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Welcome in What'll Drive with Nick Wright Episode two sixty seven, a huge show, also the final podcast I'll be doing in my thirties, as I'm not having a real existential crisis about that, but uh, I am really just wrong. If my hair looks wet, it's because I did more triathlon training this morning, as I've just decided to throw myself in full full feet first, head first. I'm not sure into that to maybe distract me from the fact that I'm about to be forty years old. But such
as life demand's's here. We have a show with enough topics for two days worth of shows, so let's get right into it. Here's what missed the cut. There were two Monday night football games last night. We don't blame you if you missed one of them. The Titans demolished
the Dolphins. Also, two legends in sport pass away yesterday to Kembe Mutombo, one of the greatest defensive players in basketball history and one of the league's greatest humanitarians passes away and Pete Rose the all time hit king and obviously a controversial figure in sports and the subject of maybe the longest standing sports radio debate segment in history, which is should Pete roseby in the Hall of Fame?
They both passed away thoughts and prayers if you're the prayer full type, to their families and loved ones, and speaking of baseball for the first time since I'm trying to think about it, if this is accurate, I I think the Royals. I think we were a day away for me going my entire thirties without the Royals making the playoffs. Well, no, that's not true, because they won the World Series when I was thirty one, but almost damn close to it. So is ten years ago. They
made the playoffs, they make it again that game. Yeah. That, by the way, Demons, is that Royals game. First pitch is at four o'clock. My TV show does not end until five o'clock. So that means two things. One is, today's not exactly this week really sadly not going to be what we call a ratings bonanza on television when we are going to every single day be up against
live playoff baseball. That's a bit of a bummer. But the other thing is this second hour of the show, I'm telling you right now, I'm gonna be flat distracted. I'm if you see me glancing down, I'm probably not looking at my notes. I'm gonna be looking at the little like, oh, how the Royals do it? Because if they win. If they win, demonsay, they play the Yankees, which means I could go to a bunch of those games and so and I think they're gonna be the.
No.
So that well, eventually seven Wildcard round best of three, all in Baltimore, so two out of three in Baltimore, Divisional round best of five, the aln NLCS, you know, the third round essentially best of seven and World Series of course best of seven. So yeah, back in the back, before I was born to Monsey, it was just the World Series. There'd be the regular season. Whoever wins each league plays in the World Series. Yeah, that's it. It was just one seven game series then of it, right,
but that was before I was born. Then they added the Championship Series where it was the two best teams in each league, the American and National League, play a best of seven to get to the World Series. And then in my lifetime, they added the wild Card, which was very controversial at the time and people didn't like it, and then they have since added more wild card teams
to it. Baseball forever, the playoffs was just the World Series, and then for a long time, the playoffs was just the four teams that the best do in each league. And then for the majority of my life, it was six teams. Are the No, for the majority of my life, pardon me, it was eight teams, and now it's expanded all the way to twelve teams. All right, there's your baseball coverage. I think that might be our first baseball
coverage of the year. The playoffs start today. All right, let's get the football go ahead.
Uh yeah, so you predicted the Ravens were going to take care of business versus the Bills, but said that you were thought that it would be obvious that Kansas City was still the number one team in the league. But now Kansas City might be down their top three weapons with Rashi Rice going down to that Mahomes hit, with signs of the cracks starting to show, do you think it's time for everybody else to get a leg up on the Chiefs just now to get them?
Is this a time to get them?
So? I don't like, I don't see another team that right now, even without Rashi, And by the way, little Birdie told me might not be a torn ACL. The fact that we are now to Tuesday morning and they still don't know, and it's legitimate they don't know, there is what I would call a glimmer, more than a glimmer, some amount of hope that this is not a season ending injury for Rashi. It still could be, but the ACL tearror is usually pretty straightforward, and they know it now.
It still could be that. But the fact that they don't know it definitively yet means there is some level of optimism is too strong of a word. Holding out some hope that maybe he comes back at some point this year. But listen, the Chiefs right now are without the guys they projected to be. They're number one and number two receivers to start the year, Rashi Rice and Hollywood Brown. Their number one running back Kelsey. Everyone in the sports world was telling me was washed and distracted
and out of shape. I didn't buy it. And they've bingched their starting left tackle and Mahomes isn't playing his best ball, and they're four and zero in the Super Bowl favorites. So here's what I'm gonna say on the chief side. Then we'll get to the Bill's Ravens piece of it. Right now, the Chief's running back room is
as follows. A guy that the Cleveland Browns who stink didn't want any more in Kareem Hunt, a guy who the Denver Broncos whose stink cut outright a month ago in Smaship Ryan, and an undrafted kid in Carson Steele who God love him, but his own family they scheduled a wedding for Sunday in the fall while he was a senior in college, so they didn't exactly think he
had big NFL plans. That's the running back room. The receiver room is a rookie who weighs one hundred and sixty five pounds, a guy in McCole Hardman who the Jets didn't want any more, a guy in Juju Smith Schuster who the Patriots didn't want any more, and Justin Watson, a fifth year guy from Penn That's the receiver room, and the tight end room has the oldest skill position
player in the league in Travis Kelsey. I saw that to say this, if Patrick Mahomes wills a top ten offense out of that group and an en route to finishing off the first three peat in NFL history, grand opening, grand closing of the goat debate, throw your seven in the track like argument away, don't want to hear it.
If they pull off a three peat under these circumstances and in the guys first seven years, it's four rings, two MVPs with Tyreek without Tyreek, with high flying offenses without it, that's the best football player we've ever seen. Can they do it? Right now? They're the best team. And right now they're the best team despite their offensive struggles because the defense has just gotten better and better and better since the defense started being a legitimate weapon
for the Chiefs. In late twenty twenty two, the Chiefs are twenty five and zero when Patrick Mahomes has a quarterback rating of at least eighty eighty is not good. That Bengals game in Week two that I said might be the worst game he'd ever played, his quarterback rating was eighty point six. So as long as they're one in six, when Mahomes plays dreadful and twenty five and zero, if the passer rating is eighty or above, that's going
to be a very difficult team to beat. Now to Baltimore, Buffalo that game, don't I don't know why, and I couldn't explain it, And I was glad you didn't include Buffalo in your teas. By the way, we buried the lead. I know, Thursday's the gambling show, but a tease winner. And by the way, no asterisks applied. Because you're the chief side, you were like, I don't know which side I want to do on that, the plus fourteen or the pick them. Either one would have won, either one,
whichever one you would have gone with. You ended up going with the Chiefs pick them, but either one would have won. No, So that means they just half points, so they can be a valuable half point. But that's right. That means it was priced in that they believed he was playing. But either way, you had that and you had Tampa. Tampa wins outright, the Chiefs win by seven. So great teaser by you rode back to five hundred salutations, sir.
But what I was gonna say is a very very popular have you did you hear the stant demons about in the regular season how many games the Bills had gone in a row without losing by more than six.
Yeah, that's crazy, And it was like the last two or three years or something like that that it's been since they.
The Bills had played forty four games without losing by more than six points before that Ravens game this weekend or Sunday night, which is insanity. Now in the middle of that is a playoff game they lost by see. But we're talking in regular season, so a very popular The reason I bring that up is they were getting two and a half, so you could tease them up to plus eight and a half and for a team that hasn't been beaten by eight, right, no, no, no, and so but that was a super popular teaser leg
so you avoided that, so good for you. There. The here is, I think the Bills are really good. My concern with Buffalo, I'm gonna tell you my three concerns and those are and by the way, only having three concerns is less than most teams. And you guys, notice I have been very kind, isn't the word honest? As I always am about Buffalo this year. I think that's
a really good team. And I think the demise of the Bills was greatly overstated this summer, and I think, and as proven out by the year thus far, the smoke that people were giving on the Jets was baffling. The idea that the Jets week one before the season kicked off, the Jets were the AFC's favorites was so it was ridiculous on the Jets end and insulting the Buffalo. But here's my three Bills concerns, and quickly, one is when they play legitimate defenses, can those receivers get open
like that? We saw those receivers be able to do enough in their first few games of the year, but you played Arizona, who's not a real defense, Jacksonville and Miami. So three of the weaker defenses in the league. Baltimore's defense hadn't been great up until this point, but they're better than those teams than you saw them struggle. So that's concern number one. Concern Number two for Buffalo is they're all defense. Do they have the personnel to slow
down legitimate passing game or not passing games? Pardon me, the opposite of that legitimate rushing attacks in the league, because Baltimore just ran it right down their throat. And the third one is I still think McDermott gets tight in big spots. So with all that said, I think Buffalo is clearly a top three team in the conference. I think that well, let me rephrase it right now,
and this is not a unique opinion. I think Kansas City stands by itself, and I think Baltimore, Buffalo, and Houston are in that clear cut next group and then everyone else is beneath them. So sorry, not trying to be disrespectful to Pittsburgh or Cincinnati, but I think those three teams and Houston hasn't looked great to me, but CJ and Nico'collins just make after play. So that's where I think Buffalo is Baltimore. Listen, if Derrick Henry can
keep this up, they're gonna be incredibly tough. I of course worry about a running back at that age, with that wear and tear. But that guy, that guy was blazing down the sideline to open that game, had two hundred yards and that rushing attack with Lamar there is legitimately terrifying. And so now am I a little annoyed by the amount of people, legitimate colleagues on television that went on TV yesterday to Monday and said Baltimore best
team in the NFL? Do I think that's? You know, do I think the best team in the NFL can be two and two? I do? Actually, do I think the best team can be in the NFL can be two and two when one of the four and oo teams beat them head to head and controlled the entirety of that game, I don't, I think. But that was a that was a no brainer because Buffalo Baltimore was
a standalone Island night game. The winner of that game, if Buffalo got to four and zero, for sure, and if Baltimore did what they did, was going to be crowned as the team to beat, which is of course silly, but Baltimore's really good. And I really liked Lamar's mentality after that Cowboys game when they almost blew it at the end and he was pissed about it. And you saw that show up in the game, this is your team. It looked like you want to say something to go ahead.
I mean, maybe he's just saying that the Ravens are the best team now because of the state of the Chiefs, Like it's they're in pretty rough shape now, and I guess that brings us over to I'm gonna I'm gonna.
Defer from the Ravens.
Ain't coach of the Chiefs, because like before you were saying that that Kelsey, you know, he's got what like five good games in him or whatever that he can probably play it.
I said he had six to ten great games left in his body.
That's what I say, right, Yeah, And now with Rashid Rice out, like he's definitely gonna need to step it up, Like because you I thought you were going to take the stance of like never a doubt they're still gonna do it, But it sounds like you might be a little you're a little nervous about it, like they're they're in bad shape, right, and you're admitting that.
Oh, I don't think they're in bad shape, but I do think that being down, you're starting running back in your top two receivers, the team has to take on a different shape the team, you know what I mean, that's played a different style of So will Kelse have to step it up? No? I don't So. I think Kelsey was fine. I think his demise was greatly exaggerated. But I don't want them, you know, using using Kelsey as the featured receiver in September, October or November or
honestly December. I want them to save that. So the guy who's gonna have to step up is the kid Xavier Worthy. And you saw it by the way they ran third and six ice the game mesh route to Xavier Worthy. So he's gonna have to learn on the fly quickly. Mahomes obviously trust Juju, and I will see how the next few weeks look, and we'll see what the prognosis on Rashi is. If Rashi is out, then I that the the name I would watch is Amari Cooper.
The Browns are terrible. His contract is done after this year. So like the if you're a Chiefs fan, You're you're rooting for the Chiefs, and you're also sneaky rooting against the Browns. So like, the Browns had a game this weekend against the Raiders, they could have won, and they got it inside the ten and shockingly, Deshaun couldn't punch it in the Raider. Next four, I'm sorry the Browns.
Next four, Commanders, Eagles, Bengals, Ravens. You really want them to go at best one in three in that spot because if they are two and six headed into the trade deadline, then Amari Cooper's available. If all of a sudden, somehow they're four and four headed into the deadline, he's not. So Amari Cooper is a name to watch. Other people have mentioned Cooper Cup if the Rams season kind of
goes awry because of their injuries. His injury history concerns me, and DeAndre Hopkins with the Titans is another guy to look out for. Florio floated, Could the Chiefs try to reunite with Tyreek Hill? I mean, I don't think Miami would do that, and it would take such massive draft capital. I don't think the Chiefs would do that, But man o man would that be fun. Bring Tyreek back to try to finish off the three peat would be a
really remarkable thing. I don't think it's that realistic, but that is something I would I would mortgage a lot of my future draft capital in order to make that happen. All right, all right, next topic, Demansey, we gotta go faster.
All right?
So last night Seattle and Detroit got into a second half shootout, and Golf had a game. So he completed every pass eighteen for eighteen and actually caught a touchdown pass was a dime. By the way, are the Lions are there? The Lions are dangerous team again? Or are they still on Pumpkin Watch? Or is golf still on Pumpkin Watch?
No, so listen, the Lions have been a dangerous team and golf both things have been true. The Lions have been a dangerous team and golf has been on Pumpkin Watch. Uh I. I was really impressed by golf yesterday. Didn't that Frank rag Now? I thought Seattle's defront would get to him. Instead, he played perfect foot So I gotta give golf credit. And when the Lions are rolling, man, they look unbelievable. When offensively they can just hit you
with so many different things. Jamo Williams is coming into be the player a lot of us thought he could be coming out of Alabama. When golf has time, he just cooks. So I think there is a legitimate argument right now that the Lions are the best team in the NFC. I think that that you can make a strong argument right now they have the most well rounded roster and that they listen, they lost to Tampa and they didn't play who did they play last week? That
I wasn't impressed with, oh Arizona. They you know what I mean? Last night was the first game all year to me, the Lions have looked the way they're supposed to look. They played a good game against the Rams, ghost to overtime. Week two, Baker and the Bucks beat him twenty to sixteen. The offense is stuck in the mud. Week three they escape against the Cardinals. And the reality is, prior to last night, golf had not played well this year.
Golf in week one was mediocre, in Week two, zero touchdowns, two picks, in Week three one hundred and ninety nine yards, one touchdown, two picks. Against the Cardinals. Last night he was perfect. So right, now this moment, if you were to tell me everyone's odds are the same, who's your number one draft pick in the NFC. The Lions have a fair claim to that. They do, because the Niners are banged up. The whole NFC East is a mass except for Washington, whose defense is terrible. I do think
the Lions are better than the Vikings. We'll see about the Packers. My Bears haven't really taken off yet, and no one in the NFC South scares you so and they just beat down They just beat up on Seattle, who had played really well. Go to Seattle quickly here before we move on.
Yeah, I mean you kind of I feel like you touched on it, but yeah, the Seattle fought in that game, so it's oh, no, you didn't touch on it, But yeah, Seattle fought in that game.
So it's got to be good for the fans.
But their undefeated start came from three of the worst teams in the NFL. Do you think they belong in the same conversation as the other second third tier teams in the NFC?
So yeah, I mean when we say second and third tier teams, absolutely, like I think that a fair reading of the NFC right now would be the Lions in the Niners here and then Vikings, Packers, see Hawks here in the next tier with Commanders, Cowboys, Eagles kind of in their own little group with Tampa and the Rams if they were to get healthy. That's how I would do it. So, yeah, I think Seattle. I think Seattle's
got an excellent coach. Gino's underrated they have. The Seahawks have three receivers who now that Rashi's out, all three would be the number one receiver on the Chiefs with a bullet in, DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and JSN And so Seattle's offensive line is a question. I don't think they're a great team, but yeah, second or third. I think they're a second tier NFC team next.
So Jade and Daniels has been lighting it up over there in Washington. Are you cautious on him or are you ready to give him his flowers and say he's the real deal.
Well, listen, he's been unbelievable. Tis great of us first four games of any rookie ever, I am, I am. I still worry that the guy's gonna get broken in half. Sadly, yes, But as far as wild healthy, he has been dynamic. He has put up better production than my most optimistic thoughts that Caleb Williams could put up through four games and now here is the only thing I will caution
Cliff Kingsbury. Teams from college and in the pros get off to these red hot starts and then something happens to their offenses about midway through the season and they fall off. So I don't think they're gonna continue to be the highest scoring team in the league. But if you remember to monse in our preseason gambling show, I bet the Cowboys to win that division. I also put a taste on Washington to win that division at eleven to one, because I just thought Philly was gonna have
no shot, and obviously the Giants don't. Washington's defense has been dreadful. They were better this week. But shout out to Jayden Man. Jayden is running away with Rookie of the Year. He's been There's nothing to criticize about how Jayden Daniels has played so far. He's been playing almost perfect football, and so there is there there is. I've got nothing to take away from him. Let's go straight to the jetspell.
Okay, so the loss of Bonnicks and the Broncos has got that Jets locker room very flustered. Salo openly question if his team was good enough to handle handle Rogers's cadence. Rogers pushed back and said that the head coach should pull a total one eighty.
Salais constant that hold on the team should be real quick.
Rogers pushed back, no, no, no, The Rogers pushed back and then slid in the press conference, did pull a one eighty. Sala was like, I don't know if we can do it. Rogers was like, who do you think's in charge? Her? And Sala's like, sorry, my apology, sir, let me way, so go ahead.
Yeah.
So he's constantly got to walk back on stuff that he said. He's on eggshells. This is getting really awkward. When is it going to end? What's going on here?
Well, I mean listen, it was. It was remarkable to me and I the I'm not trying to.
Do it.
I mean, yeah, listen, fair is fair. I am open for criticism from other media members. I won't get my feelings hurt. So I hope that other media members, even ones I like in respect, can understand I might sometimes
criticize their takes. Okay, I saw this tweet from Mike Greenberg after the game Sunday, in a league where the premium and coaching has never been higher, the New York Jets are a very, very badly coached football team and that will likely be their undoing and no man like but you're but you and so many others who are Jet fans in the media, how did you not see that coming. He's not a new head coach. This is
his fourth year. Like they you don't get to be surprised by the fact that Robert Salah doesn't know what he's doing. And the Jets are not a good team. They're a mediocre team. Bo Nicks demanse at halftime of a game he won, had six completions for negative seven yards. That was the stat line, six completions. It had gone negative yards. The Jets lost, and they they kept bringing up the weather. They were like all the conditions. It was rainy, like it was a monsoon. It's New York
in the fall. It's good, you're gonna have to deal with some rain. Rogers wasn't good. The offensive life wasn't good, The coaching wasn't good. All off season. I got yelled at, oh, put some respect on Breeze Hall's name. He's a good player. He's not some great player. Ten Carrey's four yards all off season. Oh you don't think the Jets have great weapons? I don't know, man, get there. This league has twenty
awesome receivers. Garrett Wilson is somewhere in that ten to twenty range of that Rogers seventy nine passer rating when targeting Garrett Wilson. I'm not saying that could have been fixed at three days at mini camp, but maybe they needed a little more time together. They're not a good team, and when they lost in Week one, I had to listen to all these people be like, Oh, it doesn't matter. They're just gonna win their next four Titans, Patriots, Broncos, Vikings. Well,
the Titans threw a scare in you. You crushed the Patriots and then started talking about we now need to expect to dominate. Then you lose ten nine to Bonet, and now the Vikings are a favorite. You are what people should have thought you were, which was a seven win team on the low end, an eight win team most likely, and a nine win team on the high end. That's who you are, and talking about this team like it was ever a championship contender is just bananas to me.
I'm sick of talking about the Jets. They're not interesting. I mean, they are interesting.
Think, but they're not good.
Yeah, they are interesting, but they're only interesting because people have so drastically overrated them. They don't have a great quarterback, they don't have elite weapons. They have a good at times great defense. That's it it is, and so you're asking when does it end? Well, So here's how I think the Jets next month is gonna go. You play the Vikings, the Bills, and the Steelers. You'll go one and two in that's run, and then you'll be sitting
there at three and four. You'll then crush the Patriots and think you're good again, and then you'll lose to the Texans and you'll be four and five and just middling the whole year. Middling. I just this was the most easy to see coming train down the tracks, and everyone who gets paid to do this acting just shocked. How what do you mean, Robert Salad? With extra time to prepare. Every time the Jets have extra time to prepare, they play worse. I think he's three and six in
his career with extra time. No, for real, I think it's three and six or two and six in his career. Because they played on a Thursday. They were against the Patriots on a Thursday. Extra time for a rookie quarterback, you lose. They're not a serious organization. Quick break right back, what's right? All right? Welcome back in What's right with Nick? Right? And Hey, you're looking for your next favorite tequila. Teamanna is a premium small batch tequila founded by Dwayne the
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Uh yeah, Carl Anthony Towns is now a Nick and reunited with his head coach Thibodeau. The Knicks are all the way in and Minnesota's just broke up a team that made the Western Conference Finals. A little strange. Who do you think won that trade?
Maybe nobody. This is a weird one to me, So let's start with Minnesota's side of it. I listen, I don't think Karl Anthony Towns is really a winning player. I know he has the big numbers. I think he's the personality doesn't seem to really jive with Anthony Edwards. From what I hear, Chris Finch wasn't devastated about this trade. I get that, But if you're gonna trade Karl Anthony Towns, I feel like you need to get more than one
first round pick and Julius Randall. And here's what I worry about with from Minnesota's perspective, demonse go Bear and Randall, Like if say what you will about Carl Anthony Towns great shooter, So he spaces the floor, Go Bear and Randall both clogging up the paint and kind of, you know, not ruining but hurting the team. Spacing, to me, is a real concern for Anthony Edwards, and now all of a sudden, nas Reed becomes one of the most important
players in the league because of his spacing. It also felt like a drastic move coming off of Western Armends Finals appearance, like, so there's that piece of it, now to the Knicks piece of it. I'm not a Julius Randall fan. Obviously, he's a historically bad playoff performer. He's not a great vibes guy. It feels to me I understand them wanting to move on from him, but I would have liked to see what this team because once they traded for Og last year, when they were healthy,
they were excellent, then Randal got hurt. They've now added Michale Bridges. I would have kind of wanted to see what the team looks like before I make this type of move. So it's hard to criticize the Knicks too much because I like Dante, but he's a role player. Randal didn't really fit with them. Now Brunton has amazing spacing and you're a team that can deal with the defensive limitations of Karl Anthony Towns because you have Bridges, Annobe,
Josh Hart. You have excellent defenders. But I don't hate the move for the Knicks. It just seems a lot of shaking of the snow globe in a small period of time when you're coming off your best season and you never saw the team all the way together and you traded all that stuff for Bridges. It's really confusing for me from the Timberwolves perspective, and it seemed like if you were gonna make this move, you could have gotten more in return. That's that's my general feeling on it.
Your my takeaway on your end as someone that wants see the Celtics repeat, did this trade bum you out?
Like?
Does this make you more scared of the Knicks?
No?
No, I don't think Kat has never scared me, and I don't think any team is really gonna scare me as far as the Celtics go. We won that won that finals very easily last year, and I think we're going back and I don't think this is gonna hurt our chances at all. But I do think it screws up Minnesota, like it's like they had the kryptonite to the Nuggets, who were obviously a team.
So that's the other thing that I do. I do wonder if this signals that the Timberwolves. I don't know about the rest of the West, but the Timberwolves at least don't look at it like all right, we have to build it.
We need to be right.
Yeah, it might be that they are that they're less concerned exclusively about Denver, and I do find that interesting. All right, let's quickly play this.
Or that tier for this or that. So first off, we got Christian McCaffrey. He's out for a while, Brandon Ayuk seems lost, and Brock Party has had to carry the forty nine ers and he has so far, and he's leading the NFL in passing or in passing. Sorry, Brock Party will sink San Francisco or save San Francisco.
So I'm gonna cop out and say neither. I certainly don't think he's gonna sink them. Listen, Party's played excellent party credit where it's due. Man, he hasn't had all the Avengers, he has played really well. I also don't think him saving them is a fair portrayal of it because they have a great coach, excellent players on offense. The defense hasn't been great this year, but Fred Warner has been. But Purty has more than held up his
endo the bargain. And for those of us that were like, hey, what is he going to look like once you pay him and you can't afford the rest of these guys, He's played really well. He's pushing the ball downfield like you gotta you gotta be fair when the evidence is out there. I've got no Brock Purty criticism on how he's played this year. He's gonna save them, but he certainly isn't gonna sink them.
Next h Derrek Henry leaves the NFL and rushing and he's put together an all time career. You hinted on TV that he might be the last Hall of Fame running back. The last Hall of Fame running back will be Derrick Henry or other I'm confused.
Is Christian McCaffrey not like is because he's been hurt.
Yeah, that's the like McCaffrey is a Hall of Fame caliber player, but he doesn't have the numbers or the you know what I mean, resume yet and this season might be a loss season, you know what I mean.
Like it's so.
But the point that and I this wasn't my original thought. Someone tweeted it and I was like, Oh, that's a crazy idea, Like is Derrick Henry gonna be the last running back to make the Hall of Fame? And I don't think he's going to be the last running back
to make the Hall of Fame? But I do think it's on the board that after it, unless Simac makes it, that after Henry makes it, we could go ten twelve years with no running backs making it because guys just aren't playing like they're having these awesome bursts at the beginning of their career and then they're not the same player.
As the league becomes more passing oriented, it's gonna be harder and harder for there to be a guy like Derek Henry, Adrian Peterson or the other you know, legendary backs, or even guy like Curtis Martin or Frank Gore that weren't as down to down dominant as petersoner Derrick Henry but played for fifteen years and accumulated all these numbers. So yeah, I think that is on the board next.
All right.
In twenty eighteen, Baker was the first draft pick and Sam Donald went third.
Baker's having a career year in.
Tampa, and Sam Donald has been the surprise of the season, leading Minneapolis to a four and all record. Better quarterbacks, you say, Minneapolis, Yeah, Minnesota, sir, I got a better quarterback Baker Donald.
Oh, I think it's Baker, but I also I mean, Donald is having the slightly better year, but I think Baker's a better player. But more importantly, that twenty eighteen quarterback draft class out of nowhere, because Baker's on his fourth team, Donald's on his fourth team. With those guys popping, you have Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson. That's sneaky all of a sudden becoming a great quarterback draft class, a great one. Josh Rosen, my guy, poor
Josh Rosen, he, you know, failure to launch on his end. Also, by the way, Mason Rudolph, who's getting got some run this week. Uh no, obviously not on the level of these other guys. But if you have four legitimate long time starting quarterbacks. You know, Lamar is a two time MVP, Josh is a three time Media Hype MVP and also a great great player. The Baker's playing awesome and has won multiple playoff games. Donald's won of you know, a quarterback of an undefeated team like and so a kind
of sneaky comeback for that draft class. All right, last one.
It's nice lebron hats and big praise for Bronnie. At Lakers Media Day yesterday, the Goat said his son looked better than he did his rookie year. This is a story about basketball or fatherhood.
It's a story about fatherhood. That video I sent you to Monsey of them sitting up there getting interviewed arguing with each other playfully about who stepped out of bounds who didn't. Whatever it is, was honestly one of the most touching things I've ever seen in.
Sports and dented.
It's it's and it's unprecedented. Is literally definitively true. It's just a fact. I'm gonna throw a different unword in there, that's more opinion unfathomable. Previously, it was not within someone's conception that you could have in the NBA a father and son play on the same team because of just the logistics of it, like you need the following things to happen. You need, first of all, to have a
kid pretty young. Now I understand some you know, some people are father's at fifteen, but eighteen year old father and I think lebron lebron was I think a nineteen year old father. That's on the lower end of you know, how young you can be and have a kid. First thing you need to have. Second thing, you need to have a twenty year career. Okay, well, now we have a whole NBA history sample size of like ten people. Then you also need to have the kid be a
good enough player to be an NBA player. And people can say Bronni's borderline, but this, you know, whatever like Bronni is at least is going to be. It was a legitimate draftable late second round pick. So you needed all those things to happen. It seemed impossible. And now to see, like I do, think the other So the fatherhood's story here, uh is are you I'm not being a smartest, so are you getting emotional as your allergies bothering?
No, my allies are killing me. It's crazy, though.
Crazy. Right now I'm telling a podcast with you talking about fatherhood, and all of a sudden, if you're listening, you can't see if you're watching on YouTube, I'm like, man, did I just touch a chord with demanse? Do we need to take a break? I was so taken aback. Dense started like I know, No. I was like, man, oh man, I thought it was touching for me. Demonsees out here crying out of nowhere. Okay, all right, I'm glad you're all right, but uh no, So it was
so the fatherhood thing is crazy. It's really crazy. And it also speaks to why I was so annoyed with so much of the commentary having so to negative slant on this last year. This is one of the coolest stories in sports history. You have a guy who I'm not trying to have the goat debate, but is in the argument, is the debate for greatest ever in his sport,
and is in the debate for greatest athlete ever. He's in that If you're like, hey, get me a room of the greatest athletes to ever live to have an argument, he's in that room. If you say, hey, I want to know who the greatest basketball player to ever live is. There's only three people in that room for that argument. This guy is there and he's playing with his son on the most famous team in the history of the sport.
So that's like, that's the fatherhood crazy, you know, piece of it, the basketball piece of it is this man. I do wonder what the Olympics and now playing with Bronni is going to have done for Lebron's motivation, because there is a level of literally done everything, Like I've been on better teams than this, I've been on worse teams than this. I've won championships. I've done that. I've scored more points than anyone. I have every every single
youngest to ever do anything record, I own it. Every single oldest to ever do anything record. I own those two. So it would unless the Lakers were gonna be awesome, which they're not, there was a real reason think Lebron like would kind of go into this year like I guess, but it doesn't seem like that. Seems like he is juiced from the Olympic high and now playing with Bronni. So I think basketball in fatherhood it's an unbelievable story.
Quick break right back, answer some of your questions. Next What's right?
The mods?
It can hit some tissues, all right, welcome back in What's Right with Nick? Right before we get to the listener questions. I gotta tell you, guys something. My friends at Brooks sent me the new Glycerin Max shoes. These shoes are new, first of their kind for Brooks. Let me tell you they're amazing. You guys know I'm trying to train for a triathlon. These have been a huge part of it. They're so uncomfortable, stylish, leave my legs
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up to that. I have a time in my head that I'm trying to get to I'll keep that to myself for now, but these shoes have been on my feet for every one of my training runs. Head over to Brooks Running dot com to learn more. All right, Demon's eight. Let's get to some listener questions quickly before we get out of here.
Go ahead, cut Less, ass If the Chiefs winner all this year is this year as impressive as lebron win with the twenty sixteen Calves, Well.
Those cross sport comparisons are kind of tough. That Lebron's win with the twenty sixteen Calves the champion the season. The championship in and of itself wasn't historic. The three to one come back in the finals against the seventy three win team was what was historic. So it was really that week of basketball is a precedented across you know, sports, But it wasn't a start to finish eight month journey the way like that because everyone knew the Cavs are
gonna be in the playoffs. You kind of knew the Cavs are gonna be in the finals. Like it was just a very different thing than what this Chiefs team's trying to do next. Uh.
Brandon Swayze ass with the Ravens.
Acquiring a true one wide receiver one at the deadline, Devonte Adams or Cooper cup for example, make them super Bowl favorites.
I mean, I think they need help on the at the wide receiver spot. I don't know if it'd be enough for me to make them super Bowl favorites. The question is, like, will that take them out of what they want to do, which is be the smash mouth running team. They could have targeted a wide receiver this offseason, said they went out and got Derrick Henry. I have always thought Zay Flowers is a nice player but a little overrated by some. And so I don't think they
have a true number one. I think that's very clear.
Like I think Flowers right there, Flowers, I don't think they But let's think he gets a little.
Sometimes punched out at the one yard line in the.
Ages rookie guys a rookie.
I think he's a nice player. I think there are right now. I'm not going to take the time to do it right now. I think I and I think I could do it pretty easily. I think there's forty receivers better than him, So like forty.
Geez, forty, I wasn't thinking forty.
I mean, okay, let's let's just hold on, hold on, let's just again. I'm not sure I'm gonna do this whole thing. Demon say you counted off for me. I'm gonna name names, Okay. The Bills have none of them. Garrett Wilson for sure. The Patriots have none of them. Uh in Miami, Tyreek and Jalen Waddle for sure. In Pittsburgh, George Pickens. Baltimore's in Cleveland, Amari Cooper. Cincinnati has two of them. T Higgins and Jamar Chase. We're at seven Houston,
Nico Collins without a doubt. And I'm gonna include Stephan Diggs, He's borderlined. But Stefan Diggs were at nine. Tennessee. Does Tennessee have Ridley?
Now?
Who does Ridley play for? Whoever Ridley play for? He's on there. We're at ten Jacksonville. I'm not gonna put Brian Thomas Junior there yet. I'm not gonna put Gabe Davis or Christian Kirks who We're still at ten. Kansas City. Rashi Rice is better than him. The Chargers have none of them. Davante Adams is better than him. All right. We're at twelve and we're done with the AFC, so maybe I've overstated it. We'll see Washington, Terry McLaurin, Dallas,
Ceedee Lamb. The Eagles have two. Davonte Smith and AJ Brown were at sixteen. The Giants Malik Neighbors, no question about it, were at seventeen. Minnesota Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison were at nineteen. Detroit, Wait Aman Ross Saint Brown. We're at twenty. I won't put Jamo Williams there, but I kind of want to Green Bay pick your favorite of their receivers. They've got three guys in the argument. We'll just put one of them there. I would say Reid.
We're at twenty one. Chicago, DJ Moore without question. I think A Dunday's better, but we won't put him in there, but Keenan Allen we will. We're at twenty three. Tampa Bay Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. We're at twenty five Atlanta. I'd like to put Drake London there, but I can't. He hasn't proven it, so we'll stay there. New Orleans. Who's New Orleans pig number one guy? It's the oh Chris Olave. We're at twenty six. Carolina's got nobody, Seattle
has three players, Locket, DK, Metcalf JSN. We're at twenty nine. San Francisco, AYUK, We're at thirty. Divo, We're at thirty one, and I'm looking at you, Juwan Jennings. I won't put you there yet, but I'm looking at you Arizona, Marvin Harrison Junior, the Rams Cup, and Nikoua thirty four. Off the top of my hand, thirty four, I mean want to dropped my head, eyes went down the rosters. So that's my point. That's all I'm saying. He's a nice player,
a little overrated, definitely not top thirty. And I'm sure I love some people out.
Some people in there that you said, no question that I definitely got some questions on.
But it's it's all right.
Give me a name.
I get it.
Give me a name, all right, Rashi Rice, He's great, he's amazing. I think him and Zay Flowers have similar skill sets. I don't think he's head and shoulders that much better than Zay Flowers.
If he is second, I did.
All right, all right, I disagree with you, but take Rashie Rice out now thirty three, thirty two team league.
Yeah. No, it's a lot of receivers in the league that I was anticipating as well.
That's that's the thing. So that is the actual story, the actual score. And by the way, oh my goodness, I forgot Michael Pittman. I didn't say Michael Pittman's on there for the Colts. I knew I forgot some some guys. But it doesn't matter.
The lot of dogs in there when.
There there are more legitimate receivers in the league right now than any time before, more than any time before. All right, do we have any more questions before I gotta go?
We got Jordan Chalk says, what are the main concerns you have with the Vikings that hold them back from being the best team of the NFC.
That Sam Donald's their quarterback, He's played really well. I don't.
I'm not.
I don't believe that that is long term sustainable. That's all. Maybe I'll be wrong. Maybe it would be a rich gannon Asque success story. We'll see, but I maybe I'll be wrong. All right, one more question?
Pick your favorite one Andrew Murray, uh oh, Demons and La LA Team two tickets to any USC football home game in my family suite, name and date. All right, Andrew Murray, that sounds pretty cool. Thanks dude, Wow, follow up about it?
Yeah, I was gonna say, I don't want to go about it.
If you want to leave like your Instagram or Twitter in the chat or something, I will definitely follow up on that.
I will take you awesome.
Also, if his family is a suite at USC man that might be it might have some nice LA connections. That could be a good family to get to know. I mean, I I know Blue Ducks got you know, a multiple suites at the USC Gades Media Empire. But I but you know, you only get invited to that like once a year. This would be awesome. That's sweet.
Murray. Yeah, dude, I'll definitely thank you.
Yeah. Yeah. By the way, that is yeah, you should hit him up on that. Listen. I I made a great friend off this went to that Celtics Finals game off a similar thing. Listen, here's one thing about the What's Right Podcast. We might send presents to your wedding and if you offer us free awesome sporting event tickets, we'll take you up on it. We're not We're not too proud to be like, oh no, I'm not gonna do that. No, no, no, free awesome sporting event tickets.
We'll take you up on it, all right, I'll see you guys Thursday. I'm on with Colin in about an hour and a half TV show at three Go Royals. What's right? Hey, thanks for watching. If you're still here, do me a favor. Hit the subscribe button, then hit the bell so you can be notified when we have new episodes. After you've done that, one more favor, go to your favorite audio platform of choice and subscribe there
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