The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Draft Takeaways With Booger McFarland. Plus, Jimmy Butler’s Big Game 4 and ‘Warfare’ Codirector Ray Mendoza.
Tue, 29 Apr 2025
Russillo starts the show by sharing his thoughts on Jimmy Butler's Game 4 performance (1:21). Then, he’s joined by Booger McFarland to break down last week’s NFL draft. They discuss their favorite picks, what they expect from Travis Hunter, why Shedeur fell so far, and whether 100 men could defeat a gorilla (22:22). Then, ‘Warfare’ codirector Ray Mendoza comes on to explain the real-life events that inspired the film, what it was like being in war, and how people reacted to seeing the movie (1:07:31). Plus, Life Advice with Kyle (1:38:45)! Did I pick the correct choice in a couples massage? Check us out on YouTube for exclusive clips, livestreams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Ryen Russillo Guests: Booger McFarland and Ray Mendoza Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, Mike Wargon, and Jonathan Frias Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What were the key moments in Jimmy Butler’s Game 4 performance?
The kind of embarrassment, though, you're going to be able to get over as a fan base because most everybody nationally is going to forget about this. What I won't forget about is Jimmy Butler last night. that was all time stuff from him coming off this pelvic contusion injury where you could clearly tell he was hurting. So I'm going to,
Get to Butler at the end as I run through some of the stuff from last night's game. So 13-2 start for Golden State really quickly. Houston turnovers. I'll admit watching it, I was thinking, like, is Golden State just going to run away with this one? Is Houston just not up for the moment?
This younger team, despite Van Vliet's playoff resume, Brooks being through his own battles, but needing a lot from Shingun and Amin Thompson, Jalen Green, who was terrific in game two, but then it's basically... I mean, the variance on his games is alarming. So maybe we'll spend a little time on Jalen Green, but probably not a ton.
So the point is, is that it's a bad start for Houston, but they righted the ship, especially if you think of the talent level between two teams. This isn't Miami and Cleveland here. I think the talent level is very comparable here. But you're just wondering if Golden State being a little bit more battle tested was what we're seeing in the beginning.
And it wasn't the case because then Golden State goes through a five for 25 stretch. Adams checked in at 550 in the first quarter. Golden State was up 1611. He checked out at the very end of the first quarter. It was 2824. And it was a 28-26 first quarter score in favor of Golden State.
Houston's offense, which has been the second worst of all of the 16 playoff teams only ahead of Memphis, is also the worst shooting offense in the playoffs still, even after last night's game. They outscored Golden State 31-22 in that second quarter. The defense of Houston... is so impressive at times just because of these dudes they have everywhere.
And look, Van Vliet, if you think you're going to hunt him and it's going to work, he's stout. The deflections numbers for him throughout his career are always like you have to look at him again and be like, God damn, that guy's on it. Brooks is somebody you don't necessarily want to switch into. Shingun, you probably would like to try to attack.
But you could see, especially if they went with the Adams lineup, it's like even if you think you get some kind of angle here, Adams is just big enough. And this whole Adams story is incredible because when he first started getting regular rotation minutes with Houston, I was like, I don't know, man.
Like, how are you going to play this guy in the playoffs if everybody's playing off of him this much? Well, he's impacting these games in a really big way. And it's a credit to Houston for experimenting with this, staying with it when I thought there were some early games where I maybe didn't understand the point. And it's just getting him ramped up, getting him back out there.
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Chapter 2: What are the top NFL Draft takeaways with Booger McFarland?
They're going to close with the last shot. So it was actually the way they played it out defensively. He would have been better off just letting him shoot defensively. because he had Kawhi at a disadvantage and fouled him. So the fouling stuff for Draymond needs to tighten up if this team is going to go far.
Because there's also a moment, as I'm watching last night's game, as Golden State's struggling, Curry's just everything about their defensive priority, and he's not being able to fight his way through it. Butler, Pajemski, all these other things. I'm watching that team going... Like, hey, as much as I like these guys, it's been a really good story.
Chapter 3: What makes Jalen Walker a standout NFL draft pick?
And it looks like they're going to close out Houston here up 3-1. I do think these teams are fairly even. Do you watch Golden State through these four games and go, yeah, they can beat Oklahoma City? I mean, I don't know if too many people are trying to sell you on that out there.
But, man, that seems impossible for Golden State to go through some of these offensive stretches to be able to keep pace with a team like the Thunder. All right. Jimmy Butler. Now, look, I'll always be skeptical of the guy that has the baggage, the bullshit part of it. And Butler has a lot of it. You could talk me into a couple stops where I would take Jimmy's side. There's a couple other stops.
I'm like, you know what? This is a dude who can turn it on and off based on his own happiness and essentially the financial commitment that he seems or would deem worthy of what a team should be doing for him. And that's not necessarily a guy I would want in my foxhole, right?
Dunleavy, though, to his credit, and Anthony Slater shared this with us when we talked about them acquiring Butler, he was like, look, Sure, all of those things are on the table when you're discussing Butler. I don't know that it was like 100% approval on the Golden State side of like, let's get this guy in here.
Butler didn't even want to go there until it was his only option to go there, and they gave him the extra year on the contract for a massive number. But Dunleavy, I think, kind of nailed it. He's like, fine, okay. And I'm paraphrasing here a bit of what Slater had told us, but what are we really disrupting here? This team got off to a great start. It was depth. It was defense.
The offense is falling apart. It's Steph running around, and nobody else can be counted on. Every other night is the number two. So if we bring Butler in, are we actually derailing something that's really awesome? No, you're not. So let's go for it. Let's give it a shot. Because all of it's irrelevant, at least right now.
The Butler part of it towards the end when his contract is expiring and him feeling unwanted and all that stuff, it's probably going to happen again. Maybe Golden State finds a way through it. But again, all of it is irrelevant because of who this dude is in the playoff games. His effort, his intensity. He takes three shots in the first half.
Again, that eliminates some of the free throw attempts as the field goal attempt is not tracked. He was 4-6 in the fourth quarter. He hits the three free throws when it was 104-104. Dylan Brooks putting his hand into his hip and just an awful foul. You want to talk about bad foul decisions by players. That was a trick, like let Butler take the three. He's not necessarily great at it.
He's in the corner. You can't give him the three free throws because he's great at the free throw line on top of everything else. And then as Shingun goes up for the game winner, Butler grabs the biggest rebound of the game. And I love the replay of this rebound because Butler is just on it. He's sizing it all up and he's got a clear lane.
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Chapter 4: How do NFL prospects balance college success and draft expectations?
You know, me sitting here talking about these players, right, and the guys that piss me off at times, and not because of makes or misses, but because of, you know, I do think at times I've looked at the lack of commitment to a team and wondering if guys are about the right things or the wrong things. And you guys already know. You've heard me talk about a lot of these players.
And Butler certainly, I think, of his own doing, falls into that category. But I remember a year ago, Bill and I were doing a pod. It had to be one of the Sunday pods. We had just probably watched Clippers, Mavs, and Harden was making some plays, and Kyrie's out there making plays. And look, I think Westbrook at that point had ended his tenure with the Clippers. But
It dawned on me, as we talked about, for all these dudes that you just get kind of like, why would anybody want this guy? Why would anybody bring that guy in? Why would you want that in your locker room? Yeah, because they can get buckets that other guys can't. That's why. That's why there will always be a market. There will always be a market for the bucket getter with some baggage.
And Butler proved it again last night. The Ryan Russillo Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA playoffs are finally here, and if you think you know how it's all going to go down, then make those predictions. Pay off with FanDuel and their same-game parlay profit boosts. Just build your perfect parlay, activate the boost, and lock in your bet.
If it hits, that's a bigger payout for you at no extra cost. All right, let's get into it. All right. Clippers at Nuggets. Right now the line is Clippers minus two, total 208.05. Let's stay away from a 208 total. So I was going to do Clippers... Jokic to score 30 points, Norm to score 10 or more points.
Norm is heated up here after a slow start, but he's been over double figures every single one of these games. Jokic, you feel good for 30 because they're going to need that from him. But if you still like the Clippers, so if you like Clippers minus two, that's plus 294. So that is our official release. Now, if you want to avoid a side, which keeps you in it the entire time, and we're just
Rooting for Jokic points and Powell points. How about first team basket score? Because if I throw in Jamal Murray, maybe they try to get him going, run some sort of action where they get him off the ball, get done off of him. He's currently, I can see it right now. He's left side, pull up bucket. So you're going to have to figure out Denver Clippers in this one.
You just need Jamal Murray to have that first sucker go in. Plus 705 if you're feeling a little bit more motivated. But, you know, the downside... you know pretty quickly where you stand pretty early in the game, and that's not as much fun. So, yeah, we're going to go with Clippers minus two, Jokic 30 or more, Norm 10 or more, around plus 300 right now. Three legs. Sound good?
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Chapter 5: What is the controversy behind Shedeur Sanders’ draft position?
Chapter 6: What is the debate about Travis Hunter’s best position in the NFL?
I'm good. I'm good. There's a lot to get to here. Let's just start with something simple. Who's your favorite player in the first round? Who's the guy you're like, I love that dude. I would put anything on him being a stud.
Jalen Walker. I'm always partial to the undersized guys, the guys that don't necessarily meet the measurables, but they're really good football players. And, you know, he's 6'1", 230 pounds, 40 pounds. He's kind of an undersized edge guy. He kind of reminds me of James Harrison. Remember that guy who used to play for the Steelers, number 92? Defensive player of the year, candidate forever.
Undersized edge backer that made his living. Had a great career. I think Jalen Walker is a better version of that. If you have any, I guess, question marks about who he is, go back and watch the Texas game and watch how he dominated Texas. I think that'll tell you everything you need to know.
Chapter 7: Could 100 men defeat a gorilla? What’s the real story behind this viral debate?
That was my favorite pick because he didn't meet the measurables, but he dominated like he was the biggest guy in the draft.
His interviews apparently were incredible, too. We've not talked about this, but I've been on the Jalen Walker thing, the entire process. And I still think that Texas, that first half, what that unit did is the most dominant 30 minutes of any unit, I think, of college football the entire season long. And they're wrecking NFL guys. And again, it was like three dudes with Georgia.
I wanted to ask you a question because I don't know if it was like this for you when you were at LSU, but if you're at Ohio State, you think all the NFL talent that Michigan had on its roster last couple of years for Michigan to have that many players go that high.
And if they had just had a quarterback, like what their season could have been like when you start looking at some of the higher ed talent, um, Is it when you know you're at an NFL factory, how much is the NFL draft process even discussed as you're trying to win games on Saturday?
But knowing that a lot of the coaches either worked in the NFL already and are telling a guy like you being like, OK, you know, this is what we're doing. Here's the game plan. But here are the other things that you need to be thinking about because we think you're a first rounder.
So here's what happens is that like everybody knows where we are. We're Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, these places. So, you know, that's kind of like in your back pocket, like the NFL is in your back pocket because you know what kind of place you are. You know the level of athletes you are. You know what type of competitive nature that this program exudes on a day in and day out basis.
So you're trying to win a national championship. And if you get to a point where that's unattainable, I think then you go in your back pocket and you're like, okay, now I can start getting ready for the NFL. But everybody, you go to these places to win a championship. You're not going there to do anything less. It's win the SEC. It's get into the playoff. It's win a national championship.
And at the moment where you're Georgia and Notre Dame's got you by the short and curlies and you realize you're going to lose that game, at that point, you're like, okay, now it's time to start thinking about the NFL. But The guys who know they're going or have a chance to go, you always have that in your back pocket.
It's not something that you parade around because there are a lot of people in that same category. But you know it's in your back pocket. And at the right time, you pull it out and it's time to go to work on it.
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Chapter 8: What are Booger McFarland’s thoughts on Bill Belichick and NFL coaching?
I'd rather drive a Mercedes than a pickup truck. Now, it doesn't mean that I'm going to drive the Mercedes 120 every day. But if and when I want to go 120, I want to be able to get there. When you got a pickup truck, you can want to go 120. You're not getting there. So I'd rather have the guy with the traits and a good coach that can get it out of him at some point.
Like all the guys that win the first round, man, like James Pierce, you know, Atlanta, I thought.
Chapter 9: What are Booger McFarland’s quick NBA playoff and player insights?
put the expectations on him that he's got to be a double-digit sack guy when you give away a one to come back into the first round and take james pierce who oh by the way has got a lot of character stuff on his resume that is a bit rich for james pierce not that he's not good but the expectations in which you put on him are now magnified so we'll see if he can live up to that
My thing with Pierce is I just feel like he didn't show up enough this year after last year. I watched a lot of Tennessee games just because they were in the mix as a playoff team, and I kept looking for it. When I'd watch South Carolina's edge guys, I'd be like, there he is. There's that dude again. I know it sounds really simplistic, but
Chapter 10: What are the Life Advice with Kyle and golf chat moments?
Based on where Pearson, maybe I was looking at him with too tough of an eye because he was projected as a top 10 pick and all that kind of stuff. And I don't know if the character or film has more to do with him dropping, but I get the intangible speed. I know he's a little undersized and all that kind of stuff, but I just felt like there was a lot of Tennessee games.
I was like, man, I haven't heard his name called in too long of a time.
Yeah, I'd agree with that. And that's why I think when you say, OK, not only are we going to take him in the first round, we're going to trade back up to get him. It's putting a lot of pressure on that guy. You know, you talk about those South Carolina guys. I think the best one is still there. The freshman, you know, we can talk about Sanders, the three technique that got drafted, Kinnar.
But I think the best one is still there. And I think he's going to wind up being he's going to wind up being a top 10 pick when it's all said and done.
Yeah, I look, I can't wait to watch them again because I know some of those guys are gone. But all right. Let's let's do this. The Giants. Yeah. If you like Jackson Dart that much, great. What is that going to be like? Have you been with a team? You had a really good run. Whenever I ask you these questions, maybe I don't get the answer that I want.
You've never been in a team where you've had two guys that think that they're the one between Winston and Wilson and then Jackson being the first-round pick. It doesn't make a ton of sense as far as reps and development. I think it's inviting a more challenging scenario in for a guy that probably doesn't need it.
It does. But if you look at this, always follow the money. All right. James Winston, I think, is making four or five. That's backup money. I think they gave Russ, what, 11, 12, something like 20, maybe something.
No, it's 11 guaranteed. It was announced as 21.
Okay, so there's your starter money. So Russ has starter money. Jameis has backup money. And now you bring in your developmental guy as the three. So I don't think there's any plans for Jackson Dart to play this year. I think what you hope to see is something very similar to Mahomes. You want the rest of the team to be really good.
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