Detroit Lions rookie drawing comparisons to a Legend!

Detroit Lions rookie drawing comparisons to a Legend!

Have to let it dry. Steven will rei reunited. I had to do a solo today, Will. It wasn’t the same. Wasn’t the same. I know you were working as you say, but I secretly know where you were. You were secretly out on that yacht again, weren’t you? Unreal. Unbelievable. But I was receiving gifts though, Steve. I was receiving gifts. Yeah. Like the kids What kind of game? The kids got me drip. Kids got me. Got got some Lions drips from the kids, man. Um, we kind of hinted. We kind of hinted at something yesterday, Will. And I think it’s time I think it’s I think it’s time we just dive in. You know, deep end of the pool, sink or swim. What are we talking? I’m fearful of what we’re talking today. So, if uh if you would be so kind to hit the subscribe button if you have not and please become a member if you want to win some stuff now, do it right now before we get talking because sometimes, Steve, when negative comments are made by anyone or about anyone that wears Honolulu Blue, things get really ugly and people say not so nice things. And I’m not even saying that this is going to be a negative episode cuz I don’t think that it’s necessarily going to be that. But full disclosure, this started with a conversation that I was having with a gentleman that I will let remain nameless, but he is a football guy. and uh he told me that he believed that a rookie that the Detroit Lions drafted this season by the name of Isaac Tesla, he could see him potentially receiving 1,000 yards, 1,000 yards receiving out of Isaac Tesla on his rookie campaign. And as you can imagine, I looked up at him and I said, “Are you absolutely nuts?” Now, now listen, were you were you picturing my face when you said that? Cuz I was I was It’s That’s absolutely crazy to me. So he went on to say that he could see him being similar to a guy Mhm. who is a a first ballot hall of famer like maybe best receiver ever in the NFL and none other than Megatron. So Steve, I got to pump the brakes on this Isaac Tesla. He has not he doesn’t have an NFL reception yet. I feel like things are getting crazy. They’re getting out of hand. So, I guess we set the table starting this thing with are you seeing or getting Megatron vibes from Isaac Tesla. William, there’s a reason I’m chuckling like a school girl tonight and it’s because we kind of talked about this yesterday. Uh, boy, lot to dive into with this topic. Like I don’t even know where this journey will lead us tonight, but I’ve been on the Isaac Tesla train since we found since I found out we had um an an unofficial or official visit before the draft. Like I started looking at the kid and I was like, I really like what I see. Um the thousand yards isn’t that crazy to me. It’s not hard to get a thousand yards in the NFL with an extra game, with the way the league is designed, with it being a passing friendly offense. I’m not banking on it getting 1,000 yards because I don’t see Jared Goff having three receivers with a thousand yards and I think that Jir Gibbs is going to flirt with a thousand yards receiving. I think he’ll be in the seven seven to 800 yard range receiving. I It’s just the odds aren’t in his favor. But when I when you start I think I might even have brought this up when I said the greatest wide receiver in Detroit Lions history is Calvin Johnson and he didn’t even flirt with a thousand yards at a as a rookie. He had less than eight. So once I started diving into that I’m thinking look I I love Tesla. I I think he’s going to be good best Lions receiver in NFL in the history of the franchise 10 years from now. I I I don’t know if I can you know I’m not willing to stand on that island just yet. Will All right. just like like you said, I he hasn’t caught a pass. I’m not even 100% sure he has a confirmed jersey number just yet if I’m being honest. So, um I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when you were having the conversation with this person because I would have sat there and thought this dude’s got to be messing with me. Like this is this got to be like got to be like a hey gotcha moment just jking, you know? But yeah, I I I can’t get on board with all that talk. William. Yeah. So before we were going to do an episode, obvious we we had a conversation about it, but before we were making an episode, I had to dive in to Twitter and just talk to some uh other football people that I respect and nobody else was as far down the crazy train to me as that. Nobody was, but there were some people that were still flirting with to me, the crazy train. Um, so just a few things that have came out professionally. I’ll go there. I won’t even go to our Twitter people and uh, you know, subscribers and comments like that. I’ll start off with that. Professionals, right? Um, or large number viewership podcast. Crunch time. Quote, “The NFL is about to find out about Isaac Tesla.” That’s what they say. Woodward, right? Steve’s favorite Woodward. Um, I would be a difference maker for the Detroit Lions. Quoted there. Here’s the best one. Here’s the most important one to me. Steve, oh boy. Asnone other than Brad Campbell saying or Brad Holmes, actually. Brad Campbell, I’ll take that too because Dan Campbell obviously feels the same way. Red Holmes stated that Isaac Tesla was his favorite receiver in the draft this season. He didn’t say he was the best. Now, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m not misquing him. He didn’t say he was the best receiver, but he did say that he was his favorite and he put his money where his mouth was and traded 172 third round picks to go get him at pick 70. So, all of that leads me to this. I think that Brad is a genius. Some might say a evil genius or a villain. Brad is so smart. He’s three, four moves ahead in this chess game. I think that he understands exactly what Isaac Tesla is, which is an elite role player. He is an elite role player. He is a guy who is going to do some special things for the Detroit Lions. He’s going to make some special catches. But I stand on what I said pre-draft. He’s just a solid player. And by just, I just mean Kelvin Johnson is special. There may only be one Kelvin Johnson ever. Isaac Tesla is not Kelvin Johnson. I’m not saying he’s not going to be good. I’m not saying I’m not fighting for him. I’m not saying that I don’t believe him, but what I’m saying is I think what Brad’s doing is he understands the assignment. The assignment is get solid football players that fit in Detroit, but don’t break the bank. Isaac Tesla is never going to break the bank. He’s never going to get that St. Brown paycheck. He’s never going to get the paycheck that I believe that uh J Mo is going to get because he’s not that type of guy. What I see out of Isaac Tesla is this, and maybe I’m completely off base, Steve, please let me know. Oh, I will. There going to be a guy who makes tough tough 5050 catches, just sure hands. He’s going to be a guy who Jared Goff can trust. He’s going to be a guy who probably consistently goes out and gets you 700, 800 yards. Not because he doesn’t have an ability to do more. Let’s start with there’s only one football in Detroit, Steve. You got to give some to David Montgomery. You got to give a little bit to uh uh Gibbs. You got to give a little bit to Williams. Sam Leapora. He’s he’s going to want a little bit of football. So St. Brown’s going to want the football. Khalif’s going to want to get it every now and then. People could forget about Khif Raymond. He only got one ball. Everybody gonna have a thousand yards. Like Isaac Tesla is be a guy who makes that third receiver money. He’s going to be once he’s up for a new contract, hopefully he’s going to be around that under $10 million type stuff. You know what I mean? And Brad’s smart for getting a guy like that in Detroit. Hometown guy, speed, size, wants to be here, right? He’ll block. He’ll do all of the things. That’s the type of dude you want on your team and you need on your team. An elite role player who doesn’t break the bank. Steve, is he more than that? Am I crazy? Can you read me those quotes from those tweets one more time, William? Can we Can we back up to that real fast? All right, so crunch time. The world is about to find out about Isaac Tesla. The world is about to be on notice. Okay. Uh um Woodworth Sports, Isaac Tesla will be a difference maker for the Detroit Lions. A difference maker, right? And then obviously Brad Holmes, favorite receiver in the draft. Not saying he’s the best, favorite receiver in the draft. Traded, I believe, what was it? Three, was it three? Third round pick two and then one from the future. We moved up like 70 spots or something like that. But I don’t have any problems with those those quotes or those tweets, a difference maker. I think he’s going to be a differencemaker. I I I can’t say that he’s not going to be an allp pro or a pro bowler because he hasn’t caught a pass yet. He hasn’t even reported to rookie camp yet. That’s another almost week away, eight days away from from right now. So, I can’t say that what he’s not going to be. But I I I am pretty confident that he’s not going to be Calvin Johnson. All right. that that’s what I that’s the only thing I do know 100% because when you mention the name Kelvin Johnson or you could just say Megatron. If you’re an NFL fan, you know who we’re talking about. And a lot of Lions fans might not like this, but I don’t think Kelvin Johnson is the greatest receiver of all time. I think that’s Jerry Rice. But I’ll fight off an army of communists for anyone who wants to tell me that he’s not a top three. In in my particular order, I would go Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Kelvin Johnson. And you can flip-flop two or three perfectly fine with me, but Jerry Rice is the goat. One of one. Um, but Calvin Johnson, man, he was just I don’t even like there’s not even a word to describe what he was. Like an absolute differencemaker. Like I watched that dude get triple teamed and still make plays. I watched that dude get bracket coverage his whole career and still make plays. I watched Matthew Stafford have no offensive line and no running game and still go out and throw him the ball and get 1,900 yards. Like, he was that kind of guy. Great. Absolutely special to see. Glad we all got to watch him in person. Uh it’s a real shame if you’re if you’re too young and don’t remember it. I’ll just tell you that. But I can’t put Isaac Tesla in that group. Will I I don’t think he’ll ever be the Lions best receiver in franchise history. I I I’ll die on that island because I just don’t see it. Um, but I do think he can be a really, really good role player. To me, that’s a differencemaker. That’s what Woodward said. As much as I, you know, beef with them, I have to agree. I I do think he will be a solid solid difference maker. Will it be in year one? Maybe, maybe not. If it’s year two, I still think that it’s worth the trade up if he’s a solid solid difference maker. Um, probably not the And I’ll just say it will. I’m gonna call [ __ ] on Brad Holmes. I don’t think that he was his favorite wide receiver. He’s got to say that now because he was drafted. But I wish someone would have asked him before the draft, hey, who’s your favorite wide receiver? And I know he would have gave a vague, non-escriptive Will Ford type of answer and beat around the bush and not said it. But I know he wouldn’t have came out and said, oh, my favorite wide receiver in the draft is Isaac Tesla. So, I’ll call [ __ ] on you on that one, Brad. But I get it. You’re doing what you got to do. That’s your job. But well, I I am higher on Isaac Tesla, but I don’t see him ever being the Detroit Lions number one wide receiver five, six years from now. But I I do think he’s going to be a solid solid contributor. At least in year two, I’m going to be more hopeful. I don’t I don’t put a lot of pressure on rookies, especially when you’re the Detroit Lions. Like, you’re hoping that Brad Holmes hits another home run like he did a couple years ago when we got Brian Branch, uh you know, all those guys in the late rounds. Monra, you’re hoping that this is one of those drafts again. And if it is, that’ll put us over the hump. Those are hard to do. But I do think Isaac Tesla is the most intriguing offensive prospect that we’ve drafted since Jameson Williams. I know that the bar is not very high there. I know we’ve been a little trench heavy offensive line, defensive line, but I do think he could be a very, very solid player for the Lions. I like the word solid, Steve. I guess my biggest issue is the word play. I’ll say that. And by word play I mean this the comment of difference maker. I’ll come out here and say I don’t have very many football X’s and O’s original ideas and there’s only so many things that you can do football-wise. I’m the type of guy if I flip this camera up or took it out into my library, you see probably at least at probably at least 50 football books, man. From X’s and O’s to autobiographies to whatever, right? Uh there’s only so many things you can do per the per the rules, you know, motions and formations and different tricks, you know, that you can do. I say that to say this. When I’ve talked to going to coaches clinics or talking to guys that are way smarter than me, when they talk about defending and what they think about and what they worry about, they pretty much always map the defensive scheme around stopping what the other team does best. That’s the first thing. If it’s a team that’s looking to pass the ball, we’re going to stop that. If it’s a team looking to establish the run, we’re going to stop that. That’s the first thing. The stuff that you want to do, they want to stop that. The second thing is I’m going to stop the difference maker or the difference makers. So when crunchtime or I’m not picking on them, anybody refers to a player as a difference maker, that immediately makes me think of that. Would it be a person that Brian Flores is going, “Hey, we got the Lions tomorrow or we got the Lions this week. Isaac Tesla, we got to stop him.” I just don’t believe that. I don’t I don’t believe I think you circle J Mo, you circle St. Brown, you circle J, you circle David Montgomery, maybe you’re not circling Isaac Tesla. And you darn sure ain’t doing it his rookie season. Yeah, because so just difference maker. When I think of difference maker, that’s what I mean in the word. It’s like difference maker. You’re keeping me up that night. I’m trying to figure out how the heck am I going to stop Justin Jefferson tomorrow? How the heck am I going to stop uh Jir Chase tomorrow like or Jamar Chase like I I I just don’t think that’s Isaac Tesla. Isaac Tesla is an elite role player. But I just can’t remember, Steve, the last time a player has been talked about as highly that was drafted in the third round, like he was about to go set the league on fire. For some reason, a lot of Detroit Lions fans believe that he’s going to set the league on fire. And I just don’t believe that. Now, I pray that I’m wrong. I’m not hating on him. He’s wearing hallelu. I pray that he is Randy Moss. Like, I play I pray that he’s better than Calvin Johnson. It’s just not what I believe is going to happen, though. Elite role player. He’s going to freaking win 50/50 balls. He’s going to be one of those guys that gets incrementally better every single season. He’s going to work hard. He’s going to block. He’s going to be a hometown hero. He’s going to be all of those things. But difference maker, I can’t call him that. Let me play a little devil’s advocate, Will, because I was kind of going down this road and then you kind of stole my thunder a little bit. I think what could make him a differencemaker is when you’re mentioning all those guys in the team meetings. You’re mentioning how do I take away Sate Brown? Check. Let’s say I can do that. I can take away Jameus Williams. Okay, I can stop your running game. Who’s next on the list to be a playmaker? To me, it’s Isaac Tesla or Sam Leaporta. But I think that puts him in a role to potentially be a differencemaker if those other two guys and I don’t think it’s likely that you’re shutting down J Mo the run game and St. Brown and Leaporta. But if if for some reason it does happen, I think I think Isaac’s the next man up. Like I think he could be a differencemaker if we we can scheme some stuff or maybe All right. Hey, they’re doing little double coverage on St. Brown. They’re taking away some underneath stuff and they’re and they’re doubling uh Jamo on the other side. Uh the middle they got a good linebacker matchup with with with Sam Leaporta. Who’s my next guy in the passing game? It’s Isaac Tessa. So, I think that’s where he really could be a differencemaker is if you’re so focused on everything else that we have and you have the personnel to take it away, which no team does. I truly don’t think so. But if you do, that’s what’s going to make him a differencemaker as a rookie. Now, if he starts putting up these games where he’s got seven, eight catches for 80, 90 yards and a touchdown and you start having to, you know, go into your defensive meetings and changing some stuff up and saying, you just throw everything out the window and say, “Hey guys, we just got to hope for the best this week.” like this Detroit Lions team has too many weapons. Like that’s where I think Isaac Tesla could take us because it’s unlikely you’re stopping our run game. It’s unlikely you’re stopping our two best wide receivers. It’s unlikely you’re stopping a top five tight end. But if you do, I think that’s where Isaac Tesla will shine. And that’s what’s going to make him that guy that a lot of people, myself included, believe. But I think if he puts up some big games, it just creates more stress for a defense. So I I do think he could potentially be that difference maker, William. Yeah. in in that in that context, I I could label him a difference maker. I just wouldn’t label that necessarily a difference maker. What I’m hoping for him, Steve, is kind of exactly what you described was to me a guy if you bring your third DB out there. Problems, right? Don’t mess around and put a linebacker on me or something. Problems, right? That’s what I see. Don’t mess around and put a baby on me because I’m a big body. Problems, right? th those I think he could be a matchup guy. He could be a guy who is just like I said an elite role player. One of those guys that he’s not ever going to be the guy that you’re saying is a probably a Hall of Famer, right? But man is he just freaking good though. Like just good. Just makes plays. You just don’t understand it. Like I don’t understand why this guy don’t get the ball more. It seems like he’s just catching touchdowns when he does or he’s catching it 20 30 yards down the field when he does. Like I could see him on, you know, running deep deep posts and digs and, you know, just just getting open, catching fade balls, that type of stuff. I I could see it. I could see that type of stuff happening. I just don’t see him being a go-to guy. And part of it is the football situation, too, man. Like I said, it’s the football situation. Only one football. We we got some guys who are elite at their positions who are going to get the targets. They’re going to be the player that we’re trying to scheme open. So maybe down the road, you know, I don’t know, three, four, five years down the road, maybe he could step into that role. You, who knows, he has speed, he has size, and he seems to have the work ethic to go out and continue to just stack days on type of days. You never know what could happen in those those type of atmospheres. Uh maybe we have a puka nakua type of type of situation. You know what I mean? Yeah, that that would be cool. And again, I just don’t want to I just don’t want this thing to get twisted. You know, Kelvin Johnson, I’d be happy with him being I I’ve used this comparison before for Isaac Jordy Nelson. Like Jord I was just looking at Jordy Nelson’s stats for his career and his best season was in 2014. He had 98 catches, uh, 1,500 yards, 13 touchdowns. I don’t think Tesla will ever get to that. So, I’m just kind of trying to find like a middle ground here where maybe I do think that Tesla could be a,000 yard receiver, 10 or 11, 1200 yards and eight, nine touchdowns, I think, is a difference maker. Is that going to be as a rookie? Probably not. Will that get you to a Pro Bowl or two? Probably. And I do think that that is possible. I know a lot of people are going to say, “Oh, Steve, he’s going to be the greatest receiver all time.” Look, I hope he is. I hope he I hope everything I said about him not being Kelvin Johnson is wrong. I I truly do because that’s great for the Lions. But um I I just think that’s more of a comparable career. I liked watching Jordy just looking at his his height and weight like he’s very similar build to uh to what Isaac is too. Jordy was 6’3. I think Tesla is 6’4 and runs a 44 speed. Like man I I I do see that he could be when you say he’s not a differencemaker but he’s an elite role player. Well, I think it’s it’s really just like a a fine line of what’s the difference between the two. What what what’s the difference between the two categories? Like an elite different an elite playmaker or what you elite uh role player. Elite role player. Yeah. I think that could be potentially a difference maker. So, I just I I do think we’re on the same page that he’s not a guy that week one of the NFL, the Green Bay Packers are probably not going to be circling him and saying, “Hey, this is the guy we got to stop.” But it is a guy week eight or nine where a team’s paying attention to say, man, we we’ve really got our hands full with this Detroit Lions offense. Hopefully that’s the case. Steve, I’m pulling on stats on a guy who when I think about him, it’s kind of what I hope for out of Isaac Tesla and it’s what I expect to be honest. And you tell me if you feel this comp. To me, Tyler Boyd is what I want him to be. And when I think about Tyler Boyd, you got Chase, you got Higgins, th those are the guys. Tyler Boyd’s pretty freaking good though. Like, and if Tyler Boyd was somewhere else, yeah, maybe he’s a thousand yard receiver multiple seasons. Now, I think Tesla probably touches a thousand yards at some point in his career. Like, if he has a 10-year career, he probably gets there a couple of times, right? But when I look at Tyler Boyd’s career, um, his rookie season 2016, uh, 600 yards receiving, uh, injured in the 17 season, 2018, barely gets over 1,000 yards. That 28 20 yards over. 2019, 46 yards over. Then it’s 841 yards, 828 yards, 762 yards, 667 yards. And then Tennessee, they had a quarterback situation. Yeah. You know what I mean? So, but that’s what I expect out of him. I expect a guy who gets you about 800 yards and 50 plus plus catches. That’s what I expect out of him. And that’s pretty darn freaking good. If he turned out to be Tyler Boyd, I’d be, man, he’s a dog. He’s an animal. He’s a beast. I I wanted Tyler Boyd in Detroit. I wanted him to bring him in as a as a free agent, man. So, uh that’s what I expect. I’m just trying to just pump the brakes down a little bit. Even for him, man. It’s got to be pressure on his shoulders. He’s coming back to his hometown. People are talking about his 40 time and his size and coping him to freaking Megatron and a thousand yards and all of this stuff. Just let this guy get in, get in camp, compete, and come out and be a a beast of a freaking role player. And maybe as you’re saying, Steve, I can agree with that aspect that that description of a differencemaker. Yeah. A guy that maybe catches some gamewinning gamewinning touchdown. Maybe a guy that’s making some big plays and some big moments. I could see that. I just don’t see this dude coming in and just putting us on his back and getting a thousand yards. But I don’t know. I guess we’ll see. Sometimes fans get carried away. Will, you remember uh I forget what year it was. University of Michigan recruited a running back by the name of Derek Green. Do you remember that? Mhm. And he was supposed to be like the next Mike Hart, the greatest running back in Michigan history. Most people don’t know that he’s selling groceries now. Okay. Like these comps get out of control sometimes. Like I don’t know. We just got to we just got to hone in some expectations. Hopefully, you know, 10 years from now, you guys come on here if we’re still podcast and you say, “Man, remember when you guys said he’d never be Kelvin Johnson?” And maybe something crazy happens and he does put up more numbers than what Kelvin did. But I don’t know. Kelvin probably could have played three or four more seasons and put up some crazy numbers, too. So, I got to take that into effect for any argument going forward. So, I don’t know. Well, we got to just tamper some expectations and think about what we’re getting this year, how he’s going to be in this system with a new offensive coordinator, some questions up front on the offensive line. Is he going to be featured? Probably not. Could it be a guy that makes her play or two and then maybe some offensive and defense or some defensive coordinators got to start paying some attention to him? Yeah, that would be a great great help for us. But let’s just see what happens. Let’s get to spring or um um training camp before we start building trophies and and giving him statues and retirement numbers. And I don’t even know what number Isaac Tesla is wearing this year. William, do you off the top of your head? 18. Number 18. 18. I probably could have got it pulled it straight off of Jake from I don’t know what happened with man. He just he just I don’t know if he just walked in the room and said, “I’m home now. Daddy’s home. Go ahead and take that off.” Or not even on the team. That’s why that number is still they just they just peeled that old name plate off and said, “Here you go, kid. This is what we got for you.” You got anything else for tonight? No, man. Let us know how you’re feeling, man. I I I know there’s a lot of people that are super high on Tesla, man. Let us know how you’re feeling about him. Where where do you see him? Do you see him in this in this Megatron range? Do you see him somewhere as an elite receiver in the league, man, and a role player? What do you see out of him? And what’s your expectations? I I’d be happy with something between Kelvin Johnson and Titus Young. something in between there. William, I that’s a wide range. I thought Titus Young was gonna be one of the one of the greats. I think he’s in prison now if I’m not mistaken. I think he robbed someone. I don’t know. I’ll have to look that up when we get off air. Titus Young, RIP. If you’re still alive or if you’re not still alive, stick around. Hit that like button. We’ll be back later with another show. Peace.

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Detroit Lions news and rumors! Steve and Will are back together, joking about Will’s absence and a luxury yacht. Steve mentions receiving gifts and shares some laughs with Will. Stay tuned for more Lions news and rumors!