I have said, coaches, front offices, and certainly media and fans force
quarterbacks onto the field long before their time. So in this league, I
believe Charles, that we kill, we crush more quarterback prospects than we may
in the league. What do you think, Wayne, I think you You've
made an excellent point and there's only one one group that you left out about
forcing them onto the field that people signed the checks. This is the Laravie
La Pay Podcast, a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and is presented by UW Credit
Union. Here for every you, Hi, everybody, I'm Wayne Laravie and
I'm Matt Lapett. On this episode of the Laravie La Pay Podcast, we
check in with our old friend Charles Davis as we take this podcast the NFL
Draft a little more than a week away. Charles is a lead NFL analyst
on CBS on Sundays, and one of his other gigs is NFL Network,
where appear as regularly on the popular program Path to the We'll Talk all Things
NFL Draft, and this edition of the lav and l Pay podcast. UW
Credit Union another local team that's owned by fans, offering great rates that help
Wisconsinights enjoy greater possibilities. Hop in or hop online at UWCU dot org.
We welcome in Charles Davis, CBS Sports NFL Analyst on Sundays into the fall,
and of course NFL Network Draft expert in the spring. And first off,
Charles, you have obviously covered Matt and I got to know you very
well your many years covering the Big ten on television on Saturdays. Now you're
on Sundays the number two team at CBS with Iron Eagle and obviously done some
great work there. And NFL Network is kind of your off season gig,
is it not. Yeah, that's a great way of putting it, Wayne.
And you know the thing is, I think all of us we try
and determine what an off season is. And I can look at you and
Matt and know that neither one of you truly has it off season. And
isn't it funny like if you go in the recesses of your mind right now
and say to yourself, when was I working in this business that seasons were
clearly defined? It'd be interesting, wouldn't it to go back in your mind?
When did I feel like it was clear? Because we've all three of
us have worked long enough that there were there were times when you felt like,
yeah, seasons were defined. You know, this was happening, that
was happening. But now the NFL has figured out how to own every aspect
of every season. We're down to about a six week stretch where the NFL
is not really prevalent, and that is after OTA's mini camps, after the
draft, you get about six weeks or so before they're back in camp.
That's about what we're getting, six seven weeks, whatever that that number is.
And that's when the NFL kind of takes its quote unquote hibernation. But
that's about it. The rest of it. They own the calendar. And
I've told people before, and you two will probably remember this, the NFL
draft was not a thing. The NFL draft was so far behind your local
newspaper putting up a headline that says pictures and catchers report true, catchers reportment
everything, sporting news, box scores. You watch your baseball what do we
call their offseason the hot stove League? Yep, when's the last time you
heard hot stove league? When's the last time you knew who was in the
minor league system of any baseball team that you care to back. When's the
last time you knew who was coming up, who the next superstar was and
all that. But the NFL, you know who the draft picks are gonna
be. The NFL has figured this thing out. Yeah, they figured out
the Hot Stove League, and Charles, the college game is trying to follow
that with its own form of free agency these days, which is a topic
for an entirely different but they're following. They're trying to follow the model,
it seems at least, and staying in the headlines because you're right, the
NFL, somebody snaps a finger in the world stops because we want to find
out what's going on. It's just that powerful. Now, Yeah, they
figured it out. So yeah, this is our off season gig, but
it's really not. It's part of the as part of the whole machinery,
right, it's part of as part of the churn that continues. And by
the way, we're gonna be talking about all these kids next year when we
start calling games again. When Wayne, when you when you're lining up your
boards and getting ready for the Packers versus, you'll be like, oh,
yeah, I remember that kid in the draft process, whether he's on your
team or not. You know, it's just kind of it works. And
Matt, you know all the kids going into it right, Oh yeah,
I saw this kid at such and such and when Wisconsin plated. It's that's
just how it works for us. So my payoff for all of this is
when we start the season the next year. That's my payoff. Oh yeah,
I know that kid. Oh yeah, I know that kid. Oh
yeah, I know that kid. He might be an undrafted free agent,
but I probably studied him. Yeah, and you've got a story on him
and some insight into where you go you got here. That's all this.
That's the stuff that makes you a special analyst. I think in the fact
that you're you're on top of that stuff and recall it so quickly in the
context of the next season. Yeah, well we did that together, I
mean, the two of us. I was lucky enough to work with you
for multiple years, and believe me, I was observing and learning Wayne.
Okay, So it wasn't like I was just standing there next to you trying
to do it. I saw your preparation. I saw how you were ready
for all this. I saw how you did the extras to be prepared for
your ballgame and have those nuggets and whether it was a kid on one team
or the other team, or he had transferred in or what have you,
you had all of that. You know, I've worked with Matt long enough
that if I call and ask him about a Wisconsin Badger, I've got that
down. But guess what, Matt knows the other teams in there playing as
well. This is this is where the preparation part of it isn't just simply
that. Because if you cover one team and we've all been in that position
where that's our school or that's our team, it's very easy to just let
everyone else go. But that's never been Matt Lepay's way. I mean not
at all. I called him up and asked him about, Hey, I
probably shouldn't ask this because of you know, the Wisconsin Minnesota thing. I
get it. Yeah, talk a little bit about this kid who's a goal
to Gopher and Matt would know him. Yeah. Just kind of part of
the part of the weirdness of all of us in this business, right because
it just kind of, yeah, it gets ingrained. And what I'm hearing
you talk like that, I think of two guys as we get to the
positions the quarterback. The quarterbacks in this draft. Two guys who aren't big
ten guys, but I've seen them. Jane Daniels Wisconsin play Arizona State game
a few years ago and he's like, Okay, pretty good slender. No
idea that he would be a couple of years later a Heisman Trophy winner in
Michael Pennix, remember him from Indiana when he wasn't hurt. He had terrible
luck with injuries. And to see those guys become what they've become, I
mean, the talk is, well, let me ask you, Charles,
I mean, there could be could be as many as six who go in
the first round. Well, yeah, yeah, I mean what is it
compared to what year? I mean, there have been a lot of great
quarterbacks of course in the draft, but the depth of this what does this
year's draft compare to Well, I'm gonna just blasphem me to say nineteen eighty
three, but that's the number now, the talent level that remains to be
seen. Nineteen eighty three was John Elway, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason,
Ken O'Brien. Wow, you know that was Now, Okay, so Todd
Blackledge. I think Todd was the but he was higher like Marino was in
order. Reno was the last one exactly, and Charles, there was something
going on about Marino. It had nothing to do with football. Opted in
the draft. The whole offseason that we're talking about. That Todd Blackledge,
I'll never forget him, number one. He's a heck of a guy.
But John Mackovic had just taken over the Kansas City Chiefs head coaching position.
I was still broadcasting their games and Tom Blacklitch had he had the pick of
the quarterbacks in that draft for the most part, and Blacklynch was his pick.
And of those quarterbacks, unfortunately, Todd didn't have nearly the career that
those other guys went on to have, several of who went into the Hall
of Fame. It's amazing, isn't it, Wayne, And you were right
there to see it. And it just tells you a lot about evaluation.
And Matt I'm gonna get back to those two very quickly here. But I
talked with a Super Bowl winning head coach number of years ago, all right,
five years ago, whatever it was, and he told me, and
we went through evaluating quarterbacks and at the end, this was the nutshell comment.
Charles, we spent a lot of time, a lot of money evaluating
these quarterbacks. He said, I'm not quite there yet, but I'm close
to blindfold dartboard dart about the same thing. Now. That was a very
telling statement to me. Was he being somewhat tongue in cheek, Yes,
absolutely, because we all think we can figure it out. But what he
was saying is we spent a lot of time doing this and we get a
lot of them wrong. Yeah, he'll get around right. We do a
lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of people power spent
on this, and we tend to get a lot of them wrong. Because
if I'm not mistaken, Todd Black, which is the second quarterback off the
board in that draft, I think first one was Lway and Blackleitch came off
the board, Kelly came off the board. I can't remember whether it was
O'Brien or Easton. I think it was Easton O'Brien, and then Marine know
and Renos is Wayne and so Stutid. He pointed out, I had nothing
to do with on field. You could see everything on field. Everything was
There's heavy rumors about his off field activity and he dropped in Miami was a
beneficiary Jade and Daniels. Michael Pennix, you mentioned Daniels build. He weighed
in at two o seven at the when he finally weighed in, I think
it was two o seven in that neighborhood. It was a legit two oh
seven. I'm like last year when Bryce Young waged in at two o four.
One knew as soon as he gets off that scale, he's gonna go
to the bathroom for hours because it's water weight. Because right, because Bryce,
Right, because Bryce, because Bryce was just just chugging water, trying
to add the weight, trying to weigh as much as he could. Because
that was a huge question mark for people about Ken, this that this body
type hold up. Well, he waged two oh four, which made everyone
who wanted to draft him satisfied and everyone who was observing and go, yeah,
okay, he's really what one ninety Okay, kay, Danams is legit
two seven to eight whatever it is he weighed because of what you saw,
Matt, you saw him as that slightly built guy. Continue to build.
Remember this is a five year process. Three years in Arizona State, two
years at LSU. He has gotten himself there, so he's still more slightly
built than other quarterbacks, but not as slightly built as a Bryce Young,
So no one's even really talking about it. This year he seems to be
okay. Michael Pennix, it was all injuries. You saw that firsthand when
you were doing Wisconsin Indiana games. But his last two years at Washington he's
answered the bell for every start. So it do all depends on team doctors
and how much they want to ding a guy for past injuries. Do they
think this's gonna be a problem going forward. You always hear about can he
even get to a second contract, blah blah blah. I know this.
The last two years, this guy's played through some tough hit, some tough
play and elevated his team and played You know, I'm not a doctor,
I won't play one here on your great podcast, but I would put my
eggs more in the basket of these last two years. This kid is held
up. I kind of like what I'm saying, And both of them have
a legit chance. Well, Daniels is definitely going in the first round,
probably in the top five. Pennix a little more of a wild card because
remember Will Levis. Last year he had elevated will Levis into the top five.
He didn't go to the second day. Oh, none of us saw
that coming. I'm not predicting it for Michael Pennix, but it started out
where he was off the pace, where he was a second rounder for sure.
Now he's all the way up into maybe the top fifteen. Let's wait
and see. Nothing would surprise me. Goes top fifteen. I won't be
surprised if he goes the second day, I would not be shocked. I
won't fall out of my chair. But I think he's one of those guys
that the coaches like him more and more, and the scouts had evaluate him
at a certain level. But coaches spending time with him, they keep rising
him because they like what they're getting out of him. They like the young
man, they like his football acumen, they like what they see on tape,
they like all those things coaches have that. Yeah, I like him.
It's a matter of whether your GM and scouting department or your coaching staff
has much broke in your building. The Lurvel of Pay podcast is presented by
UW Credit Union. Here for every U We're talking about quarterbacks with Charles Davis,
NFL Network, CBS Sports on the Letter of Vian pay podcast. The
quarterback position is the most prominent position in the draft this year. It's probably
one of the deepest positions, Charles, if I'm not mistaken close to it,
you know, but it's the most prominent. It's going to be dominant
on the opening night of the draft. As many as four quarterbacks could be
picked one, two, three, four. Which has it ever happened to
the draft? I don't know we've ever got one, two, three four,
but it could have happened great. I don't know. The pet poor.
The problem is, uh, this is the toughest position, is all
tellent evaluators in the NFL told me it's the toughest position to evaluate. Now.
On our last podcast, Charles, Matt and I were talking about a
column written by Rick Goslin, the NFL writer from Dallas, and he was
taking he's been a draft writer for a number of number of years, and
he talked about the thing he looked at first with quarterbacks and he said,
this is kind of held up over the years. How many snaps did they
get in college? Okay? And his number was thirteen hundred, because if
you got that many steps, that many starts, you had a lot on
tape, You had a lot of experience. You were better prepared to become
a pro and better prepared to play early in your pro career. The quarterbacks
like a Trey Lance who had almost what you could count the number of starts
he had one hand, one season plus one game to college. Yeah,
I mean, you know, and so he get in San Francisco, gave
away smart organization, right, we all think they're the cats me out in
the NFL today. They spent a whole mortgage. They mortgage the future,
it seemed like to get this prospect, and now he's with the Dallas Cowboys
and don't know how long he'll be there. The problem is, you know,
what Rick pointed out was you need to see these guys on the collegiate
level, especially now that they're playing in more pro oriented systems, to get
a feel for how good these guys can be on the next level. And
the fact is, if you look at this draft, there are two prominent
quarterbacks who don't make that simple criteria of number of throws in college in a
game, and that would be Drake May of North Carolina and JJ McCarthy of
Michigan. Neither thrown a thousand passes in college. Now that doesn't mean they
won't be great. But the point is, if you draft him, don't
expect this kid and don't throw him to the fire. Don't throw early.
Maybe he sits a year, Maybe he does what Pat Mahomes did, you
know what I mean? Maybe he does what Jordan Love did or Aaron Rodgers,
and you sit a couple of years. But you've got to be careful
with quarterbacks. And we in the NFL, and I'll have said, coaches,
front offices and certainly media and fans force quarterbacks onto the field long before
their time. So in this league, I believe Charles that we kill,
we crush more quarterback prospects than we may in the league. What do you
think, Wayne, I think you've made an excellent point. And there's only
one one group that you left out about forcing them onto the field that people
signed the checks. Oh yeah, yep. Because if you've gone in and
you've said to your ownership group, whether it's a person people write, whoever
it is, and you've said, this is our person, we want this
person. Now, they've got it in their head from that moment on,
when do I get to see that person especially especially your first rounder. Okay,
so for those people to sit by and let them sit and marinate,
as you said, like Green Bay is the model place for it. Probably
a little bit longer for all these quarterbacks than they ever expected. When you
go Aaron Rodgers, when you go Jordan Love having to wait that long,
that's not quite the optimum for them. But my home sitting for a year
in Kansas City, and we saw how that worked out. It's just very
difficult for people to sit there, especially if the team's not playing well.
You've got to have the next thing to create interest in your team, keep
people in it. And so you push these guys out on the field and
off they go. And you we all know when it's gonna happen. When's
their open week. Let's see there is. That's when it's going to go
down because we use that extra week to get them on the number one team
and off they go. Let me go very quickly on Drake May and JJ
McCarty. The reason they don't have the thousand throws are two entirely different reasons.
Drake May was a two year starter at North Carolina as a red shirt
freshman and a sophomore right and he's come out after his red shirt sophomore year.
Why because he's likely to be a top five pick. It makes sense
like going back to school. You're taking a heck of a risk, right,
so you get it. Why he's coming out. It's only been two
years. So with only two years, you're not going to get to that
number that Rick's talking about. The second JJ McCarthy wasn't a starter immediately,
but started right about two and a half years at Michigan. Somewhere in that
neighborhood, they run the heck out of the football. I mean, let's
all be frank here. Did the three of us ever spend time thinking to
yourselves, I don't care who's playing Penn State? All right? Remember I'm
saying Penn State that they would spend the entire second half of an offense,
a second half of a game on offense, handing the ball to running backs
and throwing zero passes. On record, they actually threw one in that half,
but there's a penalty, so on record that pass never happened. Twenty
eight runs in the second half. Did you hear what I said? Penn
State, Michigan, Penn State, no world that I grew up in that
that you would ever think that somebody could run at twenty eight straight times against
Penn State and never be forced to throw the football. That makes no sense,
My point being that's a microcosm with JJ McCarthy's career. Now how Michigan
ran offense, so he wasn't going to in Oklahoma or a usc and they're
gonna fling it, fling it, fling it, fling it. So to
your point, Wayne, they don't have the throws. Now the evaluators have
to get involved with Okay, I know the reasons. Why can I overlook
it? Can I make an aut for it? Can I make this happen?
Right? Made? You've raised such a great point, and that's where
they dig in. And the last part was Bill Parcels, the Hall of
Fame coach. Remember you always had a quarterback formula. How many starts was
he a team captain? How many wins? You know he had all these
things in there that he wanted to see a criteria. Well, we all
know that criteria is dwindling because the kids have a chance to enter the league
earlier and these things happened. Trey Lance is never going to reach that formula.
Okay, you just mentioned it here. Drake May's not going to reach
that formula. It's too good for him. Mark Sanchez. This really kind
of started with Mark Sanchez came out because he had sixteen starts with USC.
He went six to the Jets, you know, and they went to back
to back AFC Championship games his rookie year in the second year. But he
wasn't the fulcrum of them going. He was part of it, and he
never reached the heights at he number six pick would reach, you know.
So so to your point, when that's what the evalue wears have to fight
through all the time and try and figure out. And for the life of
me, I'm trying to figure out who that person was that had less of
those throws but came out and adapted immediately and played well. And I don't
have anyone hitting my frontal lobe just yet. Yeah. Same here. Let's
shift to the receivers, which again I've saw Marvin Harrison, He's ridiculous.
You know. The two guys in LSU played briefly in the bowl game and
then they got out of the way. Elite Neighbors Draft, Yeah right,
I didn't see Ronald Dounza but is there a great separation there? I mean,
to me, Harrison would be the best, but maybe the drop isn't
all that significant between neighbors and a doose as well. I would agree with
that, Matt, it's not it's not as significant normally we have a break.
I'll put to you this way. The most significant gap I've got between
the top guy and the next guy and any of the positions at tight end,
that's Brock, Bowers and Chase. Okay, But for this one,
Harrison I think is the consensus number one. You may find a team or
too that likes a dunes better. You may find a team or two that
likes neighbors better, but I don't think there's much of it. The consensus
would be Harrison and then not as much of a gap. And it's a
big wide receiver crop. So if you don't get your target right away,
you don't have to force it. You're gonna get a similar type player.
Second round, third round, fourth round. So that that's where we're going
with this draft. But I'm with you totally. Harrison is the one.
A lot of people have a Duneza too from Washington. I have neighbors too,
But let me limput it this way, if you took neighbors ahead of
me and I took a Doonsay, I'm not breaking down and crying. Okay,
I'm gonna be Okay, go ahead. I was mentioning, you know,
the wide receiver position, I said earlier, quarterbacks one of the you
know, stronger positions in this draft. Un back nuts so much. Offensive
tackles good, interior, offensive line not as good as it's been in recent
years. And then you look at this receiver group. Is is this how
good a group is this overall? Charles? Is this one of the deepest
groups we've seen? Yeah? I think so, Wayne, I really do,
because you're right about the quarterbacks being deep. If we're talking about six
in the first round, it's a deep group, right, Yeah. But
I think it's really top heavy. I think the quarterbacks and the offensive tackles
have a similarity. That we have really great players or really great kids that
we're evaluating coming into the league that we're giving big time grades to. But
then it's not as good as you continue to go down through it. Receiver,
that's a whole nother deal. All right, Okay, I don't get
roma Dunze, all right, I look up and you say to you,
tell me, Okay, you're not getting Roma Dunze in the first round,
but I'm gonna give you Malachi Corley in the second round or the third round
from Western Kentucky. Oh, he's gonna be a playmaker for me. I'm
gonna find a way for things to work for him. In fact, I
pull let me grab my notes here real quick, because you guys brought up
something that's really fun to me. With these guys. Let's say you're a
University of Texas, do you want xavier' worthy? You want out of Mitchell
A? D Mitchell? Which guy do you want? This is Texas.
If you're a University of Washington, it's Roma Dunsa, Jalen Polk, Jalen
McMillan. Those were the top three receivers. All of them are getting picked
in this draft, all of them probably getting picked before Round four is over.
Okay, so this is what we've got going on in college football now.
Xavier Legett out of South Carolina. He looks like DK Metcalf runs a
little bit like him. I think he ran four three nine at the at
the combine. It's a one year starter at South Carolina. Wow, phenomenal
special teams player. But when that one year has elevated himself up into this
discussion, if I really want to go deep, I'm gonna call you,
call you and tell you Tulu Griffin from Mississippi State, pretty darn good football
player, but he's not gonna rate up there the other guys. But wouldn't
be surprised to maybe make someone's roster because right now, in the last year,
Buka Nakua is the patron saint of wide receivers. Going in the fifth
round and having the year that he had with the Rams. Now people need
to do a quick dig on that one. He only went in the fifth
round because every year of BYU he was hurt. Okay, just like Taysom
Hill was it BYU. Every year he got hurt. So it was a
different And now you're getting the medicals. Now you got I didn't see enough
of this. And then Puka stayed healthy, like he came to the Senior
Bowl last year, best player on the field Day one, got hurt,
didn't finish the week. That's in the fifth round, Puka Nakua had a
clean bill of health. He goes no later in the second round, last
year. So the talent was always there, but the other factors kicked in.
But you're right, Wayne, when you talk about receivers, this is
a loaded group and I think it's gonna stay loaded like this for a long
time because how we're playing football and how football is being coached from Pop Warner
up. Pop Warner is going shotgun and throwing the football, which leads into
the next position group. It's one near and deer to Wisconsin Badger fans over
the years. But the running back position, we know how valued or maybe
lack thereof, they are compared to fifteen, twenty years ago. But Charles
a guy like Braylan Allen. It's fascinating to me where he's going to end
up, where he goes and win. On the one hand, he's still
a young guy with tread on the tires. On the other there's probably some
unknowns asking you for a little bit of a deep dive here, because I
don't know if he's even in the top five considered the top five running backs
coming out of school. What are you hearing about him? Where do you
think he might end up, what round or what kind of fit, what
team would make a good fit for a guy like brayl All. Yeah,
it's it's a matt. I think the running I've heard from different people the
running back run begins in the third round. Yeah, I have to tell
you I'm skeptical of that. I think it starts earlier. We always have
this conversation, and let me say always in recent years, this conversation always
centered it on this running back of this has been devalued because Aaron Jones,
what was the fifth round? Sixth round? Fifth round, fifth round?
And who? Right, didn't they didn't the Packers that year ago, running
back, running back? Running back? They did? They Jamal Williams in
the fourth And I think there's a third one that came later on. But
anyway, all that being said, we always talk about quote unquote devaluing it
because the guys who show up and play well aren't necessarily first round guys.
But if we get into the playoffs, does the running game not have a
big effect on a play on playoff football? You guys are right, how
good was Aaron Jones last year in the playoffs? Yeah, if you're San
Francisco. One of the big moves they've made, right, You talked about
the Trey Lance move that didn't pay off. I'd say the Christian McCaffrey move
is paid off if you're Kansas City who remade who they were and went from
being Patrick Mahomes carry us everywhere to Patrick Mahomes lead us and turning handed Isaiah
Pacheco. There's a seventh round pick. Yeah, seventh round despite running four
three, sixth of the combine. Somehow he slipped down to the seventh round.
Yeah. The running back is they can call it devalued all they want.
If you want to win and playoff football, you better have somebody can
carry the football. The issue is should I spend high draft collateral to get
him because history is telling me second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth,
seventh round that running back can be that guy for me. And that's
what we're running into. And that's why we're talking about devalued. Braylin Allen.
I think he's in most people's top bobs, Matt, I really do.
He is a freight train and what he has is that that bulk,
that that size, it can affect you. And here's the issue. You
guys watch NFL football, Mett, Wayne, we're playing more four to two
five, We're playing more college style defense on NFL. On down one used
to be first down, and you loaded up and here comes everyone else.
We're playing a light box from the word go. Have you noticed in the
last few years the top ten running backs in the league seven eight of them
are all two twenty to twenty five, right, lighter boxes. Big people
beat you up. Okay, you want to have your your mid size linebackers
in. Let's see if they can deal with my guards and my big guy.
But this is the one thing I will say offensive coordinators, they don't
get their job and they don't get acclaim for sticking with the run. That's
true. Yeah, the thing too, Charles and Wayne and I talked about
this on the last part. The thing that I say, on behalf of
somebody like Braylan Allen at Wisconsint. He had to be great and light boxes.
That would be a new concept for him because even last year when they
had to went through their philosophical change offensively, the majority of his career he
was running into loaded boxes and he had to be the start. He had
to be great. We're in the NFL, not necessarily. I mean,
if you're write playoff football, that can make a big difference. But he's
not going to be the sole focus of a defensive coordinator the way he was
in college. So maybe a guy like him in some ways could be as
effective, if not more, in helping teams win in the NFL because of
the other weapons that are going to be around. Yeah no, let me
nutshell this one. We always want a pair of guys now in the NFL.
We grew up with that one back on each NFL team. Who was
that person? That's that's that's days gone by. So if it's Aaron Jones,
you love to have Jamal Williams. Jamal Williams is gone. We drafted
AJ Dillon. That's what we're trying to do with all these guys. So
if wherever Braylan Allen goes, I'm willing to to I'm willing to put down
you know, not a wager because I don't want to get fired and for
gambling, but I'll bet you wherever Braylan Allen goes, he'll be paired with
more of a scatback type. It's just how it works, yep. And
he'll be a solid pro. I don't think there's nobody, but it might
even be better than that, depending on if he goes to one of those
teams with a heavy run emphasis, and they start beating people up with him,
he might be like the one of those breakout running backs. Actually,
now, look he's Dereck Henry light. Yeah, you know, he's Derek
Henry Light fall security. I think he's gotten better with that, picking his
feed up as he goes through with all those of those little guys like me
trying to get at his ankles because we're certainly not taking him on up top.
That's just falling. Okay, those are the things we're going to see.
But I like Breylan Allen a lot, and I think most teams have
him right up there in that top five running backs, just a matter of
what they're looking for at the time he comes up or pick. Let's talk
a little bit about the offensive line. We've talked about all these quarterbacks are
going to go in the first round, maybe six of them, but somebody
told me there could be almost eight offensive tackles that actually go in the first
round of this draft. How do you see that position and in the offensive
line in general. Yeah, And I think part of that Wayne is because
is top heavy, meaning the best talent of the offensive tackles is in that
grouping. So a lot of teams are saying, if I'm going to get
one that I really like, I might have to go get him now,
and that might change your draft room a little bit as you go. If
it's if it's closed, I better go get one of these ots now because
the other guy's coming in. Good players, but not high, not as
highly rated and high as high as it goes. So we know the top
of the food chain, right is Joe All from Notre Dame, Olufshanu from
Penn State to Lise Fwaga from Oregon State. You know, what do you
do? What do you decide to do with Troy Fatanu from Washington. Some
people want to kick him inside the guard. He can live out there at
tackle. His arm link is just fine. You know. It's not like
he's got the pterodactyl arms and he can't get it done. Excuse me the
Tyrannosaurus Rex. Here you go, dinosaur people coming for me now. My
grandson friends want a piece of me, So let me let me make sure
I try and get closer to being correct. But then down on the bottom
quote unquote bottom, how do you feel about Tyler Guidon from Oklahoma? Yeah,
he comes into play later. How do you feel about Amarus Mims from
Georgia with eight collegiate starts. You know, we're talking about quarterbacks with no
experience. This guy just starts and only you know, seven hundred and something
snaps. But you can develop that, oh yeah, exactly. You know
they can playhim right away developing. Yeah, to me, he's a pick
for a team that wants to get him ready for next year, because then
you're you know, you give that old line coach. But if you're drafting
sand I got to plug in play right away. You're you're projecting a big
thing. But a ton of offensive tackles early first round. I think your
number is right after that. Plenty of guys will go. But you might
see some people make a move for an offensive tackle just because they want to
get what they think is one of the top rated ones here as opposed to
what they feel like might be a little bit of a fall off. Charles,
we were talking before we started recording of the mock drafts of which you
have. You have one more coming out, But we've talked all this offense,
but you have I think the last bot that I saw you have them
going defense with their first pick don't you you have the corner out of Clemson.
Yeah, I think it was Nate Wiggins, right, Wiggins, And
I can't remember who I did on the first one. That tells you about
this brain power. Right. But when you talk, you're talking about these
positions, these opportunities, these places. It's not just do I have to
go get a guy to fill a positional need. The smart teams get the
best player and figure it out from there. All right. I know that
somewhere whoever was involved with the Portland Trailblazers draft in Sam Buie instead of Michael
Jordan It will show up and want to and want to put me in in
in a in a in a choke lock and make sure I pass out.
They're tired of hearing about it, but it's so illustrative for all of us
to remember, the better player wins every time. I don't care for it's
a position of strength. Let's use Green Bay for an example. Why the
neck you draft in Jordan Love and why the heck you drafted Aaron Rodgers?
You know, if you're getting ready for that very next season. That made
no sense both times. But guess what sure made sense for the franchise?
Didn't it Boom? It works. Sometimes you get that guy that you drafted
a position of strength and if he's better than the ones you have now you
just make a move that person. You know, someone moves out of there,
you get draft capital, you trade them, and you've added to your
team. So I'm very big on when people say, well, you know
they got that they should get. If that guy's the best one on your
board, you better go get him now. I don't care who it is.
You know, Brian Godocotes has five picks in the top one hundred,
and you can say, well, you can fill a lot of needs.
But when I look at it, Charles, I'm thinking the Packers are going
to be movers and shakers in this first round of the draft and second round
of the draft. With these picks. What do you see from what you're
thirty three thousand foot bandage Floyd at Green Bay? What do you anticipate them
doing in this draft? Knowing GOODA Coats is not afraid to move up and
down the board, I would say that he and Manti ausen For from the
Arizona Cardinals both might be wearing those eye shades instead of caps, and they
might be they might be the wheelers dealers. You know, they're the guys
who are going to manipulate the board and come down, come back up,
go here, accumulate there and at bam when they when they pounce, I
bet it's going to be pretty good. Yeah. Remember Montie Austin for it
last year many osen Ford did did the manipulation and Houston worked with him on
that was his first draft and he came out and been manipulating the board and
did we say, maybe the value isn't quite what it should have been because
he drafted c J. Strouded too, made the trade and still came away
with will Anderson that those were those were franchise chains picks because both of them
played at a really high level and they had veterans who were willing to let
them come to the front and lead. Quarterback rookies often get the sea on
their jersey just because everybody wants to avoid us asking how, well, when's
your quarterback going to be a captain? Shouldn't your quarterback be a captain?
They just slap it on them and call it a day. But if you
ask anyone in Houston, CJ. Stroud earned it date by day two,
while he was there, But when you go back to Monty, he was
a wheeler deal last year. He's going to be a wheeler dealer this year
because they got to come out of it. I think with a pass rusher
in Arizona, and yes, I'm finally figuring out Arizona a pass rusher and
they need a receiver. Their receivers are like thirty first or thirty second last
year on the perimeter and giving them yards. It doesn't work. The fourth
pick of the first round Arizona, right, that's the target. Everybody's saying
that one of those team's going there, Vikings Oakland. You know a number
of teams might trade up into that spot. What you're saying, the best
thing Arizona probably got to do is sit there and draft Marvin Harrison junior period.
It wouldn't be a bad thing, But I wouldn't be surprised if Mani
made a move because there's such a deep receiving core. Sure, if you
don't get Marvin Harrison, you don't move too far. You get Roma dun
Leak Neighbor someone like that, and you keep adding your picks and you keep
adding to the board. Plus he's gonna want to take a shot. I
think it one of those those edge rushers early, whether it's Jared Versu leout
to La Tou or Dallas Turner. So if he can pull that off and
still get those types of positions, more power to him. That's why I
think Brian Gudikins and Manti Osco can both be in the same spot. Just
that Mini's gonna get more of the calls because of where he sits initially at
four. Joe Matz, the general manager of Los Angeles Chargers. I keep
wants Monty Austin for it to pass all those calls to him. He's at
five. Joe's cap strapped taking over with the Chargers. They are cap strapped
like crazy. He's trying to jennison people at contracts. He would love to
make a move and move down and accumulate picks and maybe get rid of some
salary as well. But Mannie, I think he's gonna get first bite at
the apple. As you put in Wayne now, Mike Guy Harbaugh says he's
gonna build that offensive line. You think he'll stay put and maybe take Joe
Walt were there run If he stays put and and takes Joe Alt at five.
You will hear the whale from Nashville, Tennessee. People hear Ram cart
On their GM going no, no, no. That's why I think that
ran cart On, Tennessee might be a surprise mover in this first round.
Yeah. Interesting, they went got Calvin Ridley, so they fulfilled kind of
the wide receiver last year Hopkins this year Calvin Ridley. They had drafted Trailing
Birch from Arkansas. They got their quarterback last year and Will Levis they got
a brand new head coach. But you got to protect all your assets and
alt left tackle. Remember they drafted Peter scrosskyt guard last year. I know
we did. They win got Lloyd cushion Berry from the Denver Broncos. He's
going to be the center now they're building something. But they got to get
that left tackle because they swung and miss on Andre Dillard last year and that's
a big miss. Charles changing directions here with a very general question. We
talked at the beginning of the changing landscape and college athletics with the transfer portal.
Now the best of the best. You go from school A to school
B. If you can play, you can play. If you're a guy
like Jayden Daniels or obviously Michael Pennix. But are you hearing anywhere? Not
with the first rounders, but as you get deeper into the draft, where
if a player is at pre schools it just bounces around. Does it work
against him or do they just ignore that they've turned on the tape? So
well, No, it's got I don't care if it's three schools, four
schools, does it? Is there a point where that's come up in conversation
less and less? Matt, I think I think my parallel to it was
opting out. Every one opting out began. Leonard Fournette at LSU was kind
of the face of opting out. But I always thought that we as a
total media missed. Truthfully, the face of opting out was Christian McCaffery.
Yes he was yep, but because he was at Stanford, because he was
Christian McCaffrey, a lot of us just went past that one. He was
the first to kind of do it. But to the to the point of
both of them, everyone kind of I say everyone, they did it right,
It's just that we as people were like, what, you're sitting out
bowl games, You're not finishing with your team all things we've been taught.
The paradigm was changing, we just didn't see it happening in this case,
Matt. The paradigm changed and everybody kind of went. And the reason I'm
saying that is we all know it's a brave new world. And in what
world do any of us sit there and say, Okay, I get this
offer from this school, this off in this school, this off from this
school. Oh, I got a chance to play at that school and the
rules are relaxed, and I can go are we not going to do it
ourselves? And I just think that the opting out helped ease us to this
one, to where it's not a big deal. The only time we're gonna
get any questions, Matt, is if kids are changing schools because they got
kicked out of the school, Okay, like if they're changing on their own.
I don't hear anyone spending any time on it. It is a total
shrug and that, of course, but wouldn't you, I mean, get
out as opposed to now we do have this, I'm not the kid's gonna
go nameless. There's one kid in the draft us on his fourths school,
but he got kicked out of the previous three now might say kicked out or
asked to leave. I'd say there'd be a flag on him in just about
every draft board. But it is not unusual now to look up and go,
oh, yeah, he's been in three different schools. Like we got
a running back Ray Davis from from Kentucky. This is a kid who came
out of incredible background circumstances, group home, loss of family, the whole
deal. Kind of raised himself in a sense. He's a thousand yard career
rusher at three different schools. Yes, think about that, Temple two years
to get a thousand yards, thousand yard season at Vanderbilt, thousand yard season
at Kentucky. He's coming into the draft. Tremendous kid by all accounts,
three different schools. In the old days, Matt, we would have been
like, okay, there's a story here, three different schools. Oh yeah.
The story now is where can I go play? Where can I better
myself? Does this work for me? And by the way, if you're
getting into Temple Vanderbilt in Kentucky, you're not too bad in the classroom either.
Yeah. No, good point, good point. Absolutely. As we
wrap it up with Charles Davis and Charles, Thank you so much for taking
time out with us. It's great to visit with you. Beat to begin
with, regardless of whether this is a podcast or not, but just give
me a what do you see the Packers doing in this draft? From where
you sit? Because I think that's what people want to know that's listening to
this podcast. What do you see? Where do you see them going?
Especially early on? We know their needs are safety offensive tackle. You know,
you may get into a cornerback situation. Certainly they could use a running
back and that kind of thing. But where do you see them going at
least early on in the draft. Well, as you guys have both suggested,
with the number of picks that Brian Goodikins has, he could very well
do some manipulation. Let's just kind of stand pad a little bit, just
because it's easier, right, If any of those tackles leaked their way down
that they have conviction about, wouldn't surprise me see him hop on that right
there, It just wouldn't. David Botier has given everything he has, as
any guys, I mean, he's tried, tried and tried. We're going
to adapt to congratulate him. I think on just a phenomenal career. But
that's despy. Zach Thom's a little fought on the other side. Now you
get to keep Elton Jake is where he should be at guard. You know,
you got Myers there. You had to make it a really good offensive
line. If that tackle isn't there, you have conviction. But I think
there will be more opportunities to look at the cornerback crop and say, do
I like this guy? This guy? Remember you guys mentioned I had Nate
Wiggins from Clemson there, Well, back crop is all again. Who likes
whom? In what spot? Could cool Aid McKinstry get down there because he
had the foot issue blah blah blah, came back look good at his pro
day. Could he be a guy that could be considered there? You know,
could a Kamari Lasster be considered from Georgia? Okay, everyone knows about
that program. Green Bay included that sorts of kicks in, sort of kicks
in. I don't see a runner going there in the first round because everyone
can get the value later. A safety would be the major surprise, but
green Bay's done that before. Kind of surprised people taking a guy like that
higher? How much has worked out. You have to determine that, and
you guys would have to tell me because I keep thinking about who's the kid
at NC State Jones? Remember him? Yeah, big strong, physical guy,
actually thought he was gonna be a hell of a player and just never
found his niche did. He Darnelle Savage was a little bit of surprise to
people when he was drafted. So now you have to decide what kind of
safety you want though, because what if Cooper de Gene is somehow available.
People evaluate him as a corner and nickel safety is safety to me if you
draft him and playing in safety is the best safety in the draft. If
you evaluate him as a corner, He's want the top corners in the draft,
right when nickl Safety's want top nickel safety's in the draft. So I'm
not sure he's going to get down there to that number, especially after his
pro day was so sensational and recovering. But boy, if he's sitting there,
I would be sprinting to get that call in. I'd be calling it
and tell the people with the car run it up. I'd be doing all
those things. He's a phenomenal football player and he can return to punts for
you as well. So that's where I think. But but I just don't
know. And last, but not least, the kid in Minnesota, Tyler
Nuben, I don't know what'll tell me about water. I don't know what
they're put in the water in the tries, in the in the in the
Twin Cities. But when they when they develop defensive backs, they develop instincts.
It's on Winfield Saint just this kid. Wow. They do a great
job up there doing that. And I love Tyler Nuben, I really do.
I think he's a heck of a centerfield safety and come down and tackle
Ballhawk's big time he's up there. And Cole Bishop I'm in love with from
Utah, who's made most of his plays down in the box. Yeah,
but I think he can play high safety. He ran four four or five
at the combine. I think if you pulled Packers fans, Dejene would be
the guy that comes to mind right away. And the thing about him,
Matt and Charles that he can do and Jeff Hatefully's new defense is he can
play safety. He can play in the court at the slot position where Detroit
has shown you now that you can take a safety corner slash guy. Put
him in the slot and really impact the game from there. And this kid
can do that. Branch, Yes, Ryan Branch, Yeah, I mean
he was. He was life changing in Detroit last year. And then you
take a look at what the Jeans can do if you wanted them on the
outside, Yeah, you could put him there. He could hold up there
pretty well. So I think they would have to move up to get him.
I think the kids from Minnesota you're talking about, they might be able
to sit there at twenty five and wait on him. If you like him,
Yeah, I'd be shocked that they weren't able to sit there and get
Tyler Nuban right there at twenty five. You have to make any move to
go get him. In fact, he would be Darnell Savage this year where
people go, what, Yeah, they think he could go in the second
round. But I think he's a heck of a football player, really interesting.
And the one thing you can say about the gene whoever drafts him,
I hope they have a plan because the kid who came out of Clemson,
Isaiah Simmons, Remember he was mister versatility, right, he was you swim
and do that? Women can do that. He has never found his niche
right. So for me, if I'm drafting the gene, I have a
plan that I get him comfortable in one spot before I start doing all the
chess matching. I don't want him jack of all trades, master of none.
I think he will master everything if given to him in the right right
dosages. Okay, that's just where I am on it. Because Isaiah Simmons
was everything coming out of Clemson, right. His best year was his last
half year with the Giants under Wing Martindale, where they put him and said
do you do one thing, Go get the guy and that was it.
But the rest of the we were saying, he can play corner, he
can buy say eighteen, he can play linemak, but he couldn't play any
of it because he was just one confused kid. Yeah, Charles, he
was such an electrifying return man at college, a punt return man. Can
talk about Cooper Jr. Can that translate? It seems like he checks the
boxes and has the instincts, But does that translate? Can he be a
difference maker as a punt return guy in the NFL? Yeah? How about
we'll just compare it to Keishawn Nixon and what he's done for Green Band the
kick return game, even though the kick return game, but you know,
kickoff return is under siege, right, But think about what he's provided a
Green Band his time there and how good that's been. Pum Return isn't under
siege yet. That's probably the next thing people are gonna eye. But you
know, the Gene beat Michigan State and that's a very questionable call that they
dropped on that one in the biggest moment of the game. So I think
he's that type of a kid. Ye, all the best, Charls.
Thank you so much. Thank you guys so much. I appreciate you.
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Join today at UWCU dot org. You are listening to the Lera Villa
Pay Podcast and Matt a couple of quick items I wanted to hit on before
we head out for the week. Kaitlin Clark moves to the WNBA was drafted
number one by Indiana and she will be. Her impact on will be on
that game. Now, And you know the thing I wonder, and I
don't know because I don't see enough WNBA game action, but I wonder how
her impact will be on that game on the floor. Will she get lost
in the game on the floor. Obviously not Initially. The build up will
be great for the league and everything else. There's been a huge light cast
on women's college basketball and now I'm sure that'll translate in some form or another
to the WNBA. But Caitlin Clark's game, I don't know enough about the
WNBA to know how her game will translate to the pro level, And so
that's what I'm anxious to see. Will her impact be as great on that
level as it was on the college level. Well, I know the television
partners are banking on it because all the just a handful of Indiana Fever games
will be nationally televised. So really the focus is on her. I think
when Diana Tarassi and one of the alternative broadcasts of the women's NCAA tournament,
she probably spoke the way the NBA guys talk about college stars in the men's
game is that she's going to be a target. She's going to get a
little dose of reality against. As Diana Tarassi says, you're up against grown
women. I still think her game because of her court vision being so good.
We know she can hit the logo threes and she's probably going to make
her share even as a WNBA rookie, but her ability to distribute the ball,
I mean that to me is going to be a separator for her.
I mean she is not just staged. She's not a one trick ponent.
She can do multiple things out on the floor. So I've got to think
that she's going to be really good. But she's also going to wear a
bulls eye, which she did in college. But now you're just going to
be up against better players night in and night out. So is she going
to light it up and be a triple double threat every game? Probably not,
But I still think she's going to be very highlight worthy in somebody who
is going to be worth watching as she brings in the casual fan to the
WNBA. Maybe not quite to the ratings numbers as the college game, but
I've got to think it's going to be better than what we've seen in the
past. Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt about it. I agree
with you. The athletic level that she's going up against every night will be
much different. In other words, the way Connecticut defended her, Caitlyn Clark,
and she really had to work for it in the national semifinal game against
Connecticut, they defended her as well as she can be defended. But you've
got better athletic ability and more experienced players will be defending Caitlyn Clark, denying
her the basketball on the WNBA level. And I will go back to something
you and I talked about a few podcasts ago. Marriviach back in nineteen seventy
had this impact on the college game of college basketball on television, and he
went to the NBA and he was still a great player in the NBA,
good player in the NBA, but he wasn't a game changing player on that
level. I just wonder if Caitlin's going to be. I wonder if,
when it's all said and done, if her greatness will be the college game
rather than her performance on the pro level. As it was for Pistol.
He was better in college. He was transcendent in college. He was a
good player on the NBA level, that's will be interesting to watch because Wayne,
like you, you know, true professions. I don't watch a ton
of women's professional basketball. But we have seen the increase in depth of talent
at the college level in the women's game. It'll be interesting to see are
we seeing that increase depth of talent in the WNBA as well? Where you
have you definitely have the stars, but are the you know, the players
who are now All Stars but have been around the league for a few years.
Has that talent? Is that level of talent increased? My assumption is
yes, but we'll find out. And the bar for her is so hot,
you know, and the anticipation of her playing in the WNBA is so
high it could be nearly impossible to hit the expectations that many will have because
they're unrealistic. But I still think with her overall level of talent, particularly
offensively not just shooting, that she can have a significant on the floor impact
for this team. Well, what I don't know really is what's the talent
around her on and how does that match up. I mean, they're number
one pick, so it probably means they need some more talent over there.
So let's see how that translates as well, because a lot is going to
be put on her play even as we work, no doubt about it.
Hey, college basketball, you and I both love that game. On the
men's side, transfer portal, I think there are like fourteen hundred kids in
the transfer portal. Now, aj Store, most prominent from Wisconsin, is
in the transfer portal. Not only that, he's also in the NBA draft
situation to be evaluated there turned down reportedly eight hundred k at Kansas. I
mean, wow, where is Wisconsin with the comings and goings of players?
From what you can tell, well, they're going through the process of you
know, meeting with guys who, in some cases they recruited the first time
around. You know, names that have been out there publicly, a guy
like Frankie Fiddler, an old buddy of Chuckie. Hepburn's down in Toma Hall,
Brandon Angel of Stanford. Those are a couple of names that have been
public and you know, who knows who else they're talking to here, But
yeah, they definitely have openings you mentioned aj Store. Connor Siegion has had
a couple of visits, including one of the Marilyn He's you know, looking
around at power programs, A couple of other guys have transferred. Isaac Lindsay
is committed to South Dakota State. A couple of guys who were not Isaac,
but a couple of other guys who were walk Ons are just looking for
opportunities to play. And because it was probably not going to happen in Wisconsint
guys like Neu Curtel and Ross Candelino specifically, they got until you know,
we're recording this on April sixteenth. There's still a couple of weeks left in
this portal window, but it is. It's a fascinating time, Wayne,
I mean, you know, Purdue, the national runner up, just had
the sixth man of the year ago in the portal. Mason gillis another player
who became more of a defensive specialist. Ethan Morton, his minutes were down
this past season. He's in the portal. So there's not a program out
there that is going to probably be Scott free of players leaving for better opportunities,
be it playing time, be it more money through nil or all of
the above. But yeah, Cisco and they've got two freshmen coming in Dangle
Free Tag and Jack Robinson out of Minnesota. But there are there are holes
to be filled, and they'll they'll do it. I think it's just,
you know, fans want it right away, and sometimes it doesn't happen that
way. You know, Matt. I had back surgery a week ago yesterday,
and I must admit I'm more foggier mentally than usual because they told me
when you're under anesthesia for like five and a half hours, it lasts for
two weeks somehow. But so you know, it's just kind of a weird
thing like that. And I'm in a position now I'm trying to write notes
on the draft and that type of thing, and I'm finding my shorthand has
gotten even shorter, so I can't read bin and typing is just you know,
if I don't do it with the chicken fingers, you know, I'm
bad. I'm just wait anyway. But the fact is what I had to
do is sit down all week, and all I could do is watch The
Masters, basically. So I'm sitting there, you know, not working out,
and I'm not doing anything, going places, nothing, and I'm watching
the Masters. And I watched all week, and I watched Tiger Woods and
he made the cut walking all seventy two holes, which is an accomplishment for
him based on all the things he's been through. He finished sixteen oh or
par three h four, the highest score he's ever shot in a tournament in
his life, one over par seventy three to open. He made the cut
and heavy wins with a seventy two on the second day. Now that's seventy
two, harken back to some of his greatness. It was just amazing to
watch. So he makes the cut but had nothing left after that seventy eight
seventy eight, And so the question becomes, will we ever see this guy,
I don't want to say, complete four rounds in a tournament, but
will he ever be competitive again? Can he do it for four rounds against
this kind of competition? He could certainly do it for two rounds to make
the cut and be in the hunt. But you know, there are guys
at every country club in America that can done one day on the tour,
go out and maybe beat almost every pro on the tour that day, But
what do they have for day two and day three and day four? And
that's why they're the best player at your club and not on the tour.
So I wonder if Tiger in his physical situation. He can still tee it
up and he can still hit at three hundred plus. He could still do
those things, but in a tournament, and he hasn't played much tournament golf,
which made his just making the cut was astounding when you look at it.
He had like one, two or three rounds of tournament golf under his
belt this entire year coming into this tournament, and yet there he is,
so a testament to his greatness. But I wonder if he'll ever be able
to play four rounds walking EGA Tour event. And I understand Augusta's the hillius
course in the world. These pros will everybody asked to walk, But nonetheless,
you just wonder if we've seen the last of Tiger Woods as we knew
him. Yeah, the bar is lower, at least for when I watch
him, and thing most people who are even casual fans. It has to
be. You mentioned the track itself at Augusta that made it an unfair fight
for him after two rounds. But there was the glimpse of greatness, as
you mentioned, So we're gonna keep watching when he's playing, but the expectation
of him raising another trophy is probably very milk right now. You want to
enjoy watching him while we can for maybe that one round of excellence, but
man, four days to sustain it over four days, I think, given
what the physical toll that he's gone through, I just don't think it's realistic.
But he's still going to move the needle, isn't he? I mean
this way in a tournament. I mean Scotty Scheffler, are these other guys
that's great? Rising to Shamba. You love watching him obviously bombs but no
matter what tour we're talking about, but if Tiger Woods is in a turn
of it, we're going to watch just in hope that he could give us
that one round again like he did at Augusta and like he's done so many
times in his career. Yeah, Matt, and you come from a little
more casual approach to golf than I do. Obviously, I'm fine with the
rooting for Scottie Scheffler and Rory McElroy and the occasional guy I have never heard
of that comes in and wins a tournament. But you know, there,
where's the star power here on this tour. If I'm the Golf Tour,
if I'm the PGA Tour, I gotta be wondering. Okay, first off,
we got X number of really big names over on the other side playing
in the live Tour whatever that is, and nobody watches it. By the
way, it's on the CW network if you're interested, but nobody is.
And then you've got the PGA Tour and it's hurting because you don't have anyone
like a Phil Mickelson or a Tiger Woods that the casual fan like Matt Lape
will say, Holy Cole, Tiger's in contention here, I'm gonna stit and
watch this, you know what I mean? There is no one I'm moving
the needle. Okay, Scheffler can win one hundred tournaments in a row.
Wonderful story, good guy. Okay, fine, his wife's going to have
their first child. Worth happy for him. But are we going to stop
and watch if Scottie Scheffler is in contention at the Masters? Not really unless
it's the Master, you know, But if it's like I don't know,
the PG eight, the Inverness tournaments somewhere in Florida or whatever the heck it
is, you know, whatever, it might be Bayhill or something. You
know. No, I'm not going to stop what I'm doing. I'll get
the highlight. I'll see Scotty Scheffler take the trophy and his wife jump into
his arms in the whole of that would be fine. There's not a needle
move there. Tiger Woods tease it up. Well, I kind of want
to be there from start to finish, I really do. Yeah, he'll
continue to carry the tour as long as he is in, as long as
he is played. But you're right, and I think that that's the difference
maker of any school. You know, we've talked about Caitlin Clark being that
star power of the wins game? Was that? Who was the men's player?
Who? I mean, Zachi E a great player? Is he must
watch? I think a lot of casual fans say not necessarily. Yukon just
wanted six national title in twenty five years. Can people name the starting five?
Can people name more than one start? Probably? Not? So the
ratings start to reflect that at times. And yeah, with you think about
tennis, I mean, you and I are of an age we remember McEnroe
and Cotter's and Bored and Hilly Nestas you know that's changed. And yeah,
I think if you're you're the PGA tour. It isn't concern. You've got
to try to find a way to you know, with the live tour.
I mean a guy like the Shambo. There could be some good villains,
you could have good guy, bad guy, but right now, with what's
going on in the sport, that becomes a little tougher to come by.
So, yeah, the games fill needs Tiger, even if it's seventy percent
if that right rewards because he draws eyeballs and yeah, I'm in that casual
fan category he's playing, I'm watching if he's not in the tournament, like
eh, yeah, maybe for a I'll tune in a little bit, but
not nearly for as long as someone like you or you know, the diehard
golf theme. Yeah, absolutely, well, Matt, that'll do it for
us. I've got the NFL Draft coming up. I see you're up north
at the cabin. Is it still winter up there? No, the ice
has melted a little little breezy up here today, but they had no winter
game, which was a little tough. Yeah, tough with the locals,
but it's uh yeah, the piers are starting to go in. It's I'll
play some really bad golf up here. Wait, I don't know when your
back will allow you. I don't know how long this process is going to
be for you. But there's some beautiful golf courses up here. People like
to go hunt and fish. I'll go play golf and go take my ninety
five, but whatever, whatever public courses and then move on. So one
day we'll do that up here. Yeah, that'd be great. No,
absolutely when that'd be awesome to do. And you're right. I was up
there earlier in the winter to ski, and the locals are really hurting up
north upper Peninsula Michigan or even northern Wisconsin. They just didn't have the kind
of winter they rely on the winter folks, for those of you who don't
know, for snowmobiling, that's a big sport up there, cross country skiing,
ice fishing, the whole bit. There's a whole outdoor type thing going
and they didn't have it this winter. And hopefully this summer Matt will be
unloading some of his some of his largesse on the restaurants and bars of the
north Woods. And Matt, you know, thank you for doing that.
That's a public think of it. It's a public service anything for the ball
club. Yeah, my wife is She's really helping me spend a lot of
that money too. So that's how it works. Listen. If there are
things to do around there, remember, hire a professional. I don't care.
If it's to take a turn the light bulb on and off, oh,
hire a professional to do it, no question. I know very few
people in our linework. Wayne. If it's something that involves anything more than
duct tape, we're in trouble and I'm in that category. Oh yeah,
anyway, special thanks to our guest Charles Davis of CBS Sports at NFL Network
are producer engineers Dave McCann our executive producer Jeff Tyler for Matt. This is
Wayne. Thank you very much for listening to the Lar of Vian La Pay
podcast. This has been the Lerevian La Pay Podcast, presented by UW Credit
Union. Here for every you. The Lerrevian La Pey podcast is a production
of iHeartRadio Podcasts and is produced and engineered by Dave McCann with coordinating assistant Ajmat
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