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00:00Minicamp going on. Finally, we are getting down to the nitty-gritty of the quarterbacks.
00:06Nathan Zagura, time for him to join us right now on the Wise Heart Right.
00:08We make a right call, Kyle Wright Hotline. Nathan, how the hell are you?
00:14I'm doing great, Monfrere. How are you?
00:16Doing well. How tight is this quarterback race actually getting?
00:21I'd say very. I would say very tight. I mean, Todd Munkin, as you know, is not a man to
00:25mince words.
00:26I don't think he's a guy who speaks in cryptic terms. And right now, you know, Shador Sanders and Deshaun
00:31Watson are the two quarterbacks that he thinks are starting-level players in the National Football League.
00:36They're competing. They're getting a lot of reps. I love how many reps are available to these quarterbacks in each
00:41practice.
00:42And right now, it's good. I like the way that Todd said it. He said, we have two quarterbacks who
00:47are playing well enough right now that they deserve an opportunity to continue to compete to be the starter.
00:52And there's no game being played tomorrow. There really is no urgency in terms of, you know, how you're going
00:57to, in the sense of timing to make this happen.
01:00But I think it just says that you've got two quarterbacks who are throwing the football pretty well for the
01:04Cleveland Browns.
01:04And that's a good thing. Ultimately, one will separate, and that'll be the start.
01:08Well, Nathan, just a little pushback or maybe just clarification, because when I hear that, I get nervous only because
01:18last time we saw Deshaun Watson in a bronze uniform, he was one of the worst quarterbacks in recent NFL
01:23history.
01:24And the last time we saw Shador, granted, not all his fault, but he graded out as one of the
01:30worst rookies that we've seen in a while.
01:32So to hear that they're both starting quality or caliber, I want to hear that they've both gotten so much
01:39better.
01:40So which is it here? Because that does make me a little bit nervous that if neither are really differentiating
01:45themselves, then what do we really have this year?
01:48Well, I think if we had that guy, there wouldn't be a quarterback competition, right?
01:52And so you've got guys that have, you know, Deshaun Watson, obviously the last time he played at an elite
01:57level was the year 2020.
01:58Now, we saw some glimpses of him here in his time with the Cleveland Browns.
02:03Same with Shador. We saw some flashes last year, things that were very encouraging.
02:06I think that both guys are embracing this offense. I think they're both throwing the ball well.
02:10Deshaun is throwing the ball incredibly well right now for the Cleveland Browns, which I like.
02:15But again, this is not football yet. This is, you know, guys, nobody's being hit or anything like that.
02:21I think that Shador continues to improve, especially in his processing.
02:26And that's one of the things you talk to the coaches about, that he's shown a big improvement in that
02:31just in the time that he's been with this coaching staff.
02:33This is an offense that has a lot more freedom for the quarterback.
02:35This is an offense that allows them to make checks and to get into things that they're comfortable with based
02:39on the looks that they see.
02:41And so I think you're seeing two guys play well.
02:43You're directionally, like, of course, if the Browns had Josh Allen or Joe Burrow, we're not having this conversation.
02:50That's the starter. That's the end of it.
02:52The Browns don't have that, and the search for the quarterback continues.
02:55So you're getting a competition.
02:57When I said two starting level quarterbacks, those are Todd Bunkin's words.
03:01I think that he likes what he is seeing here.
03:05And what I go back to, the thing that I am 100% certain of is that our skill position
03:10group is light years ahead of where it's been,
03:13probably since we've had Odell and Jarvis.
03:15Because these young receivers can run, they're making plays,
03:19and that's going to help whoever ends up winning this quarterback competition.
03:23Well, we have wondered, Nathan Zagura joining us right now on the hotline,
03:26we have wondered if it's just as simple as if it's a tie, it goes to the younger guy,
03:31which would be Shador in this case.
03:34Do you believe that to be the case, or do you think that's a sports talk topic,
03:39that Munkin, there's really no such thing as a tie,
03:41that Munkin's going to go with whoever's best,
03:43and so he's not going to just narrow it down to something as simple as that?
03:54Probably, if that makes a yes to all of that.
03:56I think that Todd Munkin ultimately is going to pick the quarterback that he thinks can give this team the
04:00best chance to win.
04:01I do think if you're taking a step out of the grind and trying to use kind of an 80
04:06,000-foot view from an organizational standpoint,
04:09if it is a tie, I think it makes all the sense in the world to start Shador Sanders,
04:13because he's the guy that you have under contractual control for the next two years.
04:17He's the guy that in-house could be that solution.
04:20So, to me, I don't think it's a sports talk trope,
04:23but that just makes a lot of sense kind of when you're outside looking in.
04:28I think on the inside, it's kind of who Todd Munkin believes is the best guy to operate his offense
04:34and to help this football team win games.
04:35That's who's going to end up being the starter.
04:37I do think it's ultimately somebody is going to separate themselves as we go through this process.
04:43You know, we're seeing a higher level of efficiency from the quarterbacks yesterday, which was good.
04:49I thought Deshaun had the throw of the day on a deep ball to Tylan Wallace.
04:52Shador, though, hit a few deep balls of his own,
04:55giving his players chances to go up and make plays, which they certainly did.
05:00Overall, I'm just encouraged by the offense in general.
05:03I'm not necessarily tying it to the quarterback position.
05:06I like what I'm seeing from Todd Munkin.
05:08I like what I see from the scheme.
05:09And, again, the speed, the juice, what I would call the element of danger,
05:14and even talk to some guys on our defense, they think it's like night and day
05:17in terms of what we have overall in that wide receiver room with the additions of Boston and Concepcion.
05:22And the fact that Isaiah Bond, who averaged over 18 yards a catch last year,
05:26you know, is kind of really starting to hit his stride.
05:28It feels like in his second year, I talked to him, he added 15 pounds of muscle.
05:32He is still running by everybody.
05:34He's worked on his catching in terms of he liked to jump a lot when he caught the ball.
05:37He's worked on that.
05:38He looks really good.
05:39Judy looks good.
05:40So that's the thing that I think most people will see for sure when they come out to training camp
05:45to be like, okay, this is an offense that has some playmakers now who can catch the football.
05:50Nathan Segura joining us on the show.
05:52I did not see the Watson pass to Tylan Wallace.
05:54I did see the pass to Denzel Boston from Shador Sanders.
05:58I was a fan of that.
06:01Yeah, there's a lot to like about.
06:03Number one, Denzel Boston, I think of the guys that I've seen this offseason
06:07has jumped out to me in terms of looks the part, playing faster than I think,
06:13and that's been a very pleasant surprise, playing faster, ability to get deep,
06:17catches everything, can go up over defenders.
06:19He has been, I think, very much a standout.
06:22And that is not to say that Casey Concepcion has not as well,
06:25because he had a very similar ball from Shador Sanders.
06:28He went up and missed the cornerback.
06:30They called the rest on the field through an OPI flag.
06:33Outrageous.
06:34I said if this was a game, Siciliano would be going apoplectic in the broadcast booth.
06:38But nonetheless, you're seeing these guys.
06:40We've got some playmakers out there, but Boston has looked good.
06:43And I think when you're talking about Shador Sanders, to me,
06:46what we're seeing now is he's getting better in the intermediate game.
06:49But I think he's always been an excellent deep ball thrower.
06:53He's a good deep ball thrower in the sense that he can put it down the field,
06:55but he also understands matchups and just gives guys chances to go make plays.
07:00And we saw that yesterday.
07:01There was one to Boston, one to Bond, and one to Concepcion from Shador Sanders yesterday.
07:06Nathan Zaguro joining us here on the show.
07:08All right, I've got to ask you about this.
07:10Brendan Soresby got his injunction.
07:13Is he somebody that you would monitor, say he goes through all –
07:18because I said, hey, this is a great thing for Browns fans.
07:19I know you could be disgusted about college football.
07:21But, hey, if he ends up playing, I know he'd only play 10 games
07:25because he's suspended the first two games, whatever.
07:30He's got a long interview process of an entire season, how he handles his teammates,
07:35how he handles the coaches, how he handles the home crowd, the opposing crowd,
07:40the pressure, all that.
07:42He's got a year-long interview process where it's like, hey,
07:45if he were on the supplemental draft, I don't think I'd really want to put a bid in on him.
07:50But if it comes down to next year, say we don't find our quarterback this year,
07:54hey, let's – if he's able to handle all those things,
07:56I'm willing to reopen that conversation.
07:59But gambling is a pretty ugly thing in professional sports,
08:04and owners don't really care for it.
08:06What are your thoughts here, Nathan?
08:09It's quite a no-no.
08:11I think what you'd have to understand is this behavior that is the result of an addiction
08:17or an addictive personality because those are much harder to kick than, hey, it's fun, I like it.
08:24The notion that he would engage in these behaviors knowing the potential consequences
08:28suggests that this is something that would have to be evaluated from a psychological standpoint.
08:33But I'll say this, if he goes through the season without incident and he can check those boxes
08:38and performs well, there are people that think that this kid is as talented,
08:43if not more talented, than Jay Cutler.
08:45And you think about a Jay Cutler in this era of NFL football, I think, is a very productive player.
08:52I certainly was in his own era, but, I mean, just with the way that things are even skewed even
08:56more now for offenses
08:58and for receivers to be able to get free releases, not be hit over the middle,
09:01guy who can throw the ball the way that he can, you know, is going to be very successful in
09:06the NFL.
09:06So he, no doubt, if he goes through this season and looks good,
09:11that he is going to be in the conversation for a first-round quarterback pick next year,
09:14as long as you can feel comfortable with the other things that you've talked about.
09:19But from a talent standpoint, that's the name that I've heard is Jay Cutler, and I like that.
09:25I like a guy, especially with the receiving group that we've got.
09:28If you get somebody who can swing the ball around the field like that,
09:30I think we're going to be in pretty good shape.
09:31So, yes, certainly in the conversation, and you're right, it's a year-long interview process
09:35that will be under a microscope, and we'll find out if he can handle it.
09:39How about, Nathan, when we had talked about speculation of Miles Garrett potentially getting traded,
09:46we wondered what the reverberations would be in Berea for everybody else that's left,
09:52if it actually happened.
09:53Well, we saw he actually got traded, and it seemed like life went on.
09:58Nathan, is that a directive from the coach, from Andrew Barry?
10:02Did guys maybe want a breath of fresh air?
10:08Is it about verse?
10:09What do you see?
10:12The team that is just going forward, as you said, and I don't think it's a directive from anybody.
10:17I just think it's kind of, okay, this happened.
10:20Everybody's aware that this is a business.
10:22It's a little bit of a shock, and certainly, you know, open people's eyes that you can be the best
10:27player in the league
10:27and get traded, and conversely, you can be a really, really good player,
10:34a young, elite, ascending player who's going into your third year.
10:37That type of player, Jared Burst, never gets traded.
10:40That type of player never gets traded.
10:42So it just opened, I think, everybody's eyes to the fact that, you know, this is a business.
10:48Anything is possible here.
10:50But from a Brown standpoint, and I've said this all along, and I don't know if you guys agree with
10:53this or not,
10:54but I still think there is only one Miles Garrett, best defensive player in the league, period.
11:00Jared Burst is a really good player.
11:01I think we're still going to be really good on defense.
11:03In fact, Jared Burst was very easy to see on the field yesterday as he was able to get to
11:07the quarterback a couple times.
11:08Just so quick, so strong.
11:10Alex Wright told me that he's becoming much more comfortable here and becoming a more vocal leader,
11:14which is good to see because that's his natural personality, that alpha, that leader type of a guy.
11:19But we're still going to be a really good defense.
11:22We're going to be as good?
11:24Probably not.
11:24I mean, Miles Garrett is singularly great.
11:26You know, we had 23 of our 53 sacks a year ago.
11:30But to me, this team is going to go as the offense goes.
11:33Like, we won, you know, we had Miles Garrett.
11:35We won eight games the last two years.
11:36For this team to go from five wins to ten wins, that means that this offense has gotten significantly better
11:43and significantly more productive.
11:44I don't think it's necessarily tied to the defense as much.
11:47And I think a lot of people, you know, when you take a step back, are aware of that.
11:50Like, this is the team, and that's why Todd Munkin is the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
11:53He says it all the time.
11:54I'm here to get this offense going.
11:55We have a good defense.
11:57We've got to get this offense going.
11:58And so that, to me, is, I think people know that that's much more of a linchpin to this team's
12:03success
12:03than the defense right now in the sense that the defense is good, and it's still going to be good,
12:07but even with the trade with Jared Burst coming in from all year.
12:11Nathan Zagura joining us here on the show.
12:12Joel Batonio retiring yesterday, obviously a big story, fan favorite.
12:18What was it like for you to work?
12:20Because, I mean, you and I have been working together for a long time, and I said it was, ironically,
12:26because we were on together, we were the first people who interviewed him.
12:28I ended up being the last person to interview him before the game against Cincinnati.
12:32I'm going, we've come full circle.
12:34Made me feel a little bit old.
12:35But what has he meant to the franchise?
12:37What has he meant to the teammates and working with him in a professional capacity for you?
12:43It's funny you said that, because I literally said that to him yesterday.
12:45I said, I was the first person to interview.
12:48Now I'm the last one interviewing you yesterday.
12:52And I've seen you come in as a young kid from Nevada and now being a father of three,
12:57and see you grow up over 12 years.
13:00I'm like, and now I feel really old.
13:02So I said basically the same thing.
13:03Joel Batonio, he's everything you want in a Cleveland Brown.
13:07He's just everything you want in a human being.
13:09He's just reliable, dependable, excellent at what he does.
13:13Great guy on the field, great guy off the field.
13:16Just always stood up, accountable, answered questions honestly, did everything that you wanted.
13:22Went about his business the absolute right way, a consummate professional.
13:25He said a lot of that was ingrained in him by starting his career in between Joe Thomas and Alex
13:29Mack.
13:31And you think about that group right there and the 24 Pro Bowls combined that trio has made,
13:36you know, it's impressive.
13:37And I think that, you know, for Joel Batonio, it really simply came down to the fact that
13:42he could not physically go through what it takes for him to get ready.
13:47Similarly, he says a lot of things just like Joe Thomas.
13:49Joe Thomas is like, if I only had to play games, I could probably do it.
13:53But you can't just play games.
13:55You have to get your body ready to be able to play the games.
13:57He said, I just can't do that anymore.
13:59And that's why he made the decision to retire.
14:02He's like, I could go out there.
14:04But to me, it was, I need to be able to prepare the way I need to prepare so that
14:07I can play
14:08to my standard.
14:09And he did not feel like he could do that.
14:11But Joel Batonio was incredible.
14:15I'd urge people to watch, you know, go find the pod from CBD or certainly on the YouTube
14:18so you can watch it.
14:20As we splice in some of the clips, I asked about some of his favorite plays.
14:23And, you know, to me, my favorite play of Joel Batonio's of his entire career actually
14:27came in his rookie season and came not on one of his, you know, near 12,000 offensive
14:32snaps.
14:33It came on one of his 590 special team snaps.
14:36But we attempted a field goal late in the first half in Atlanta in his rookie season,
14:422014.
14:43Too long of a field goal.
14:45Wasn't going to get there.
14:46No, it wasn't.
14:46The Falcons at the time had a guy by the name of Devin Hester, who you may or may not
14:50remember
14:51as being the greatest return man in the history of the NFL.
14:55And Joel Batonio actually chased down and tackled Devin Hester at about the 20 to prevent
15:01what would have been a sure touchdown.
15:04And that just, that says all you need to know.
15:06And Todd Munkin was talking about how, you know, against the Ravens after a turnover, he's
15:10the guy running down the field, making a play.
15:11So there isn't a touchdown.
15:13That's just, Joel Batonio is, he's the man.
15:15He's, he is, he is great to be able to have had in my time there, guys like Joe Thomas
15:21and Joel Batonio is just crazy in terms of their, everything that you could possibly
15:25want on the field, off the field, working with guys like me and you, they're absolutely
15:30the best.
15:30Joel Batonio certainly will be missed.
15:32Just a tremendous, tremendous guy.
15:33Nathan, I've never seen you on the field, but off the field, you're everything.
15:36I want a teammate.
15:37Thank you for the time.
15:38We'll talk to you again soon, friend.
15:41I love you, man.
15:43We love you too.
15:44Nathan's a girl.
15:46Browns color commentator on the wise heart, right?
15:49We make it right.
15:49Call Kyle, right?
15:50Hotline.
15:51They want to say, well, Nathan was on with us, but in true Browns fashion, that was actually
15:53the last game they won that year.
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