Fantasy Football Today - Ryan Wilson Joins Us With His Latest Mock Draft (04/26 Fantasy Football Podcast)

Episode Date: April 26, 2021

Check out Ryan's latest mock draft: https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/three-round-2021-nfl-mock-draft-patriots-move-up-for-qb-cowboys-make-two-trades-bucs-land-qb-in-round-2/ We've got Ryan Wilson - a man of many, many mock drafts - on to talk about his latest mock! He gives an overall assessment of the 2021 class (2:55) and starts with the WRs (6:53). Ja'Marr Chase is the best WR prospect since ____ ... Moving on to the RBs (11:40), who is the best one in this class? How many will be selected in the first round? How about the first three rounds (22:00)? We get into Najee Harris, Travis Etienne and Javonte Williams at length. Is Williams going to be a pass catcher in the NFL? After RBs, we talk a lot about Kyle Pitts (27:03). Who do we expect more production from: Pitts or Chase? ... Much more NFL Draft talk including the teams most likely to trade up or down (36:25), underrated and overrated prospects (37:15) and a full review of the first round of Ryan's most recent mock (39:30) ... Email us at [e-mail] Want in the Podcast League? Try our NFL Draft contest! https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/permalink/1115877195573244/ 'Fantasy Football Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Follow our FFT team on Twitter: @FFToday, @AdamAizer, @JameyEisenberg, @daverichard, @heathcummingssr, @ctowerscbs, @BenSchragg Watch FFT on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCviK78rIWXhZdFzJ1Woi7Fg/videos Join our Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FantasyFootballToday/ Sign up for the FFT newsletter https://www.cbssports.com/newsletter You can listen to Fantasy Football Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Football Today podcast." To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. This is Fantasy Football Today from CBS Sports. On his way to the end zone. I'll tell you what, that was a spectacular play. It's time to dominate your fantasy league. What a play. Off to the races.

Touchdown. Oh, he's done it again. Now here's some combination of Adam, Dave, Jamie, Heath, and Ben. Well, I know today's going to be a good show because Jamie is lit up like a Christmas tree. He is so excited. Jamie is like a kid on Christmas. You're so excited for today's show.

Ryan Wilson, I really think that Ryan Wilson is your best friend. That's kind of what I get. Or you want him to be your best friend. I do want him to be my best friend. I love Ryan to death. I think he's fantastic at what he does. I think I him to be my best friend. I love Ryan to death. I think he's fantastic at what he does. I think I've said this time and time again. If you listen to FFT and

five Ryan, we do our five minute podcast Sunday night for Monday. I was saying how everybody should listen to the show because you are the best at what you do. And, uh, but really I like talking to Ryan about like parenting stuff because, um, he has two boys. They're older than my three boys. And I like hearing his stories because I know what to expect, but, um, I have a parenting about like parenting stuff because um he has two boys they're older than my three boys and i like hearing his stories because i know what to expect but um i have a parenting story to share with ryan but i'll let you introduce ryan first before we get into the parenting stuff okay i'm trying to come up with some new nicknames for ryan uh he covers the nfl draft for cbs sports i've got mr mock draft mock man back draft like little kind of old pop culture reference, draft punk,

draft like daft punk. I like it. Yeah. So I just came up with those. I'll try to figure out some more by the end of the show. Ryan, have you done a mock draft since the one we talked about on FFT and Five, the seven rounder? Yeah, I came out Monday morning, a three rounder. We're in NFL draft week, the actual draft week. So that came out Monday, and then I'll have one more on Thursday morning where I just copy everything Jason and Pete and whoever else might know what they're doing. I put my name on it.

But yeah, no, I love... This is one of my favorite times of year, and I need to talk to Jamie once a month at least for my mental health because he makes me feel so good about myself that another reason I love coming on here. Yeah. Just listen to our podcast.

You'll feel great about yourself. Jamie, uh, Jamie speaks very highly of you. You do a great job. We're looking forward to breaking down your latest mock draft. Uh, we just,

I'll just run through the news and notes. We won't even talk about them, but Cleveland exercise fifth year options on Baker Mayfield and Denzel Ward. The big news over the weekend was Kansas city acquiring left tackle Orlando Brown from the Baltimore Ravens. They also got a second round pick in 2022 and a sixth round pick. They're giving up a first round pick, a third round pick, a fourth round pick this year and a 2022 fifth round pick.

So the Chiefs gave up a lot. They give up their first rounder, but they get Orlando Brown. That's a big deal and really makes you sleep better at night if you have Patrick Mahomes and all those guys in your dynasty leagues. Carolina considering trading back. Detroit trading back maybe. They're at 8-7 respectively. I'm going to ask Ryan who he thinks will trade back. In fact, I have NFL draft fill in the blank, and we'll do that in a moment.

Let me ask you, though, just in general, if you were going to sum up the draft in just a few sentences, great at wide receiver, great at cornerback, whatever it going to sum up the draft in just a few sentences, people aren't, you know, great at wide receiver, great at cornerback, whatever it is, sum up the 2021 NFL draft. Yeah, the wide receiver class is actually going to be pretty deep.

Not quite as deep as last year, but that's a great place to start. There'll be some interesting running backs that probably go on day three, but that can help you, I feel like, from a fantasy perspective. And of course,

the conversation will always be about the quarterbacks. There'll be five quarterbacks for certain that go in round one. We'll see if a sixth one slips in there, which I think would be And of course, the conversation will always be about the quarterbacks. There'll be five quarterbacks for certain that go in round one. We'll see if a sixth one slips in there, which I think would be sort of silly, even by NFL draft standards. But again, it could happen because of the fifth-year option.

But in terms of offensive players, I think there's a lot of guys to like, especially the skill position. If your team needs offensive tackle, they can probably find that guy in the first three rounds as well. And I don't know if you care much about defense. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we do. This is not just going to be a fantasy discussion today.

It'll be largely a fantasy discussion. Jamie, by the way, I think his power just went out, so he'll be back very shortly. Ryan, you're stuck with me for a little bit. But yeah, is it a bad defensive draft? No, it's not. Cornerback will be fun. There'll be some guys there in the first few rounds that can help your team.

Edge rusher is interesting that you won't get a guy that probably goes, you know, your guy, Dave Gettleman, might take someone at 11 that's slightly overdrafted. But if they start going 15 to 30, that feels like the range when those guys were off the board. And again, like a team like the Titans need edge rush help. That would make some sense. The Steelers, perhaps the bottom around one. The defensive line class is incredibly shallow. That is a concern. But linebacker, off-ball linebacker, which we typically don't talk about a lot in round one, we're sort of moving towards those guys being more valuable. And we can see two or three

guys go in the first round, but certainly a handful of guys in the first two days. And the same with safety. Safety is sort of a fun position where we're seeing more hybrid type players based on the Isaiah Simmonses of the world. And there'll be depth at those positions as well. And I feel like for the edge rushers,

yeah, it might take a little longer than usual to see them come off the board, but how many could go in the first round? Because, you know, I feel like it could be quite a bit in the first round, just not until maybe 15 or later. Yeah,

that's right. So I'm looking here. I have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven guys that are potential first round grades.

And I think probably five and a half is the over under where things get interesting. So Quidipe, Aziz Ojolari, Jason Owe could be in the mix out of Penn State. Carlos Basham, Jalen Phillips is a guy that we've all been hearing about forever at Miami after the 2020 season. There are injury medical concerns there, so if he clears those, he's definitely a first-round talent, potentially the best edge rusher in this class, if he can stay healthy. And then finally, I mentioned Joe Tryon out of Washington, who opted out. But again, another one of these quote-unquote high upside guys who could evolve into the edge rusher in a year or two,

even though he hasn't played a ton of football. Well, the NFL draft is here, and the Fantasy Football Today crew is going to be live for all three days of the draft, breaking down the fantasy impact of the picks. So join Jamie, Dave, Heath, NFL analysts like Pete Prisco, and of course, Ryan Wilson, and former players like Brady Quinn and Brian McFadden

on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday on the Fantasy Football Today YouTube channel. This is how you're going to watch. You're going to go to youtube.com slash fantasy football today. Get your questions answered in the chat room and start your 2021 fantasy prep early. And remember, everything is live youtube.com slash fantasy football today. We're giving away a spot in the 2021 listeners podcast league. That's on our Facebook page. We got giving away a spot in the 2021 Listener's Podcast League. That's on our Facebook page. We got a lot of great draft coverage this week and great opportunities. So go to our Facebook page for that. Just search on Facebook Fantasy Football Today or click the link in the episode

description. It's going to take you directly to my post. Comment on there with your prediction of the top 10 picks of the NFL draft. And whoever is closest to the exact order gets the spot. You'll see the instructions right there. But again, if you want to be in the podcast league picks of the NFL draft. And whoever is closest to the exact order gets the spot. You'll see the instructions right there. But again, if you want to be in the podcast league, click the link in the episode description or go to the Facebook group. And if you want to watch our coverage, youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday.

We'll do some NFL draft fill in the blank. Here we go. Blank is the best wide receiver in this class. I think it's Jamar Chase. I mean, I know it's Jamar Chase. He's my wide receiver number one. And the only thing I will say, Azar, is this.

If Devontae Smith didn't weigh 166 pounds but weighed 186 pounds, he would be my wide receiver one. And I'm only concerned about him because NFL teams are concerned about him. I think he's going to be a great NFL player. We saw that week in and week out at Alabama where he was just dominating guys

who were going to be first, second, third-round picks. But Jamar Chase for me right now and forever through the draft process will be wide receiver wide. And that's where we're at with Devontae Smith. He's 166 pounds? That's what he weighed a few days ago. That's right. So he's six feet, 166 pounds.

Man, that is light. Okay, then. Jamar Chase is the best wide receiver prospect since blank. My knee-jerk reaction when I was reading this was Justin Jefferson. His teammate at LSU and who came on the scene last year as the 22nd

pick. I think he was the 4th or 5th wide receiver taken. Which just reinforces that it's so hard to predict how these guys are going to turn out. Yeah, but was he really that big of a prospect? Because Lamb and... No. Right, right.

My reaction was, is he really... Okay, is Jamar Chase the best wide receiver prospect since maybe Julio Jones? That's what I eventually scribbled down. Because my knee jerk was, well, is he going to be better than Justin Jefferson in year one? I don't know. But right, it's Julio Jones feels like the

comp in terms of being able to dominate. When I talk about Jamar Chase, the comp I say is Anquan Bolden but fast in terms of being physical. He creates more separation, but he's not getting wide open like Justin Jefferson did last year, but he can. But yeah, I think Julio Jones is where I landed.

Julio Jones, 959 yards, eight touchdowns in 13 games as a rookie, all the way back in 2011. And Anquan Bolden, by the way, before Justin Jefferson, had arguably the best rookie season ever for a wide receiver. So hopefully these guys can really contribute. And you mentioned Justin Jefferson. Do you see Justin Jefferson in Terrace Marshall?

No. No. That's a good question. Terrace is bigger, and Terrace actually ran faster this pro day. My concern with Terrace Marshall, and our Jason mentioned this, there might be some injury concerns. Jason talked to Terrace's agent who said

nothing beyond the wear and tear of playing football, but NFL teams maybe have some issues with him as a possible bottom of the first round guys. Why I mentioned that, but tears Marshall had his, was at his most successful in 2019 as the third fiddle behind chase and Jefferson.

So I don't know if he can dominate as a number one. And if you're taking them in the first round, that would be my concern. That doesn't mean he can't be great or he won't be great. Just, I feel I'd feel more comfortable taking him maybe around later, but that's a good question. And a fair question question to ask because we didn't know that Justin Jefferson was going to be as good as he was because he also was sort of in Jamar's shadow.

Yeah, I just look at the size and the speed combination and the fact that, correct me if I'm wrong here, but Terrace Marshall out of LSU can play both inside and outside, just like Justin Jefferson. And he's a little bit different. After you get past those top three, the consensus top three, I guess we could say, you got a lot of small guys, a lot of jet sweep guys, a lot of players. He could be really good, but slot receivers. And he's just different. And Jefferson really had this surprisingly amazing 1,400-yard rookie season. So I just saw maybe physical comparisons between the two

and that he stands out, that Marshall stands out a little bit in this wide receiver class, which is kind of a small class, small in terms of height. Right. That's a great point in terms of the smallish nature of some of the guys who could eventually go off the board, the Elijah Moores, the Rondell Moores, even the Kadarius Tonys. And Terrence Marshall did play inside and out at LSU. He just wasn't the first option, and that wasn't his fault.

He played with two first-round picks. That's what's going to happen. So I think that's a fair point. And a team like the Ravens makes some sense at the bottom of the first round because they don't need another Marquise Brown. They need a big target who can get open. Miles Boykin hasn't put it all together yet. And Terrace Marshall doesn't.

I mean, that makes sense there as well, in terms of the guy you described and what teams they'll be looking for. Well, I've fallen in love with Terrace Marshall, so I do not want him to go to the Ravens. That is the worst destination for the lowest pass volume team. I don't know.

Jamie, is there a worse destination than the Ravens for a wide receiver? Jamie, you got me? Yeah. Is there a worse destination than the Ravens? For a wide receiver? For a wide receiver, yeah.

Maybe New England? That wouldn't be good either. Good point. Okay, let's go back to fill in the blank. Jamie, please feel free to participate. Blank is the best running back in this class. Ryan muted. Ryan's muted.

There he is. I had to cough. Hell of a show today, huh? I'm bringing the Will Brinson energy. He tells me once a week to please unmute myself as the old person because I forget. I'm going with Najee Harris. He's been my favorite running back for quite some time. I know folks are partial to Travis 18, and I certainly understand that.

Najee's a little older, but I think he is almost as dynamic. I think he's a slightly tougher runner, and that's the guy I like. If he ended up going 24 to the Steelers, my homer team, I wouldn't hate it if some other things don't fall into place for them when they pick at the bottom of round one. I totally it. If he ended up going 24 to the Steelers, my homer team, I wouldn't hate it if some other things don't fall into place for them when they pick at the bottom of round one. I don't agree. Not there. Blank running backs are selected in the first round.

So William Hill has one and a half, and that's probably the great number. So if the Dolphins take a running back at 18, do the Steelers come back and take one at 24? Would the Buccaneers take one at 32? Would the Buccaneers take one at 32? Those are the, would the Bills think about taking one at 30? I'll go over. I think it's going to be two running backs, but I don't feel great about that.

I would take under. I think it's just going to be one. I think it's going to be Harris. I think the surprise would be though, if he slips to the Steelers. And like you said you know I wouldn't also rule out you know not only the teams you mentioned behind them but maybe the the Jets as well oh yeah yeah and you well let me check your latest draft I remember the one from

Friday I know the way you uh you had it was the Steelers took Javante Williams. Okay, well, right now you have the Falcons taking Javante Williams. This is your latest one from this morning, right? Yep, at 35. And you have the Jaguars taking ETN at 33. And so you have Najee Harris. I'm sorry, this is the first time I'm looking at it, actually. So it is Monday morning.

Najee Harris to the Dolphins at 18. Okay. You got it. Ryan, unlike the podcast you're usually on, our host is Monday morning. Najah Harris to the Dolphins at 18. Okay. You got it. So Dolphins. Ryan, unlike the podcast you're usually on, our host is typically prepared. So this is catching him off guard. Jamie, I will tell you this.

I did the five-minute podcast you guys do last week with Adam, and I've never had a five-minute conversation with Brentson, much less done anything recently to podcastify. It was so refreshing and I very truly appreciated it. You mean the hosting go, so what do you want to talk about? I don't even know what today is.

Yeah, so anyway, Harris, 18 to the Dolphins, ETN, 33rd to the Jaguars, Javante Williams, 35th to the Falcons. Jamie, if that were to play out that way, and you had Harris to the Dolphins, ETN to the Jaguars, Javante Williams, 35th to the Falcons. Jamie, if that were to play out that way, and you had Harris to the Dolphins, Etienne to the Jaguars, Javante Williams to the Falcons, how would you rank them in fantasy?

Harris easily would be number one. Williams would probably be number two, just given the opportunity to play in Atlanta's system and probably get the better chance to start. Etienne, I think, would actually overtake James Robinson probably by the middle of the season, if not sooner. But that would be something you'd have to keep an eye on, just, I think, looking at all the scenarios. But, you know, Williams would be in a great situation with the Falcons, and obviously Harris would be the best of that trio.

Ryan, give me the scouting report on Javante Williams. So he's a physical guy, right? Likes to hit people, run into people. I know that's why Emory Hunt doesn't really like him that much. He doesn't like that he runs the contact. I think Emory said he's not sure that's going to translate at the next level. And the other thing I want to know is,

I'm worried from a fantasy perspective about Williams that he's kind of like what we saw from Kenyon Drake maybe in 2020 where he wouldn't be used in the passing game where he might be kind of a touchdown dependent guy. Maybe he's amazing and he's Derrick Henry or something. But tell me what you think about his versatility, I guess.

And how much do you like him? I like him a lot. I think he weighed like 220, he weighed about 200 pounds more than Michael Carter, the other running back in that system. And you're a U guy, right, Azar? Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, they absolutely destroyed that game. Every time we talk about these guys, we talk about that game.

But the thing is, like, there's no, you can't explain what happened. You had Roche, you had Jalen Phillips. You had Bubba. What's Bubba's last name? Bubba Bolden. Bubba Bolden in the back is really good. And they just got steamrolled. And the thing about Javante Williams, I think he can catch passes.

He and Michael Carter both had about the same number of receptions like in the 20s. 25. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so they're capable of doing that. And just sometimes in those college offenses, you're not asked to do it a lot. I think he does, you know,

Pete Prisco jokes that Leonard Fournette runs to contact. I don't feel like that's Javante Williams. I just feel like he's such a big bruising back that he runs through people. He's not looking to run around them. But he has that ability in open field to make guys miss. And, you know, we've heard sort of conversations. And if you look at the William Hill odds, I think it's plus 450 that he's the first running back taken.

I don't think he's going to be the first, but I do know that teams at the bottom of the first round like him. I think if he went to Pittsburgh, for example, I would love the idea of him being there and have no concerns about some of the things that Emory mentioned. That said, Emory was a Division I running back, and he understands the position, so I certainly take what he says seriously. But I don't see a situation where we're talking about, you know,

Leonard Fournette type inability to see the whole based on what I've seen the people I talked to. So I think he's top 40 guy, top 45 guy. And he feels like some of the second round picks we saw last year at the running back position who came in and had a pretty good start to their careers because they weren't asked to do a whole bunch, but what they were asked to do, they did at a pretty high level. Do you like the comparisons, Travis Etienne to Alvin Kamara? I can see that for sure.

And I've seen Le'Veon Bell to Najee Harris. If you squint, you can see that. Le'Veon Bell, although he came out of Michigan State, he was much heavier. He was too, I don't want to lie, but I feel like he was north of 230. And then obviously he got down and got himself into really good shape and was more of a sort of, you know,

the patient guy behind the line of scrimmage. He wasn't that all the time at Michigan State. So I suppose I could see that with Najah Harris as well. But Travis Aitina is special. The issue is, and you guys know this, we were all pumped about Clyde Edwards-Alaire going 32 last year. And at the end of the day,

he wasn't the best running back in that class based on production. That may change, of course. So we don't know how this is going to work out. It's basically a crapshoot. But based on what you see in college, there's no reason to think that ATN and Najee Harris won't be wildly successful in the NFL at some point.

Sorry to keep cutting Jamie out. Jamie, my next question will be for you after this one. Oh, I can listen to Ryan talk all day. I'm fine. What do people make... I thank you for letting me just be on here to get it before everybody else does. What do people make of Travis Etienne's senior season?

Is it viewed as a disappointment? Look, people make fun of me for yards per carry, but it was way down, and 5.4 yards per carry is really not anything special for a college running back, and just way, way down from his previous three seasons. What do what do people make of that yeah the issue for me wasn't so much the yards per carry it was that he he was a little looser with the football which was curious but i think when you talk to folks no one seemed really concerned about him hurting his draft

stock and he also you know you think back a year ago you sort of understand why he came back he said he came back because he wanted to win a national title. I believe him. But also, that running back class was so deep last year. And he wouldn't have been the first running back off the board, I don't think. Maybe the Chiefs would have liked him at 32. But I think he would have probably fallen in that second round glut and maybe even slipped to bottom of round two, early round three. And he, as Elson goes, he made himself some money by coming back. Although as to your point, Adam, he didn't set the world on fire. And that's why a year ago, Najee Harris was probably a day three guy.

So I think him coming back, he did himself a lot of favors. And that's why I like him slightly more than Travis Etienne. But again, if either of those guys went 24 to the Steelers, for example, I would be ecstatic about it. But I think you raise a fair question. Like, so what happened? And I think part of it was just that he wasn't as good as he was the year before. I don't think that's indicative of anything.

It's just the biggest concern for me was he was a little looser with the football. And that's something that, you know, that's something that teams will take very seriously. I think some people viewed Trevor Lawrence not as good as he was the year before, too. So, you know, I mean, it's just a byproduct of, you know, teams getting an extra year to see you and understand what you do and trying to, you know, negate some of the things that you do well. Well, one thing that Travis Etienne does well, he's got the home run speed and he's a big play guy. And he also, Jamie, caught a lot of balls, 48 catches as a senior, 37 catches as a junior junior so since we live in a kind of a ppr world these days uh you know when you look at i guess dynasty could you make a case for travis etn i know it's a silly

question asked before we even know where he goes but as the number one dynasty running back oh for sure i mean you know again think about as ryan brought up you know clyde edwards alair was not expected to be the number one pick in most dynasty leagues. And he was because of where he ended up. So, you know, if we get, you know, Travis Etienne to a team that is going to feature him and feature him prominently, you know, Jacksonville would certainly be interesting if that's where he does end up. You know, because of the ability to grow with Trevor Lawrence and a new system with, you know, Urban Meyer and Daryl Bevel and the offensive staff that they have there. So it could be a great landing spot for him. And I think if you get that situation, as opposed to, you know,

we keep hearing and as Ryan is mocking, and it just told you, you know, dolphins or the Steelers as two of the teams most likely to take Najee Harris in the first round, if it goes a different direction, you know, like Ryan said, Buffalo, you know, if, if Harris goes to Buffalo, while he would be the lead guy there, Etienne and Jacksonville may be the better prospect for Dynasty League just based on what that team does with their running backs

compared to what the Bills do with their running backs, for example. Okay. And Ryan, correct me if I'm wrong here, but Javante Williams, several years younger than Najee Harris. Najee Harris is kind of old, 23 years old. So Javante Williams is younger than both of them. It would go Harris and then ETN and then Williams

in terms of age. But from a dynasty standpoint, that might not be insignificant. So something to keep in mind. All right, we can move on here. Blank, another fill in the blank. Blank running backs will be selected in the first three rounds. We care a lot about those day two running backs, Ryan. How many total, if there's going to be, let's say, one in the first round, how many total in the first three rounds? I came up with five. So we've talked about Najee, Etienne, and Javante.

And then I think Michael Carter, Javante Williams' teammate goes, as I mentioned, he's about 20 pounds lighter, a little scat back here, if you will. And then Kenneth Gainwell is the other name that I'll throw out there, who played with Antonio Gibson at Memphis. And he's a similar type player. He's smaller than Antonio Gibson,

but he's incredibly effective as a receiver. He can run the ball out of the backfield. So I think he has a chance to be a top three round guy. And then the question becomes, does a Trey Sermon slip in there, who I don't love as much as some other people? Does a Ramondre Stevenson, who I actually do like a little more, does he find his way into the first round? And I'll mention one more guy who I think was on Prisco's better than team, Demetrik Felton, who played at UCLA as a running back, worked out as a wide receiver at the Senior Bowl and did pretty well. And that

again puts him in that, you know, the, the Prisco airback term, a guy who can run and also catch the football coming on the backfield, but I'll stick with five A's or guys that I think are almost certainly going to be top three around. And so Jamie, I,

do you think that this is going to be a running back class that really has a big impact in fantasy in 2021? I mean, destination is going to matter a lot for these guys, clearly. You know, so as we saw with last year's group, you know, think about when Antonio Gibson was drafted, for example. Think about when Zach Moss was drafted, for example. You know, those were the guys that were basically like four and five in terms of the fantasy rankings, you know,

behind Clyde Edwards, Hilaire, behind J.K. Dobbins, behind, well, I guess maybe lower than four. Yeah. Because he had acres yet Taylor. Yeah. They were probably like six and seven. Um, you know, so you, you, you see where they ended up when Gibson was drafted. Peterson was the Adrian Peterson was still on Washington's roster and they moved on from him. And so, you know, we didn't think Gibson would have an immediate impact as a rookie. And then you look at Zach Moss, who went to a situation where there was Devin Singletary, who was good, not great as a rookie. And we thought, OK, he has a chance to come in and challenge for that job.

And, you know, he was a starter at points, but he didn't blow the doors off it, which is why I think Ryan is mentioning, you know, the Bills as a potential landing spot for running back. So destination is going to matter a lot. You know, so we could see, you know, a guy like Ramond, Ramondre Stevenson, we can see a guy like Trey sermon. We see a guy like Chuba Hubbard, you know, end up in a, in a good spot, you know, so Khalil Herbert,

any of these guys, they may end up, you know, Atlanta, the jets, you know, teams that have starting needs, you know, if they end up with one of these guys, they could be, you know, very interesting for a fantasy. And the flip side of that is, you know, we thought Keyshawn Vaughn was going to be, oh my gosh, the Bucs, they need a running back to pair with Ronald Jones. And he was a bust. If they take a running back in the first round, it's just going to drive me crazy.

But Ryan said five. Last year we had 10 running backs taken in the top three rounds, including Darrington Evans, who was the last of those 10. Keyshawn Vaughn, Zach Moss, Gibson, A.J. Dillon, AJ Dillon don't forget about him and then of course the names we know before that um so that to me suggests Ryan that this is not a great running back class it's funny you say that because to me it suggests that um we were wrong about a lot of the running we beat me uh about long when the running backs might go because AJ Dillon was sort of surprised for a number of reasons number one that he went to Green Bay in the round two,

but also that he went that early. You mentioned Darrington Evans was sort of one of those dynamic players from App State that you weren't sure how much teams liked him. So there are some guys like that. Jamie mentioned Chuba Hubbard. He's a guy who's a sprint speed guy. There's Kylan Hill, who opted out of Mississippi State. But he caught a ton of passes in that

offense and opened the eyes of NFL teams in terms of him being able to do that. There's Elijah Mitchell out of Louisiana. Who's another guy who catches a ton of passes. So if there's a premium on those type players, and we sort of saw that with some of the guys you mentioned that went in the top three rounds last year, maybe they do sneak into the top 109 picks. I think is what it is, uh, in those top three rounds last year, maybe they do sneak into, to the top, uh, 109 picks. I think is what it is, uh,

in those top three rounds. So these are just the guys that I like in, you know, you have to sort of see through what other teams are thinking to, to make some of these other leaps, but it doesn't mean it won't happen. Um, some of these players that we've been talking about that may not go that

high, either they're too slow, either they haven't caught a lot of passes coming out of the backfield, uh, either they're not great bloggers or whatever. But, you know, I'd say five. It could be seven or eight. And, you know, I wouldn't be shocked. By the way, I want to tell our listeners what we have on tap this week, this show today.

And then tomorrow we'll talk about the veteran, the NFL players, the veterans that have the most to gain or lose based on the NFL draft. And then on Wednesday, we're going to have a mailbag for you. So I've got a lot of questions in my inbox, but please feel free to send more in. Apple Podcast reviews would be great. Go to our page on Apple Podcasts. Leave us a five-star review with a question. We'll read them.

Also, fantasyfootballatcbsi.com. And remember, during the draft, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, youtube.com slash fantasyfootballtoday. Check out all the live coverage. All right, let's have fun here with Kyle Pitts. Blank will select Kyle Pitts. Ryan? I think it's the Falcons.

I mean, Prisco's been talking about this for some time. He doesn't think that the Falcons are going to take a quarterback. He thinks Arthur Blank is all in on Matt Ryan for another year or two, even though they have a new coach and a new general manager. And here's the thing. If you trade down at four, and I suspect there will be teams interested in trading up to four to get whether it's Trey Lance, Mac Jones, or Justin Fields. If you're the Falcons, if you move down, if you move down, you're not getting Kyle Pitts.

I mean, that's just the end of the conversation because either the Bengals or the Dolphins are going to take him at five or six. And presumably, you're not moving training with those teams who already have quarterbacks. So that's the math you're doing. And if you trade down, you're not getting likely Jamar chase. We saw a report on Monday from Peter King that maybe Julio Jones could be moved, which seems crazy,

but they need that cap space. Could you trade down for a cornerback? Yeah. If you're the Falcons, you could, but again, what gives you more value in terms of making that football team better? I think it's how pits.

So if I'm the Falcons and I'm not taking Justin Fields, Max Jones, Trey Lance, I'm staying put and taking, taking cop hits. Jamie fill in the blank blank. We'll's Kyle Pitts. So if I'm the Falcons and I'm not taking Justin Fields, Max Jones, Trey Lance, I'm staying put and taking Kyle Pitts. Jamie, fill in the blank. Blank will take Kyle Pitts. I think it's Atlanta, but I also wouldn't be surprised if a team traded up with the Falcons to maybe even take Pitts.

Like Ryan is saying, they're trading up to get the quarterback, but if teams fall in love, and obviously you're Dallas, I don't know if Dallas is going to go from 10 to 4, but if a team really loves him that much and it's hard not to love him that much, then you could see maybe a team being overly aggressive. I think it was on, um, on the NFL network this morning on good morning football, there was a segment that they do, but the giants actually traded up, you know, I don't know who was doing the giant. I saw just a screen grab of it on Twitter, but the Giants gave their first, their second,

Evan Ingram and something else to move up to four to get pits, you know, and it was, you know, something that on paper makes some sense, but, you know, obviously something that's not likely to happen, but still, I would say it's four is where he goes, but the Falcons do make some sense, especially if they do decide to move on

from Julio Jones and get another playmaker. Yeah. Emery made a good point last week, though, because I said, who would you take? Your top-rated wide receiver, which for him was Devontae Smith, or Kyle Pitts? He took the wide receiver.

I think, let's just say it's Jamar Chase. What do you mean? This draft is so deep with wide receivers. Yeah, but it's not deep with Jamar Chase. You know what I mean? So when you were faking a power outage because you didn't want to be on the show earlier, we said, Ryan said that Jamar Chase

might be the best wide receiver prospect since Julio Jones. Why would I take a tight end over that? I would take the wide receiver. Even if I'm Atlanta, you know, even if I have two good wide receivers, why would I take a tight end over the best wide receiver

if that wide receiver is really on that level? But let me push back on that and just ask you this. Would you take the best? What if Kyle Pitts ends up being the best pass catcher in this draft class, which I think is quite possible. You're talking about like Darren Waller. This isn't going to

be a hyperbole, but Darren Waller feels like his floor, whereas you know, Julio Jones is almost certainly Jamar Chase's ceiling. And I'm exaggerating a little bit, but Darren Waller feels like his floor, whereas Julio Jones is almost certainly Jamar Chase's ceiling. I'm exaggerating a little bit, but my point is that I don't think Kyle Pitts is a tight end. I just think we call him that. I think you can put him anywhere. I sort of joke, he could kick field goals.

He'd probably be an all-pro next year if you wanted him to do that. Then why would he have more of an impact than Jamar Chase? Because let's say he's not... It's hard to know what kind of a blocker he's going to become. I don't think most tight ends come into the NFL with a reputation of being a great blocker. They can develop it.

But if you're just lining him up out wide and you're lining Jamar Chase up out wide, who do you think would put up better numbers in the same offense with the same quarterback? You know what I mean? I mean, Chase would. Right. So then why would you take Pitts over Chase?

But again, chase is not going to do the things that tight end that, that Kyle Pitts is going to do a tight end. So is he a tight end though? Like that's, we keep saying, you got to go the other way too. Yeah,

but sure. So he has to become a good blocker, but just think about, and this is, you know, you know, we get criticized a lot for our fantasy picks. You know,

Ryan has a much more maddening job trying to, you know, put these players to these teams and make that match. But, you know, you think about the receivers over the last, you know, few years coming into the league. Go back to last year. Henry Ruggs was the first receiver drafted. Argue however you want, if that should have been the case or not. So far, year one bust.

Jerry Judy, not long after. So so far you would say bust, right? I'm going to, look, TJ Hawkinson. I would push back on that too, but I'm saying just the way that he performed in year one did not live up to being a first round caliber wide receiver. CeeDee Lamb was great. Jalen Rager was a bust. Justin Jefferson was great. You know, it's like, it's crapshoot at that position. It's cra You know, it's like it's crapshoot at that position.

It's crapshoot at every position. It's crapshoot at every position. Totally agree. But think about the last two Super Bowls. What do they have in common? Travis Kelsey, George Kittle. You're right. That is a great point. Travis Kelsey and Rob Gronkowski. If you find one of those guys. Well, Gronk is not.

What are you doing in the Super Bowl? This version of Gronk. But okay, but they didn't get to the Super Bowl because of Rob Gronkowski this year. But Rob Gronkowski is one What are you doing? This version of Gronk, but okay, but they didn't get to the Superbowl because of Rob Gronkowski this year. But Rob Gronkowski is one of the best football players ever. And so I, I totally get that. And the flip side of that is those guys weren't first round picks. So that's the other argument. So it goes either way,

but this guy is a unicorn. You know, you, you get an opportunity to draft him and put him into a system, especially if you're Arthur Smith, who's a former tight end coach, who has had success with that position as a coordinator. It just makes

so much sense for him to go to the Falcons where there's Hayden Hurst is a good player, but this guy's a difference maker. Hayden has one year left in his deal too. Look, you're not drafting him to block anyone at four either. You can line him up anywhere. I'll just say this and then we can move on if you want to Adam,

he didn't drop a single pass last year and he was going up against sec cornerbacks, safeties and linebackers. They're going to be first, second, third round picks. And there's some guys like, uh, JC,

JC horn. Who's going to be a first round pick Joe horn son. Who's the cornerback. He had a tough go against Kyle pits. Uh, Kelvin Joseph, who's going to be a first or second round pick from Kentucky. He absolutely demolished that poor kid. And that kid is really good. So you see that and you're

like, okay. And look, you could argue Jamar Chase does the same thing. Right. That's my point. I love Kyle Pitts. Everybody should love Kyle Pitts. But I do think wide receivers have a little bit more of an impact than tight ends. Unless you're talking about a guy, I think George Kittle is the best tight end in football because he's more complete. If Pitts became that type of player where he's a monster blocking, that'd be another thing. But the best wide receiver in football versus the best tight end in football, I'm probably taking the best wide receiver. All right, let me ask you a specific question. Then we can move on if you want.

And let's ask another stupid question. All right, so let's say that Jamar Chase goes to the Bengals. Kyle Pitts goes to the Falcons. Who's more productive next year? I would guess Chase because tight ends are rarely. What do you think? I think it's Pitts. See, if you're the Falcons, right?

You know that Julio is at the end of his line. I think if I saw this correctly, they only have 20 players on their roster right now that have a salary. It's like something ridiculous. Their roster's in shambles. So if you got a chance to compete this year, what's the best way for the Falcons to compete? It's to score as many points as you possibly can because your defense is probably going to be horrible. So you line up Julio, Calvin, Pitts, and take the best of still Matt Ryan and say, we're going to score 40 points a game if we can.

What do you make of the fact that we just know that rookie tight ends typically don't do that well? But to Ryan's point, he's not a typical tight end. Like, he's going to... I know, but, I mean, Chris brought up the point, Vernon Davis was this kind of freak. He didn to... I know, but, I mean, Chris brought up the point, Vernon Davis was this kind of freak. He didn't, I don't think he did that much as a rookie.

But he's also stepping into a situation where he doesn't have to be the focal point. I know, and please don't, everybody, please don't interpret this as my hating on Kyle Pitts. I think he should probably go, you know, I don't know, seventh or eighth at the latest. But Jamar Chase could obviously have a huge rookie season too. And no matter how good the tight ends have been, it's,

it really just don't do much in their rookie season. It's so it seems anyway, but you're also not looking, you know, you're drafting, you're not looking at your rookie season. You're looking for what the question was, who,

right? What was the question, Ryan? It was Jamar Chase goes to the Bengals and Pitts goes to the Falcons. Who has more production in 2021? That was the question. I said, right? What was the question, Ryan? It was Jamar Chase goes to the Bengals and Pitts goes to the Falcons. Who has more production in 2021? That was the question. I said, right. But it's also like, is it, and this goes for both players, is it production leading to wins or is it empty production leading to, you know, stats? I don't, I don't know how to answer that. Like, if you're just telling me who's going to have better stats, I would guess it's Jamar Chase. Like if Kyle Pitts goes, you know what, 55, 608, is that a more impactful season than Jamar Chase going 75, 1,007?

No. 600, 400 yards? No. That's a huge difference. What I'm saying is like, you know, that's the typical rookie tight end. That's good. Exactly. That's what I'm saying.

That's why I think Jamar Chase would be better. But year two, if Kyle Pitts is the guy that we think he is, it's a fascinating discussion. It really is going to be fun to see it play out. Yeah, yeah. Okay, all right. Let's finish up our fill in the blank. Everybody hit him.

Let's finish up our fill in the blank here, and then we'll take a look deeper at the mock draft. So, Ryan, let's just go. Ryan and Jamie, real quick, just give me quick answers. Blank is the most likely team to trade up. Patriots. I think once we get past three to see how the quarterbacks sort themselves out,

the Patriots would presumably be interested in trying to get whatever guys left over. I'll say Denver once they see Mac Jones at three. Blank is the most likely team to trade down. I think it's the Panthers. I don't have a ton of draft picks. We'll see what happens. They have Sam Darnold.

I feel like they're committed to him, but we'll see. So I think the Panthers may try to accumulate picks if they're sold in quotation marks on Sam Darnold for a year or two. I think it's Miami if it goes the three quarterbacks, as we expect, with Jones being three. And if the Falcons and Bengals stay and it goes pits and chase and they lose out on both those guys and they don't want Sewell, then they trade back.

But I think it's trading back to nine with the Broncos. Blank is the most overrated first round prospect. I, you know, this is sort of funny cause this wouldn't have been my answer a month ago, but I'm going to go with Mac Jones just because people hate him so much. And I've been driving the Mac Jones bandwagon for a few months now.

I think that he has no chance of social media success in terms of the eyes of folks on social media, like the Twitter mafia. So I'll say Mac Jones, even though I like him. I think he's going to be good, but in terms of the expectations, him meeting those things in year one, I don't know. Yeah, he's just in a bad spot.

Bad spot. Smackdown's for sure. The most underrated first round prospect. Just because you hate him so much, I'm going with Kyle Pitts because I want to make sure that he's...

No, I'm going to go with Pete's guy, Pete Prisco's guy, Jamin Davis, the linebacker out of Kentucky who the media folks haven't been talking about for a while. We just sort of recently

got on him in the last month or so. But he has a chance to be really good. In fact, and Pete says this, this is Pete's words, not mine, but he thinks he's going to be better than Micah Parsons. I think Micah Parsons has some off-field issues that may see him drop a little bit, but Jamin Davis is a fun off-ball linebacker. We're seeing more and more of those guys go in the first round. I'm going to stay in my lane and go with Kadarius Toney.

I think he's going to be fun wherever he ends up. I think he's going to be a difference maker right away. I don't think he's going to have a great rookie season in terms of production, in terms of stats, because of the type of player that he is, but he's going to have a lot of big impact plays because of the type of player that he is. All right, we're going to take a break here.

When we come back, we will break down Ryan's mock draft with three quarterbacks going with the first three picks. Who does he have going third overall? And we'll talk more about Kyle Pitts, I'm sure. No, I will probably not. But we've got a lot to talk about. We'll be right back on Fantasy Football today. Whether in the game

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insurance designed for life. a locate. It's not just the law. It's a step to keep your team and community safe. Visit Ontario OneCall.ca and avoid unnecessary damages to get the job done right. Data sourced from the ORCGA 2023 Dirt Report. 40 minutes in, we haven't talked about quarterbacks. How about that? Zach Wilson, two.

Of course, Trevor Lawrence, one. So who is it going to be at number three? But before we get to that, Ryan, how good is Trevor Lawrence? Well, here's the thing. And Jamie sort of touched on this earlier. He wasn't necessarily great throughout the 2020 season. Part of that was probably COVID-related. He wasn't great to start his sophomore season.

There were times, in fact, early on in that sophomore season, the first three or four games, we're like, okay, this isn't the same guy we saw as a freshman. What's going on? And I've often equated that to Justin Fields only playing a year and a half and why people don't seem to be as high on him as probably they should. I think he's going to be a really good player. He just needs a little more time to go into the role, and that's fine.

But if Trevor Lawrence is – I've been saying this for a while. If Trevor Lawrence is 75% of Justin Herbert in year one, that's a home run for the Jaguars. I don't – like, Justin Herbert played out of his mind for the Chargers. And I was shocked. I think a lot of people were shocked how well he played, but a credit to him for doing it. And I don't know if Trevor Lawrence can reach that in year one

in an organization that isn't as put together as Los Angeles for whatever awards the Chargers do have. So I'm going to say 75% of Justin Herbert is a great start, but I'm hesitant to see how this is going to play out. Just with all the moving parts, Urban Meyer, is he going to stay?

The playmakers around him, the issues on defense, so on and so forth. You have Mac Jones going third. We had a tweet from Rappaport last night that it's between Mac Jones and Trey Lance. What do you think? I wasn't laughing at that. Sorry. Mac Jones and Trey Lance. Something crazy going on in my house right now. What do you think is Mac Jones? I think, but again, that's just a hunch. I think he fits like he's like the best of what Kyle

Shanahan wants. And I know we always think about the picture of Mac Jones with a shirt off looking like me in a tank top going to the beach to sit in a lounge chair and drink six pack. But I say all the time, like go back and look at the scouting reports last year for Tua. They're literally word for word, the exact same thing that people say about Mac Jones,

but there's no butt behind it, but he looks like a slob, but whatever. People had no issue with Tua being a top five pick except for the hip. And he still went to the top five. I said all the time on the Pick 6 podcast, if you take Mac Jones' head and put it on Tua's body, everyone's like, oh, that guy's a top five pick all day long. And I think it's literally a case of body shaming

and the fact that his middle name is McCorkle. So I think those two things really go against him. And I said earlier, I think it's going to be unfair to whoever goes three because of the pressure that goes playing for 49ers after giving them those three first-round picks. But when you talk to people in senior bowl, the coaching staff that was there, and the Panthers were the coaching staff of the Mac Jones team, and the scouts that were there,

they all say that Mac Jones is so incredibly smart. And I don't mean like, oh, he's smart for a senior in college. He's smart for a guy who's been in the league four or five or six years. And that to me just screams Kyle Shanahan because people say, oh, he looks,

he's basically Jimmy G 2.0. You, I mean, you can all recall times where Shanahan was visibly frustrated with what Garoppolo wasn't capable of doing, not physically, but it seems like in terms of just execution. And I think Mac Jones gives him that.

That said, if it were Justin Fields or Trey Lance, I'd be like, oh, I can see that too, because Shanahan's so good at his job. Basically anyone fits Shanahan's system, but I'm, you know, I've been riding the Mac Jones train for a while. So I'm going to stick on it for a few more days. I think if it, if it ends up being Jones, it's, you know, because Shanahan feels it's the best fit for what he does. And, you know, the,ahan feels it's the best fit for what he does. And, you know,

the knock on any Alabama quarterback, which is understandable or any quarterback coming from an elite program is, well, he played with all of this talent around him. He's stepping into a situation, Mac Jones, with a very good offensive line and above average offensive line, obviously in a great system with pretty good weapons around him and George Kittle, I, you can Debo Samuel. It may not be the best, but it's certainly in the upper half of the league and a run game. That's going to support him. And a defense is not going to put him in some bad situations. He's going to probably look a lot better than what the expectations are

right now. Now, that being said, it feels as if, and if you talk to, you know, Pete Prisco, for example,

our, our, our NFL senior columnist drink, um, sorry that, uh, you know, Justin NFL senior columnist, Drink. I don't have my water. Sorry. That Justin Fields is the better pick. I think probably a lot of people feel that way.

Trey Lance feels like maybe he has the higher ceiling of all these guys because you just don't know. And the hope is that he becomes Steve McNair or he becomes Josh Allen, the names you're hearing most associated to him. So it could really go any one of those three ways. It just feels as if Mac Jones is a reach at that point. But like Ryan told you, you know,

it, it, if you, if you were to swap out the names and just looked at the numbers, you would say, Oh, this guy's not bad. And if you said it was two,

as opposed to Mac Jones, you'd say, okay, it makes a lot of sense. So we'll see if Mac Jones goes there. I personally would say Justin Fields, but you know, if the 49ers feel like that's the direction they want to go,

they have a few years to prove it. And they be out of a job if Mac Jones isn't. I'll just say this quickly, Adam. Here's the thing. This is what's going to be hysterical. Let's say Justin Fields goes three and he's successful and all that. When the Patriots take Mac Jones, in five years from now, they have won two Super Bowls with Mac Jones. People are going to be screaming as

to why the 49ers didn't take Mac Jones when they had a chance. So Kyle Pitts, four, you have him going to the Falcons. You do not have Jamar Chase going to be screaming as to why the 49ers didn't take Mac Jones when they had a chance. So Kyle Pitts, four, you have him going to the Falcons. You do not have Jamar Chase going to the Bengals. You have Pene Sewell going to the Bengals, the offensive tackle out of Oregon. And then you have Chase and Waddle back-to-back to the Dolphins

at six and to the Lions at seven. So Jamie, who would you rank higher? Chase on the Dolphins or waddle on the lions? I would rank chase higher. I think waddle goes into a situation where he's the number one receiver right away.

Obviously chase goes to a situation where he's, you know, eventually will become the number one guy, but you know, we'll fuller Devante Parker and Mike is actually going to make that a little harder on him. Clearly you look at the lions and TJ Hawkinson and then a bunch of stiffs at wide receiver.

So it's a great landing spot, I think, for both guys. But, you know, Chase, based on his profile as a prospect, and I think what the upside would be in the Miami offense would be the better fantasy option

going into year one. Okay, Ryan, so let me get your take on this. Here's what I fear about Waddle is that he will be, and again, we live in sort of a PPR world, he will be a low-catch guy, which just, you know, Tyreek Hill's a low-catch guy,

and I'm not saying he won't be a great pro, but he might be maybe like a Gallaudet, not the same player, but just in terms of stats, high yards per catch, not a lot of catches, hopefully a lot of touchdowns. I was going to compare him to Kenny Galladay. I had Shraggy B break down the four regular season games that Waddle and Devontae Smith played together.

Now, the national championship game was another story. Waddle came back. Smith had 200 yards and a half. It was incredible. But the four games they played together in the regular season, Smith had 13 more catches, 25 catches for Waddle, 38 for Smith. They both had four touchdowns, but Waddle

had 557 yards, and Smith had 483. But, you know, it just... Look, I know it's not going to translate directly, but just from a fantasy football perspective, 38 catches, 483 yards, compared to 25 catches, 557 yards. I kind of feel like people would gravitate toward the higher catch guy.

Do you think Jalen Waddell is, is he a true number one? Is he, who do you compare him to? Is he going to be an 80 catch guy? I don't think he's going to be a hundred catch guy or anything like that. Like, what do you think? So Devante Smith is my wide receiver too. And we were talking earlier that he would be my wide receiver one, if he weighed 20 pounds more.

So I liked Devante Smith more. I think that Jalen Waddle goes sooner because of the, the athleticism and the high end traits and all that stuff that we hear about. I think you sort of hit on it with Tyreek Hill. He's sort of that mold of player. Is he Tyreek Hill? No,

but he's, he's not that much taller. He's only five, 10. He doesn't weigh. He's not as rocked up as the kids say, as Tyreek is. But I think you're exactly right. I think you're onto something in terms of high yardage, low catch, a lot of touchdowns. He adds something in the return game. But again, and we talk about this with quarterbacks going to the right spot, you're going to Detroit, man.

You're going to a place where Matthew Stavritz is gone, and you talk about this with quarterbacks going to the right spot. You're going to Detroit, man. I mean, you're going to a place where Matthew Stafford's gone, and you're counting on Jared Goff, presumably, because they're not taking a quarterback here if they're taking Jalen Waddell, who, by the way, if you can't have success in Sean McVay's system, what chance do you have in Dan Campbell's system that we don't even know what it is in a historically dysfunctional organization? So I think it's another situation where it's not a great landing spot for anyone, but I think you're hitting

on something in terms of what the production will look like for Jalen Waddell compared to Devontae Smith. I would expect Devontae Smith to be more productive as a rookie, assuming they went to the same landing spot, but I think Jalen Waddell is still growing in that role because he's never been a number one. We were talking about Terrace Marshall earlier. Jalen Waddell

has played with three of the first rounders and he's rarely had to be, be the guy. In fact, he's never had to be the guy at Alabama. And then you've got, all right, so I'll just skip down just a little bit because I want to keep this wide receiver discussion going. Is Devante Smith to the Giants at 11? Jamie, is that a good landing spot for a wide receiver? Would you want to see Devante Smith or one of those big three go to the Giants? I mean, it's not going to be great for what his rookie production probably is,

but you're talking about Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton. Slayton is the one that's going to be the odd man out. Shepard is, I believe, on the last year of his deal. And so if Daniel Jones is the guy that you know you clearly hope him to be at most Giants fans hope him to be or you know positive ones um then you're doing what you should do to a young quarterback is surround him with talent you know and so you you bring in Kenny Galladay you draft Devontae Smith you still have Shepard and Slayton for this year that's as good as any team will roll out there if Devontae Smith is the player that he was in college, clearly. So it's not my favorite landing spot for him, but it's a spot that I think by year two,

he can flourish as the type of fantasy receiver that we love. And maybe by year three, he's a star. So that all depends on how good Daniel Jones is and what the Giants coaching staff looks like by then. All right. And then the picks I skipped in between Waddle at seven and smith at 11 you have justin fields going ace to the panthers rashaun slater the offensive lineman out of northwestern do you think he's a tackle or a guard i've talked to teams that think he's a tackle i've talked to him to think he's a guard i think he can play either place and help right away so the broncos who knows what the broncos gonna do jamie's talking about them possibly taking a quarterback

but if you're rolling with drew lock you might as well protect him or Teddy Bridgewater, whoever it is. And I think Rashawn Slater gives you that versatility. And then you have Trey Lance going 10th. Jamie, I think they should take a quarterback. I just don't think Drew Locke is the answer. It's kind of weird to say that. It's like, how can I say the Giants shouldn't take a quarterback

but the Broncos should? Well, because in this scenario, all five quarterbacks are off the board by the time the Giants pick. In Ryan's mock, you still have Trey Lance on the board for the Broncos at nine. What would you do if you were the Broncos at nine? I mean, I'm taking a quarterback.

I just think you got to give Drew Locke some pressure to prove that he's the guy. And if he excels, then you play it out and see how it all works out. But if Trey Lance is sitting there and I'm Denver, I have a hard time passing. I'm obviously if Justin Fields is sitting there, that's a no brainer. But like I said, I think Denver is going to be aggressive. And if it is Mac Jones at three and you still have Justin Field and Trey Lance on the board, four, five, six, I think those are prime spots for Denver to jump up

a few spots. It's going to cost them their first and probably their second. But, uh, you know, if as long as it's not mortgaging the future too much, you know, you go out and see if you can get one of those guys and, you know, that's a great friend. That's a great roster right now. The offensive line is in good shape. The receiving core is in good shape. The defense is rebuilt. The run game should be strong. The quarterback is the question, you know to me, is the likely answer to help them right away. Lance, probably more so down the road. Jamie, I think you have to hop off now.

I do. Ryan, I love you. You're the best. I hope this week goes well for you and all of your picks are successful. We will share our parenting stories another time. We were supposed to get a parenting story. We got chipped. Thank you, Jamie.

Ryan and I will finish up. As we look at pick 12, you have the Philadelphia Eagles and kind of interesting the way this played out. Getting Patrick Sertan and I just thought at 12, all you need

is one defensive player to get taken in the top 11. Assuming the five quarterbacks are going to get taken in the top 10. You just need one defensive player and then you're going to get taken in the top 11, assuming the five quarterbacks are going to get taken in the top 10. You just need one defensive player and then you're going to get one

of those wide receivers or maybe a quarterback drops or something like maybe one of those five quarterback shops at 12. But the first 11 picks are all offense for you. So right. So the Eagles take Patrick Sertan at 12 as the first defensive player off the board.

Yeah. And it's funny that you mentioned that because I went back and looked last week because I had nothing else to do. How far you have to go back to find a defensive player falling out of the top 10 pick. And it's 1957. What? So wow. Defensive player goes in the top 10 every single year.

And don't forget, I mean, you know, 30, 20, 30, 40 years ago, defensive players, defensive tackles sometimes were the first overall pick because defense was sort of that's how you built your team. So this would be absolutely unprecedented and almost hysterical. I mean, you're a Giants fan. You can appreciate the fact that the Eagles are trying to manipulate the board.

They're going to get a playmaker, and then they trade on 12 and they have to settle for a defensive player. The good news is they need help in that secondary desperately. Eagles are trying to manipulate the board. They're going to get a playmaker, and then they trade down 12 and they have to settle for a defensive player. The good news is they need help in that secondary desperately, but they traded down from six where they could have had Jalen Waddell, Justin Fields, if they were going in that direction, Rashawn Slater, if they decided to stay put, Devontae Smith, and instead they have to settle, quote-unquote, for Patrick Sertan. It fills a need, but it's not as sexy a pick as one of these receivers.

So what do you think about Sertan and this defensive back class? We're going to start seeing cornerbacks come off the board around here. Cornerbacks and edge rushers going to kind of take over for a little while. Yeah, so the best-case scenario for the Eagles here is if the Broncos pick a cornerback

or maybe the Cowboys do a 10 and don't trade down. But my cornerback one up until a month ago was Caleb Farley. He didn't play last year. He opted out. But he is, in terms of physical traits, he's probably the best in this class. He's big, he's strong, he's fast. And he's a converted wide receiver, so he's only going to get better.

Patrick Sartan feels like the most certain of the bunch to be a solid NFL pro. And that's really all you want. You can sort of bet on flash and have that blow up in your face. And then right behind him is JC Horn. We mentioned him earlier. Joe Horn's son. He's big. He's physical. He can dominate at times in man-to-man coverage. Then after that, there's Greg Newsome out of Northwestern. Fantastic season for him. He plays more of a quarters, cover four type look. But he can certainly do other things if you need him to. So those are the top four

or five guys, and the question becomes whether Sertan or Horn goes first, and then also how far does Caleb Furley fall if teams are worried about his injury, hit a back injury, a back procedure a few weeks ago that the second one he's had, and I've talked to teams that are actually legitimately concerned about him

no longer the top five pick, but a top ten pick, maybe do even take him at the second one he's had. And I've talked to teams that are actually legitimately concerned about him no longer the top five pick, but a top 10 pick, maybe do even take him at the bottom of round one. Yeah, and Sertan, what a recruit he was. I remember his recruitment. He was top five overall recruit.

I mean, just, he's got pedigree. He played on a high school team with Tyson Campbell from Georgia, who also has a chance to be a first round pick. And both those guys are 6'1". Prince Sertan weighs a little more.

He's probably 195 maybe. And Tyson Campbell is 185. But I can't imagine being a high school quarterback trying to throw against two five-star kids that are dominating in the SEC. You've got the Chargers, who PFF had as one of the worst offensive lines, if not the worst in football last year, taking Virginia Tech offensive lineman Christian Derrissaw at 13. Then you got Quidipe, your first edge rusher,

Quidipe going to Minnesota. Minnesota, they don't have a lot of capital, right? Right. They don't have a second-round pick. Yeah, they got to nail this pick, and pass rusher makes sense for them. And I think that this is going to end up being a good draft. I can't really see them adding a wide receiver.

So I think, you know, if you have Justin Jefferson, I don't know that you should be too concerned about them taking wide receiver early in the draft anyway. Minnesota. J.C. Horn to the Cowboys, who in this mock traded down from 10 to 15 with the Patriots. Horn, the cornerback out of South Carolina, you just heard about.

The Cardinals take Elijah Vera Tucker, offensive lineman at 16. And then you got a linebacker. So tell me about Jeremiah Owusu-Karamoa out of Notre Dame, linebacker going to the Raiders at 17. So he is this next wave of hybrid-type players, Isaiah Simmons of the world world and that begs the

question okay where do you play him because i know i've talked to teams that say well he can't play linebacker he's too small he showed up at his pro day way 221 he didn't weigh that i don't think during his season but even brian kelly the Notre Dame coach said at the pro day you have to have a spot for wasa cormorant you can't just throw him out there as sort of a do-all, catch-all type player because that's not utilizing what he does best. And we sort of saw that last year with Isaiah Simmons, who struggled early on in his season in Arizona because they couldn't really find a spot for him.

So I've talked to teams that like him more as a safety, where he can cover running backs, even wide receivers out of the slot, tight end, and he can do it at a high level. He's incredibly athletic. And I've talked to teams that like him as a dimebacker. And a lot of teams' defenses play those sub-packages all the time now because there's so many wide receivers on the field, and they feel like he can do everything you want.

And it's just a matter, again, it's sort of the recurring theme of what I've been saying, the right system. Now, the Raiders may not be the right system because they have needs everywhere, but they need athletes and they need defensive help, and Uso Cuomo checks both those boxes. Find a place for him. Let him do that, and I think he'll be successful. All right. Back to your mock draft here.

We got Najee Harris of the Dolphins at 18, and then you talked about this guy. I think this is who you said was the underrated linebacker, right? Jamin Davis going to the Washington football team at 19. Caleb Farley out of Virginia Tech. You just talked about him, how you had him

as number one. He opted out. He's got some medical issues. He's cornerback going to the Bears at 20. 21 is the Indianapolis Colts. Tevin Jenkins, offensive lineman out of Oklahoma State. And Jalen Phillips to Tennessee. So yeah, you've got

edge rushers coming off the board in three straight picks. You've got Jalen Phillips to Tennessee. So yeah, you've got edge rushers coming off the board in three straight picks. You've got Jalen Phillips to Tennessee, Carlos Boogie Basham out of Wake Forest going to the Jets, Jalen Phillips, by the way, out of Miami, and Jason Owe out of Penn State going to Pittsburgh. So Tennessee, the Jets, and the Steelers all getting edge rushers. Do you have a strong preference between Phillips, Basham, and Owe? If Phillips is healthy, it's him. And that's

the big thing. He has concussion history. He retired actually after UCLA, where he began his career. So if the medical is clear, it's him. Boogie Basham, NFL teams like him more than media folks do. He's like 274. So he can play up and down the defensive line. And Jason Owe, he's just learning. He literally started playing football as a junior in high school. And he had zero sacks last year at Penn State, but he is so quick twitched. And you can see him being trying to figure it out. And once he does, I think he's going to be really good.

He ran a 4-4 this pro day. All right. Talented edge rushers you can get late in the first round. We'll go to the 25th pick. It's Jacksonville. And it's Levi Onzurike, defensive lineman out of Washington. So where does he play on the line? Where do you expect him to play? It's funny. I talked to him a month or so ago, early in the draft process,

and he opted out again. But when you watch him play 2019, he plays over the center. He can play over the guard. He can play over the tackle. He can line about wide. He can play anywhere. And his first can play over the tackle. He can line about wide. He can play anywhere. And his first step is one of the quickest in this draft as an interior defensive lineman. He has incredibly strong hands, and he has several pass rush moves that get him into the backfield consistently.

So he may not be the first defensive tackle off this board, and we talked earlier that's a pretty weak class there. Either he or Christian Barmer are probably the likely candidates. But Jaguars need big guys on both offensive defense, and I think he makes sense for the Jags here. It's their second first-round pick, although they could go offensive line for sure. This is the surprising one here is Micah Parsons all the way down at 26.

So why do you have him solo going to the Browns, linebacker out of Penn State who many thought, I mean, I guess he still has a chance to be the first defensive player selected you have him 26th yeah it's all maturity concerns that's all it is he's a top five talent and the concerns are he had some issues at Penn State early in his career and I've talked to teams are like well that was just he's lack of maturity he has that doesn't necessarily define him but there are other concerns about okay does he love football?

Uh, like what happens? And I'm guilty. I would be guilty of this too. If I were 21 or 22 and someone gave me $10 million, what happens when you give him a bunch of money? Is he going to be solely focused on football? Is that what he wants to do? And there are some issues there.

So taken together, maybe he slips a little bit. I don't know if he slips at 26, maybe instead of going seven or eight or nine, he goes 15 or 16, but it's a concern. NFL teams are talking about it. Okay.

Pick 27, edge rusher Aziz Ojolari going to Baltimore. And I think a lot of people have Baltimore taking a wide receiver here. How realistic? Because you still, at this point, 27 picks now. You still only have three wide receivers off the board. Kadarius Toney is going to come off in a couple more picks. But you went defense for Baltimore. Yeah, so they lost Yannick Ngakwe.

They lost Matt Judon. Their edge rush situation is, I wouldn't call it dire, but it's not great. And they do have Hollywood Brown and Miles Boykin. And they do have that other first-round pick, Adam, that they got for Orlando Brown. So maybe they'll circle back and think about a wide receiver at the final round.

Yeah, let's do that. I like the guy you have there, but I don't want him to go to Baltimore. Uh, Greg Newsome, Greg Newsome going to the saints at 28 cornerback out of Northwestern. All right. This would be very interesting to Darius,

Tony to the Packers. So that's 29th overall. That's the fourth wide receiver off the board. Then you got Zayven Collins linebacker out of Tulsa, going to the Bills. Terrace Marshall to the Ravens at 31. We already talked about him earlier. And Trayvon Merrig, the safety out of TCU, going to Dallas in a mock trade with Tampa Bay.

That is Tampa Bay's pick. You have the Cowboys trading back in to get Merrig the safety here. But Kadarius Toney, I want to finish on him. Fourth wide receiver off the board for you. Drops down to 29th. Goes to Green Bay, which is a really interesting spot. But what separates Tony from the other really talented... I don't know. Is he small? Because he's six feet. He's 5'11". Yeah, 5'11". Okay. Not necessarily an outside guy, but what separates him from the Moors of the world? Why is he fourth?

He's bigger than Elijah and Rondell Moore. Is he as dynamic? Probably not, but he had a great season at Florida, as you know. And I think he's another guy. We talked about Najee Harris. He's another guy that came back and made himself some money because he played at such a high level, and he did it sharing the football with Kyle Pitts and Trevon Grimes.

So I like the fit, and there's some concerns. He may fall out of the first round. Rashad Bateman could also be an option here, but I like the idea of finally the Packers giving Aaron Rodgers some help. I was yelling and screaming last year that I wanted them to trade for Will Fuller because they just won more person. Of course, Will Fuller went and got suspended, so that blew up my face. But the point is, you that blew up my face.

But the point is, you had Devontae Adams. You get another slot receiver who can sort of reprise what we had in Randall Cobb. And Kadarius Toney feels like that type of player. And Aaron Rodgers is probably happy. And if that makes him happy and you can win one more game down the stretch, which is what they came up short doing that, why wouldn't you do it?

Like, why do you not want to get receivers? Which is, Adam, you know, this last year was the deepest wide receiver class in a millennium. And they didn't even sign one as an undrafted free agent. So I would like to think that they would make a, do something differently here,

not draft a quarterback, for example, even though like Jordan Love and get Aaron Rodgers, a playmaker. And I think Kadarius Tony fits that bill. He doesn't have to do it all with Devontae Adams standing next to him. I think you mean to say, who is Kadarius Toney? Thank you. Sorry.

That's how we have it. Everything's Jeopardy now when you talk about the Packers. All right. Thank you, Ryan. Good stuff, man. Good talking to you, Azar. Yeah, always good to have you on. And your info is great. Please check out all of his mock drafts on CBSSports.com,

including the one I did not get a chance to talk about from October 20, 2020, where you did have Trevor Lawrence going one, Justin Fields two, Panay Sewell three, Trey Lance four, Micah Parsons five.

Do you remember who you had going six to the Miami Dolphins? He is not even a first-rounder. I would say the biggest faller of the draft process. Who is it? Gregory Russo. Oh, yeah. A really interesting prospect.

Looking forward. Hopefully, he comes off the board in round two. He will. That's it. All right. Thanks to Ryan Wilson again and to Jamie and to Ben Schrager and all of you for listening. We'll be back tomorrow to talk about the NFL veterans that have the most to gain and lose in the NFL draft.

Go to our Facebook page and get in our draft contest and get in the podcast. See ya.