Hour 1: From the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh with Rich’s Mock Draft, ESPN’s Matt Miller & Bret Michaels In-Studio

24:08And I have Omar Cooper Jr., higher than Tyson. I worry about a player that has missed 34 % of his team's games over the last three years. and that knee injury he had at Colorado was awful, and now you're having hamstring issues. So I think that's the concern for me, not about on-field ability, but availability is the bigger question.

24:24Rich Eisen:I do appreciate, by the way, you revealing one of your mock draft picks of your final draft before it comes out. Yeah, that's the only one I have memorized. Why do I find that hard to believe? You're just trying to make sure you don't – I don't blame you. There's a lot of people that want to use your mock draft. Yeah, my watch is probably buzzing. Okay, good enough. So then we'll leave – unless you want to reveal more, that's up to you. the Browns go offensive linemen? I think they have to. And this is probably where the tradeback talks really do start because this is a deep offensive tackle class.

24:53So if you're the Browns, is the tackle at six better than the tackle that's going to be there at nine or 12? I think you could probably trade back and comfortably decide between Francis Maunoah from Miami, Spencer Fano from Utah. Those players are pretty closely graded together. One of them is likely to be there at nine. So if Kansas City does want to come up, I think six is a logical spot. and you have to watch the commanders because that's a Sonny Stiles landing spot. That's a Cardinal Tate landing spot. It could be a corner landing spot. So if you're a team that needs one of those positions, I think you're looking at six as a spot to move up.

25:24You want to jump the line there. Yeah, absolutely. And we know Cleveland will trade back. They did it last year. That analytical approach from Andrew Barry is let's get as many bites of the apple as possible. And so I wouldn't be surprised if we see that trade out. All right, here's another what if for you, Matt Miller.

25:39Rich Eisen:What if the Chiefs do trade up for Arvel Reese and the Titans are like, we just love Sonny Stiles. We've got to go there. And then the Giants are like, we've got to go wide receiver here. And Jeremiah Love is somehow sitting there at sixth. Do the Browns pull the trigger? I know they got to win Sean Judd last year. I don't think they do. And they took Dylan Tampson as well from Tennessee. They might feel like that is not a position we need to operate. If you're the commanders, you would be so happy watching that play out. If you could pair Jeremiah Love with Jaden Daniels, that's good. That's good.

26:10You would take that, right, as a Commanders fan. Correct. And so that's the floor.

26:16Rich Eisen:Seven is the floor. I think it is. For Jeremiah Love. I think we saw that play out in free agency with the Saints getting Travis Etchan from Jacksonville and with the Chiefs getting Kenneth Walker III from Seattle. They probably read the board just like we are right now and said, there's no way Jeremiah Love is going to be there. We'll go get a running back in free agency. By the way, did you notice he nailed the new pronunciation that's not really new, but the old pronunciation that's still now pronounced new? Practice it. Right. The ETN is out. It's not ETN anymore. Well done. Thank you. Look at you.

26:46Rich Eisen:He's a professional. A lot of times in the mirror with the pronunciation guide. This guy is grinding tape and getting hooked on phonics all at the same time. Impressive. So the Commanders are a Sonny Stiles, Jeremiah, love floor. I think so, yeah. And then we probably start the Carnell Tate conversation in there as well. Terry McLaurin is a sneaky 31 years old. Right. So I think you have to look at receiver for them. They have no one coming up the chain. There's no one behind him. Right. That you would say, okay, here's our logical successor. Here's our, they didn't really have a number two right now.

27:17So they could be a team that looks at receiver as well.

27:19Rich Eisen:And the Jordan Tyson, Carnell Tate conversation could wind in the laps of the Washington commanders is what you're saying. Yeah. And I think the Saints at eight are also in that same conversation. Saints will definitely go receiver, you think? If one of those guys is available, I think if Tyson's available, if not, Caleb Downs would look pretty good in that defense. They need someone that can be that hang safety, that can play over the top. So Caleb Downs is my number three overall player. We're talking about his, he's probably starting the conversation at five, but probably five to ten is his range.

27:47Rich Eisen:If the Chiefs are now sitting here at nine and Reese is off the board, Bailey's off the board, This is the Reuben Bain conversation now about the arm length. When do you think I start having that conversation on NFL Network's draft coverage? About pick eight, pick nine. And it's fascinating, especially Steve Spagnuolo. Their defensive coordinator has always valued size at defensive end, but it hasn't worked. They've always gone for arm length, 6 '5", 265, but they can't generate a pass rush. They're great against the run, but they can't get to the quarterback. So do you break the mold? And you guys are going to be talking about this, I'm sure.

28:22But with Reuben Bain, are you willing to bet that he's different than every other pass rusher drafted since 1999? Sub-31-inch arms has never gone to the first round, so he's going to do that. And a sub-31-inch arm pass rusher has never had 10 sacks in a season. So do you take a guy at nine who you say he's going to break the mold? And I asked a general manager that question. And he said, we'll let someone else be smarter than us. We trust the numbers that say this player is probably not going to have the success that he needs to have to be drafted in the top 10 or top 15 picks.

28:50Rich Eisen:Is there, and I'll just lob this into you, and you can handle this however you wish, in your years of doing this gig, is there anybody with the arm length issue like Bain who's looked like Bain at the collegiate level? There's not. There isn't, right? No, exactly. That's the outlier here, right? I mean, like, name me another guy we've had this conversation about who looked like that at the collegiate level. Aiden Hutchinson was close. You know, he was shorter armed, but he was definitely above 31. Right. But it was similar. People worried so much about the arm length. It hasn't been a factor. Clearly.

29:26It's been great. But then you see, you know, Will Campbell in the Super Bowl on the other side of the line, shorter arms. Once he got injured, the arm length really showed up because he lost some of that quickness. So I think there are ways to overcome the shorter arm length, but you have to have another trait. And for Reuben Bain, it's power. His game is power, not so much speed. So I'm not as concerned about it, but it will be fascinating to see if there is a slip because of it.

29:49Rich Eisen:So let's say Tate's off the board, Tyson's off the board, Sonny Stiles off the board, Bailey and Reese and Love off the board. What do the Chiefs do at nine? I want to be welcomed back into Kansas City when I come home, so I worry about saying this. But do you think about right tackle? Jalen Moore's on a one-year deal. He's been a swing tackle his entire career. You already have Patrick Mahomes that you're paying a billion dollars to. If you can have rookie wage scale tackles, if you can have a left tackle and a rookie wage scale and a right tackle, isn't that a great way to build a team? The calculus makes sense there.

30:23You've got to pay guys on defense. They're going to have to make some decisions about Rasheed Rice, whose contract is up after this season as well. So receiver could be in play, but with the way the board is here, I think you have to look at tackle, whether it's Maui Noah or Fano, to shore up that side of the line. Interesting.

30:37Rich Eisen:How are they in terms of getting a step off before the snap? How are they? Have the Chiefs looked at the tech to see if? Let's make sure they're waiting a beat. I'm not going to be allowed back. You're getting a text message shortly from somebody. They love you there, though, Rich. I mean, it's a valid question. That's what the right tackles do, right? They move before the snap and never get busted for it. Can you time the snap? He gets busted for it all the time now. That's a Falcons fan's problem. So then the Giants, let's just say, wish list. I think it's a wish list for the Giants. John Harbaugh and Joe Shane are lockstep.

31:18Rich Eisen:Let's say they're all on the same page, okay? You know that's not true. Careful. I want to be back in New York. Okay, great. Sorry. And you told me before the show you have reasons to want to go back to New York. Well, yeah, obviously, yeah. That's where you can catch something. Listen, heart of hearts, they're on the same page. Five and ten may come away with who? Jordan Tyson and Caleb Downs. If they could wave a wand. I think that's the dream. And maybe it's flip-flopped. Maybe you get nervous, so you just take Downs at five. But I think that's the dream. But Downs would be there. Don't you think?

31:49He should be there at ten.

31:50Rich Eisen:Right. I mean, if you had a choice between one of those two who would be available at ten, wouldn't you say Downs? You would say Downs, right? Because you have to worry about the teams we discussed. Washington, New Orleans, Kansas City. Those are wide receiver teams, potentially. So I think you – safeties always fall, which is unfortunate, but they do. They always fall. Kyle Hamilton was my number three overall player. He went, what, 14, 17? And he's great. And that's – Harbaugh is – He had Ed Reed and Kyle Hamilton. Doesn't have him anymore, right? Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. Their safeties are decent.

32:19Javon Holland, Tyler Newbin, they're good players, but they're not Caleb Downs. Hello, Newbin. Hello.

32:24Rich Eisen:The player that the Cowboys are thinking about trading up for is which one? Oh, my gosh. I think it's Sonny Stiles. It is. It's wild for a non-premium position how valued he is. That we're talking about him being the fourth pick in the draft or teams trading up to get him. But I thought it would be one of the pass rushers. All the calls I made pointed Dallas to Sonny Stiles. But you might have to go to five, six to get him. Well, they've got 12 and 20. Yes, you can get up there. And I was told last week, they're willing. He's getting excited. He's like, yeah. I know. You sound like Del Tufo. So bad.

33:00Just grunting over here. Dallas has never had someone like that on their defense, though. You know, like, we've got to go back to Ken Norton. The last time they had a great inside linebacker?

33:07Rich Eisen:I will ask the question some might be asking right now, and, you know, whatever, if maybe a simple one, but why is Stiles' gig, his position, not valued positionally? Like, I don't understand it either, and I don't understand it either with Reese. Like, is he ready? Is he not? Again, I covet what I see, and watching as much Big Ten football as I do, those two guys were unblockable at times. They were unblockable, unstoppable. They were superb. They're top ten picks for a reason. Styles had one of the best combine workouts I've ever seen, and I know that in a token, old school, can get you on the subway.

33:48Rich Eisen:But, I mean, why is Styles' position viewed as not as valuable? I think anyone who's watched Fred Warner play would think it should be valued. Seriously. We're talking about closers. Fred Warner's a closer. No doubt. So Sonny Stiles can be that type of player. Or we can show our age here. Brian Urlacher, like that type of player, former safety who moves to linebacker and just becomes a complete eraser for a defense. I think you would want that in the top ten, especially in a draft that doesn't have the proven left tackles. And we've got two edge rushers that are going to go early. But there's not those, the can't-miss wide receiver.

34:22Or, you know, there's no Joe Alt in this class. Why not go with a player that for two years was unstoppable for Ohio State? And they got both our teams. Michigan, I'm a Texas guy. They made Arch Manning look like an unraptable quarterback. Yeah, right. So I think those, yeah, you just take them and you don't worry about the linebacker position for the next 10 years.

34:42Rich Eisen:Before I let you go, sir, I'll give you the Rich Eisen show option that we like to throw to people here, which is give us a wild prediction. If you're right, we'll play it back saying, boy, he's a genius. Nailed it. And if it's wrong, this never happened. It's flushed. The Thursday night biggest surprise is going to be what? I still think it's Jordan Tyson going five. I think that will be the surprise where the Giants come on the clock and whether it's you guys or Kuyper and those guys talking about it, you're running through all the options of all these defensive players and they call in Jordan Tyson.

35:16Rich Eisen:Okay. With all due respect, that's not big enough for me. Wow, Rich, come on now. Normally don't do this. I normally just allow you or a guest to just give me one and I'll stick with it. That's not wild enough for me. Give me the wild prediction for Thursday night. If it's right, we'll play it back because you're Nostra Miller. Okay, and if you're wrong, this never happened. Okay, Dallas trading up to three. Yes, sir. Is that big enough? Four for Reese. They traded for Reese. I'll go with that one. Okay. We punched it up. We punched it up. Right. That's a little bit better. That's a little hot.

35:53Why would it be hot? I wish there was like a big player trade that we could have. That's what I wish.

35:57Rich Eisen:Well, A.J. Brown's not going to be available because of the whole June 1st salary cap thing. I don't know. I don't know that Jonathan Greenert gets it done for us. I don't think. No, no. That's correct. I would have rejected that one, too, with all due respect to him. Thanks for coming on. And thanks for what you've done with us the entire draft season. We've enjoyed it. I've enjoyed seeing you here in the flesh. Yeah, absolutely. We'll be doing more of it, I'm sure. And 4.30 p.m. Eastern time on this Wednesday of draft week, check out Matt Miller's mock draft. He already gave you what he thought the Giants are going to do at 5.

36:29Rich Eisen:Jordan Tyson, which would be surprising-ish, but not as big as Cowboys moving up from 12 to 20 to 3 for Arbel Reese. That's a lot more fun. There you go. Let's take a break, and when we come back, one of the native sons, ladies and gentlemen, and Brett Michaels is here in Pittsburgh, PA, next on The Rich Eisen Show. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.

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38:10grab a bucked up and feel like a million bucks.

38:40Rich Eisen:Our show friend and our buddy Joe Manganiello told us you've got to go there, so we had the whole crew there last night. It was really great, and I haven't eaten a thing since then. You won't need anything for about a week. They threw french fries somehow on that as well. We got it in. And pierogies. You can't forget a good pierogi. I love it. I love it. It sounds like when you talk about food and football as somebody from this town, does the accent get thicker? It absolutely does. When I walked up, I think I know almost everyone that's in here, your crew. Everyone here is amazing, by the way.

39:12They are. It's like a family atmosphere. And as soon as people come in, my accent immediately, it's heavy, but it goes back right. Hey, Yin's doing good. You going downtown? Such.

39:24Rich Eisen:Earlier, Rich, you said welcome to town. And I was like, you always had a town. Town, right? I mean, yeah. I hear what Pat says. If you're going grocery shopping, we call it John Eagle. It's a giant eagle. We just, you know, so anyway, but the Pittsburghese and the atmosphere here and y 'all, the good weather we have here. Oh, man. It's going to be unbelievable. I appreciate you being here to welcome us, Brett. And so who was your Steeler growing up? So I grew up, I go every single summer out to La Trobe. Okay. And I know the last time I saw you was on my birthday, March 15th. I was so fired up to come in on the show.

39:59Yeah, yeah. And you all were great. And then I said, we have a big family party going on. Rolled back We left there, had a good time Went back to the party But growing up for me Every year I go to training camp And watch And we stood there, they had the rope There's no security You just lifted the little yellow rope up and went under But I'll tell you who was fantastic Terry Bradshaw Signed an autograph for me So that was great Roy Jarella came over to the fence Said hello, Mean Joe Green Is that kid that's on the screen right there, the one under the rope? That's the one that went under the rope right there.

40:38Look at that kid right there on the left.

40:41Rich Eisen:Wow. Lid in the jacket. Fired up. Fired up. I'm telling you right now, when I say football, I get, as you can tell now, man, I get excited. It changed my life right there. I was literally younger than that. I was young. I was diagnosed as a diabetic. And I'll tell you what, for real, football and music, it not just changed my life, it saved my life and inspired me. No kidding. It did. And it keeps me always a warrior. I decided very young, I'm going to be not a victim. I'm going to be victorious. My parents are like, you have two choices, victory or victim. And the Steelers were winning. and I just chose be victorious, beat this disease, and live a long, awesome, rocking life.

41:30Dude. For real. How about that?

41:32Rich Eisen:You did that. And the Steelers helped that process along. Knocking on wood, they did. The Stillers did great. The Stillers. Stillers, Stillers. Go Stillers. Do you have any thoughts on what they should do at 21st overall? Well, I'm working with Fernando right now, myself. And I've personally been reaching out down in Miami to the family. And I said, listen, would you be interested in going 21? That's a tough sell, I'll be honest with you. I did my best, but I got him a hat. And he said, I'm in. He's such a sweetheart. We had him on the other day, man. He's the greatest. He's like, you know, and you see some of the stupid ass comments on some of the videos and whatever.

42:13Rich Eisen:Like, he can't be real. He's not being real. Like, I don't know. I don't think anybody's ever accused him correctly of being, you know, unreal. He's as authentic as they come, it seems like, you know? I'm going to tell you, again, unfortunately not me. He's not going to be the Steelers quarterback. It's not that you know that right now, Fred, whatever you're about to say. It's just not going to happen. I said there's a lot of money over here if you go number one with the Raiders. Should that be? But I said I have a hat. I said, don't you want to be a Stiller? Is it this hat? No, that's your hat.

42:46Oh! Your hat. What? I want to throw this out there. Okay. All right. I have a lot of things on my mind. So if I look like I'm going all over. Let's go for it. It's okay, Brett. You're being genuine yourself. I brought you to Welcome to the City. Okay. This hat. I got some for the crew. Oh, nice. There's Brett Michaels on the back.

43:03Rich Eisen:Back together. Okay. Very good. Right? Yeah. And so we brought that. But what I wanted to tell you, just to start everything off, and I know we had called in in a couple drafts and our family, my wife and kids, we make donations nonstop to St. Jude's. And I said this today, you guys go so far, you, everybody above and beyond, and it means the world to us. So we wanted to start it off with Run Rich One. Yes, sir. Right? We brought you something just to get it started from some of our fans. We did a recent concert. We said, we're putting this together for you. And this is what we did just to start.

43:42That's a big check you got there, man. It's a raceable Sharpie, and the numbers didn't come off. I swear that doesn't say$1. Okay. All right. No, it does not. $1 ,000 check. $10 ,000. Just to get it started. Generous, man. And we're going to take it up a notch. You can hold it up to that camera. Here we go. I'm holding it to the wrong camera. There we go. There you go.

44:03Rich Eisen:Nice. $10 ,000. I'll hold it now. Thank you. I didn't erase it, did I? No, you did not. All right. That's the Pittsburgh in me. No, that's okay. Okay, that'll happen. That's amazing. This is so generous of you and your wife and your family. $10 ,000 will go. And the fans at the concert. I appreciate that. Thank you so much because you know what St. Jude is all about. Absolutely. And I did my run a couple weeks ago on the campus there at St. Jude in Memphis, Tennessee. I know it exactly. And it is a very special place where a lot of kids get better and a lot of frightened parents show up, freaked out parents.

44:42Rich Eisen:The kids are the ones who are remarkably the calmest. They're resilient. Isn't it amazing? It's unbelievable. Their strength and resilience and what they do with research, everything there, it's amazing. And what you do to add to that, it takes football, like I'm saying, as a kid diagnosed. Sure. Three weeks in the hospital and parents are out of work for a while. I'm just saying in real life, they're there with their kids. Or bankrupted, man. Or they're bankrupted based on the health care system. And St. Jude says, come in. We're taking care of you. We'll put you up across the street. We'll fly you in.

45:22Rich Eisen:You don't see a bill for anything. All you've got to do is focus on the kid. And we focus on getting the kid better. And then, of course, there's the research aspect of it. So sick kids don't get sick to begin with as badly as they do sometimes. Absolutely. This is, you're awesome. Thank you. Yeah, I should put on the hat. Yeah, put on the hat, man. Oh, you look good. Oh, rock it. I'm out of the band. Rock it. I just lost my job in the band right now. It's over. Just call me Rich Khalifa. Oh, by the way, we got to bring this up real quick. Yeah. As we do this, by the way, the hat I have on my head.

45:57Yeah. So we put this up this morning. Someone already donated$5 ,000, and I'm matching it so it's$20 ,000 now. Oh, wow. They put$5 ,000. I said, I'll match it. So now we've got$20 ,000 for St. Jude's and Run Rich Run. Notice it says Rich Eyes and Rocks.

46:14Rich Eisen:It does. I wish we had more time because it seems like every two minutes that this interview lasts longer, the price goes up on the check. It's just added an hour. I'm cutting this off a little too soon. Keep it going. And fittingly, we're in a bank, so I could just deposit this right now. Does this work? The way I'd fill out the paperwork, we're in a bank, man. You don't even miss as a real check. You just throw that right in. Oh, by the way, I love the Bret Michaels logo that's on the top left of the check. I had to. It's a little shameless promotion on the top. You've got to throw a little.

46:44I still have your coffee cup on the RV. I took a picture on the tour bus.

46:49Rich Eisen:Yeah, you do. Again, while we're promoting, night two of the draft on Friday night, alongside your friend and other hometown legend, Wiz Khalifa. You, lead singer of Poison, will be on the draft theater stage right near Acreshire. You can register for free access to this concert, and for the three days of the draft overall by downloading the NFL One Pass app. Brett Michaels here on the Ridge. The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast.