- 4 months ago
Seth and Sean dive into what Nick Caserio had to say about the newest Texan, Keylan Rutledge, what Rutledge himself says he brings to the team, and give some of their takeaways from the draft in general.
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00:00The Texans, they drafted an interior offensive lineman yesterday.
00:04His name is Keelan Rutledge.
00:05He is from Georgia Tech.
00:07He transferred there from Middle Tennessee, and he's an ass kicker.
00:12Here was Nick Casario, Texans general manager,
00:15in his opening statement on Keelan Rutledge.
00:19Some interest in the player, so we felt like,
00:22all right, we'll just move a couple spots, essentially give up a fifth-round pick
00:25because this is essentially what the difference is when you actually do the math.
00:29You know, to get a player who I think you all just spoke with him.
00:32But I would say, I mean, the things that stand out about him,
00:35I mean, toughness, violence, physicality, his playing style, his intelligence.
00:41I mean, basically, a guy wants to step on your throat in every play,
00:44which I would say sort of embodies what our football team is about, the way we play.
00:50Intense, violent, physical.
00:52Like, we're going to run a football this year.
00:55You know, it was an area that we felt like we wanted to
00:57and needed to improve here in the offseason.
00:59Hopefully, we've done that.
01:00And I would say Big Red is hopefully, you know, a part of that.
01:05Like, where is he going to play?
01:06Like, who the hell knows?
01:08I mean, we'll figure out, like, who the best five guys are
01:11and, you know, put the group out there that we think is going to help us the most,
01:15understanding that we'll probably need eight to ten guys
01:18on the offensive line here at some point.
01:21Okay, this is what I liked about that.
01:23First was I enjoyed the explanation of going up to get,
01:26for those of you that don't know the draft point system and everything,
01:31basically the old Jimmy Johnson chart where you attach points to it
01:33when he says it's the equivalent of a fifth-round pick,
01:36that's how all the points add up when you factor out the trade.
01:39That was the tax to move up.
01:40Yeah, yeah.
01:41And I think that that's where there was a lot of conviction.
01:46Multiple times in that press conference, Nick alluded to how the entire organization felt
01:51about Keelan Rutledge, that they didn't need to bring him in on a top-30 visit.
01:56He couldn't even remember if they had an official meeting with him at the Senior Bowl.
02:00It's just that all the boxes were checked off every step along the way,
02:04and they really liked this guy.
02:07And all those things that they talked about in training camp last year,
02:10about they want to punch you in the mouth, they want to be tough,
02:11they want to be physical,
02:12the style of run plays that they were trying to run early in the season,
02:16all of those things, they wanted to be committed to it,
02:20they just didn't have the guys who could do it.
02:22So this entire offseason has been about bringing in guys who are fiendishly committed to run blocking,
02:30guys that are tough, nasty, physical, all of those things.
02:34That's what they're going after, and Rutledge fits that mold.
02:38Whether or not he ends up being a good pick, we'll find out when he starts playing NFL football.
02:43But the theme of what they've been going for in the offseason
02:48very much could have pointed towards a guy like this.
02:50I think Chase Besantis is a similar type of player, too.
02:53They like Keelan Rutledge more than they like Chase Besantis.
02:56Yeah, and Besantis is still out there.
02:58You know, Besantis is, and who knows, you know,
03:01maybe the Texans load up at that position.
03:03Well, the other thing, too, is that I kind of, and the way he framed that,
03:07where does he end up playing, who the hell knows,
03:09it feels a little Daryl Morey-like in that Morey always had the philosophy of just
03:15don't overthink exactly how it's all going to look.
03:18Just get as many talented players on your team as possible.
03:20I think on the offensive line, that's what it looked like for them.
03:24I mean, let's say if Nick is saying we're not worried too much about position,
03:29let's not even restrict it to interior offensive linemen.
03:33If Caleb Lomu was still on the board at the time, not a great run blocker,
03:38and if they were just saying we'll take the best offensive lineman,
03:42they like Keelan Rutledge, there's a good chance they like Keelan Rutledge
03:47more than Caleb Lomu, who had been mocked a lot higher in a lot of mock drafts.
03:51Yeah, I think what brings center into the conversation is that that's the one area
03:55on the offensive line that they just have not addressed directly this offseason.
04:02They already have their left tackle of the future.
04:04Left guard, you feel like, all right, they signed Wyatt Teller.
04:07Right guard, oh, they brought back Ed Ingram.
04:09Right tackle, oh, they signed Braden Smith.
04:11Unless you feel like Evan Brown is going to be the center for this team this year,
04:15they have not addressed center with any sort of perceived front line kind of guy.
04:21So there's an opportunity there, and again, we played John Harris a little bit earlier,
04:26and Johnny's going to join us today at 9 o'clock on the show and talk about this pick
04:30and help us preview tonight.
04:34That's the first thing Johnny brought up with us the other day was the possibility
04:37of Keelan Rutledge before he was even a Texan, Keelan Rutledge, that he could play center.
04:41So that'll be an interesting talking point as we head towards training camp for sure,
04:46and even heading towards the spring activities.
04:50And that was another objection people made, and it's understandable.
04:54When we brought up the position versatility, people said,
04:57well, you don't draft centers in the first round.
04:58Yeah, they're not drafting a center specifically.
05:01They're drafting a guard who could end up playing center this year.
05:05But in terms of the prospect itself and where does he play on the offensive line,
05:09that old theory of just get the five best guys out there,
05:11it's easier to do when you have guys who are genuinely versatile.
05:14Nick also expressed a lot of humility about that last night, though, too,
05:18that you just never really know if a guy's going to be versatile
05:22until you actually put him in that position.
05:24Yeah, here's Nick Casario on scouting Rutledge and what they saw.
05:28Did you have a specific moment in meeting him or watching him
05:31that you had conviction yourself that he was a guy that you really liked?
05:36Yeah, when you put the tape on.
05:38I mean, everybody that watched him, I mean, your notes basically say physical,
05:42physical, tough, strong, good at Ron Blocker, good at the point of attack.
05:47He's probably more athletic than maybe people think he is.
05:52He's got some technique things that he can certainly clean up,
05:54which I think one of the things with the workout,
05:58sometimes you're trying to have a player maybe simulate some of the things
06:02that they're going to be asked to do.
06:04So can they take the coaching?
06:05How do they apply the coaching?
06:07I mean, it wasn't a player.
06:09Like, the makeup on this guy is like elite.
06:12Like, a couple of metrics that we have when we grade players,
06:16I mean, in like four or five categories, like there was one player in a draft
06:22that our scouts graded the way that they did, and it was him.
06:27So, like, that was like, okay, we didn't talk to him at the Combine
06:32because we didn't need to.
06:33Like, we might not even interview him at the Senior Bowl.
06:37Yeah, that's pretty powerful stuff right there.
06:40Yeah, no, they are, they like him a lot.
06:44This is, like, you talk about, you know, drafting for need
06:48versus drafting best player available, et cetera, et cetera.
06:51People love to get into that debate.
06:52I think, look, they have a needed offensive line
06:56until they prove that they can have a good offensive line.
06:58That's exactly right.
06:59Yeah, like, there's names on the depth chart, et cetera, et cetera.
07:03Until they prove that they have a good offensive line,
07:05they have a needed offensive line.
07:07And this is a guy that they felt very strongly about, obviously,
07:11just by way of trading up to get him.
07:14And the thing about that he said there that, you know,
07:18he's more athletic than people realize,
07:21it's not just that he's a red-headed, chalky white guy.
07:23I think that people might not think he's as athletic as he is.
07:27He doesn't, when you watch him, there's a certain stiffness to him
07:30that, you know, he doesn't look like the most fluid of guys,
07:33but his measurables are elite when it comes to, like, his vertical,
07:38his 40, his three-cone drill, all that short area quickness stuff.
07:42And then when you watch him on film,
07:44it's almost a little bit like Ariante Urshry.
07:46I had to watch Ariante Urshry a few times to realize he was actually moving.
07:49He was covering a lot of ground really fast on outside runs and everything.
07:52It just didn't necessarily look like it.
07:54It just doesn't look right.
07:56Yeah, you almost got to just, in your mind, put it in, like,
07:58oh, wait, I'm just watching dots on a graph here.
08:01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:01And, like, oh, okay, that little dot is moving really fast.
08:04Flailing arms and legs or anything.
08:05It might not aesthetically be what I want or whatever,
08:08but he actually is pretty explosive and moves pretty quickly.
08:12Yes.
08:13And that he does, he finishes blocks.
08:16He's got a nastiness to him.
08:17He plays with a good pad level, in my opinion.
08:20As Nick pointed out, he's got some technical things he's got to clean up,
08:23like all rookies do.
08:25But it makes a lot of sense.
08:27Yeah.
08:27It makes a lot of sense.
08:28And then the other, but there's people listening right now that are going to say,
08:32sure, that's great and all, but do they actually know what they're doing?
08:36We'll see.
08:37Yeah.
08:37We'll see.
08:37We'll find out.
08:38We'll find out.
08:39And this is another draft pick.
08:40You know, Nick mentions he's got some technique things he can clean up.
08:43Okay, well, this is where the confidence in Cole Popovich comes in,
08:46you know, to take this guy and smooth off the rough edges with him.
08:49Yeah, and that's where, too, you know, we talked a lot this offseason,
08:53and it was really after the, remember that Mike Vrabel viral video?
08:57The one of him with Max Onatur.
08:59Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:00Not the one with him and Diana Russini.
09:02Okay.
09:02It was that viral video before all the other viral videos and photos.
09:06Yes.
09:07It was where he was working out with the offensive lineman
09:10and kind of getting a feel for him and everything.
09:11Yeah.
09:12So we talked a lot about how sometimes offensive line coaches or coaches in general,
09:16especially with offensive linemen and defensive linemen,
09:18you can kind of get in there with them and run them through some drills
09:21and actually get out if you push against them a little bit.
09:24You can kind of feel where a guy's strengths and weaknesses are
09:28that doesn't show up on film necessarily.
09:30And that's where, hopefully, Cole Popovich's input compared to a guy like Chris Strouser,
09:38who just frankly looked like he'd rather be sipping a mocha chino than coaching football at times.
09:43Yes.
09:44I mean, he literally didn't even know if he wanted to coach football.
09:47The second year he was here.
09:48Going into the last year he was here.
09:50Yeah.
09:50I had Cole Popovich.
09:51I just, as of right now, I feel better about maybe his ability to scout offensive linemen
09:56than some other offensive line coaches.
09:58I think one of the things we'll hear one more from Nick here in a second,
10:01but going back to his opening statement, we will run the football this year.
10:06Like, he is, you know, sometimes you hear things, you read transcripts, you read into things.
10:11He is emphatically saying, like, it almost feels like, damn it,
10:15we haven't been able to run this thing since I got here.
10:18And they're acting, they're conducting themselves at this offseason like a team
10:23that is stating we will run the football this year.
10:26It's been fun for me to watch the analytically-minded young folk throughout all of this
10:32as the run game has very much come back in vogue in the NFL.
10:35Teams ran the ball more than they had in over a decade last year.
10:38And, you know, we went through an entire generation of Gen Z and young millennials
10:43saying, like, oh, these dinosaurs, they don't understand how little it matters
10:48whether or not you can run the ball, to the point where that became the prevailing groupthink.
10:53And now a lot of teams are realizing, wow, nobody knows how to stop the run.
10:58And not that many teams even know how to run the ball.
11:00There's an opportunity there.
11:02Yep.
11:02And that some of the old established the run doctrine and everything has a lot more validity to it now.
11:08And you're not a dinosaur if you do it.
11:10It's like when you see kids live through their first financial bubble popping.
11:15Oh, yeah.
11:15You're like, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
11:19You thought this was going to last.
11:21Right, right, right.
11:22Ah.
11:23It's okay.
11:24Ah, the vigor and the folly of youth.
11:27Yeah, these things all come to an end.
11:30So I think, like, it's funny because we are at a point now where I think the teams that
11:34are ahead of the curve are actually teams that realize there's a lot of opportunity if you
11:39can just run the football old school.
11:41Oh, yeah.
11:41And that sets the tone for a lot of other things.
11:44Look at the team that won the Super Bowl.
11:45Yeah.
11:46Seahawks, man.
11:47Ten years from now, there's going to be a new generation of young nerds saying that,
11:51like, ha, these guys don't even believe in establishing the run.
11:55Yeah, yeah.
11:57It's all cycles, man.
11:57They don't even know.
11:58They don't even read books.
12:00That's right.
12:00That's right.
12:00Here's one more from Casario that he says, man, Keelan Rutledge, all ball.
12:07I mean, this guy's all ball.
12:08He's all football.
12:10Doesn't really care about anything else.
12:12Wants to punch people in the mouth.
12:14Yep, that works here.
12:15So, I mean, that's what you see on tape, which is, I'd say, part of the intrigue with
12:19the player.
12:20Yeah, Sean, do you know how I know that Nick feels strongly about this guy?
12:25Why?
12:25Do you know how hard it is for me to, when I cut up Nick Casario audio, to get a
12:29good,
12:30concise 12-second clip?
12:33That was about as concise and punchy of a clip as possible.
12:38That was a good punch.
12:39Ever out of Nick Casario.
12:40No, you're 100% right.
12:41Now, I was a little disappointed.
12:43I think it was right before that where he brought up the fact that Keelan Rutledge was
12:48at an Airbnb with his wife watching the draft and not having one of these parties that
12:55looks like a circus, he said.
12:56I didn't play that because he said that he was there with basically just his wife, and
13:01then I saw the video of it, and I was like, no, there were like 10 people there.
13:04There were like 10 people there.
13:05But I just love the fact that whether he was accurate in his assessment or not, I just love
13:09that he proactively brought that up as part of the whole ball of wax that is Keelan Rutledge.
13:15That's the, Seth, you know, I don't know anything about offensive line technique or punch or where
13:20your hands should be or footwork or anything like that.
13:22I am here for, I like this guy because he's just chilling at his house with his wife,
13:27and he doesn't have 50 people around him all with their phones out pumping him up.
13:32That's the scouting I'm here for.
13:34Who was my favorite moment last night?
13:36I can't remember if you remember when I texted you that one of the draft picks, one of his
13:45buddies, when they were celebrating, got in front of the camera, and his pants were like
13:51halfway down his butt.
13:53And I was so happy that I knew that there were millions of people my age at home saying
13:59like, pull your fridges up, Buster.
14:02What are you doing?
14:03It was the onature.
14:04Yeah, that's right.
14:05It was the onature.
14:06And Amy said the same thing, like, that guy's pants, that guy's pants are around the bottom
14:10of his butt cheek.
14:11I knew America's fragile sensibilities were going to be tested in that moment.
14:15Well, they're fragile about...
14:16Buster, pull up your pants.
14:18That style of wearing your pants anyways.
14:22And this guy's got his...
14:23I was so happy that Max Ayanichor hadn't gone to the Texans just because I knew that would
14:27have been the 33% of what people were going to be texting and calling us about.
14:32I know.
14:32I know.
14:32That's what I have it in my notes.
14:33I'm looking at it right here.
14:35Ayanichor to the Steelers.
14:36One of his homeboys had his pants down, butt level right in front of the camera.
14:41Yeah.
14:41That made it...
14:41The other one that I loved is, remember, Mekhi Lemon had gone viral at the Combine because
14:48when he was doing his interview, it was almost like he was R Kelly trying to seduce here
14:52or something.
14:53And he gave his interview with Laura Rutledge.
14:57It was that same vibe.
14:58Yeah.
14:58That's just the way he talks.
15:00Yep.
15:00Yep.
15:00I love it.
15:01You definitely...
15:02I feel like he's going to be a hit in Philly for about three weeks and then they'll hate
15:05him like they hate everything else.
15:06You definitely texted me about him.
15:09You said, Mekhi Lemon, seductive AF.
15:12That's what you texted me.
15:16Oh, man.
15:17We'll go through some of the league-wide draft day notes in just a little bit, but we promised
15:22some Keelan Rutledge, so here it is.
15:24What separates you from the others, Keelan Rutledge?
15:27Yeah, just how I'm wired, how I'm mentally, how I finish, how I strain, just the kind of mentality
15:32I bring to the offensive line.
15:34That's different than everybody, and I'm going to give my all for the Houston Texans, so I'm
15:38excited to get up there and get to work.
15:40Okay.
15:40They didn't interview him at the Combine, and they didn't do a 30 visit.
15:43I listened to that 12 seconds of audio.
15:45I'm like, I would have liked to have interviewed him if I were the Texans.
15:48He's a very folksy guy.
15:50I think there's times where it sounds like in the evaluation process that he was checking
15:56off so many boxes that, for one, sometimes you might get to a point where everybody feels
16:02good about it.
16:03You're going to check your blind spots and everything, but you don't need to overthink
16:08it, that if people unanimously like him, and that all the reports from a coach that you
16:13respect, like they keep saying, they love Coach Key at Georgia Tech, but then also, too,
16:19look, they ended up trading up for him.
16:20So were they playing a little bit of that game of like, man, we know that other teams
16:26know that we tend to draft guys that we had a top 30 visit with, or a senior bowl visit
16:32with, or a combine visit with, that they might have thought, we don't need to put any more
16:36smoke out there than we need to.
16:38As of right now, because Nick talked about that last night, you know, they do a lot of
16:42research trying to figure out what other teams are going to do.
16:44Teams do look at mock drafts, because they are a pretty good indicator for where players
16:48are going to go in the draft, if not to the exact team, but you get a good feel for
16:52it.
16:53So when they're looking at mock drafts, and they see that Keelan Rutledge, you know, early
16:57in the process was being projected as a fourth round pick, and then they see him start to slowly
17:01rise up the board, there may have been an element of like, listen, we don't need to put any
17:07more extra positive smoke about this guy than we need to.
17:11There might be teams that liked Keelan Rutledge that were thinking, all right, look, it looks
17:15like he's probably going to slide into the second round.
17:18And so that, like, this is one of those situations where an absence of a top 30 visit might have
17:23been the indicator that they actually really like him.
17:25Yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:26Which is hard to do and figure out, you know, beforehand.
17:29Yeah, well, and you only get so many of those visits.
17:32I mean, they call them 30 visits for a reason.
17:34You only get 30 of them.
17:35And sometimes the team.
17:36They do get those Zoom calls.
17:37They do.
17:37They get three Zoom calls.
17:38I would say three with each prospect or something.
17:40Three Zoom calls with a certain number of prospects.
17:42Yeah, yeah.
17:43So there's, I mean, there's other ways to do it.
17:44But that's a great point about, you know, maybe trying to game the system by not having a
17:50guy come in for a 30 visit is really, it's an interesting concept.
17:54You don't want a girl to like you.
17:56Don't act too much like you.
17:57Play hard to get, man.
17:58Yeah.
18:00That's not a direct analogy.
18:02All right.
18:03You don't want your buddy who's a, you know, like a Mike Vrabel type to just swoop in.
18:09If you got one of those friends, you got one of those friends that as soon as he knows
18:13you have something, he's got to have it.
18:15You don't let him know that you're interested in this girl.
18:17That's right.
18:18You're like, who, her?
18:19Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:20Like not in a good way either.
18:21I play a little chess, man.
18:23Yeah.
18:23Here's Tate Rutledge.
18:24Tate Rutledge.
18:25Tate Rutledge is a guy on the line.
18:26I knew I'd do that at least once this morning.
18:28Keelan Rutledge.
18:30What are the fans here in Houston getting in Keelan Rutledge?
18:33Yeah, man.
18:34You're just getting a relentless worker.
18:35Someone that's just going to come in every day.
18:36Be the first in, last out kind of guy.
18:38A guy that's blue collar, gritty.
18:40Wants to get after it.
18:41Wants to finish using the dirt.
18:42And you're getting a guy that's just a great teammate.
18:44I'm going to hold people accountable.
18:46And I'm going to push the standard for the whole team.
18:48So I'm ready to get up there and just get to work, man.
18:50And, you know, about me, like I can play all three interiors.
18:52Obviously, I just played right guard in college.
18:54But, you know, I'm comfortable snapping, playing left.
18:56Anything the team needs me to do, man, I'm there.
18:58And I'm going to be the guy they can call on.
19:00So I'm ready to get to work.
19:02Okay.
19:02It's big talk right there, man.
19:03Yeah, no.
19:04No, he has a lot of good clips.
19:05But this is where I have to fight against my ingrained defensive lineman
19:09who hears a rookie offensive lineman talk about how, you know,
19:11we're going to show people how it's going.
19:13How's that going for you right now?
19:15Yeah, just settle down there, killer.
19:16We'll see about that.
19:17Are you able to resist trashing Keelan Rutledge on his first game?
19:20I've heard a lot of bold talk on a rookie offensive lineman.
19:23Let's see what you got.
19:25Yep, yep.
19:25Here's one more from Keelan Rutledge.
19:27What do you know about C.J. Stroud?
19:28Heck, yeah, he's a baller, man.
19:30Been watching that guy since he was, you know, in college, dicing it up.
19:34So I can't wait to get there and just get to work, man,
19:36and just, you know, do whatever the team's asked me to do
19:39and just be a, you know, be a good piece for him
19:42and let's go win some games and let's get in that Super Bowl, man.
19:44So I'm excited.
19:45Yeah.
19:45Now, Seth, do you think that C.J. Stroud has texted Keelan Rutledge yet?
19:51Oh, that's a good question.
19:52Yeah.
19:53I don't know.
19:53Still adjusting to the central time zone, so he's probably up.
19:57So, you know, even if he's trying to get to bed early.
20:00Yeah, yeah, yeah.
20:01Yeah.
20:01If I were, you know what, I don't know.
20:03I bet he texted him today.
20:05My hope was that every Houston Texans player who's currently on the roster
20:08was in bed by 10 p.m. last night because they have a frothy workout this morning.
20:13They got workouts, man.
20:14Yeah.
20:14Yeah, especially the interior offensive lineman.
20:17You just got some new competition in the building.
20:19I mean, I've always been early to bed, early to rise, but I can't remember.
20:22When I was an active player, I don't think there was a single time
20:25that I'd ever watched the entire first round of the draft.
20:27Oh, really?
20:28It's just that it goes too late, man.
20:30Well, I do like, and we'll transition here into just some general draft thoughts.
20:35I was a big fan of this new eight-minute between picks.
20:38You know, somebody, one of our listeners tweeted, you and I,
20:43saying it doesn't seem to matter that they reduce the time between picks
20:46because look at how long the runway is for the prospects to walk out.
20:51That doesn't have anything to do with the other.
20:52Like, as soon as the pick is in, the next team's on the clock.
20:57Clock starts.
20:57So, yeah, you don't have to worry about that guy walking forward.
21:00That is a long walk they've got, though, from the green room.
21:03It was.
21:03I would be bushed.
21:04But, man.
21:05You know who I was impressed with that I'm really pulling for is Reuben Bain
21:10with his short arms because that's all people talk about.
21:12Yeah, his tiny little gator arms.
21:13To the point where they don't realize he does a lot of things that compensate
21:18and overcome having short arms.
21:20But when he did his interview, he was like, and he had his sunglasses on.
21:24You could tell he was all business.
21:27That's a guy where I would say, hey, listen, whatever you're typing into your phone
21:31about his short arms, go ahead and say it to his face.
21:33Right, right.
21:34I will not be making any jokes.
21:36If I ever meet Reuben Bain, I'm not going to make a look.
21:38He's not the kind of guy you can mess with like that.
21:40No.
21:40He's not going to, like, laugh it off and be like, oh, yeah, this is a short arm thing.
21:44No, he's a bad man.
21:45Yeah.
21:46I would extend my hand to him an extra couple inches than usual.
21:50That's a little bit of shit.
21:51And shake his hand and say, these are just fine.
21:57Hopefully I want to tear a rotator cuff reaching out to shake his hand.
22:01Yeah.
22:03What?
22:04What did I say?
22:05I love that kid, though.
22:06I hope it works out for him.
22:08Yeah.
22:08I thought there was a good chance the Ravens would have taken him,
22:11except just because that's the, like, the Ravens tend to take guys who.
22:17Yeah.
22:18Well, Terrell Suggs, remember, was a guy that was, you know, short arms,
22:22didn't run a great 40, all of that, but he just flat out produced.
22:25It worked out with him.
22:26Yeah, it worked out with T. Sizzle.
22:29But the other guy, Iwani.
22:30Iwani was the most heavily favored to go to the Ravens because he just looks like,
22:34he looks like a Raven.
22:35Yeah.
22:36And lo and behold, there he is.
22:37He does.
22:38Easy trip from Happy Valley over to Baltimore for sure.
22:41Kevin Clark of ESPN.
22:42I watched a lot of the post-draft coverage last night after it was over.
22:47He was on with Scott Van Pelt.
22:48That was his huge shocker was that the Ravens did not take Reuben Bain with that
22:5314th overall pick.
22:54Yeah.
22:54He was stunned.
22:55Yeah, he felt like a Raven, too.
22:56Yes.
22:57You know, he's just, everything from his style of play,
23:01the fact that his measurables are what drove him down the board.
23:05The Ravens do a really good job of saying,
23:07oh, you guys don't like his tiny little arms, huh?
23:09Yeah.
23:09I do.
23:10I have this vision of a bunch of NFL scouts showing up at a bar looking at Mike Tyson
23:15and be like, look at Pipsqueak over there.
23:18I'm going to go kick his ass.
23:21Look at his short arms.
23:23What a clown.
23:25The funniest part of that is the stereotypical scout that you're portraying.
23:30Like, I think I'm going to go kick his ass.
23:32I'm going to go kick him.
23:33Look at that, look at that, look at that half pint.
23:36Look at that sawed-off little wimp.
23:39Look at Pipsqueak over there.
23:40Oh, my God.
23:41Did you hear him talk?
23:42Yeah.
23:42Oh, yeah.
23:43That would, an old school scout would totally say,
23:45Mike Tyson, short arms, didn't like his persona.
23:49Right.
23:50He's got a squeaky voice.
23:52Squeaks like a mouse.
23:53What a wimp.
23:54Probably not tough enough for boxing.
23:55Oh, my God.
23:57I'm going to go kick his ass.
24:00I don't know why that tickles me so much.
24:03Okay, so I just jotted down some things, Seth.
24:05A lot of this, it feels like it's me jotting down notes,
24:08and I could take you and me texting each other during the draft
24:10and just hold it right next to it, and it looks like that.
24:14That's what I wanted to tell the kids.
24:15Hey, this job isn't as cushy as it seems.
24:17Sometimes you have to text back and forth with your buddy at night for three hours.
24:21Text jokes with your friends, yes.
24:22With a bunch of jokes, half of which you actually can't say on the radio.
24:26That's exactly right.
24:27I can't even empty my variable portfolio on the radio because of the damned FCC.
24:33That's right.
24:33That's right.
24:34Okay, a few things here, though.
24:36Fernando Mendoza's hand-talking is going to be even more annoying at the NFL level
24:41than it was at the college level.
24:42It is awkward as hell, man.
24:45It's honestly...
24:46For the Bulls on YouTube, I'm demonstrating what I'm talking about.
24:49He does a lot of that thing that people trying to make a point at a TED Talk
24:53or something would do, or they're karate-chopping his palm of his hand.
24:58But he does it like a guy who's watched a whole bunch of TED Talks
25:01about the importance of using your hands when you're talking.
25:04Yes, yes.
25:04It doesn't look like natural, you know?
25:07There's a...
25:07Like, I'm a natural-born hand-talker,
25:12and when I see people that are doing it because they've seen a presentation
25:16about how you're supposed to use your hands,
25:19it just sticks out like a sore thumb.
25:21Oh, and when they start losing, it's going to be even worse.
25:23Raider fans might end up hating him.
25:25I want to tell you another thing, though, too, man.
25:27Orlovsky is just biding his time because, look,
25:31Mendoza might be ten times a better natural quarterback than Ty Simpson.
25:34We don't know because Ty Simpson's played, like, three college football games.
25:38Yeah, yeah.
25:39But, I mean, Ty Simpson goes into a situation where he might sit all year,
25:44learn that system, and end up playing for a Super Bowl-ready team in year two.
25:49For that head coach, too.
25:50Whereas Fernando Mendoza will be, you know, coming out of his third concussion
25:55by week one of year two.
25:57Yeah, yep, yeah.
25:58So Ty Simpson might end up looking like the better quarterback,
26:00even if he is or is not early in his career because he's just in a much better situation.
26:05Well, and that's a dynamic, too, when you're a quarterback.
26:07He's like, okay, do I want to be a really high pick in the first round
26:10where I'm going to a bad team, or do I want to be a first-round pick
26:13but maybe a little later where I'm going to a better situation?
26:15Ty Simpson's going to arguably, inarguably, one of the top five teams in football,
26:21arguably, I mean, on paper, maybe the best team in football.
26:24And they picked him at 13 because they had Atlanta's pick.
26:27You know, so he's still getting pretty, you know, he's getting drafted.
26:30He's getting, you know, he's getting, you know, better money than he would be getting
26:33at the back of the first round.
26:34And he's going to a team that's back of the first-round caliber.
26:38It's a great, you're right, it's a great situation for him.
26:41The Jets' war room and any war room that gives a standing ovation for their own pick
26:46can just, can, they, I can't read what I wrote in my notes here because there's curse.
26:52These war rooms that, it's fine, I'm fine with the war rooms that are high-fiving over a pick.
26:57You know, they go over, they shake the GM.
26:59You know, enthusiasm or something, but I didn't see it.
27:01Did it feel like the Jets were a choreographed standing ovation?
27:04Yes, they stood.
27:05They all stood in their own spots, all stood in their own chairs,
27:09and just stood and clapped forever with the pick of, who did they take?
27:13David Bailey.
27:14Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, with the second pick.
27:16The second, well, they took Kenyon Sadiq later, and they traded up to get Omar Cooper.
27:19They had a good draft last night on paper.
27:21You know, we'll see.
27:22They did the same thing four years ago.
27:25They had three first-round picks, and now here they are picking second again.
27:27Talk about pre-draft smoke and everything.
27:29Not that the Jets had as much reason to put out smoke,
27:32but, you know, people were reading into the fact that they canceled their top 30 visit with David Bailey.
27:38The guy they picked.
27:39And a lot of people thought, oh, yeah, it's Arvel Reese.
27:41Like, no.
27:42As it was with the way that Nick was talking, sometimes you don't need –
27:47you feel good enough about the guy that you don't need a top 30 visit.
27:50Yes.
27:50We got other – we got character-issued dudes that we got to spend some time with
27:54before we, you know, talk to the guy that we already feel awesome about.
27:58Well, especially when you got multiple first-round picks like the Jets do.
28:00You know, if you feel like, I don't – we don't need to do any more research.
28:03They were essentially picking first in the draft last night
28:06because everybody knew Mendoza was going number one to the Raiders.
28:08So there's nothing that – they don't need to worry about anybody coming up and getting a guy.
28:12So they know who they're taking.
28:14They can spend the rest of their time, you know,
28:16hoping Kenyon Sadiq falls to them at 16 like he did last night, you know.
28:20Jeremiah Love is going to the worst team in the NFC West,
28:25and this is about as ideal as it could get if you're a Houston Texan fan
28:29because it was precariously close, I would imagine,
28:32with him landing with the Tennessee Titans.
28:34If the Cardinals had passed on Jeremiah Love,
28:36we would be talking about Jeremiah Love in the AFC South this morning.
28:40Yeah, and I saw a few Texans fans.
28:41They confessed this to me.
28:43One, I don't have the tweet here right now, but he said,
28:45Seth, I feel dirty and feeling happy that Jeremiah Love didn't go to the Titans
28:51just because he didn't want it to be soft, you know.
28:53You know, like, I don't want to be a guy that's afraid of other players going to other teams.
28:56Look, it doesn't have anything to do with whether Jeremiah Love
28:59would have vaulted the Titans up to AFC South contenders or anything.
29:03It's that two times per year that you play that team,
29:07and they have one player who could break the game wide open for them.
29:10Even if the Titans are worse this year than they were last year,
29:14but they have Jeremiah Love on the team,
29:16that's like two breakaway runs or one reception that can flip the tables in a game.
29:21And I didn't want that.
29:23I didn't want that constant headache or menace.
29:26And that if the Titans do get their crap together, too,
29:29then it could be a real big headache.
29:30So don't feel any shame at all about somebody that you play twice a year
29:34not getting an electrifying football player on the team.
29:37Absolutely not.
29:38Absolutely not.
29:39By the way, how about this?
29:41Because of the way the draft works,
29:42because the salary slotting is not specific to position,
29:46it's just specific to the draft slot.
29:49Like a quarterback makes the same as a running back that gets drafted third.
29:52Jeremiah Love is now the highest paid running back in the NFL in history
29:56in terms of guaranteed money.
29:57Yeah.
29:57He's guaranteed $52 million.
29:59It's by far the biggest guarantee for a running back in the history of the sport.
30:04Yeah.
30:05What a weird wrinkle that is.
30:07It's a really weird wrinkle,
30:08but going back to kind of the way the pendulum is swinging.
30:11Jeremiah loves, he's a rare prospect.
30:14Rare.
30:14So it's not like all these running backs are all of a sudden starting to go in the top five.
30:18But it's two years in a row now where a running back has gone in the top five.
30:22And I think that the pendulum swinging back towards the run game means that at some point,
30:27listen, everybody, I don't know how people get angry about this stuff, but good for you.
30:31At some point, yeah, there will be a free agency contract for a running back
30:35that's higher than whatever Jeremiah Love is making.
30:37Did you hear what the overall attendance was last night when it got announced?
30:41300,000 they were saying at the beginning.
30:43320,000 and something was the official attendance.
30:47Which matches the population of the city of Pittsburgh.
30:51Yeah.
30:52It's crazy.
30:53I mean, obviously a lot of fans came in from out of town to cheer for their teams in the
30:56draft.
30:57The overhead views of it.
30:59I mean, I hate.
31:00It's pretty cool.
31:00Well, when I first tuned in, they were interviewing Roger Goodell.
31:03Yeah.
31:04And which is always just so thrilling.
31:06But I was kind of surprised because they showed the stadium.
31:10Yeah.
31:11And I'm like, oh, wow.
31:12And the lower bowl was already pretty full even before the draft had started.
31:16Yeah.
31:16They're doing this at the stadium.
31:17And then they zoomed back to the actual stage presentation.
31:21Yeah.
31:22And that was rapidly filling up.
31:23That was impressive.
31:24That was pretty cool.
31:25I don't know if Bridgeland is going to be big enough to contain it when the Texans inevitably have a
31:30draft there.
31:31I don't know either.
31:32300,000 people.
31:33Wow.
31:34Now, I don't know.
31:35I mean, I don't know that Houston would get 300,000 out to the draft.
31:39It would be 86 degrees outside.
31:42I don't also always buy the attendance figures at public rallies.
31:48That one feels way off to me.
31:50That just feels mathematically impossible.
31:52300,000 seems improbable.
31:54Yeah.
31:54Yeah.
31:55Yeah.
31:55So that was crazy.
31:56On a school night?
31:57On a school night.
31:58Yeah, exactly.
31:58On a school night.
31:59You know what?
32:00As they're talking about how there's 300,000 people there, I'm like, okay, cool.
32:03As they're opening the draft, and they brought out Cam Hayward and T.J. Watt with Roger Goodell, which was
32:09a weird sight because you're in Pittsburgh, and it gives the impression of, wow, they're booing T.J. Watt and
32:15Cam Hayward.
32:16No.
32:17They're booing Roger Goodell.
32:18Yeah.
32:19But so as they're gushing about the 300,000 people are there, they kept going back to a close-up
32:25of two random, annoying Steelers fans.
32:28I was like, could you show it?
32:30Like, three times in a row, they go to these two guys that they realize the camera's on, and they're
32:35saying, yay!
32:37It is a bad look for Pittsburgh.
32:39Bad look.
32:40I didn't see the stadium.
32:43So there were people in the stadium.
32:44Were they doing a watch party in the stadium?
32:45Yeah, they had a watch.
32:46It looked to me like they had a watch party in the stadium.
32:48They were showing that a lot pre-draft, and then during the draft, they were more just showing the stage
32:52area.
32:52Yeah.
32:53A few other observations from me.
32:55As far as worst drip of any of the prospects that were there, Jordan Tyson looked like a valet driver.
33:03Jordan Tyson, the wide receiver from Arizona State who went to the Saints, he had on like a black coat
33:09that looked more like a windbreaker than a sport coat.
33:11He had a white button-down shirt and a black tie, and his shirt was untucked.
33:16Oh, okay.
33:17He had a black tie, a black.
33:18Wait, which white shirt?
33:19Did he have a collared white shirt?
33:20A collared white shirt, yeah.
33:21Who was wearing the wife beater?
33:24Oh, I don't know.
33:25He had a white buddy underneath this, and it was kind of like a super aggressive tuxedo cut almost.
33:30And then I felt bad because he opened up the jacket, and it was his mom's name monogrammed into there.
33:36Oh, who was that?
33:37Who was that?
33:37Embroidered into it.
33:38Yeah.
33:39And then there was another guy, oh, this was late, it was after the Texans had picked, I think.
33:46It was a guy they showed, they flashed back to the studio photography of it.
33:50It was a lineman who was doing it with his shirt off, and it was not a good look.
33:55It was not a good look at all, but I admire the confidence.
33:59Yeah.
33:59It was like the woman that you see at Walmart wearing the extreme muffin top, but she's going to wear
34:04that halter top no matter what.
34:05Yeah, yeah, yeah.
34:07God, I'm trying to remember who that player was.
34:09I remember because he had on kind of like a short sport coat, and he opened it up, and he
34:14had engraved it for his mom, and he said, yeah, my mom is my inspiration.
34:18Was it Jordan Tyson?
34:18I think it might have been Jordan Tyson.
34:19Jordan Tyson?
34:20No, Jordan Tyson's the one who I just said, he's the one who's dressed like a valet.
34:25Yeah, yeah.
34:25I'm trying to remember who that was.
34:29It looked like a wide receiver or a DB.
34:31It was this more slender guy.
34:33Looked good in a suit.
34:34Yeah, we'll figure it out.
34:37Don't worry, everybody.
34:38Don't worry.
34:38We're on it.
34:39We'll get to this pressing news.
34:40We'll get to the bottom of it.
34:41Yeah, yeah.
34:43For me, as far as being a Texan fan, the draft felt like it started when Caden Proctor got picked
34:52at 12.
34:53Yeah.
34:54Because I felt like the first 11 guys, like the first 11 guys that went weren't anybody who you and
34:59I had talked about for the last two months in mock drafts or anything like that.
35:03Caden Proctor at 12 was the first guy where I'm like, okay, this thing is now, let's get dialed in
35:08now here.
35:09We can see anything Texan anytime soon.
35:11In the top 16, the really only notable things where there were things sliding around or unexpected was that Reuben
35:20Bain fell as far as he did to 15.
35:23But even that wasn't a huge surprise given his aforementioned tiny arms.
35:28God, I love him.
35:29I hope he does really well.
35:30I'm glad he's in the NFC.
35:32Caden Proctor didn't slide as far as a lot of people thought he might have.
35:37Ty Simpson got drafted.
35:38That was a bit of a surprise.
35:40But other than that, I think the Chiefs trading up for Mansoor Delaney was a little bit of a surprise.
35:48But beyond that, pretty much everybody that went in the top 15 was about where you would have expected they
35:54might go.
35:55Yep.
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