Hour 1: Live from the NFL Combine with NFL Network’s Stacey Dales, plus What’s More Likely

0:00Rich Eisen:We're leaving today and entering a world of Mickey Mouse waving, princess meeting and greeting, lightsaber clashing, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror dropping, Banshee flying, Space Mountain launching, galaxy rewinding, what's the whole deck with galaxy rewinding, fireworks igniting, World of Other Worlds. For whatever you love, infinite worlds await at the most magical place on Earth. Walt Disney World Resort. So good, so good, so good. New markdowns up to 70 % off are at Nordstrom Rack stores now. And that means so many new reasons to rack. Because I always find something amazing. There's so many good brands.

0:44Rich Eisen:Because there's always something new. Join the Nordiclub to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody.

1:04Stacey Dales:Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck.

1:07Rich Eisen: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 richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. Live from the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Caleb Downs. I'm a University of Michigan Wolverine. I'm not going to get up now. That's just... Today's guests. NFL Network reporter Stacey Dales. NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah. Chief Operating Officer and co-owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Stephen Jones. ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes.

1:56Stacey Dales:And now, it's Rich Eisen. Oh, hey, everybody.

2:01Rich Eisen:Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show live from the NFL Scouting Combine in downtown Indianapolis. We are one day into the on-field drills. Day two is later on this afternoon. And we also have one more day of four here that we've had on the Rich Eisen Show at the NFL Scouting Combine, live on Disney +, the ESPN app, ESPN radio, and so much more. Chris Brockman, T.J. Jefferson. Hey, Rich. What's up, man? Good to see you guys. Stephen Jones, the co-owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Perfect timing to have him on this program today. He's not only the co-chair of the competition committee, but there's franchise tag news involving George Pickens.

2:47Rich Eisen:We're going to hit that in just a matter of moments. We've got a whole host of guests coming here. It's a what's more likely Friday. Good times. But I do need to lead this show with what we saw last night inside Lucas Oil Stadium. Talk about it. And what I was fortunate to be in the booth next to Daniel Jeremiah on NFL Network calling the action, if you will. Listen, I'm fortunate to do what I do for a living. I'm fortunate that this is combine number 22 for me. I've seen a lot come. I've seen a lot go. I've seen a lot of guys jump out of a gym. and the gym being the old RCA Dome slash Hoosier Dome or Lucas Oil.

3:28Rich Eisen:What I saw from Sonny Stiles last night is something I've never seen before. And I know Arvel Reese had an incredible night. I know David Bailey ran a 4-5 flat, which was the best of everybody in the defensive line group. and what we saw last night, as I said, in my 22 years of covering this, the NFL Network's been covering this since 2003-ish. We come on the air in late 2003, and then in 2004 was our first combine. So in the same way that whenever you hear a stat for the Super Bowl era, You know what year it's from. The 2003 season is the line of demarcation for us at NFL Network. And since 2003, what we saw last night was the fastest defensive line group ever and the fastest linebacker group ever.

4:29Rich Eisen:You want to talk about bigger, stronger, faster? That's what we saw last night at the NFL scouting combine. and Sonny Stiles came up with the Triple Crown in one single night, which I've never seen before. The greatest performance at an NFL scouting combine I've ever seen. I'm not kidding. And there's been some great performances. Well, I mean, Vernon Davis got himself in the first round back in the day. is the first one that I can recall seeing, watching somebody who was a physical freak do things that you hadn't seen before from the position in which he was working. Yeah, that's the one I always come back to when I think about...

5:14Rich Eisen:Vernon Davis, right? Outstanding combine performances. This kind of came out of nowhere, dominated every single measurable end drill imaginable. Well, Sonny Stiles last night had the greatest vertical leap of 43.5 inches. He had the greatest broad jump of 11 feet at 2 inches. And he ran the fastest 40 at 4.46. That's not even fair. He's got wide receiver speed. And he's a linebacker in DN size. Arvel Reese also ran 4.46. So he shared the gold with his fellow Buckeye. but i'll never forget what i saw last night and our first guest stacy dales um is part of our broadcast team she ran across the field to go interview him after his 4-4-6 and he was it was a 4-4-7 at the time he didn't know he was one one hundredth of a second faster unofficial when it's And he had just ran it, and Stacy ran him down to talk about everything that he's done to that point in time.

6:24Rich Eisen:He was lamenting not jumping 45 inches on the vertical leap. What? He was lamenting his record leap was an inch and a half shy of his goal. It wasn't more of a record. Right. As he was doing this, I realized he's not out of breath. He just ran 4.47 at his height and weight. Wow. And he's not out of breath lamenting that his vertical leap wasn't as great as it could have been. And just for comparison, Kobe Bryant's vertical was 38 inches. Well, let me give you some comparisons here. Well, I mean, who is he? Let me just tell you, just to back it up a little bit more here, all right, is that the vertical leap of 43 and a half inches was the highest of any player six foot four or taller at the combine since we've been measuring it.

7:22Rich Eisen:Okay. He's 6 '5". His 43 and a half vertical leap is also the highest of any player 244 pounds or heavier since 2003. He's 244. He's 6 '5", 244. Okay. That's a nightmare. He's the heaviest player at the combine since 2003 to have a vertical that high of 43 inches or a broad jump of 11 feet or longer. No other player has jumped those marks at even 230 pounds or heavier. And he went 14 pounds heavier. His 4.4640 is faster than Derwin James, who is 4.47. His 1.56 10-yard split, which shows you how fast he can burst, is quicker than Adrian Peterson's 1.57. His 43.5 vertical jump is 3 inches taller than DK Metcalf's.

8:24Rich Eisen:Daniel Jeremiah called the human bat suit. And his 11-foot, 2-inch broad jump is 4 inches longer than Myles Garrett's. Okay, so last year we talked about Travis Hunter being a two-way player. So this means Sonny Stiles is going to play linebacker, edge, running back, and wide receiver. So here's the deal. Because Arvel Reese looks like he's built like RoboCup. All right? I've never seen this. Yeah, that's pretty good. And I asked. Look at the arms and shoulders on that guy. We had Caleb Downs on the show yesterday. He's going to dominate tonight. More than likely. Okay. And Cardinal Tate is going to get out there on Saturday.

9:19Rich Eisen:And he's going to look the part, too. So I am preparing myself. Oh, yeah. This is going to be tough for you. I mean, I'm preparing myself. And I think I'm doing a pretty good job right now of pounding the table. You are. Okay. I'm preparing myself. Sorry, Richard. I asked Jack Andrade, NFL Network Research. Okay. Has there ever been one school to have not one, not two, not three, but four. Put them up. Picks in the top ten of a draft. I got to say no, right? That is incorrect. It's happened. Oh, it has happened. Twice? Once? Of the common draft era, okay, which is when there was a merger, when the AFL and the NFL started having a common draft.

10:06Rich Eisen:1967. Michigan State had Bubba Smith go one, Clint Jones running back two, George Webster linebacker five, and Gene Washington wide receiver eight. Okay. Four in the top eight. No school has had three defensive players in the top ten in the common draft era. And Ohio State might just be the first. About to make some history. Because how do you look at Sonny Stiles and Arvel Reese and tonight Caleb Downs and not think that's three top ten picks? And then Tate might be the first wide receiver taken. And I'll tell you this, sir. I know. You have been reading all these mock drafts. And the mock drafts coming in the combine have had Sonny Stiles 12 to the Cowboys.

11:01Rich Eisen:Last night, sir, that went up in smoke like a Cheech and Chong movie. That is done. That ain't happening. Yeah. No chance. And Daniel Jeremiah, who's coming on this program in hour two, will replicate the chat I had with him on NFL Network last night. the Jets picking second overall. They got a choice, man. I said to him, yes or no, the second overall pick in this draft is on that field tonight on NFL Network, pointing to Lucas Oil. And he said, absolutely. David Bailey, Arvel Reese, Sonny Stiles. And he said, if you want pure pass rush, you actually play Sonny Stiles aside and you choose between Arvel Reese and David Bailey.

11:51Rich Eisen:And I'm wondering if that's not the wrong move. And I never look at Daniel Jeremiah and say, are you serious? Because Sonny can play everywhere. Yeah. Everywhere. Honestly, what I saw last night, my jaw hit the floor. Can I ask you this? Can I ask you this? And this is overreaction Friday. Okay. On a what's more likely Friday. On a what's more likely. I just want to throw this out there. If you're the Raiders, and you have Max Crosby, who is, according to all the information people, unhappy and likely to be moved. Do you trade him, knowing that 2027 is the quarterback heavy draft that everyone's trying to get into, and you take one of these defensive players, number one overall, and you use the draft capital that you accumulate from a Crosby trade for next year's draft to wherever you end up, go to number one and get Arch Manning, Dante Moore, any of these guys.

12:59Rich Eisen:Is that even in the realm of possibility? You can never say never, right? But Fernando Mendoza stepped to the podium here earlier today. and sounded like a franchise quarterback. And I understand everybody looks at this kid from Cal to Indiana and thinks that he's not first overall material. And I would disagree in that you have the first overall pick now, and you are a quarterback needy. You go get him now. instead of, well, next year we've got all these draft choices because it doesn't matter. The number of times, again, that we talk about the draft and you need a quarterback and why not wait till 2027?

13:56Rich Eisen:You could use all of these draft choices to trade up to go get the guy you want, unless the first overall spot is occupied by a quarterback needy team. and they're not moving off no matter if you say i'm giving you the dipka trade which is every draft choice i've got we got yeah and it won't matter because if there is a quarterback needy team sitting first overall next year and it's arch manning by a margin or more by a margin or whoever by a wide margin they're not giving they're not giving it up and a perfect example is, and it doesn't even have to be the first overall pick. Perfect example is your team that just went to the Super Bowl, Chris.

14:42Rich Eisen:The number of teams that reached out to the Patriots on draft day and leading up to the draft for the third overall pick for Drake May, and the Patriots treated that as if it was the first overall selection, and they made the right move. This is all assuming that Fernando Mendoza ain't it. And when he stepped to the podium today, was asked about basically what it would be like to lead a team. What does it take to be the face of a team? He gave this answer. I believe with an NFL franchise, to lead it, you need equity. And then you need two things to build equity. You need one, to play well. And that's where all my focus goes into.

15:24Rich Eisen:Football, football, football. If you want to lead, you first got to play well. And then second, it's having the respect of your teammates. through work ethic, through your leadership, through your tenacity, the way you respond to mistakes. And so those are all things I'm looking to work on. I kind of think, like, that's – don't you want to hear that? And then you look at the film, man. Look at the film. No doubt. Wasn't Reece who hit him in the first – who was the one – which Buckeye lit him up in the Big Ten championship game? Yeah. Honestly, the number of hits he took against Miami, the performance that he made in leading the team down the field against your Nittany Lions when it all looked lost and it looked like, you know, Penn State was ready to put a pelt on their board with James Franklin gone.

16:12Rich Eisen:That game is still incredible. He was amazing. Take a look at all of his out routes. These supposedly simple throws, but sometimes you could lead your guys. Sometimes you can't, you overcook it. He's like a machine. The 50-50 balls, the back shoulder throws. He's bigger than you think. He's a machine. He's a true 6 '5". Jay Feli hit Texas this morning. He was like, Fernando is huge. Oh, Jay Feli, new Rich Eisen show talent evaluation. Yeah, right, right. Big hits, but he said he's a big boy. He's bigger than you think. Yeah. You know, and he was, and to your point, is it possible that they're like, we want to wait at the quarterback spot.

16:59Rich Eisen:We can go and get Kirk Cousins. Just throwing names out here. Someone to fill a one-year gap. We're not going to go draft Fernando Mendoza after what he's done and the way that he can comport himself off hours in Las Vegas, Nevada. we're not going to hook him up with our new wonderkind head coach we're just not going to do it because we still have some reservations we can trade max crosby for more picks and go ahead and take one of these yeah fill the one of these players that uh we've been talking about to start sure right sure um and so it's possible sure i don't think it's likely i know what's more likely Friday, but Mendoza was asked, what if the Raiders do pass him up first overall, and what would he feel if that happened?

17:50Rich Eisen:Nothing. There's so many great players in this class. I mean, we saw the Ohio State guys run yesterday. There's plenty of Indiana guys who are great in the draft as well, and I'm just honored to be a part of the group. There'll be no hard feelings. There's so many things that organizations and business they've got to do for themselves, and I'm just trying to be the best me possible. on whatever team drafts me, I'm grateful, whether it's the number one pick or whether it's, you know, 199th pick. 199, interesting. Why would he choose? That's such a random number. That was definitely a choice, right?

18:21Rich Eisen:Weird. Yeah, it's a choice. I think he's, by the way, the Jets would do cartwheels if the Raiders decided to go defense off the top and use whatever draft capital they get from Max Crosby, which probably wouldn't be as good if they traded the first overall pick and got out for a quarterback needy team. They could get a bigger haul for that, I think, than anything else, than a Max Crosby deal, for instance. So just a couple cents on it. He is the guy. I'm getting more and more convinced. Why isn't he the guy? Because he's all shucks. He reminds people of Kirk Cousins. Cousins hasn't won much in this league Other than insane amounts of contracts You know And respect of a lot of people People act like they want someone with an edge But you can be a nice guy And still go out there and kick butt Well I mean just to use the phrase He's a milk drinker You know And sometimes at the quarterback spot Certainly for the Raiders You want somebody who's learning the playbook By the light of a jukebox You know Ken Stabler Yeah.

19:32Rich Eisen:And he's from Miami, so you're not worried about him going out. We made a joke about this, about the hangover. He grew up in Miami. You're not worried about him going out in a while. No, it doesn't feel like it. I just think you shouldn't overthink it, you know? Yeah. So let's take a break. Stacey Jales just showed up here, so we're going to talk with Stacey about chasing down Sonny Stiles last night and all the other stories that she has been chasing down. What was Stacey's 40 time when she did that? Well, let's ask her. that's next. This is the Rich Eisen Show live from the Combine.

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22:17Rich Eisen:The Ridge Eisen Show Podcast. Stacey Dales sitting here between TJ and yours. Truly here in the downtown convention center. We're just less than three hours away from being back at it at NFL Network for night two of our coverage. And that's where Caleb Down's going to get out there tonight. I'm prepping myself as a Wolverine to sit on the draft set in Pittsburgh and have four Buckeyes go in the top ten, which is entirely possible. Eat them alive a little bit, too. It's all right. I can go through it.

22:47Stacey Dales:I mean, their team, I was texting with Matt and Patricia during the show last night. It's not just it's Caden McDonald. You're going to see Lorenzo Stiles out there, his brother, who's only played defensive back. He was a receiver, remember, and he was converted in the last two years to cornerback and is still going to try to go out there as a Buckeye. Right. And proved to everybody that he belongs in the NFL alongside his brother, Sonny. That's a cool story. But, yeah, what a group from Ohio State for sure. And, you know, I would just say this too. Like, this is where stars, we get the pulse of these stars.

23:30Like, I'll never forget last year when we had Nicky and Maury.

23:34Stacey Dales:And I started following him around like a little puppy dog. Like, what is he going to do next? What can I shoot next? You saw what Seattle did. Mike told you in the booth. I mean, Gray Zabel, their rookie starting guard, had an incredible combine. And so Sonny Stiles, that breeds the conversation, fellas. How much does that impact his stock in this? He's going to go high, but I'm having people text me in the league. like, damn. Yeah.

24:10Rich Eisen:That was how crazy it was. Damn. Last night. I mean, TJ, you're, as I told you in our first segment, he's a cowboy fan. The Sonny Styles drop into the Cowboys at 12 in the mock draft. That went up in smoke. Yeah. Totally. Done. I was kind of like, oh. That's not happening. Arvel Reese, just on his bags.

24:30Stacey Dales:The bag work.

24:31Rich Eisen:Right. It looks so smooth.

24:33Stacey Dales:Forget the 40. Yeah. The bag work. I couldn't. my phone, I'm like, I can't. And then Patricia's like, monsters. My text is monsters. I've got months. And then there's so many, we're not trying to disclude other schools, but Texas Tech was amazing.

24:53Rich Eisen:Texas A &M has the most of any team here, 13 of them. Stacey Dale's here on the Rich Eisen Show. What's your favorite story you've picked up over the last two, three days? You can't wait to tell over the weekend maybe what what's the best story you've snagged well today we have a tight

25:11Stacey Dales:end named sam roush out of stanford uh who's he was a big tight end physical tight end he's a genius and so i got a rubik's cube ready to go we'll tease it because he does the rubik's cube right what does he do we're gonna put a clock on him rich but he was a computer science major graduated in three years at Stanford and created AI models and programs, football programs, just playing around with them. Just for fun. Just for fun. And I could get into big details about it, but I said, did the NFL teams know you're this smart and all that stuff? And he's like, no. Well, you might be working in their analytics department while you're stepping off the field from practice.

26:00Stacey Dales:So stuff like that, Rich. But there are so many, you know, so many of these young men and the stories and the families they come from. And whether it's the sport they played that changed their life or how their mom influenced them, there's just so many.