Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - NFL SQUAD: Three QBs In Round 1 | OROY/DROY From 2025 NFL Mock Draft?

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

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Our annual Locked-on podcast mock draft super bonanzas in the books. And we are here to tell you who got it right and who got it wrong and why James Jarlgo is the worst host on this week's NFL squad. You are talking ball with the NFL squad sponsored by game time. From the chiefs to the bills, Falcons to the 49ers and everyone else around the NFL. It's the local experts of the locked on podcast network bringing you scoops, breakdowns, and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming weekend. for hard hitting football with our harder hitting takes. Buckle up.

It's the NFL squad. Then we have a seat for you. No hurt feelings allowed. Squad up. You're part of the NFL squad. And welcome back to NFL squad. It's been a couple weeks since we've been here, but we are here with the locked on podcast mock draft.

Super good time, Bonanza, extravaganza. I'm Asian. I get to say all that kind of stuff. Sit back, grab your favorite drink and join us as we get ready for another wild, super wild guys, super wild mock draft going on in the network this year. We are of course

are all part of the Lockdown podcast network even James Jarko. We're covering your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account, use the code Locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. And as I give my buddy James Jarko of Locktown bucks a lot of trash right now, you're not allowed to have your

feelings, I don't know if you heard Ali or Kylie, I'm not actually sure who the voice came. But yeah, you're not allowed to have your feelings hurt, but I know that James is a big time user of game time. So game time should really love all James Jarko's personal endorsements because they're all very authentic, as are the 32 plus picks gentlemen that we have in this year's Locked on Podcast Network mock draft. Cody Work of Locked on Broncos. Ross Jackson of Locked on Saints.

Landon McCool of Locked on Boo. Tony Wiggins of Locked on Jaguar. Spencer German of Lockedon Browns. Kevin Ostriker of Locked on Ravens, our resident Usher. person, I don't know, inside joke. Christopher Carter, locked on Steelers, James Jarko of Locked on Bucks. Chris Carter is not here for the foolishness, guys. So hopefully somebody else can get this thing on track.

But we are going to talk about all of our draft picks. We're going to talk about why they're good, why they're bad, and what other people should have done. And we're going to start with the first 10 picks here. The Tennessee Titans getting us started, Cam Ward quarterback out of Miami, closely thereafter. The Cleveland Browns go quarterback as well.

Colorado quarterback, Shudder Sanders. New York Giants take Penn State Edge, Abdul Carter, Travis Hunter, the cornerback slash receiver, a little bit of both out of Colorado. One of two players getting their numbers retired, each your heart out, Cordell Stewart. Going to the New England Patriots at number four, Jacksonville, Jaguars, going Mason Graham, D tackle out of Michigan. Fifth overall, six overall, the Raiders go Ashton Gentie running back out of Boise State. Seventh, New York Jets, go with Tet McMillan, Arizona wide receiver, Carolina Panthers. At number eight, go Jalen Walker, the linebacker out of Georgia, followed by. by the New Orleans Saints going Tyler Warren tight end out of Penn State.

And then number 10, Chicago Bears Armand Membu offensive tackle out of Missouri. I want to kick this thing over first and foremost to Spencer German, locked on Browns. Shadir Sanders at number two. How close, or how close was that for you? Like, did you know that coming in that that was going to be your first pick? Or was there, was there a battle there internally? Yeah, I mean, there was a battle. I would say this, like in the weeks since we had to submit.

mid our picks. So I blame Ross Jackson for this. He had me on a time crunch. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Um, like the, the owners meetings, I think we're pretty eye-opening in terms of what the bronze are actually going to probably do. And because based on what Jimmy Haslam said, he made it sound like, you know, they're going to take their time and be patient with the quarterback issue where I kind of approach this draft as, listen, I, I respect the hell out of Travis Hunter. Same thing with Abdul-Darter. I think those are two fantastic players, maybe the only two players that are considered like blue chip players in this giraffe class. But the Browns need a quarterback.

And I know Ross likes to throw out there that you're always in rebuild until you find a quarterback. And for the Browns, it's one of those things for me where it's like, listen, they haven't been able to get this position right. I think that Chidor Sanders has a really good chance to be successful at the next level. You know, people get on him about his personality and the brashness. I actually think that's something that Cleveland Brown's quarterback in particular needs to have because you need somebody who can come here and like put the history with that

jersey in the window of all the names of guys that have been quarterbacks of 40 guys since 1999, like put that to bed and just like not let that be anything that's in their mind. So like to me, I think that makes Chodorosanters a perfect fit for the Browns. And I also think he's a great fit for Kevin Sefanski's offense and everything he wants to do. The Browns have talked all offseason about prioritizing decision making. And that's maybe the best thing that Chador Sanders brings the table. So I, if they were to take Shador Sanders, I think it would make a ton of sense for them. I'd be on board with it.

I know there's some Browns fans who feel differently. I ultimately think they'd probably take Travis Hunter. But for me, it made sense in this draft, especially with the information I had to go with Shador standards at number two. Yeah. So, I mean, one way or the other, probably a Buffalo going to Cleveland, right?

Thank you. So Ross Jackson confirmed that New Orleans Saints are rebuilding, right? Because always. Yeah, they've been rebuilding. He's retired. Where do you've been? How does Tyler Warren fit into that, into that rebuild at number nine?

Yeah. It gives them somebody on their, offense that defenses are actually afraid of. I think the Saints lack that kind of presence right now. Like no disrespect to the guys that are on the roster, Chris Oliva, Rashid, they just brought in Brandon Cooks. Like that's their wide receiver trio at the moment. You know, Alvin Camara is still there. But Alvin Camara hasn't played a full season since his rookie year. Alvin Perea just had his career high in rushing yards last year and still has never had a thousand yard rushing season. I think I know, isn't that crazy? Like people never.

That's crazy. Yeah. People never realize that. But I mean, I mean, he does all this other stuff, right? He's electric with the ball in his hands as a receiver and all this other stuff. So he's always kind of been able to do that. But I think what the Saints don't have right now is a guy that lines up that defenses are concerned about, that are worried about, that want to dedicate double coverage to, that want to shift their defense over to. And I think that Tyler Warren, who often gets like the Taysom Hill tag when talked about in New Orleans, I think is more of a Jimmy Graham type, not necessarily in terms of production or like peak or whatever.

he is, maybe he isn't. We'll see. I don't want to put that kind of unfair expectation on the young man, but playing in line, playing out wide, playing in the slot, lining up out wide so much that he could potentially go to litigation over his next contract over it. Like that's the kind of thing that Jimmy Graham did. And I think that that's what Tyler Warren would be able to add. I would have gone tenor row and McMillan if I'm being entirely honest at nine, but he went at seven. So Tyler Warren was the next big, what I would call best playmaker available for New Orleans. Yeah, makes a lot of sense. Speaking of litigation, Chris Carter, Locker, Lock. on Steelers. I want to ask you this. You don't have a pick. Ross set it up, bro. It's a softball pitch.

I got to go there. We don't have a pick in this, but I do want to ask you, which pick in these top 10 needs to be prosecuted the most. Why are we really playing with this theme? We can litigate that. That's what we do. Okay.

If I was to go at one, I would say Shador Sanders at two. I understand the need for quarterback. I understand that there's a fit there. Look, look, there is a chance that Shador Sanders comes in and just surprises us all. But I'm sorry, his arm strength, his height, his lack of great speed, his lack of great. I mean, his best feature is he does, he has made good decisions. But when he's under pressure, I don't know how that's going to work.

Like, like, a lot of time he had great protection at Colorado or like when he did, when protection did break down, he'd be able to spin out to his left. He will not get away with a lot of the things that he did in college. And I just, I have Shador Sanders as a second round quarterback in this draft. Like a lot of people keep asking me. Should the Steelers take him at 21? Absolutely not. I don't think that he's a first round picking this draft class.

And hey, I could be wrong. But just looking at this, I think outside of Cam Ward, this is a year for the backup quarterback draft or for a floor raising quarterback rather than a ceiling raising quarterback. And I think that would have been the thing there. If I'm the Browns, I would have probably drafted either Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter and gone that direction. But again, I understand the need for.

quarterback, listen, I'm covering the Steelers. Every day, it's like, what is Aaron Rodgers signing? And that is the ultimate down bad sign. But like, at this, but like, we're starting to hear that in New Orleans now too, baby. Oh, man. But here's the thing, Ross, even with that, even with that, every inch of what we're talking about, you and me, we talk about our teams, we're saying, yeah, it doesn't matter how bad it gets.

We're not overpicking the quarterback in this draft class. Yeah. Like they did in 2020. We might get one more sellers next year. Yeah. I'll be on I would have taken shedore Sanders at nine but I don't think the Saints will I don't think he's even in in conversation for the team at nine and everything I don't think he's right kind of quarterback for what Kellen Moore wants to do you know right right that's a jackson

dart jaylon milro like that kind of that kind of that's not what's discussed in this quarterback conversation enough is is the fit aspect of it which I think matters with guys like Shadur Sanders and frankly everyone beneath him you know it's the fit with the team is going to matter where they go yeah I think Shador is probably one of the more fascinating, not just quarterbacks, but just prospects in general that we've covered in the NFL. Like for him to be like throughout the college season, it was, oh, you know, Shador might be pick.

He might be quarterback one. And then Cam Ward sort of creeped into the picture. And then it flipped at the combine to Cam Ward is easily the guy and like the vast differences and like grades that people have. Because even for a while, like one of my biggest arguments for the Brown's potentially taking Sanders was there were so many people, him with the Giants. And I was like, if the Giants can take him one pick later, why is everybody looking at the Browns like, oh, no, they can't take a quarterback? It's like, that doesn't make any

sense to me. So the fact that like people clearly believe he could go in the top 10, but there's a lot, but obviously the consensus is he's more so like late first round, second round grades. It's just kind of fascinating to me how that's kind of unfolded. And I definitely see the perspective of like, you know, he probably is more trending towards being late in the first round because somebody wants to get a fifth-year option on him or goes in the second round. but I also feel like quarterbacks are always overdrafted to a degree, right? You're always doing that because it's a premium position.

And I think the fit, you guys talk about fit, I think the fit would be there for the Browns. Whether they take him at two or they try to get him later. So let's ride. Fortunately, somebody over drafted a quarterback last year because of it, the commander's got Jaden Daniels. Tony Wiggins, you went de-tackle with the fifth overall pick,

despite the fact that your new head coach that you're covering there in Jacksonville. I was going to say Duval the way that Liam Cohen did it, but I can't do it. Mason Right. I know what I can't. You're not

wide enough for that, David. I can do it. Yeah. How close were you, though, to going Tet McMillan? Because, I mean, Liam Cohen just came from Tampa where he had this monster receiver,

Mike Evans. I'm not saying Ted is going to be Mike Evans. But the natural transfers there. Was it Mason Graham for you at number five coming off the Patriots pick? Or was there a battle there for you as well? Personally, the battle for me was between Mason, Graham, and Armand Membo, or Membo, from Missouri.

And the reason why is because even though they signed four guys on the offensive line and they have two that are projected to start, I just feel like Tony Buceli is the EVP. That is something you can never go overboard when you talk about a security force for your quarterback that you just paid a quarter of a billion dollars to. So I just say, man, just go ahead and just go overboard and attack that right now because the defensive the line depth that defensive tackle is so deep. They pick early in the second round. You do have to somehow play the game of maneuvering yourself to make sure that you don't

freeze yourself out of knee positions. And I did ask him last week, does he have to guard against trying to build his team for 2025 like fantasy football people would? Or do you take what's best for the organization with them being first time everything, EVP, GM, and head coach? this is a pick they hope not to be back at number five. So what you got was an answer where he just basically said, you always have an eye for the future,

but he was in Tampa and they played four guys last year. He said, we want these guys to play too. So with that being said, I went with a person that has a large body of work who has a very high floor and who's at a position where you can't have too many of them, and that's Mason Graham. And a large body.

Yeah. Not as large as some people would want, But big enough. Kevin Ostrueger, Lock on Ravens, finish this up, man. I know you're not used to covering top 10 picks, fortunately for you. But out of these top 10 picks, which one is your favorite? Oh, my favorite. I honestly like the Jelon Walker picked in Carolina.

He's a guy that I really like coming out of Georgia, the versatility that he brings. And I think for Carolina, you know, we saw the second night for surgeons from Bryce Young last season. And I think that Carolina, honestly, it might be closer than some people think. I mean, I still think obviously James, the NFC South or the NFC South belongs to the Buccaneers right now.

But, you know, still, Carolina could be a team that surprises some people. I'm sorry, Ross. I had to do it. You're right. They're the NFC South champions. I was the Broncos in 2024. I don't know. I feel like Carolina, Ross. It might be the Saints, uh, Saints turn in the basement in Carolina.

You're, you're saying stuff to me like I'm going to, like I'm going to disagree with you. I just want to put it out there. that I agree with your agreement with me that the Saints are going to be bad. The Saints car broke down. The Saints were already in trouble with their car. Now they don't have a starting quarterback. And they might have been to Rattler. They might draft somebody or whatever that might be.

Well, no, that doesn't mean anything at all. I'm surprised people still bring up salary gap space when it comes to this thing. It's going to catch up to them eventually, right? That's not right. Eventually. We keep saying that. They're not doing the same thing. As they sit right now with $27 million of salary caps still left this.

You know, fine. The Panthers are one in the NFC South. There we go. Oh. Whoa. There you go. Wow. We're supposed to give me enough of a reaction.

I had to get a reaction. That is our top 10. We are not even the third of the way through this whole thing. We're already getting a little bit, a little bit crazy here. Tony Wiggins, you all right? You with us? I'm with y'all, man. Why are you going to? Don't say the me out.

It's a wealthy. You know I love you, brother. Picks 11-3-20 coming on next on this week's NFL squad. Today's NFL squad show is brought to you by our friends over there at the Game Time app. And there's nothing like the atmosphere of an NBA playoff game where every bucket, every defensive stop, every moment feels huge. It's electric in the arena. And with game time, you can be part of it without the stress. of last minute ticket hunting. Game time, they make it easy and fast to get playoff tickets,

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I don't know why I keep on to add words to. I just do it. It's such an awesome experience. I think we've kind of gone a little bit chalk here in the first 10 picks, right? But let's go through picks 11 through 20. We'll get some reactions here and some opinions going on. The San Francisco 49ers get it started with Will Campbell, linemen out of LSU, the Dallas Cowboys go with wide receiver, Matthew Golden,

out of Texas. Another Longhorn goes next. Jody Barron, defensive back going to the Miami Dolphins. Jihad Campbell, the Alabama linebacker, headed to the Indianapolis Colts at 14 at 15. The Atlanta Falcons take quarterback. Just kidding. They take edge rusher, Mike Green, out of Marshall.

Arizona Cardinals at 16 go Will Johnson, cornerback out of Michigan. The Bengals at 17 go with Walter Nolan, detackle out of Ole Miss. The Seahawks at 18, go Tyler Booker, guard out of Alabama. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 19 go James Pierce, Jr., edge rusher from Tennessee, the Denver Broncos at 20,

break the hearts of all commanders fans watching this and who don't know it already. And they go with running back of Marion Hampton out of North Carolina. So my first question, gentlemen, is Cody Rourke. How dare you? Sorry, my friend. As you were reading off the, you know, like the overall names, I felt like this portion of the draft turned out to be very boring in a sense. You know, there's not like flash or pizzazzed.

You know what I'm talking about like polarizing characters here. It really gets interesting when you talk about Omerian Hanton and obviously Colston Loveland, a couple of picks down there. But, you know, for me, look, the Broncos they need, it's not like they go out there and they need to get a running back here. You know, the idea here, they have four backs on the roster. It is. But Sean Payton, he's already got one joker in the deck with Evan Ingram at the tight end position. He wants to find that second joker there potentially at the running back position. And when this list initially came out when we had to put our picks together,

Well, Marion Hatham was the one guy. I was like, all right, hey, like, this makes the most sense for the Broncos. Sean Payton can get a lot of usage out of him. I'm also creeping towards, like, if I could change it today, I would have taken Trayvion and Henderson with pick number 20 out of Ohio State. I think probably a little bit more of a better fit here. There's been some talk that he may not even be there in round two. It depends on what teams look at.

So for me, Murray and Hathen gives the Broncos, you know, a back who's got explosive capability can help you as a receiver out of the backfield. Good in pass protection as well. And you give Bo Nix another weapon on the offensive side of the ball that's going to help this offense. Hopefully on paper take another step forward with the additions that they've made to try to compete for that AFC West Division. So, I mean, that was where I was leaning with the pick. I mean, I did feel like this section was kind of boring, you know, unless we want to talk about, you know, Matthew Golden going to the Dallas Cowboys where, okay, hey, when's Dak Prescott going to, you know, go on IR for another stint of the season?

Like the most uninteresting story. Sorry, man. I'm sorry. I'm going to be through your pick under the bus here. Cody, to at least give you some sort of consolation about that pick, though. As a matter of fact, he's a former Bronco, an offensive lineman, a long-time NFL offensive lineman that I cover, who also did some scouting just randomly about two months ago said all of those running back star teams that want Gentie, I like him.

But if you don't get him and end up with Amari Ann Hampton, you won't be mad. So just so, you know, that that's the way some people feel about him. Highly drafted. I feel like Gen Zey Hansen and always worked for the Denver Broncos. How's that going for you, Landon? We'll see two, three point something yards per carry this upcoming season. Why am I taking fire here? I mean, Landon is just getting it.

I mean, Landon, let's go to you. Let's go Matthew Golden. I mean, why Matthew Golden number 12 for the Cowboys? I feel like this is like hitting a double. And I, and I'm acting like, where you're saying, or struck out. Like this, you know,

honestly, Golden certainly isn't like my, my first choice at this pick, but I think it's a solid pick at 12th. You know, look, I think boring, what's going on here is that, you know,

this draft, as I'm sure all of us have discussed on our show, it's just not very heavy at the top, right? There just aren't a lot of superstars. There aren't a lot of blue chips. But I would say from this area of right around

where we're picking 11, frankly, all the way through what, the back of the second, half of the second round there's a huge plateau of players that are probably all starters that might have like one ward right or or one imperfection where they're not exactly maybe going to come into the league and and threaten to be a top 10 player at their position right away right so I think for the cowboys you know they have a list of spots that they need to get at the one area where you feel like they're

probably not going to be able to hit their need later is a secondary passing weapon. If you wait until the second round, you probably could get a Higgins or a Knoll, but none of that stuff is guaranteed. And the other area that you need is probably running back, and you definitely can get a running

back a little bit later. So I think when Marcus and I have been doing this on the show, the sequencing really works out much nicer when you try to get your wide receiver first. And then it kind of all falls into place for you a lot, just what the Cowboys needs and where the depth of the draft

is so to me it wasn't exactly I love this pick pick but I'm certainly not upset about picking up golden because I do think he's going to provide exactly a lot of what you don't get out of CD Lamb in the passing attack. Landon 205 Dax is going to have that Lamar athleticism on display this upcoming season man. Do you think Atlanta do you think the kind of production that you're talking about opposite CD is what Jordan Addison does in Minnesota something like that? I think that's what they're looking for. Yeah. Like, I mean, that's the kind of, the kind of thing where, I mean, one of the things that Addison does so well for Minnesota is even when he's not getting the ball, he's providing, you know, but just creating space against the defense. And that's, you know,

really one of the issues the Cowboys had last year's, they had, you know, weapons on that offense, but they didn't have a ton of speed. So it felt like at times that they were operating inside of a box. So, I mean, I don't believe, I mean, I do believe you did run a 4-29. I wish, I kind of wish Golden had run like a four three because then all these conversations wouldn't be about, man, Golden doesn't look like he runs a four to nine. All right, he looks like a guy who runs four, three. He still has speed. And I still think he's a guy that if you deploy out there, he can, you know,

stretch the defense vertically and then provide opportunities underneath for guys like CD in Ferguson. All right. Before we get to the best and worst picks in this group, though, we have to let James Jarko finally join in on the conversation. Thanks for showing up, buddy. James Pierce, Jr. at 19 to the bucks. How does he fit into top bowl's defense?

Okay, so, I mean, I wanted Jahad Campbell. That was, that was the dream for me was for Campbell to slip there, line him up next to Labonte for a year. Then, you know, as Labonte rides off into the sunset, you have a locked and loaded, you know, linebacker for the next 10 years in Tampa. That didn't work out. And really the only other guys in consideration here were Malachi Stark's

and then Donovan Azaraku. So taking a look at Pierce. I mean, this dude was PFF's 27th ranked edge rusher in 2024. 12th in 2023. And I didn't think early in this process that he would slide to the box. But now everyone's talking character concerns and all this. It's like, okay, yeah, dude had an arrest in 2023 for speeding and expired tags and suspended license.

All the charges were dropped. It's like, okay, whatever. Coaches glow about him. Teammates glow about him. And if there are character concerns, I have enough confidence in the leadership of the locker room to absorb that and kind of steer him in the right direction because his talent, his size, his speed is unreal. You add him to a rotation where you don't have to ask him to be the guy right out of the

gate. You have Yaya Diabi. You have Hassan Reddick now. That's a perfect fit for Todd Bowles. It's a guy that he can stand up on the outside. He can put his hand in the dirt. You can light him up on the other side of Vita Vaya and have Pierce Baya and Kansi plus Redick and Yaya Diabi.

like good luck quarterbacks. So this to me, it was, it wasn't the pick that I was hoping for, but it was one that I was more than happy to make because of his fit with Todd Bowles and the rest of the players in the front of that defense. Yeah, and I was more than happy to see you take it because waiting at 29 for the commanders, he was not a player I wanted to take. So I was glad he went off the board and I was taking the players that I might

want to take down the board. Ross Jackson, locked on Saints. I think you're best suited. I give James so much crap when he shows up to this show. I don't know why he shows up. I mean, just constant. You really do, James. I'm constantly.

Why doesn't show up? I think Ross, you're most equipped to do this for us. Best and worst picks, sir, if you don't mind, from picks 11 to 20. Yeah, I'll do best. Or, yeah, I'll do that. Best for me, maybe a little chalky. But, I mean, the San Francisco 49ers being able to get Will Campbell at pick 11 is kind of wild. Like that's kind of insane.

And so I just think the value there as like a big time impact, immediate player, especially because they really don't have proven tackles at either of those spots. I think that's just a runaway there. I think maybe worst pick out of these. Only because I'm not sure about his medicals is Will Johnson, the Arizona Cardinals. Will Johnson, the Arizona Cardinals to me.

And Will Johnson is a player that like you watch him on tape and he is a bona fide first rounder, all pro, it's all there. Got up to 20 miles an hour on an interception return for a touchdown at one point, but not running the 40. I don't know, the last, is Dion the last cornerback drafted the first round that didn't run a 40 or doesn't have a 40 time or whatever? Like, I don't know when the last corner is that got drafted the first round that didn't run a 40.

He was, according to Todd McShay running in like the 4-5 range when it came to his, when it came to his training, had a turf toe injury last year that limited his season, had a hamstring injury before the pre-draft process that limbered them all throughout the pre-draft process. I see why he fell as far as he did, but for the Arizona Cardinals who still need so much and are in probably one of the most positive trajectories that that franchise is seen for a while, going with a potentially injury-prone slow corner might not have been the right decision for Alex Lancy. Can I push back just a little bit? Please do. Because all that you said, I agree with, the only thing I will push back is that

I do think it's a good fit. Like I think Johnson going to a zone heavy team like Arizona, I think that's where if you're going to get something that's close to 2023, Johnson, you're going to do it in that kind of system. So I'm not pushing back, but I guess like if he's going to succeed, I think this is probably as good a spot for him to go to Very similar about what I said to Matt Ryan to the cults. Yeah. Okay, no. Okay.

That's not a good. That doesn't. I think, it's not the same. It's not the same. I think that's enough Michigan conversation for Spencer German's audience. So we're going to come back here real quick. And we're going to kick it up with two Wolverines at the top of our next segment,

21 to 32 coming up next on this week's NFL squad. Part of the Locks on podcast network of our team every day. Today's NFL squad show was brought to you by friends over there at LinkedIn. jobs and as a small business owner, your work doesn't end when the clock hits five. Your business is always on your mind, which means when it's time to hire, you need a partner that works just as hard as you do. And that's where LinkedIn jobs comes in. When you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in.

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So post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash locked on NFL. That's LinkedIn.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free terms and conditions apply. Wrapping up this week's NFL squad are locked on mock draft wrap up episode here. We've got a whole lot of good people come through to talk about these picks. And we're going to wrap this up with all of the rest of the picks. Pick number 21, Pittsburgh Steelers, go to Michigan. Kenneth Grant, defense attack with Los Angeles Chargers. Stay in Michigan and go tight-in.

Colson Loveland at number 22. The Packers at 23, go Derek Harmon out of Oregon, the D-Lyman. The Minnesota Vikings go safety Malachi Stark out of Georgia at 24, 25. The Houston Texans take a Mecca, Ibuka, wide receiver out of Ohio states. 26, the Eagles go. McKell Williams, edge rusher out of Georgia. 27 the Baltimore Ravens go Nick Imanwari safety out of South Carolina Detroit Lions 28 at go Shamar Stewart edge rush out of Texas A&M at 29 the Cleveland Browns go tackle Texas or tackle Calvin

Banks Jr. out of Texas and then Joe Marino will be here soon to talk about the buffalo's taking Trey Amos cornerback out of Ole Miss 31 the Kansas City Chiefs take Josh Simmons offensive tackle out of Ohio State and at 32 the New Orleans Saints Ross Jackson What did the New Orleans Saints do at pick number 32? Traded back up on a steal, by the way, of the draft exchange, the draft pick exchange, and took quarterback Jackson Dart at Ole Miss. Good pick. You got a steal.

You've been throwing Dartton in New Orleans. Actually, just watched draft day the other day. You fleeced them the way that. Fleeced the guy flees. I moved all the up to number one. So I moved all the way up to number one so that I could argue about whether or I was going to take a running back or a linebacker. No, 100%. Did everyone go to Jackson and Darts birthday party?

though, Ross. That's a good question. That's a good question. Spencer German and I also executed a trade. Spencer moved up to 29. The commanders, via me, moved back to 33. There's some other pigs involved there. And Spencer, you went Kelvin Banks, Jr.

What about Kelvin Banks made you want to jump up back into the first row? Yeah, I mean, listen, I think, first of all, the value was excessively there. At that point, Kelvin Banks, Jr., still being on the board. You know, the Browns have a handful of needs. especially on the offensive side of the ball. But in this iteration of how things fell, obviously it took Shador Sanders to two. You get a potential franchise quarterback

or who they think would be a franchise quarterback. And then you give him some protection off the left side with Calvin Banks Jr., a guy who's, you know, been projected to maybe even go, you know, top 15 in this draft, just depending on how things sort of fall or what team needs are. So I, listen, the Jedrick Will's experience was a failure here. He's still a free agent out there. have clearly indicated they don't want to bring him back.

Part of, I think, the reasoning for that, too, was he was a right tackle that where they tried to move to left tackle. Calvin Banks, Jr. is just straight up a left tackle. So keeping him in his, you know, normal spot. And this offensive line is also getting old, man. Like, only a couple years removed from the Browns seven, one of the best offensive lines in football. And suddenly, you know, like Joel Betonio contemplated retirement.

He's probably done after this season. Jack Conklin's on the last year of his deal. they have some young guys that maybe could slot in, but they have some injury issues. And so I think anytime you can get a young quarterback and add offensive line talent, sort of the meat and potatoes of any team, I think you can, you know,

you take a shot at it. And to get him in the first round with the fifth year option is something that I think was immensely valuable for the bronze as well. Can I ask you why Calvin Bank Jr. instead of Josh Simmons? Not accusatory. I'm just curious like what separates the two points. Yeah, for me, I think it was just the knee issue.

I know he's going to be ready for the season, but I'm sort of viewing it from a standpoint. Like the Browns have dealt with a ton of injuries up front in recent years. And so getting somebody who kind of has that clean slate, not to say he can't get hurt as like anybody, but to have somebody coming with that clean slate. I actually, so I really like Josh Connerly Jr. here too.

And some of the mock drafts that I've done, I've traded up to get him or I've taken him like right at 33 with the Browns and sort of stayed put. I also, I'm also really intrigued another Ohio State player, not that I'm biased or anything, but Donovan Jackson, I know because he played so well, especially against the best teams during the Buckeyes run of the national championship, like because he played so well of tackle, some teams are actually saying he maybe should be

a tackle in the NFL. So I'm intrigued by him as well. I think there's a lot of options, but I think the value was there with banks sort of slipping to this point. That's good that, you know, everybody keeps saying y'all need to invest in infrastructure. So that's a real, real good pick. And then those NFC East dudes thank you probably for jumping in front of Philadelphia, too. Because that's a very Eagles pick, you know what I mean?

Yeah, no, for sure. And you know, it's funny because when I think about the Brown's biggest needs, I actually think outside of quarterback, the, like, I think running back is actually the thing that they need the most. Because, like, right now, their running back room consists of, like, Jerome Ford and sort of like a bunch of, like, role players or guys who just kind of mix a match. We don't know what the future holds with Nick Chubb. He's still out there.

I think the longer he's out there, it probably gives it's a good indication he ends up coming back to Cleveland. But is he still the same player? I think that's a large question at this point, which is part of the reason why he still is available. And so I'm actually fascinated, like, the last section of picks we talked about with Cody taking Omerian Hampton. There was a mock draft that they were Omerian Hampton fell to 33, and I was like, well, I'm not passing this up. Like, I got to take it here. But I'm kind of interested to see how, what everyone's curious about what that next run on quarterbacks is with like DART, Millrow, maybe Tyler. Shuck. I'm actually kind of fascinating to see when the run on these running backs happens because the

second round sort of feels like the sweet spot where a lot of these guys go. And not to say you still can't get value later. I mean, like a DJ Giddens is a guy that's kind of being mocked in like the third round. I love him. One of my favorites. Damien Martinez is another guy to Miami that I think was beautiful for some teams. But like some of these guys could go quickly and then it's like, all right, maybe you have to accelerate where you're taking one. So I don't know that the Browns to take a running back at 33 or in that range. But I do think that's such a massive need for them like depending on how things fall or from arian hempton somehow is there i can see him taking taking him in the same sort of area of the draft yeah we make a lot of sense chris carter locked on

steelers 21st overall pick kenneth grant out of michigan uh what uh what led to that decision the steelers desperately need a defensive tackle that's going to be a stud in the middle of their defensive line and help them stuff the run you saw how the ravens just bulldozed them both in their second game against them and in the playoff game against them and a lot of it was because their interior defensive line help outside of Cam Hayward, Keanu Betton's a good three tech, but when you put him as a nose as they tried, he wasn't able to take on double teams.

It allowed guys to get to the linebackers, and then that clogged up the paths, and then they couldn't respond to any of the run plans that the Ravens had. And so they need a guy who could take on double teams and destroyed things. And honestly, Kenneth Grant might be the best at that in this draft class. He's got an amazing athletic build. He's ready. He looks physical on tape.

He's also athletic. You've seen him, you know, run down, you know, good fast position players in space. A lot of people say, oh, he's just a two-down lineman. I think he could be more than that. I think initially he will be. Like, that that was his skill set in college, right? But I think that he is a guy that he's shown the ability to win as a pass rusher and take

that on. And if the Steelers can add him to the middle of their line, it'll allow Keanu Betton to bump out to where he's normally at as a three tech instead of trying to make him more of a one or a nose. And then when you have that, then you start to be able to be more of that run, to have that run defense that allows the rest of the defense to settle because once the Steelers started giving this up, and I said this back when they were, when they beat the Giants, but they were giving up a lot of option runs. And I was like,

if they don't figure out a way to solve that, it's going to hurt them. And that's what the Ravens crushed them with. And so the Steelers need to have something in the middle that makes it easier on the guys in the edges like Alex Highsmith, like T.J. Watt, like Nick Herbig, to not get clogged up by the rest of what's going on. If they get that back, you know, if they get that back to like when they had Cam Hayward and Stefan to it in the middle, they will have that force. They will be a better run stuffing team, which will make them a better past rushing team, which make them a better defense, and then a much better team as well. That's why I went Kenneth Grant there.

And I went because I went him over Derek Harmon. They love Derek Harmon. He's built just like Cam Hayward. But I think that they're saying, hey, we need a guy that's going to be that space eater in the middle of our defense. Yeah, makes a lot of sense. Kevin Ostrach will stay in that division, man. Baltimore Ravens take Nickyman Worry, safe down South Carolina.

One of my favorite prospects on day one. He basically got two Kyle Hamilton's now. Yeah. Ridiculous. Who does what? He was shaking his head. I'm like, what did I do? I'm like, what I do?

But I mean, no, I mean, David just drafted a second Debo Samuel. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, right. Why is it just me? But yeah, I, uh, when he fell and actually, Louis traded up ahead of me, Philly and the Ravens always, like, trade ahead of each other in the draft. The Eagles did it when they took Jordan Davis and that allowed Kyle Hamilton to fall to Baltimore.

So I guess thank you, Louis for that. But this time he took Michael Williams, who I was like, all right, I'm between him. I'm in Mori, and I was also looking at Kelvin Banks, too, because what the Ravens have right now, I call up positional freedom. They love taking best player available. They're not going to pigeonhole himself into one position and say, if everybody we like, like last year's a prime example of this, where they could have taken an offensive lineman. Once Guyton went off the board of Dallas, it was like, well, there are no other guys with

first round grades. They weren't going to reach and take a guy with a day two grade in the first round. They just said, hey, Nate Wiggins, he was their top corner on the board. They said, we're just going to take our top corner. then they got Roger Rosengarten in the second round, then he played really well for them. So for a guy like Nickyman Worry, yes,

you already have Kyle Hamilton. Are Darius Washington is supposed to come back? But, I mean, Nickyman Worry have one of the most, like the craziest combine we've ever seen for a player of his size. He's, you know, 6-3, ran a 4, 3, 8, 40 at 220 pounds.

I mean, it's unbelievable what he can do. And everybody's looking essentially for their Kyle Hamilton or Derwin James, make up Fitzpatrick, like one of those top safeties that can move. all around a defense to give Zach or two of those guys in Kyle Hamilton. Baltimore had to operate in such,

they were in such a bind last season because Marcus Williams fell off the face of the earth after signing that five-year contract. It was really bad for them. They signed Eddie Jackson in the offseason. That was a terrible signing. It got so toxic with him. They had to cut him. They had to move Kyle Hamilton back to be a deep safety,

which he was good at. The Ravens ended up having one of the best defenses in the league second half of the season, but they didn't do that to get. they wanted to, they did it because they had to. So having more depth in the secondary, you can't have enough corners. You can't have enough secondary help. Having a guy like Eamon Worry in that defense to allow Kyle Hamilton to move all around your defense, they'd love using him as a blitzer.

And plus the fact that even Worry can play so many different roles for you as well, I know it's going to be tough for offensive coordinators to try to decide which guy to zone in on because both those guys have such high talent levels. Those drop picks. Mark Andrews had to catch passes in the playoffs. You know, maybe don't throw him out there, and he can catch that fast. Sorry, not that long-not-down Browns is in the room to talk. I mean, we were three-50 months.

Do you think Mark Andrews would be traded on draft date? I don't. I mean, Eric DeCasta was very non-committal on his feature. And they traded Hollywood. That's the thing, is Eric Costa actually talked about that. That deal was done like a week before the draft, but no one was allowed to know about it else they would have vetoed it. Like the Ravens would have said no. So we knew about it the day it had. I actually remember, I think Ross, I might have been talking to you on the clipping station.

And you're like, I'm the one that told you. I'm like, I'll see you again at 23. I'm like, what are you talking about? Like this is their only first round pick. And Ross was like, oh, they just traded for like 23. And I'm just like, what are you talking about? And so that was our big, big studio. Then an hour later, Marquis Brown showed up the Cardinals draft party in Arizona.

And I'm just like, when did this go on? What are we talking about here? But for Mark Andrews, I don't think he'll be traded. I know that the Ravens are noncommittal about it. The reason I don't think he'll be traded is for a couple of reasons. One, Mike Garifolos reported that both he and Dallas Goddard were available at the start of the league year, both the Ravens and Eagles didn't get what they wanted for them. And so they essentially just pulled them back.

It's not worth it to trade those guys if they're not going to get the draft conversation. That's worth it. The Ravens had a roster bonus on Mark Andrews that was due about a month ago. And that ended up vesting. It ended up going through. So the cap savings, they could end up saving. $11 million before that happened. Now it's down to seven.

So you're thinking if that money's going to be on your books anyway, they probably should have just traded them before that option actually kicked in. And if they're only going to get a fourth round pick for him or like a day three pick, he's probably just going to leave in the off season and they're going to get a fourth round comic pick anyway. I mean, I'm not going to trade them for anything less than a day two pick. Now maybe a team doesn't get the tight end. They want in the draft.

Like maybe, for example, the chargers, they don't get calls and love them like they did in our mock draft here. and they turn around to Baltimore and say, hey, we're really desperate. We'll give you what you want for Mark Andrews. Then I could see it happening, but it'd have to be a deal that they can't refuse to move on. David Harrison,

you found a way to, obviously you traded back. You added Luther Burden, wide receiver, given Jaydon Daniels another weapon. What was your thought process on that one? Yeah, so landing kind of already alluded to it, right? But speed, I mean, he's not exactly Debo Samuel,

who does a little bit more than, I wouldn't say just what Debo Samuel does, but he's a little bit, he's a little bit versatile. Obviously, a young guy. Also, Debo is on an expiring contract. So you need to make sure you have that short up there as well. So certainly the offseason of giving Jaden more help to potentially make a run to be in an MVP.

I mean, there's been a couple of quarterbacks that we know of recently to win MVP's in their second NFL seasons. We'd love to see Jaden try to make a run at that. I'm not saying I'm predicting. But Luther Byrne Jr. could certainly help there. Another team that didn't make a pick in the first round that got one, has one later in the second round, the Los Angeles Rams in our mock eventually end up with Josh Connerly Jr.

The offense tackle out of Oregon. So to wrap things up, guys, let's get some superlatives here. Tony Wiggins, where's the biggest impact coming from in the first round of this draft? I actually, even though your pick technically wasn't a first round pick, I like Washington's pick. And the reason why is because I think he's a better player than people are giving them credit for. And the other thing is, I think about receivers that are ball in the hands. hand guys. So they got Debo, right? And, you know, now you add him to the fray. And I'm thinking about scary Terry McLaren. And then I'm thinking about the damn quarterback who is also a ball

in the hand guy. They just, they just really become a team that if you can't tackle well, three plays could kill you. You could play well all game and they can get 21 just off you missing tackles. That's a lot. And you guys don't know it here, but I actually traded back up in the second round, like earlier in the second round, also got Trevion Henderson. out of it. I vetoed it. Sorry. That's what happened. James Jerko,

I do want to ask you this. You come from a defensive coach team. The Buccaneers are a defensive team. So let me ask you this. Defense rookie of the year. Knee jerk reaction. Haven't seen them on the field yet. Looking on this list,

who do you think is your favorite for defensive rookie of the year? And then unlike James, I'm going to land in a cool, a little bit of a heads up. You're getting offensive rookie of the year. I'll take a low-hanging fruit. It's Abdul Carter.

Like, he is hands. down the best prospect in this draft, and it's not close. If the Titans were smart, they would just take Abdul Carter, like, period. They would just draft him deal with quarterback later on when there's an actual better quarterback class. Abdul Carter is going to be a problem in the NFL. So Landon, you have fun with that because he's going to end up with the Giants. And he's probably going to be the reason that Dak misses 10 games again in 2020.

I'm real quick I'm listen I the bronze I think the bronze have a chance to take out of do Carter potentially and I am like just waiting for the other shoe to drop like this this screams to me that like he shows up to rookie minicamp and then we get a report that he has to have surgery on the foot I know that everything's being reported like oh everything's going well but again agent speak you can never you never fully know I saw this screams though like we're going to get this report that he needs surgery like as soon as rookie minicamp breaks it's going to be like, are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Like they drafted this guy and then he's going to miss like, he might not miss the season, but still, that foot injury though, I mean,

the only other examples that come to mind are like, Julio had it and he had the surgery done. And then he had a good rookie year, but then his second year, he had the surgery again. So it can haunt you for your career. Oh, it always does. Sammy Watkins, Sammy Watkins had a similar thing. And he was never the same play. Like, it's always like these, these, I don't know, it's one of those bugaboo's for me where I'm just like, I worry about it a little bit, but, I mean, you're right. He is a fantastic player, so you cannot take them. But I just, I worry about the other shoe dropping. Yeah. Lany McCool, offensive rookie of the year candidate right off the bat.

Who do you got? I think it's got to be gentie, right? I mean, I don't know. Like, I just think going to a team that has a guy that calling the plays that really, really, really, really wants to run the ball and Chip Kelly. And I think, you know, him being just that sort of one of the rare blue chips in this draft, I think he goes there and he probably tears it up quite a bit. It really kind of help things with Dino Smith in that offense and really kind of hang the ball a lot.

Cody disagrees. Will a bottom of the division team have someone win an offense rookie of the year? Like, come on. I don't know. Bottom of the division team. What about Tyler Warren? To be fair, he's the only player.

He's the only player. Tyler Warren going to possibly amass enough stats to be. Aaron Ross is going to be. I was going to go with the other tight end. You look at Colston Loveland. You put him in a Jim Harbaugh offense. Yes, right. They need a tight end.

That's true. I could see him. Are they going to throw a ball enough for him? They should. They did. They did. They did. They did.

It's a quarterback running back wide receiver award. All right. Yeah, that's the only. That is going to wrap up. That's going to wrap up this. Like I said, I picked the wrap of our reactions. two this year's locked on mock draft special. As expected, Washington commanders, big winner of this year's mock draft.

So hopefully you all enjoyed that. Make sure you're coming back each and every show here, part of the Lockedon Podcast Network. We're covering all your favorite teams every single day. Don't miss a moment of that coverage. Again, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.