Fantasy Football Daily - AFC East and NFC East Draft Grades | On the Clock! NFL Draft Podcast

Episode Date: May 5, 2023

Brett Whitefield (@BGWhitefield) and Chris Wecht (@ChrisWechtFF) grade the 2023 NFL Draft classes of the AFC East and NFC East: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Commanders. BRETT WHITEFIELD'S 2023 NFL DRAFT PROSPECT GUIDE IS FREE TO READ WITH A NO-CHARGE LOGIN AT FANTASY POINTS. Interested in playing Best Ball in 2023? There's no better place than Underdog Fantasy. Use our code FANTASYPTS to sign up for a new account at Underdog, and not only will you get a 100% deposit match up to $100... but you'll get a Fantasy Points Standard subscription for only $5! https://www.fantasypoints.com/underdog --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's time to the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoints.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle, from numbers to the film room with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. We are back with another episode of On the Clock. I am your host, Brett Whitefield, and I'm joined again by Christopher Wecht, getting close to the end of our draft recap series. Chris, how are you? good. Yep, it feels like the draft was already like a month ago. I know. It was only a week ago.

Pretty wild. Today we're going to do the East teams, the AFC East and the NFC East. Let's just jump right in today. We'll go AFC East first. We'll start with Buffalo Bills. Chris, how did you feel about their draft class overall? The Bills was one of the better drafts, I think. I really liked what they did. You know, they they trade up a bit to get Kincaid and make sure that Dallas doesn't get him because they thought Dallas would be interested in a tight end. Getting Osirons Torrance in the in round two pick is very nice. I'd have to go with my favorite pick being Dalton Kincaid,

just the fact that they committed to we need more weapons. We've been calling for the bills to invest more heavily in getting weapons and not being so kind of like one-dimensional on offense and just not having a lot of tricks up their sleeve. this should definitely help them open up other parts of their offense. Yeah, the Kincaid pick was awesome. I mean, it's exactly what we've been pounding the table for Buffalo to do. Now, it wasn't necessarily in a receiver,

but Kincaid is basically a big receiver. So I really like it. I think it's going to help that offense a lot. I think it helps even guys like Gabe Davis where, you know, in an ideal world, Davis develops into more than just a deep threat. But we don't live in an ideal world. and sometimes roles are just roles. And it's like, well, Kincaid's presence will allow Gabe Davis to just be Gabe Davis.

Not great for fantasy. I think Davis takes a hit there. But as far as team goes and play calling and roster construction, I think this probably elevates the value that Davis brings at the table because he can just focus on being him and doing the things he does well. So Kincaid should dominate the short intermediate part of the field in the middle and give Allen like a really good, easy target. routinely. I also want to throw out

or Cyrus Torrance though as the best pick option. This was really good value. I mean, he was getting consistently mocked. I went back and just looked at some of the mocks right before the draft. This was the guy everyone was mocking to them in the first round. So the fact that they get him a whole round later with their second pick is pretty awesome.

He's going to start right away from them at right guard probably and we've talked about them getting consistent on the offensive line. They've been good now for what four years. They've been like a player for like four years. And they've shuffled that offensive line every single offseason. They lose a guy, bring in two, lose two. It's just I like the idea of getting more consistent there.

And this is probably, you know, other than tyrants going in now, this is like probably the most consistency they've had on the O line. And then they're just kind of upgrading it slightly with Torrance here. So big win for me. Yep. Worst pick. I went Dorian Williams lineback out of Tulane. I'm sure you did too.

Yeah, yeah. They don't have many picks to go from. And the fact that they felt the need to spend a high capital pick on a linebacker just feels like a very bills thing as they like to invest in non-premium positions on defense in particular. Yeah. Just didn't need to do it. They hammered those middle of the field coverage defenders, whether they're safeties or linebackers.

They just constantly are throwing resources that direction. for what they do on defense you kind of understand it they're like a super zone heavy team they rely on those athletic linebackers to cover a lot of grounds so but it just was a big reach it felt like they were forcing a need here he was 137 on my big board he was even lower on joe marino's big board who is like the buffalo bills expert i wouldn't you know i trust his opinion on the bills more than anybody and he hated this pick so yeah like utterly hated it they would have been totally fine with AJ Klein and Matt Milano being their every down linebackers.

100%. Matt Milano's a top five linebacker in the NFL. He's better than Tremaine Edmins, the guy they just lost. Yep. All you need AJ Klein to do is take on bodies and let Matt Malano do the rest. So I agree with you. Also, Klein's familiarity with the defense,

like it's perfect. He probably ends up starting this whole season anyways, right? Yeah, I don't even think Dorian Williams gets on the field really. Yeah. So for a team trying to like win a Super Bowl. I know you always have to have the future in mind, but it's like you probably could have checked both boxes, got a player for the future and someone who contributes right now. But maybe they felt like, you know, hitting it out of the park with Kincaid and Torrance.

Like those players both probably start day one and play a lot of snaps. They felt like they could invest into a more future pick. There was a lot of wide receivers still on the board there that they could have added to upgrade their wide receiver three that we saw that, hey, their pass rush game get really weak once von Miller got hurt last year. there was just other ways they could have hit you know to check both boxes like you said surprise pick i went nick broker here um i actually like him i think he's got some really good tape another interior offensive lineman um you know it'd be hilarious if they somehow got

both those guys into the starting lineup torrents and broker talk about building continuity like on rookie deals you're going to get four years out of those guys that would be awesome for the bills So I think he could surprise people with his play. I think he's a good player. He was definitely higher on my board than Dorian Williams was. Yeah. I'm going to go Justin Shorter, the Florida wide receiver. I don't have a ton of faith that Shorter is going to turn his career around,

but he was once a top recruit in the country. He went to the school that totally missed use, Damien Pierce, Cadarius, Tony. Anthony Richardson, yeah. Maybe there's a chance he's got something in him. And they could just really use extra juice at wide receiver. if he does have it still in him he definitely should have a shot

at doing something this year and being some kind of a role player for them. He has a very similar skill set to Gabe Davis. He's a downfield guy, body control, you know, strong at the catch point type of player. If he did impress or surprise,

maybe they don't pay Gabe Davis any money and they just let him walk. Yep. So there's definitely that. I didn't love his tape, but at the same time, you mentioned the Florida thing. like he was basically used as like avert threat only.

It's just he's kind of got a possession receiver mold. So I think he'd be strong on some intermediate, you know, some hitches and outroutes. I thought there was a little left on the field there with his potential in Florida. So all right. Let's, I went B plus for this grade. Yeah, I'd go B plus. That sounds. Then smash the first two picks.

If they would have hit the third one with Dorian Williams, like this would have been an A. But they unfortunately, that's. took him back down to earth a little bit. So, all right, Miami. Best pick, I went Cam Smith. Well, you only have four picks to go. Yeah, I mean, it's Cam Smith has to be the best pick, yeah.

Yeah, this class lacked volume for sure. Cam Smith, though, is a, he's a really good corner. I think he was my CB5 in the class. I really liked his tape. He's long. He could be physical. He can play off. He can play man.

I like guys with his athleticism and length profile that they usually bode well. He's got some decent instincts as well. I thought that was the easy pick there. Yeah. Yeah, I would agree with that. They don't really have a worst pick in my eyes. There's just not many to pick from.

I have a clear worst pick. Really? Yeah, Devon A chain. I mean, third round, I'm not a big A chain believer, but I'm not going to kill them for that one either. Yeah, I just don't like taking 170 pound running back. and with a premium draft pick. That's totally fair. If you use them as a receiver like we've talked about,

but they're not. That's fine, yeah, but they're not. And it is a perfect fit for A-chain, but I just didn't like a top 90 pick on them, top 85 pick. Yeah, it's totally. Eighty-fourth overall? Yeah, 84. Yeah, I just, I don't like it.

Surprise pick. I went Ryan Hayes. I was going to, okay, I was going to go Higgins. If they use Higgins, Higgins like the new Mike Gisicki. That's what I kind of like. Yeah. Higgins can move.

He just, he also can totally not stumble all the time when he tries to cut. Yes. Also not too dissimilar to Mike Gaseki. Yes. I think the thing with, if you look at all the other receivers on their roster and then look at Elijah Higgins, it's pretty obvious to say,

this one's not like the others. Yes. So maybe there is potential that he is the new Mike Gassiegans. or a guy I think my actual comp for him for a receiver was Joanne Jennings. Mike McDaniels created that role for him in San Francisco. So I could see either way, I think Higgins is going to be a bigger slot receiver or a tight end in that offense and probably get scarce usage. But yeah, he could surprise.

He's like a curveball for the team if they were a pitcher. Yeah, for sure. I just like, I picked Hayes because I think Hayes has some really good tape. He had a horrible senior bowl. and that's kind of what knocked him down the board. But they were trying to him at other positions. You know, this was a left tackle. They tried him at right tackle.

He just could not get the footwork right at right tackle at the Senior Bowl. I think that scared teams off a little bit because I don't know that he has the athleticism and strength to play left tackle there. But I think maybe he plays guard for Miami and he's got some really good tape in college. So I think that could be a good pick for them. I went with C though for the overall grade, mostly due to lack of volume. And then they just didn't have any premium picks. Yeah, I was going to say C as well. I mean, we do have to fact you're in, you lose your first round pick.

Like I know you make that, it's not really your fault. Well, it is your fault. But you know, that's bad. You trade another top pick for Bradley Chubb who really didn't do anything for you last year. The Tyree trade is also factored into this. That I'd say is a win. But yeah, I'd go see. Yeah.

All right, New England. This was such a New England draft class. First of all, they drafted like 17 people. Most of them were on day three. Yep. I went for best pick. I went Christian Gonzalez. It's really the only pick of note in the entire draft class.

Yeah, I was looking for all these and I was trying to find somebody I could say is better than Gonzales. Considering they also got Gonzalez is what a lot of people would say is a value, trading back and getting him. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's got to be Gonzalez. Yep. just a premium aspect. We know how New England likes those corners. We know the division they play in.

Requires good cornerback play. I think Gonzalez has the potential to be a superstar in New England. Yeah, he's the next J.C. Jackson, Stefan, Gilmore, you know, all the guys that have come through there at different times. Yep. And what's really surprising, too, is, like, he was getting that soft label kind of leading up to the draft. And Belichick's the one who drafts him. And Belichick does not deal with soft corners.

Like, you cannot be soft and play. his system. Yeah. So it tells me that maybe Belichick, the CB goat sees something that no one else did. Yeah. Or thinks he can get the best out of him. So that's exciting. And then they followed that pickup with literally the most Bill Belichick Matt Patricia

pick ever. And that's Marte Mapu, defensive back slash linebacker out of Sacramento State or Sacramento, whatever, community college. I don't know. This pick was horrendous. It was bad. I mean, Dane Brugler didn't have a top 200 grade on him. That's bad.

This is just like the... Cole Strange. Cole Strange pick last year. It's like, I'm okay with you falling in love with players like this from really small schools. I'm okay with. What I'm not okay with is you drafting him three rounds early. We talked early or I don't know if it was on a pot or just on a call.

We were doing how valuable it is to just know your opponents and know what they're going to do. And it just seems like the Patriots don't. don't think there's any value in knowing what other teams might think. They could have drafted him in one of their four round six picks probably. I don't know. Or even go fourth round. Who care? In the fourth round, that's when you take swing, like big time swings on small school kids.

Or even end of the third round. I know we're splitting hairs. But we've talked like Howie Roseman. I've watched interviews with him where he talks about how he spends as much time studying other GMs as he does players. Yeah. And you see the value. there. He perfectly predicts how the board's going to fall every year.

Yeah, he can have it narrowed down to like three scenarios and he's got a plan for each one, whatever, whatever way it goes. And Belichick's out here. Belichick probably ruins his board every single year because Belichick just does stuff that he's like, well, I didn't see that comment. Yeah. And, you know, Bill's the kind of guy, like if he's playing fantasy, like he's going to draft a quarterback one overall, you know, in a non-superflex league. Just because that, it's just my guy. It's just my guy. I'm just drafting my guys. You know, so yeah, that was the worst pick.

The surprise pick for me was City. So Eastern Michigan interior offensive linemen. This dude is an absolute freak athlete. His tape is pretty good too. He dominated that level of competition in the Mac, the Macion. This is another Patriots-esque pick, but this is the good side of it where they always uncover these interior offensive linemen that can play. Corners and O-line. Corners are no line.

They just nail it. They're never wrong almost, you know? So I think he ends up being a starter for them. And he, you know, Patriots fans are probably looking at him like a day three guy, whatever. But I think this is a guy who ends up being a starter for them and probably a good one. Yeah. I'm going to go with upside shot here and go Kisham Beauty.

I don't think Kisham Booty is any good. I think he's probably cooked. But getting him in the sixth round is exactly where you should have gone. There was multiple grades of him going in rounds two or three even leading up to the draft. The fact that they get him in six is, I mean, that's the perfect spot to take an upside shot for a team that has no, nothing at wide receiver really. So, yeah, take your shot there. We didn't even mention that they drafted both a kicker and a punter. Again, this is the most Patriots draft.

They're one of the teams that do draft those positions, like religiously. Both in one draft, though. Both in one death. It's crazy. At least they got the Michigan State kid, though. That kid can freaking boot it, man. Seriously. What a leg.

Remember watching him at Senior Bowl? Yeah, he can... Dude. Unbelievable. Yeah. But anyways, I don't disagree on the Kashan Bouté. I mean, I don't like him, but again, where they took him and the potential upside there is pretty huge. I will say that Citi Sao had an exponentially larger vertical jump, though.

in Kesha Butte Yeah, and Citi weighs 320 pounds So anyways I went D grade here I'd go C minus Really Yeah I mean

The trade back Like I really like what they did with Gonzalez And it's just At least a lot of their picks were late round picks You know That's fair All right Jets.

I felt like this whole division kind of stunk outside of Buffalo, so I'm probably going to be harsh with the Jets here too. I think their best pick was probably Joe Titman. Yep, that is my best pick as well. Yeah, I thought, you know, I considered McDonald, but our model hated McDonald because they just reached on him. It felt like they were forced to need. He ended up being my worst pick.

McDonald did. A lot of people, there was tons of steam leading up to the draft night that McDonald was going to go much earlier than ever. one thought. So I don't, if they did really like him, I don't know that he would have fallen to them in the second round or something. Oh, I agree with that. I just think, I think McDonald was probably like a back end first guy for me, but it is weird to think that the Jets, top two players were Gibbs and McDonnell. Jamir Gibbs. Yeah. Not great. But they get Joe Titman in the second. And he was a guy that was getting mocked to go in the first round towards the end of the

process and I think that's a good pick for them. They needed offensive line help specifically on the interior. I think he could start at center for them right away. He could also play a little guard. I know he didn't have a lot of reps of guard in college like 50 total, but I think he's got the frame and the size and the strength to play guard. Do you think that was a better pick than going with like a tackle there? Because tackle was what everybody says they needed. There was no tackles there. I know. Yeah. Yeah. And I like that they didn't reach on one because they could have easily fallen into that trap. Right.

You know, which there's plenty of teams that did that. We'll talk about one next. But, yeah, I like that they didn't reach. So, I mean,

on paper, too, if their tackle stay healthy, they're fine there. It's just those guys have had trouble staying healthy. So. All right,

surprise pick. I went with, um, my guy, Izzy Ebenekanda. And like, and then also like a shout out to Zach Coons as well. I was going to go Coons.

Yeah. Ebenikonda is just a good scheme fit. You know, he's got the top end speed and the burst, one cut ability. You know, I like him in that presumed outside zone scheme. Coontz freak athlete at tight end. I think

the value they got on him compared to... Seventh round, yeah. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I think that's good value there. Yeah, what Tucker Craft went in the third round. I like craft too, though. Oh, sort of. Oh, yeah, I like craft too. I'm just saying that, like, I don't know

that there's a four round gap in their talent. The schoonmaker for sure is like, yeah, I wouldn't even thought anything was crazy if Coons went my hood of Schoonmaker. Or strange. Strange. Yeah. Crazy.

So, sweet. I went C for the grade here on the Jets. I'll go be minus. I think they did. I don't love the McDonald pick, but I don't hate it either. You know, premium position, I'm not going to kill them for that. And I like what they did with the rest of the draft. Okay, you're being generous today.

Feeling a little. Your first rolls. I'm smashed. Plus, you know, plus the Aaron Rogers trade is factored into this, yeah. Why? Because they traded,

didn't they trade a second round? This year. Is there nothing this? Oh. Yeah, right? Maybe a third. Oh.

They still have a second. Did they not? Yeah, they did. So it was just the swap in the 24-1? Yeah. And maybe a third. I think maybe a third, but yeah, I don't know. Yeah, because they don't have a third.

Yeah. Anyways, let's move over to the NFC East, kick it off with the Dallas Cowboys. I hated their draft. I didn't hate their draft, but I did not like it either. Yeah. So it was tough to find a best pick. So I'm going to just go with my guy, Mazi Smith, mostly because I mocked it. And that was right.

And so there we are. Yeah. He's my favorite pick as well. You know, you get a guy that should help against a lot of their division rivals with their run games. Like you said, a big guy that moves like that is not common. It's not the flashiest position. They were, especially because they were talking about taking Matthew Bergeron at that pick, which would have been a reach. So, yeah, go with that as their best pick.

Yeah. And then my worst pick and my surprise pick are the same, which is funny. my worst pick is Luke Schoonmaker Yeah It just felt like they forced this pick Yeah They needed tight ends So they like forced tight end

But there was other good tight ends on the board still Yeah there were guys I liked better than Schoonmaker But even beyond that It's like okay so Darnell Washington had the foot So he falls like a whole another What I think Washington went like 40 third Yeah Which

So whatever Take him off the board But Tucker Kraft probably would have been a better pick here too It's like anytime you're drafting at the end of a run There was a clear run on tight ends and then they get the last guy I kind of felt gross I thought Schoonmaker was an early fourth round player He has upside though which is also why he's my surprise pick

I think He the way Michigan used him wasn't favorable to his skill set Michigan has a lot of good tight ends so they so Schoonmaker had to like take what he could get I think he's a lot better past catching option than than his tapes suggest, or his numbers suggest, I should say. His tape suggests he can do some things as a route runner. So I think he could surprise, while also is their worst pick because they reached on him. I think they're, yeah, he's my worst pick for all the reasons that you said.

I think my other surprise pick would be DeMarvian Overshon, the linebacker from Texas in the third round, and almost not even solely just because of him, but there was already reports of Micah Parsons putting on weight to play more, basically play full-time D.N. if overshawn can fill whatever they want to get out of linebacker to keep parsons on the edge that this will make this pick a win whether overshon is even good or bad over yeah that's a good point i like i like the overshone pick in it that's about the range i wanted him to go so i didn't put it surprising for that reason but um i love the way dallas like they have a type at linebacker outside of Micah.

The few guys they've drafted over the years, like Jibril Cox is very similar to Oversone. No, Cox didn't really work out, I think the way they wanted him to. Oversone has the same past game ability. Super fluid mover. He was a safety for three years at Texas before he was a linebacker.

So he's got natural coverage ability. They love that horizontal speed side to side. Yes. Range, tons of range. He can play man. What I also like is he's really, really good as a blitzer. His acceleration and burst is

freaky, man. When he gets on the horse, he looks like he shot out of the cannon. I know Dallas doesn't have a ton of exotic blitz packages, but they could start dialing them up. Imagine rushing him up the B gap and then dropping Micah off into coverage here and there. I like to screw with the quarterback or the offensive line. I think you get some cool looks

with those guys. I do like that pick. I went with C overall, though, for them. yeah i'd go i'd go c plus c plus chris generous chris all right the giants um giants i thought had a pretty good draft chris um yeah i liked a lot of what they did especially with those premium picks you know they didn't have a like a ton of extra picks or anything they just did well with what they had um i really liked the jalen hyatt pick that was my favorite pick especially because because because Because the skill set high it brings it. It's not like they just drafted a good receiver.

They drafted a good receiver that perfectly fits what they needed. They needed that deep threat. They needed to add speed to that offense to try to stretch out defenses, maximize Daniel Jones. He has a really good arm. For all the criticisms on Daniel Jones, one thing he does not lack is arm strength. Yep. And being able to push the ball down the field. So I love getting high.

We saw what Daible did with Gabe Davis and Buffalo. I think Hyatt's a much better version of Gabe Davis. but they come from the same offensive system in college as well. So I think the transition is going to be natural for Hyatt, and I think that takes some of the risk out of it, which was the issue with Hyatt, right? You're taking on some risk because of the offense he played in. Dable's already had success converting that type of receiver to his system.

So I like what they're going to get out of Hyatt. I think you can play in the slot or outside for them. Yeah. And in the third round, that's the risk at that point, you know, it's not a big deal if it doesn't work out. He can play all over. They were very adamant about adding speed. They bring in Paris Campbell.

I don't even know what Wondell Robinson's really role here as he mark. Because to me, their best wide receivers are going to be Hyatt. Either Hodgons or Slayton and Sterling Shepard, assuming he is healthy again. Yeah, they've got kind of a crowded wide receiver room right now, but Hyatt should offer something that a lot of the other guys can't. Yeah. the way I see that depth chart stacking out, I think you're going to have,

like the X position will be Hodgins and Slayton, and then the slot position, you'll see one Dell in the slot backed up by Paris Campbell. And then at the Z, you'll probably see Sterling Shepard to start the year, I think with the hopes that Jalen Hyatt works into that role. I think they'll keep six receivers. That's what they did in Buffalo for most years.

So I think they'll keep... Oh, Hodgins is good on special teams, by the way, and so is Slayton. So those guys kind of have built-in value there. Yeah. And Darren Waller is in the mix, too. You assume he'll be lined up in the slot a decent amount as well. Yeah.

And if you remember, like a lot of table sets in Buffalo, they would go 11 personnel, but they'd, you know, they'd go twins formations. They wouldn't attach Knox to the inline necessarily. So I think that works perfectly with Waller. Yeah. Spread add speed and spread teams out. That seems to be their strategy. Yep. For worst pick, I didn't have one. I don't think they made a bad pick. I mean, we can argue about some of these like six and seventh round guys, but like who cares? Yeah. Yeah, I don't have one either. I was trying to decide and I don't think I have one. So I love the John Schmichael Schmitt's pick. I liked Deont-Tay's pick. For surprise, I went Eric Gray in the fifth round. Yes. Yeah, this was a good landing spot for him. Gray was kind of the lost soul and the whole running back class because he doesn't do anything special, but he does everything well.

He reminds me so much of Brian Robinson last year. Like guy that didn't do anything special but did everything well. And I think Eric Gray, like Eric Gray should have no problems being the backup to Barclay, like overtaking Breita. Brita doesn't do a whole lot of things right. He can, you know, run fast and he can catch the ball decently, but everything else is pretty meh.

Yeah. Gray can do everything well. He could be a three down back for somebody, but he's just, you know, he's not going to like wow you necessarily. Yeah, you know who he reminds me of is Jamal Williams with past game upside. Yeah, that works too.

Because Gray, in the Senior Bowl, specifically, he impressed me with some of the routes he was running. Like very, very good cutting ability, a lot more quick twitch than Jamal has to his game. But when you look at him as runners, they're very similar. They're both willing in pass protection too, which is, that is a trait. So I went overall, I went A for this grade.

Yeah, A works for me. All right, Philly. We'll get into your team here. I'm going to give them an F just to spite you. A plus and we can move on. Yeah, we probably really don't need to spend a lot of time on them. They've been praised by just about every outlet imaginable. So my favorite pick was the Jalen Carter pick, number one on my board.

They get him at 10. They also kind of fooled people into thinking they were going to trade up for them. They did not. They still get their guy. Yeah, that's my best pick too. I think you can make an argument for Nolan Smith, but Nolan Smith definitely I could see being off a lot of teams boards because they wouldn't know how to use them. Philly is in a position where they don't really need to care how they use them.

They'll figure it out. He doesn't need to be an impact player right away. So yeah, Carter is the best pick. Also, the draft is so much about risk management and taking on Carter obviously comes with risks, but probably not a better team to do it. Obviously, the Georgia pipeline's intact, but established culture, you know, all the things you look for and kind of leveling out a player and getting the best out of them.

Philly has that. I think Carter just steps in and it's all about business for him from there on out. So let's get it done. Worst pick? I didn't really have one. I went back and forth like should I call Tyler Steen the worst pick? And then I realized no.

Like I think Tyler Steen. It might be their starting right guard from day one. Yeah. And he's got chops as a tackle too. His tape was really up and down at Alabama. And I think that's why he went where he went. if he came out based on his 2021 tape, I think he might go in the first round, Chris.

So I know it's crazy, but. A multi-year starter for the best school in the country, one of the best schools in the country, getting him in the third round. He actually might be their day one right guard starter with, like you said, with tackle versatility. They love those guys.

I don't think it's a bad pick at all. He was going to be my surprise pick, actually. I do have a worst pick, though. Okay. It's Tanner McKee. Shocker, it's a QB, but not for the reasons that I've hated on so many other ones, more so because of how different he is. Yeah, like what like, so not only do these late round quarterback picks not work out now, you're going to add one that literally your entire offense would have to change. Like everything you put in would have to be different if you ever actually use him.

My guess is they, you know, they had a higher grade on McKee than most teams, saw him in the six and go, hey this guy might get us a compick one day because some team signs him and he does decent in the preseason or something or yeah like that I don't think they view him as anybody that will ever do anything for their team as more as this guy might rise in value because yeah of his what his view of him was pre-draft do they have another um qb on the roster marriota ah yeah i was thinking maybe they just had felt like they had to reach for a quarterback because they didn't have a backup but yeah mario i I mean, Marriott is not, I don't know. Seems like DTR would have been a good pick for them. Yeah, he probably went away earlier than they thought he would. Yeah. For surprise pick, I went Kili Ringo. That's kind of low-hanging fruit, considering he was considered to go way earlier in the draft than the fourth round.

Yeah, legitimately, their two third-round picks and their fourth-round pick could be starters for them at some point this year, which is tough to say about. I say about. Indy Brown to be a starter. Yeah. Which is, saying a lot for a team that doesn't have a lot of holes and they didn't have to use premium picks on to fill those positions. Yeah.

Dude, even their seventh round pick was good. Or it's stupid. Stupid. I'm mad. I gave them an A plus and I don't want to talk about it. You like the Eagles. Don't lie. Well,

that's the problem is I don't. It feels weird to have such a heavy fandom attached to a team I don't root for. They have so many of my favorite players. Like honestly, I mean, it's great. Like, Darius Slay, Jalen Hertz, A.J. Brown. Like, I love these guys. I've always been a Fletcher Cox fan. I'm a huge Brain and Graham fan.

Now they're adding Jalen Carter, who is number one on my board. They're just doing everything the right way, smart. It's just, it's hard not to love them. Did you see the reports? Did you see the reports of other GMs were told Peter Schrager that they were annoyed with how much praise Howie Roseman was getting? Yeah. It also is weird, and we do got to get moving here, but it is weird that the draft room

videos, like Howie has this like entourage of people behind him every shot and they're all just slow clapping the entire time. It's almost like he's the emperor and he has like this army of stormtrooper scouts. They're just stormtroopers back there. Yep. Just clapping. Oh, yes, emperor. You're so good.

You're amazing. What a great pick, emperor. That was awesome. Just constantly singing his praises in his ear. That is a little weird, weird vibes, but all good. They're building a juggernaut. a sustainable juggernaut too um washington commanders this draft was abysmal abysmal yeah is probably a good word i don't know if i'd go that strong but yeah it's

there i don't mind the emmanuel forbes pick i like he fits their defense he was definitely going to go in the first round premium position i didn't like the pick and it was my it was my favorite pick for them so yeah just a little bit of a reach is all yeah yeah yeah nothing crazy No, nothing crazy. I don't, yeah, but none of their other picks, like, really jump out to me as, like, great picks. No, nothing. Worst pick for me was Jartavis Martin. Yeah.

He from Illinois. Not even sure what role he's going to play there. He kind of does a lot of things. That was one of the worst graded picks of our, of the draft for us. Yeah, I was not a Jartavis Martin guy. Yeah. I kind of, I think Chris Rodgers. Rodriguez in the sixth round is a little interesting.

They definitely don't like Antonio Gibson. I like Brian Robinson, but he doesn't exactly wow you. Like, there's a chance Ron Rivera just falls in love with the, the banger that Chris Rodriguez is and likes watching him run over guys and carry guys. You're throwing him out as a surprise pick? Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

All right. That's fine. I had no surprise pick because I don't think any of these guys will surprise you. This is a bad. draft for you. I don't think if you've talked this bad about a draft yet. And we've seen some bad can I ask a question really quick? Explain this to me, Chris. Last year Kirby Joseph went it with like a mid third round pick to the Lions played really well as a rookie too. So like backed up what you saw on tape, he played good as a rookie. And then in this draft you have Devin Witherspoon go with

the fifth overall pick. You have Jartavis Martin go with the 47th pick. So two top 50 corners. Then Sidney Brown goes in the third round again. There's similar spot to where Kirby Joseph went last year. These are all Illinois D.Bs. Have we ever seen, like we've seen Alabama do that or Georgia do that. But have we ever seen a defense as bad as Illinois put out four DBs in two years that all get insane draft capital? Not that I can think of

Like Maryland threw for like 400 yards on this group Yeah they were not known for being a good defense I know that And it has me just worried like there's no way all four of those guys can be good players No yeah there's no Illinois passers just that bad That they were just leaving these guys out to dry What about like maybe there was a time when the Legion of Boom in in Seattle Where they had the four elite DBEs

They didn't always have an awesome pass rush but still they'll put out a decent defense. Like maybe it's one of those scenarios. Man, I've just never, like, for like a, they're a power five school, obviously, but they're just a mid-maid, like they're almost a mid-major. Yeah.

Like they're the, you know, run to the Big Ten, or one of the runs of the Big Ten, including Rutgers. And they've never really had a competitive team since the Big Ten reshuffled their conference into two divisions.

I just never seen anything like this. Such a mid-school have, an elite secondary and then they still routinely got torched by teams. I don't know. Has there ever been a non-secondary player from Illinois even drafted? I don't know one in the past years. Oh. Like non-debeat, like an edge rusher, detackles linebacker. I don't know one off the top my head. Yeah, me neither. I think they maybe had a linebacker this year get drafted. Or on UDFA maybe? No, that was Indiana, Cam Smith. Yeah.

Yeah, I don't know. That's a good question, actually. Yeah, that's a little concerning. Yeah, super weird, though. All these guys got very high draft capital investments, and that defense is just kind of mid. But we'll chalk it up to D-line play, I guess. All right, I went D-minus for Washington's grade.

I just look, no, there's been no detat, no other defenders drafted in the past two years. You'd have to go back to 2017. DeWain Smoot was drafted by Jacksonville. in the third round. He's a decent player. Yeah. He didn't play with any of these guys.

Yeah. Nate Hobbs, the DB was drafted in the fifth round in 2021 too. Wait, from Illinois? Yeah. Bro, my mind is broken right now. Illinois, DBU. Who knew? They've taken the title from LSU, from Alabama, from Washington, Ohio State.

They're now DBU, Illinois. Champagne, Illinois. D.B.U. All right. with D minus Chris, what did what did you go? I'm guessing like a plus no I'd go I'd go D yeah D slightly above the first first day in history that you you actually you were higher than be on four straight picks yeah anyways all right that's gonna do what do we have left actually we have so we did the one day with a FC West yeah right because we did the NFC West on day the first day so Monday we'll

do the AFC West and then maybe we won't talk to you guys for like a week after that. You know what I mean? I don't know. I need a break. Tired to talk about these guys? I'm getting there. Getting there for sure. So,

all right, we are, we're going to get out of here. I have to record Take Talk next, which comes out Saturday. So we will, we'll talk to you soon. Thanks, Chris.

All right. See you. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, wait, and review on your favorite platform and come join the roster at fantasy points.com.