← The Ryen Russillo Podcast
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Celtics End Cavs' Streak, Maxey Calls Out Embiid, and Knecht Goes Off, the Indiana Take Reaction, Plus Super Bowl Champ Andrew Whitworth
01:29:56
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- [00:11]
Ryan Russillo
Loaded podcast for you. Tales from the Couch, the matchup between Boston and the Cavs and a couple other nuggets on players getting benched in the Sixers stuff. We're going to talk about Monday's POD because we've heard from you fans throughout the college football landscape and we'll share some of those reactions. We've got Andrew Whitworth on a bunch of cool NFL stuff, including quarterback personalities and offensive linemen and what he made of Kansas City and all these other matchups that we've seen. And we've got life advice. Okay, a marquee matchup in the NBA last night. Little tales from the Couch for you on a Wednesday. A few things that I want to get to here and we're also going to follow up on college football disruption Monday topics, so follow up a little bit on the video that made the rounds. So here's the deal. We've got Cleveland at Boston really excited about this one. I think all of us were, you know, kind of like this big matchup with Cleveland getting off to this 150 start. 150 now is tied with the 9394 Rockets in the 4849 Washington Capitals. Ask your dads about that one. For the second best start to a season, of course, Golden State in 1516 started off 24 0. I would suggest that's the best basketball I've ever seen from a team ever. The beginning of that season for Golden State and we know what happened at the end didn't work out. All right, couple notes here. This set up great for Boston schedule wise. Second game in six days. No travel since a game at Brooklyn last Wednesday. It's Cleveland's third game in five days. So you know, you could look at it that way. And then also the health part of this stru hasn't played at all, which is something that's great for the Cavs looking forward to his return. But then on top of that, no Lavert, no Accoro and no Dean Wade, all rotational guys. So you knew it was going to set up pretty well here for Boston. A little stat profile for you. Cleveland number one offense number 11 defense number one true shooting. Boston number two offense number 13 in defense number three shooting team. I emphasize that statistics maybe more than others, both kind of average to even Boston being below average on the rebounding numbers, which would make sense especially for Boston. When you're shooting that many threes, you're not going to be fighting for the boards. But I think one of the problems they've been running into in some of These lesser effort games against inferior opponents. The defensive rebounding had really fallen off for the last five or so games. But this game is kind of two parts really. The first half, a three point barrage from Boston. They're up 65, 48 at the half. They were 14 at 22 versus 4, 14 from 3 for Cleveland. So you're up 30 points at threes. It's hard to beat anybody, but Cleveland is really good and we see a run. And here is kind of the theme of what I want to talk about. And I promise I won't do this every single time I talk about Cleveland, but I have brought this up before and look at the Mobley Allen minutes. So at 79, 63, 655 to go in the third quarter, NE comes in for Jared Allen. If you look at the shot chart for Evan Mobley throughout this game in the first quarter, he had two shots because the play chart stuff for ESPN.com is wrong. They showed us one attempt, but he had two in the first quarter at the rim. And that was when Allen was out. He had three other shots. Basically there was two threes and a long two, because when you watch when they're both in there together, and I saw this live when I saw the game in New Orleans, like, Mobley's running to the corner on a bunch of possessions, and it completely limits whatever offensive version you want from him. So in the second quarter, Mobley has one field goal attempt at the rim. It was that right block sweeping bank shot that was actually nasty. And then in the third quarter, when they take Allen out at 5:29. No, excuse me, he was benched at 5:29. So 6:55 in the third quarter, they're down 16. There's six shots in the paint for Mobley. You know, one of the things that's been really good about the Cavs this year is Kenny Atkinson pushing pace. And I'll never understand why every team doesn't do this, why you would just bring the ball up slow after a make or a mission, but especially off of a miss. Push the ball, see what you have. See if somebody gets lost in a cross match, everybody's scrambling to match up with somebody. And then see if you take advantage, especially with somebody like Mobley. When Allen's not in there and he can run right to the rim, he's going to outrun every other big. And you may get lucky. He got Drew pinned at the rim. There was another weird play where K picked up the ball handler. I know you're kind of taught to Stop ball. So I don't even know that it was Kata's mistake, essentially. But then Peyton Pritchard ends up pinned against Mobley, and it's because that space there exists for him. Like when you see Allen and Mobley there, even if Mobley's, like, going to the paint, then Allen's kind of stuck, and then he tries to space out, but nobody's going to guard him out there. And it's a continuation of. Despite this team being 150 and loving the profile and loving so many things about this Cavs team, Kenny Atkins is telling us the same things that we've seen in the past, that to Mobley, to get the Mobley you need, and we saw it in the playoffs last year. Granted, the Cavs, all these guys were hurt and they had no chance against Boston. But you have this moment in the third quarter where, you know, Boston, I think, missed eight or nine shots. Mobley's going off, he's getting more opportunities. And so then you fast Forward to the fourth quarter. It's 107, 100. Mitchell's trying. We'll get to Garland's numbers. I mean, I love Garland. He sucked last night, but they try to do it again. That's where I get the 529. At 529, 107, 100. In the fourth quarter, they bench Allen again. Mobley doesn't even take any shots. So look, Garland was terrible. He was 3 and 21. Jaylen Brown wasn't great. On the other side, Mitchell tried to bring him back, as I said, 35 points, but he needed 29 shots. Cavs only played eight guys. Side note, Ty Drome. Love it. Just love seeing him play basketball regularly again. There was a string of like eight possessions in this game where both sides were just hunting. And it was Peyton Pritchard to Sam Merrill. It's like, here we go. A little Houser sprinkle in there as well. I give Sam Merrill, friend of the pod. He's battling like he's doing the right things. It's just certain moments there. I think Jalen Brown got him pretty good one time, and they're just. He was trying against him, but he holds up. I would even say, like, Donovan Mitchell's engagement level on perimeter defense last night was terrific. And I think you've seen that a lot because, you know, that's kind of the task of if you want to break through because they are a really good team. You have to have that kind of commitment. And I think you would say that on the other side, Boston With Missoula during this weird malaise prior to this Cavs team, it was, eh, whatever, you know, it's just that we get 82 of these are pretty good. All these other teams that east besides Cleveland all seem like they're bad right now, and there's no way the rest of these teams are all going to be this bad. But the other thing too, I think is worth pointing out, is that there was six possessions where Boston hunted Garland five of those six. So look for that later in a game the next time they match up. So look, here's the. Here's the overall point. There was no outcome of this game where I was going to all of a sudden change how I felt about these, specifically Boston and everybody else. Cleveland could have blown him out by 20. Even with the schedule setting up, even with the people out for the Cavs. It's just. It's going to take a lot of work for me to be convinced to pick another team, even with the 150 start here. But I do think the Allen Mobley thing is it. You know, I know some of you are probably thinking, dude, they're 15 and oh, and you're doing this again. Yeah, I am. Because I think teams would love to play five out. You know, you can play four out in the playoffs. Can you play three out in the playoffs? And I know some of you will point to Mobley's 37% from three the last two years. Well, cool. With your 0.4 makes per game last year and your 0.7 makes, no team's going to care. There's going to be. Okay, you hit a couple, that's fine. We're. We're not stressed. We're not stressed the way Jared Allen is stressed when he's trying to run around and catch everybody. And I think Mobley can do those things. And Mobley was awesome when Allen was out against Boston. And you could just see these plays where if Mobley's the screener and there's no Allen in there, then Mobley will. He'll trail the ball handler. And then he's so quick. He's so athletic and his hands are so good and he's a really good passer that Mobley can work in a way where if he's not in that action, he's sitting there watching it. It's just. That's tough. Like, then that should be a shooter or that should be Strus. But I'm not suggesting you're benching Evan Mobley for Struse. I think you guys all get the point. So I think there's also part of this, too, where you look at the lesson from the Tatum, Jalen Brown pairing and going back to that year with IME where it was so bad into January, and you're thinking, is this actually not going to work? It was the first time I'd ever thought, like, maybe it. Maybe it won't work with these guys. And then it worked and the patience has paid off. And I think the lesson should always be, if you have special players, you don't want to trade a second one for like, three pieces just to say, oh, you know. And that was prior to some of the other acquisitions, obviously, Pringus and Drew and all that kind of stuff. So when you look at the Cavs and you go, what if they don't? What if they make it to the Eastern Conference finals, but it doesn't look like it's closed, I mean, who knows, who knows what's going to happen with any of this stuff? A couple teams are going to have massive injuries anyway, so at least Cleveland is in the conversation of if things were to break their way. We see it all the time in the playoffs, like, they just. Just be healthy and be standing. And they weren't last year. Maybe they will this year. So when I think about the patience that you have to have with talent on your roster, but talent, at times it can seem redundant. You know, is the lesson, the Boston lesson, where the patience pays off, but granted, it's two forwards, so it's very different than two bigs. Or you have the Minnesota approach where it was they just bad. We don't care. They made it the Western Conference finals last year. Like going to break up this cat thing. I also think pricing has something to do with that as well as you move forward and look at the salary cap ledger. So there you go. That's. That's what I have on that there wasn't going to be a result if the Cavs had blown them out today. I wasn't going to start the show being like, oh, I think we need to rethink the hierarchy of the Eastern Conference. Speaking of benching, Lamelo got benched last night for the last 348 Charlotte's loss at Brooklyn. I know some of you never want to hear anything I have to say about Lamelo, but I will tell you, the games that I watch, I have the hardest time with him because he's so talented and his shot making is absurd and his start, stop, start again. For a guy that size, off the dribble is like, whatever percentile you can be in, he's in it. And the passing is real and the size with his passing. So I, I see an incredibly talented player. But yeah, you're right. Like, I can never get past, like, okay, a ton of stats and the shots are going in and I can't believe that one went in. And the clutch numbers that he's had as far as scoring this year, all these big moments he's had. The Houston game where I watched that, I was like, dude, he's the best player on the floor right now. So his ceiling is that he's capable of all that. Yet I have these lingering doubts that I don't know that I'm ever going to get over. Where, yeah, sometimes with him, I'm just like, is he a. A really good stat, but kind of a losing player kind of guy? And then when he gets benched last night, and this is why I pay attention, all these substitution patterns, because I think there are so many hints out there when the coaches are telling you, well, this is what we want to do. So when it happened, and I was watching the game, but I wasn't super locked into it, I went back and watched Lomelo's fourth quarter because I was like, let me try to find what's happening here. Now, his shooting was terrible on the night. He had two ISO no pass shots that were brutal. And then in transition, he tried to go like one on two and make this layup. Although I've seen him make that layup before, so I don't even blame him for the attempt. And then he foul somebody immediately. He takes him out at 348. I was like, okay, because remember, Borgo used to kind of like sneaky bench lamel from like 6 minutes till 2 minutes left when he was there. Then we'd bring him back in as if he wasn't being benched, but he kind of was being benched. And look, that has not been the case anymore because he's arguably their most. Most talented. Yeah, I think he is their most talented player. And the numbers are. Are big time. But the Hornets subbed in nine players. Excuse me, I should say it this way. From 348 on, there were nine substitutions. They were subbing, you know, defense for offense, offense for defense. When they were down three with like six seconds to go and they had the ball, they subbed in two players down three and both were not lamello. So I don't think it's about a bad shooting night. I don't think it's about a mistake here. I think there was a delay a game earlier in the game because when you watch the fourth quarter minutes, there wasn't anything that was so egregious. Hell, they weren't even. Brooklyn wasn't even like they went Watford on them. Okay. And they were working smaller matchups. They weren't even putting Lamello in the action defensively to try to expose him. So it wasn't even that. It was some defensive thing. Almost all of those possessions in the fourth quarter on the. The ball was on the other side of Lamello. So it wasn't even anything like that. And Hornets fans, from what I can tell, are a bit outraged that they would do this. I would say this is alarming in the fact that they were like, no, we're good like that. To me, feels like it's not about the Brooklyn game. It's about a wake up call to the face of their franchise. And there's all sorts of stuff happening around the league. I need to do a bigger deep dive on Houston and some of the lineup stuff. Like I did a big lineup net rating thing for the Cavs. The five man, the two man. They're so good that I don't know that you can really see anything right now with what those minutes are. Maybe there is a number out there. I want to look up a lot of this stuff. But they, they benched Jabari Smith for the entire em. Just benched him for a fourth quarter this week. Was it this weekend, it was Monday night. And I think they brought him in technically like under a minute on one possession, but that was like a real thing. And then you're kind of watching guys being benched and how they're interacting. Jabari was totally engaged in the game still, despite being benched. And Houston's so deep. I have nights where I'm like, are they better with Tari and Thompson than they are Green and Smith? That seems ridiculous. And I was so excited about Jalen Green during that stretch without Shangoon, where I thought he really turned a corner. Just awareness alone, not just scoring. But I don't know that I've seen enough of that this year. But again, they're just so deep and they may have a big decision to make at some point, but there's going to have to be somebody available worth all of the talent. They have to do kind of a three for one for them. But I noticed Jabari was totally engaged. I did not see Lamelo super engaged, and I don't blame her for being a little Pissed because when you're subbing in all of your teammates for all of these possessions and you're not going back in the game, I don't think that's just about the Brooklyn game. I think it's about some of the other habits and the nights where I watch him and I struggle because the good is so good with him, but I think the bad is kind of harder to find. And I don't know that everybody always sees it all the time. Little love for the Lakers and we'll talk Sixers here. Dalton connect. Are you aware of what he is doing? He went for 37 last night. He could not wait to get the ball in his hands and then immediately shoot it. It was like a Steph level kind of catch and release night 27 against New Orleans. He's 51% from three in November. You've got 80s absurd overall numbers. Who's 31, 11 and three, 57 and 41% splits shooting and he's taken three threes a game. Dalton's played 30 plus minutes in three of his last four and the Lakers have gone from four and four to 10 and four. Now you could hit me with the hey, it's the schedule stupid. And you would be right are not great teams that they're beating. But if this Dalton connect thing is real and me and LeBron both really liked him before the draft, he was on it early. It adds such a different element to like having this kind of spacing that everyone is so desirous of having. Like if you can, what if this is real and he's like all of a sudden because he's an older rookie too and he's super athletic, he's not just some spot up shooter. That was kind of the thing you start to fall in love with when you did his draft tape. It's Tennessee. Like dude, there's a lot here. This guy's a sick competitor. And so you think Reeves and I can't again. I still can't believe we're getting this version of LeBron. But that's great. It makes me with the Dalton fact like if this is real, granted he'll hit a wall, he'll struggle, he's going to have a bad shooting month. I mean it's just going to happen. But when you think about the five man lineup options they have now with another really nasty shooter and my under play for the preseason overall, like the the over unders. My under was just a health bet with the Lakers that they weren't going to be as lucky to have the health they had from AD and LeBron last season. If those two are that healthy. AD is this guy like MVP candidate Anthony Davis and you have Reese who's just better in JJ's system. And then you just like, oh, by the way Dalton connects now on this team. It, it makes me think about them a little bit differently, what they're capable of, which I did not think I would do. Last thing here. Cause I'm kind of going on here for a while. Team meeting time. If you hate the Sixers, watch the second half of the Miami game from Monday. Sixers were up I think 19 in that game and then it was a 7034 run by Miami. On the other side, Embiid has played only three games. They have not had George, Maxine and Bede in the same game. McCain has been incredible, speaking of rookies for them. But Max has been out the last six and Bede was sick apparently. I hope he was sick on Monday because that was. Again, if you hate the Sixers, watch that second half. It's some of the worst basketball from a team that's supposed to be decent. And now they're tied for the worst record in the NBA with Washington. And I guess the reports chomps had it first on espn. There's been some follow ups where Maxi called out Embiid saying it starts with you big fella, quote, you're late to everything. Apparently he and Maxi have a great relationship. The more concerning thing I think for The Philadelphia, Philadelphia 76ers would be that this all made it out, that the quotes made it out. But there's no way they're this bad. Paul George's advanced numbers are brutal. Embiid looks terrible so far. We kind of expected as he works himself back into shape, but that was a half of basketball against Miami in the second half of its team that did not want to be out there. And McCain's like, I'll shoot it. So I don't know if any of it really means anything. It's, it's salacious, it's dramatic. The record stinks right now. I'm not taking any of it seriously until all the guys are actually playing together. And who knows, with the east still be a four seed with how bad some of these teams have been.
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Andrew Whitworth
I.
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Ryan Russillo
Didn'T expect to be doing this on Monday. For Wednesday follow up, we got Saruti here. We're going to go through it. So you heard from me on my thoughts on the Indiana schedule. And look, if they beat Ohio State, I don't love that you're only going to have to play one team, but if they beat Ohio State, like, they're in, and I'd be fine with it. We can also play the game of, like, why are you guys getting worked up about this when everything will figure itself out? Have you paid attention to the industry and what we do? Because if you're listening to a talk show right now, right, like, if I had, we'd have college football guests come in in like, week three and go, I don't even understand. Like, well, you know, we kind of have to talk about something. So normally I would talk about the rankings. The rankings. I already talked about them before they came out. They basically played out pretty much the way I thought they would. Cerudi. But here's the thing. Like, this thing absolutely blew up, and it's all very tribal. And I'm admitting that I have preconceived biases about teams that have been good in the past. Like my Texas point, I understand people hating it. I don't understand how people took my Texas point and then got to Washington and Michigan. I was like, I don't think. I think that's actually kind of easy to understand the difference if a team has their coaching staff and NFL quarterback coming back and it's a really good roster that I just, I can't help myself but give that team the benefit of the doubt. A lot of, like, why even. Why even play the games and just sim it, like, well, I think that's kind of more what you're saying then, isn't it? If you're saying just 12 0, who cares how it happened? But again, if Indiana's 12 0, that's a different conversation than being 11 and 1. And I thought the guys on TV last night were pushing for, like, hey, if Indiana keeps it within 10 or 14, does that mean that they're still in? Well, it's in comparison to what. However, it got really nasty. It gets nasty every year. And basically what happens is that when you do this job, especially as long as I've been doing it, it's just a cycle of, like, a fan base feeling like they're now being targeted and I'm the bad guy, when in reality, this is the only time you've ever cared about what I had to say specific to your team, especially when we're talking about Indiana football. So we'll see what happens this weekend. The offensive line stuff with Ohio State's a mess, but you've already heard from me. I try to admit kind of how I see it, and I certainly have not changed my mind. But you Indiana fans, let's hear from you. Let's hear from you. So we know. I don't know we've ever really done it this way survey. So I guess we're just going to fire off some opinions from social media because this like spawned. People were doing like, like people are doing long form on this. Like, I saw it every. And it was kind of like an indirect, like people are saying. And I was like, well, I think we kind of know the origin of where this is coming from, but go ahead.
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Ceruti
Yeah, I tried to find the first comment on Instagram for the post on the ringer post was like, well, who did Tennessee beat then? And it's like, well, be Bama. Pretty, pretty good win. Not, not, not too bad. But then I tried to find it this morning and maybe, I don't know, maybe I couldn't find it, but I think the guy deleted it. So good on him. I also don't think it's just all Indiana fans. I think. I think there's a lot of people that are just like annoyed at the SEC being like, yeah, good call.
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Ryan Russillo
Yeah, you're right. It isn't just Indiana fans at all, but it's definitely people that hate the sec.
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Ceruti
Yeah.
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Ryan Russillo
So, no, I'm glad. I'm glad you said that because it wasn't just Indiana fans. And look, I get it. I've. I've been doing this a long time. Like, I, I didn't do it to be like, hey, I want to piss everybody out. I did it because I felt it. And I was like, I'm going to share this because I don't know that anybody's done the deep dive on like how imbalanced these schedules are for teams within the same conference. And then it just comes back to the expansion thing, which I've already about for too many years.
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Ceruti
Yeah, I think all those teams too, that you mentioned, I think would be favored over Indiana. I mean, not that that means.
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Ryan Russillo
But that's not what I. Yeah, no, I know. I'm just saying I'm not doing that argument because I hate that argument because when I did college game day, they used to be like, you should use the Vegas rankings all the time. I'm like, look, I understand those guys are smarter than I am, but like Oklahoma or USC could lose three games and then they still going to be favored and I can't, I can't rank them ahead of some of these other teams. Yeah. But again, this is. Yeah, I'm not defaulting to That I. I don't know how you watch college football and don't have some preconceived notion of, like, who might be good and who might not be good. We don't have a ton to go on, man. Especially when the schedules are this messed up. Go ahead.
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Ceruti
Here's one. This is from Dan Said. Disagree, Orion. This is the truth. Strength of schedule was created by the SEC elites. And then he puts in a screenshot of. I don't even know what it is. It's no context of just somebody saying there's a 50% chance that any team wins any game.
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Ryan Russillo
I don't think it's 50. 50. I don't even know what that one means. I don't.
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Ceruti
I don't know what happens. Mean there's another one. Marcus goes, college football is the only sport where the media talking about the sport actively tries to kill Cinderella stories. It's fascinating.
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Andrew Whitworth
Yeah.
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Ryan Russillo
I mean, I can kind of see how he got there, but. Yeah. I don't know.
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Ceruti
This is what, 11 verts? This is a lazy take. You just name some teams that sound good to call that strength of schedule for the SEC teams.
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Ryan Russillo
Yeah. Or. Or you could look at the strength of schedule rankings, but that's all right.
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Ceruti
Another one. C.J. hey, Ryan Rossillo. Should we even play the games or should we just use blue chip ratios in August to seed the playoff? I'll hang up and listen. I like the. I like the end. That's actually funny.
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Ryan Russillo
Yeah, that's. I mean, this is. This is kind of what it's been for two straight days. I mean, endless. It's still going today as of today's taping.
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Ceruti
Here's a great one. J. Merck. The SEC sucks. Stop pretending. It's 2018 and Saban is still at. @ Bama. Nil has evened out the playing field.
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Ryan Russillo
Maybe it has. That was Danny Cannell's big.
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Ceruti
The SEC sucks. Is aggressive. I don't know.
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Ryan Russillo
That one feels a little aggressive.
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Ceruti
There are years I've said this to.
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Ryan Russillo
Everybody, but if the Big Ten won multiple titles with multiple teams, then guess what? I would think that conference is the best conference. I've never understood why this is. This is so tough for everybody. But again, it's. No one ever wants to say, like, maybe my thing isn't as good as the other thing. Nobody ever does that. It's the guy at the gym scenario. No one ever, like the. No one ever sees, like, the guy at the gym with the girl that everybody's been looking at for months and goes you know what? Good for him. Yeah, yeah. He's better looking than me. Yeah, he's better looking than me. And probably just tighter game.
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Ceruti
He earned it. He earned it. This is a good one, man. They're doing. This is from JBR Bracketology, man. They're doing to 2024 Indiana what they did to 2023 Florida State. Indiana will be left out if they don't beat or lose to Ohio State by more than. Less than seven points. I don't know.
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Ryan Russillo
That's.
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Ceruti
The Florida State thing is the same thing.
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Ryan Russillo
Florida State thing's way worse.
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Ceruti
I would agree. Here's a good one, Chris. Hey, dumb fuck, check out Texas schedule again. It's just as bad.
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Ryan Russillo
Fair, Totally fair.
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Ceruti
Tough, but fair.
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Ryan Russillo
Yeah, but I. I don't know why people would argue that I'm wrong by pointing out somebody else's schedule that's also hasn't been great. And by the way, Texas schedule is tougher. There was a lot of, like, metric stuff like, how come you didn't use this? How come you didn't use game control? Game control is one of the dumbest fucking things ever. And it's like, do you really want to use all the ESPN Power ranking stuff? You want to know who's number one in fpi? Do you want to know who's number one in FBI Texas? You want to know who's been like, number two all season, even after the Vandy loss? Bama. So I've been doing this. I. We can do it all day if I really wanted to. Like, I already know the chess moves.
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Ceruti
Here's a good one, and then we've got one that we need to end with. But a guy just screenshotted you, a couple other people talking about it and said Sankey picked up the phone.
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Ryan Russillo
I've talked to Sankey 0times. I think we've tried to get him on three times. He won't come on if anything. Let's go Hoosiers. All right.
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Ceruti
Do we want to get to the best one?
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Ryan Russillo
Yeah. Yeah, let's get to the best one.
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Ceruti
Dan Dakich. Dan Dakich, who's an interesting Twitter follow these days. I like Dan. I used to work with Dan back at ESPN in the Mike and Mike days.
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Ryan Russillo
It's a real wild card. Yeah, he was great.
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Ceruti
I haven't talked to him. Yeah, I haven't talked to him forever, but he was always an enjoyable guy to be around. But, you know, it's definitely been a little aggressive as of late. He, quote, tweeted the video of you and McShay talking about it. It was the FanDuel tweet and said, dudes that were never in a locker room or other than to take a peek, to get an autograph, or to take a picture.
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Ryan Russillo
Okay, say that again.
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Ceruti
Dudes that were never in a locker room other than to take a peek, get an autograph, or take a picture. Just to be clear, McShay played quarterback.
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Andrew Whitworth
Yeah.
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Ryan Russillo
Let's. Let's start with the facts, because we're about trying to get to the truth as hard as it can be and misguided, and sometimes it doesn't work and you get stuff wrong. But just to be factual to your point, McShay played quarterback in college at Richmond. However, after they recruited him, they switched to the zone read. They looked at him because his 40 times still going, and they were like, you're never playing in our new system, so we're going to keep you on. We're not going to kick you out, and you can just advance scout for us. And then people were like, this guy's like a savant. And then he got a job with Gary Horton and the rest is history. Right. I did do it to look at dicks. I. So.
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Ceruti
Yeah.
- [29:07]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah.
- [29:08]
Ryan Russillo
So he's half right. Like, when I first started in Boston, I'd be in locker rooms, and that was one of the benefits because you. You'd get to look at other guys. Dicks.
- [29:19]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [29:19]
Ryan Russillo
And one of the.
- [29:21]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah.
- [29:21]
Ryan Russillo
I mean, speaking of. Right. So when I would. When I left, when I went to, like, national radio, and then it was just way less dicks, and it's definitely a different job after that. So he was. He's half right. Nailed it.
- [29:36]
Ceruti
That checks out. This is also the best one. Somebody replied to him and said, huge lib, too. Because it always has to come back to that.
- [29:46]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah. No, I mean, I don't. I. I don't even know. I don't know what to do with any of that stuff. Stuff anymore. The assumptions about.
- [29:56]
Ceruti
Just keep people on your head. Yeah. No, they don't know what. Yeah, they don't know what to think of you.
- [30:00]
Ryan Russillo
I know you do.
- [30:01]
Ceruti
To get a win, though. Nate Robinson agree with you. He replied the. Nate Robinson, by the way, who he fought. Did he fight?
- [30:06]
Andrew Whitworth
J. Who.
- [30:07]
Ceruti
Who did he fight? He fights.
- [30:08]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah, we didn't. Yeah, we didn't like that outcome because that was back before, like, anybody realized that Jake had really been training and guys are like, pro athlete. Nate's gonna. You shouldn't even brought that up because we appreciate Nate reaching out to the show. And now he's like, those guys brought up the fight because it didn't go great.
- [30:20]
Ceruti
No. Nate Dump contest champion. Right. Washington. You know, so he's. He's. He's watching Big Trek and Donkey. Trek and Donkey. Exactly. He did say, I'm with Buddy on this one. Referring to you. So he's got your back. Good for you.
- [30:34]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah. Hey, man, it happens every year. There's always like one or two teams that feels like they're being slighted. And Yeah, I just think 10 weeks in. Danny Cannell has Indiana, number two in the country in his earned not given Danny Cannell rankings.
- [30:50]
Ceruti
It's a great bit, you gotta admit. I actually love it.
- [30:53]
Ryan Russillo
So Danny. Danny, who pulled for Iowa. Not because he loved Iowa. He doesn't know anything about Waterloo. Nothing. He doesn't know.
- [31:02]
Ceruti
And nothing about farming. Come on.
- [31:04]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah. He doesn't know that America needs farmers.
- [31:05]
Ceruti
Plant a seed in his life.
- [31:07]
Ryan Russillo
Captain UCF. Right, Mr. UCF. Wearing the hoodies. May have even gone to the fake parade they had. Love them. He eliminated Bama from the playoffs last year. Then they were in it and a playaway from maybe playing for a national championship. And probably one of the most challenging years of Saban's career eliminated Bama from the playoffs again this year after the Vandy game. Probably going to be in the playoffs. Although the Auburn game is always really, really weird, no matter who's who in that one. And guess what? I would just tell all of those fan bases, he's not doing it for you. You're a pawn in his moves. And he has the Hoosiers number two in the country.
- [31:52]
Ceruti
Gotta get Danny Earn.
- [31:54]
Ryan Russillo
Not given.
- [31:55]
Ceruti
Print the shirts.
- [32:01]
Ryan Russillo
Okay. That was good. I was glad we got some feedback there. I'll try to be better. Sharpen up, shave off the rough edges. Go Hoosiers. You see him on Thursday Night football starting at 7 Eastern on Prime Video. And of course, also our other guy, Ryan Fitzpatrick, who's been on the podcast Fitz and Wit, a new original series by Wave Sports. You can get that podcast every Monday. New episodes. Andrew Whitworth joins us. What's up, man?
- [32:30]
Andrew Whitworth
What's going on, brother? Happy to be here, man.
- [32:32]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah, no, it's. It's good to see you again. So I think there's a bunch of different things that I want to do. Let's just start with some straightforward NFL stuff, and then maybe we'll get to some of the fun stuff as well. When you see a win like the Bills against the Chiefs, and we've seen this a lot during the regular season. And, you know, it's kind of like the guys that you're going to have to get. How much can you actually, like, take out of that win? I mean, it wins a win, but it's almost this haunting thing of, like, we've done this before, we've been here before, and then it's different than the playoffs.
- [32:59]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah, I think a win's a win. I went into it, and I know Fitz will get upset. You know, it's a huge win for the Bills. Obviously, they want to do it. And I think that, to me, it was a win, a win. And I'm still saying it matters what happens in the playoffs, but I do think being without some of his weapons, the way they really went about the game, the long drives, methodically going down the field, figuring out ways to go the distance against the Chiefs defense, I feel like the next time the Chiefs play them, like, that's in your head a little bit of like, man, these guys just kept finding a way to go down the field. And Josh didn't even have all his weapons at his disposal. So I do feel like this one is a little different because I think it's one that, to me, it just felt like they needed to do it. They've done it in the regular season before, but maybe not in this way. And so I think this is one of those that you could build off of.
- [33:50]
Ryan Russillo
All right. Did you have somebody, whether it was Cincinnati or la, where you felt like, man, they're just a bad matchup for us?
- [33:58]
Andrew Whitworth
Well, I mean, obviously in la, that the Niners had a pretty sick run against us for a while there. And it's just flat out, I think we were just so defensive and, you know, we were like the bitter, you know, ex boyfriend or girlfriend who just, you know, you keep trying to say that you're okay, but you're really not with the whole situation. Because it was like, oh, well, you know, one game we sat guys because we already made the playoffs. And then the next year, it was like we were hurt. And then the next, it's like, oh, these. These things happened. You know, there's all these excuses. And then the run just continued. And I. And I always say this. It continued up until the point where week 18, the year we won the super bowl, we. We have a lead on them. We've. We've come out and finally played well against them. They come all the way back and beat us. We go to overtime. They beat us at the end of overtime. And I can remember the training room the next morning, and you really look at it, that series has changed a little bit since then. That morning I remember guys sitting there going like, dude, they're actually just a good ass football team. Like, they're really freaking good. And it was like, that was the first time I heard guys just acknowledge, like, maybe they're actually better than us and we gotta play our absolute best to beat them. So I think it's pretty ironic that you get into the NFC Championship and we have to come back and beat them in that game and we do it. And I think to me, it's kind of changed now, like, where they. I don't think they see them quite the same. I think they see the Niners as, man, they're as good as us, if not better. So, like, we have to play our absolute best. I think it's changed a lot of the demeanor of that locker room because for a while we were in denial and there's no doubt about it.
- [35:33]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah, I like how you said that because I think looking at it just as a guy watching on Sundays and you'll see the track record of one team against another team and you'll think, okay, is there something they're doing? What they're blocking? Have they figured out their quarterback better? And there's definitely some truth, but then sometimes it's just, well, they've been better than us and that's why we. We lose.
- [35:51]
Andrew Whitworth
Or it's. Or it's just a bad matchup for you. And then the Niners were a bad matchup for us. What they were really good at was probably like the one, the couple things that it's like, man, this is the team that, you know, we really don't have a great answer for this. And we really, like, this is kind of the one thing that's going to hurt us. And so I think when you look at it, sometimes there's just those bad matchups where it's just like, man, this team kind of owns us. And it's because really how we're constructed and how they're constructed. This is probably the toughest test for us. And oh, by the way, it's also a divisional game with tons of implications all the time. So there's a lot of factors that go into it.
- [36:23]
Ryan Russillo
Okay, I think that's a good lead in then to what we've seen with Lamar against Pittsburgh, because I thought this was the week. Like, look, I mean, this is all lining up. He's going up against Russell Wilson. I mean, they've got to get him this week. And the thing that I loved about the defensive approach from Pittsburgh is just that you got to figure out a way to contain. It's not about tackling Lamar, it's about containing. And the only reason I really get excited about this is I remember at ESPN, I was waiting to go on SportsCenter. Teddy Bruski and I were in the back, right? We're in the back of the set, and I was asking you about something that they used to do. And he then demonstrates the entire thing on me by grabbing the front of my suit. And he goes, well, this is what we would do whenever we went up against this kind of guy. He's like, it's contain and then shed. It's never upfield. And I'm like, all right, you're fucking up my suit. Like, I have to go on TV here in two seconds. Teddy, I love you, but. And when I watch Pittsburgh, I thought the coverage was great where Lamar was in between. And so, again, is it game planning or is it now just a bad matchup? Things that we have to think about when the playoffs get seeded out?
- [37:27]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah, I think. I think it's a tough matchup for them. I really do. Because if you really look at what Pittsburgh is going to try to do offensively and defensively, they're going to try to possess the football. Offensively, they're going to run it. You know, they're going to take a couple shots in the game. You look at them, the marriage are really running past. I think Arthur Smith's done a great job. And then so they're going to kind of keep your possessions limited. And then defensively, they got this guy named TJ Watt who's running all over the freaking field. And then he has obviously had an impact on how Hightower and Herbie and those guys play. Hightower is out of this one, but what do you know? Pittsburgh Steelers, of course. The next guy jumps right in and he's flying all over the field. Calls and turnovers. I mean, their ability, really Pittsburgh's, to create these splash defensive plays is unbelievable. I mean, it's like they always can find a way to create that fumble or that huge turnover or score on defense, It's. It's very rare. Whatever it is, they have bottled up over there. But I think it is. I think it's a tough matchup because you got guys like Cameron Hayward, who set the tone in the interior of that defense, and you go, all right, you're not going to be able to run it in the middle as much. And then on the outsides, we got edge rushers who aren't the type who they're heavy setting the edge, guys they are chasing, energetic, athletic guys who all game long are flying around the field, which is a bad scenario for Lamar. It's harder for him to get out and do his thing when you have those type of guys. And I think really just to me, it's one of those that it starts. People can say what they want. It gets in your head and you start to think about it. I've never played good against this team. I am a huge golfer. I say this all the time. There is holes as a golfer. If you play a lot of golf that you're like, man, when I play this golf course, for whatever reason, every time I go on the fifth tee, I freaking rope hook it into these trees or I shake it over here. It just. There's things that mentally get in your head and it leads to your performance. And I think, to me, you see these, when these happen, it just changes. You do something, you're tight, you squeeze it a little hard, you fumble, you make a pick or a bad decision or like in this game, it looked like Lamar locked in a lot to try to do what he wanted to do instead of what he was being given some. And so I think it just. You can't. You can say all you want, but it lives in that headspace of yours that you haven't been able to find a way to be really successful against a certain team.
- [39:38]
Ryan Russillo
I'm going to set you up here to maybe go in a couple different directions because we like to have the quarterbacks on and they can just lament about the state of quarterbacking and everything. And I remember the first few weeks of the season, I was thinking like, is it just this too high safety party that everybody's having and then no one's really countering yet with rushing attempts? Like, I don't mind that the game has evolved to a place where it's like, maybe we just don't have to like waste passing opportunities with all these runs. Even though I understand you guys like to run block more than you like to pass protect, but I don't know if that has happened yet, but it feels like the Chargers came into the season being like, we're not adjusting anything. This. This is going to be our game plan. So are you waiting, Are you waiting for this? Maybe correction to some of the things that we saw in the beginning of the season where teams are going to be a little run heavier or do you think that just it's gone. Like it's not going to happen because everybody's in love with these passing attacks.
- [40:33]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah, I think some teams are set up where passing is really all they're going to do. I mean, you look in Cincinnati, I think that, like, you look at that team, they're constructed, that that's what they're going to do. I mean, they don't care really what you come out to do. They're. They're going to mix runs in, but they're there to throw the football. Joe Burrow. But I think you see some teams that have committed to it this year and it's leading to success. They're playing great defense, they're running the football, and then they take shots off of it. I mean, the Chargers are a great example of that. I mean, Jim Hart, Jim Harbaugh's stats from when he first took over the Niners to the Chargers, they're almost. They're identical. Damn near. And so it's like he just brought back that entire philosophy and plan, like, let's play awesome defense and let's run the football and be physical. And I really think that that's the only reason that when you have these conversations about what it looks like when teams get into the playoffs and you say, oh, man, what's playoff football like? Go look at the Chiefs. People say what they want about the chief stats, but, man, I always said this. It feels like Annie Reid just plays games with people in the regular season because he knows they're so good. Because when you go look at the playoffs, the last two years in a row that they won a Super bowl, they all of a sudden in the playoffs, ton play, tons of 12 and 13, they all of a sudden all the run game stuff changes. They start running power leads and pool leads and physical football plays, and then they build everything off of that and they play great defense and they win. And that's why I think teams like the Steelers, who you're like, all right, well, maybe they are competitive, but they're not one of the elites. I don't know their style of football in the playoffs, limited possessions, great defense, calls, a turnover or two, is actually what's really successful. I mean, everyone talks about the Ravens last year, and it's like, what did they do when they got into the playoffs? All of a sudden they decided to throw it against the Chiefs a ton and they lose the game and all you wanted them to do is run it. And I mean, to me, I think that's there's be some teams that I Think might cause some stir in the playoffs this year just by how they're actually built. They play great defense and they run the football that if your, your style is not that, you're going to have a tough time getting them out of the playoffs because that style wins that time of the year.
- [42:32]
Ryan Russillo
Okay, now, offensive line stuff we've heard, okay, no one plays in the preseason. You don't get enough. And this has led to, it's. It's not just too high, it's not just passing all the time. It's just that offensive lines are not connected the way that they used to be. Is that true?
- [42:51]
Andrew Whitworth
No, I don't think that's as much as much as I think that position takes some building some calluses. I mean, I think it takes a little bit of, you know, you gotta get out there and build the toughness it takes to play the positions. I mean, one of the things that, you know, injuries are injuries, but you see a lot with some of these young guys is they miss so much time. I mean, miss a game here, come back the next week, miss a game there, or they're leaving games inside of a game, like in sitting on the sideline. They're not even like truly injured, where it's like, oh, they gotta leave the field, they're just out for the rest of the game. Like I, in my mind it took me a lot of time to have patience with that whole thing. I'm like, I don't even understand like you explain to me the injury that you can't finish a game with, but like the next week you can play. Like I don't even understand what that means. Makes zero sense to me. So that thing to me is interesting. It's just it some of the calluses and toughness that you have to build now, some of that is a little bit of training camps changed, right? But I think that you have to develop a way to mentally challenge guys, create toughness. And I think now with how training camp's changed, I think you're going to see more coaches go back to. All right, the limited time we have, we are going to hit every second we have and we're going to play in more preseason games because I think you need to see who are your tough guys, who are the guys that have that cows who does have the ability to sustain. Because that may be my best five guys is the guys that actually can survive that training camp and physically be ready to go. That's probably the best implication that through a 17 game season these are going to be the best five that I can put on the field and I can count. They'll actually be out there. Because I think that's one of the biggest problems too is there's so much in and out that it's hard to build any continuity and you need to see who you have that's healthy enough to go play week in and week out. Because to me, that's one thing that doesn't give enough credit. I've always said this, like even when you had, you know, I love that pff came in the game because it finally, you know, although I don't agree with it all the time, it finally gave lineman some scalable thing that people started to go, okay, let's figure out a way to give lineman a number or a grade of somehow that the public can know about. But at the same time, I used to always say, you know, you should negatively grade guys who miss games. Cause the reality is every game you miss, whoever your backup is, whatever level they play at, that's actually what you're providing to your team at that time. So that tells you a better story of what kind of player that is. Like if you're a great football player and you're a highly graded athlete at left tackle, but you're missing three or four games a year, you're costing your team those three or four games. So that should reflect in the kind of player you are. We aren't playing a stat driven game where it's just per yardage a game or touchdowns a game. Your availability is one of your greatest traits. And to me, your team being able to count on you. There's something that should be able to measure that.
- [45:43]
Ryan Russillo
If you could build an O line right now, like, who's the first guy that you would take in the league?
- [45:48]
Andrew Whitworth
Oh man. I mean, right this second, I think, you know, there's a couple of guys that probably in these young guys that are just, I don't know, some of these guys crack me up. Like, you know, you just look at even Tristan Wirf and those guys that have been able to play both sides and be productive, like they have. Like that blows my mind. I mean, if I played to play right tackle, you might as well put me in a blindfold and tie my arms behind my back because I would have no idea how to get out of a right handed stance. But I think to me you probably got to say that Pen se is one of those guys that you'd have to put on the list of if you're starting a group. He's Got to be on it. I mean, I also, you know, I think that to me, one of the harder positions you see in the league, to find a guy that's really dominant at it, like a Creed Humphrey, finding a dominant center would be probably a great place to start, too. So I really look at it. To me, it's either get that really, really elite tackle that you think you need if you're going to start a line group, you know, right now going forward in the league, guys that have a lot of time left, or that elite young center that you think you can kind of build an offense around. Because those two, those two positions to me are really kind of. If you can have that, either the center of your offensive line is something you can count on for the rest of your career there, or you got that elite guy tackle, then you kind of fill in from there. I think those are two of the spots that, to me, would be the first thing to jump off my mind.
- [47:03]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah. As a reformed ball watcher and making sure I'm like, hey, you know, they're always going to show the replay, so pick somebody out and watch. And Aaron Donald was maybe the first interior defensive lineman where you could watch the entire game through him and just laugh your ass off, just going, this is so ridiculous what he does and how he gains all his attention. But Sewell's on that list for me. And yep, every Sunday night when he's on a Sunday broadcast or he's on any of the primetime stuff, you'll always, you'll get a couple moments where you think, how, like, they can do anything with him. Like, he'll get outside, you're thinking, how can. And then they, they like double check his weight and go, he's that big and he's doing this kind of stuff. And, you know, look, I just think it, it's one thing to just pass block, run block and all these things, but it's like, no, we have a lineman who can get outside and then we can throw behind that or we can run behind that. It definitely opens up the playbook for you.
- [48:00]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah, I mean, he's, he's a rare guy. I mean, the abilities he has really in every phase of the game is extremely rare. I've always said that's one of the reasons, like, I've always kind of kept Trent Williams, even before this last little run with San Francisco, that he's been so good throughout his career. I've always put him kind of at that top of that list for me, because when you really talk about every single phase of the game, this guy can dominate. He's one of those guys that, to me, has been probably the best of his era in that sense that, like, there's not a single part of the game that he can't absolutely be a factor and a dominating factor in. And NASU looks like a guy who, for his career will be that way, which is going to set him apart from all the others, because there might be guys that can pass protect really, really well. You know, they're really effective in the run game or something, but there's very few that in the screen game, pass game, run game, out in open space. Hell, you're even trying to give him the football down in the red zone, you know, on this release screen, throwback, you know, so those kind of things. You're just not going to find many guys on the planet like that. He's a rare dude.
- [49:02]
Ryan Russillo
When you think back to, like, well, you had Carson, what, a couple years into his career he had been into. Yeah, I think. I think you got to la, and.
- [49:10]
Andrew Whitworth
Right after the ACL injury was my first year there, so him has come back from that.
- [49:15]
Ryan Russillo
So when I look at some of the younger quarterbacks, you know, I wonder what kind of role the offensive line can play in even talking to a guy. I imagine because you're a rookie, you're not going to start talking to Palmer a lot. Was it. Was it a little different with Goff once you were with the Rams? Like, did you feel that that was a spot for you to be able to talk to him differently than maybe when.
- [49:32]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah, it's massive. I mean, to me, when I really look at now doing what I do, covering the game, the first thing I'm looking for and even later in my career, when a young quarterback comes in, I'm scanning the offensive roster and going, all right, what vets are on that team up front? Because the skill guys, it's tough. You know, a veteran receiver can help a guy to an extent, but most veteran receivers are probably used to whatever quarterback groomed them. And so their perception is going to be, here's how you should do it. And it's usually really based off a guy who may be nothing like the current rookie quarterback they have. And so you may be asking him do something he just can't do, that might not be his style, that might be the way he operates. But a veteran lineman that's in there, that has been in an offense or been around other quarterbacks and understands really the dynamic of the huddle, the dynamic of, like, hey, what we're expecting from you and your drops. You know, how our offense is built, what we're expecting from you in a communication standpoint, what we can handle for you. That's the first thing I'm looking for when I look, because I go, all right, this guy's going to struggle. I mean, when I. When I looked at Chicago's roster, it's the first thing I thought for Caleb Williams is like, all right, who's the guy in that huddle? Who's talking life into him? Like, you put Jared Kaufman's podcast right now, he'll say, man, Whit, talk to me every freaking snap, like, where I'm standing, what I'm doing, how fast I got the ball out, you know, oh, that was a good job getting this out. Like, it was a good job with that call. Like, every play, I'm giving him feedback in between plays of, like, what we're expecting, where we want you. Hey, what's this three. Is this three step? All right, dude, when you hit that back foot, get this ball out. Like, we're going to. We're going to keep their hands down, you know. Oh, this is a deeper drop. All right, listen, this kind of guy, he might go underneath, so, like, be ready to kind of lean to your left a little bit if you're going to have to hold on to this thing, because I'm going to take him underneath you. Like, so all those type things that, like, they're getting feedback from veteran guys. It's a huge factor for a rookie quarterback because a lot of times the receivers are giving him, give me the ball. Like, hey, I was open. The coordinator is in his ear, chewing him out for the wrong read. Like, no, no, what are you doing? The linemen are there going, like, hey, man, how do we be productive? Hey, dude. Like, hey, we need you to do this. We need to do that. Like, that's the only kind of feedback he's getting where somebody's going, hey, man, what do you need from us? What can we do for you? Those type of things. And so, to me, I always felt like that was my job. I had andy Dalton in 2011, so it was like, experience in his journey and then go to the Rams. And I thought that experience really prepared me for when I had to deal with Jerry golf. And it's like 2017. You come in, you got to get confidence in the golf. Like, that helped me for that situation. So it's really, like, understanding what those guys need to hear and feel and kind of developing that relationship. To me, it's one of the biggest factors. If you're going to draft a young quarterback, you better have a veteran lineman that they can lean on.
- [52:17]
Ryan Russillo
That was an awesome answer because, you know, I'm sitting here looking at Caleb, and I'm a huge Caleb fan. I loved him before the draft, you know, to share with you, as the audience has heard, I'm sort of indifferent just on, like, maybe it'll work, maybe it won't. With so many of the college guys. And I'm such a huge fan of his. And then I look at, They've got DJ they bring in Keenan, they draft Rome, they've got commercial Matt. And then you think you're telling me it's an entirely different thing. Like, look at, look at the old line. All right, let me ask you this, because you've been with. Yeah, the Dalton part of it. Golf, everybody loves. Can a quarterback be an. Can he just have an personality and it still work?
- [52:53]
Andrew Whitworth
It depends on the type of he is. So, you know, I always say this, like, if it's an, like, I love, like somebody who loves to kind of talk some shit back, has a little in their neck, that, that's great. I think that's awesome. You know, but if there's somebody who kind of is like, leave me alone. Let me do my thing, I think that's going to be trouble.
- [53:12]
Ryan Russillo
Like, and they're not awesome.
- [53:14]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah. Because you, you better be really good. And then even then, like, the reality of playing that position is you're going to struggle and you're going to have bad times. And if your guys don't love you, I, I look at the league now. I was actually just telling somebody this morning, like, look at the teams that are really successful offensively, you know, not built off the run game, just their actual success. Like, and tell me how good a dudes the quarterbacks are. Like, they're guys that. You're like, God, I love that dude. Like, the teammate he is, like, the person he is, much less how he plays. There's a lot of that right now in the league. And it's almost like you need to pass the personality test a little bit in this league right now, because it's really about how much the group around you. If we keep talking about all the things these young kids are coming in and experiencing, right. They're all being pulled a million different directions. Social media, marketing. I mean, marketing deals. I didn't have a marketing deal my entire career. Like, I don't even know what that meant. You know what I mean? Like, a Marketing deal. These guys are getting pulled every direction possible. And I'm talking about everybody on the offense, right? Linemen are getting deals lower, you know, pizza deals, whatever it is. So when you're that quarterback, you better be a dude that's like, actually, all those guys want to, like, you're their dog. Like, they want to play for you. They respect. They look up to you. Like, they want to go out and ball because we're all together. We're like a family, and you got to have some of that now. And I think that you look at the Josh Allen's, the Patrick Mahomes, the Joe Burrows, Lamar Jackson's, you look at some of those guys like, man, that's what they are. They're dudes that you want to hang out with regardless if we're playing football or not. And I think that's really what's kind of taken over the league at that position, is you better be the kind of guy that's one of the guys, not the guy. Because I think when I played, whether it was Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, like, it was a little bit of an aura of, like, you revered them more than, like, you thought of as, like, you hung out with them. And I think it's a little different now.
- [55:03]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah, it feels like you described Stafford perfectly, by the way. Oh, yeah. I don't. I don't pretend to know him that well. We've had a couple encounters.
- [55:12]
Andrew Whitworth
We have a couple of mutual ways, baby.
- [55:14]
Ryan Russillo
But just the way you dudes love Stafford, it's. It. It just feels like it's a special level of. Of just love for the guy behind center.
- [55:24]
Andrew Whitworth
I've always said this when I love golf and Stafford, you know, I had a great opportunity to have some. A lot of success with both of them. But it's. It's. It's interesting. Like, they're totally different people, right? So, like, I've always said, Stafford is John Wayne. Like, he is the baddest freaking cowboy in the bar. And everybody's like, dude, I just want to, like, have a beer with that guy. Like, that is the toughest. He never says a word. He never complains. He's got blood coming from his lip, and he's still going to win. Like, he's going to fight everybody. He doesn't care what the situation is. So you love him because he's John Wayne, and then Jared Goff is like the teddy bear you've had since you were two. Like, if you. If you tear my teddy bear's arm off, I'll kill you. Like, you. You don't touch my teddy bear, okay? And like that. That is literally Jared. You find, you look how much guys love Jared. Like, they love him. They chant his name. They go crazy for him every time he has some success. Like, he is like, that little toy they've had since they were a kid, and they're like, you will never touch my toy. Like, that's how the way guys love him. They both have that. But it's just different. Their personalities in the way that you care about them.
- [56:31]
Ryan Russillo
Do we talk about LSU here?
- [56:33]
Andrew Whitworth
Oh, my gosh. I just talked about my teddy bear. Now you want to depress me like this. I mean, I frustrated, right? You know, listen, Fitz and I have our own podcast. We just started two weeks ago, and I just shared this. Man, I just went from, like, dad of the year to, like, I got a lot of work to do, so I planned my two trips to my boys, and I talked about it on our podcast this week. It literally. I take Michael to the trip of a lifetime. We go to the Ravens game. Bengals. Ravens. He gets to hang out with Burrow and Lamar. We go to Washington the next day. I interviewed Jaden Daniels for our show. He gets to meet Jaden, hang out with Jaden. They give him all kinds of commanders gear. Dan Quinn's awesome to him. We fly to lsu, go to lsu. Bama. We have a great time hanging out with Todd Graves and the Raising Cranes crew. Like, we have a blast. Go to college game day with Kirk. Like, it was awesome. Get home, and my other son's like, hey, Dad, I know LSU lost. You planned my trip a while back. We were. You said LSU was going to the SEC championship, and we're going to the SEC championship together. So what's going on? So then they lose to Florida, and now I'm like, great. So my one kid gets trip of a lifetime. I'm feel I'm, you know, dad of the year. And now Drew, man, My. My son Drew is like, hey, dad, if they're not in the SC championship, what happens to our trip? And I'm like, well, you know, buddy, we're gonna have to pivot. All right? We're gonna have to. We're gonna have to come up with something else. That's a rough one.
- [57:57]
Ryan Russillo
We'll.
- [57:57]
Andrew Whitworth
We'll figure it out. So I'm. I'm. I'm trying to circle some dates. We'll figure something out. I'm gonna take him to some kind of sporting event. I don't know what it is, but lsu. You kind of ruined my dad trip, so I'm not happy. Not happy.
- [58:08]
Ryan Russillo
He might want to question his dad about his lofty assumptions about an SEC title game appearance.
- [58:15]
Andrew Whitworth
I had a lot of faith. I had a lot of faith. Maybe too much faith. All right. Sometimes you bleed too much purple and gold. All right.
- [58:22]
Ryan Russillo
Hey, I don't blame you. I want to end with this. Again, fits and wit, the new podcast out every Monday, a couple episodes in. Did you already feel like you needed to apologize about being upset about the feel to Wilson thing? Because that's not. Podcasters don't apologize a lot. And I. I felt like you were groundbreaking in that moment.
- [58:41]
Andrew Whitworth
No, you know what? It's kind of one of those things that I. I felt like in that moment, I really saw Ed as a chance for the Steelers to say, all right, what does it look like going forward? I think I didn't have a good feel for how good and competitive they really were compared to the rest of the afc in the sense that it's like, hey, to me, it's building for what you're going to be in the future. Now Russell Wilson comes in. We've seen the success they've had. Obviously, it's been great. They've still struggled in the red zone some, and you can easily go back in that game with the Ravens and say if they just don't make so many mistakes. I don't know if the Steelers win that game and they've already started to kind of, hey, we're going to implement Justin Fields in a little bit in some of these situations. So I think it's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out. But, yeah, I just felt like, hey, you know what? I've been in a Pro bowl with Russ. I've been around him, obviously played against him. I give him his flowers, give him a little love. I rejected him on national tv. You know, I gotta give him a little love. You know, I'm a lineman. You still gotta protect the quarterbacks. Right? That's what we do.
- [59:39]
Ryan Russillo
Even if he had that Pro bowl outfit from those infamous pictures, so.
- [59:43]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah, I love it. Listen, there's a reason I selected Fields the first time, but I gave the apology. Okay? That made it all better. All right. It's all better now.
- [59:54]
Ryan Russillo
Hey, man, we'll see you on Thursday night. Again, fits and wit, the new podcast out every Monday. Thanks, man.
- [59:58]
Andrew Whitworth
Appreciate it, brother.
- [60:03]
Ryan Russillo
You want details?
- [60:05]
Andrew Whitworth
Fine.
- [60:05]
Kyle
I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.
- [60:09]
Ryan Russillo
What's up?
- [60:11]
Ceruti
I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.
- [60:13]
Andrew Whitworth
I have every toy you can possibly imagine.
- [60:16]
Ryan Russillo
And best of all, kids, I am liquid.
- [60:19]
Kyle
So now you know what's possible.
- [60:21]
Ryan Russillo
Let me tell you what's required. What's up everybody? It's life advice. Life advice. RR gmail.com. we've got Kyle, we've got Ceruti. We also have a war gone picture that. We're going to drop for our College Football alliance pick because the guy is on fire and I want him to get the recognition he deserves. Do we want to start with some feedback? That's maybe a Friday feedback, but I think it works here. All right, here we go. My husband is a loser. I'm a 43 year old woman who hates listening to this podcast. I know I'm supposed to say gym stats, but I have none. My husband and I do have twin 17 year old high school basketball players and he always tells them they play like the final season at Ole Miss. Marshall Henderson, that's the worst basketball advice I've ever heard. You want to talk about one of my least favorite players in college basketball history? I have no clue who that is or what that means though. Well, that's bad advice, ma'am. Just be straight up. My problem is my husband forces me and our kids to listen to this podcast on the way to every game, every vacation, every trip over 30 minutes away. He listens to every podcast at work the day it comes out, but then re listens when he forces us to hear it. I can't take it anymore. Please tell him how big of a loser he is because he won't listen to me. He values the opinion of you gaggle of strangers so much that maybe you can finally help me. You read one of his nonsense emails on life advice years ago and he still all caps forces his family to listen to the eight minutes of you reading his email at least once a month for years now. It was a dumb email about wanting to fight Ryan on some rough and rowdy. I have no clue what that even is, but he thinks he's clever. He can't even fight. He lose to the skinny man bun soccer guy in a fight.
- [62:08]
Ceruti
Who's that man?
- [62:09]
Kyle
Oh, oh, have you seen his haircut lately? Dude, come on.
- [62:12]
Ceruti
Oh man, that was a long time ago.
- [62:13]
Ryan Russillo
All right, the day you read. The day. Sorry, the day you read his email, he called me ecstatically. Like I cared at all. All caps. I don't. Please, for the sake of my sanity, tell him how big of a loser he is for liking a dumb podcast so much. Please don't use my name because I'm an adult. But he will know who you were talking to. The kids do shoot threes at an alarming rate. Wow, that is one of the best emails. I mean, I'm. No. Yeah, Survey wasn't great for you.
- [62:49]
Ceruti
Wasn't great for me. Also claims to not know who Marshall Henderson is. But then that last line about my kids shoot a bunch of threes like, do you know who Marshall Henderson is then? Sounds like confusing.
- [62:59]
Ryan Russillo
Okay, one Shining podcast. How did. How did. Was OSP around for the Marshall Henderson experience?
- [63:05]
Kyle
I don't believe so.
- [63:07]
Ryan Russillo
Why don't you do a little five minutes with Tate on that?
- [63:10]
Kyle
Okay, Let me write it down on my whiteboard here.
- [63:12]
Ceruti
Just a revisit. The Marshall Henderson era.
- [63:15]
Ryan Russillo
There we go. Westbrook watched Washington. Marshall Henderson came. He was like, dude, guy needs to take it easy. Ever heard of shot selection? Wow. Do we tell this guy he's a loser, though?
- [63:31]
Ceruti
No, he's not a loser.
- [63:32]
Andrew Whitworth
You just need to stop.
- [63:33]
Kyle
His behavior is what you need to do. Yeah, that's what you need to do. I have.
- [63:37]
Ryan Russillo
I mean, he wanted to fight me. I don't remember this.
- [63:40]
Kyle
I think I do vaguely remember that. And I think I hated the email too, but. But I'm glad. We got our hooks in a while ago and he's been here ever since, so I hope we don't lose him. I mean, I had this problem when I was like young. Like we, you know, we had a suburb. I was actually a Tahoe. Chevy Tahoe. And we take like long trips. We go to Long beach island once a year. That was our big deal. Beach Haven.
- [64:01]
Ryan Russillo
Good days. Like those days.
- [64:03]
Kyle
Yeah, love those days.
- [64:04]
Ryan Russillo
Arcade.
- [64:05]
Kyle
A lot about GPS's, but no, I think what we. It's a five hour. It's like a five and a half hour trip. And so like, you know, we'd bring people. You know, the kids would. There's four kids. By this time there was probably only three. And the kids would bring. There was like a little DVD player in this. In the, you know, the roof of the.
- [64:22]
Ceruti
Drop down. Yeah.
- [64:23]
Kyle
Drop down little screen. And the kids would bring their movies and stuff like that. And I decided for birthday, my birthday one year, I asked for the box set of Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Like I'd amassed them one like Christmas or birthday at a time. So I think I ended up with five seasons. And that's what I. That's when it was my turn. That's what I would do.
- [64:43]
Ryan Russillo
Great.
- [64:43]
Kyle
I would pick Fresh Prince of Bel Air for five Hours. And that's what it was. And on our trips, I was like, yep, it's Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I think I'll go season two this trip. And my family still makes fun of me about it today because, you know, the song and stuff like that. But, like, when it was my day, that's what I did. I hammered them over the head with Fresh Prince of Bel Air. That's all I wanted. And I was like, I think this is awesome. You guys love it, too. And I'm, you know, just turned 31 the other day. They still talk about Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Get out now. I was 13, and it annoyed them. You're an adult. You're a grown man, and you're, you know, you're bashing everyone over the head with this. So just find a better time to. To consume it. Like, in hindsight, my, you know, my New Jersey beach trips probably weren't the best time to get on my fill of Fresh Prince.
- [65:27]
Ceruti
I just wondered.
- [65:28]
Ryan Russillo
I had no idea where that was going, but that was great. Thank you.
- [65:31]
Ceruti
It was great.
- [65:32]
Ryan Russillo
It was. I was like, where is this?
- [65:33]
Kyle
I still feel sick about it.
- [65:37]
Ceruti
You shared the whole premise.
- [65:39]
Kyle
But the thing is, I didn't get it. I didn't get a reciprocation. They were like, yeah, we know. And we're starting to hate it.
- [65:45]
Ryan Russillo
With.
- [65:45]
Ceruti
What are other people watching? Where Other people's picks.
- [65:48]
Kyle
You know, my sister was Big brother Bear. You know, I used to be like, the Disney classics. Hercules. That's one of my favorite Disney movies. Stuff like that.
- [65:54]
Ryan Russillo
Great stone, great music.
- [65:57]
Kyle
You know what? Sword in the Stone. Yeah. Take it or leave it.
- [65:59]
Ceruti
Yeah, it's love that.
- [66:01]
Kyle
Watershed down when it makes some kids cry. There you go. Watershed down. That's like an adult movie.
- [66:07]
Ryan Russillo
Anyway, I don't know what to do here, because here's the thing. We're not losing this guy, so we could probably call him whatever we wanted to, but he's a P1. He's not going anywhere. Yeah, right.
- [66:18]
Ceruti
We apparently already ripped him, so he's not going anywhere if we do that. I. I think the listening back to it with, like, they clearly don't enjoy it. Like, are you doing this? Because it's like, hey, it's my car. I'm driving. I get to pick the music because that's. That's definitely a thing. But I feel like if you're a dad and, like, everyone else is in the car is annoyed, like, is that really worth the satisfaction? Like, she just throw on some music. Throw on another pod. I don't know. The listening back to me is the weird part. Like you've already listened to it at work and then you're going to make your family, who apparently don't. Doesn't like us.
- [66:48]
Kyle
Like you bow the perfect game or something because we read your.
- [66:50]
Ceruti
What are you doing?
- [66:51]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah, what about those rillo under the breath moments he may have missed first time through? Yeah, you know, I get complimented for those a lot. Yeah, maybe he didn't. Maybe didn't catch it.
- [67:01]
Kyle
Like when you do those on Bill.
- [67:02]
Ryan Russillo
Those are good. Speaking of never catching it.
- [67:07]
Ceruti
No.
- [67:07]
Ryan Russillo
Do you think Bill ever gets any of them or he just hates me.
- [67:11]
Kyle
I think he's like, I got a lot to get to. Ryan, if you're fucking done. Yeah, that's all right with you?
- [67:16]
Ceruti
He's got a. He's got a schedule to stick to.
- [67:24]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah, I look great. Email. Except for the part. Sorry. It's okay.
- [67:32]
Ceruti
He probably could kick my ass, so it's all right.
- [67:34]
Ryan Russillo
Well, I don't know. We don't. We don't know. I don't want to follow up on that. Do the kids like it? It sounds like she does not like us at all, but I think that's established. Do the kids like it? Is anyone listening to anybody? Remember we just talked about this? You know, a couple teenage kids in high school who play hoops are really listening to me. When they hear my voice, do they go, this is. This is the good stuff? Are they like this fucking guy again?
- [68:03]
Ceruti
Priscilla, he's for the kids. Yeah, I don't know. Does she not like us though? Or like it reminds me of. I've told this story before, but like my roommate in college just. We listened nonstop to Dave Matthews Band and I just, I. I can't listen.
- [68:16]
Andrew Whitworth
I hate Dave Matthews Band to this day.
- [68:18]
Ceruti
And it's not even like a Dave thing. It's more of just like, oh my God, I have to listen to this again. I don't know that she hates us. It's just that, like it's being forced on her. So she just hates it because.
- [68:27]
Kyle
Yeah, dude, my wife prefers a silent car ride sometimes and that. I don't know what to do.
- [68:32]
Ryan Russillo
Wow.
- [68:33]
Kyle
I don't know. Not silent, like I can't talk, but like, doesn't really want anything on the air.
- [68:36]
Ryan Russillo
Not for the Indians.
- [68:37]
Kyle
It's not. It's not. It's not all the time, but sometimes it's like, you know, this is going to be a 40 minute trip. Like, you think we could just not put anything on?
- [68:46]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah. Sure.
- [68:47]
Ceruti
Wait, but you guys have a conversation.
- [68:50]
Kyle
Like, I'll put like, you know, I'm leaving through Spotify, as about to pull out. And she's like, do you think we could just not.
- [68:55]
Ceruti
Okay.
- [68:56]
Kyle
You know, you want to, like, see if there's any weird radio on we could laugh at? Have a little, like, shared joke?
- [69:01]
Andrew Whitworth
Nah, just, let's just talk.
- [69:04]
Kyle
So, I mean, it might not be like she hates what she's listening to. She's just like, this isn't the vibe for this, you know, 30 minute trip to practice I'm into. But, you know, sometimes I win that battle, sometimes I don't.
- [69:14]
Ryan Russillo
I would say this, thanks for listening, but clearly no one enjoys it as much as you do. So maybe it's a. Maybe it's a you thing. Maybe it's a you moment. Maybe it's something you get to look forward to in those alone times, but apparently you're already listening to it before. So. Thanks. So we're not going to tell anybody. I do wonder. Just, I would love to know what the numbers would be if we just. I'm not saying I want to do it, but what do you think would happen, Surat, you're in management. If we just did life advice and never did anything else?
- [69:48]
Ceruti
Yeah, I mean, we definitely get a lot of reaction to be like, hey, monologue guest, we'll see. But I always skip ahead to life advice. I don't know, I feel like it's kind of like the too much candy. You can't eat candy for every meal. Right? Or else you're going to get sick of candy. You need the other stuff. You need to eat the meatloaf, you need to eat the broccoli. And so I think it's too much of a good thing. I think it's a real thing. So I actually don't think it would work.
- [70:12]
Kyle
What would the category of the podcast be?
- [70:14]
Ryan Russillo
Is it comedy, Lifestyle, health and wellness? I love when I see health and wellness in a bio. I just get so excited.
- [70:23]
Kyle
Boats.
- [70:24]
Ryan Russillo
You're not sure either, are you? Okay, this is a quick one, so we'll just get to it. God. Man's taking it on the chin today. But, oh, no. Has Ceruti ever heard of a freezer? I'm a bit late on the whole pretzel bun saga. I tend to save.
- [70:42]
Ceruti
We covered this. I'll save you the email. We covered this. Somebody asked me this. Multiple people have talked to me about this. When you put bread in a freezer and you defrost it, it's not the same. It tastes like crap. I don't tell you. Like, that's.
- [70:54]
Kyle
If you throw it on a grill, though, I think it animates it a little bit.
- [70:57]
Ceruti
It's not.
- [70:57]
Ryan Russillo
You're.
- [70:58]
Ceruti
You're right. But it's. It's just not the same. And I don't want to eat bad bread.
- [71:02]
Kyle
I like to reserve space in the freezer for shit that deserves to go in the freezer.
- [71:06]
Andrew Whitworth
And I think that.
- [71:06]
Kyle
I don't know if pretzel buns make that, you know, I don't know if buns make the cut.
- [71:11]
Ryan Russillo
I wish Cerudi could see my freezer. Hamburger buns. Pack of bagels mingle freely next to containers of San Marzano tomatoes and chicken broth. I freeze just about everything. And that goes for pretzel buns, too. Pop one out an hour before lunch and let it defrost on the counter or throw it in the microwave. It's not for one minute on power level three. You're welcome.
- [71:37]
Ceruti
No, it's chewy. I've done it with the bagel thing. The bagel thing is bullshit, too. When you. When you. When you unfreeze a bagel, the texture's not the same. And I'm not going to eat, like a mediocre bagel.
- [71:47]
Kyle
I grew up in a frozen bagel house, and I didn't love it. I could tell you that. You missed that early window.
- [71:52]
Ryan Russillo
You talk to your therapist about it. Like, I've been through some.
- [71:55]
Ceruti
I'm in the basement, by the way. I'm literally like 15ft away from my fridge. I'll walk you through it. Like, there's a bunch. There's a lot of, you know, frozen ground beef. We got veggies. We got.
- [72:05]
Kyle
Basement fridge, huh?
- [72:07]
Andrew Whitworth
You are.
- [72:07]
Ceruti
Well, yeah. You know.
- [72:10]
Kyle
We'Re talking about a second fridge.
- [72:12]
Ceruti
It is the second fridge. It was here when we bought the house. Yeah.
- [72:15]
Kyle
I should be taking advice from you, man.
- [72:17]
Ceruti
There's plenty of stuff in there, man. It's just bread. Frozen is not. It's not that. It's not the way to go.
- [72:21]
Ryan Russillo
Ceruti is right. The microwave bread world. Yeah.
- [72:29]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah.
- [72:30]
Ryan Russillo
Okay. Hey, what are you doing later? Setting out some buns? Because I'm going to make some turkey sandwiches an hour from now.
- [72:36]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [72:39]
Ryan Russillo
Nice. Team Ceruti on this one.
- [72:42]
Ceruti
Thank you.
- [72:42]
Ryan Russillo
Okay. All right. All right. Let's see. God, we've gotten so many that are just. They're just Friday feedbacks, which is good, because I think I've had one next week. Yeah, I had one where I was Like, I think there's been maybe two where I go not your a effort out of this one. Oh, oh, this is. This is the one I wanted. Okay. Because this one's insane. All right. 61230. Poor man's talent. Horton Tucker. Shout out to the Flathead Big Fork regional area. Brian and Chris Long will enjoy that. We enjoy Big Fork Flathead. I get notified a couple weeks ago that I'm a groomsman and one of my best friends since freshman year of college's wedding taking place in 2026. Planners. Problem is, I'm inclined to think he's been hung up on a girl that we went on a spring break trip with since 2016. Parentheses Relations said girl messages one of our mutual friends. Six plus weeks after my best friend's fiance announces their engagement quote, I can't believe Blank is engaged. Four days later, my best friend randomly out of nowhere asked me to invite said spring break girl as my plus one to his wedding. Oh, come on. I've not said anything to my best friend that our mutual friend said. I'm suspecting he's not inviting her because he doesn't want his fiance asking questions. How would I invite said spring break girl that has had a new boyfriend for four plus years to a wedding of her former fling without her current boyfriend being invited? How should I tell my best friend that his former fling is inquiring on his current relationship like this without causing a rift in his relationship? Any suggestions are highly requested. Dude, how many bad ideas can you pack into a pair of like. Go ahead.
- [74:48]
Ceruti
I saw a golf video and it was definitely staged, but it reminded me of this where like, these guys were on a golf trip and then they just like randomly invited the one guy's ex and surprised her there with him on the course, and he was just all mad about it. And that kind of seems like this situation. Like, why are you just fucking up? This guy's like, he's got a good thing going. He's engaged. I mean, unless you think there's a reason that he doesn't really actually love the girl that he's with and there's a reason to sort of like, throw his life into, you know, up in the air and into a spiral. But, man, just let the guy.
- [75:15]
Kyle
Let the guy drop the deposit already. Come on, he'll figure it out.
- [75:18]
Ceruti
Yeah, he pays for this thing.
- [75:20]
Kyle
It's fine.
- [75:21]
Ceruti
Yeah, mostly just stay out of people's business like that. Unless you are 100% sure that he's going to regret some decision in the future or doesn't want this. And I don't think you didn't say that. So I don't think that's the case.
- [75:30]
Kyle
If you're on this guy's team, you make this not work and make it seem like it's no one's fault. If you want this guy's life to go to succeed and go on as planned, this thing falls apart and you make it seem like it's no one's fault. That's it.
- [75:44]
Ryan Russillo
Okay, but let's retrace our steps here in the email. Unless you understand this differently. But when he says my best friend since college, right. Said girl messages our mutual friend. Six plus weeks after my best friend's fiance announces her engagement. Four days later, my best friend randomly out of nowhere asked me to invite said spring break girl as my plus one to his wedding. His wedding, Right. Yes. Why does he. First of all, you don't want to do it because she has a boyfriend, so that's stupid. Why does he want her there? Unless, you know, there's some really. God damn. I can't even. Like, this is. That's not very weddingy.
- [76:26]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah.
- [76:27]
Ryan Russillo
Greg, I just don't, I don't. Yeah.
- [76:30]
Andrew Whitworth
Dude.
- [76:31]
Ryan Russillo
Understand why unless a quote. This is kind of like a weird thing that I've, I've never had is dudes know what I'm talking about here. But like the guy in your friend group that's just this sort of weird. Like he's kind of detached emotionally from any intimacy and he'll be like, yeah, dude, she's awesome. You should hang out with her. You know, and not to say that you have to be like so, you know, altruistic or whatever to. To not be like that. But you like get the point. Like, did this guy have such a good time with her? He's like, man, you're my best friend. I want you to spend the weekend with her. Right. You understand what I'm saying here? And I.
- [77:18]
Ceruti
She has a boyfriend. Like, right.
- [77:20]
Ryan Russillo
She has a boyfriend. So does he want her there?
- [77:24]
Ceruti
Because that's what it sounds like in rereading. It sounds like he. Yeah, maybe he. He. I don't know what the reasoning would be, but he wants her there.
- [77:32]
Kyle
Doesn't want a fucking. A new haircut and it tux. I don't.
- [77:36]
Ceruti
No.
- [77:36]
Ryan Russillo
Hey, how hot do I look?
- [77:38]
Kyle
Maybe a bad rom com plot here that he's hoping. I don't know, man.
- [77:43]
Ryan Russillo
I wonder what percentage of people cheat on their spouse and their wedding night. Oh, wow. It's not zero. Yeah.
- [77:49]
Kyle
It can't be zero. There's a lot of people in the.
- [77:50]
Ryan Russillo
World, a lot of people doing a lot of stuff.
- [77:53]
Ceruti
The logistics of that feel really difficult to pull off, though, you know?
- [77:57]
Ryan Russillo
I don't know. Some people get hammered.
- [77:58]
Kyle
I mean, is this a fucking Hail Mary for this guy? Like, up to the last? I don't understand. Either way, it's just a bad idea, which is why I don't think you.
- [78:05]
Ryan Russillo
I need more context. I want to follow up here. Email her.
- [78:09]
Ceruti
Hey, dude, why? Can you just ask him why? Like, why?
- [78:12]
Kyle
I just wonder what the game plan is, chief. What are we running here?
- [78:16]
Ceruti
Because otherwise feels like a terrible idea, but, yeah, you mentioned Ryan. Maybe there is something to him just being like, I don't want my fiance asking any questions, but why do you want her there? That's the strange part. There's no answer.
- [78:29]
Ryan Russillo
Why would you invite this scenario? And then imagine if your wife found out that you did this. You know, this is one of those moments you're like, why are you getting married? Like, if you're still. I'm trying to think of all. Like, obviously we can get a million emails. You didn't think about this. You didn't say this. Yeah, okay, fine. Like, we could run it and we could just list a bunch of possible scenarios, but I. If I'm the emailer, I'm like, good luck with all that. I don't want anything to do with it. And on top of, like, even if I was super attracted to her and you were simply saying, hey, she's awesome, I think you guys would get along. Like, that's actually whatever our fling was. Whatever I married. You're the big deal.
- [79:06]
Ceruti
Why is your wedding the time for this union to come together? Like this have happened at any point in the last couple of years when you weren't getting married?
- [79:15]
Kyle
Yeah, I guess he's thinking a lot more. I mean, I think everyone. Not everyone, but I think it's common to have that one thing that ended, not badly, amicably. You know, summer ended, school started, you got a job, you moved or whatever. And it was just like. Yeah, like, we didn't really play this out. I don't really. You know, it's one of those things you think about, but. And I. I don't know, I guess. I guess you have big thoughts as the. As the date approaches, that you're getting married. But, I mean, this is just. This is poor planning, and it would be terrible execution. So I think you just can't follow, like, play dumb. Make sure this.
- [79:44]
Ryan Russillo
I Think.
- [79:44]
Ceruti
No, I think you ask why. I think you gotta ask why.
- [79:46]
Ryan Russillo
All right, I want to ask why. And I don't know anybody. I just want to know. Is it that he thinks you'd be a great fit and he has nothing? Is he such a narcissist that even at his own wedding he wants an option or he wants her to see him?
- [80:04]
Ceruti
Yeah.
- [80:05]
Ryan Russillo
Because it ended. I don't. I'm so confused. But I. I think that the only advice. The only advice is just don't do any of this stuff. Why would you do any of this?
- [80:15]
Kyle
Yeah, this isn't.
- [80:16]
Ryan Russillo
Unless she's just ridiculous. Right? Which is always the trump of right. True.
- [80:24]
Ceruti
But once again.
- [80:25]
Andrew Whitworth
What?
- [80:26]
Ceruti
She has a boyfriend. How is this going to work? Like you're. You're taking. Even if you did work. Work this out and this thing went through, you're taking a chick with a boyfriend.
- [80:36]
Ryan Russillo
Woman.
- [80:37]
Ceruti
To your best female wedding. Like, what's that? That sucks for you.
- [80:43]
Ryan Russillo
Why does she want to go. We haven't even addressed that. Does she want to actually go to this thing? That makes it even worse.
- [80:51]
Ceruti
Another great question, man. I don't like any of this.
- [80:59]
Ryan Russillo
Let us know how it goes.
- [81:00]
Kyle
Was that guy, you think, that she texted and the other friend, like, dude, you know who hit me up the other day? Cindy, talking about your wedding. And then over the next four days, he's like, he can't get it out. Maybe the way this guy described how that other. How that girl reached out, like the third friend. Maybe he did. The way he described it was like, dude, she was. She was shaken up.
- [81:23]
Ryan Russillo
Like, I played them. I played them all out. I can't think of any scenario where I Where say I was killing it and loved my wife and wanted revenge on my ex. Hey, you should come to my wedding. No, don't like my wife. Totally regret it, but it's kind of too late. You should come to my wedding fling. No, no. Hey, best friend. This girl's amazing. You guys would be great together. And I'd like you have your first date be at my wedding. No.
- [81:59]
Andrew Whitworth
Yeah.
- [81:59]
Ceruti
Like, maybe he's just trying to amass as many.
- [82:01]
Ryan Russillo
Where's the yes.
- [82:03]
Ceruti
Who are just like, hey, speak now or forever hold your peace. And he's just looking for people to speak.
- [82:07]
Kyle
Now he's got three plants in the audience. He's just hoping somebody had enough whiske beforehand and to stand up.
- [82:15]
Ryan Russillo
She gets up and gives a toast. She was like, he's not the best kisser, but all right. I'm. I'm So I don't know that we've ever been this confused.
- [82:27]
Ceruti
Definitely reply back with an update.
- [82:30]
Ryan Russillo
Yeah, just you, though, because I don't need. Yeah, this is the part where I hate the emails. Like what you didn't even say was that to potentially cousin. Yeah, we didn't say that. All right, thank you to everybody. To everybody being involved this week. Lot of people. A lot of stuff going on this week. Thanks to Wargon for just keeping it all together and giving me the ad reads early in the morning. Let me know what the rest of the day is going to be like before the gym. To Saruti for eating fresh bread because I'm on his side. And for Kyle, still having the Fresh Prince DVD box set. There's no chance you don't still have that.
- [83:16]
Kyle
Yeah, it's. It's over there.
- [83:18]
Ryan Russillo
Love it. I love that about you. All right, that's Ryan Rilla podcast. Check us out on YouTube and of course, always subscribe on ringer. Spotify must be 21 and older. Present in select states. For Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + and present in D.C. gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler or visit RG help.com call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY in New York.