Take us behind the scenes in term-- what you are learning about both of these school.

Yeah, Paul.

A, um...

For Missouri, look, I, I think you're, you're finding this is a football team that's really trending in the right direction right now.

I think they're in a good spot both mentally.

They're getting healthy physically.

I think this game against Texas A&M, look, regardless of what people may feel about their season so far and how uneven it has looked and how they really haven't played their best football, Coach Drinkwitz thinks this is kind of like a measuring stick game for them, that if they think they're as good as they are, they'll find out in this game because he really has a lot of respect for this roster.

And I've seen you talk about it already this week on some of the ESPN shows, but I'd really like for you to share with our audience what you see as the keys to this game.

What do you see when you watch their games and look at them on film and obviously talk to the coaches to get ready for the broadcast?

Yeah.

Speaking of the coaches, you know, just talked with all of them today, spent all day over there at their football facility.

And look, Kirby's as good as it gets.

You know, that Kirby is the perfect blend of old school and new school.

He gets it.

He coaches this team old school.

How does a team like that come back, especially when they're playing one of the best teams in the country?

But you think this is a turnaround, uh, moment for Clemson?

I think it could be.

I really do because, you know, I, I put it like this, um, they have a freshman quarterback, Tate Reynolds, now, who really is a guy who seems to be, like, lifting the hopes of not just the players on the field with his ability to run the football, play with power, play with force.

He threw the football better as the game went on and just really settled in.

But he's kind of lifting the spirits of, you know, the football building, the fan base, I think, overall because he just has that kind of aura about him.

He's young, he's big, he's strong.

He kind of, like, really embodies what people are, uh, what, what everybody looks for in that kind of leader.

If you're a Browns fan, was this a good thing that you beat the Buccaneers?

But you think this is a turnaround, uh, moment for Clemson?

I think it could be.

I really do.

Because, you know, I, I put it like this, um, they have a freshman quarterback, Tate Reynolds, now who really is a guy who seems to be, like, lifting the hopes of not just the players on the field with his ability to run the football, play with power, play with force.

He threw the football better as the game went on and just really settled in.

But he's kinda lifting the spirits of, you know, the football building, the fan base, I think overall because he just has that kind of aura about him.

He's young, he's big, he's strong.

If you're a Browns fan, was this a good thing that you beat the Buccaneers?

What does DeBoer and his staff think in terms of that offensive line? Because if it's not much better, this is all moot.

Yeah, you know, Really, the whole has to be greater than the sum of its individual parts when you're talking about offensive line play, right? So if you look at them one through five, look, they are a pretty inexperienced offensive line in terms of starts.

When you're talking about Jackson Lloyd, the left tackle, William Sanders was here last year, but he wasn't a starter.

Del Gotti, racing Del Gotti as it's transferred, etc., Michael Carroll was a right tackle last year here at Bama, then he moves in the right guard, and Jason James comes over from Mississippi State.

Look, none of those guys, when you look at them, you're going to say, well, this guy's a bonafide first-rounder, this guy's a surefire prospect, this guy's a first-team All-American.

But what they believe is, because of how Adrian teaches the fundamentals, the mental aspect, the importance of working together as a group of five, the kind of physicality that he demands...

the kind of technique, you know, and efficiency as far as your footwork and hand placing, the kind of stuff that he demands.

What do you know?

What do you feel about the 2026 Bears and their ability to recapture some of what they were able to do last year?

Well, look, I think there's some validity, Tommy, to the fact that, you know, can you expect to lead the league in turnover differential the same way that they did in 25? Can you really expect to...

have that repeat itself in 2026.

Well, I mean, you go into it with the mindset of, hey, look, it was intentional that we took the ball away the way we did.

We teach that.

We teach ball disruption.

We work on people catching the football when it's up there.

Break the NFC North down for us, will you? Can KOC, can he find the same connection with Kyler Murray that he found with Sam Darnold? Who are the Packers? And do you expect the Lions to make a significant improvement over what was a disappointing season last year?

the 2026 Bears and their ability to recapture some of what they were able to do last year?

Well, look, I think there's some validity, Tommy, to the fact that, you know, can you expect to lead the league in turnover differential the same way that they did in '25? Can you, can you really expect to have that repeat itself in 2026? Well, I mean, you go into it with the mindset of, "Hey, look, it, it, it was intentional that we took the ball away the way we did." We teach that.

We teach ball disruption.

We work on people catching the football when it's up there.

We work on being in the right spots to capitalize on mistakes by the offense.

We work on making them go the long, hard way, 'cause the longer that they are on the football field, the more susceptible they are to turning the football over.

So all those things, yeah, you're right, they...

Break the, the NFC North down for us, will you? Can, can KOC, can he find the same connection with Kyler Murray that he found with Sam Darnold? Who are the Packers, and do you expect the, the Lions to, to make a significant improvement over what was a disappointing season last year?

What do you think about just getting back to playing Raider football?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Look, man, I'm, I was fortunate enough during my time to play with Eric Allen and Charles Woodson.

So, and Albert Lewis had transitioned to safety at that time, but between EA and Charles, it doesn't get any better than that.

And all the, all the times of, you know, seeing Lester Hayes come around and, and just how much I revered guys like Mike Hayes.

I mean, these are, these are legends, absolute legends, all of them, every guy that I just mentioned.

I mean, this is step one tonight in the preseason game, but what should we be looking for from Fernando just as he gets into this NFL quarterback thing?

Louis has been watching events from 6,000 miles away through security cameras he's installed in the property.

We are in fear of his life and his son's life.

I heard on the news Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador, called the settlers are terrorists, disgusting, which is good.

But we need an action to remove them, not just talks on media.

I mean, is anything have been achieved yet? My brother has been under siege for the last five days.

Hundreds of IDF soldiers in town, around the house, and those settlers are still walking freely.

[laughs]

It, it, it's, uh...

Look, just Aaron, knowing Aaron the way I do, um, which is not as well as, you know, people who are obviously around him every single day, I mean, Dan, he's, he's one of my favorite people, let alone favorite players, because he's generous with his time, he's honest, he's straightforward.

There's no BS with him.

There's just no, there's never been any fluff with Aaron.

It's just been about this journey that he's on just to be great, as great as he possibly can be, and he talks about it in such a pleasant way when you're talking to him, and then when you watch him play, you're like, "Damn, I don't even know that dude.

That dude's nasty." So for him, like, he doesn't, he doesn't waste people's time.

Uh, why are the Arizona Cardinals so bad?

[laughs]

It, it, it's, uh...

Look, this Aaron, knowing Aaron the way I do, um, which is not as well as, you know, people who are obviously around him every single day, I mean, Dan, he's, he's one of my favorite people, let alone favorite players, because he's generous with his time, he's honest, he's straightforward.

There's no BS with him.

There's just no...

There's never been any fluff with Aaron.

It's just been about this journey that he's on just to be great, as great as he possibly can be, and he talks about it in such a pleasant way when you're talking to him, and then when you watch him play, you're like, "Damn, I don't even know that dude.

Uh, why are the Arizona Cardinals so bad?

From a pure football standpoint, Louis, how do you think that he projects on the next level, and secondarily, how high do you think he would have gone had he gone in April's traditional draft?

Yeah, Jim, look, he, his, he's got tremendous physical tools.

There's no question about that.

Um, you're talking about height, weight, speed, mobility, functional mobility, arm angles, horsepower in his arm, the ability to throw with touch and velocity, throw outside the pocket.

He's got all of that.

We showed some clips of that on, on TV just, you know, a couple days ago at ESPN, and it really does give you some Matthew Stafford/Patrick Mahomes vibes in terms of the way in which he can always get the ball off, even if the, even if he isn't on platform and it isn't ideal.

And on top of it, his ability to scramble and, and pick up hidden yardage, pick up off-schedule yardage, would be as good as the top quarterbacks in the NFL.

Yeah.

How surprised were you that the Browns decided finally to move on from Myles Garrett?

Look, it's kinda like what...

I, I'm, I'm not shocked.

Look, it, you know, it...

Teams that are always caught in this p- in this, in this state of, you know, their evolution, so to speak, or their growth, which is they're always seeming to reset, rebuild, trying to restock the cupboards, gain draft picks, sell hope, push it off till next year.

This is what they do.

Eventually they get their b- they take their best player, 'cause they're gonna hit on somebody 'cause they're always drafting high.

Yeah.

How surprised were you that the Browns decided finally to move on from Myles Garrett?

Look, it's kind of like what...

I, I'm, I'm not shocked.

Look, it, you know, teams that are always caught in this p- in this, in this state of, you know, their evolution so to speak, or their growth, which is they're always seeming to reset, rebuild, trying to restock the cupboards, gain draft picks, sell hope, push it off till next year.

This is what they do.

Eventually they get their b- they take their best player, 'cause they're gonna hit on somebody, 'cause they're always drafting high, so they're gonna get somebody that has unique skills, and eventually they're gonna wind up trading them away to reset it for the next coach, the next coach, the next coach, the next coach.

So am I shocked? No.

Yeah.

What are your thoughts on Willis? And do you believe he is ready to be the starting quarterback for an NFL team and be that QB one for the Dolphins?

Well, with the very short resume that he has, what he has put on tape is some spectacular individual performance.

And the game that you saw him play against Baltimore late last year up in Green Bay was about as good as it gets, quite honestly.

I believe it was against Baltimore, yeah.

He has unique... let's just say dual threat capabilities, which I hate to use those words, but that's really what it is.

The guy is very obviously elusive in the pocket, very good at second reaction, extending plays, throwing off different platforms, but can also throw the football from the pocket very, very well.

Short, intermediate, deep, throw it with touch, throw it with velocity, made some spectacular throws.

Overall takeaway, biggest takeaway, and, you know, is there a final grade stamp that you would put on this draft?

[laughs]

That's what they do.

The, the, the draft is about...

It's really an, uh, a risk assessment exercise.

So for Reuben Bane, right? If you take him inside of the top 10, if he works out, you're a genius.

You watch the tape, you know football, even though there's people going, "He's got 30-inch arms.

If he ran a 40, he'd probably run about 4.85.

You okay with the Cardinals taking Jeremiah Love?

[laughs]

That's what they do.

The, the, the draft is about...

It's really an, a risk assessment exercise.

So for Ruben Bain, right, if you take him inside of the top 10, if he works out, you're a genius.

You watched the tape.

You know football.

You okay with the Cardinals taking Jeremiah Love?

So Louis, which team needs to ace the draft the most?

Look, I, I don't think there's any question it's the Kansas City Chiefs.

They're the only team in that list, quite honestly, that people have high expectations for, that people have this standard of performance that they hold this organization to.

And coming off a season where you finish 6-11, you're 1-7 on the road, you have a losing record at home, your quarterback gets hurt, you're one of the worst teams in the NFL in terms of, like, creating explosive plays down the field.

Defensively, you're one of the worst teams in the NFL getting off the field on third down.

I mean, there's just a, there's just a litany of things that Brett Veach, the general manager, needed to address, knew he was going to need to address, and now he has the ammo with nine picks, two in the first round, Shay, as you mentioned, to go ahead and address those.

And they're at some pretty critical positions, too.

Go ahead, Lew.

If you had a question for Mendoza, was it answered at his pro day?

Yeah.

Y- look, um, I, I don't know if I had a whole lot of questions for him as far as, um, from a physical skills perspective.

I think I wanted to see just what his body looked like in person.

I just wanted to see how he moved in person.

He's a lot bigger now than he was during the season.

That's the first thing that jumped out at, to me, to me, Dan.

And then you have other people, including, you know, an NFL scout I spoke to last night who said, "I don't have a first round grade on him, but that doesn't mean he won't go in the first round." W- why is there such a wide disparity of opinions on him?

If you had a question for Mendoza, was it answered at his pro day?

Yeah.

Yeah, look, um, I, I don't know if I had a whole lot of questions for him as far as, um, from a physical skills perspective.

I think I wanted to see just what his body looked like in person.

I just wanted to see how he moved in person.

He's a lot bigger now than he was during the season.

That's the first thing that jumped out at, to, to me, Dan.

And then you have other people, including, you know, an NFL scout I spoke to last night who said, "I don't have a first-round grade on him, but that doesn't mean he won't go in the first round." W- why is there such a wide disparity of opinions on him?

All right, give me the most important drill at the Combine, and you as a former front office guy would say that will equate to success on Sundays.

Yeah, you know what? It's, it's different for each, for each position group.

So when you're looking at-- obviously, when you're looking at the forty, which is always the marquee event, [chuckles] you know, it's different for the DBs as opposed to offensive linemen.

You hear all the time offensive, offensive lineman, it's about ten-yard split.

For DBs, like corners in particular, it's about ten-yard split.

The forty is more heavily weighted for corners because, look, if you're sub-- if you're not sub four-five in the forty at corner, you're probably gonna have to be, like, ridiculously proficient as far as your instincts and route recognition, 'cause you just need raw speed.

You just do.

... out of the equation.

All right, give me the most important drill at the Combine, and you as a former front office guy would say, "That will equate to success on Sundays."

Yeah, you know what? It's, it's different for each, for each position group.

So when you're looking at...

Obviously, when you're looking at the forty, which is always the marquee event, you know, it's different for the DBs as opposed to offensive linemen.

You hear it all the time, offensive, offensive linemen, it's about ten-yard split.

For DBs, like corners in particular, it's about ten-yard split.

The forty is more heavily weighted for corners because, look, if you're sub- If you're not sub four-five in the forty at corner, you're probably gonna have to be, like, ridiculously proficient as far as your instincts and route recognition, because you just need raw speed.

... out of the equation.

Mm-hmm

... who is going to be the next superstar, as long as you hook him up with an offensive coordinator that he gels with personally, a system that really, you know, he is very comfortable with? Um, you get him a strong running game.

Look, obviously, you know, the, um, the Packers system, the Sean McVay system, the Kyle Shanahan system, is obviously something that he has taken to and something that he has excelled in.

So that's obviously something you wanna get him a, you know, a play caller and/or a head coach who's a disciple of that system, so he can hit the ground running, and he doesn't have a whole bunch of new learning to do.

I think...

I, I don't know if he's necessarily...

Look, he had, he's had his opportu- he's had opportunities, but he hasn't been...

Okay.

Right

...

when guys are kinda, like, really set in their ways, they've kind of established a method of doing things in their career, when they change teams at that point, usually if they've changed multiple teams, the teams that they wind up being the most productive at are teams that they have some kind of common tie to.

Like, for instance, when I was in Washington, we signed London Fletcher as a linebacker in free agency.

Greg Williams was our defensive coordinator.

Greg had coached London in Buffalo.

Many people thought London was done, and Greg said, "Oh, he absolutely is not." He wound up having multiple Pro Bowl years.

Is that gonna be more the same, or are things gonna change up, and you're gonna let it loose?

Yeah.

Is it, like, nine, 10? Something ridiculous.

Mike has played in a bunch and won a bunch.

I think they're the best-coached team in the NFL, that combination.

I think Mike McDonald's one of the most analytical, even-keeled, level-headed guys in the NFL that you're blown away by, and their football team defensively is just ridiculous, but so is New England's.

Seattle's offense is a little bit more explosive.

Sam has a penchant for either being really good, or he can have one of those games where you're sitting there going, "Mm." Now, you know, you see why maybe N- you know, Minnesota has some reservations, although I think by and large, Minnesota still wishes that they had Sam Darnold.

You would have [laughing]...