← The Ryen Russillo Show
The Ryen Russillo Show
The Knicks’ Win of the Year and the Nuggets’ Rough Patch, Plus the NFL Combine, a ’26 Draft Class Deep Dive, and NFL Free Agency with Nate Tice
01:41:00
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- [00:00]
Ryan Rossillo
Hey Priscilla listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcast and Spotify Prime. Members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.
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Nate Tice
Hey guys, it's Francis. Look, life moves fast. Dating is a tough thing to find time for and to be intentional about. At least so I thought until I found the league.
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Kyle
I've found that the people I've met on the league are people I really have a lot more in common with
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Nate Tice
than the people you typically find when you're just aimlessly swiping and scrolling on other dating apps instead of endless searching. I get a curated batch of profiles each day. There's less noise, less back and forth, less flakiness.
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Kyle
These are just people I'd actually want
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Nate Tice
to meet, have a conversation with, have a meal with, spend real time with, create that meaningful connection.
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Kyle
Join me on the league, download the
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Nate Tice
app and apply Today,
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Ryan Rossillo
The Ryan Marcillo show is presented by DraftKings. We've got Nate Tice. He's got a new mock draft out. He's fresh off of the combine. We'll get to the headlines, big reactions. We'll break down some of the positions. Also Jeremiah, love to KC and some off season stuff as well, including the name of a quarterback that I was not thinking of that he thinks is worth the other teams that have a need trying to bring in during free agency trade period. All right, I've got some NBA thoughts, including Denver. Realize how bad this has been now for a little while, especially one stat that I did not expect and this is all coming off of a bad weekend for them and kind of the door headlines. I want to get into that stuff. We've got a Knicks win. We've got some Houston thoughts. So some NBA sprinkles for you to start and of course, life advice for one electrifying Tuesday in the NBA, the stakes rise higher and the crown shines brighter. DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA, presents $3 million King of the Core. Opt in, use your token and and make a $5 pregame bet on the player you believe will dominate. If you pick a player who finishes top three in the league and points, rebounds and assists that night, they're crowned a King of the Core and you'll claim your piece of that player's $1 million prize pool in bonus bets. That's 3 million total in bonus bets. Choose your king, claim your crown. Download DraftKings sportsbook Use the Code Ryan Rye and for your shot at a share of $3 million in total in bonus bets with Code Ryan in in partnership with Draftkings Sportsbook the crown is yours gambling problem call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MYRESET NEW YORK Call 877-8-HOPE and WHY or text hopeny Connecticut Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boothill Casino in Kansas. Wager tax pass through May apply in Illinois 21 and over in most states. Void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. One token per customer Token expires at the start of the final NBA game on March 3, 2026. BET placed on one of the day's top three PRA stat leaders rece 1 million in non withdrawable bonus bets that expire in seven days. Additional wagering restrictions apply terms@sportsbook.draftkings.com promos I want to start with the NBA weekend before I get into all the combine stuff that we're going to do with Nate Tyson a little bit later. So want to run through a few games and some of the headlines of everything. But that has to be the best win of the next season, especially as we kind of get a little bit further and close the final quarter of the NBA regular season. And coming off of the Detroit losses where you're like, all right, you know, I just don't know how New York gets out of this. I'd say this for the Knicks. The positive that they have that so few teams seem to have as we close out the final quarter of the season is I know exactly what to expect. Maybe there's one rotational question that Knicks fans probably a little annoyed with, but you know, for the most part it feels like, okay, there's their five, there's their eight. This is what I expect them to do. This is how they're all going to look. And there's some continuity to the Knicks that we don't have with other teams that we wonder if they can make it to the NBA Finals. So they take out the spurs at home. They get down big early. Not a huge deal, but they hold the spurs team again. That was 11 and oh, in February they were the number two offense behind only Cleveland in the month of February. And they hold them to 89 points. And it's not like they shut down Wembanyama. You know, I was looking at it again this morning on Synergy, watching his possessions and watching the way they defended him and it felt like they were, they were okay trying to play him straight up. But you know, Wemby's actually in the 17 shot attempts that he had, he was open for, I'd say like 14 of the 17. And it was him going really quick. So it wasn't like long possessions into shot attempts where there's all these guys flying around. And then defensively, it's not like he was assigned a Cat, and it's bringing Wembanyama away from the middle of the paint. It's an assignment on Hart, and if Hart's out, then when Benyama is going to play on og, you know, Cat at some point had Keldon Johnson on him. He still only had nine shot attempts. So had this been like a Knicks loss? Maybe we're doing, hey, how come Cat's only taking nine shots? But in the way the flow of the game worked, it wasn't like they clamped Wemby and sent all this attention to him. Which also maybe spoke to the fact that they held the spurs under 30% from three because they weren't scrambling in rotation trying to recover off the stuff that they were doing with Wemby. Because Wemby shot attempts in this game, he didn't even really give him enough time to even get out on him. And he was one of seven or three. So, you know, I don't know that it's this. This design that I saw where normally you'd think, hey, a stretch five that when Yama has to play against, that's going to neutralize some of his impact in the paint. Well, no, he. If he had heart in the corner, he was sagging off of him. Maybe that was the next strategy for about the entire thing. Because they took 48 threes in this game and again, outshot them 35 to 29%. I think the other thing that I wanted to mention from this game is the DOR stat. I don't know how many of you have been paying attention to this DOR story. Second round guy, huge. He. He just looks like sometimes if you haven't watched a lot of Nick's games, you're like, how come Huck Port's taking all these threes? You're like, oh, because that's not Huck Porty, that's dara. He took 13 threes in 15 minutes. I've seen it recorded as 14 minutes. The official box score this morning was 15 minutes. That's the most threes per minute in a game ever. And he got off to a nice start, and then he. He got a little cold, but he's been great. He's 40% from 3. He's a mover, although he was obviously a shooter in this game here, and it kind of speaks a bit to the rotational thing that I would say is like, the one thing that's annoying Knicks fans is the Sohan minutes. So Sohan, oddly enough, you know, drafted by the Spurs, I liked him in college, but I knew what he was and what he wasn't. And it was like, maybe he just comes in for 20 minutes and wrecks the game in the best possible way with all of his energy. And you've got a guy that's a bit of a fighter, a guy that plays on that edge, but I don't know what the offense necessarily is. And then the spurs, in one of the more creative, tanking ways, ever decide to play him at point guard, which was actually argued at some point of like, let's see what you got here. You know, like, how about no entry passes for a year? Imagine going from Sohan playing point guard to Chris Paul playing point guard, and Wendy Yama is like, what is this witchcraft? Like, I stand here and then the ball is delivered.
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Kyle
What.
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Ryan Rossillo
What is this? What is this? So, look, Sohan can't even play for the spurs team. And it feels a bit like one of those deals or if a guy is enough of a draft pick, his reps are like, can we please get our guy out of here? Like, we're trying to figure out if he's going to get any kind of second contract. You know, the James Wiseman deal in Golden State. At some point, it's probably a little bit of like, the agents are going, can we please? I don't know if that happened with Usman, Jang and OKC as well. I think sometimes, you know, people can criticize, be critical of it and say, well, why would you ever do the agent a favor at any point? I think sometimes it's kind of like a human thing where you go, you're never going to play here. He's still a young player. There's probably some other teams that are still somewhat interested in kicking the tires on him. If he has any chance at a second contract, like, let me do him a favor and send him somewhere that he should have minutes. I don't think that's the Knicks for Sohan. So he only played like two minutes in this game. I. There's no way you have enough other wing defenders. You would think Bridges was terrific with OG with heart, that if you're going to put Sohan out there and how much that messes up your spacing. And again, I love his energy. I think there's a way he could fit with some kind of teams, but the offense is kind of broken. And when Diora as a rookie is hitting the numbers that he's hitting from three, even though yesterday was aggressive on the attempts, it just doesn't. You can't envision any scenario where so Hands getting playoff minutes over dor. All right, deep into the weeds there. Houston, a little dismissive of them the last month or so. When I talked about the title contenders and what I mean by title contenders, I don't know that I necessarily have to define it. I think everybody understands what I'm trying to do here. But hey, if this team were in the NBA Finals, we wouldn't be like, how did that happen? Right? And I don't know that it's that long of a list. And again, we were surprised last year by the Pacers. So it can happen, but it usually doesn't. So when I really started getting a little bit harsher on Houston going like, I can't watch this offense anymore to close games, it's just a mess. And you can see Durant's frustration at different times throughout the regular season. It's like I still don't know exactly what they want to be. Well, I feel a little bit better about them. Despite the loss at Miami this weekend because of the Reed shepherd thing. Like, it feels like IMEI's finally all the way in on it. You know, they had a tough February. They went seven and five. They had one, four or five though. So they were closing the month better before that loss Saturday night against the Heat. And if you look at the February minutes that are played for shepherd, he's had five 30, 30 minute games, right? Not 30 point games. That would be a big deal. Five games where he's gone over 30 minutes. He only had seven the entire rest of the regular season before the month of February. So I think this stuff that we've all wondered, like, is Shepard going to be the best option? And he clearly is because of the spacing. Now, if you look at some of the offensive and the net stuff and where shepherd is in this closing group, you know, Durant's ahead of everybody else and then shepherd slightly ahead of the next list of guys, but he's still closer. Well, I can't say he's closer to Durant, but like there's a few guys here that are net negatives in the fourth quarter in February and Reed's not one of them. And again, the numbers are pretty close. So I'm not saying like there's this number that proves that like without a doubt, like Reed solves all these problems, but I Could tell you what it's better than the Dorian Finney Smith experiment where he has not been able to hit a shot since he's come in. The separation on their fourth quarter minutes during the regular season is like maybe a minute more for Reed than Dora Infinity Smith. But even with Reed's limitations defensively, and you could see it even in the Miami game and how just blatant it is, Pella Larson's got read. He's posting him up. He's kind of left baseline. He's not all the way to the baseline, but he's off to the left side and Reed's going to foul him. Durant comes over to kind of talk to him a little bit, and that's his assignment, too. And then Miami just inbounds it again to Larson and Larson single coverage against Reed because I think they were maybe saying, like, hey, it's going to be on you. And Larson just goes right around on the baseline like nobody's even there. Misses the layup. But the great thing is there's all that disruption and then there's some help coming over a little bit later or contest at the rim. And Shingoon, you know, is dealing with Khalil Ware and Tari east on Tari Easton's on. Bam. So, like, there were just some things where you could argue with the. At the start of the possession that they're so outmanned because Reed's trying to take care of Pell Larson in the post. Everything's kind of a free for all, where it goes up and tips it in. Shangoon's looking around like, hey, I needed help on that. It's like, dude, I'm. I'm trying to figure this out over here on my own. As an aside, I had a front office ask me, would you rather have Pell Larson or Zach Zachary? Risa Shea? I was like, I still think it's Risa Shay because of at least the shooting profile part of it. That may have been the wrong answer. I'd even argue. Last year there were some moments of really sashay where I was like, oh, there's something to see, some aggressiveness in here, like, whatever. Look, we knew it was a bad draft class, the same one as Reeds, obviously. But yeah, I actually really like Miami. I know I've talked about how boring they are going back to the summer, the fall, and I think even a couple weeks ago, they're not incredible, but they look really good in the fourth quarter that night. And that was without Norm Powell in that game. So look, there's a bigger thing that I'm saying here with Houston is that I want to see this Reed thing and everybody there and no Doran, Finney, Smith, and I want to just see it all closing out these fourth quarters. So there's at least a little glimmer of hope there for me with Houston's offense. Tough weekend for the Denver Nuggets. The overtime loss at okc, which I will spend a little bit more time on once I get through some of this Denver stuff. They lose in Minnesota yesterday, really felt like Minnesota was in control the entire second half. For the most part they are the Nuggets 4 and 8 in their last 12. They have two wins against teams 500 or better since January 7th. January 7th against Boston and again more recently against Boston. So the Nuggets are the 5 seed today. They're only a half game up ahead of the lakers in the six seed spot. They are shockingly only 16 and 12 at home. The Nuggets, which is the worst home record of any of the top eight seeds in the west, even Golden State's 19 and 12 at home. Yes, there are injuries, but it's not just you. And Gordon hasn't been around for a while. Watson is out of this. This more most recent stretch. Didn't play in the OKC game, didn't play in the Minnesota game, hasn't played in some other games prior to that. Christian Brown actually does look look healthy and good again. So yeah, there's some little rotational stuff but like you can't sit there if you're a Nuggets fan being like, wow, we lost OKC in overtime, but whatever. Like we didn't have Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson. It's like, well they still don't have J Dub and they didn't even play SGA in overtime and still won at home. You could call that loss by Denver kind of an open three miss loss, but whatever, you know, like you lost. And the reason why I spend so much time on Denver is this summer when I'm going through it, I'm like, all right, I don't want to pick OKC again here. Let me do something a little bit different. I love what Denver's done. I love what they've done with the bench. I love the Cam Johnson trade. It makes all the sense in the world. Cam Johnson's last two games are pretty rough and it's not just all the misses. And I know he left the Minnesota game with the ankle injury, but he was really late defensively on a bunch of things against okc. And we can, we can re litigate the Michael Porter Jr. Trade if you want to, but you know, if Denver was willing to move on from him, that kind of confirms everything that I needed to know. Right. And Porter Jr. Lights it up in Brooklyn this year. But every single minute he's playing with the Brooklyn Nets is less stressed than any minute than anybody else would play with the Denver Nuggets. So you have to factor that part of it in. But yes, the Cam Johnson start and these, these hesitant transition dribbles where he's kind of coming up and he's like, am I supposed to just get it back to Jokic? You know, maybe we just look at it and say, hey, he's just gotten back and he's healthy. He's playing maybe 10 games or so. Feels like a little bit more than 10 since he's been back. Like let him get his legs underneath him. That's kind of the way I'm still holding out hope for it. But I would say this is a really rough, rough weekend for Cam Johnson. So looking at the Denver part of it is like, I'm only looking at through the lens of like, can they win an NBA title and take out okc? And clearly after that game, that's not the way that you're going to feel about it. But here's the strangest thing about Denver. You would think with Jokic, right, this is a team that's going to win clutch games. He's get you, he's going to get you into the best look. He's going to set you up better than any single player in the NBA. If there's enough people around him, he's going to get you a really good look. We know he's not going to hold up great defensively. He got torched I think defensively this weekend too. I mean, it's one thing to get him in the screen role. It's another time to just see him completely flat footed and guys just blowing right past him, which happened a bunch. Look, ant's going to do that to a lot of guys. But there are other plays in these last two games where it's like he's going to be, he's going to be a little bit more determined to close off one of the two things that he's supposed to be defending. So in clutch games, the Denver Nuggets are now 14 and 16. That's 20th and winning percentage. Their net rating in clutch games in the NBA is 27. The three teams behind them aren't even trying to Win games. And if you think that's weird, it is. Because the last three years, Denver's net rating in the clutch, third in the NBA, first in the NBA, third in the NBA again, 27th this year with Jokic, which seems absolutely impossible. I have more on the OKC game, the Dort trip. Dort knew exactly what he was doing. More often than not, when I see some of this nasty stuff, like, remember when Endemic and Sue ripped that guy's head off from the Browns in, like, preseason, we were like, whoa, was it Jake Delome? Anyway, welcome to the league. Sue is a terrific player again, one of the best college football players I've ever seen in my entire life. Thought he should have won the Heisman, but, you know, there were these moments where you're like, what the hell's going on there? And then, I don't know, I. I feel like there's, like a very, very clear separation of, like, the people that think pro athletes can't control their bodies, which can obviously happen in some sort of collision. And then I think the rest of us that are like, these guys are pretty special. They kind of know what they're doing and Dort knows what he's doing, and he's tripping left and right, and it's really dirty. It's dangerous. The step one is ridiculous, and considering Jokic is coming off with a knee injury where he'd missed so much time, that he's probably going to be a little bit more tuned up for it. And he knows that it's also Door, and he and Dort are going at it after every make or miss underneath the rim if they got, you know, hooked up physically. So, you know, it's just going to be a battle. Like, Door is somebody I would want on my basketball team, but it doesn't mean that I also have to defend it. Is Jokic reaction? Is it an overreaction? Yeah, but Jokic is a pretty theatrical guy. He's a big time flopper and complainer. His flopping is different because he's not falling down like some of the perimeter players. There's a lot of histrionics and like, oh, he's, you know, he's trying to get around a screen and he acts like he gets shot by an arrow. And I. Look, I don't love any of this shit from any of the guys, but he probably doesn't get enough credit. Jokic, as much as I love him, he doesn't get enough credit for, like, a lot of the little stuff that you're like, what are you doing out there? Okay, but in this case, he was full on trip, like a nasty play in transition, especially to a big guy. And so maybe he was overreacting because of the history. Maybe he was overreacting because it's door. Maybe he's just overreacting because he can overreact a little bit. So for Jalen Williams to come over and. And lock them up and they're going at each other, good for him for doing that. There was no punch. I don't even know how that was necessarily debated. But I would say this about, like, the Dort conversation at OKC now is because, you know, this is a matchup of Ken Denver take this team out in the playoffs. So we're watching it that way. This is after football. It's at night. You know, I'm not saying every single household in America's watches game, but this is a game more people are paying attention to. And I don't even mean casuals is a derogatory term here. I mean, like, the guy's going, oh, wait a minute. Denver, okay, season, like, let me check this out a little bit. And for Dort to do something like this on top of the mixtape that he already has out there for all of his dirty plays, you know, it's. It starts to become more of a conversation. It's part of the consciousness of the league. And you wonder, like, if Dort is going to have more of a target on him from officials or the NBA if he keeps doing this kind of stuff. And here's the thing. I love Dort. He had a play in this game. There's a play that Denver runs all the time. Plenty of teams do it, but usually no one can do it as well as Jokic does it. Where Jokic has the ball, there's a couple of different places that he can set up. And then it's two wing players. The first player sets a screen. And really what you're trying to do is you're trying to get the first cutter to bring his man with him and then have the defender play the high side of the second player that set the screen. And then he almost is like running behind a fullback and a clear cut to the hoop. When you switch it, you can screw it up. When you don't switch it, you can screw it up. Dort knew exactly what was happening. We're not going to switch it, but I'm also going to then block the second guy. So he doesn't even have anywhere to go. And then Jokic doesn't have anyone to pass to if at least the first cutter is defended well enough. And you should be familiar with this stuff enough because Denver runs it so perfectly. But there's multiple options on it. And, like, if it's a young team or inexperienced team, when Denver does it, it's like it's a layup. I mean, it's just like, which way do we want to score against you guys and do it Already knows. I want a guy on my team that plays on the edge, and that's a guy like Dort. They're actually kind of valuable. And you're like, that guy's not going to back down from anybody. But what you can't do is you can't tell the rest of us that we're wrong. When we see how dirty the bad shit is, you know, it becomes very political, which is a good reminder because I just don't know that anybody's ever talked about politics and said, hey, that's a great point. My guys might be wrong. No one. No one ever does it. And it's why when I see people argue about different things and world events, I'm just like, I don't like, who's the. Who's this for? Is it for you? I guess, you know, obviously you can be super passionate. I'm not even trying to time it out to everything that's happening this past weekend, but I just mean in general, because it was a good reminder of, like, what's happening. Whenever anyone argues about politics be like, this is Lou Dort stuff. It's like, you have everyone else that has no emotional attachment to okc. That's like, yeah, I was fucking dirty and he's a dirty player, and I'd also like to have him, but it's okay. And then you have the other side trying to tell the rest of us sane people that we're somehow wrong about all of this. The bigger issue is this is Denver, for about two months, has been a below average basketball team, which doesn't really make any sense. And may, you know, it has to. Has to start looking a little bit more consistent, a little bit better here to close out for me to really think that anything close to my prediction before the season of them getting out of the west and winning, the whole thing is even a possibility. All right, before we move on, a quick word on the tool that keeps people's workflow tighter than my takes. Microsoft 365 copilot the world moves fast. Your workday even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports, analyzing data. Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create and summarize so you can cut through the clutter and clear a path to your best work. Learn more@Microsoft.com M365 copilot excited to have him fresh from the combine With a fresh mock draft out from Yahoo Sports, it is Nate Tice, also host of the 301 podcast. All right, I know you've been out there. I know you've been out there for a bunch of them, so we're thrilled to talk to you. We'll get into some of the mock stuff and some off season storylines as well. For the NFL, let's just kind of start with the headlines, like, what do you think were the biggest takeaways not only for yourself, but just some conversations with people from the league, Even just
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Nate Tice
before getting into like, what players tested. It's just the amount of players testing, I think that has just become more of a conversation piece, you know, on the combine, this typical adage, oh, it's all about medicals and interviews anyways. But I like the data points of everybody doing cone drills and verts and broad jumps. But it seems that so many players now are just kind of, there's fewer and fewer players doing those tests and the ones that do those tests, it's like, you know, survivorship bias, you know, survival bias, where it's just the ones that are the fastest are going to run and the ones that aren't fast are not. So everyone's going, oh, it's the fastest group ever, but only six guys are running and they're all going to be the fast guys. It's probably going to be like that
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Ryan Rossillo
just to jump in. I'm sorry, but like, thank you for saying that because I was falling into that where it's like, hey, seven of the eight position groups is the fastest that we've ever had recorded data going back 20 plus years. So when I first heard that, I'm like, wow, that's incredible. Like you'd had that many. And then when I looked at the running back class, it's like, fastest running back class class ever. You know, like 10 of 21 invited running backs ran. And to your point, guess which 10 guys wanted to run? The guys that knew they were going to be the fastest. So I don't know that we necessarily had this spike on the line of human elevation or evolution. I should say not well elevation on some of the vert Stuff. But I'm just glad that you said it because the headliney part of it caught me where I'm like, seven of the eight groups are the fastest ever in the 20. This is the fastest group of football players we've ever had. And then to your point, no, it's the limited number of guys that are actually deciding to do do this, which is skewing the results.
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Nate Tice
Yeah. And training has gotten better and how training for the combine has gotten better as guys. But it really. That's what it is. It's guys that know they can wake up and run a 4, 3, 7. They're going to wake up and run that 4, 3, 7. Guys that on a good day I run a 4, 4, 8. On a bad day I run a 4, 5, 7. And again, game tape matters more than anything. But as many data points you can put in your arsenal, you know how many selling points you can put on your resume, you're going to do it. I mean, this. What the la. What's the lines? The classic. This is the biggest job interview of their lives. You know, you don't want to screw up one of the questions which is like, you know, the 40 or the jumps or something. I will say something that, that has, I have noticed the last few years and this is. I want to say this was the heaviest offensive line group ever at the combine or one of the heaviest. But I do want to say it's the heaviest. And this has been continuing a trend. It's almost the offense really. Just the NFL players are min. Maxing. So the offensive linemen are getting bigger and then the skill position guys are getting smaller and faster. Like defenses are getting smaller. Like I'm not just using more defensive backs on the field. Linebackers are smaller. The amount of edge guys that will play inside and NASCAR packages. So you're getting smaller defenses just physically. And I get it because speed and coverage, you got to stop these quarterbacks. But you're seeing how teams are countering that, trying. And one of those is physics, which is get a lot bigger. And the offensive linemen are getting a lot bigger too. So that's like one thing that is tracking. That's not just a. Oh, survivor bias. Whatever you want to say. That's actually what is going on right now. Defenses are getting a little smaller and faster and offenses are especially offensive line are getting much, much bigger because they just. Yeah, again, just physics. Easiest path forward, go straight through them. Other things though, Jeremy Love pretty good.
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Ryan Rossillo
Yeah.
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Nate Tice
A guy, A guy that can wake up and run a 4, 3, 7. Yeah, he kind of wakes up and did. I think people are also really realizing the direness of what this quarterback class is. I think people in the league have known this and that's why you're seeing a very active trade market even as we're talking right now. Not just quarterbacks, but just every position. The free agency class isn't tip top. Which free agency class is going to be like that. And I think the draft class is just more what I call green chip players as opposed to true blue chip players. So I think that's why this trade market right now, even as we're recording, is so active in the NFL. So those are kind of just the maybe more macro takeaways from the combine as on top of, oh, 160 pound receiver ran fast. Of course he did he better. If he's gonna be 164 pounds, they better run fast. Otherwise, why are you out there?
- [28:18]
Ryan Rossillo
So love is in that 436 range. 437. Jameer Gibbs ran the same time and he's a smaller guy. You know, I think Love checks in at 13 pounds heavier on the combine at some of the numbers I was looking at this morning. I know I'm older than you, but it's funny, I was watching Terrell Davis highlights the other day, okay. And it was absurd. And it got me thinking about like running back. And you know, this can be kind of like a bigger football thing. So we can go anywhere you want to also on some of the physics stuff that you're giving us here in the offensive line, but like, because the defenses are smaller and they're so much faster and you're playing with more defensive backs and we don't have those two middle linebackers with huge neck rolls checking it at 200 to 70. When I see highlights of these dominant running backs in the past, it just felt like there were these game breaking opportunities out there. And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there's an explosive play chart that will tell me that it isn't different, but it does feel different to me, at least in the priority of taking a running back. And as clean as a prospect as Love is, and he seems to be number one on a lot of boards. Just as like the most pure talented player in this, in this class. I love him. I love the idea of him going to the Chiefs. I think that's where you have him in your mock, but couldn't help myself. Yeah. And I don't blame you. And I think I said that with McShay. It's like, man, if he just falls there, especially with like some of their limitations offensively, like, couldn't they just get creative and throw him in the mix and let's see what happens? And I'd be totally for that. Even though in the past I'm like, I just don't know I'd spend a pick on one of these guys. So I'm wondering, like, would you agree at all in the observation of there just doesn't seem to be as much room for these special, special running backs to change a game. The way we kind of grew up with, where it's like, hey, these wasted handoffs are all leading to hopefully him breaking one as he breaks two or three of these a game, that could be the entire game. And look, it's not to say like Saquon hasn't had some big runs or that Derrick Henry isn't going to have some big runs. I guess I just feel like that isn't as important, which also speaks to the lack of priority of drafting someone at this position, this high, I think.
- [30:28]
Nate Tice
And it's kind of a continuation the last time I was on here, where the name of the game right now, it always is going to be explosive plays, but now it's even more so because of how defenses are playing. They're playing so top down. And any player that can generate an explosive without a play having to be designed for him is at a premium right now. And I think that's at any position, whether it's quarterback, receiver, tight end or running back. And with the guy, with a guy like Love, why I'm comfortable plopping him in the top 10 and not really batting an eye doing so is that he can play every down, he can pass protect, he can catch the ball. So it's downs impacted, plays impacted. There's not tendencies that I'm giving away to a defense, which is also a huge thing right now. Defenses are just so smart right now and I think Mike McDonald is the epitome of it with the Seahawks. But this is league wide and I think these guys, they know your tendencies better than you do sometimes. Oh, this running back's on the field, look for a pass. This running back's on the field, look for, okay, they're only going to run screens and play actions with him because they don't want him to pass protect. I think guys that are valid as protectors, valid as receivers, like even Jameer Gibbs when he came into the league was terrible in pass protection. He's gotten way better. So he was a limited Snap guy, almost a premium pick or maybe just like a cherry on top kind of pick as opposed to Love, who I think is immediately can be able to impact all downs. So I think that why I've been. I've been kind of tilting back to running back value in the sense of guys that can generate those big plays. I've taken a premium more than the guys that I usually fall for, which are five yards. Great vision, sturdy runners. The guys that maybe have iffy vision, Love has better vision that love has good vision. But the guys that can take a 5 yarder to 15 or 15 yard of 50, that's more of a premium than ever right now. Because honestly I just mentioned the lighter defensive backs and lighter defenses. Tackling is better than it's ever been, period. Like open space tackling is so good right now. Again, Seahawks are the epitome of this, but this is league wide. Even the Chiefs little run the last few years was spags. And that defense with Justin Reed and other guys in that defensive backfield tackling in space, limiting explosive plays. So if you're going to have lighter bodies on the field with swarm tackling, making sure that when you do get the opportunities, you bring a guy down. Watch the Eagles and watch Cooper Dean saw guys off because he's playing from the slot. These guys are such good open space tackers. They have to be in college football right now. So they translate a little better to the NFL. So it's kind of a a thing like a fight fire with fire. Well, if a guy wants to like they're going to focus so much on tackling. Who's the guys that can break the tackles? It's not the biggest burly guys that maybe I really have liked in the past. It's these guys that have true speed, true home run threats. And I think those guys get a little uptick. We'll see in free agency with Kenneth Walker, Travis etn, guys that I consider they're not my favorites because they just had. They're kind of blind sometimes. But the skill set that they bring that burner is so valued right now. So that's why I kind of like Robert Smith is my kind of comparison for Jeremiah Love, if you remember him from the Vikings.
- [33:31]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, I mean, and he was. Oh yeah.
- [33:33]
Nate Tice
Yes.
- [33:33]
Ryan Rossillo
Stud.
- [33:34]
Nate Tice
Yes.
- [33:35]
Ryan Rossillo
Because it was kind of like late. Right. You know what I mean? Like it wasn't as if when he came into the league immediately like hey, yeah, right.
- [33:43]
Nate Tice
Yeah. And Ohio State, he was incredible. But that is kind of so like peak Robert Smith. And he could Pass protect. He can catch the ball. A lot of fun watching him run on turf back in the day in the Metrodome. But the. That's kind of what I, I think is why I, I really taking a liking to love even more than even Ashton Genti, who I liked. I think love just has that premium aspect to his game that's so valued in the NFL right now.
- [34:05]
Ryan Rossillo
Let's talk about the tackles. You and I were texting about it a little bit. You know, I did a whole offensive line rant with Daniel Jeremiah of just, you know, if, if you don't like the class and it's a need. Like, is. Isn't that how you build a bad roster?
- [34:23]
Nate Tice
It's like quarterbacks. It's like, just because you say he's a first rounder doesn't mean. Doesn't make it so.
- [34:28]
Ryan Rossillo
Like, yeah, right, he actually should go there. But that one, at least I have because it's just like if you don't keep drafting them, you have to just, you know, like if you're sitting. I know this is really simple to a lot of fans. And if you're a gm, talking to your owner and be like, what are we doing? And be like, well, we're not going to stop drafting them because we've gotten the last two guys wrong because it still means we need one. But you seem to have a different view in this tackle class, and especially now when I saw your mock today. So take us through where you're at with this group.
- [34:55]
Nate Tice
Yeah, we had eight offensive linemen going in the first round. And I, I think this is just, I think offensive lineman always going to kind of maybe get publicly underrated as far as how teams think in the sense of, well, you know, we're choosing between five guys here. Let's just go with the big guy. Because offensive linemen are. There's only so many 300 pounders that can move in the world. It's globe theory, whatever you want to call it. And it's also something. And just even maybe something I, in other sports, kind of, I try to learn from other sports, kind of cross pollinate the stuff. Like a guy like Sam Presti says, well, you, you defer to size. Like, okay, that's the end all. You know, that's the thing that kind of like is the tiebreaker, his size. And I think sometimes when it's like, all right, we can choose between a pretty good linebacker or a pretty good guard. Well, guard, because he's going to play for 60 snaps and he's going to impact the game for 60 snaps. He's out there every snap. And I think that's just how it's a premium to find those guys. And he's. Starting guard is going to go for $20 million in free agency even. Doesn't matter if they're good. Just.
- [35:52]
Kyle
Do you have a.
- [35:53]
Nate Tice
Do you have a pulse and can you start?
- [35:56]
Ryan Rossillo
It doesn't matter if they're good.
- [35:58]
Nate Tice
That's the market.
- [35:59]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah. I just love that quote.
- [36:01]
Nate Tice
I know. And so you get into the draft and it's the same thing. It's like, well, that's. We look at it like, you know, cost efficiency and value of contracts with rookie quarterbacks. But rookie linemen are the same exact way. Look how highly paid offensive linemen are. But I also think this class. There's a lot more. There's no true. True. Like Blue Chip. Oh, yeah. This guy's an easy top 10 guy. Every guy's got kind of a little knock. But having said that, there's some really interesting tackles. Monroe Freeling from Georgia, who even before he tested, we. We were kind of shaping out our mock. And I was like, we're putting him at number six because. And then he tested like a freak. And I was like, yeah, because his film really improved in the second half of the year. I mean, really, really good. Like, he's gonna have my top 15 in my big board. There's other guys like Max I. Handisher from Arizona State, late comer to football. Like, I don't think he played football till his senior of high school. Juco then goes to Arizona State and he's playing right tackle. And his film is a lot better in the second half of the year as opposed to, you know, because you can't watch everything at all, all time. So all these scouts and all these teams are watching kind of pockets. So if you watch the second half of the year, you kind of catch up with the Senior bowl and everything. And he's a great example of that. There's Blake Miller from Clemson. These guys are all interesting. Really, like good tackles. And I'm not going to say these premium. Oh, my God, they're going to be all pros. But these are starters, and I think they could be quality guys and maybe a little bit more. And then there's other guys. The Iowa pair. Cale Lomu, I'm actually more of a fan of than his teammate, Spencer Fanow at right tackle. Fano might bump inside, but again, he has positional versatility, which is interesting. I like Lomu a lot. I think he's kind of getting knocked for some strange stuff, but he's young and I think he's an easy mover. But these are guys. These are just tackles. There's Iona from Penn State there. There's Mazador or Macedor. That's his teammate Malga from. From Miami, who I think it could be a nice, really good guard and
- [37:49]
Ryan Rossillo
maybe a good right tackle.
- [37:50]
Nate Tice
But again, they all have little blemishes. But in this class, every position has blemishes. So that's why it's like just a fault of size. I can get a good starter offensive line as opposed to maybe an iffy starter at receiver.
- [38:02]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, I think the. The shocking thing and I Even when I looked on X to see your post for the mock, because we'll link this podcast to it for the listeners that want to check it out. But to have LOMU ahead of Fano, I. I just hadn't seen that. I think the first comment to you today was, that's a new one. And not to say like, hey, how come you're not doing more consensus Nate? But it was, it was surprising because you've seen, like, the group. Yeah. What's wrong with you? So you like the cla. Let me, let me ask you this, though. Where would will Campbell be in comparison to this group? At tackle?
- [38:40]
Nate Tice
Probably. God. Freeling's a little more interesting than Campbell, but he'd be right up there with like one or two or three. So, I mean, same exact spot he went, this one. I also preferred Memboo over him just slightly because of the trades who ended up going to the jets right after Campbell. Like Membu would one. But then Campbell will be battling for two. I. I think in this, this class. But yeah, again, he went where he should have. That's like a top 12 pick in this class, too.
- [39:04]
Ryan Rossillo
Okay, so you said something about, like, with Sam Presti and okc, which I love the kind of like, all right, where's the tie? All right, well, we'll give it to the guy with size. I imagine d' Angelo Pond's tape from Indiana, the corner who we just saw like. And look, Indiana was on enough. So I think every college football fan already knows the story. Like, hey, Jeremiah Smith, High school. And nobody liked him and he was small. And then it's like he. Play after play after play. The vert test would back up what you saw in film and that 50. 50 balls against somebody that small, that undersized. So, like, if you're sitting there and you're talking about players I don't know outside the top 50 or whatever. I don't know if you've done all the tape on them but like if it's a Davis from Washington who checks in at like 64 versus all the plays we saw Pons make for one of the best teams that we've seen in college football history. You know, how do you, how do you argue that in the room?
- [40:00]
Nate Tice
I. I think right now there's where again talking about like how too high everything is and how top down defenses are helps pawns out because it's more. More zone coverage. I think this was 10 years ago when everybody was trying to copy the Seahawks. Like not with great results by the
- [40:14]
Ryan Rossillo
way, but just press coverage.
- [40:16]
Nate Tice
Press long arms man coverage or cover three which turns into man. It's match but essentially plays like man coverage. While everybody now is playing variations of quarters and cover six and. And cover three as well. But it starts in a quarter shell that a pre. More of a premium on ball skills.
- [40:33]
Ryan Rossillo
More.
- [40:33]
Nate Tice
A premium on awareness. More premium. Just overall stickiness. The long arm thing is just, oh, we're going to be man to man. Well then I'm going to play long receivers. I better have a big guy now. If you get someone that just has feistiness to the ball like a lot of Pons is great plays when he was in zone coverage and he used this high IQ to just break on a ball and you see the explosiveness because he could break on the ball. I love him. I view him as a round two guy. He'll be in my top 50. Antoine Winfield Senior is a comparison that I think others have had too. I'm not the only one there. And if you want like a modern comparison as well. Kobe Durant from the Rams who win the fourth round but has turned into a nice solitude. Good starter for the Rams, but again he was a little undersized. But his IQ and his plays on the ball allow him to overcome that size. I think Pons if you just. I'm not saying round one with him but round two in this class. Like he has those kind of intangibles and just that kind of play style that's like he can overcome the size but also he tested like you mentioned the jumps. That helps his argument because if I'm taking a small guy and then he doesn't touch well, it's like, all right, she sure is smart. But you know, it won't matter in the NFL where everybody's a freak. But I think him testing well. It's like, yeah, he is small, but at least he has that athletic threshold kind of. Or athletic ability to kind of overcome that size. I, I really like him though. But I, I just think, I think teams like him too. I, I don't think that's just even just like oh yeah, he's a pet favorite of anybody's too. I think the testing helped him. I think he's going to interview really well or did interview really well. But yeah, Winfield Senior is probably the guy that I've kind of like latched onto as like the high end comparison for him.
- [42:09]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah. If he's like him then it's a first round guy.
- [42:11]
Nate Tice
Go for it.
- [42:12]
Ryan Rossillo
Right? Yeah. Maybe even higher because he.
- [42:15]
Nate Tice
Yeah. Third.
- [42:16]
Ryan Rossillo
Excuse me. 43 and a half inches on that ver for a guy who was five nine. And I imagine on top of everything else, like yeah, he. If you're 59 playing against these other guys and nobody's like the attitude, the chip on your shoulder. I mean it's a position that probably inherently leads to dudes being a little bit selfish. I would always argue that corners have to be the worst boyfriends of any positional group on a football field. So.
- [42:42]
Nate Tice
Because they're always just in their own world. Yeah.
- [42:44]
Ryan Rossillo
And they're blaming the safety but that's. They're always pointing at somebody else and
- [42:49]
Nate Tice
they make a mistake and they're supposed to just forget about it as opposed
- [42:51]
Ryan Rossillo
to the amount of gaslighting that must go on when you date a corner. I feel, I feel sorry for the women out there. Look, if we stay in the speed thing though, even though I don't know that we've done. I didn't want to do 40 minutes of 40 times with you. The Carnell Tate thing, he's kind of wide receiver one for a bunch of different people. Not necessarily everybody here, but he runs in the 4 or 5 range and it's always kind of that reminder of one of my least favorite comp games ever is that when there's a quarterback in his rookie year that throws a million picks and everybody's like, well Peyton Manning had 23. All he has to do is be Peyton Manning now. So first year I, So I don't know that. It's like Puka didn't run. He was in the 4 or 5 CD. Lamb was a 4 or 5. DeAndre Hopkins was really slow and he's probably in his prime. One of my favorite receivers because he was just never going to lose a ball if he was defended. So I don't love the exercise. You would have liked to have been a little bit faster. I wonder if it's in this class if he's just deemed wide receiver one, then it's like, well wait a minute, how come he's not a 44 guy? Which, you know, I don't know.
- [44:00]
Nate Tice
And, and everyone I think has noticed that's a deep receiver class. But that gets back to my default to size. If I'm going to go with offensive lineman with a blemish or a receiver with a blemish, I would default to the offensive lineman because I think it's always going to be a deep receiver class. Like I think for till time ends, until we stop doing the draft or whatever, until something changes with football. The receivers, because they are the ones that catch all these footballs from 7 in 7 on 7 leagues and then go to these colleges, they're throwing the ball all the time like they are the ones catching it. That's why DB plays better as well. But saying that is why I think you have to be an absolute like Jeremiah Smith, an absolute needle mover, game changer, no doubter to be a top 10 receiver. To me, I consider Tetarella McMillan last year at Blue Chipper I was kind of more on an island with that take than I thought I was going to be when I first said it. But, but I think too is that you need these guys that can be either difference makers in some way, shape or form. And I think Tate, why he's been de facto receiver one is he's been so clean, catches every football. He's a good route runner. He can run routes at all three levels. He can bump inside a little bit as well. But then again, this kind of, the kind of what this whole receiver whole draft class is, he has his blemishes, he has a little. He's not the biggest either. He's like low 190s which I would have preferred him to weigh a little bit bigger. Especially if he's going to run mid four or fives with the glass hat full or the optimist take here is that's not how he wins. He wins with craftiness and ball skills as opposed to I'm going to take the top off. And he still wins vertically because he's really, he's one of those subtle movers. He just really knows how to like feign a break and it just kind of creates that little extra space. And then his ball skills are so good he maximizes that space. Again, I'm just going with mid odds comparisons, but this was before the show that I even thought about this one but like my high, high, high, high, high, high in comparison for him or more play style comparison is Reggie Wayne for Carnell Tate where it's not like not a burner but just kind of pretty fast. Not like the greatest route runner, but good route runner, great ball skills. Maximize them with long arms. Reggie Wayne had those long arms too. Carnell's a little taller and Reggie's was a little thicker but kind of a placed out comparison of those two. I've been a fan of Denzel Boston, but again from Washington. But again, he's a guy with blemishes. He didn't run. We just don't know what his games or his time speed is going to be. I think it's, it's going to be better than people anticipate. But again, he has blemishes. Makai Lemon's got blemishes. Jordan Tyson's got blemishes and medicals. Casey Concepcion's got blemishes. He's not the big. He weighed intellectually, okay, but not the biggest. And he had, he has drops issues. So all these guys, again, blemishes, blemishes, blemishes. But that's why it's going to be fun. But Tate, to me, I don't worry about the testing too much because of just how he plays. But that's, but again, I wasn't as high on him maybe as other people were. I didn't view him as a top 10 guy. I've used this receiver class. I feel like the range should start in the middle of the teens and then go on from there, you know, from 14 to 32, as opposed to the Titans I was seeing or even to the Chiefs I was seeing or the Saints. I think that's just a little too rich for me and I'd kind of default elsewhere at different positions.
- [47:03]
Ryan Rossillo
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- [48:10]
Nate Tice
Oh, well, I think it's Nuts. Or Simpson. Whichever one doesn't go to Garrett Nussmeier or Ty Simpson.
- [48:17]
Ryan Rossillo
Okay, so you think it's even open for.
- [48:20]
Nate Tice
Well, okay.
- [48:21]
Ryan Rossillo
Fernando one which we all understand. But you. You think Nussmeyer has a chance to be the second QB taken?
- [48:27]
Nate Tice
I do. I think people have kind of. Because I get it. This last year's tape wasn't great. Else he was a train wreck. But the good of him is so good. And even last year. So 2024, I gotta get over the last year thing. I gotta figure out. I hate this time period because I was go last year it was no, that's 2025 is technical, whatever. But the 2024 season, you got to see the qualities of him. He, he's not the biggest guy and again that's why I grade him and Simpson as more late second, early third round picks. That's where I kind of bucket these guys. And I, I view him though he's aggressive, he kind of knows what he is, but he plays a style that you can get the most out of it because he's so aggressive. He has great timing. He can scramble enough to kind of just, you know, get slithered for some yards with the athleticism. It's just that he's not very big, which showed up last year injury wise and also showed up in the sense that he can get pulled down a little bit in the pocket and that's gonna be. That's my biggest knock on him and I think team wise too. But man, he plays a way that's more than some of these other guys of his kind of skill set or his kind of body type usually play guys are more safe guys that kind of check down Charlie types. Nuss is a gunslinger and I love that. My comparison for him was a little smaller. Chad Pennington and I think just kind of the guy just Maximizes what he's got. And I think he's won a lot of teams over how he played in the Senior bowl. So this is how I view him. But I think just consensus wise, he won teams in the Senior bowl because he was probably the best QB out there and he was healthy finally. And then now interviews and the combine. He did a great job there as well. It's just the size and then. And he's older but Simpson as well, not the biggest guy either. And he didn't measure in that big as well at the combine and he got injured as well during this season. And he also played in the SEC if you want to just kind of wrap this up. And he's a coach's son. They're like, they're so similar. It's kind of funny. Doesn't have a lot of starts. But I again, he's a guy that's very aggressive. Pretty good athlete as well to scramble for those simple yards, as I like to call it, the Mac Jones scrambles, as I like to call them, kind of get those easy first downs and get down. But again he has some accuracy sprays that kind of crop up more. And it's one of those. Was that because you're banged up or this is just what you are? And I do like his aggression. He again, Matt, a guy has, even though he doesn't have maybe top end traits, maximizes what he does. God, they both have good arms, I think. But I, I do think I have nuts just a little bit higher. Same bucket though, same tier. But I have Nuss's QB2 and Simpson as QB3.
- [50:56]
Ryan Rossillo
You have to sell me on Nuss because I saw the 24 stuff and I, I think he has a chance. And the deep ball stats in 25 were so directly related to the injury, like it just fell off a cliff where you're like, well, this isn't even the same person and we have something to point to. So this doesn't make any sense that he'd be this good at this before and for this defining moment in the timeline, you're like, okay, well there's that. And I've said this other people here because I've kind of talked about this the whole time that I feel like Nuss has a better chance to succeed in a way because if he had been really clean through 25 and had been terrific, then he's probably going second and he's probably going in the first half of the first round. He's likely going to a bad team that needs another quarterback. And then maybe he gets the shit kicked out of him for two years and then it doesn't necessarily work out where, if he goes to a better organization, has a little bit more time, like we could be sitting here in three years going like that worked out really well for him, even though he fell so far from where he would have been thought of coming out of 24. The only thing is, the 24 stuff is like, I love him on third and seven because I think he's going to go for it on third and seven. He's going to throw it to the sticks. He's not going to sit there like These other college QBs are just going to go, hey, running back, get us 10 yards after we threw it to you. Three yards behind the line of scrimmage. Like Nussmeyer is going to throw it to somebody, you know, at the line or even deeper, which led to some of the issues. But.
- [52:13]
Nate Tice
Right.
- [52:14]
Ryan Rossillo
At least. At least for me, he's thinking about these routes on these huge third longs in a way that I think is kind of hard to find. It's kind of hard to find on Saturdays.
- [52:25]
Nate Tice
It's how I really, really. A lot of my quarterback scouting comes down to. I prefer aggressiveness because I think it's way easier to rein in a guy, a wild horse than go like, hey, can you push the ball, please? Hey, I know you got a little pressure there.
- [52:39]
Kyle
Can you.
- [52:39]
Nate Tice
Can you please push the ball past the sticks? So that's why I'm always going to prefer that style. So I'm. I'm kind of glad. I mean, when last year in the middle of the season, I did a midseason big board. I came Ward 1 and Garrett Nussmeier 2. And those were the two guys that 20 in the 2024 midseason. Like, I viewed him as a top, let's say, let's call it 25 pick, though. But pretty easy, though. I wasn't like, squinting that much to say it. And even going into this season, I think I had him as QB3 going into the season because I, I. Arch was kind of his own thing, but I had Mendoza and then Sellers, Lenore Sellers, who are still. I still have stock on Sellers. I'm not selling that stock, but it's. But nutsmarter, though, it's like he's gonna have fans. Like, again, the coach's kid is like, these guys are gonna do so. Him and Simpson are gonna do so well in interviews. And again, he's gonna. He does a lot of the right things, even if he does get caught sometimes, like how he moves in the pocket and how when he gets rid
- [53:30]
Ryan Rossillo
of the ball too, talk a little. Taylor Green out of Arkansas. So just for the people to understand the weekend that this guy just had. So he measures in at just under 6 6,227. He ran a 4,3 6 in the 4043 and a half inch vertical, a broad jump of 11 2. So he set all three records for the quarterback database going back to 2003. The only other comp that we've had on some of this stuff was Anthony Richardson who went number four in the 2023 draft. That's one of the rare occurrences. Like, all right, it's already been six years and with, with Richardson you're like, oh, it's only been this long
- [54:13]
Nate Tice
this
- [54:13]
Ryan Rossillo
guy has been around and yet we've talked about him. The difference is that Green's not going to go fourth.
- [54:18]
Nate Tice
No.
- [54:19]
Ryan Rossillo
And I would tell you that even with the physical profile of Richardson, like I think a lot of us that love Green college football, like I have no idea if this is a good idea. I probably like Taylin Green games collectively better than anything I saw from Anthony Richardson. I thought this guy was a lot of fun to watch. I thought he kept him in games for Arkansas that they had no business being in. So to me he is actually forget the measurables, he is probably more of a polished quarterback than Richardson could have ever hoped to be. Yet being drafted as high as he was, I don't know how much you've dug into it, but there's just a lot of games with him where I go, you know, I kind of like this guy down there not knowing that we'd be doing this before the draft.
- [55:03]
Nate Tice
I, I, I really, again talking about like quarterbacks too. It's like it's, it's tools. Like as much as we want to say it's moxie and intangibles. Yeah. The guys that we associate with that are still like, well, even like Tom Brady, people will say like, oh, Tom Brady didn't have any tools. It was just all intelligence. He's 65-523- Went to Michigan. Like, what are you guys talking about? Like, those are tools.
- [55:25]
Ryan Rossillo
Being sorry he took a shirt off that day.
- [55:28]
Nate Tice
But, but being 65230, those are tools. That is size and, but like say, say Gabriel, like I, I've always kind of prefer these guys because again, it's like I'd rather take a dart throw on Green. And day three, then again, the classic check down Charlie that the Coaches are going to think safe, think is safe and get him through a game. And I understand there's appeal of that having on your team, but if you're a team that just wants to have some fun project, that's Green to me. The. I, I thought that he had some nice moments early this year throwing like, as far as, like his timing was a little bit better. I thought he was actually pushing the ball on some stuff. And as the season kind of wore a lot wore on, it kind of just became a little bit more scattershot. But I actually, I had him written him down as maybe bringing him up on the show because I, of course he had the testing and I think athletically and how he moves, it's just like Randall Cunningham. I mean, it's. I've never seen someone look just like Randall Cunningham. Just how I want to. I want to get side by side measurements because it's just, it's unbelievable how much the hell they're built, how their height is, their length, everything, how they move. Kind of like Gumby. But Green is a freak. I, I mean, obviously he tested like this, but he plays like it too. He's a tough runner. His throwing style, he kind of has that Kaepernick kind of, you know, catapult throwing style. Byron Leftwichie kind of a little long and his arm is in like top end, but it's good. My one knock on him, or I would say my kind of narrative scouting, if I want to be pessimistic, is that he worked with Bobby Petrino the last couple of years and Petrino is going to at least, you know, polish these guys up enough. Petrino has his faults, his warts, whatever. At least he's going to get the quarterbacks going, right? And I thought mentally Green did grow, but then his mechanics and his kind of footwork never really improved. So it's kind of one of those things where it's like, all right, they already got a little bit out of him. Is there more? Does NFL coaching actually happen and actually help him? Or is this something that's just kind of like, you know, it's like we've already tapped into it. This is what he is. But I would take a. I mean, I'm seeing there's other quarterbacks that are going to trot it out there. It's like, I'd rather take a dart throw on Green on day three than a lot of these other guys that get trotted out there because those freaky tools, the maybe a little bit something more, the willingness to Push the ball and just the creation. I think creation just matters so much with these guys talking about explosives. Same thing with green. So he's. There's a. There's a couple day three guys that I like have grabbed my attention more than maybe some like the Carson Becks of the world. Cole Payton from North Dakota State another day three type of guy. Kind of a funky thrower. Didn't start a ton of games but actually improved as a thrower. But great athlete as well. Pretty well coached as far as footwork stuff. Has a little bit more they used to work on but I liked him as well. And then my like darkest of dark horses I've probably ever given on any show ever is Jack Strand from Minnesota or Moorhead. And I'm telling you and he's I have like a sixth, seventh round grade on him but he's 6 4, 2 40. He gets how to play quarterback too. He plays in like a true air raid and they chuck it every single down. And it's not like him just blindly throwing to a spot. He's working through progressions, he's finding checkdowns. I don't know. There's something to him. Again, I've tweeted about him recently but as like a day three darkest, I'm. I'm totally blind throwing a dart. He is one that I like. I think is a little bit more interesting than again, some of these kind of Taylor Heinecke variations that we always see in day three and round four and everything.
- [58:48]
Ryan Rossillo
Jack Strand.
- [58:50]
Nate Tice
Yeah. Minnesota Moorhead Baby D2.
- [58:56]
Ryan Rossillo
I don't want to click on any of the YouTube links because then it immediately takes me to some kid in the corner of a house and he's like, you know,
- [59:06]
Nate Tice
he's doxing you now. He's got all your info right? This is all a long con.
- [59:12]
Ryan Rossillo
Let's pivot to some of the off season stuff and maybe how it even relates to the combine. Some of the headlines already going on here. Montgomery from the Lions has been traded to the Texans for offensive lineman Juice Scruggs into draft picks. I think there's Chiefs fans everywhere and maybe all of us that just love primetime football that we don't have to watch Juan Taylor line up for the Chiefs anymore and leave early, which I felt like I called it every time they do that for caps. Like is bad when everyone is talking about an offensive lineman and this problem that he has with, with getting. Getting out of his stance a little early there. Again, I think they could have called it way more times than they did if they actually wanted to. So I'm going to relate it though, to the draft a little bit here because I want to get maybe some storyline stuff from you, though. I've brought this up plenty, so I'll share it with you in that the NBA draft is before free agency and then the NBA people, if you find a person will complain that it's like, you know, it'd be way better if we had the draft after. In this case, we have free agency before in the NFL and then you hear the same exact complaints where it's like, yeah, but if we had had the draft the other way around, then we know what we need. I think there's something else to be said and go wherever you want with this answer, but with the escalating cap as much as it is that if you're buying somebody in free agency now, the talent pool is probably diminished somewhat because teams don't have to worry about the cap math as much as they've had to in other eras. Just knowing like, well, all right, this might sting a little bit, but hell, like this $30 million player, like in three years when we're at the back end of the first three years of this deal, like 30 million a year for him is going to be awesome if the cap is up another 20% from where we're at right now. So you can, I can get mad about drafting for need in the NFL as much as I do every single year because I just think it, you know, it's like, man, if there's some stud corner out there and you need a guard, like just take the corner and then figure it out. But, but I don't know how, like if there's nowhere to figure it out other than the draft, I don't know that I can really blame the teams.
- [61:33]
Nate Tice
Yeah. And maybe it's just my brain has just been so you know, stooped in NFL waters for years and years that
- [61:40]
Ryan Rossillo
it's kind of hard for good. That's why you're here.
- [61:42]
Nate Tice
Non. Break it. Yeah, it's that I, I, I've always liked the flow of the free agency draft. And then there's that post June 1st vet kind of free agency period as well. And that's become kind of like the filler, the fodder kind of segment of the year. So I kind of like that pacing. And also the NFL is just like so much with tied for the, you know, everything's so tied to the league year, you know, starting with the league year and contracts coming up then. So especially, and honestly, especially with no one working out in the combine now, it makes that kind of space, that time between the draft needed still. Because if no one's gonna work out the combine, then everyone has to go to pro days or, you know, private workouts and get these data points to get the timings and everything. So you just need time to do that. There's so many schools and so many players. So I think that's really more than anything is that aspect of the schedule, which we mostly consider a dead period. March into mid April until the draft happens, is still very active as far as teams trying to get more info on these guys, on these prospects. And that's really just to kind of like, you know, cross their. You know, cross their T's and dot their I's, you know, just finally, you know, finalize everything. But still, I think that because that time needed, that there's not like, there's never going to be able to be able to be a change because it's just how the flow of the season goes. But I totally get the arguments. I don't know how NBA does it. Finals, draft, free agency, all within, like, 10 days of each other. Like, that, to me, is insane. So, like, I understand the NBA complaints more than anyone that complains about kind of the NFL and how it goes. But again, that's maybe just more how I've always viewed it. So I was like, why change it now? But I just think, even just logistically, that I think that's why there's always going to be, like, a hesitancy to change any of that just because of the numbers needed to scout.
- [63:20]
Ryan Rossillo
What's the hardest position to fill in free agency besides quarterback?
- [63:25]
Nate Tice
Oh.
- [63:25]
Kyle
Oh.
- [63:25]
Nate Tice
Line o. Line is always going to be the hardest, hardest spot, because if you're decent, if you have a pulse and like you said, if you. You can start, you're going to get kept by the team that you had. Usually the guys that hit free agency have injuries, they're close to 30, or, you know, just something happens. Like the Bills losing their center and their left guard. That's just kind of the circumstances. The Bills and those guys are getting older, but most of the guys, it's so hard to, like, find any. Dan Moore last year who is average at best for the Steelers, I would say average at best. Got paid so much money because he, again, could just play left tackle. He could just line up there. Guys like Cam Robinson, who can barely even play, gives up pressure rates, he gets traded. Teams are like, willingly. I'm trading for him because I need him out there. It's just that it's so hard to find anyone that could start for five. You know, all five guys can start all these games, can fill out every single spot. So yeah, Lyman offensive lineman's always going to be hard.
- [64:19]
Ryan Rossillo
Hey, do we have a redo here of the DJ Fluker Kaden Proctor thing for Bama? Absolute freaks. You go to the game, you're like, oh my God. I mean I remember the first time I saw Fluker in person. I was like, you've got to be kidding me. And he gets drafted. Was he ninth? Top 10 I think. And then I would say watching those games I was like, yeah, I don't know that I see the part where he's as awesome as he looks and then he goes this high and like Proctor's off the charts in every measurable you can imagine. And it's not probably as bad as the LSU line where all the guys get drafted in 24. None of them could run block for whatever reason. Like the team couldn't run the football with five NFL offensive linemen which again I still think there should be 30 for 30 on. So this isn't, this is unfair to say it's the same thing as that. But I would say if you're this great in all the measurables with Proctor, like why I know an offensive line is a unit and tight ends and you've got your backs and the whole thing but I'll tell you, like there feels a bit like this freak out about the physicals. Ignoring the fact that I would argue the same thing with Fluker. Back then I didn't really see it pop the way the draft people are going to make you think it did if you were watching on Saturdays.
- [65:46]
Nate Tice
Well, he jumped like that and I get he's 350 odd pounds, you know, probably the lightest he's been in a long time. Didn't do the shuttles, which I think matters just as much for offensive linemen as any other drill that they do. I think 40 matters most for tackles or not most, but is, you know, significant for tackles just to see athleticism. But shuttles 3 cone, those are the drills and he didn't do those. And I, I've kind of cooled a lot on Proctor and another big offense tackle from Bama, JC Latham with the Titans, he's had some struggles as well. Left tackle, he was, you know, a traffic cone and pass protection because he just couldn't get out of his stance. He was a plus plus run blocker which you're like thank God. I mean, if you're going to be that big. I liked him better than Proctor and I've seen his struggles and whether to use, I guess you can call that helmet scouting. I look at more as gigantic body type scouting more than anything. But I think Proctor too, is that if you look at the history of the league and guys that have weighed over 360, and I'm saying right now Proctors is the best shape he's probably been. This is a guy that struggled with his weight. If you're the guys over 360 has not been like a bunch of hits like you, you know, you got some, especially a tackle. You know, there's like Aaron Gibson from the Lions, he wasn't great. Dejuan Jones for tackle for the Browns. Right now from Ohio State, you got like, you got the Brown son and father duo, Orlando Brown senior, Zeus and Junior. You know those guys and like, okay, where they go, though, like, Orlando Brown Jr. Went in the third round. You know, it's not like this guy is someone that was like, oh, top 20 pick. So, like, Proctor did all he could. Like, he had a great week. He did all he could to help his stock. But film is film. And if you're going to like, yeah, the burst and the athleticism is good to see, but I also see him kind of missing blocks, stuck in his head. There's more technique issues. A thing I always look at for offensive linemen, this is just straight up for my dad, is that. Are they on the ground that. Because that shows athleticism. It doesn't matter how they test. Are they on the ground because that shows their balance, their footwork, whether their hands were good or they're sloppy. So they get off balance. Does that mean they're ducking their head? Because when you duck your head, you can get off balance like a toddler running. So I just, that that's what I look at more for, like game athleticism. And to him, I think he's average to above average as opposed to what he tested, like, which is excellent as far as the jumps anyways. So to me, I have more blemishes on him. I see him as a back half of the first round type of guy. Make guys into 20s or even the 30s, as opposed to like, oh, yeah, take this guy, top 15, look how big he is. Because I do think he has some issues as far as sustaining and everything. And also on past protection, getting out
- [68:20]
Ryan Rossillo
of his stance on the ground. I love that. Yes, I love that.
- [68:26]
Nate Tice
It's a great indicator.
- [68:28]
Ryan Rossillo
Let's Well, I. I'll. I'll kind of leave it open to you here on. On a couple things to close with here, but I'll. I'll go with another little headlining thing of the name QBs that could be in the mix here for having a new team in 26. Like, is there a value on a Kyler Murray, a Kirk Cousins, a tool, like, any possibilities, a name I'm not even mentioning of like, hey, it's not a great draft class. Maybe there's a team that feels like, hey, can we just raise our floor? Like Denver was always trying to do all those years after Manning, where it was like, oh, this. This can't be that much worse. And then it unfortunately always was. And that. That defensive run like that should have been recognized and sustained. How great that defense was post Manning. And it was. Yeah, we have below average. Like, yeah, right. We're trying, but it's not going to work. Is there anyone that you think that could just potentially be available that is even worth it to the next team?
- [69:35]
Nate Tice
The guy that's kind of, again, underrated and I think he could be cheap unless this team gets weird with him. And you never know with them is Geno Smith. Is that. Because I think the cost of acquiring them might be less than some of these other guys are getting. And you still might. Depends on the team. But say he goes to the Vikings. That is an incredible playstyle fit with a scheme fit. And it's for where the Vikings are at. Like, Vikings, I mean, they're letting go of Aaron Jones, Javon Hargrave. Like, they're in such a. They're such a weird team to me and fascinating team to me because the coaches are betting on themselves big time. So we'll see how that kind of goes. But like, Gino is one that I think has. Is getting kind of underrated nationally because, yeah, last season was hell and he didn't help it, but no one was helping that the offensive line was atrocious. Pete Carroll's son was coaching it. And they're so sloppy. Like, they're. I think they're getting improvement just having an adult in the room this next year in that offensive line room. I think Chip Kelly was not, you know, didn't seem like he wanted to be there. He just was like, okay, make me the highest paid offensive coordinator in NFL history later. And I think that that was always just a. I was curious about it. And then after the first week, I was like, ooh, this. I don't think this is going to work. So he's got to kind of like really underrate in this process because you can look like the, the backup trade QB market is more fascinating to me than any of these kind of retreads. I've read Tanner McKee before but Tyson Bent with the Bears, Spencer Rattler, like those dart throws are interesting to me. If you want to include Malik Willis, that's not a trade but like a guy that can sign. Those dart throws are a little bit more interesting. But Gino like Rogers doesn't push the ball anymore. Aaron Rodgers. So it's like I know what you are now so why you don't handle protections and you don't push the ball. Why would I pay an old vet that's not going to like truly help us. I thought Cousins, Kirk Cousins played better when he came back after Penix's injury last year as opposed to 2024. I thought he actually was kind of underrated how he played in the second half of last year. Like he's 24.
- [71:27]
Ryan Rossillo
Physically it just wasn't there at all.
- [71:29]
Nate Tice
He couldn't hand the ball off one way because he couldn't push off his foot. I've never seen anything like that. Oh well, bringing up old Peyton Manning maybe that would have been the other example. 2015 paid Manning. They had to do the same thing. They had to go to the pistol because they couldn't go under center because he couldn't push off and that's what Kubiak had to do with Manning and Manning hated it because they were doing all the zone stuff and Manning, you could tell Manning was like, like he physically because that, that takes a lot of the quarterback to like get out there from under center and like Manning physically couldn't do it so they had to move to the pistol to try and help him out.
- [72:03]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, wide handoffs that you're talking about, right? So like he's getting, he's getting like almost horizontal.
- [72:09]
Nate Tice
Yes. You have to run like you really have to get out there because to do it right like to get the ball in the running backs hands and he, he like legitimately, physically couldn't do it and neither could Cousins so they had to go in the pistol from him. But I did think last year he was a little better. Like so like to me Gino's the one that I think is interesting and underrated. Kyler just. I like Kyler more than the national kind of consensus as far as the league does. The league is super low on him. Like super low. And I get the frustrations. The call of duty, memes and all that. But Drew Petzing in 2024 in Arizona. Like Kyler played like a top 12 guy in a very real offense. It wasn't the gimmicky Cliff Kingsbury Air Raid plus kind of offense and he played like a good QB. But then last year he just 2025 he just devolved like just was all of his bad habits bailing out of the pocket, not throwing over the middle, all that stuff. But Kyler is interesting to me because he has at least touched that like good quarterback tier. But I understand why his stock's super low. But yeah, short answer Gino okay, what
- [73:13]
Ryan Rossillo
a great way to end it man. Make sure you check out Nate on the three in one podcast again. His mock is up late last night getting back from any of the combine up on Yahoo Sports. Thanks man. Talk again soon.
- [73:23]
Nate Tice
Thanks for having me.
- [73:25]
Ryan Rossillo
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- [74:22]
Nate Tice
You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.
- [74:27]
Ryan Rossillo
What's up?
- [74:29]
Nate Tice
I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork. I have every toy you can possibly imagine, and best of all kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible.
- [74:40]
Ryan Rossillo
Let me tell you what's required. Life Advice lifeadvice rrmail.com it is Kyle and myself today. I don't know anyone's schedule. So Saruti, I think he's in the Bahamas and then he texts us a mock draft this morning and I'm like, oh, so Rudy's back.
- [74:57]
Kyle
Guy can't quit us.
- [74:58]
Ryan Rossillo
He can't. Is it the Bahamas? I think it is, yes.
- [75:01]
Kyle
Bahamas. Yeah, good Nice retention there.
- [75:04]
Ryan Rossillo
You been to the Bahamas ever?
- [75:06]
Kyle
No. Jamaica. That's it. I got a standing invite for the Bahamas though, so I might. Might have to figure out how to pull that off.
- [75:13]
Ryan Rossillo
Standing invite?
- [75:14]
Kyle
Yeah.
- [75:15]
Nate Tice
Pretty. Pretty.
- [75:15]
Kyle
I've never been dude down there. Hotelier. Is that how you say that? Hotelier?
- [75:20]
Nate Tice
Yeah.
- [75:20]
Kyle
I mean, I don't know what's taken me so long, but yeah, love to do that.
- [75:23]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah. What is taking you so long? Standing invite?
- [75:26]
Nate Tice
Yeah.
- [75:26]
Kyle
You know, vacations were always here. I had to save up my vacations to come here. And now I'm here with my curtain and I mean, I don't know. The sky's the limit. I gotta start thinking about what real vacations look like. Sort of a no brainer. I was gonna go back to the crown Jewel.
- [75:40]
Ryan Rossillo
Which part of Jamaica,
- [75:45]
Kyle
man?
- [75:45]
Ryan Rossillo
I don't know.
- [75:46]
Kyle
I was freshly seven. I was freshly 18, actually. So it was definitely was a resort. Like we went over Thanksgiving because it was like.
- [75:53]
Ryan Rossillo
You don't remember the town?
- [75:55]
Kyle
It was a resort, man. I don't know where we were. It was like I was. I tried to get out.
- [76:00]
Ryan Rossillo
Mo Bay.
- [76:01]
Kyle
I tried to get out. My parents were like, we're not doing that stuff. And I, like, planned a little escape with my brother and then he, like my older brother and he chickened out. So we were like, all right. I mean, I. I think I had turned 18 like four days before this happened. So I got the wristband, you know, and it was like a little bit out of control. And like day three, they were like, listen, if you can't pull it together, I'm snipping that wristband off your wrist. And I was like, all right, all right. But like, I had like, you know, like a drunk injury or whatever. It was just like, you turn. It's like you can drink in Jamaica for the first time.
- [76:29]
Ryan Rossillo
I can't imagine, like, it was what they expect. Yeah, they're like, you need to put it on. I didn't know your family was that fancy though. Kyle. Kyle's selling us this blue collar.
- [76:40]
Kyle
It was our. Hey, we were. We were Jersey Shore guys. And it was.
- [76:44]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, it was.
- [76:44]
Kyle
It was cheaper on Thanksgiving. That's why we went there.
- [76:47]
Nate Tice
So.
- [76:48]
Kyle
Yeah, we spent Thanksgiving in Jamaica.
- [76:51]
Ryan Rossillo
That is wild. So you don't even remember which town you were in? No. Super cat power.
- [76:56]
Kyle
We were in, like a nice. A nice thing. I tried to get out, see what was around. I couldn't, just couldn't. Got sold some really horrible weed and spent a lot of time getting Red Stripes for the Employees found all the little, like, you know, like, electrical boxes where the dudes would hang out. And they'd be like, yeah, you bring
- [77:12]
Ryan Rossillo
us like, you had a hell of a.
- [77:13]
Kyle
They're like, yeah, you bring us three more and we'll give you whatever. I sold my dad G Shock to a guy. My Casio G Shock watch came to my hotel room and knocked on the door. And I was like, oh, no. He helped me find something earlier. I left something on the beach.
- [77:29]
Ryan Rossillo
Anyway, was this your first international moment? Commerce. Did you have to declare anything? Be like, I didn't buy anything, but I sold the G Shock.
- [77:38]
Kyle
No, no. He had American dinero, so we didn't have to even worry about the whole exchange.
- [77:44]
Ryan Rossillo
I feel like there's a million follow ups here. But how did you start again negotiating with a local on the G Shock? How did that work?
- [77:51]
Kyle
There was like a bunch of. Dude, I was just sitting at bars by myself, really, just kind of gearing up for my sort of life today, you know. And so I would just, you know, hop around. There was a bunch of different places to. Yeah, exactly. There was a bunch of different places to go. And then, you know, I'd go smoke my cigarettes. You're not like, supposed to smoke at the bar. So I'd go like, you know, off to the side. And then there's like a, you know, just a guy there working on some equipment or whatever. And I'm talking to him. And then, you know, I'm drinking a Red Stripe. And he. I think he asked me if I could get him one or something. I was like, yeah, of course, man. Went around, he's like, here, beat me around back. There's like three other dudes and it's just like, you know, a couple back and forth. Now everyone's got red stripes. We're smoking shitty weed. And we were just talking. One of the younger guys was like, oh, is that G Shock?
- [78:33]
Nate Tice
I'm like, yeah.
- [78:34]
Kyle
And he was like, you know, let me see if I can get some money together and then I'll buy it off you. And I'm like, yeah, dude, you do that. Let me know. Like the next day he was like, I got the money, like, all right. Had like a big scratch.
- [78:46]
Ryan Rossillo
Did you sell it for more than it was going for in the States?
- [78:49]
Kyle
I think he gave me 80 bucks for it. It was old. It had like a big scratch on it. It was red. Honestly didn't go with a lot of shit that I was wearing at that time. But, you know, there was a certain time when G Shock was, like, the biggest thing there was for a dude my age. Yeah. And I just wanted 80 bucks cash.
- [79:04]
Ryan Rossillo
And I was.
- [79:05]
Kyle
He was really happy. I was, like, ready to get rid of it.
- [79:07]
Ryan Rossillo
Like, pelly Pell or what? Like, it wasn't matching or.
- [79:10]
Kyle
Yeah, it was just, like. I didn't have a lot of red. It was just like a bright red, you know, plastic watch. I just, you know, I think I even traded my friend for it for, like, a different watch or something.
- [79:19]
Ryan Rossillo
You know, it was just.
- [79:20]
Kyle
I was ready to let it go. It was okay. And he seemed like it was the coolest thing he ever saw.
- [79:24]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah.
- [79:24]
Kyle
And, you know, I was happy with 80 bucks at the time, so whatever.
- [79:28]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, sounds like a good trade.
- [79:30]
Kyle
That's like, the way shit used to get done, right?
- [79:32]
Ryan Rossillo
We should price that out, though. Red G shocks to see. Because I don't know if there's, like, big scratch, though.
- [79:36]
Kyle
Big, big scratch. Some might even say a crack, you know?
- [79:40]
Ryan Rossillo
I don't know.
- [79:42]
Kyle
Anyway, yeah, I'd love to get back to the Bahamas.
- [79:48]
Ryan Rossillo
I still want to do another Jamaica thing, but I don't. I just. The only time I could go is, like, I don't want to go during spring break. You know, like, hey, what's up, man?
- [79:58]
Kyle
You with your heat.
- [79:59]
Ryan Rossillo
I gotta give it to you. The Big Ten was better this year.
- [80:04]
Kyle
Your 700 page.
- [80:05]
Ryan Rossillo
Enough of a loser sometimes. Oh, yeah, Kappa. Yeah, we had Kappa in Vermont. I knew a guy. All right, let's get to some emails here. We had a few on. On the bad weed purchase there. We've had a few passionate weed people reach out to the pod the last couple weeks that weren't super psyched about some of the generalizations. Oh, I knew that. I mean, I think. Look, I think specific to that living arrangement that that guy had. And then I'm speaking from some of my own experience of a couple guys that I live with. So, yeah, if I was being a little too targeted at the people that I've lived with that really love the reefer. Yeah, that's probably what I was referencing. Everybody else, do you?
- [80:58]
Kyle
Yeah, we guys are cool. The only problem I had was when they'd be like, we'd be ready to go. And they're like, hold on, bro, let me roll up something first. And it's like, we can't do anything until you get this done. Come on.
- [81:07]
Ryan Rossillo
Time management, there's a lot of like, hey, there you go.
- [81:10]
Kyle
Come on, you guys.
- [81:11]
Ryan Rossillo
You guys would be.
- [81:12]
Kyle
If you're honest with yourself, you know, time management. Could be a problem with your.
- [81:16]
Ryan Rossillo
Where did he go? Like we just told him we were leaving in five minutes, like pretty well. And then it kind of shows up like that. Surprised, like as if he doesn't know what he's doing. Like, oh, we're leaving now.
- [81:26]
Kyle
Yeah, can't wait for all the reply emails. You're getting to those emails?
- [81:31]
Ryan Rossillo
No, because those emails are like a wee booze thing and like every single guy knows like yes, one is way less hostile and safer.
- [81:40]
Kyle
Yeah, check to the statistics, bro.
- [81:42]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, no one, no one is making that argument. All right. Canceling a hot chick to go to Guatemala. Here we go. This is what we're here for. 6 foot 170, 27 year old engineer living in Brooklyn. No crazy impressive gym stats for someone that goes three, four times a week before work. Well that's pretty good. Three to four times a week before work. Do about 20 pull ups. Well that's an insane stat. According to an online player comp website. I play like. I think he means Chetty Osman. There's a misspelling here. I can't imagine it's anyone else. See if we can get it on what that online player comp website is. Here's the email. My pilot friend added me to his flight benefits this year to give me a chance to travel standby for free for one of the largest airlines in the US I don't even.
- [82:33]
Kyle
Have you done a standby ever? I've never done that.
- [82:36]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, I do. I'm so old. I paid cash once for my ticket.
- [82:41]
Kyle
That is old. Well, probably not as old as I think, right?
- [82:44]
Ryan Rossillo
I mean. Yeah, but you know how like the older movies, the guy just shows up, he's like I need a flight. Yeah, one ticket to one, please.
- [82:52]
Kyle
Yeah, like $72.
- [82:54]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, I need to get out of here. But yeah, I, I don't think I had a card at that stage of my life. And I was flying it's like in the 90s, so maybe it's not that outrageous, but it seems outrageous today. You like walk up to the ashtrays
- [83:07]
Kyle
were freshly soldered shut.
- [83:10]
Ryan Rossillo
They used to still open. But I think the first time I was on the plane anyway was 17. So it was like I was flying all over the place. Her parents didn't do that with us anyway. Standby. Yeah. Well, I don't know. I mean if he's just.
- [83:22]
Kyle
Will they, won't they for you though, right? Isn't that what standby is? You just get there ready to go and like maybe somebody doesn't show Up. Is that really what it is?
- [83:31]
Ryan Rossillo
That, by definition is what standby is. Is anyone that knows the Steamship Authority game.
- [83:36]
Kyle
That's so whack. Like, maybe we'll get you on this one. You're just, like, waiting.
- [83:40]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, I think that's pretty much what it is. Maybe with more information and technology now, you have, like, a better chance of.
- [83:47]
Kyle
Better idea of whether you should wait in the gate or not.
- [83:49]
Ryan Rossillo
Okay. Like, these are my chances, But I'm not 100 sure. Because I. I can tell you right now if somebody was like, hey, standby. I'm not. And be like, okay, what's the next one where I'm not maybe not going. Yeah. All right. The only issue is there's an open flight. Wait, he. I jumped ahead here. We get excited with the standby thing. No, it's my fault. What's that?
- [84:12]
Kyle
It's a chance to learn for me. You don't pass those up, you know.
- [84:15]
Ryan Rossillo
No, don't. That's all right. We're good.
- [84:17]
Nate Tice
We're good.
- [84:17]
Ryan Rossillo
I'm starting a new hybrid job recently limited on paid time off, so mostly I use it for long weekend trips. My friends. My friends, plural. Oh, this guy's got a lot of friends. Just invited me to do a famous hike in Guatemala this weekend, and there happens to be an open flight that I can take Thursday night to make it in time for the hike. The only issue is I have a date schedule with the hottest girl I've ever had a chance with. Sea photo, which I'd have to cancel. She is attractive. Sorry to the audience, but I don't even think we could do this on Netflix. That would be. I mean, obviously we wouldn't do that, but she actually canceled our first plan date this weekend because she was sick and asked when I could reschedule for to. Which I said I'm busy until Thursday and we decided to schedule for then. So if I cancel, I worry might lose all momentum, as modern dating often does when you struggle to get the first date rolling. I could always go to Guatemala another time alone, which wouldn't be as fun. I also have had the flight benefits for two months already, and I've been able to get as much use out of it as I'd like. I haven't been able to get as much use out of it as I'd like, so I really need to make sure I don't waste the opportunity this year. Should I go on the date or go to Guatemala? Side note, a quick Google search on this girl's first name and college Showed me she works in my building, which I don't love, but I think she's hot enough to take the risk. The funny thing is I was featured in Life Advice, AKA we read an email years ago because I had a thing with one of my neighbors that got kind of messy. And Ryan said the only thing worse than dating a neighbor is dating someone from the office. So thanks, fellas. To this day, Tony Allen was still one of the best all time interviews. I would go to Guatemala. The guy sent in a picture of himself. Good looking guy. This girl is definitely way better looking than you on the scale of things. Like, no offense, I already understand that. Like you out in the wild, how many times are people going to turn their head and look at you? Everyone is going to look at this girl. So it depends on kind of where you're at.
- [86:18]
Kyle
This could be a power play, dude. It could be one Cancel.
- [86:22]
Ryan Rossillo
Cancel for a cancel.
- [86:23]
Kyle
Cancel for a cancel. I think you should go to Guatemala too. I certainly wouldn't do it for a hike, but I'm sure hike scores more points in your ledger than it does in mine. So I think you really want to do this and you should do it. And you know, this might actually boost your points with her in some weird way or at least there's a way where you don't lose points. There could be, could be definitely a risk, but you know, you don't want to play it too hot when you're just like clearly out of your league and you're like, oh my God, if I don't do this one, maybe we lose all momentum. Like, I think you maybe got to boost your own confidence and maybe she does want to go out with you, buddy. And maybe it doesn't have to be Thursday. Maybe it could be Saturday, next Saturday.
- [87:04]
Ryan Rossillo
I don't know. Well, you don't know what you're dealing with. You don't have any advanced scouting that you're sharing with us here. So I mean, there's two simple ways it could go is that she could be a completely like normal person who's like, oh my God, you can go to Guatemala. Last minute friends. Hit me up when you're back. That would be, I think, think the way most normal people would react to your set of circumstances. Or she could be completely irrational and just be like, I can't believe this guy canceled completely thinking, you know, I mean, it would be a sign of your selfishness. And then when it doesn't work out, you just like, hey, it was never going to work out anyway. But we also know that that's like, you know, if this guy's young enough, maybe he's not exactly planning the family and he's thinking of missing out. I'll tell you, as you get older, well, I guess it all really depends. It just depends on like what you had a surplus of versus other parts of your life where you're like, I wish I had done more of these things with my friends. And I certainly am in the bucket of like, I wish I'd done more stuff with my friends. So I would tell you as a younger guy, going to Guatemala with all of your friends is going to be something like you're probably only going to do once, maybe never have the chance to do it again with all these guys and you know, again. Listen to some of the other emails. Dudes turn north of 30 with a deep bullpen of friends. By 33 they're like, I don't even want to. You know, it's five o', clock, you're at the gym, you're like, I think I'm going to go out tonight. And then it's 7:30 post dinner and you're like, see what the wizards are doing. So yeah, you just hope that she would understand. So I would, I would do that. I would give her the hard sell on. I hate doing this and I know that you were sick and I don't want to make it seem like I'm canceling, but here's what's on the table and I would love to get you something in Guatemala.
- [88:54]
Kyle
Nice wood carved souvenir. Yeah, that's what I was gonna say. Clearly handmade, you know, so wrong.
- [89:01]
Ryan Rossillo
Handmade.
- [89:04]
Kyle
I like it.
- [89:05]
Ryan Rossillo
So yeah, pick something out online from the airport.
- [89:13]
Nate Tice
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- [89:44]
Ryan Rossillo
Okay. Tom Brady autographed hat dilemma. This is specific. What's up? 40 years old, live in the Bay Area. Six one 185, bench 205 for reps. Don't squat or deadlift since a low back injury. But currently training to swim across Lake tahoe this summer. 10 mile swim, 7,000ft altitude, 6 degree weather.
- [90:01]
Nate Tice
Whoa.
- [90:01]
Ryan Rossillo
That is pretty badass. I'm writing in for advice on how to get my hat back. This weekend was unseasonably warm and my friend Johnny was in town visiting from Sacramento. Yeah. So we decided to spend the afternoon at our local country club pool having drinks by the pool while our kids swam. There are about five guys there in total. All dads who have daughters between the ages of 7 and 10. Johnny owns a plumbing H vac company in Sacramento. And previously given, I guess. All right, well, I don't know, I mean, maybe it's an ad for H Vac, but I don't want to put this guy's plumbing company in a bad spot here. But anyway, previously given Bud's plumbing hats out to all of his friends that we wear around from time to time. Both because they're cool hats and help advertise our friend's business. Is that what life advice is just becoming is just little Easter eggs to do? Ads we may have been open to
- [90:54]
Kyle
opened a Pandora's box here and I'm sorry for my part in it, if so.
- [90:59]
Ryan Rossillo
No, not at all. Because it was really started with the YouTube travel channel guys who by the way wrote the nicest email. Not to us necessarily. Well, it was nice to us, but to the audience. They were like, it was like 98, incredibly positive and like the guy was blown away. So that's a credit to the listeners and the viewers for you being so nice to a couple trying to figure out if they're going to be full time Travel people on YouTube. All right, so we'd recently arrived at the pool. We were a drink or two in when we saw none other than the goat himself step out into the terrace overlooking the pool deck. I think we know who that is, Kyle. Yeah, we know this is a relatively nice country club, but it's not every day we see a celebrity of Tom status there. So this was quite exciting for us. This email just picked up big time. He was relatively close to where we were sitting so we could overhear that he was attending a baby shower going on inside. None of us bothered him at first.
- [91:56]
Nate Tice
What was that?
- [91:57]
Ryan Rossillo
And he was only. I think Brady could do whatever he wants. I mean, you know, that would be a all time goat move.
- [92:04]
Kyle
Like, yeah, just, just drop in on this baby shower. Turned up to 100.
- [92:08]
Ryan Rossillo
None of us bothered him at first and he was only out by the pool for a few minutes before disappearing back inside the club. Our daughters were initially oblivious to what had occurred. But we explained to them who he was.
- [92:19]
Kyle
I just. Hold on. I just thought about one thing. Can you imagine all the dudes who figured out excuses to get out of that baby shower? And then Tom Brady shows up. All their wives are like, oh dude, this guy.
- [92:31]
Nate Tice
Have you heard it?
- [92:32]
Kyle
Yeah, you know Tom Brady, right?
- [92:33]
Ryan Rossillo
They're like, Tim. They're like, yes.
- [92:37]
Kyle
Anyway, go ahead. I was just thinking about how many baby showers. I was like, yeah, well obviously that's for the girls, right? And she's like, yeah, you know, you, you're invited but you don't have to go. Like thinking about how many dudes took that exact route and then missed Tom Brady.
- [92:49]
Ryan Rossillo
Anyway, yeah, it sounds like Tom checked out of this one too. So none of us bothered him at first. He was the only one out by the pool for a few minutes before disappearing back inside the club. Our daughters are initially oblivious to what had occurred, but we explained them who he was, made a plan that if we saw him come out again, one of the young girls would approach him and ask for an autograph. Figuring it was less embarrassing than a 40 year old man asking for it, we stayed out there a couple more hours and sure enough, just before leaving, he came back out to the terrace and we quickly gathered one of the girls to approach him. He was extremely kind, personal, gracious, and quickly agreed to sign something for Johnny's daughter. But given that we were all swimming and had little more than our bathing suits with us, the only dry item nearby for him to sign was my bud's plumbing hat Johnny had given me in the past. Johnny's daughter brought it over to him and he took pictures of the kids and made him made an amazing memory they won't soon forget. Sounds like you guys are gonna forget it either. Johnny's daughter held on tightly to that hat afterwards and we soon all disappeared and went our separate ways. It's been a day now since this occurred. Oh, so this is new. And I'm thinking about how to get my hat back non stop. I texted Johnny earlier this morning saying going to need my hat back when you have a chance. And all he did was give it the HAHA stamp. It wasn't even a written.
- [94:05]
Nate Tice
Ah yeah.
- [94:08]
Ryan Rossillo
Given that I'm a father myself, I would normally defer to letting the kid keep the hat, but she has no real interest in football and would not even have known who Tom Brady was if we didn't make a big deal. Dude, are you serious? She doesn't even like Brady as much as I do. I On the other hand, am a huge Brady fan. Even lived in New England during three of the six Super Bowls there. The hat was originally given to me by Johnny, but over a year ago now. And I'm worried he's going to keep it now for the autograph himself, using his daughter as an excuse and reason he can't give it back to me. So my question is, how can I go about getting my Tom Brady autograph hat back without seeming like a huge jerk who was stealing from a child?
- [94:45]
Kyle
Dude, the deck is stacked against you. First of all, his kid, his hat. You know what I mean? I don't know. I don't want to do like this ownership thing, but like, he threw his, you know, his little worker bee into the race.
- [94:56]
Ryan Rossillo
You did it.
- [94:57]
Kyle
So, like, there we go. And he can also give you a different hat, you know what I mean? That wasn't signed by Tom Brady because just because you were the. I mean, again, the vessel for the autograph was the kid. You didn't have the stones to go up there and ask Tom Brady for an autograph. He might have shut you down. Honestly, I don't think I would have had the stones to do it. So because you didn't, you just kind of have to roll with the punches here. I think he's going to use the kid defense, and I think he's going to have the hat for himself. I think, you know, whether or not that's right or wrong, he's got all the cards. You don't have the cards.
- [95:29]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, I think you're screwed, man, because the HAHA stamp is the first, you know, confirmation of what's going to be like him thinking you're delusional. Right. I mean, granted, it could mean a million different things. It could mean hot, like, good one. Yeah, I'll get it back to you. But it'd be one thing if it was just your hat, and that was the only thing they had to sign. But considering he's given you all of these hats now, I think some people are going to argue, hey, he gave you that hat, therefore that hat is yours. But it's his daughter that went up to Brady to autograph a hat that is his company that he originally gave to you anyway. So I think there's. Here's the thing is, like most people, as bad as you want it, he does not want to give it to you. So he's going to rationalize it. With all the factors that Kyle just brought up, that you've explained in this email were. I don't Think you're necessarily wrong. Like if we were all wearing shirts and there was one that was missing, like the only one that was available was the shirt that I wore that day and then Brady signed that shirt. Does that mean that the kid now keeps my shirt and the dad keeps the shirt because the kid went up to do the autograph thing. But this is like a whole nother category because everybody has these hats and he's handed all these hats out to you guys.
- [96:46]
Kyle
It could probably get you a non special hat that you would rather not have.
- [96:51]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah.
- [96:51]
Kyle
The principle isn't that you're out of a hat. The principle is who gets the Tom Brady hat.
- [96:56]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah. Because was she just going up to get the autograph and it happened to be that your hat was the one that was around and everybody assumed that she was getting the autograph for herself? Like, did you think. Was it ever talked about that that's
- [97:10]
Kyle
what you wanted Tom Brady to think?
- [97:11]
Ryan Rossillo
So. Yeah. Right. But like, at any point had anyone agreed, consensus wise of like, whatever assigned whoever that belongs to that autograph is then going to go to that person. There's no way, like this could be a. A friend altering thing. So why did it have to be Tom Brady?
- [97:29]
Kyle
Why couldn't have been someone else? You know, why did it have to be Tom, like the, the very top
- [97:34]
Ryan Rossillo
of the Ken Jennings. Yeah, yeah.
- [97:40]
Kyle
Jericho Kotri, somebody that's like, that's cool. But I don't know, what if.
- [97:44]
Ryan Rossillo
What if pivot from Ken Jennings to, I think an underrated receiver.
- [97:48]
Kyle
I think so, too. All the jets fans say I'm crazy,
- [97:51]
Nate Tice
but I thought he was pretty good.
- [97:53]
Ryan Rossillo
Thought he was fine. He wasn't one, but he was good. All right, Let's see. There's one here. Do you think he's so long.
- [98:06]
Kyle
Bring it up in person with this guy in a funny way or.
- [98:09]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, Yeah. I think it's worth another pass, another fourth down.
- [98:16]
Kyle
Yeah. Maybe not the, maybe not the medium of text, but maybe another way to where you can actually be like. Well, so what do you mean by that?
- [98:22]
Ryan Rossillo
Well, you're gonna know when he doesn't give it back to you, where you stand.
- [98:26]
Kyle
Yes.
- [98:27]
Ryan Rossillo
So it's really going to be up to you to go.
- [98:29]
Kyle
I'd want to look him in the eyes when he says no, though. I would.
- [98:32]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, that's fine. Yeah. Make it, make it a little tougher on him. But, you know, you know what's going to happen is the hat's going to be in the girl's room hanging on something and you're going to have to cross that bridge of, like, I want the hat, and I want to take it from your young daughter who actually got the autograph.
- [98:50]
Kyle
So could you pitch maybe trying to forge Brady's signature on one of those other BUDS hats?
- [98:55]
Ryan Rossillo
Well, that's. Now you're doing curb your enthusiasm.
- [98:59]
Kyle
Well, I mean, art imitates life, so I don't know.
- [99:03]
Ryan Rossillo
I don't think you want to get in the forgery game.
- [99:06]
Kyle
Maybe not cross my mind anyway.
- [99:13]
Ryan Rossillo
Although I know I've told this story before, but when we were with the minor league baseball team, and if you're standing around the players and the kids would come up with the baseballs, just
- [99:23]
Kyle
do a little squiggle on.
- [99:24]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, just like. Like, shout out to my guy, Mike Wynn of the Die Hards, where he told the story of, like, a mom one time, some spring training thing, and she was just like. Just sign it in front of him, please.
- [99:42]
Kyle
You know, I was thinking, there was this. There's this episode, Everybody Loves Raymond, one of great. One of the great shows in our house. And it's like, there's an episode where, you know, as a kid, you know, Raymond's dad came in and, like, basically signed a Mickey Mantle ball and told him that he went to the game and got it for him before, like, the Internet was heavy. Like, how many dudes, how many kids do you think thought they had, like, some awesome signed baseball that, you know, their plan wasn't ever to sell it, but at least for those years as a kid, they thought they had some cool shit? Like, that must be. Must have happened a lot back then.
- [100:11]
Ryan Rossillo
When I first. First cracked, like, not wondering if I would have enough money for utilities. The first thing I did is I started buying some autographs. Did you really?
- [100:22]
Kyle
The first time. You should keep the water on you.
- [100:25]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, right. Like, I was like, all right. I went from, like, will the water beyond. I'm loaded. I'm gonna buy a nice used suv. And now I'm gonna buy some autographs. And there is one to this day that I know is so fake.
- [100:39]
Kyle
Oh, man. Who is.
- [100:41]
Ryan Rossillo
I'm not gonna say. I'm not gonna say damn. Because I. I actually don't have any. I only have, like, one autograph now. Except I have a couple, like, joke ones from friends that signed a jersey and then write something ridiculous on the jersey to me.
- [100:56]
Kyle
I think I've seen one. So that's in your house.
- [100:57]
Ryan Rossillo
That's actually kind of funny. Like. Yeah, but I don't. I don't have, like, any Kind of memorabilia, except for one thing. And then these kind of. But early on, I was like, I'm gonna get in the game. And I'll never forget, like. Like the ebay guy. The seller somehow tracked down my cell phone number and called me and was like, so you know how, like, ebay, you had to pay within 24 hours or whatever?
- [101:18]
Kyle
That's a good deal, right?
- [101:20]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah, Right. And I had them, you know, probably me. I probably took. It took a day. Like, let me not transfer the funds immediately. And he was so sketchy on the phone. And I did the transaction. It showed up. It looked great. And there was all these certification cards, which, again, didn't really make any sense because it was a picture of the person autographing a jers. So it's like, so what does that mean? To this day, I'm like, I know. I got. I got hosed on that deal.
- [101:47]
Nate Tice
Yeah.
- [101:48]
Kyle
I hit ebay pretty hard in college.
- [101:50]
Ryan Rossillo
Yeah.
- [101:51]
Kyle
I'm not gonna lie.
- [101:52]
Ryan Rossillo
That was, like, the first time I felt like I'm doing pretty good. Let me bid on a couple things. Yeah. What a ridiculous, ridiculous concept. And then just be like, oh, I won. Now I got. The beauty of ebay's model was the competitive nature of people.
- [102:10]
Kyle
So I try to get on at weird times of the night and be like, dude, I'm gonna get this for 12 bucks. Watch. It's like, never. No, it's the whole world.
- [102:17]
Ryan Rossillo
I don't blame you. I used to be in the game. Yes. A long time ago. I was in it, and I was feeling good, feeling great about myself, winning something like, man, this is awesome. Except I may have lost that day. I may have lost big. All right, that'll do it for the show today. Thanks to Tom, Kevin, Kyle, and I think, yes, Rudy's back Wednesday. I don't know. I'm not in charge of him. So that'll do it for the show today. Ryan Rossillo Show, Barstool Sports.
- [102:59]
Kyle
Sam.