that Howie, you know, really respects AJ, and hopefully AJ respects Howie to where they try to do right by each other and figure out a way that where AJ's happy and the Eagles are happy, sort of thing. But I'm with you. I think it's 50-50. A couple weeks ago, I was like maybe 80-20. Yeah, you know, he's an Eagle to where he gets traded. That's now shifting to where I do think he'll get traded before the start of the season, not sure when. I do think New England Patriots make a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_00 45:31

Let me ask you this you're Howie Rossman. And if you don't have the answer to this question, fine. But think about the comments I just made about the wide receiver position in general, right? You have a lot of experience in the NFL, and like what and you've probably thought a lot about how you'd build a roster. If you could get at least a first round pick for a guy like AJ Brown, possibly a second, because you're also you're you're also you know unloading a big salary, and teams know that too, so right? So maybe they just step up for a second or something like that, even though he's Howie's had some high price tag. But if you could get a high pick for AJ and you're Howie Roseman, would you do it?

SPEAKER_01 46:07

I think at this point you do it. Um but that's that's tough for me. And what came to my mind right there is I think AJ Brown's an incredible receiver. So do I. But but but but there were several times last year where I saw him throttling on routes or not thinking the ball was gonna go his way, and that was the difference in a completion and not. And then there were some drops in key moments to where it just looked like his head wasn't in it because of everything going on. There was a lot of things he would have to do, he'd have to talk to the media after every game and every practice about like not being happy. All we talked about it every single week, and there was always something new to the point where we're structuring the show. It's like, do we really have to talk about this? It's like, yeah, not something new was said. You know, this is what was said, we need to talk about it. And it's like, I know Philly fans wants to talk about it, but like I'm getting tired of talking about the AJ Brown saga with the Philadelphia.

SPEAKER_00 46:59

AJ decided to put information out there for everyone to do it. But that's my point. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It wasn't just that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 47:04

It's like me even running a show where other people doing shows and stuff, like, yes, he's putting more stuff. Man, we were like, man, please just stop putting stuff out there. It's not good for your team, it's not good for you. I don't want to talk about it anymore, but we're gonna talk about it because we're gonna try to give you a way out. Like, not only are we gonna talk about what's going on, but it's like where should you go from here? I do think the Eagles looking at all that and everything, like they're gonna move on, they don't want to deal with that anymore. And if he's unhappy and the throttling on routes, and was it all the time? No. Uh, but there was like I remember there was like a post route, an end cut. There was a couple that I was watching where I'm like, he doesn't think he's getting the ball. And Jalen Hurts is back there trying to give him something to go run under and make a big play. And if he ran the right speed, when when a quarterback drops out to drops back to throw a deep post route, which I was a pretty good deep post thrower, you're you're you're going with your natural reaction. You're doing a play fake most of the time, you're looking up, and your peripheral vision, you're feeling the speed of the receiver. You can feel the speed to calibrate your throw and you throw it off that speed. Because you know, as a post route, and you were a receiver and tight end, but you've ran post, you know, you're gonna stay pretty fast. Like there, it's not like you're running, you know, a comeback or something or a stutter go where you have to decelerate and accelerate. A post route is an acceleration the entire way through. So you gauge that and then you let it rip. Well, Jalen Hurts tried to, I'm just thinking of one specific play, but there's more out there where he let it rip and it was a pretty good ball, but out of the break he throttled only for five to seven yards, but that was enough to make the ball a little bit too far to where he couldn't catch it. Whereas if he just stayed his normal speed, he's probably running right under it for a huge touchdown. And those are the things that I'm looking at, like, man, like would he have done that a year or two ago when these issues wouldn't arise, or would he have been running all the way through the break? I'd have to go watch film, but I know he's a heck. I say all that say he's a heck of receiver, he's one of the best receivers in the NFL. Obviously, there's issues there. There were issues last year. They thought they could change that with Sean Manning coming in. It's still being talked about. How he's not putting it to bed. If he goes somewhere like the Patriots isn't happy, he's gonna be one of the best receivers in football because he's happy and he's gonna play really hard. I mean, you want to be happy, so that's a lot to say. I'm with you with the 50-50, and I hope it works out for both sides.

SPEAKER_00 49:21

I think Nick, um, like we've said on this show, this offseason for the Eagles was more than just, hey, let's do a couple small tweaks and run it back next year and hope we can make it better. This was a sort of a transitional rebuild, not a full rebuild, right? I mean, there's still huge pieces, but you bring a new offensive coordinator in, Jeff Stoutland leaves, you bring a new offensive line coach in, you bring a new run game coordinator in, uh, you've gone to provide depth in the receiver room. So Dontavian Wicks from Green Bay, it's a meaningful acquisition. Elijah Moore, it's a one-year deal, but it could give you some depth to the slot receiver. Hollywood Brown, deep threat on the outside, right? One year deal. But this is you're building depth at the receiver position, I think preparing for possibly losing, possibly, AJ. But all that being said, as you make this transitional, this transition into sort of this new sort of culture, if you will, offensively, which is absolutely happening under under uh under Sean Mannion, I think you have to consider the personality and the effect that AJ Brown has on that room. And you have to understand that bringing him back after not being happy last year, bringing him back carries risk. Because if it doesn't go perfectly with Sean Mannion, you're gonna see a lot of the same things. And I'm sure Howie's thinking about this. Like you can already see two weeks into the season, if things aren't going perfectly for AJ, are we dealing with the same BS? And then everyone's sort of everyone's situation is sort of in jeopardy, right? Because if this doesn't work out for Sean Mannion, if this doesn't work out for his staff, this could be really bad for Nick Siriani. Could be really bad, right? Like they gotta get this right. They made some big changes this offseason. So if you think there's a piece to this puzzle that is super talented, we're not doubting whether AJ's talented. If you think that we're sitting here talking about AJ's when he's at his best, if he's really good, he is a fantastic football player. But sometimes that comes with some trade-offs. And so you have I think Howie has to see that whole situation and think, what are my risks by keeping him around if things don't go exactly the way he wants them to go? And I think that position is about as fungible as it gets in finding guys, even though he's talented. There are plenty of guys out there that can add production for you that aren't as talented and change the game for you at that position. Not every position, right? Quarterback's definitely not one of them. A lot of those offensive-defensive line spots aren't one of them, but that position to me is pretty fungible. So I I think that's the way how he's looking at it. And I think if he gets the right compensation offer, I think he jumps at it and I think they move on and they fortify other key positions and they continue to build a winning football team. That's how I look at it.

SPEAKER_01 51:48

Well, and what's crazy for AJ is with Sean Manning coming in, the offense he's gonna run, it's perfect for him. Because they're gonna be a run. Like so he did it, he was amazing in Tennessee.

SPEAKER_00 51:58

You think it's perfect for AJ?

SPEAKER_01 52:00

I think it's great. Big body receiver. And the reason I say that is they're gonna be a run first, really like a lot of under center play action, sort of look up, hit like a bang eight post sort of thing. A lot like what he did with Ryan Tannehill with the Tennessee Titans. You know, they were a run first team. Ryan was really great off the play action, and there was, you know, they had to load the box because of Derrick Henry, and you know, you got Saquon Barkley, and then all of a sudden you're just one-on-one with the corner because all everyone's stepping up for the run support. It's one-on-one on a five-step post route, a comeback route, all that, all those things off play action, you know, a deep post. It's gonna fit him really well with what Sean's bringing in. It's gonna, you know, he's gonna have air. Um, he's gonna have room to run once he catches it because everyone's gonna be playing the run with what they're doing with the motions and the jet motions and stuff like that. They're gonna run bootlegs, they run a lot of bootlegs, they're gonna be doing that. So I think the offense is actually gonna fit him well being a big body receiver. Okay, but you know, it comes down to is he gonna, you know, it's crazy. Like, I want him to be an Eagle, I think he fits being an Eagle. I don't know what's going on behind the walls with being disgruntled and being frustrated. Is it beyond repair? I don't know. Um, obviously there's something going on. So Nikki, but I do think it's a good offense for him.

SPEAKER_00 53:14

Your your best years with the Eagles. So let's go back to 13 when you're a Pro Bowler, right? And then when you came back and like you were humming, right? As and took him to win a Super Bowl. In those best moments, was there, and I think this is really important because they need to get the they need to maximize the output out of Jalen Hurts, right? Was there ever a time in your best days in the NFL where you were like worried about a receiver and making him happy? Ever?

SPEAKER_01 53:43

I mean, or that that that thought was in your mind coming out of the tunnel, like I mean, as a young player for sure, with uh Deshaun Jackson and Jeremy Macklin, I I wanted to get and this isn't they were they were such they were such great players that I knew you know you were a receiver too, so you get it. Like you want the ball, and if you don't get the ball in a quarter, you get moody. It's just how receivers are a lot of times. You know, most of the time.

SPEAKER_00 54:04

But I want you to also think about what that impact can have on Jalen Hurts after you explain that.

SPEAKER_01 54:09

No, and but what the reason I say this is because I love those guys. I love playing with them. They're two outstanding receivers. I I knew I had to find a way to get them touches early to make sure that they were involved, not only from a mental standpoint of like they got catches, but them getting catches is gonna help us because they're really, really, really good. And for me to target and get those guys ball. I remember one time uh we were playing in Marty, it was my rookie year, and Marty Morning wake through the head says, like, you're throwing this to Deshaun Jackson. You are throwing this, you are not looking anywhere, you are throwing this ball, you are throwing it to Deshaun Jackson. I was like, all right. And his mind, but I realized like when you have guys like that, and these guys are some of the best to play the game. I thought Jeremy, I love playing with Jeremy. I thought he was outstanding. Deshaun Jackson, obviously outstanding. You want to get those guys the ball early. And you know, would they get frustrated if you didn't get them the ball? Yes, they would. All mo all the great receivers get frustrated. That's not just them. Any receiver gets frustrated. I'm sure you got frustrated when you wouldn't get the ball, and that that becomes a thing. It's just you learn how to handle it. Another way you can counteract that that I would do is on the sideline, I would go up to them, instead of just sitting where QBs sit, looking at the tablet, I would glance through to see the coverages, see what I needed to see with the blitz, uh, protection. And I would always walk down to the offensive line, and I'd be like, hey, you guys good? How are the tackles doing? Are they jumping at the snap counts? Y'all good? Okay, good. Go by the running backs and tight ends. Hey, everyone doing good. Hey, you're doing great. Let's keep rolling. Any questions? You know, a couple guys might ask something, hey, I like this play, whatever. Then you get to the receivers, and I would know based on who I'd been throwing it to, because the defense determined who I was throwing the ball to, not myself as I got older. I was like, I just let the D I read the defense and I got the ball to the guy that I felt was the best one to execute the play. If I knew like a guy wasn't getting touches that normally wanted touches, I'd be, hey man. And I would find plays on the sheet where like maybe he was my third option. And I get I've given this example of like Nelson Aguilar and Golden Tate. And I'm like, hey guys, I see you on the shallow route. I see you. I've hit Darren Sproles in the flat a few times. I hit Zach on the corner route. They're gonna overplay this because we've hit this, you know, to this uh the tight end side, you know, the single receiver side. The shallow is gonna be open because what's gonna happen is the flat defender's gonna move to get underneath the corner route. That's gonna open up. So I need you ready right here. You're gonna catch it, you're gonna go up the seam, you're gonna get a lot of yardage. So be ready for this. I see it. We're setting it up. They're just leaving Darren and Zach open right now. They're gonna take it away because they're looking on the sideline. After the game, and just talking like those guys. Now, did I get them the shallow route the next time? I don't know. I probably still threw it to Darren Sproles. But I knew it was important from to them from their quarterback speaking to them to say, hey, I see what you're doing. Be ready. I need those guys ready. I don't want those guys to take off a play on third down because they're in their own feelings and be and drop the ball because they weren't paying attention, they were just frustrated. I wanted them locked in and I knew they were working their butts off to run the routes, and I wanted to let them know I knew it. And those guys after the season or after that game came up to me as like, man, that meant a lot to us that you recognized that we were open on plays and you came over. Like, they didn't have to tell me that. Yeah, Golden and Nelson both told me those things at different times, like, hey, thank you for telling us like you saw this. And I'd be like, Man, I appreciate you just running your routes when you're not getting the rock. And like, hey, it was their job, but listen, a human being, like you run routes, you're not touching the ball. I get it. I get to touch the ball every play playing quarterback. And the other thing those guys did a great job to was digging out blocks to help the run game. So I made sure I let those guys know it. But all that goes into effect. Listen, was I a franchise quarterback like Jalen Hurts? And just no, I wasn't. But I did lead franchises, I did lead the Eagles. I was a part of winning a Super Bowl with an amazing team. Um, so I did have to lead in different situations. And I do think a leader has to recognize the guys around them, lift them up, and a big part of that is communication with the guys, talking to them, letting them know they're they're seen, um, asking the tackles like, do you need help with cadence? All those little things matter to bring a team together because the quarterback is not above the team. You are a part of the team. You cannot go win games without your teammates, and that's something that every quarterback has to remember. And that's what you know, I would say the great ones do that, but not all the great ones do that. But I would say that's key, especially playing in Philly. You got to make sure you let your guys know you appreciate them and just communicate with them.

SPEAKER_00 58:26

That's really good. I I think basically what you're getting at is every quarterback to some extent is dealing with this, with especially with talented receivers, and it's part of the it's part of the job description, yeah, right? And being a leader of of being a leader of men on the offense and and managing personalities. And so I don't know, maybe this offseason, like Jalen, I'm not putting AJ's behavior on Jalen, but I'm saying maybe this offseason, Jalen can take a can can have some introspective thoughts about how he can participate to if if AJ isn't the back as an Eagle, how Jalen can um contribute to to AJ just being present, being there every single play, even when he's not getting the ball, not getting frustrated, like helping manage that situation. It sounds like you think the quarterback is just as important as anybody else is in a situation like beyond just throwing the ball just to make him happy, right? There are other mechanics that go on the sideline in between plays, which that's really good insight. So we'll see where this goes. I mean, it continues to be one of the main storylines in the NFL where AJ Brown ends up, because if he ends up leaving, then the uh you know the assumption is the Eagles are worse off simply because he's a very good player and you're subtracting a good player. But it would still be interesting to see what they were, what kind of draft capital or some other form of capital they'd be able to get to offset that and become a better team in another area. So we'll see. Uh the draft may tell us some of those stories. We'll see. And like I said, on April 27th, which is a Monday, we will be in studio after the draft with Joel Clatt from Fox Sports. Uh Joel Clatt from Fox, the number one college guy on Fox, who is uh calling the game of the week every week with Gus Johnson, also covers the draft as well. We'll be fun to have him on. Um as always, we appreciate you joining. This has been episode thirty nine. Uh hit subscribe if you're watching on YouTube, and uh have a great day.