FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 24th, 2020

BRUCE ARIANS & MATT PATRICIA ON NFL DRAFT; 1ST-ROUND ANALYSIS FROM DUNGY, HARRISON, SIMMS & KING — QUOTES FROM TODAY’S EPISODES OF LUNCH TALK LIVE WITH MIKE TIRICO AND THE RICH EISEN SHOW ON NBCSN

“He is absolutely the perfect fit for us because it’s really hard for lineman to come out of college now and jump right in.” – Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians on Tristan Wirfs

“Our comfort level was really high (with Jeff Okudah). Nothing was going with the trades and obviously, in order to trade, both parties have to agree.” – Detroit head coach Matt Patricia on Lions’ first-round pick

“I kept talking to Tom (Brady) about it and he brought it up…The fire was lit.” – Arians on Rob Gronkowski trade

 “That’s the shocker of the draft… Green Bay is in the (championship) window right now…They need to worry about filling out the roster and they kind of, I think, wasted a pick here at the end of the first round.” – Chris Simms on Packers selecting QB Jordan Love

“The Cowboys are going to have to win an awful lot of high-scoring games. They have got some needs on that defense.” – Peter King on Dallas drafting WR CeeDee Lamb

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 24, 2020 – Mike Tirico hosted today’s special two-hour episode of Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN and was joined remotely by:

    • Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians
    • Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia
    • NBC Football Night in America analysts Tony Dungy & Rodney Harrison
    • NBC Sports football analyst Chris Simms
    • NBC Sports NFL insider Peter King
    • NBC Sunday Night Football sideline reporter Michele Tafoya
    • Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams
    • Pro Football FocusGeorge Charourhi

 

The Rich Eisen Show followed Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN, as host Rich Eisen was joined by:

    • ESPN football analyst and former All-Pro punter Pat McAfee
    • FOX college football analyst Joel Klatt
    • NBC Sports NFL insider Peter King

 

Following are highlights from Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN:

Bruce Arians on drafting tackle Tristan Wirfs: “(Iowa head coach) Kirk Ferentz is one of the best line coaches we’ve ever seen…(Wirfs) is absolutely the perfect fit for us because it’s really hard for lineman to come out of college now and jump right in.”

Arians on the origins of the Rob Gronkowski trade: “I kept talking to Tom (Brady) about it and he brought it up…The fire was lit. Tom really was the lead on it having the friendship that they have.”

Arians on when he had the first inkling that Tom Brady may sign with the Buccaneers: “Truly when we got on the phone together and I heard the excitement in his voice…He knew as much about us as we knew about him.”

Arians on what he told Brady about working together: “I think the big thing is collaboration. Learn what we do. It’s a lot easier for (Brady) to learn the terminologies than 21 other guys to go learn yours and he was totally on board with that…Then tell me the things that you really like that you’ve been doing…and then we’ll just adapt the terminology to what you like.”

Arians on the Buccaneers’ 2019 season: “It was a pretty disappointing season for me. I thought we were a playoff team and we should have been in the playoffs.”

Matt Patricia on selecting Jeff Okudah with the third overall pick: “Our comfort level was really high (with Okudah). Nothing was going with the trades and obviously, in order to trade, both parties have to agree, and it just was getting to the point where we didn’t really have anything.”

Patricia on how Okudah fits into the Lions’ defensive scheme: “At some point, everyone plays man (coverage) and those are usually the biggest moments of the game. In those situations, you have to have guys who could come through. It’s so critical for us to find those players.”

Patricia on Matthew Stafford: “(He’s) someone we’re just continually trying to do everything we can to build around…It’s one of the reasons I came to the Lions…This was a place that had a quarterback that I really, really admired and really liked.”

Patricia on looking at QBs with the No. 3 pick: “We always do our due diligence in the Draft with all quarterbacks…The earlier you can get to learn these guys, the better off you are when you have to play against them in the league. From that standpoint, I’m going to take every opportunity I can to meet every quarterback I have to play against.”

Chris Simms on the Packers drafting QB Jordan Love: “That’s the shocker of the draft…Some of the top-end talent I saw (from Love), it’s Aaron Rodgers-esque…He’s a project and that’s why I think Green Bay takes him and I understand that. He needs to sit on the bench for a year, maybe two years.”

Simms on the Packers and Aaron Rodgers: “Aaron Rodgers has taken care of his body and is still one of the five best quarterbacks in football…It’s not a negative on Jordan Love…It’s just Green Bay is in the (championship) window right now… They need to worry about filling out the roster and they kind of, I think, wasted a pick here at the end of the first round.”

Simms on if Miami will play Tua Tagovailoa in his rookie season: “I just think ultimately, Tua will be the starting quarterback there in Miami. Even this year, I think it will happen.”

Simms on the Jaguars: “It’s Sacksonville 2.0 and (first-round pick C.J.) Henderson is a similar talent to Jalen Ramsey…This Jacksonville defense is getting scary with talent once again.”

Rodney Harrison on the Cowboys selecting CeeDee Lamb: “I do believe that he has the potential to become a better receiver than Amari Cooper. I think he can be the Dallas Cowboys’ number one (receiver).”

Harrison on the Packers selecting Jordan Love: “I actually like this pick. I think this kid has a tremendous upside. I think this kid can sit another two or three years and learn behind Aaron Rodgers and learn from the very best. Now it’s up to Aaron Rodgers to be a little bit more open-minded — because he’s mature, he has the big contract — to teach this young guy and to make a difference in this young guy’s life.”

Harrison on Aaron Rodgers: “It’s competition. I don’t care who you are, you have to step up. You have to make plays and you have to continue to play well.”

Tony Dungy on the Packers: “I think it was a smart move for the future. May not help them this year, but a great move for the future.”

Dungy on what he would say to Aaron Rodgers as a coach: “We know what we’re doing. We’ve got to win, but you’ve got to help this young man come along and, eventually down the road, he’s going to be our quarterback. We all know that. But you’re our quarterback for the next two, three, four years and we’ll see what happens. Be a pro and do your job.”

Dungy, who lives in Tampa, on the Buccaneers: “Who are we playing in the Super Bowl? Who’s going to make it from the AFC? Because we are definitely going.”

Michele Tafoya on Joe Burrow: “The amount of attention he’s gotten, the way this guy plays, the comparisons they’re making to (Tom) Brady. He’s stepping into a system in Cincinnati that hasn’t had a lot of success. It’s just going to be fascinating to watch, and I’m pulling for the kid.”

Tafoya on Burrow and Chase Young: “Two players who could have impacts immediately…We’ve seen a lot of busts in the past, I don’t think these guys are going to be busts.”

Peter King on the Dolphins selecting Tua Tagovailoa without trading up: “To the victor go the spoils. Congratulations to Miami, because clearly they predicted right and then they didn’t blow a high draft choice in a draft that they’re counting on to totally restock their team.”

King on Jordan Love to Packers: “There’s no way to sugar coat this. Aaron Rodgers is going to be ticked off…I don’t think it was a great pick by the Packers, however I do applaud a team making a really difficult choice for the long-term. This was a pick for 2030.”

George Charourhi on New England trading out of the first round: “When you’re trading back, you’re helping yourself. You’re flipping the coin a few more times on most likely a non-quarterback…The draft has so much variance that any of those players can be very close to one another…This is why the Patriots keep winning.”

Charourhi on the Dolphins selecting Tagovailoa: You get a player that could have gone one overall and you get him at five…Potential franchise-changing move.”

Charourhi on the Cowboys selecting CeeDee Lamb: “My favorite pick of the whole draft is CeeDee Lamb to the Cowboys. He should be going to a really bad team. He’s going to a good team.”

Following are highlights from The Rich Eisen Show on NBCSN:

Peter King on if the Packers told Aaron Rodgers they were drafting a quarterback: “I don’t know if they did or not. It sounds like they didn’t…In my opinion, if you are Aaron Rodgers and you see this is the best crop of receivers maybe ever…and instead you get the guy who is going to take his place in a couple years. That is why if you are Aaron Rodgers you have to be steaming today.”

King on the Cowboys drafting CeeDee Lamb: “The Cowboys are going to have to win an awful lot of high-scoring games. They have got some needs on that defense, particularly in the back end. Man, Dak Prescott better throw for 5,500 yards this year.”

King on the Patriots’ quarterback situation: “It is not out of the realm of possibility too that they sign an existing guy (in free agency) or trade a lower pick for Andy Dalton.”

King on the Dolphins and Chargers drafting first-round quarterbacks: “I found it amazing that neither Miami nor the L.A. Chargers moved up just to prevent someone else from taking their guy.”

King on the Cardinals drafting Isaiah Simmons: “They had one of these guys before, his name was Tyrann Mathieu. And Isaiah Simmons, if anything, is more versatile and maybe just a little bit bigger too.”

Joel Klatt on the Packers drafting Jordan Love: “You are one game away from the Super Bowl in Green Bay — one game — and the last time I checked, Aaron Rodgers wasn’t the problem in (the NFC Championship Game in) San Francisco…You have to respect the championship window.”

Klatt on Aaron Rodgers: “If I was Rodgers I would be incensed. I don’t have forever to play, and you are going to stick Jordan Love behind me? I needed a wide receiver and, in response to that, all you gave me was more reporters with more microphones in my face.”

Klatt on who the next quarterbacks drafted may be: “Jalen Hurts and Jake Fromm I think might be the next two names off the board from a quarterback perspective.”

Klatt on Chase Young: “I think he is better than Nick Bosa because he is longer…I think he has the potential to be one of the great pass rushers over the next ten years.”

Klatt on 49ers GM John Lynch: “Ever since John Lynch came into the league as a general manager, he has been masterful in the draft.”

Pat McAfee on Aaron Rodgers: “The Green Bay Packers come in and do something nobody expected and, to be frank, I think it was a very stupid draft choice. If I were Aaron Rodgers, I would be very confused with four years left on my contract…If I were Aaron Rodgers, I would be mightily pissed off.”

McAfee on the Dolphins drafting Tagovailoa: “I think that is a great team on the rise, especially in the AFC East who just lost Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. I like what the Dolphins did, not just with that pick but with their other two as well…Things are looking very, very much like they are on the upswing for the Dolphins and it hasn’t been like that for a long, long time.”

McAfee on the virtual Draft: “I think it was very well done by everybody, including Roger Goodell with a costume change in the middle of that thing and then hyping up the Zoom crowd every single time. I really think it was well done top to bottom.”

 

–NBC SPORTS–