Hour 1: Field Yates 1st Round Mock Draft, NFL Draft prospect Eli Stowers, Movie Anniversaries: Breakfast Club and the Godfather

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0:38Keep up, it's playoffs. Tune in Monday, March 23rd, 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2, and Tuesday, March 24th, 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN and on the ESPN app. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. I don't even know what that means.

1:22No one knows what it means, but it's provocative. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles.

1:28Rich Eisen:What did you tell Tom Brady? We came to play football and I'll argue with the refs. Yeah, he didn't like it. Today's guest. 2026 NFL draft prospect Eli Stowers. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. Actor Kevin Zegers. Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday. And now, Rich Eisen. Oh, hey everyone. Hi, buddy. You should join us. It's a great day in our Tuesday neighborhood here. 844-204-RICH is that number to dial to hang with us here on this program. Disney Plus, the ESPN app, Sirius XM, Channel 80, but of course, Coast to Coast, the Rich Eisen Terrestrial Radio Network, courtesy of our friends and partners at ESPN Radio.

2:14Rich Eisen:Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. What's going on? Hey, Rich. Morning, my friend. How are you? DJ Mikey D is in D's nuts. TJ Jefferson, candles lit over there, it appears. Good to see you. What up, though? What up, doe? I'll tell you who the Detroit Lions are going to draft. How does that sound? Listen, Michigan State's Tom Izzo is on this program today. I know she'll bother him, but you won't bother Dusty May. I don't know what you're talking about. That is so messed up. I don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what I'm talking about? I have an open-door policy for Tom Izzo.

2:43Rich Eisen:You know I adore him. I'm going to ask him if I'm his favorite Michigan man. Oh, interesting. He's got to have some exceptions to the rule. Do you? Yeah, you do. I've got a favorite Michigan State, man. For sure you do. It's Tom Izzo. I'm just saying. I don't know of any other Michigan State people I like. Come on. Chat EMJ? I mean, who doesn't like Magic Johnson? But I don't know him. I know Izzo. That's wild. You don't know Magic. I don't know him. I mean, I know Mooch. And Mooch is Michigan State by proxy because they both went to school at the northern Michigan. University up there in the Upper Peninsula.

3:19Rich Eisen:At any rate, Tom Izzo is going to join us. taking on Dan Hurley in the Yukon. What a final, pardon me, what a sweet 16 in Washington, D.C. By the way, Thomas's Michigan State Spartans and Yukon Husky game is tipping off at a quarter to 10 local time on Friday. How does that sound? I think, pardon me, it's Thursday. Doesn't sound right. It's nuts. It's absolutely absurd. But at any rate, Tom's going to join us. Love it. Eli Stowers, the draft prospect from Vanderbilt, will join us shortly. And then Kevin Zegers from the hit show, The Madison, on Paramount. Plus, the latest Taylor Sheridan offering.

4:07Rich Eisen:He will be here in studio. You also may know him as the child star of Air Bud. So we're going to go. Oh, no way. Oh, yeah. Oh, Cage is pumped. Oh, yeah. We can talk about Golden Retrievers, Michelle Pfeiffer, Taylor Sheridan. fly fishing and so much more where three people have never been in my kitchen an hour number and our number three of the program and again as i mentioned there's you at 844-204-RICH is the number to dial one month from this very moment we will be in pittsburgh pennsylvania for our third and final day of our residency um in the steel city for the nfl draft talking about the first round that has just gone down and all of the questions being answered for the NFL draft.

4:56Rich Eisen:We will have all the answers to the test. Yes. At this very moment, one month from now. And we'll find out if there is, in fact, a surprise in the top five. We'll find out where Jeremiah Love, who I believe is having a pro day today in Notre Dame, is going to land. Is he a top five guy or not? Is somebody going to trade up to go get him? Where will all the defenders go? Where will all the Ohio State players go? Will we have four in the top ten? Is Ty Simpson going to be drafted in the first round? Will somebody, if he drops, trade up into the end of the first round to go get him? Will there be any more trades at all in the middle of this first round?

5:42Rich Eisen:What is your team doing? How did the Jets screw it up? All those things. We'll know. Come on. What are the Miami Dolphins doing? You know what I mean? That's all going to be answered. I hate this team. What do the Baltimore Ravens do with their first round draft choice that they kept their finger on the chess piece for in the Max Crosby trade? You see where I'm going with all this? Yeah, buddy. In the meantime, we get answers to the test from people like our friend Field Yates of ESPN, who kindly not only did a mock draft for the first two rounds, but provided us material here on this very slow Sports Tuesday.

6:25Rich Eisen:It's time to mock us like a hurricane. Go for it. Mock! Yeah! It's time to mock you like a hurricane! You like our production value? I love mock drafts, and I love... Yeah, we're mocking you like a hurricane. Goofy graphic. That's what we're doing. Let's go. So Field, who knows a thing or two. This is a shocker. Up there with, I believe, our buddy Vinny Pasquantino's scoop that he put out there on social media yesterday that Bobby Witt Jr. is the starting shortstop of the Kansas City Royals. He made the team. Yeah, congrats to Bobby. Yeah, yeah, made the team. Yeah, congrats. He wasn't told in the middle of an inning, like a pitcher on the Texas Rangers we'll talk about later on, found out last night.

7:11Rich Eisen:That was cool, too. It was indeed. Fernando Mendoza is going to be the first overall pick, but how about this? This mock draft would be set in stone right now by a Washington Commanders fan. Because Field believes that after Mendoza is chosen, all three of the defenders that will be a choice for the New York Jets at two, David Bailey, Arvel Reese, Sonny Stiles, he says they will go in that order. after Mendoza. No one's going to be taking a tackle or Jeremiah Love in the top four picks of this draft. It will be Mendoza and then the top three edge rusher slash defenders with the Giants then following up with Caleb Downs fifth overall.

8:03Rich Eisen:He believes Mendoza will go, the Jets will choose David Bailey, which is something that Daniel Jeremiah has been saying since January. He said it to the Combine. He said it Senior Bowl. He said David Bailey is the guy who can rush now and has an upside to match. And that Arvel Reese is somebody that, yes, the Jets could take, but if you want straight, injected into your veins, edge pass rusher, David Bailey's the guy. And he thinks the Cardinals will go Arvel Reese third with Sonny Stiles going to Tennessee fourth overall. Caleb Downs going fifth overall. So Fernando Mendoza will be the first player taken and the first offensive player taken with no other offensive players taken in the first five picks, leaving Carnell Tate for Browns fans to feast on.

9:04Rich Eisen:And Browns fans would be genuinely pumped to get him. And I, if this happens, will have to sit there on the set and talk about a Buckeye being drafted in the first round of an NFL draft in the top six picks. Four straight times. That would be, if you take the full 10 minutes, 40 minutes of Buckeye conversation. And if that happens, I will need to hydrate and get my rest. You might spontaneously combine. I'm not going to do that. I'm a professional. I'm poised, as you know. I read that you were poised. I'm poised. I read that. Awful announcing says I'm poised for this draft, and I will be poised.

9:49Rich Eisen:He wields a lead pipe. You understand me? Wielding professional. Lead pipes. Yeah. Wielding and poised. That's what he does. Reese styles down Tate. Oh, my goodness gracious. Ohio State will plant the flag on this draft at that point in time. leaving Jeremiah Love for the Washington commanders to take at seven. If the commanders can stick and pick Jeremiah Love, Oh baby, they would. I mean, how fast do they get? You know what? Yeah. You say that's the phrase that we say, but no one ever does it because they, they have to do their due diligence to sit there and wait for at least eight minutes for the phone ring for somebody to offer them the proverbial cartoon's head in the bed i saw godfather the other day by the way do you know sonny styles uh was named after sonny corleone because he was such a whirling dervish apparently yeah we talked about that right after yeah he got the nickname sonny yeah no toe booths for at any rate no style i showed the kids uh uh my two sons godfather on saturday night and oh we'll talk about it later wow reuben bain would go to the saints eighth overall the chiefs would choose jordan tyson as the second receiver off the board interesting and then mansoor delane the lsu corner would go to cincinnati who you got to figure they're choosing whatever is the best defensive player on their draft board at that point yeah yeah for sure right yep and just tell joe burrow please like us please like us so let me just say this if the Washington commanders can stick and pick let Jeremiah Love drop to them that would be one million percent the dream scenario and that Jaden Daniels would have this kid who is being talked about as having Bijan Saquon type talent next to him and do all sorts of mesh point trickeration trying to figure out who's got it, who doesn't.

12:03Rich Eisen:And this is the run game that would come downhill. And this would be the dynamic run slash pass game that comes downhill with Jaden Daniels and whoever else they can try and amass on that talented side of the football. Oh, my goodness gracious. I don't like that at all. Yeah, no. That's fun. And, of course, if he's rolled downhill against the Giants twice a year, it'll be a conversation. Well, you could have had him, Giants. You chose Caleb Downs instead, and he's a very talented, superb football player. He's already like a professional, as we saw at the Combine. You had division rivals get two running backs.

12:41Rich Eisen:One was your own, and one you passed on. That would be clearly the storylines coming out of the top 10 of the draft would be four Ohio State guys in a row. Why the Jets chose David Bailey over the other two. Why the Titans chose Sonny Stiles instead of Jeremiah Love. Why the Giants went in the direction which they did with a talented safety rather than a talented wide receiver or the running back of the draft that is arguably the best prospect in the draft despite having Cam Scadaboo. Understood. Why the Chiefs went Jordan Tyson. That would be if this is the draft. One month from today, that's what we'd be talking about.

13:28Rich Eisen:Some other interesting picks. Miami, who traded away Jalen Wattle to Denver. They clearly are taking a wide receiver, right? No, says Field Yates. Francis Malinoa would still be on the board. And he's third in many other mock drafts going to Arizona. So that would what we call a value selection. So they're going to say to Malik Willis, if this happens, our best choice for you to succeed isn't a weapon outside it's somebody to keep you upright and maybe get david devon a chan a crease uh germad mccoy if he goes to dallas at pick doesn't we haven't seen him since january 2025 he'd be he's coming off of a knee injury we're expecting to see him at his pro day for the first time uh that would be the conversation that Dallas believes he's healthy and ready to contribute sight unseen, essentially, for over a year.

14:31Rich Eisen:The Rams, with the 13th overall pick, their first round selection would be Monroe Freeling. So they wouldn't be getting another, if you will, weapon for Matthew Stafford. But if we can put up the middle rounds here, guys, Monroe Freeling, the Georgia tackle, would be somebody that could get that offensive line more solidified for Matthew Stafford. And he's arguably, in the minds of others, the best prospect on an offensive line with Spencer Fano right behind him. That would be the Ravens' choice with the pick that they didn't send to the Raiders. uh makai lemon being chose chosen by the jets that's fun would be interesting you gotta get weapons for gino man you know a good one uh caden proctor uh wouldn't be a surprise the lions hitting that line dylan thenaman who has got viking written all over him um could be the harrison smith successor yep kenyan sadiq going to carolina top 20 for sadiq so i mean if that's happens it'd be all right Carolina we see you we saw what you did for your front seven in free agency and now you're adding another weapon after McMillan last year for your quarterback Bryce Young R.

16:03Mason Thomas the edge rusher out of Oklahoma TJ would complete your two picks

16:12Rich Eisen:in the middle of the first round. Dallas Cowboy, let's enhance that defense. I was watching highlights of him this morning before the show started. Interesting. R. Mason. R. Mason. Okay. Sounds like a lot for him. So now, what would the Steelers do? Sitting there 21st overall. Do they take Ty Simpson? Do they take the kid? Where the hell is Aaron Rodgers right now? on this occasion. We've got a soundbite later on that we'll play from Mike McCarthy, who was asked this very question in Green Bay of all places last night. Where is A.A. Ron right now? Who knows? I think we'll find out before the draft that A.A.

16:58Rich Eisen:Ron is going to return to Pittsburgh. You do? I do. I have that sense. Field Yates says, no Ty Simpson. Uh-uh. It's Venga Ioane staying in the Keystone State and providing some terrific guard play for Rodgers, bolstering that line. I dig that. And I'll tell you this, the Chargers would be like, damn it, that they could stick and pick him and put him next to Slater with Alt coming back too? Oh, baby. instead they're they're going to go safety emmanuel mcneil warren the eagles choosing omar cooper jr would immediately spark on the set is aj brown staying or not what's going on immediately immediately yeah you're right with all due respect to him after the conversation about what he can do and how he fits um after that conversation dies down ty simpson would go to Arizona according to Field Gates.

18:01Rich Eisen:He predicts this trade. We appreciate you mock drafting with a trade field. He says the Cardinals would tell the Bills we'll give you a pick I imagine in next year's draft to drop out and let us pop in and take Ty Simpson for the future. That would be a fascinating choice there. Keldrick Falk would go to San Francisco. How about the The Dolphins sitting there at 30, getting Casey Concepcion dropping to them. And that would be the pick that they would utilize from the Jalen Waddell trade. How about that? Makes sense. So if they wind up with Maui Noah, who's a top five candidate at 11, and Casey Concepcion at 30 for Willis, we'll come out of that draft and we would be one month from today saying, good job, John Eric Sullivan.

19:07Rich Eisen:Denzel got in Boston going to the Patriots. It's made for headlines. Not a lot of success with Washington receivers lately. Excuse me. You know what him and Douglas would be in a two-wide receiver set? Boston pop. Hey, now. Here we go. Guys, I can't turn it off. You're poised. I'm poised. Poised. I'm so freaking poised. Poised. And then last one. Put it up one more time. I mean, a lot of people think if Avion Terrell goes to Dallas, they would get a great choice of 12 or 20. and if the Seahawks who are no longer Reek Wolland can get Terrell dropping to them at the last pick everyone will be sitting there going John Schneider man John Schneider man not new Harry Roseman he's been to Howie's Pier for a while but just like they can't keep getting away with it that would be awesome for Seattle and that's the way that we are finishing up that mock draft he field Yates again and check it out on ESPN.com, did an entire second round.

20:15Rich Eisen:He has our next guest, Eli Stowers, the tight end, who did in fact have a better vert and broad jump at the combine than Kenyon Sadiq. He would have the Vanderbilt player in tight end dropping to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 46. I wouldn't mind him in New England at the end of the first round. Maybe. maybe but his last name's not boston that's a good point you know if only your team played in the greater stowers area is there anybody named foxborough no i don't think so no no so uh let's take a break and we'll chat with the tight end prospect one of the best in the land will he be a first round selection let's meet the converted quarterback now tight end prospect of note.

21:09Rich Eisen:Eli Stowers next.

21:13The Rich Eisen Show podcast.

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21:56Rich Eisen:You can make your home work for you while you're away. Not as a full-time thing, not as some big production, just something that fits into trips you're already taking. You can use the money for that dream vacation or put that money towards that outdoor kitchen you always wanted. Hosting on Airbnb just feels smart. Your home may be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. Rich Eisen here. The tax deadline will be here before you know it. And you just want to know your taxes are actually being handled. But the old way? You hand everything off and then silence. Days pass.

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23:47Rich Eisen:Limits apply. See store for details. Stop by your local O 'Reilly Auto Parts store or shop online at OReillyAuto.com. back here on the rich eisen show as one big happy simulcast family disney plus the espn app espn radio sirius xm channel 80 what a terrific combine this young man had uh calling the action if you will four five one at the 40 the broad jump 11 three best of all tight ends and we talked about kenyan sadiq's uh vert of 43 and a half inches that uh tied the record that was set in 2010 um and then this kid stepped up to the vertex and smashed that by two inches and on top of it all um this prospect from vanderbilt won the academic heisman as well ladies and gentlemen eli stowers here on the program how are you rely good to see you i'm doing good how are y 'all doing I'm doing fine.

24:48Rich Eisen:What's your mindset right now with a month to go, Eli? Yeah, man, I'm just trying to soak in everything. It's a blessing just to be in this position, and it's something that you dream of as a kid. And so I'm just trying to soak up everything, continue to work, put my head down to work, and be ready for draft day. Where have I found you? Where are you? I'm in Texas right now. I trained out in Phoenix, but I'm back home in the Dallas area, then in Texas. So that's where you're from? right? Yes, sir. You're okay. Yes. Born in Denton. And walk me through your football playing career. When did you first, when did you first start playing?

25:28Rich Eisen:You're in Texas, I imagine, as a very little kid, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My dad is a former player and he was a coach as well. And so as soon as I was born, he was high school, a high school coach. And so I always had a football in my hand. I started playing actual football in first grade and played quarterback my whole career. and so um you know when i got to college i was i was still a quarterback went to texas a &m and then went to new mexico state after that there was some shoulder injury um a shoulder injury my throwing shoulder at texas a &m started the transition to tight end new mexico state and then followed my oc and head coach to vandy then i was full-time tight in the last two years so so when walk me through if you don't mind the the moment you hurt your shoulder and realized you needed a different path you like certainly because I mean if you said that you played quarterback your whole you know youth and life you were no doubt envisioning being a quarterback at the level that you're about to enter right correct yeah for sure um yeah I got to Texas A &M and I just I just couldn't throw like I could previously and you know I was I ended up tearing my labrum in my first year there and then um you know I was doing some other things like some special teams thing I couldn't throw and that was at the beginning of the season and so I couldn't throw anymore with a torn labrum but um you know I felt I had some ability and so they wanted to use me on special teams and do some other things and I got surgery at the end of that season went back to quarterback um you know I was still a quarterback but you know went back to a full-time quarterback and um it got a little better after the surgery but like after that surgery man I just I just was never the same I couldn't throw the same and so um but you know I was hard-headed and like that's all I knew I wanted to play quarterback like that you know and so I just decided to transfer, you know, see if a, you know, new senior region start fresh somewhere.

27:12I went to New Mexico State. That's where my dad played. So that's where I had a connection there. But it still was just never the same there. And so, you know, right before the season, you know, I was competing with Diego at the time and Diego won the starting job. And so I went into Coach Beck's office and I said, Coach, I'm willing to do anything to help the team. I said, I'll play a different position. I'll play special teams. I'll play defense. I'll do anything. And that's when, you know, he suggested playing tight end. And so that's how that transition started.

27:37Rich Eisen:And what about the mentals part of that? I mean, that couldn't have been easy. Yeah, no, it was it was tough, especially when I got to A &M and, you know, things just weren't going the way that I planned them to. And but, you know, I think that's where I started, you know, relying on my faith and leaning on my faith and understanding that God had a plan for me. And it says that all things were together for those who love me at Romans 8. And so, you know, I was just leaning on him. And by the time that I got to that point where I went into Coach Beck's office asking to move, like I had a lot of peace with it.

28:09You know, it was tough on me the three years leading up to that. But I had a lot of peace with it by the time we made that decision. And from that point on, I would just put my head down and working at the new thing that God put in front of me. So.

28:19Rich Eisen:So and last question for you on this front, who are you modeling yourself after at quarterback? Who are you like? I want to be like this guy. Who is that? At quarterback, yeah. So my mom went to Baylor, so I was a huge RG3 guy. That was my guy growing up. I wanted to be just like him, you know, a good dual threat quarterback. And Cam Newton was my other guy. So I was a big dual threat quarterback. That's what I wanted to be like back then. Well, you certainly have the size for the latter, you know. Okay, so learning tight end, the challenge was what there? yeah so I would say that like being a former quarterback I think that it helped to transition a lot in terms of scheming being a good athlete like the route running and the catching the ball and stuff it came pretty natural it was a lot of things that I still had to learn but that that came more natural I think the blocking aspect was the newest thing to me just because I played quarterback my whole career I never played another position on offense my whole life and so the blocking thing was something I never did quarterbacks don't block and so So I think when it got to that point, like I was completely willing, like I wanted to be, you know, moving to tight end, I wanted to be the best I could be at tight end.

29:30And I understood that, you know, tight ends block. And so I was completely willing to do it. It was just from that point, just learning the technique and understanding how to block. And so I think that that was the hardest thing. But over the last two years, I've taken some huge steps and strides and I've gotten a lot better. And I want to continue to get a lot better with that as I move into this next step.

29:49Rich Eisen:Well, I mean, you clearly have learned the position. What does it mean to you then to be a converted quarterback and you convert because the football injury gods force it and you learn a new position and then you win the award for being the top player at that position? What does that John Mackey award mean to you, Eli Stowers? I mean, it's just a blessing and it's super humbling. it just showed me and it proved to me even more that like, you know, God's got my, his life or my life in his hands. And, and, you know, it just, it showed me that I need to continue to rely, you know, rely on my faith and lean on that and glorify him and glorify Christ through it.