Best-Of: 3/3/26

0:00Shot clocks, big shots, upsets, aces, TGL playoffs are here. First, Atlanta Drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club, then Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tigers Jupiter links face-off in their playoff debuts. Who will advance? Keep up its playoffs. Tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6.30pm and 9.00pm only on ESPN and the ESPN app. This is the TPH Rowan and Rothenburg podcast. Let the wild rump is begin! Listen live weekday mornings from 6.10am on 8.80pm in New York, the ESPN New York app and on YouTube by subscribing to the ESPN New York YouTube channel. All right, DPH Rowan and Rothenburg with you right here on ESPN New York.

1:17It's Tuesday, and Mel Kuiper is going to join us today. There's a lot to do today. Nothing specific, but what we like, bounciness. We've got real, true, bounciness. We've got a little mech to get into. We've got the World Baseball Classic to get into. We've got the Jets quarterback situation to get into. We've got Mel. We've got stuff you missed. So like I said, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, good morning, how are you? I'm doing fantastic. I mean, I got to tell you and I'm sure we'll get to this probably in the next 30 seconds. Watching that Rangers game last night might be the worst goal in a fair and score of all time. Yeah, that was not good. I mean, what are we doing? Like I was, I don't even like the Rangers and I was angry. That was, that was not good. And then they go down and score, you can't make it up. I mean, I feel, I actually feel bad. I do. No, you don't. No, you're right. I don't, I feel bad. I feel bad that a player like that is not, is not a goal.

2:20And I feel like I should take on another job. I should be the one that's making these calls. You should be the one that makes the calls for the NHL. There's a former goalie. That was a garrigis. Well, it really was disgusting. Imagine if it really mattered. Oh, you'd be, you'd about, if that, if that, if that was my fist range of fighting for a playoff spot, like that, that would be a horrendous, horrendous, I don't get it. I don't understand it. I thought when they, I thought they were going to, like, look at it off sides at first. And then like, goalie and appearance. I was like, goalie and where was goalie and appearance? And then he gets it right. That's how you can't make it. It's unbelievable. Yeah. It really is terrible. I mean, listen, for a game that has zero meaning, it was actually an entertaining hockey game last night. Oh, yeah. What? Listen, I mean, it was like him credit. They're still fighting. But this is not how, uh, this is not how ring the sense of the season was going on. What, what, whatever, not even a little bit. So we got Mel today at, uh, at eight, ten, but we look forward to that. He's always, he's always feisty. And we, you know, I can't see the draft is right around the corner. It's numerous corners. But we're, we're getting there. We're getting in there.

3:21We will got there. Um, you know what's right around the corner though, start of the Major League Baseball season is right around the corner with the Yankees open three weeks from tomorrow and the Metz open three weeks from Thursday. And just to really make it, take it in and smell it like it's right here. We had our draft last night for tickets for the first half of the season. Yeah, I heard. So I mean, before you want to read more of a menu, uh, Dexter is, uh, done. Okay. So we can, everyone take a deep breath. I think there was a lot of trepidation as to whether or not they, they could still call you. They're streaming hero. Yep. And I finished deck. By the way, the resurrection season. I don't know if you, you watch Dexter this resurrection season was, was terrific. Yeah. Might have been the best season in the entire series. Yeah. I think there's probably a zero percent chance that I watch all the Dexter's. Why? Have you watched it at all? I've seen like, I've seen random episodes, but no, I've not, not, I've not watched the way that you've watched it. No. You're not heroic. It's too much of a show. I, I can't make that kind of commitment. I, listen, I understand.

4:22So I finished the yesterday and because of my relationship with you and the show, this show and the people on this show, you know what I did? You started the miracle documentary. You're, you know what? You're really good. I started the mirror. And I thought to myself, do, do I want to start? Because I couldn't finish. It was like 1015. I didn't have, I couldn't stay up to midnight, but could I stay up till 11? I think I could stay up to 11 and I started it. I know I was going to love it. It's, it's so good. I told you. It's so good. And I've always known, at first of a couple of things, anyone that said, oh, you know, this, this US winning gold is similar to 19, please, please, that was like, that might be the, the biggest upset in the history of sports ever, anywhere, ever period. And you knew that, but then it gets kind of like reinforced and watching it again. And then you, like, you know, it's, like, you know these things, but then you see them like, God, I didn't, like, I knew it. I didn't realize it was that her bricks was such a, you know, like, it was impossible.

5:28He was brutal to these kids. He felt like he had to be, right, but that was, I mean, you haven't finished it yet. No, not yet. No, not yet. I mean, that's how he had success in college, maybe not ramped up the way it was ramped up because it only had what six months to get this team to become a family, essentially. And he had kids from Minnesota that didn't like the kids from Boston, right? And he felt like the only way to get them together was to have them hate him. Well, it did a great job. I mean, which is what he wore them, wore them down to the nub, right? And you were talking about, I think it was the McLeanahan situation where he injured his thigh or hip and couldn't sit on the bench and, and he had played for her in Minnesota. Right. He's like, I went, I was a, I was a good soldier for three years. Right. And that's why he did it. It's a nothing. Right. But that's why he did it though. He knew it. Yes. Well, he knew he like, we always talk about like no one, everyone's buttons to push as a good head coach. He was with this kid for three years. So he knew exactly what button to push to get a rise out of him because he needed the locker room to get going. I mean, it's just phenomenal. So I left it off after the game against Sweden.

6:30I don't know if you remember like the ins and outs of the documentary. So it was, because I kept, I was, I sit there with my finger on the pause button. It's like, all right. When I get to a stopping point and then I kept, let me just watch one more scene, one more scene. Or they tie Sweden. They come back with the legal. By the way, if they didn't tie that game, they might be the biggest goal in the Olympics. Yeah. They wouldn't have been in the middle round at all. And then the second that ends, they tie it great. They move on. They're excited. They're going to get, you know, they keep their hopes alive. They're like, and then they started with a Jim Craig. And then they were going to start. I was like, no, I can't start a whole Jim Craig thing now. So I paused it. And that's where I am. So I have about an hour to go. So I'll have that done today. And then I'll probably, I think maybe then I'll start my next show. Probably Landman, I think. I think Landman, yes. Yeah. I think I got Landman. I got his and hers. I got stuff. I got stuff. Well, you are a hero. You are the guy. I'm a streaming God, really. Well, I mean, yeah, yeah, who can do this? Who can do this?

7:31I don't know if there's anyone that has the, the, the, the, the, the sheer will to put themselves through the grind that you put yourself through. I mean, what was that guy? Goggins, like the guy that runs married, like broke the leg, continued, like that, not, not the physical way, but that's the, the streaming way that I, that I live my life. Like, like, like, like Goggins, like Goggins, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's, it's impressive. I didn't think you get it done today. I didn't think you'd have it done by today because I thought that the draft would get in your way. But congratulations five, five, five episodes, five episodes, plus half, plus half a documentary, plus half a documentary, how the, it's David Goggins, yeah, you're right. Yeah. Of course. How did the, um, geez, and age, and August the 20, 25 at age 50, he finished the big foot 200 and washed and covering nearly 200 miles and 66 hours and four minutes. Oh my God. My kids love him. And I guess at some point he's run races and like a leg has broken or an ankle or foot

8:36or like, and he's just like, we move on. We continue. He's a believable man. Oh, you didn't know all the, no, I did, I've seen it, no, I've seen like the, like, a bunch of the training videos and stuff, but just like when you, like, look at some of the things I can, in 2020, he finished second in a 241 mile race with a time of 63 hours and 21 minutes. I could imagine doing anything for that long. No. I could secondively doing something for that and listen, he's not a young man. No, he's 50. He's 50. Good for him. Well, you know, when you think of him and the physical prowess, think of me in the streaming way. I mean, you really, I mean, I guess, right? Yeah. I mean, it's a retired DVC. You don't have that in you though. Well, I, I think I'm the, the streaming, I mean, you're more of a, like, you'd be like, if there we go, here we go, you're, you'd be more of a real life seal. Go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, no. You're transparent is what you are. If someone said Dave was a Navy seal, it'd be like, I'm not, I'm not nor would I ever be a Navy. I would be more of like the intel. Yeah.

9:37Navy would be describing the color of your seal, like what you'd look like as a seal. Like they would be a Navy seal, as opposed to a, this kind of, I wouldn't be an actual. If anyone on the show could be a seal, I guess it would be you. Is that what you want? No, I don't want that. I mean, I think RJ probably, I don't think RJ could handle the physical aspect of it. RJ's in great shape. There's a difference between. You got to be able to swim too. Being in good shape for a normal person, as opposed to being able to do this, you've been through like the, more of the battles, I think, RJ, you don't think you'd be a good Navy seal, do you? I'm not under any assumption I could. Are you good swimmer? I'm fine. I can't swim. You're going to be really good. Yeah, I wouldn't say really good. Yeah, I wouldn't say really good. Can you go underwater for 11 minutes? I'm not confident. I could do that. No. No. Can you have a band of a team beat you to a pulp and not give up information? I mean, I, you know, there's, comes a point, you might have to let some things slide. I'm not sure I can handle that.

10:38Can you be dropped from a chopper from a mile up and land with no parachute? That feels like it's be tough for anybody. I don't think you got it. I don't think you have to drop anyone from a mile up into it. I don't think they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they definitely, I mean, I've, I've seen them hover where they, they jump into the water, but it's not from a mile up. mile. It's wrong with you. Good distance. It's, it's, it's a, I mean, yeah, it's not, it's not like here, just take the fall into the water. It's not the water. Full admission. Navy seal. Not in my future. No, I don't have that. I think that ship has sailed for you. I think that ship has sailed. I don't think that ship was ever at the dock to be honest with you. I don't think it was ever at the dock. All right. So, I mean, I'm sure we'll get into this with Mel. I want to get to the match. The Yankees World Baseball Classic. But the thing I think that rings the most interesting at the moment. And I don't know where they're going to go. Like, I guess they've done a pretty good job of kind of keeping us in the dark to this point is the

11:41Jet's quarterback situation. Um, did you hear what Connor Hughes had to say about Kyla Murray? I have, um, I just heard you guys talk. I just, let's talk about it. I haven't heard the, the red cut. So you've heard well, Kyla Murray going to get six games. And I think it was worn sharp, sharp that said yesterday posted something defective. He's a horrendous downfield passer. Like worst downfield passer in the NFL, which I never really realized until I read it yesterday. But I know you probably haven't, I mean, it's Arizona. So how much have you really focused on it? I mean, focus. No, but I've watched. Certainly. Right. But when you watch, so RJ had his I don't know. I don't want to be nasty because there's only 11 minutes into the show. Uh-oh. One of his more average of takes when he went with the Marvin Harrison Junior over Malik neighbors take that we think that was average. I'm trying to be nice. Yeah. You say what I was. If you like, I think I think it was a, I mean, I didn't bring it up, but just for the record, I think it was a poor take. Yeah. And I didn't believe the same. I think RJ and in retrospect,

12:42believes him. Okay. Yeah. But when he says it, right, I would agree. I think it was pretty evident that that relationship between Kyla Murray and Marvin Harrison Junior was not what they expected to be. And that was probably to Warren Sharpe's point a lot to do with the fact that he can't throw the ball down the field, or it's not good at throwing the ball down the field. Because you saw percent with that offense strong for three hundred yards of game. Much better. So, okay. I mean, let's hear, uh, let's hear Connor Hughes. All right. So here, here is Connor Hughes on SNY saying Kyla Murray to the Jets is just a, it's just a really bad idea. That Kyla Murray name, not be a trade, but if he's cut by the Cardinals and the Jets can get him for say like $1.5 million, that's around a lot more than I expected it to be. And you and I have talked about this act and we can get into the nitty gritty of it. He from everything that I've heard about this guy is not the quarterback that you want. In fact, one person who coached Murray in Arizona told me, quote, it would be a disaster unquote. I mean, there are work ethic concerns

13:44with Kyla Murray. There is desirability concerns with Kyla Murray. That stuff and that talk about him not watching film because he's playing called duty. I was told by two different teams, including one coach in Arizona. That's true. And as one former coach said to me, quote, he's just not a leader unquote. And players just don't follow him. So when you're trying to bring in this culture that Aaron Glenn keeps talking about and this feeling that Aaron Glenn keeps talking about and this want to desire that Aaron Glenn keeps talking about, I just, I don't see Murray in any way, shape or form as being a long term fit for New York. Well, I didn't sound like a short term fit either. That sounds like you were wrong. Don't let him anywhere near New York is what that sounds like. But it's exactly what that sounds like. I mean, didn't we talk about this yesterday, though, when you asked me that question as far as would you want Kyla Murray? I don't think that in this situation with this coaching staff, I mean, first and foremost, I don't think he fits that sort of the Frank Reich. In second of all, like you're trying to, you won three games last year. The team is a disaster. You just, I mean, you just lost 10 coaches. You got a new offensive

14:48coordinator. You got a new defensive coordinator. I mean, you got a coach that's probably on the hot seat. You're trying to change the culture inside that building. You need somebody that is a leader at the quarterback position you have to. Like otherwise, it's not going to get any better. And I mean, that's a big piece of this thing. The culture did not change last year. No, the culture changed in the, it didn't change for the better at all. And it might have changed for the worst direction. Right. So I need someone at the very least that's going to come in here and be at a command the room that's, that's, you know, that's dedicated to what he's trying to do here. That he's going to put in the time. He's going to put in the work. Wait, and again, I don't, I have such a hard time with this because I want to win games, but I also recognize me winning games affects me in 2027. You're going to have to live in this Sophie's choice of football all year. It's good. I'm not sure if it's better. I'm not sure if it's better. I'm almost, like, I'm almost, um, considering taking the tact where I look at the teams that need quarterbacks and root for them to win games. Uh, at the same time as I root for them. I think

15:52that's fair. I like cardinals, browns. Yeah. I think you root for those teams to have better records than you by the end of the season. Absolutely. Or the teams that have quarterbacks just to be like young quarterbacks, be really, really bad. So I can trade with them. But like, we got to cross that bridge. Let me get that bridge three. Like, let me, I'm rooting against Tennessee every game because I can create a pet. Uh, you know what? It'll happen to you though. Tennessee will wind up going three and 14. No. And then they'll say, you know what? We're going to move on from Cam Warden. We're going to drive to Archimany. That's okay. Couldn't you see something like that happening? We're not even in free agency yet. Let's not, let's not do that because I know, but the, you, but everyone has, yes, I could see that. Just like, I mean, just like, I saw Rich Eisen yesterday on, uh, on Julian Edelman's podcast and Rich Eisen's a big, big Jets fan in Julian Edelman goes, Rich, what's it like to be a, a Jets fan? And heisen looks at him and goes, what's it like to be an A-hole? Really? What kind of question? You know what it's like. You lived it. You played for the Patriots. You know exactly what it's like to be a Jets fan. We got all excited

16:52for Aaron Rogers, four snaps later. Boom, Achilles. This is our life. It's like, we have, we can't have nice things. It's really, I don't know why. I don't know what we have to do. So I, the best way for me to describe it to you is this and you tell me if you agree or disagree. Okay. Because I'm not even sure they know who the quarterback is going to be or the quarterback. I don't, I don't think they know who the quarterback is going to be. No. Right. We're hearing all these things about Tyson Simpson. I don't know who the Tyson Simpson at 16. I don't think it's, it's definitely not a two. I don't think, but I don't want to bring somebody in that could jeopardize my ability to get the quarterback. I won 2027 unless there's a chance that whoever I bring in is the could actually 2027. Yes. Could actually be good enough to be the quarterback as we move forward. So I mean, does that include Malik Willis? Because now you foul or in Graziano or saying that Malik Willis is not getting 30 million dollars a year. So could, could that be Malik Willis? Could it be the you drive Tyson Simpson? I mean, could you drive Tyson Simpson? He looks awful. And then you

17:56draft another quarterback. I don't, I don't know. I don't know what the right thing to do is all I know is I, other contemporary was a decent option for the Jets and listening to that. I mean, that's about as bad a piece of sound as you could possibly hear. Right. But I don't think that kind of Murray is, like, is good enough to, to deal with the baggage that he clearly has, which is why he's not in Arizona anymore. Right. He's a first overall pick of the draft. Right. He's a first overall pick who's actually, I mean, he's had some success. But if I get a, like, I mean, you're also talking about an organization that tried to put a clause in his contract about studying in film. Right. That came out. It's like, those, I mean, those are real problems, especially now it's going to be a new offense. It's a new offensive quote. You don't think the whole thing. It just doesn't, it's not going to be a good fit. Money wise, it would make sense. I think the more we talk about this, the more I want to, if it ends up being Tyson Simpson, if it ends up being Tyson Simpson. But if you don't think that the world where you took Tyson Simpson at 16, you were unimpressed with him in one

18:57year and you took another quarterback in next year's draft. I don't like the, I would not like to live in that world because I like, I know you would like to, but could you, could you envision that world? Or is that a, I take Tyson Simpson out of the 27 quarterback class? I think Tyson Simpson is a good quarterback. The only thing that concerns about me about Tyson Simpson is the lack of starts. Right. He wasn't called for a while, but he only, I mean, he started what 15 games, which isn't a lot. And now he's going into a situation that's not a great situation that, I mean, has a coach that, I mean, is kind of on real shaky footing. And there may be like a, like a sense of urgency to get him to play sooner than he's probably going to be ready. And now to your point, if he's not very good and Aaron Glenn is in the coach and you got three picks in 2027, like you just probably wasted the 16th overall pick unless he proves he can play. But, but if I were to offer you, you take Tyson Simpson, he's a lousy. The next coach comes in, doesn't want him. You have the second pick in the draft. You take Dante Moore. He turns out to be really good. You'd sign for that right

20:02now. Yeah, I would sign for that right now. But is that the best, I mean, is that the best way to use? No, no, no, all these draft picks that you got so excited about, not the best, but if I told you, it took you this year's 16 and the best pick of next year's draft to land your franchise quarterback, you would do it in a second. Of course, I would, but you don't, what I'm saying is that anyone would do that. You don't, like I would trade, you know, I would trade all five of the first wrong picks to get the guy, because I know how important the quarterback is and how he can change your franchise. I just, I would prefer not to, of course, right? Like I would, Mel wants to pretend and we had him on the other day. And we had him on today, right? We had him on last Tuesday, but he was taking shots about, you know, how many interceptions do we have all these different things? And he's like, well, I know Jets fans didn't want Dante Moore. Jets fans didn't want Dante Moore because of you. Like the Jets fans that watched Dante Moore think that Dante Moore is a good quarterback, but all we kept hearing was, I don't know, doesn't have enough starts. And then you get the list of, you know, quarterbacks that are like fit that criteria. And it's like, I don't want that, especially with my team. It's all like he's going to Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan on one of

21:05these guys that it doesn't like they can be an exception to the role. Like we're more the rule than we are the exception to the rule. So I need a kid that's got a lack of experience that needs to be developed. Yeah, do you, do you trust this team? I mean, I think it's great. You probably have some trust in, but overall, do you trust the Jets to develop the young quarterback? No, so I think that for me, probably, I, what makes, what makes, what makes an issue is that Tyson's a man to be in a good quarterback. I don't know. But of course, we have, we have no idea. We have no idea. If he goes to the Rams, he'll probably be a good quarterback. If he goes to us, I probably have a hard time believing that he'll be, he'll be great, but it would be take a good, take best player to take best player at 16. And then later in the draft aside, whoever ends up being draft the young kid, bring in, bring in a quarterback that you have hope could be, could be a starter, but it's proven to be a really good backup. Play him, start the season. If it doesn't go well, play the young kid, see what the young kid looks like. And then, then use 2027 as the real year.

22:09It's, it's probably, probably the best option. I would agree. But I guess, and then at least how it now becomes who, who is that stopgap quarterback? You know, everyone said they're going to keep Justin Fields. He, it sounds like he's going to be released the first day of the new year. Tyra Taylor, I guess, as expressed, I would come back to be the veteran backup. Do you want that? Do you, do you want to go with Tyra Taylor until no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Do you all or somebody is ready? No, no, because the problem with Tyra Taylor is, is that now there's, I'm going to need two, because I'm going to need to insulate the quarterback that I draft, because there's a chance he probably gets hurt. And now I need the second that he's going to get hurt. Right. And I also want your situation. I think the one thing you can say about Brian Dable, if you like him or if you don't like him, and Joe Shane, I know a lot of people don't like him, they built a good quarterback like the idea that they signed James to that two-year deal where they have, hey, James can play if we need him to, but he's also going to be a great backup for Jackson Dart, this upcoming season. That's, that's what I want. Right. Guys come from being a backup. I know he can,

23:09I know he can mentor a young kid. If he is a backup, we'll let him start. If it goes well great for him, if it doesn't, I know next year when I do draft the quarterback, I got a guy that can play and can also be a great mentor for my young quarterback. Rich Eisen here, the tax deadline will be here before you know it, and you just want to know your taxes are actually being handled. But the old way, you hand everything off and then silence. Days pass, weeks pass, you start wondering, should I send another follow-up email? It feels like you're chasing updates and getting nowhere. But now, taxes are different, because your taxes are done for you by a turbo tax full service expert. With into a turbo tax, you can match with your dedicated tax expert and hand off everything right in the app. And while your expert checks for every deduction, you'll see real-time updates on your phone, so you always know exactly where things stand. Suddenly, you're not refreshing your inbox, you're going for a run, grabbing a coffee, scrolling anything other than a just checking in message.

24:09Because your turbo tax expert is handling it and keeping you in the loop. So this tax season, get your best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve without the guesswork. Visit TurboTax.com today to learn more. Real-time updates only in iOS mobile app, only available with TurboTax full service experts. As you know, managing maintenance repair and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery. They're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Granger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRanger, click Granger.com or just stop by. In Pro Football, if a coach can't see the whole field, he's missing out. It's that simple. If you run a commercial trade business and you don't have service tighten, you're coaching blind. You need real-time visibility into project profitability.

25:13You need to know which jobs are making money and which ones aren't before it's too late. And you need to see the entire business in one place, from service work to construction. Service Tighten is the end-to-end platform that helps you do all that and more. Win larger contracts, accelerate your workflows, and maximize your profit. Visit servicetighten.com to learn more. I know you're here. Catch the show on demand wherever and whenever you want. Just subscribe to us. Rate us and review us wherever you get your podcasts. I got to be honest. Why would happen? Well, we sat here the entire commercial break. No one talked to me at all. RJ didn't say not a word. Raymond said nothing. We're dialed. As if they're angry at me. No, no one's angry. You think it was focused you. I think it's a bouncy show. So everyone's focused looking for sound and everything else we're trying to do. All right. Just telling you, that's a serious thing that RJ takes shots at me in the in the reads today,

26:16which he thinks I didn't see, but I did see what shots I think this is a purpose now, because he knows he knows if he puts an occasional shot in there, it keeps you on your toes. So now you're reading it. He knows what he did. I know because he's he's a genius. I gotta tell you, Jay is very bright. I gotta tell you, I got people at school listening to the show now. A lot of pressure. I mean, we gotta we gotta be ready. But there's always pressure. But I don't appreciate what he did with these these in segment shots. Let me hear and let me hear an in segment shot. Oh, let's tell them or do, you know, devils panthers, blah, blah, blah. St. John's host Georgetown in a game that is likely to cause me great sadness. I'll be honest. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you see what? Did not think you'd see it until I don't know, 735. All right. Well, I can't help. Listen, when you're as well prepared as I am, you look at everything that's put in front of you. Yeah, you're throwing me off a little bit because you read the look ahead. You read the rundown. You read the reads an hour ahead of time. That's right. Why did he have so much energy this morning? I don't really.

27:16Oh, I know. Dexter. Yeah, I know why. You're riding the emotional high because the resurrection was so good. It was it was so good. I'm telling it was it was it was very exhilarating. I'm not hearing you disagree with what R.J. said at all by the way. That what about I'm what riding the emotional high? No, no, that it could cause you sadness. No, he knows it's going to cause him sadness. So George don't pull up basketball faintly sadness. So what's the problem? Well, what do you mean? But why would R.J. put that in there that oh, this is going to cause you sadness? That's just mean. I think it's had the desired effect. Yeah, he's concerned about you. Yeah, he did he, you know what? No, that's not what he thought. Yeah, what he, no, I'll say exactly what he thought. And R.J. cannot deny this. He thought the first time even laid eyes on that line was when I read it. And that I would be like like just a teleprompter moron who read whatever was put in front of him. And then as I read, I was like, oh, and then it caused an issue at 735.

28:16That's what he thought. That's pretty much accurate. Mm-hmm. But good for you. I think that's the first time you've ever read the reads this early. But good for you. Yeah, it was, it was noticeable. Just so people understand like I actually said to the guys before the show, why does he have so much energy right now? You know, so if I come to the show with no energy, that's a bad thing. If I come to the show with lots of energy, that's a bad thing. No, no one said it's a bad thing. I'm just saying like when it was just different, not bad, not good, different. I'm ready to go today. Yeah, but did you get the tickets you wanted last night? I mean, we only did the first half of the season. So yeah, I mean, we split up the series. I got, I got a lot, I got 11 games. I got plenty of tickets. And now did you focus more? Did you strategy work? Well, we only did the first half. So I was forced into 11 first half games. But apparently there's an easy trading system where I can go through the meta and be like, listen, I don't want this game March 29th against the Nationals. Can I trade that in for a summer game? So that's what I'm going to do. Wow, so you're going to go mul, so there's multiple layers to this thing.

29:17There's layers. Wow, there's, there's layers. It seems like these guys are serious too. Oh, it's on parking lots. We're getting, where do you park? How far is your walk? What do you do? Like what entrance do you go into? Do you have the clear? If you have the clear, you don't have to, you know, do you, what time to get there for the bobble heads? I think I don't, I don't know. Can I ask you a silly question? Yeah, yeah. Is the, or was the impetus for the season tickets to have access to playoff tickets? Yes. Okay, just making sure. Yeah, part of the impetus. I mean, I wanted to, to have the ability to go to games. It's a, it's a great thing. It's great in the summer, especially when the kids are off and, you know, work as a little lighter. So that was the original draw. And then on top of that, it's like, you're coming off of, because we started last year, coming off of the season where they had such a great year. I went to the NLCS. Yes, that was the impetus of the whole thing. Okay, because it seems like it just seems like a lot of work. It's a lot of work to go to like five games.

30:19This is, I got 20. You're not going to 20. No, I'm not going to 20. I think I had, last year, I had 27. I think you're maxing out, you're max out eight, maybe. I think I could hit double figures. No. Neil thinks so. No. I think you'd like to know what's going to happen now. I think in your mind, you're going to, you're going to, you're going to push me into double figures. Right. Is that what you're trying to do? Yeah. All right, well, I want you to get value out of this. I want you to get value out of this. Well, when I don't go, I sell them. So I do get a different kind of value. Any concern about your face being able to handle the sun has been alleviated. Because you don't even look red today. Face is, it's calmed. I don't even look red today. Really? Yeah. I mean, your face is very receptive. Yeah. I have a, I have a nice face. I mean, it was bright red yesterday. It looks like almost tan-ish today. You know what? I should be the poster child for allo and moisturizer. You did, I'm hoping you did a lot of that yesterday. Well, yeah, I put allo on after the show.

31:20Then took a nap after episode one. And then last night moisturized my face off. Nice. Yeah. Maybe treat yourself to a nice facial over the weekend. I do like a facial. I do like a facial. It's good for your skin. It's very good for your skin. Hydrating? Yeah, I get to get any of the blackheads out. It's very nice. New York soccer fans, are you ready? This Saturday, NYCFC. They open their season at home against Orlando City. Kickoff is set for 230 at Yankee Stadium. Be there. When the boys in blue take the field for the first time this season at home for your chance to be there. In person, enter now at ESPNNew York.com or through the ESPN New York app. Tickets available right now at TicketMaster.com slash NYCFC. Is this summer is the World Cup, right? Yeah. Oh boy. How involved will you be with that? Like if you got offered tickets to a World Cup game, would you go? Yes. Yeah, of course I would go. I've never been.

32:20It'd be, I don't know if it's like, that's really like a bucket list thing, but it's not. I mean, if I, if I was offered that opportunity, I'd never been before. I would go, yeah, I've been in 94. Was it 94? Yeah, I think it was 94. 94 I went. That's also four I went. It's, it's, it's fun. I've been to some of that international soccer. The, the people are insane. I went to one when I was in Germany. It was unbelievable. They, they, so they played Mexico in it. I think it was just a friendly or, or I guess you use the term friendly, but it wasn't friendly. The, the Mexican fans were throwing hot peppers at us. It's just being over there, just, you can play hockey over there. Just the experience, like the crowd fan experiences is different. They're, they're insane. And because you know what it is, they can, in, like, if I go to a giant scheme and the giants lose, I can't have a good time. No. If you go to one of these international hockey games or soccer, whatever, you can go. Your team can lose three nothing.

33:21And you could be asked, did you have a nice time? Oh, we sang. We drank. We danced. I had a wonderful time. Their view of sports is very different than specifically mine, but I think our country's view of sports. Especially now, especially now. I mean, it's just, it was, it was almost like what is happening? Like we'd be losing a game and they'd still be like, yeah, they're so, so important. They love it. Oh, they love it. They didn't stop chanting the whole game. And then after you won, I remember enough, forget like the first game that we, when we won, it's like we did whatever we're going to do. And then we're just, I was skating off the ice like, no, no, we don't skate off the ice. And I was like, well, what do we do? And then you have to go like, you have to go like dance for the fans. You don't, you just on the ice, you start dancing. Like you, yeah, because it's the one fan section behind the net. They're the ones that chant and you know, pump you up the entire game. You go, you go reciprocate the, uh, the chance back. You imagine that you lose it like a shootout. If we lost that, I couldn't imagine if we lost, though, you lose a shootout against the flyers and like, all right, you just want to get to your locker and like barely speak to

34:22the media and get to know McDonald's and, you know, just eat the buckets of fries. And they're like, all right, Rick, what would I have to do? Go, go dance with section 111. Watching someone close go through loss really changes your perspective. You see how quickly grief can turn into financial stress. And it's something no family should have to deal with during an already difficult time. Experiences like that make people think differently about planning ahead and protecting the people they love. Life insurance isn't about expecting the worst. It's about being prepared and knowing your family will be supported if something unexpected happens. That's why life insurance through ethos is worth considering. They make the process fast and easy. Everything is 100% online so you can get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes and even get same-day coverage. There's no medical exam, just a few simple health questions. You can get up to $3 million in coverage and some policy start as low as $30 a month. As of March 2025, business insider named ethos, the number one no medical exam,

35:24instant life insurance provider. And ethos has 4.8 out of five stars on trust pilot with over 3,000 reviews. Protect your family with life insurance from ethos now by going to ethos.com slash sports. In as little as 10 minutes, you can get your free quote and up to $3 million in coverage at ethos.com slash sports. That's ETHOS.com slash sports ethos.com slash sports. Application times and rates may vary. Quick time out, some breakfasts until you want to know about. Codiac, frozen power waffles and flap jacks are built for busy mornings. Heat it, eat it, and you're out the door. No long prep, no complicated game plan. They're packed with 12 to 14 grams of protein per serving a good source of fiber and crafted with 100% whole grains, not refined white flour. So you're getting something that actually fuels you and there's depth on the roster. Buttermilk and vanilla, blueberry, chocolate chip, even gluten free options.

36:27Breakfast that delivers, snack that delivers, find Codiac frozen waffles and flap jacks in the frozen aisle at your local grocery store. They're the ones with the bear on the box. I like things my way, my coffee, my schedule, and my treatment. So I talk to my doctor about self-injecting with the VivGuard Hydrilo pre-filled syringe, which contains effgarte gum on alpha and hyaluronidase QVFC. It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space on my time. It's my treatment my way. Visit VivGuardMyWay.com. That's v-y-v-g-a-r-t-myway.com. And talk to your doctor about VivGuard Hydrilo, brought to you by Argenics. This is the T.P.H. Rowan and Rothenburg podcast. Let the wilder rump his figure. Listen live weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m. on 880 ESPN in New York, the ESPN New York app and on YouTube by subscribing to the ESPN New York YouTube channel.

37:30Tuttle, I'm servicing three times as many people as he's able to get to. From that round, not everyone can afford to take off work and pay whatever cost to get a forester. Or to trash. Let the wilder rump his figure. That's right. Let me stick to this question. Oh, all righty. So Jeremy Paine, you may have one of the thickest knacks I've ever seen in my life. Jeremy Paine University of Maine is where I went to college. That's interesting. I was out there. There is no separation from his neck to his head, like his head. Where was Jeremy Paine that you've, uh, I'm on. Look at their roster right now. It's unbelievable. This might be the, I mean, their outfield is Tatees Rodriguez and Soto. When we go to Mel at 845 today, I will not take any blame. Who's the manager of the Dominican team? I have no idea. Albert Pujols. Oh, okay. I had heard that actually. The machine. This will be Tony Paine. I love Tony. I Tony Paine gave me my first ball at again. Here we go. Oh my god. I love Tony Paine.

38:31What? No, I mean, you understand that we have like nine minutes. Oh, listen, keep, keep the CMT nice and tight. Okay. It's a good thing they've already did the legal today, so we can just move on. I didn't do the legal yet. Oh, sorry. You need to remember me. At least you remember. You know what? Let me do the legal now. Here we go. You're listening to D. P. H. runner-author on W. H. S. Q. W. C. B. S. F. M. H. D. Two. New York. That was nice. Of course, that would be his warmer up to his Mimi Mimi. It's always about you. Well, you know what? That's how you warm up. Cool. Kippy. It's got to be Mimi. No, that's what the pigs do. No, you're me guy. That's a problem. And me guy. Pigs do that. I guess. So we talked for a lot of the morning. By the way, if you missed it when the show's over, check out the podcast. Um, about the quarterback options for the Jets. Archer, there was a lot of podcast heat with you gone. You're a lot of angry people. Yeah. No, I don't want people angry. Yep. So, cutaway trash. All of which I've tried to create a realistic

39:33option of how they would acquire the Jets being that team. The these quarterbacks. Cutaway trash. The avenue that you would go. Would it be? Kalamari is a free agent estimated a couple of million dollars a year. Would it be Ty Simpson? Theoretically at number 16. But because the more you read, the idea of him falling out of the first round seems. He's not going to go to second. No, yeah, it seems smaller by the day. Well, you also heard I was listening to the afternoon show. The relationship between him and, um, Todd Monkin. Yeah, Alan kept saying Monkin. Tom Monkin. Unbelievable. Yeah, no, it's more. Well, you know who he took his cues. Of course, of course. So, or would it be the final option? Would it be Malik Willis at? Let's call it. $25 million a year. All right, so what's the exact question, please? What would you do? What would you do? What would you pursue? Well, okay. I would marry Willis.

40:36Short-term deal. Cuddle Simpson and trash. Wow. So you're, you're, it seems because you're diametrically appalled. I'm just rephrasing. You would much rather pay Malik Willis $25, $26, $27 million a year than you would. Well, I think upside like Malik Willis is very unknown. Like, I think he, I'm not expecting that he's going to be like a friend. I mean, Chris Sims loves him. Yeah. So, I think there's a chance that you put him in the right position and he's really good and maybe, maybe next year, you don't need a quarterback. I think there's a better chance of that than Kyle and Murray. Kyle and Murray, I, I know he's fine, but you're not going to get to the end of next year and be like, I don't need a quarterback. I've got Kyle and Murray. So that's true. The only thing, and I'm not sure I disagree with you. The only thing I have. And they have a fortune of money, RJ. They do. They have 90, maybe more million. The only thing I would rebut with is it could, I don't know what the guarantee would be, but it could cost you $75, $78 million to get that deal done with Malik Willis. It's possible, but I also have a fortune of money. And even if I draft the quarterback next year,

41:37it's going to be in a rookie contract. Right. I'll, I'll say it again. Murray Willis, cuddle Simpson, trash man. Right, you could still take the quarterback in 27. Sure. Depending on how many years you get done with Malik Willis. I'd like to disagree with Dave, but I will in order to keep this thing nice and tidy, agree across the board. All right. On we go, go. So today's deadline day for the franchise tag or transition tag in the NFL 4 o'clock today. And Breeze Hall is the name worth watching locally. So cut off my trash. This is a rephrase now. How you think Darren Moosey will hand in the situation. OK. Would that be the transition tag at $11.3 million meaning that's a number he'll play for for the Jets. Unless he gets an offer for another team of which the Jets would then have to match it. Or they could let him go get some compensation back. No, you don't get any compensation. Or excuse me, yeah, you get no compensation. You get nothing. You just, he just is gone. You lose it. Would it then be the franchise tag where he played for the Jets at $14.3 million.

42:37Or do you think they'll get a long term deal, Don, of which Rich Samini says the sweet spot according to his story. $13 million would be $13 million here. You're up. And I'm a first on this one. Give me the hard one. I actually think if the intention is to sign him once you put the tag on him, it would make more sense to do the transition tag. Because now you get a better idea of what the market is willing to pay him, which would alleviate some of his concerns. Right, I think it would actually make it easier, or could potentially make it a long term deal easier. So I'll go transition tag, Mary. I will cuddle. I'm a right down with Lady Gritty. Now, I guess I would cuddle tag. And then I would trash long term deal getting done before the deadline. Is there a fear that you put the transition tag on him and somebody makes a crazy offer? Well, but how crazy are you going to make an offer?

43:38I don't know. No. So you don't think anybody goes three for 45? Three for 45, but at that point, I mean, if there's a team willing to do that, whoever the team is, I mean, doesn't that make you more comfortable just getting it done? I know the sweet spot's 13, but if he's telling you the entire time, no, it's 15 or whatever it ends up being, and you're like, okay, prove it. Yeah. At least this gives you the opportunity to have someone like have him prove it. So this is what Muji is going to do, RJ, right? Yes. And plus you save a couple of million if you can't get a deal done. And no one offers him a deal you have to match. I think I'm going to marry franchise. I'm going to cuddle transition. I'm going to trash. So you're totally, yeah. Well, for 40, I mean, $3 million, like I said, if you're at the point is if you really want him, why why play the game, right? I guess that's the point. Well, but here's the thing though. Here's what I'll say to that though. And I don't know what his mindset is either. Right. But if you've been trying to play the game the entire time, kind of like the whole Lamar Jackson conversation that they were having. Yeah, they have been playing the game. Right. Like if you're playing the game, and you clearly have a number you want to give him,

44:39and he's not happy with the number, because he says on the open market, I can get more. It would actually probably make the long term deal a little bit easier if you put the transition tag on him and said, okay, show us that you get more money. And if he does, then you feel more comfortable signing into the deal that he's telling you anyway, because you know another team's willing to pay it. Yeah, this is an interesting situation, because it's so, I mean, give credit to their offensive line, which was, I think, one of their bright spots, ish, an offensive, and you're going to have both your guards hit the market. And your two most talented players have both in the past been vocal about perhaps it's not being the best fit with Jets. So you throw money at the problem. You don't think ABT is back, right? You're asking me. It sounds like he's going to actually have a legitimate market. Yeah. ABT screams go to the Eagles on a one-year deal and be an all-prone. Great. He just screams it and says, because Beckton did it. I mean, Beckton's party, the equation, but he's not the reason I say this.

45:40But Beckton left there and he fell apart again. Yeah, yeah, I saw he could be a, he could be a candidate to be. Unlike with Beckton, though, like you know, you know, ABT is talented. ABT is talented. You know, it's not that the guy's not good, it's just that the guy's not healthy. Correct. All right, move on now. Roger, how would you answer that question? I would transition tag for the Mary. I would, I, for me, I would, I would actually cuddle the long-term deal. I'd like to get something. Well, I know, but you only have to forecast it. Well, I didn't think it was what I'd like to do. I thought it was what I expected to happen for Moosey. Correct. So I guess what I expect then, yes, if I'm entering that way, then I would go transition franchise long-term. That's right. But I don't like how this has been handled because you're either going to have to throw probably more money than you want at them because I do think there's a market out there. Running backs are back in Vogue. I actually, I was listening to something, I forget where, but from a credible source that said,

46:42if the NFL was, was, just making all players available, like, Bijan Robinson would go for numerous ones. Currently, right now, the viewpoint of the running back around the league has definitely come back around. Like, the CLC auks are going to walk away from the Super Bowl MVP with kind of, because Walker's old. And they want no part of them because they just think that the market's going to be way beyond what they think. There's going to be really, really good running backs available on the free agency. Yes. All right. So, succinctly, which New York coach or manager, and this was spurred from a nice ESPN.com article about the match and the pressure on damning Carl Smyndosa. It's under the most pressure. These are for different reasons. And the goal posts are different for all of them. Most pressure to win right now. Would that be Carl Smyndosa with the match? Would it be Mike Brown with the next? Or would it be Aaron Glenn with the Jets? And obviously, the term win is different for all of them.

47:46Hmm. It's back to me, huh? Yeah. And no one expects the Jets to win. So, I'm marrying the most pressure to win. Yes. Wow. This is a good question. I have my answer. Ooh. I mean, all have pressure. I think I'm going to... Wow, this is a really tough question. I think you're going to disagree with my answer. I think I'm going to marry Aaron Glenn. I mean, if the Jets don't win some games, he's not going to have a job. Yeah, but you're also... I mean, you're also trying to get the head of Woody Johnson, though. Yeah, but if they go four and thirteen, he's gone. And he has been... And he'll never coach again as a head coach in his league. Right, but his bar for winning is a lot different than what Mendoza in. Of course. Mike Brown's bar is... But I'm meeting winning of like just the bare minimum to keep employed.

48:47I think the most pressure is on Aaron Glenn. Right, but if they go out and spend a boat loan of money on defense, I mean, they could win six games. Is that enough winning? Might be. Right, so I mean... Woody Johnson's a wildcard. I think that Aaron Glenn needs to win a lot of cards. And I also think... I think there's a clear... I think there's a clear mario here. Oh, see, you're going to marry Mike Brown. No. You're going to marry Mendoza. Yeah. See, I think if the next flame out in the postseason, Mike Brown is probably going to be going. They fired Carlos Mendoza's entire staff. Do you think Mike Brown... I mean, maybe a first-round loss? Do you think they lose round two of Mike Brown's help? No. I think he could be. I think he very well could be. Yeah, with Mendoza, like Rick said, they brought it right to the water line. I think it's a good question. Because I think all of these guys have tremendous pressure to meet that bare minimum. Steve Cohen is not going to deal with... He's not going to accept another year of not winning. No, he's going to demand success. He's going to demand winning. And I think Woody Johnson, in his own way,

49:48is going to not settle for a three or four win season again. Okay, you marry who you want to marry. All right, I'm marrying Glenn. I'm cuddling Brown and I'm trashing Mendoza. That's a terrible trash. I'm going to marry Mendoza. I'll cuddle Glenn. I'll trash Brown. I like the disagreement. I like it. All right. All right. RJ, you be the siding vote here. How would you answer it? I would, I mean, never ask Ray. Well, because Ray... I think Ray's doing the sound stuff. I'll ask Ray too. Next. I would marry Mendoza. I would cuddle... I would cuddle Glenn and trash, Mike Brown. Yes. I don't see the same as Ray. Yeah, I don't see the, I don't really see a world. This is a different conversation. I, we were talking off the air yesterday about this, the fastball of this next team is, is 99. And I don't see them flaming out in the first round. But that's how I did it. So, so Nick's losing five games to Cleveland. Mike Brown is back. I think so. I think that, I think that Dolan was part of this decision too,

50:50to move off from tips. Well, I was like, I was like, I'm confident he was. So I don't know if he wants to be a one and done with the coach he helped just hire. Yeah, and they, with the way they shop the job last, last summer, do we know that like, I also don't see that happening. Like, I really don't see that happen. Do we know that they'd be able to just pluck a coach from anywhere and get them out? Mendoza is good. Was like, inches away from being fired. I mean, if you're going by who was closest and using that as your benchmark, yeah, I'm with you. I think Mendoza's the marry. Glens the cuddle. And I know, like I said, I don't, I don't think Brown's in any danger at all. All right, before we get to Mel. So, Rick, this for you. So Dave, the last, oh god, here we, well, we gotta hear me out here. The last year or so, Dave has had a ruffling of the feathers around these parts for perhaps sharing too much from his email inbox, of which none of us have any access.

51:51So, it's time to assess the situation. Not quite an intervention, but an assessment. Close. So, cut him out of trash how Dave should continue with his email. Okay. Should he continue to be as open as he has been? Just caused a lot of problems. Spend a lot of time now putting out fires. Maybe, scale it back, but leave the lines of communication open. Or is it time to maybe, just maybe, give it a little bit of a rest. Cool. Interesting. Could I go as a way that you think I'll answer this question, but I think I might surprise you. I'm trashing, give it a rest. Right in the garbage. He wants something. I want something. Now, let's see if he wants to continue the way we are where he wants to change up a little bit. Okay. Here's the thing though. I actually wish that there was another answer which said ramp it up. Oh, because I would marry ramp it up. Oh, he wants all the smoke. I want all the smoke. I want to put on all the fires. I love it.

52:51The workplaces meant to be uncomfortable. That's it. I won't marry. Keep it how it is. And I will cuddle. Just tone it down a little bit, but I would really marry to be uncomfortable. Ramp it up. Wow. I love that answer. I didn't see that. Yeah. I kiss you right on the forehead for that. Me and you, baby. Oh, that's, you know what? Good for you. And this is why you're my rider die. You know what else is that rider die? You know. That's Mel Kuiper. Mel Kuiper, who is the fancy of everyone's eye. joins us here on ESPN, New York. Good morning, Mel. How are you? I am good, guys. How you been? We miss you. Every day we don't speak to you is just, it's an eternity, Mel. We love you. I don't know why. I appreciate that. Mel, you know what I do? I appreciate so much entertainment and knowledge to the show. Mel, you know what I do when I miss you? This is what I do. So much I love you. I actually keep a fat free whip cream in the refrigerator. And if there's a time, like I was watching the combine the other day and I was like, you know who I miss? Mel, I walk over to that refrigerator. I squirt that whip cream right in my mouth. And guess what, it goes on.

53:52I got it. I got the crumb cake in there. I had that last night with a whole fat, pumpkin pie, brownies. It goes with anything. I mean, you can put that on any top of anything. Or just use it alone. It's a standalone. If you want it that way as well. Well, you've eaten balls of whip cream in the past though. Oh, God, yeah. All right, Mel. So last week you had the jets taken the safety and you had the giant's taken the offensive lineman. We have the combine happens. Styles goes crazy. All these things happen. Would you adjust that now? Would you stand with the jets still take the safety and the giant's take the offensive lineman? Well, the jets are the interesting one because obviously the Johnson tray by says automatic they're taking the pass rusher. Well, which one you're taking? Some people have them taken Bailey. Some people have them taken Reese. So you still don't know which one and both aren't perfect. And that's where you get into Caleb Down. He is a guy who will impact your defense immediately and bring all the things I said last week to your football team, not just your defense. So if you want that kind of guy, if you just want to replace a player you traded,

54:54then you take either Bailey or Reese. Now Bailey had in one year at Texas Tech as many sacks as he had in three years at Stanford. As I told you guys, he was a decent, a good player at Stanford. He was a great player at the Sheerate Texas Tech when he had Lee Hunter at Defense Attack or O'Meala Hyde coming off the other side. Jacob Rodriguez is an off-ball linebacker. So he had some great players around him. But so you can argue that if you don't want to, you know, nitpick here. If you go to Reese, Reese had, then the final six games didn't have a sack. He didn't have a force fund when it's career. Is he going to become Micaparsans? Micaparsans had, you know, a ton of force fumbles. And he had, you know, they did more. And he didn't force it in play that 2020 season because of COVID. So if you think he can become Micaparsans, maybe you take Reese, right? If you think that, you would take him. But it's a projection. Bailey is kind of a one-year wonder. That's why I think Downs for me, but I understand what people are saying. They're not going to take Downs or take one of those two. Well, which one? To this day, some people in the field of projecting and doing mock dress have Reese and probably half of them have Bailey.

55:55So, yeah, that's the question that they're going to have to answer is, okay, or decision they're going to have to make, which one of these two? And you think about Aaron Glatt, he wants to win this year, right? He wants to turn this thing around a little bit. He gets some victories. He can't have, well, repeated what he had this past year or he wanted his job. So all of a sudden there, do you take the guy who had the big gear rush in the pasture, which was Bailey, or do you take Reese, who, as I said, you're hoping off the edge can develop into what Micaparsans has become? Well, how concerned do you about Caleb Downs' knee, though? You know, you're concerned about everybody who has any object of injury. You're probably about, everybody plays a game of football you worry about. You got come into camp healthy and get hurt in July. It happens all the time. July and August is preseason game. So, you know, he's, he play had three great years in college and he's been impactful every year and he's a dynamic presence in that, the one that football team. So for me, he's going to go into top. There's no way he gets past. I can't see him get past the giant. Some people, he could get down inside around 10 to 10 tonight. He's going to go high. So the Spencer Fano had the arm length issue.

56:57Yes, about the giants, what they take Spencer Fano. You know, the arm length issue is there. It's real. That's arm length issue is with Ruben Baines. Some people still think he could get on the top five. Ruben Baines got, is going to have to be an outlier who ends up playing well in the NFL despite the shortest arms we've seen for a defensive end edge rusher. Same thing, we're Fano attacked. Was he going to have to be a guard or a center? Are you going to take a guard center at that spot as opposed to the right tackle? He made maybe go French CC Malinoa from Miami. So I think the arm length opened up some questions about some players. And obviously, you mentioned injuries. There's other factors as well. So it's wide open right now after the first pick guys. I mean, then nobody knows who the jets are taking. And after that, the guy that's hot right now, the red hot player, then it's going to be a difficult projection in terms of a mock draft is sunny styles from Ohio State. He had a awesome workout. He had a great year. He improved dramatically in terms of cutting down on the missed tackles after being a former safety, moving the off ball line back or two years ago. He is a guy that I had going seven to Washington.

57:57So I'm thinking he could go as high as five. Sonny Styles, he was 12 in my first mocked at Dallas. So he's the kind of guy you have to date. Off ball, value there. I said, hey, Rokwan Smith, look what happened there. Look what happened to a lot of the other guys. And what they've been able to do in the NFL playing that off ball spot. Fred Warner is the cop. But you love that Fred Warner. To me, I think Sonny Styles is the one it's going to be. I think the toughest guy to figure out just how high can you push him up when he had an unbelievable work. I mean, off the charts workout that you have not seen before. So Sonny Styles is kind of the talk of the town right now. I would love the Giants to take styles at five. If Downs is there and Styles is there and the Giants were to take styles over Downs, do you stand by that you think that's a mistake or is he done enough now that you've seen that you could make sense of styles at five? Oh, you can make sense of styles at five when you do what he did. I mean, athletically size wise, athletically speed wise, everything, great kid. Obviously, he's got some versatility

58:58because he can spy the quarterback. He can cover, like I say, a former safety. He can chase down ballcar. He can chase down versus he can chase down quick and do anything, go from just a standpoint of range and being able to play in today's NFL the way it is. So Styles is a tough one to pass up because of that. And then Downs is tough to pass up because you know you're getting an incredible mind. You're getting a guy who's going to be versatile. You're getting kind of a smaller version of Kyle Hamilton is what you're getting. That you can move around. He can impact the game in a lot of ways. So to me, that's going to be the tough call. The giants want to be in play for Downs. Jim John Harboss, he's a little, yeah, Kyle Hamilton in Caleb Downs, which you think he would. That's going to be interesting there. And of course, the lowest point would be the, the bangles at 10 for Caleb Downs. So, you know, like I said, this is why it's interesting because we don't have any outside of the first pick. So we're going to do Field 8 tonight next week. We're going to do a rapid fire mock where we pick, you know, keep going right through. 32 picks and not a lot of time. We're going to go rapid fire.

59:59Whoever, you know, I have the first pick, obviously, and take him and those will see what Field does at two. And then I have to make a decision at three and we rotate on down. I'm not trying to match to you with doing what we think they, we should do. We'll do kind of a combination of both. That's going to be one of the more enjoyable marks we'll ever do, which will be next week when we do that rapid fire mock draft. Now, what, what you just said actually, it kind of frustrates me a little bit but also maybe gives some insight as to why it feels like the NFL draft can be such a crapshoot a lot of the time. You just mentioned sunny styles and you gave a comp of Fred Warner, right? Like I'm, so I'm sitting here with the second overall pick. And if you told me right now with the second overall pick, I would get Fred Warner. I don't care what, like I don't care what the positional value is. I'm taking like Fred Warner is a difference maker. Do you think that these teams get cooked, you know, too wrapped up sometimes? With positional value as opposed to just taking regardless of position, who they know is going to be the best football player? It's hard. It's evaluating and ranking. This is a very tough business.

1:00:59You got to get very lucky. You got to be very fortunate as a general manager as a personnel director or whoever it is making the final call. It was a head coach, whoever it is because it's very, very tough. I mean, you go through, you just agonize over, right? I do it. I'm not even in the league. I'm doing this for the fans and just to have fun with and I agonize over, I know, you know, field does and I know George and Matt and everybody does. They agonize over this stuff. They didn't look what the teams have to do. This is their livelihood. Everything rests on these decisions. They're future rests on these decisions. So when you get a guy, I know when they see these guys come to camp and they see how the teams, the veterans react to these rookies, they know pretty quick who they hit on them, who they didn't. They wrote pretty quick. So they just say, I think we got the right guy. Thank God we got the right guy. And that's what you have to do because you don't know. And it's college football, like Ruben Bain. He's playing great at Miami with the short arms. What are you gonna do? Are you, if you take him and he doesn't pan out, you know what I mean? How'd you take a guy with 30 plus and not even 31 arms? You knew he was an out, you knew this, yeah.

1:02:00So you get a such a fauna. How'd you take a tat, right tackle with the short? Yeah, if you already knew that, how'd you do it? You're trying to find an outlier. And Bill Polly and I always scream when I was up with Bill, all those years of the ESPN, you don't draft outliers. Hi, you just don't, you got that parameters, you got to be disciplined in your approach, stick to your parameters. If you know a wide nine's got to run a 465 or better, if he runs 468, you can't take him, you know. You've got to have parameters, you've got to be disciplined and stick with in those. And that's why I say, you talk about Caleb Downs. You say, okay, if I knew Caleb Downs was gonna be kind of a version of Kyle Hamilton. Kyle Hamilton's right now one of the best defensive players in the league, certainly with the Ravens he is. And he's one of the best in the league, one of the most impactful. Then Nick Eman-Worry, the safety came to the sea hawks and the second round had a great combine. Still went in the second round after a hell of a year. He was an impactful, he could help lead that team to a Super Bowl that day one. So we're saying safety, I think a safety. I say, would you like to have Kyle? You mentioned would you like to have Fred Warner like to have Kyle Hamilton type? So I understand he's not Kyle Hamilton

1:03:00from a size and overall talent standpoint. Kyle's a freakish talent, but he didn't run well. Kyle ran 459, then 456 and people were concerned. He had an injury, he had a knee to that final year, right? He goes 14, how'd that work out for the Ravens? How'd it work out for those teams picking a little earlier? That's up to a couple guys, who are the giants who took two guys that didn't turn out too well. Could have had Kyle Hamilton. So for me, it's a rough business. It's a tough, tough business in terms of valuating from one level to the next. College of Pro, it's very, very difficult. Mel Kuiper, Jr. with us here, ESPN, New York on DPH run in Rothenburg. We don't know what the jets are going to do at quarterback. You've heard maybe Simpson at 16, maybe not. Is there a chance that he's not there for the jets at 16? Or is that an unrealistic thought right now? No, I think there's a chance he could be gone. These quarterback sometimes rise up higher. Sometimes they fall. There's no perfect world on that. I mean, Miami's sitting there. What does Miami do? I mean, they go from one Alabama quarterback to another. Who knows? I know Jordan Reed did a boxer F today.

1:04:03He's talked about Arizona's and different teams. It could be in the mix late to get back in there, to take him if he drops into the 20s. Well, somebody that already made a pick to jump back in to get Ty Simpson, is he good enough from a skill set standpoint to be a top 16 pick? You have to decide that. He measured 6-1 and changed. Not 6-2. Mac Jones was 6-2 when I had 217. He was 6-1 and changed in 2-12. So he's not as big as Mac Jones was. Mac Jones went 15. Is his arm strength stronger now? They have about similar arm strength. Is he a better athlete, full faster than Mac probably? So are you thinking faster and more athletic Mac Jones, but he doesn't have the size that Mac did. So in Mac at 17 starts, he had 15. So very similar in terms of starts. Everybody's worried about the 15 starts. Mac Jones only had 17. Well, Mac Jones, why are we excited about Mac Jones? Mac Jones had a really good rookie year in New England with Josh McDaniel. He left, he struggled. He's out in San Francisco, played well in place of party. Now everybody thinks, I'll bring him in to be our starter. Oh, Sam, we can't trade him.

1:05:03We're not trading him before. Now we need him. He's too valuable. So this is the way the league is, guys. One year, you think the guy can't play. Next year, you think he can play. And now the comps, everybody gets excited about comps. They hear Mac Jones, the Thai Simpson. Why would you want Thai Simpson to first if he's going to be Mac Jones? So again, everybody's all over the place. I think Thai Simpson's there at 16. From what I'm hearing, people say, nah, the Jets won't take him. I haven't gone to Pittsburgh at 21. And like I say, some have him to the Rams late in the first and some have him in a trade going to other teams. Maybe like even an Arizona Cardinal football team. And Mel Kuiper joins us here in the show. Mel, who hurt themselves this week? Because I mean, we're here at some of the, the McKay lemon hurt his interviews. We're, we're awful. Some of the stuff you saw in front of a microphone was a little bit, you know, alarming outside of him or your him and just in general. Like, who hurt themselves this week? Well, I think the arm length of some guys, which I thought hurting yourself, that's our interviews. Guess what? The interview with one team, interview with another. Hey, Mackay is a hell of a player. Mackay is a baller. So I don't have any problem with Mackay lemon. I think the arm length of a Montsord Elaine,

1:06:04the corner back at a Virginia Texan, the other one. In terms of 40 times, you know, you know, seeing everybody says carnal tape. That's the one that everybody's harping one today. It was a talk yesterday when I showed that. Carnal tape, you know, he didn't run great. But then some, some stop watching that have him at four, four, seven. But officially he was in the four, five. What does that do to him? Jerry Rice ran four, six. I can give you a host of receivers ran in the four, five. Spook him the cooler, ran four, five, seven. So we're all going crazy about carnal, yeah, he would like them to run a four, a great 40. But look at the receivers that have run great 40s over the years. I'm a witch you never heard from. So to me, it's how fast you play. So carnal tapes the one that you say, well, he's going to drop a little bit. Well, I said yesterday, well, he drops the chance of city at nine or even New Orleans at eight. They're going to be static. They're going to say thank you guys. Thank you for passing Cleveland in the Giants on carnal tape and the Saints get them or the cheese get them at, like say, at eight or nine. So carnal tape would be the one 40 that, I guess, you know, raised some spec, you created some speculation and concerned about, you know, how great can he be in the NFL?

1:07:05I think you show, if you just look at the guys I mentioned, you can say that shouldn't affect what kind of player he is in the NFL 40 time. It's in the four or five. All right. So this is the one for me, which is kind of interesting because everyone's in love with Jeremiah Love and he here, he's the best player. Like overall player in the draft, he might be in the number one player, like sure as upside, you know, immediate impact, all that kind of stuff. I, two things with the Giants, because the Giants apparently they want to get involved in running back game, whether it's in free agency or with love in the draft. I don't, I mean, I live this, this life as far as Sequan. I'm not, I don't want the running back five. It would that be a misstep in your mind if the Giants were to take Jeremiah Love with all the needs they have defensively right now. And really with the rest of the team. There would be some of the luxury picked at that point. I picked it to say, okay, he's the best player on our board. He can be a wide receiver. He can be a slot receiver in situations. Obviously a great running back, he was a dynamic home run hitter in the last couple of years, last two years at 15 runs of 24 more yards. So yeah, I mean, he's a special entity,

1:08:05but yeah, and you got some backs there that can get the job done one coming back from an injury. So, and you can find running backs. In this trip, there's gonna be some decent running backs. I mean, this running back group is terrible. Well, after Love and after Giddari and Price, good luck. Well, Mike Washington Jr. out of Arkansas, formerly a Buffalo, University of Buffalo in New Mexico state. We didn't do much. He goes to Arkansas this year and he lights it up. He had done an unfortunate fumble late against Memphis, or early in the year outside that. He was outstanding, caught the ball, ran great, tested great, 61223. Mike Washington Jr., either Jordan had him in a second round. I thought it'd probably be a third rounder. Emma Johnson, they dropped the loop, didn't run great. He may be in that third, fourth, fifth round discussion. So you can find some running backs. So for Love at that point, I would be a little surprised. First of all, some people think now, because of the way the dress unfolded, with some of the arm-length issues with some guys, I mentioned Fauna and Bayonet, that you could see a player like that rise up, like Jeremy Love, rise up to that, to hurt fourth pick in the draft type of range. So he may not even, based on that, which I heard yesterday, there's a possibility.

1:09:06I don't think it's a strong possibility, but there's a possibility that Jeremy Love could be going by the time the Giants pick. Now, last one for me. So we mentioned Mendelsoe, you think it's going one. I think everyone thinks he's going one. And then Ty Simpson is clearly the second quarterback in this draft. After what you saw during the Combine, who do you think that third quarterback ends up being? Four quarterbacks that are in that mix right now. I think if you talk to the teams, you'll get a different third quarterback from just about everybody. It could be Carson Beck. Carson Beck threw a lot of inner 24-interceptions over the last two years. Fernando Mendoza threw 12-interceptions over the last two years. Beck, let's say double that. So, but Beck had a really good year. He got a clean pocket. He made throws. He's got everything you want from a size standpoint, an arm strength standpoint. So it could be Carson Beck. Halen Green had remarkable athletic numbers, but he's an erratic as a passer. His accuracy is all over the place. His decision-making, the interception. So, you're going to gamble in the talent that you can fix them thing and coach them up as a developmental quarterback. He would be a Drew Aller. Drew Aller threw the ball well. We know he can throw the ball well. He's got an NFL arm, but he makes some scratcher head decisions

1:10:08on throws that he should make. And his accuracy is kind of up and down. So, is it Drew Aller? So, and then Garrett Nussmire. So, well, he was hurt all year. That affected him. He said, he just wasn't right because he had that injury. He was playing through, was painful, but he gutted it out. Are you going to take a chance on Garrett Nussmire? Who makes some throws that say, why did you make that throw? Why, I didn't just see that. It's a son of a coach. You know, he's got talent. He can spin it. So, any one of those four, any one of those four, you will hear, if you call a team, you would get one of those four. Yeah, you may get all four of them, or you might call four teams, get all different answers, but those are the four you're really choosing. He'll call Peyton from North Dakota State. It's more of a guy you can use in packages because he's a great athlete and maybe his running skills lead to him. I'd say being on the field some, even as a rookie, but the four quarterbacks I mentioned all to me, our guys are in line to be QB3. Who would I go with right now? It wouldn't be tailing green because like he said, he's erratic as a passer. If you probably said right now, I'd probably roll the dice that he was hurt.

1:11:09He's a smart kid. He's been around football. I might roll the dice on Nussmire because he had to give him a little bit of a mulligan because he had that injury this year. And that would be that. And maybe back would be right in there as well. Take a shot, you can see how he's got some talent. He's got talent. He's got size. And he took a lot of heat. He stuck it in there and he played with Miami. He said, what you want about Carson Beck? He had a heck of a year with the Miami Hurricanes this year overall. But there are those throws. He said, well, why didn't you see that? Why did you do that? But I think it would get down to me and we get down to Bup Beck Nussmire Aller. One of those three with green just being a guy you got to develop. So yeah, I said the other day. One of those eight or nine, I haven't even mentioned something. Maybe you hit on as a guy that later in the draft or even mid-draft becomes a decent starting quarter back in the rest of them kind of, our backups are just fall by the wayside. All right, Mel, it's always fun. It's always informative. We appreciate you and we'll talk to you again soon. And as we gear up for the 2026 NFL Draft. Speculation continues, guys. It's always fun. Take care, man.

1:12:09Look forward to it. That, of course, is Mel Kuiper, Jr. Thanks for listening to that DPA Trowenn, Rothenburg podcast. I'm just trying to have the best possible show. That's what I'm trying to do. What does that start? Listen live weekday mornings from 6 to 10 AM on AADESPN in New York, the ESPN New York app. And on YouTube by subscribing to the ESPN New York YouTube channel. Real product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Granger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRanger. Click Granger.com or just stop by.