Fantasy Football Daily - Roschon Johnson, Bryan Bresee, Trenton Simpson | On the Clock! NFL Draft Podcast
Episode Date: February 24, 2023On today's edition of On the Clock!, Brett Whitefield (@BGWhitefield) and Steve O'Rourke (@callmesteveo7) break down Texas RB Roschon Johnson before jumping into the first non-skill players of the pod...cast series with a couple of Clemson Tigers: DI Bryan Bresee and LB Trenton Simpson. 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://underdogfantasy.com/?_branch_match_id=661346116268496405&utm_source=partner&_branch_referrer=H4sIAAAAAAAAA8soKSkottLXL8hJrNQrzUtJLUrJT09LzCtJLK7US87P1S%2FQhfJ0C%2FIz80qKAXq4AjkxAAAA --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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It's time to the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoint.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.
And we are back with another episode of On the Clock.
I'm your host, Brett Whitefield.
This is a daily draft show.
And today we have a very familiar guest with us.
This is Stephen O'Rourke.
He is my co-host on the show, Take Talk.
So I'm sure many of you have heard this man's beautiful voice.
Stephen, how are you?
Yo, what's up?
It's weird being the guest.
I got to admit.
Yeah, man.
This is technically my first, I think my first guest spot on a podcast.
Really?
So you went from no guest spots to just hosting a podcast.
Yeah.
Wow.
Yeah, I just went for it right away.
I actually got called out on Twitter.
Somebody today was like, oh, so they give anybody a podcast, huh?
And I was like, yeah, you know it.
That's the beauty of it.
To be fair, you know, you did shoot your shot, shoot or shoot.
When it came to TikTok, you know, you had heard that I was going to be doing a pod
and I was in need of a co-host and you went straight to upper management and said,
hey, I can be Brett's co-hosts.
And we're already friends, so it makes sense.
Yeah, shoot your shot.
That's what it's all about.
Literally, my entire job in this space has literally been about shooting my shot.
That's true.
From DMing you on Twitter to telling Joe, hey, what about us doing it?
How about me and Brett do a podcast?
It was all about taking your shot, which is what the draft is all about, is taking your shot on a guy.
Steve's going to hit the segways for me.
I don't even have to do it.
This is great.
Yeah, so this is a daily draft podcast,
so I'm sure you've heard the spiel already,
but we do have a draft guide coming out on fantasy points.com.
That's going to be pretty spectacular.
I'm diving into at least 150 guys.
My internal goal is 200,
although there is no pressure from upper manager to hit the full 200,
but I'm going for it.
We're not just doing skill players.
I know this is technically a fantasy company.
company. So the general assumption is that we're doing QBs, running backs, receivers, and tight ends.
But we're going the full nine yards. I'm getting into the O lineman, getting into all the guys
on the defensive side of the ball. In fact, today, Steve and I are going to talk about two defensive
players. So the defensive guys make their debut today on the show. Steve, let's talk. I gave you the same
format. I've been given the other guys. Yes. I need a guy that you're higher on than most,
a guy you're lower than most and then a guy we can fight about a little bit.
So without further ado, let's jump in.
Texas running back, Rochon Johnson.
This is a guy you love.
You're higher on him than consensus.
And consensus seems to be starting to turn the corner too.
I think you're seeing him creep up a little bit on the consensus draft boards.
But lay it on me, Steve.
What do you see in Rocheon that you love?
I see a guy that if Bejohn Robinson,
doesn't exist. We're talking about him in a completely different light. This guy is big. He's athletic.
He can make plays. He has good vision. He's good out of the backfield. His pass pro is okay.
He's not going to, he's not like the biggest, or he is the biggest running back. He's like 6, 3, 2, 20.
But he's not really like a lay the lumber pass pro guy. He's more of a cut and just try to take out your legs type of pass pro guy.
but that's okay.
But overall, I mean, without Bijan in the backfield,
he would have dominated in the Texas offense.
He is a great pass catcher.
He can move in space in a fantastic way.
He is surprisingly agile for how big of a guy he is.
I mean, like you throw on his film, you see a guy.
Like he has like five or six hurdles over defenders in the open field.
Like for a guy six three, two, 20, like we haven't really seen a running back that big since Derek Henry.
But again, he has the agility of a smaller guy.
And I think that offers a lot to offenses.
It's a, you know, he's a guy that can step in and be a three down back for you.
He fits perfect into a committee.
He came from a committee.
Like he doesn't have that much usage on his legs.
But he comes from a pro, like more of a pro style offense with Sarkesian.
and I just really like the way he plays,
and I think that he can step into an NFL backfield
and contribute, like, day one.
Like, I would be totally comfortable taking a round two flyer on this guy.
Because I think he's a, like I said,
I think he's a guy that comes in and produces right away.
He has, he has breakaway speed,
which again, for a guy that big,
you don't see that often in the running back position.
And he has good vision at the hole.
He doesn't really,
lulligag. He hits the hole hard. You see him consistently trucking guys in the hole,
getting the extra yard. He reminds me of Jamal Williams in that aspect of his running,
where it's just get the ball downhill right now. And I think that works well in a lot of offenses
these days with a lot of zone concepts being used. You know, with his vision and his ability to
take on contact, I think he brings a lot to an offense. I think he can really,
upgrade the running back position or at least add a new flavor to a backfield that may not have
a guy that can go all three downs. Yes, Steve, and looking at my report I wrote on him,
the words I used to describe his downhill style was deliberate and intentional. I use those words
several times in my right up with him. And I think you see that. He's an intentional runner. He
runs with intensity. He runs with bad intentions. I think he checks all those.
boxes. Check this out, though. So he was technically a quarterback recruit coming to Texas. A lot of
people don't know that. He didn't really play any quarterback, but he immediately moved to running back.
Yes. And as a freshman, he carried the ball 123 times for 649 yards and seven touchdowns.
Caught the ball another 23 times for 160 yards and another touchdown. And he kind of started
to take over that backfield as the season went on. And then imagine being Rocheon. In comes Bejan.
year two.
The number one running back recruit in the nation.
Yeah.
Picks your school.
Kudos to Rocheon for sticking it out, though.
Didn't transfer?
That is true because it happened right at the peak of the beginning of the transfer portal had every, I mean, he could have had any opportunity.
The COVID year was when Bejohn started.
Yeah.
Any college in the country would have welcomed him onto their team.
Oh, yeah.
And he could have easily been a lead back wherever he went.
but I think there's value again there's value in the fact that he did split time for a little bit
that's just less usage on the legs which is what we talk about constantly with running backs
I mean it's all about like how do you how do you correctly bring a guy into his second contract
well with rochon right now he gets you he's going to give you like four or five good years
from the beginning he's going to be he's going to be an added piece and like again he just he
in every facet
and he plays with such intensity
that like the pass pro issues
that I have with him,
like I think he can fix that.
Like with if you just coach him up to deliver a pass pro block
the way he runs into a hole,
I think you can get him there.
But just overall I like his ability to catch passes
out of the backfield.
I think that's such a big element for what you can be
as a running back in the end of the,
FFL nowadays is adding that element to the passing game.
Just because of so much of how we're moving toward more of a passing offenses and
the running game is more used in supplement to the passing game than it is, you know,
the other way around nowadays, I think that having him and being able to use him on any down,
it just, like I said, it opens up your offense a lot more.
And I love his, and his, I couldn't get, I could not get over his breakaway speed in the open field
for how big he was.
He looks like he's a freight train.
I don't know many DBs
that are going to want to take him head on.
No, and you see business decisions
already being made with him.
A couple of cool stats to throw at you.
Over the last two seasons,
totaling nearly 200 carries,
he's averaging six yards of pop.
Pretty freaking impressive
for a Power 5 running back.
Also, he is the only running back
in this draft class, Steve,
that averages more yards after contact per carry per PFF than Bijon Robinson.
The only one in the class that averages more than Bijon.
He averages four and a half yards after contact per carry.
And that's where you make a living in the NFL.
Yeah, that's the starting point for my scoring system.
I have three main traits that I look at with running backs,
and I've talked about it already with a couple of the guys we've done.
but vision ability to create beyond your blockers
are the two most important ones
I you know that's a starting point for me
the fact that he he does so well I do the one concern I have with him
Steve I don't know if you see this is I
I think a lot of people touting Rochon are missing
they don't understand the difference between vision and lateral agility
so I think Rochon he has really good
good vision. So when he sees early penetration or some type of, you know, run fit coming, he wasn't
expecting. That vision allows, allows him to diagnose and adjust quickly. Yes. I do think he lacks
some lateral ability in the open field, though. He doesn't, he's got insane contact balance. So,
so it doesn't really matter. But he's just, he's not going to juke a lot of guys out. He's usually
just going to absorb contact, play through that contact, and he'll break tackles that way. Yeah. And I think
that's just, I think that's just the way it is with a guy that big. Like he's, like you said,
he's not a guy that's going to make a, make a defender miss in a one by one box. That's not
his game. But he doesn't have to be that because like you said, he gets downhill fast enough
and he initiates contact. So nine times out of 10, when you watch his runs, he's falling
forward. Like he's meeting his, he's meeting the defender. The defender's not meeting him.
And like, again, that's just how you make your living.
in the NFL. That's how running backs become good is being able to take on hits at the second level,
being able to, like you said, get away from contact in whatever way that is. Like, not everybody
has to be the shifty, you know, Sequin Barclay can make 10 cuts in two yards and make eight guys
miss at that time. That's not Rochon's game. And if you're expecting him to be that, then yeah,
he's going to fail. But if you just get him in a downhill system and just, you know, work on
getting him to the second level,
you're going to see the yards after contact.
You're going to see the yards per carry materialize into what you're looking for from him.
For sure.
So since you're higher on him than most,
where are you comfortable taking him in this year's draft?
I'm comfortable.
Like I said,
I'm comfortable with a two.
I'm comfortable with him in the second round.
High second round,
mid-second round.
Like right now he's probably top of the third back-end,
like back-end second.
I think most people have him, like, as an early day three guy.
Oh, is he that low now?
Yeah.
Or is even that low?
I think he's starting to come up a little bit, but I see some people with late day two grades,
but I think the consensus is like 115th to 120th over.
Yeah, I think I'm comfortable taking him day two.
I'm comfortable with him round three for sure.
And if someone took a chance on him in round two, I don't, I wouldn't be mad about it.
I did, like, there's so many, there are a ton of running backs in this class.
each guy kind of offers a little bit different aspect to their game.
I just think that Roshan, I mean, obviously Bijon's at the top of the list,
but I just think that Roshan has such a complete game,
and he's worked so well in every facet that it's just he integrates into any offense well,
and that's why I feel comfortable.
I don't feel like there's a lot of learning curve for him.
Yep.
I dig it.
All right.
So before we move on, then,
give me a landing spot that you would really,
really love him at.
I mean, honestly.
Honestly, I'd love him in Detroit.
I knew you were going to say that.
I do.
Like, everybody's touting Bijan saying going after,
go after a running back.
Go after Rochon.
Like, I don't think they're, like,
you and I are running backs don't matter, guys.
And, you know, it's the nature of that position.
But I just think that he fits in well.
and if you're not they're probably not going to resign or extend dandre swift i think that ship
has kind of sailed yep this is a guy that steps in and i like he adds the element a little bit of
what dandre swift added which is you know versatility but he just he doesn't have as many
health concerns as dandre swift he holds up well and i think that that that would be a good spot for
him i could like the eagle's offense would be a
ton of fun to have him in it.
Again, the odds came out today for the Eagles to take Bijon Robinson, which how they're
at the top of the list.
I don't know.
We're doing it again with the Eagles running back.
You, Chris and I were talking about it.
But like Bijon, sorry, Roshan's a guy that, like, why not go get him?
Why would you waste the draft capital on Bijon when you can get somebody who can contribute
at a more high value position in, you know, with their first round picks?
why not go after Rochon and day two and, you know, add that element to the, add a similar element
to what Bejohn adds just, you know, to a little bit lesser degree.
I dig it.
All right.
We're going to get into Clemson defensive interior player, Brian Brise.
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Cool, bills are paid.
Let's move on to Clemson defensive tackle Brian Brise.
Steve, this is, when you threw him out as a guy I wanted to talk about as someone
you're not feeling, I hear you loud and clear.
This is a guy who's maddening to do a write-up on because you see so many high-level
plays, but there's some stuff missing.
So why don't you lay it on me?
So start out with the good.
He's a big, strong guy who's athletic in the middle,
can move guards and get pressure on the quarterback.
That's the name of his game.
He also contributes in the run game.
The issues I have is that there's the inconsistency.
Yes.
You can go a game where he makes three to four splash plays,
tackles for loss, sack, he's splitting double teams.
He's making, like, you know, he's,
making his name heard. And then he'll go three games where he gets just driven back by double
teams. He is just like not existent. I mean, he doesn't really get blown back a ton. He's a
very, he has a strong base. He's got good legs. It's just that it's the inconsistency and it's the
ability to just get lost at times and just be a non-factor. That and I understand that Clemson
has a lot of athletes on their defensive line.
They're very deep on the defensive line and on the defensive side.
But if Bressay is a guy that's going to contribute in the NFL,
he wasn't, he wasn't in every down player as a defensive tackle.
Like they would go, they would go drives without putting him in the game.
A lot of that was durability concerns, I think, but yeah.
Which, again, is just another thing that I am not a huge fan of in my,
in a defensive tackle.
I mean, it's a guy that's taking on hits.
day, every day, every game.
I don't really want to worry about durability issues with a defensive tackle
because that's something that adds up.
And like we've seen it with guys before.
Like to me, Nick Fairley comes to mind of a guy that like had the really elite
athleticism who could make a lot of plays but couldn't say healthy and would
get lost in the game at times.
And I see that with Brisei a little bit.
Again, I want to reiterate that his high level stuff.
is exactly that.
It's high level.
And it's why we're talking,
why people are talking about him and, you know,
like he's been thrown up in the top 10.
He's been down in the,
you know,
in the teens.
He's been kind of all over the place.
I just,
I want to see it more consistently.
I think he's going to test well athletically.
He is an athletic guy.
I think he's a freak.
Yeah, he is.
He is a freak.
And there's so much,
I mean,
like,
that's so much to work with.
And,
you know,
there's merit to that.
but can he marry that with consistency?
Can he be a more consistent guy who, you know, again,
he's a defensive tackle.
He's not going to make every play.
He's not going to have 100 tackles on the season.
That's not a realistic expectation.
But I also don't want to lose him for three games at a time
where I don't hear his name.
I don't see him show up on the stat sheet.
I don't see him making any splash plays or even any just like average plays.
There are legitimately games where, like, it was Florida State.
He got kind of beat up in that game this year.
It was a game where, you know, they started focusing a lot more double teams on him.
They started focusing on him a little bit.
And you saw it mess with him.
You saw him get kind of lazy with his feet.
You saw him get a little bit tired.
And that just makes me nervous overall because it's just not a thing I want to see
into defensive tackle.
Like, when I see him at his highest, like, it reminds me of Javonne Hargrave.
Like, he can get upfield so fast.
And he can, he has a pretty good arsenal of pass rush moves.
He's got a good inside rip.
He's got a good swim move.
I just, again, it's, it's the consistency for me.
And it's the ability to, or the lack thereof to consistently dominate and take over
double teams and single, you know, single man blocking.
Yeah, I kind of aching his game to the game of golf.
This is an analogy I've been using.
It's like when I golf, Steve, it's mostly not pretty.
But, you know, on 18, every time I'm out there, I crush a 310 yard drive right down
the middle.
And I'm like, oh my God, that was amazing.
I want to play golf all the time for because that shot felt so good.
But the reality is, Steve, is I still turned in a scorecard of 101 and I suck.
That's reality.
But I think I'm good enough to golf several times a week, and it's something I enjoy.
Now, I'm not saying Brian Brisei sucks by any means, but his game is so aching to that.
Like, when I watched his tape, dude, I think I watched his best game first.
So I remember messaging you, like, dude, this guy can ball, like absolute monster.
And then the more, the more I watch of him, the more I was like, what are what is happening?
happening. Like my biggest frustration with him, Steve, is he's capable of making these high-level
plays. You mentioned the past rush arsenal. It's definitely there. He's got some power in his hands,
too. Yeah. But for whatever reason, there's so many plays where he just pops straight up and then
doesn't even fight to keep the guard or tackles hands off his chest. He gives up. I'm like,
what are you doing? You see him give up. If like, if a guard gets inside hands on him into the chest,
plays dead. He's done. Miles Murphy.
hopefully you can crash in and make a play.
Yeah.
Like that, and that, yeah, going against Florida State and Georgia Tech and the other Wake Forest,
like that can work.
You can get away with like taking that play off.
You can get away with a little bit of lazy technique.
When you go to the NFL, you don't really get the Wake Forest offensive line anymore.
Like it's guys that can and will get hands in the side.
inside on you like eight times out of ten so where when are we going to see like hopefully we see
the counter moves and you'd like to see a little bit more arm chopping a little bit more of the
aggression when he does get on a position like that would that takes him to another level I think like
if he showed that consistently on film he I don't think we're even talking about him right now we're
talking he's a consensus top ten but
there's a little, there's some depth at the D tackle in the, in day two.
And it's just, it worries me that, again, it just worries me that a guy that played on such a talented defense, on such a talented defensive line could just go to go at times where he would get lazy.
He would let other people make, like let other people make plays, whether it's, you know, by, by another guy making a great play or he just gets, you know, locked up.
Yeah.
I just, I do want to, sorry, go ahead.
I do want to be careful calling it laziness because it could be a technique issue where he just simply doesn't know how to deconstruct blocks.
Yeah, that's fair.
I should recant that.
And laziness is not, I'm not here to judge a guy, whether a guy works hard or, you know, that's not on the table.
But it is.
It's just, it's the, you know, he loses technique.
He can get a little bit, like, tight with his feet.
he loses that base that he can get and helps him drive that power and drive guys back.
If he gets out of position, you generally see those feet kind of get closer together.
You see him shoot straight up like you said.
And all of a sudden he's locked in and a guy's shooting off the guarder center's butt through the hole.
Yep.
But again, there is the high level.
And it's the reason we're talking about him in the first round because at the same time,
he has shown an elite ability to split double teams when he gets.
it's a good jump off the line.
Agreed.
Okay, so I think consensus is that he's probably a top 25 player.
Yeah, I think, yeah.
You're lower on him than most.
Where are you comfortable taking him at?
Be like a late first.
Late first, okay.
So you're not too much lower.
I'm not too much lower, but as far as value, as far as value,
I think there are like Siaki Iika.
Like, there's guys in the second round that you can get.
Mazi Smith.
Mazzie Smith, there are guys in the second round that I think you can get that have shown more consistency,
have shown more consistency without necessarily the high level athleticism,
but it's still more consistent and more, you know, more high level plays throughout the season.
Yeah, that's fair.
I'm a bet on the traits guy in a lot of ways.
I'm fine with end of the first round as well because I do think there's enough to work
with where you get him the right coaching.
If he can stay healthy with the right coaching,
like you're looking at a really, really good value.
But it also depends
that the board shakes out.
Like I'm a firm believer that a guy like Mazi Smith
is going to end up in the first round
when it's all said and done.
I don't think a lot of the people that have him
as like a second and third round guy
haven't really watched his tape yet.
Yeah.
I think once he tests at the combine too,
he's going to test as a freak.
So I think Brisei probably is more competition
with the interior defensive players
than we thought maybe he did
a month ago or so.
Yeah, I think, yeah.
He's another one.
I think this guy probably jumps,
he's jumping up most people's boards pretty quickly here.
You actually, you mentioned him the other day,
and I did, like, just going through and watching him a little bit,
and then just looking at where he's at across the board, Gancy is.
You know, I've seen the leap is there.
Yeah.
And he's starting, he is starting to kind of contend with Brissay up there for, like,
the second interior defensive lineman taken because Jalen Carter's going number one.
Yep.
out of the group.
All right, let's move on to another Clemson player.
This is a guy we're allegedly going to fight about,
and that's Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson.
Now, before we get into this, Steve,
I do want to say,
I'm not actually sure there's an argument here because I know where you're going
with this.
You're betting on the trades with this guy.
Yeah, this is.
I'm looking at it from a consistency, like, you know,
what he, like functionally,
what he's actually doing on the field versus what he's capable of doing.
And I know if you're betting everything on the line of what he's capable of doing,
you're going to love this guy.
So I understand.
But without further ado, why don't we get into that discussion?
It is funny because it's completely contradictory to what I just said about per se and like how the inconsistency and all that.
No, no, kind of, kind of.
I think, I think Simpson has consistency on tape.
But my, my biggest issue with them and not to start with my issues,
but is that a lot of his big plays were just,
they're schemed up for him,
whether they're,
you know,
dogs or he's walking up down,
you know,
down on the line of scrimmage and getting a blitz,
like a free run up the quarterback.
So a lot of his plays,
the things that make you go,
oh, wow,
that was awesome.
He didn't really have to do anything.
It was pretty much handed to him.
But,
again,
just that,
so I do think he's a more consistent player than Brisei.
I just think it was easier for him to be consistent,
because of what Clemson was doing with.
And we've seen them do this with other players, by the way,
whether it was Isaiah Simmons or Tanner Mews.
He fits that kind of Jeremiah Ousa Cormier role.
Yep.
So like, yeah, anyways, tell me what you like about the guy,
and then we can get into a little more.
Yeah, and so it really shouldn't come as a surprise
that this is a guy I like for anybody that listens to the TikTok podcast
because he kind of fits what I want in my defense.
If I'm drawing up a defense, he's the type of player that I want on my defense because I am a guy that leans toward wanting to play like a three safety, have a hybrid like Michigan's Viper position, like a hybrid safety linebacker.
And I think Simpson fits that position.
I think he is a guy like, yes, he did have some stuff.
So you hated the way they used him this year then?
Yes.
Because he was playing that role as like an overhang defender.
more outside the box role, big safety slash small linebacker.
This year they balked him a little bit and he was playing more stack roles,
Will or Mike position.
And that was where I thought I saw it like the 2021 tape I enjoyed.
I thought it was like 22 two tape.
I think he did get a little bit lost.
I mean, linebacker's a complex position.
It takes a lot of brain work.
It takes a lot of mental processing.
And there's no knock on Trent Simpson.
but to go from what he was doing in 2021 to go to what he was doing in 2022,
it takes kind of a big leap, like going from a guy who's not necessarily the center of the defense
to a guy that is more of the center of the defense.
There's more responsibility with that.
And I think it takes, putting him in that a stack linebacker position takes away from
what his traits and what his abilities are.
he's a he's i think like six three two 30 he runs he runs really well and that's why i think you like
if you're drafting him you're not drafting him to play linebacker if you are i think you're making
mistake i think he's a guy that you want to line up over tight ends i think he's a guy you want to
walk down in the box i think he's a guy that you want to have as like a nickel defender
against heavier formations he's a guy that can combat the two tight end one like a like two tight end
personnel. That's where I want him used, and that's not what Clemson did last year, but the traits
and the ability still showed up on tape. He still is quick into the backfield. He's pretty good at
diagnosing plays. He, you know, playing in college, you see a lot more read option. He's disciplined. He
knows where to attack. And I just think that, like, him coming off, him coming off the edge, so to say,
or like, you know, out of the box is where his value is.
Like I said, as a stack linebacker, I think that he would just get lost and be kind of
another guy.
It'd be a jag.
And but if you put him as like a Kyle Dugger role, I think he can excel in that role.
I think he's a guy that can defend in the run game, give you value there, as well as being
able to match up against bigger tight ends and even some like bigger slots that aren't you know
necessarily as fast but he has that ability he has the coverage ability i think it needs to be
worked on a little bit but the traits and you know the film is there to put him to put him in
that position so immediately from here you talk i i know why we're different on him because
the role you're kind of you the role you're kind of you the role of you the role of you the role
you see him in at the NFL level, it just simply doesn't really exist outside of the guy you
mentioned, Kyle Dugher. Jeremy Chin might be another one. Yeah, that's the other guy I think of.
So I see him as a guy, you're going to have to transition him to that off-the-ball linebacker role.
I think all of that coverage value you want to extrapolate out of him is in a traditional linebacker role.
But he's so raw and underdeveloped on the line of scrimmage rundown stuff that I think it's,
there's going to be a massive learning curve.
So that's why I'm lower on him is because I see the physical traits,
but this is a guy that's going to take several years to get on the field in a full-time
capacity if he's an off-the-ball linebacker.
I see maybe, you know, he maybe as a rookie, you get him in that passed-down
specialist linebacker role.
Yeah.
He's a coverage savant.
And yeah, if you're playing man, he'll be able to run with tight ends.
If you're playing zone, he can eat up a lot of space out there in the middle of the field.
Yeah.
That's attractive to me.
So maybe that's why I'm lower on him.
because I see this big transitional curve.
This is also, Steve,
this is a good cautionary tale for people who,
anytime there is that bigger oversized safety,
that 225 pound,
like everyone's first instinct is,
oh, make him an off-the-ball linebacker, he'll be great.
Yes.
No, the reality is a lot of the time
that actually ruins the player and he sucks.
And we saw it this year with Simpson.
He was, for all intents of purposes,
he was much worse this year than he was in 2021.
Yes.
And it was because they did that, basically.
They moved it.
So it's not always as easy as,
oh, we'll just change this guy's position
he'll be great.
So I do think it's going to take, you know,
if he lands with the right team, Steve,
I think you're right.
I think maybe another team can maximize that value
better than the role I see for him.
It's just most teams aren't doing that.
It's true.
Look what the Cardals have done with Isaiah Simmons, for God's sakes.
They started the,
he was like an edge defender his first year.
They moved him off the ball.
But he was playing deep safety.
This year they got him at court.
They literally can't figure out what to do with the guy.
I think because they haven't,
they haven't developed them.
Eight positions this year.
Right. And he has every year he's been in the league.
And the reality is it's the things he's lacking in is is mental discipline.
It's acknowledging those run keys.
It's acknowledging, like trusting his eyes and what he sees.
The closer he gets the line of scrimmage, the slower the processing gets for him.
And it's reps.
He hasn't played one thing enough.
And I think maybe this year he played his best football as like a slot corner.
Yeah.
Like that might be his role.
And I see you saying that with Simpson as well.
I think Simpson might be a little heavy for that.
Yeah, I don't see him as.
I don't really see him more as it.
Like, I'd want him in as, like, a slot corner if they're flexing out a tight end or something
like that.
Like, you know, if they're going to go into a traditional three wide set, I either want Simpson,
like, yeah, okay, maybe move him inside as an off ball linebacker and passing down stuff.
Yeah.
But other than that, like, I don't really want him in the box.
Because like you said, it takes a lot.
And there is, like, the NFL game is faster.
It's more difficult.
And given that, like, I think there's, like, value in taking what you've seen and how he's played in college at these different positions.
And, again, extrapolating that to the NFL.
There's a reason he didn't excel as an off-ball linebacker this year.
There's a reason they had to scheme things up.
They knew he, they wanted him.
They knew they needed him on the field.
And they knew they could get his athleticism to do things.
But it just, you know, they had.
They moved things around.
They wanted to do, they wanted to bring in different guys, put guys in different spots.
And it led to him moving to like off the ball linebacker.
And that's fine if you're Clemson where you have a wealth of talent compared to some of your counterparts.
That doesn't happen in the NFL.
And I don't like, you just don't want to waste a guy with this type of athleticism, this type of talent.
And the tape that he's shown, I'd hate to see him wasted in that three to four years.
learning curve of trying to become a will mike sam off ball linebacker in like a four three defense
yeah all right cool so we got to get out of here but really quickly um i think consensus on him is
backed off quite a bit he's yeah probably more of a day two guy in most people's eyes now that's kind
of where i'm comfortable with him at mid day two i'm willing to bet on the traits but other than that
it's a little a little too rich for me where are you at with his draft value i'm ended day one
And the day one, cool.
End of day one, top of day two.
And if he goes in there and nukes the combine, like some people think he's going to,
he very well might get himself back into that conversation.
Yeah.
Like, I think a team that would be fun to see him play on would be like,
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are about to clean house.
Have him go in there and just give him an opportunity to make plays.
Yeah.
And just kind of let him free.
There's not going to be a lot of stake this season for him.
And that's fine.
and I think that's kind of the perfect place for him
is kind of learn those kinks,
work out the inefficiencies,
the inconsistencies,
and find a spot for him.
I think a team like that would be good for him.
I don't like you said,
I could see Seattle drafting him.
Seattle's another good one.
They're weird.
They always draft someone in the first round
that they shouldn't who's got this crazy athletic profile.
Yeah.
So I could see.
They're big spark.
They're big spark training guys.
Yep.
Over there in Seattle.
All right.
Well, that's going to do it for us today.
Steve, thank you so much for coming on the pod.
For those listening, you can find Steve on Twitter at Call Me Steve-O-7.
That's at Call Me Steve-O-7.
Steve, we enjoyed it very much.
This is a daily draft show.
We will be back Monday and we'll be doing an episode each day next week.
Thank you so much for listening and we are out.
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