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

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

In this week's NFL Squad, the crew reacts to the Locked On Network's league-wide mock draft. Which rookies are offensive rookie and defensive rookie of the year candidates? Which picks did the panel disagree with, and which teams had the best mock draft? Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Amazon Fire TV Stick 4kDid you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

our annual Locked On Podcast mock draft, super bonanzas in the books. And we are here to tell you who got it right, who got it wrong, and why James Yargo 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 scoop, breakdown, 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 of 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. Uh we are of course, are all part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Even James Yarko. We're covering your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, use the code LOCKDOWNNFL for $20 off your first purchase. And as

I give my buddy James Yarko of Lockdown Bucks a lot of trash right now, you're not allowed to have your feelings hurt. I don't know if you heard Ali or Kylie. I'm not actually sure who the lot of trash right now. You're not allowed to have your feelings hurt. I don't know if you heard Ali or Kylie, not actually sure who the voice is, but uh, yeah, you're not, uh, 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 Yarko'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 landing McCool of locked on boo Tony Wiggins of locked on Jaguar Spencer German of lock German of locked on rounds Kevin Ostrich or of locked on Ravens our resident Usher person inside Joe Christopher Carter locked on Steelers James Jarko of. Chris Carter is not here for the foolishness guys. So hopefully somebody else can get this thing on track. But we're 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, shooter 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. Eat your heart out, Cordell Stewart. Going to the New England Patriots at number four, Jacksonville Jaguars. Going Mason Graham, D D tackle out of Michigan. Fifth overall, six overall, the Raiders go Ashton Genti running back out of Boise State. Seventh, the New York Jets go with Tet Macmillan, Arizona wide receiver Carolina Panthers. At number eight, go Jaylen Walker, the linebacker out of Georgia, followed by the New Orleans Saints going Tyler Warren, tight end out of Penn State. And then number 10, Chicago Bears, Armand Membu Warren tight end out of Penn State and then number 10 Chicago Bears Armand Memboo offensive tackle out of

Missouri. I want to kick this thing over first and foremost to Spencer German locked on Browns. Shadr Sanders at number two. How, 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 our picks, so I blame Ross Jackson for this. He had me on a time crunch. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. The owners' meetings I think were pretty eye-opening in terms of what the Brawns are

actually going to probably do. Because based on what Jimmy Haslam said, he made it sound like they were going to take their time and be patient with the quarterback issue where I kind of approach this draft as listen, I respect the hell out of Travis Hunter. Same thing with Abdul Carter. I think those are two fantastic players. Maybe the only two players that are considered like blue chip players in this draft 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. People get on him about his personality and the brashness. I actually think that's something that a Cleveland Brown quarterback in particular needs to have

because you need somebody who can come here and like put the history with that that jersey in the window of all the names of guys that have been quarterbacks, the 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, that I think that makes sure Orsan is a perfect fit for the Browns. And I also think he's a great fit for Kevin Stefanski's offense and everything that he wants to do. The Browns have talked all off season about prioritizing decision making and that's maybe the best thing that Shador Sanders brings to the table. So 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 Shidor Sanders 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 you been? How does how does Tyler Warren fit into that into that rebuild at number nine? Yet 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, a lot of a Rashid Shahid. They just brought in Brandon Cooks. Like that's their wide receiver trio at the moment. You Alvin Camara is still there, but Alvin Camara hasn't played a full season since his rookie year. I've been very 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, 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 taste some 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.

Maybe 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 Ted O'Rourke and McMill, 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 ones. Yeah, makes a lot of sense. Speaking of litigation, Chris Carter locked on Steelers. You don't have a, you don't have a pick. Ross set it up, bro. Like, no, it's a softball pitch. I gotta go there. We don't have a pick. Ross set it up, bro. It's a softball pitch. I gotta go there. We should get the context. 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, counselor.

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 we did. 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 that look, look, there's 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 his best feature is he he does he has made good decisions. But

when he's under pressure, I don't know how it's gonna work. Like, like a lot of time he had great protection at Colorado or like 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 have Shador Sanders as a second round quarterback in this draft. Like a lot of people keep asking me, will the Steelers take him at 21? Absolutely not. I don't think that he's a first round pick in this draft class.

And hey, I could be wrong. But just looking at this, I think outside he's either first round picking this draft class. And hey, I could be wrong, but just looking at this, I think outside of Ken 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 coming the Steelers every day, it's like, what is Aaron Rodgers signing? And that is the ultimate down bad sign. But like- Starting to hear that in New Orleans now too, baby. Oh man. But that's the point. 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, doesn't matter how bad it gets we're not over over picking quarterback in this draft class yeah wait like they did my sellers next year I I'll be I would have taken Shador Sanders at nine but I don't think the Saints will I don't think he's even in conversation for the team at night and everything I don't think he's right back for what Kellen Moore wants to do, you know, right, right That's a jacksons art Jalen Millrow like that kind of that kind of that's not what's discussed in this quarterback conversation enough

This is is the fit aspect of it, which I think matters with guys like Chedor Sanders and frankly everyone beneath him You know, it's the fit with the team is gonna matter where they go. Yeah I think I think should or is probably one of the more fascinating, not just quarterbacks, but just prospects in general that we've covered in the NFL. For him to be, throughout the college season, it was, oh, Shador might be quarterback one, and then Cam Ward sort of creeped into the picture,

and then it flipped at the combine. The Cam Ward's easily the guy, and the vast differences and like grades that people have because even for a while, like one of my biggest arguments for the Browns potentially taking Sanders was there were so many people mocking him with the Giants and I was like, if the Giants can take a 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 is just kind of fascinating to me how that's kind of unfolded. Um, and I definitely see the perspective of like, you know, he probably is more trending towards being late in the first round cause somebody wants to get a feature option on him or goes in the second round. Um, but I also feel like quarterbacks are always overdrafted to a degree, right? You're always doing that cause 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 to where they try to get him later. So let's ride. Fortunately, somebody overdrafted a quarterback last year because of it. The commander's got Jayden Daniels. Tony Wiggins, you went D tackle with the fifth overall pick, despite the fact that your new head coach that you're covering there in, uh,

Jacksonville, I was going to say do all the way that Liam Cohen did it, but I can't do it. Um, Mason no, I can't white enough for that, David. I can do it. Yeah. How, how close were you though to going Tet McMillan? Cause I mean, Liam Cohen just came from Tampa where he had this monster receiver, Mike Evans. I'm not saying Tett is gonna be Mike Evans, but

the natural transfers there. Was it Mason Graham for you at number five coming off the Patriots picker? Was there a battle there for you as well? Personally, the battle for me was between Mason Graham and Armand 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 Baseli is an 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 line depth, the 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 need 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 beat 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 the 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 still. and that's Mason Graham and a 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 resurgence 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 AFC cell or the NFC south belongs to the Buccaneers right now But they know still Carolina could be a team that surprised some people. I'm sorry, Ross. I had to do it. Yeah, you're right. They're the NFC South Champions.

But I feel like- How's the Broncos in 2024? I don't know. I feel like Carolina, Ross, it might be the Saints, Saints turn in the basement in Carolina. You're saying stuff to me 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 spent some money, whatever that might be. Well, no, that doesn't mean anything at all. I'm surprised people still bring up salary cap space when it comes to this thing.

Well, that's gonna catch up to them eventually, right? That's not right. No, it's not. Eventually. We keep saying that. No, it's not. No, they're never gonna be. Brad is doing the same thing.

As they sit right now with $27 million of salary cap still left this bench. You know, it's fine. All right. Well, the Panthers are winning the NFC South. There we go. Have fun. Okay. Okay. Watch outC South. There we go. Whoa, there you go. Wow.

Russell to give me enough of a reaction. I had to get her. That is our top 10 Vegas. We are we are surprised by it. Not even a 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 with us?

I'm with y'all, man. So wealthy, you know, I love you brother. Thanks 11 through 20 coming up 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. Even when demand is sky high prices on the app, they actually

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don't know why I keep wanting to add words to it. I just do it. It's such an awesome experience. I think we kind of gone a little bit chalkier 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 lineman out of LSU. The Dallas Cowboys go with wide receiver Matthew Golden out of Texas. Another Longhorn goes next. Jody Baron defensive back going to

the Miami Dolphins. Jahad 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, D Tackle 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're 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 flashizazz. You know, we're not talking about like polarizing characters here. It really gets interesting when you talk about a Marion Hampton 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 Bashan 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,

O'Marion Hanton was the one guy that was like, all right, hey, like this makes the most sense for the Broncos. Sean Payton could get a lot of usage out of him. I'm also creeping towards like, if I could change it today, I would have taken Trevion Henderson or 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, depends on what teams look at. So for me, Murray and Haddon gives the Broncos 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 Nicks 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, I did feel like this section was kind of boring, you know, unless you want to talk about, you know, Matthew Golden going to the Dallas Cowboys where, okay, hey, when's Dak Prescott going to go on IR for another stint of the season? The most uninteresting story. Sorry, man. I'm sorry. I'm going to leave you through your pick under the bus here.

Dang. Cody, to at least give you some sort of consolation about that pick though, Matt Frank, he's a former Bronco, an offensive lineman, 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 a Mario and Hampton, you won't be mad. So that's the way some people feel about him. Highly draft. I feel like I mean, I feel like running backs have always worked for the Denver Broncos. How's that going for you, Landon?

We'll see two to three points something yards per carry this upcoming season. But why am I taking fire here? I mean, Landon is just getting it. I mean, 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 we're 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 12. You know, look, I think boring. What's going on here

is that, you know, this draft is as I'm sure all of us have discussed on our show. It's just not very heavy at the top, right? There's 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 war, right? Or one imperfection where they're not exactly maybe going to come into the league 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. Uh if you wait until the second round, you probably could get a Higgins or a knoll, but none of that stuff is guaranteed uh and

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 I think but with markets 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 with the Cowboys

needs and where the where the depth of the draft is. So it 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, let's see what five Dax going to have that Lamar athleticism on display this upcoming season man. Do you think, Landon, 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 is 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 the four to nine. I wish, I kind of wish Golden had run like a four, three, because then all of 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 and Ferguson. Alright, before we get to the best and worst picks in this group though, we have to let James Jarco finally join in on the conversation. Thanks for showing up, buddy. James Pierce Jr. at 19 to the Bucs. How does he fit into top bowls of 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 Levante for a year. Then as Levante rides off into

the sunset, you have a locked and loaded linebacker for the next 10 years in Tampa. That didn't work out. And really, the only other guys in consideration here were Malachi Starks and then Donovan Ezoraku. So take it 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, OK, yeah, dude had an arrest in 2023 for speeding and, and expired tags and suspended license. All the charges were dropped. It's like, OK, 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 Yahya Diaby, 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 Vea and have Piers Vea and Kancy plus Rettick and Yahya Diaby. Like good luck quarterbacks. So this to me, 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 thinking that I might want to take down the board. Ross Jackson locked on. Sains. I think you're best suited. I give James so much crap when he shows up to the show. I don't know why he shows up. I really do. Why doesn't it show up? I think Ross, you're most equipped to, uh, to do this for us. Uh, best and worst picks are, if you don't mind from picks 11 to 20. Yeah, I'll do best. Uh, or yeah, I'll do that. Uh, 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, the media 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, uh, according to, um, Todd McShea running in like the four or five 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 him 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 that franchise has seen for a while

going with a potentially injury prone slow corner might not have been the right decision for Alex Clancy. 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 gonna get something that's close to 2023, Michigan, 2023 Johnson, you're gonna do it in that kind of system. So I'm not pushing back. But I guess like if he's gonna succeed, I think this is probably as good as a spot for him to go to his end. Very similar about what I said to Matt Ryan to the

Colts. Yeah okay no okay but that's not it. I think that's enough Michigan conversation for Spencer Germans audience so we're gonna come back here real quick and we're gonna kick it off 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, your 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 and LinkedIn, they

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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 Michigan Kenneth Grant defense attack with the Los Angeles Chargers stay in Michigan go tight end Colson Loveland at number 22 the Packers at 23 go Derek Harmon out of Oregon the D lineman the Minnesota Vikings go safety Malachi Starks out

of Georgia at 24 25 the Houston Texans take a Mecca Iqbuka wide receiver out of Ohio States 26 the Eagles go Mikkel Williams, Ed Rusher out of Georgia. 27 the Baltimore Ravens go Nick Imanwari, safety out of South Carolina. Detroit Lions 28, go Shamar Stewart, Ed Rusher out of Texas A&M. At 29, the Cleveland Browns go tackle Texas, tackle Calvin Banks Jr. out of Texas. And then Joe Merino will be here soon to talk about the Buffalo's taking Trey Amos cornerback out of Ole Miss.

31 the Kansas City Tuesday, Josh Simmons off to 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 and took quarterback Jackson Dart at Ole Miss. Good take. You got to steal. You throw in darts and actually just watched draft day the other day.

You fleeced them the way that face the guy. I moved all the way up to number one. So I, I was all the way up to number one so that I could argue about whether or not I was going to take a running back or a linebacker. No, 100%. Did everyone go to Jackson Dart's 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 won 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. I at that point, Kevin Banks, Jr. still being on the board. Um, you know, the Browns have a handful of needs, um, especially on the

offensive side of the ball, but in this iteration of how things fell, obviously I took shit or Sanders to, you get a potential franchise quarterback or who or who they think would be a franchise quarterback and then you give them some protection off the left side with Calvin Banks Jr., a guy who's been projected to maybe even go top 15 in this draft just depending on how things sort of fall or what team needs are. So listen, the Jedrick Will's experience was a failure here. He's still a free agent out there. Browns have clearly indicated they don't wanna bring him back. Part of, I think, the reasoning for that too was he was a right tackle that they tried to move to left tackle.

Kelvin Banks Jr. is just straight up a left tackle. So keeping him in his normal spot. And this offensive line's also getting old, man. Like, only a couple years removed from the bronze. I'm one of the best offensive lines in football. And suddenly, you know, like Joe Botonio 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 in 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 Browns as well.

Can I ask you why, why, why Calvin Banks Jr. instead of Josh Simmons? Not accusatory, I'm just curious, like, what separates it two for you? Yeah, for me, I think it was just the knee issue. I know he's gonna be ready for the season, but I'm sort of viewing it too. 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 come in with that clean slate. I actually, so I really like Josh Connerly Jr. here too. Yeah, I was going to say. In 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. But I 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. So that's good that everybody keeps saying y'all need to invest in infrastructure so that's a real, real good, good pick. And then those NFC Eastdo's 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 like the Browns biggest needs, I actually think outside of quarterback, I think running back is actually the thing that they need the most. Cuz like right now, their running backroom consists of like Jerome Ford and Sort of like a bunch of like role players or guys you just kind of mix and 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 that 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 reason why he still is available And so I'm actually fascinated like the last section of picks we talked about with Cody taking O'Marian Hampton. There was a mock draft that day where O'Marian 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 where everyone's curious about that next run on quarterbacks is with like Dart, Milro, maybe Tyler Shuck. I'm actually kind of fascinated 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 gettings is a guy that's kind of being mocked like the third round. I love him one of my favorite Damien Martinez is another guy to Miami that I think was now you're some teams But like some of these guys could go quickly and then it's like alright Maybe you have to accelerate where you're taking one. So I don't know that the Browns have taken 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 Aaron Hampton somehow is there, I can see him taking him in the same sort of area of the draft. Yeah, it would make a lot of sense. Chris Carter locked on Steelers, 21st overall pick. Kenneth Grant out of Michigan. What Carter locked on Steelers 21st overall pick. Kenneth Grant out of Michigan. What what led to that decision? The Steelers desperately need a defensive tackle. That's going to be a stud in the middle of the 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 is a good three tech, but when you put him as a nose as they tried, he wasn't able to take on double teams that 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 destroy 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. We've seen, you've seen him, you know, run down, you know, good fast position players in space.

You know, 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 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 gonna 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 on the edges like Alex Highsmith, like TJ Watt, like Nick Herbig, to not get clogged up by the rest of what's going on. If they

get that back, you know, I you know, 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 pass 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, 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 Ostrich will stay in that division, man.

Baltimore Ravens take Nick Imanwari, safe down South Carolina, one of my favorite prospects on day one. You got two Kyle Hammett since now. Yeah, I saw it. Yeah, he was shaking his head. I'm like, what did I do? I mean, David just drafted a second Debo Samuel. So it's yeah, exactly. Yeah, right. Why is it just me? But yeah, I when he fell and actually Louie 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 Louie for that. But this time he took Michael Williams, who I was like, all right, I'm between him, Iman Worry, and I was also looking at Calvin Banks, too, because what the Ravens have right now, I call up positional freedom. They love taking best player available.

They're not gonna pigeonhole themselves 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. Now once Guyton went off the board of Dallas, it was like, well, there are no other guys with first round grades. They weren't gonna reach and take a guy

with a day two braid in the first round. They just said, hey, Nate Wiggins, he was their top corner on the board. They said, we're just gonna take our top corner. And then they got Roger Rosengarden in the second round and he played really well for them. So for a guy like Nicky Manwari, yes, you already have Kyle Hamilton. Our Darius Washington is supposed to come back. But I guy like Nicky Manwari, yes, you already have Kyle Hamilton,

or Darius Washington is supposed to come back, but I mean, Nicky Manwari had 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, Mika Fitzpatrick Patrick like one of those top safeties that can move

all around the defense to give that 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 off season. 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 because 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 E Iman Worry in that defense to allow Kyle Hamilton to move all around your defense, they love using him as a blitzer. And plus the fact that Iman 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. Can you talk to Andrews how to catch passes in the playoffs? That's the thing. You know, maybe don't throw him out there and he can catch that pass. Sorry, not that long. Not that long. Don't browse the center in the talk.

I mean, we were three minutes in. Do you think Mark Andrews will be traded on draft day? Just curious. I don't. I mean, Eric DeCosta was very noncommittal on his feature. They traded Hollywood. That's the thing is Eric DeCosta actually talked about that. That deal was done like a week before the draft, but no one was

allowed to know about it or 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've been talking to you on the clipping station and you're like, I'm the one that told you. I'm like, he's, I mean, they took Kyle Hamilton. He's like, all right, 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, yeah, 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? But for Mark Andrews, I don't think it'll be traded. I know that the Ravens are not coming a little about it. The reason I don't think it'll be traded is for a couple of reasons. One, Mike Garofolo's reported that both he and Dallas Goddard were available at the start of the league year, but the Ravens and Eagles didn't get what they wanted for them. And so they essentially just pulled them back. Like 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 conflict anyway. I mean I'm not going to

trade him 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 call some 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 from Mark Andrews then I could see it happening but it it has to be a deal that they can't refuse to move them i think yeah David Harrison you uh you found a way to uh you obviously you traded back you added Luther Burden wide receiver giving jaden daniel's another weapon what was your uh your thought process on that one yeah so landing kind of already alluded to right but right? But speed, I mean, he's not exactly Debo Samuel. He does a little bit more than, I wouldn't say just what Debo Samuel does,

but 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 shored up there as well. So certainly the off season of giving Jayden more help to potentially make a run to being an MVP. I mean, there's been a couple of quarterbacks that we know of recently to wing MVPs in their second NFL seasons. Would love to see Jayden try to make a run at that. I'm not saying I predict it, but Luther Burns 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 have given him credit for. And the other thing is I think about receivers that are ball in the hand guys.

So they got Debo, right? And, you know, now you add him to the fray. And I'm thinking about scary Terry McLaurin. And then I'm thinking about the damn quarterback who is also a ball in the hand guy. 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.

You guys don't know it here, but I actually traded back up into the second round, like earlier in the second round. I also got Trevion Henderson out of it. I vetoed it. Sorry. That's what happened. James Jarco loved on blocks. I do want to if you're on Henderson. I beat it. Sorry, no. Yeah, that's gonna happen. James Argo love Tom Blucks. I do want to ask you this.

You come from a defensive coach team. The Buccaneers are defensive team, so let me ask you this defense rookie of the year knee jerk reaction. Haven't seen him 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 gonna get landing McCool a little bit of a heads up. You're getting offensive rookie of the year? And then, unlike James, I'm gonna get Landon McCool a little bit of a heads-up. You're getting offensive Rookie of the Year. I'll take the 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 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 miss is 10 games again in 2020. Real quick. I listen, I think the bronze have a chance to take out of Ducato 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 mini camp 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 that. Right. This screams though, like we're're gonna get this report that he needs surgery like as soon as rookie minicamp race It's gonna be like you kidding me. Are you kidding? Like they drafted this guy and then he's gonna miss like no he might not miss the season But still that that foot injury though I mean the only other example that kind of minor like Julio had it and he had the surgery done and then He had a good rookie year, but then the 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 player like that it's always like these these I don't know it's it's one of those bugaboos 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 him but I just I worry about the other shoe dropping. Yeah, Lanny McCool, offensive rookie of the year candidate right off the bat. Who do you got? I think it's gotta 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 wants the to run the ball and Chip Kelly. And I think, you know know him being just that sort of one of the rare blue chips in this in this draft.

I think I think he goes there and he probably tears it up quite a bit. You know, it really kind of helped things with Dino Smith in that offense and really kind of the ball a lot. Cody disagrees. Will it will a bottom of the division team have someone win offensive rookie of the year? Like come on. I don't know. Bottom of the division team have someone win offensive rookie of the year? Like, come on. I don't know. Bottom of the division team. Come on. What about Tyler Warren? To be fair, he's the only player. He's not gonna possibly amass enough stats to be

I was going to go with the other title and you look at Colston Loveland, you put him in a gym, Harbaugh offense. Yes, they need a tight end. That's true. I could see him. They're going to throw a ball enough for it. They should get them over there. So it's a quarterback running back wide receiver award. All right. Well, that's the only thing that's going to wrap up this.

That's going to wrap up this. That's gonna wrap up this. I think our reactions to 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 locks on podcast. Now we're covering all your favorite teams every single day.

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