Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - 2019 NFL Draft Trilogy Pt. 1 featuring Sayre Bedinger and Nick Kendell: TJ Hockenson & Noah Fant

Episode Date: April 23, 2019

We are bringing a special three show series covering all eligible Iowa Hawkeyes in this week's 2019 NFL Draft and we brought on special guests Nick Kendell and Sayre Bedinger to bring you information directly from the experts. Today's episode covers Iowa's two first-round prospects Noah Fant and TJ Hockenson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are listening to the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering the Iowa Hawkeyes for the Locked On Sports Network, hosted by Andrew Wade, editor at DearOldGold.com. Welcome to a Tuesday episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, a part of the Locked On Sports Network. I'm your host, Andrew Wade, editor over at DearOldGold.com, and today is our first part of a three-part episode series we are doing for the NFL Draft. Call it a trilogy if you would like. It's going to be that epic because we are giving you fun and great content leading up

to the NFL Draft that begins on Thursday night. There are a ton of Iowa Hawkeye players who are looking forward to finding out where they're going to be spending their next few years at in the NFL. So we are bringing on a few guest experts to talk through the NFL Draft and the Iowa Hawkeye prospects for the show today. Before I introduce those guys, though, I do want to take care of a few quick housekeeping items. If you are tuning into the show for the very first time today, make sure you do subscribe and like our podcast

wherever you got the podcast app. If you are on Twitter, make sure to follow us at LockedOnIowa. And if you are on Facebook, follow us at LockedOnHawkeyes. That's the easiest way to make sure you are finding out exactly when our episodes are going to be posted every single day. And like I said, we have a trilogy coming up, a fantastic series we are doing about the NFL draft. On today's episode, we are going to be focusing on the two tight ends who are projected to

go in the first round for the Iowa Hawkeyes. We're going to be talking today about TJ Hawkinson and Noah Fant. And our two guest experts, if you've been listening to the show for a long time, you're very familiar with them because they've been on the show before. But we have Nick Kendall from Mile High Huddle. He is a draft analyst and expert and also a big Iowa Hawkeye fan. And then we also have Sarah Bettinger from NFL Mocs, a part of the Fan Sighted Network. He is also a draft analyst and expert and a big Iowa Hawkeye fan. And then we also have Sarah Bettinger from NFL Mocs, a part of the fan-sided network. He is also a draft analyst and expert and a big Iowa Hawkeye fan. So I thought we really couldn't have two better people who obviously study the draft and have a tendency to watch a

lot of Iowa Hawkeye games. So I'm bringing them on to give you some of the best content we can possibly provide leading up to the NFL draft. On Wednesday's episode, we're going to be talking about Anthony Nelson and Amani Hooker. And on Thursday's episode, we're going to be talking about the slew of other guys. Obviously, we would love to focus 20 minutes on every single prospect, but it's just not possible, especially given kind of the notoriety of the top four guys. Want to make sure we're giving a show dedicated just to those guys before we touch on the other guys like Nick Easley, Ross Reynolds, Keegan Render, and so on and so forth. So stay tuned because we have a fantastic trilogy of episodes and today is part one. So let's jump

right into it with Nick Kendall and Sarah Bettinger. All right. I am joined here by two great guests who've been on the show before. We have Nick Kendall and Sarah Bettinger. Nick, you are with Mile High Huddle. Sarah, you are with NFL Mocs and predominantly Orange. And the most important thing of both of you guys today is that you cover the NFL draft and you love the Iowa Hawkeyes. So obviously, a great fit to have you on this show as we're doing a big buildup leading into the NFL draft.

Iowa has a lot of players who could kind of find their next destination in just, you know, under a week from now. I mean, we have a couple of guys who could be going in the first round, a couple of guys who might go on day two, and a lot of guys who are going to be kind of searching for their NFL team, either in the sixth, seventh round, or maybe as, you know, priority undrafted free agents. So before we get started though, you know, Nick, Sarah, maybe Nick, you got to kind of go first. What are some of your some of your background? Let the listeners know kind of what your expertise in this area is. Well, I've been scouting football now, working for Mile High Huddle for the past. I guess this will be my third draft with them now, man. Time flies.

Writing for them, doing a lot of draft stuff. I mean, I'm already getting ready for 2020 stuff, which is insane. But I mean, you got to love you got to love the grind in order to be where you're at right now or be where I'm at right now. Do a podcast. I host a podcast with a good friend of mine, Carl Dumbler, a friend of Sarah's as well, twice a week now, called Building the Broncos. And yeah, just love all of it. And I'm in Iowa City. I live in Iowa City and actually work at the University of Iowa Hospital. So getting to be close. Got season tickets last year. Go to a lot of Hawk games.

And I watched, I mean, I feel like I watch every Hawks game twice because you get the field view, whatnot, when you're at the game. But then I got to come home and watch it again and kind of break down the tape. So I'm definitely a psychopath in that regard. And I love it. Yeah, man, it's tough. I mean, in the last couple of years, I've transitioned from being just a fan watching football to now starting to analyze some of the pieces, especially with Hawkeye games and Bronco games.

I've never used to go back and watch the games multiple times. But now, you know, I watch the Iowa games on Saturdays and then I record them and then I watch them again later just to kind of get a feel for kind of what I want to talk about on the show and also talk about dear old gold as well. So I definitely understand that. And, you know, Sarah, you kind of I talked a little bit about you as well, NFL mocks and predominantly orange, you kind of hit a gauntlet of things with the fan sided network. Why don't you give some of your credentials as well? And kind of what your passion is with the NFL draft? Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think I may have mentioned this the last time I was on. So first of all, thank you again for having me on. Um, but but I'm I was big into like

trading cards as a kid and I love to memorize like when guys were drafted on the back of the card and that really introduced me to the draft and I remember one of the first drafts that I watched as a kid I just remember falling in love with uh Santana Moss I don't know I don't even remember what it was I just thought it I just thought that he was a cool player, just his speed. And I've always loved receivers. And so just that kind of sparked it. And Peter Warrick was always a favorite of mine. I loved collecting Peter Warrick trading cards. I think he was a year before Santana, but anyway, so it started from a young age. And like, even as a kid, I remember collecting like rookies jerseys, like Ricky Williams and even, even you know tim couch i hate to even say it but i had

a tim couch jersey as like a third grade kid but i i've loved it from the start and i used to i used to in between classes in school i would write out like mock drafts and bring like my nfl draft magazines through class and i'll never forget this one time this one kid saw me making a mock draft and he's like are you making your own mock draft draft and i was like yeah and he goes who would ever want to read anything that you have to write about football and i was like oh dang challenge is on so um i remember in college i discovered bleacher report started writing for them uh got hooked up with a place called mile high report and uh started writing some posts for them on just like just for fun fun. And I did the same thing at Bleacher Report for a while and kind of mixed between the two, doing what I do now professionally.

And so I got picked up by NFL Mocs in 2011, lockout year, which I guess they were looking to torture some young writers. But it was actually really good. I got to cover Von Miller's draft. And from then on, I got picked up by Predominantly Orange in 2013. And, you know, again, brutal. They lost the Super Bowl right as I was joining the squad there. So been through the highs, been through the lows,

and I've loved it from the start. You know, it's a passion of mine. And I think this is a special moment, too, because I think I've not met many broncos and hawkeyes and nfl draft lovers so andrew nick i mean this is a meeting of the minds truly it really is i i love that you know honestly i didn't know you guys for until about the last year and i guess no is a very relative and loose term but um nice that we kind of have all you know share some of those similar passions and whatnot, and all kind of connected through Twitter

and through writing and stuff. So it's pretty cool stuff. And now we're here talking about the Iowa Hawkeyes on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. So exciting stuff. I'm definitely glad you both are on here. And real quick, I wanted to share a story about, you talked about, you know, some of the rookies and whatnot and Tim Couch and those kinds of guys. I remember one of the first things I realized and tim couch and those kind of guys i

remember one of the first things i realized about the nfl draft was that i know i knew nothing about it when i loved major applewhite at texas and i had no clue why no teams wanted to sign him after after he graduated i just didn't didn't comprehend it didn't understand it um and so yeah that's that's a bad one but it's very interesting to me to kind of, you know, you watch a player and they might get great, they might have great stats. They might do really well in their collegiate career, but they just don't translate well to the NFL. And I think that's what fascinates me about the NFL draft is just how different it is. It's not just, can you get 15 sacks and, you know, college football, it's what else can you do? And where

are you going? It's high level competition you schemed differently and that kind of stuff? So absolutely love the NFL draft. And one of the big things I'm kind of excited about this year, especially being a Denver Broncos fan, is there's some opportunities for potential Iowa Hawkeyes to follow the Denver Broncos. I know, Nick, I follow you a lot and I think you would potentially cringe if an Iowa Hawkeye was taken at 10th from the Denver Broncos. But let's just jump into it right now with those two guys I'm kind of referencing, TJ Hawkinson and Noah Fant. I mean, the two guys who are going to be likely first-round draft picks. Hawkinson's been projected as high as number five, which I think is a little bit high for him.

And Fant's been honestly projected anywhere from 12th through 32. And some people have been questioning whether or not he could maybe go in the second round I don't think that's I don't think that's really plausible but let's start with Hawkinson first what are your kind of you know when you look at Hawkinson as a tight end and you're kind of scouting him and I'll leave it up to whoever wants to go first on this one but what are you noticing about him obviously his blocking and his receiving are fantastic but is there something else that kind of separates him and puts him as the elite tight end in this class i think for me the big thing is that he does everything well you know some tight ends it's

becoming kind of a like we talked about it last time i was on a podcast when you know we have these guys declare a lot of tight ends in the nfl it's becoming more of a niche position where you kind of have the inline guys and then then you also have the receiving types, you know, classic, you know, Nick Boyle, Croft getting paid all this money this offseason to be classic inline guys. Then you got, you know, the Jimmy Grams of the world, the Evan Ingrams, who are more the receivers. And that's not TJ Hawkinson. TJ Hawkinson can do both at a very high level. I'm not sure he is absolutely elite at anything. I mean, he's, there are some elites, but he's not Gron high level. I'm not sure he is absolutely elite at anything. I mean, there are some elites, but he's not Gronkowski.

I've heard some people call him Gronkowski. Let's just put that one to bed. Gronk is a freak of freaks. But as far as being just an overall weapon with no real weaknesses, that's TJ Hawkinson to a T. I mean, he's really good in line. He's really good at the zone stretch, whether he's leading or he's cutting off that defensive end, cutting off their legs so making sure they can't make that backside tackle on that zone stretch.

Did that time and time again for Iowa. He can do that really well. He's not amazing down the seam. He ran a 4.740, which isn't elite by any means. That's 68th percentile of all tight ends at the combine. But that's fine. And then he did really good with his jumps, 90th percentile vertical jump, 91st broad jump, 77th three-cone, 85th 20-yard shuttle.

So pretty darn good athlete all around. And the thing that, I mean, he's not only – he can make plays down the seam because he is a good athlete, good body control, good contested catch. But a thing that really makes him stand out as well, and George Kittle, we saw it a lot this year with him at San Francisco, is that Hawkinson's also a threat after the catch. You know, he's very natural with the ball in his hands, whether it be stiff arms, hurling guys,

just making space and making plays after he has the ball in his hands. So really just an overall weapon and probably one of the highest floors of this entire class. You know, there is some debate about, you know, how valuable is the tight end. If you're drafting him at 10 overall, he's going to be one of the top paid tight ends in football right away. Where if you like you're drafting an edge rusher, he'd be like the 25th highest paid player. So it's a little bit of positional value for the slotted rookie contracts getting in there. But if you take TJ Hawkinson, there's no doubt that you're going to get a really good player.

Yeah. And as far as that floor, Sarah, maybe, maybe I'll put that question up for you. As far as his floor, where do you think his floor puts him at in terms of the tight ends in today's NFL? I mean, does he instantly enter the NFL as a top 15 tight end? Obviously I realize there's a, he has to prove himself, right. But in terms of talent wise, do you think he enters the NFL as a top 15, a top 10 tight end already? He enters the NFL as a top 15, a top 10 tight end already. Yeah, absolutely I do. And I'll tell you why, because I was kind of researching this offseason where the market value for NFL free agent tight ends was. And as you get past the top 12, 13 guys, you're kind of like,

wow, this guy's one of the highest paid tight ends in the league. Wow, this guy's one of the highest paid tight ends in the league. I mean, just kind of down that list well into the I mean easily into the top 15 and 20 you're kind of like questioning is this guy really a top 20 tight end and obviously it's not always the highest paid guys who are the best guys you know you've got players like OJ Howard still in their rookie contract who are yet to creep up into that range but at the same time I think that like Nick said you have so many niche tight ends nowadays, guys who are specifically designed and tailored to play one certain position in an

offense or to be a certain kind of weapon that Hawkinson sets himself apart in the fact that, yeah, he's not as fast as an OJ Howard. Yeah, he's not as big and maybe not as physical as a Rob Gronkowski, but there's really no red flag to his game. And that's a thing that NFL evaluators, they've got to be just salivating at that opportunity. It's kind of like Howard two years ago. You were trying to find a real weakness in his game, and there wasn't much of one. I mean, he was more experienced than hawkinson

but he also didn't have the and if you condense the or if you you know extrapolate the production that hawkinson had he would have easily eclipsed howards at alabama but different offenses etc etc and he also doesn't have that long speed but at the same time like nick said deceptively great after the catch does a great job of routes I think one of the things that I constantly point to with people who ask about why Hawkinson is worthy of a top 10 pick if that's in fact where he's selected and we know Howard was 19th so I'm not so sure about it but one thing that I would point to is the fact that Kirk Ferentz he's gotten a little bit better about this in recent years but he doesn't always give young players a chance to especially supplant a guy like Fant,

who came in as a sophomore and had that big breakout season. And Hawkinson really kind of became tight end one for Iowa this past year. And the biggest indicator of that to me, even though there were many sprinkled throughout the season in that Nebraska game. Who was the guy they targeted in that big fourth and long play at the end of the game? It wasn't Noah Fant. It wasn't Nick Easley. It was TJ Hawkinson. And they put the ball in his hands, and he delivered. And they knew that he would.

That's something that he's going to have a coach's trust from day one. He's going to be dependable from day one. He works hard. He cares about the game. He cares about his game. He cares about his craft. And you can tell that, I mean, two years of playing experience and the guy's just a great route runner. Even if you read third party, I always pull up third party scouting reports to see what other people say about him. Cause I know I can be a little bit jaded when it

comes to Iowa guys, but I love this note from the Draft Network when they talk about his blocking ability. They said that he's one of the most tenacious blockers I've ever laid eyes on. That's a pretty great note from somebody who doesn't necessarily have a bias towards Iowa in the least. So I think that there's definitely something to be said about that, his well-rounded game. And I do think he could be considered elite in that category, blocking. And I think he also has elite hands, which matters in the NFL, converting third downs, making plays in the red zone. Yeah, I think an underrated thing about him is just how good his hands actually are. I mean he got hit a few times.

Nate Stanley put the ball in places where Hawkinson was taking a few hits down the middle, and he held on almost every single time. So something that I think people don't realize is how good he is at catching the ball. And you made one note on there that I want to touch on. O.J. Howard was drafted, I think, 18th overall by the Bucs. 19th. 19th, all right, yeah.

He was late teens. And Hawkinson is in that same tier, I feel like, of type of player, not the same player, but in that tier of caliber, right? Does it make sense to put him in the top 10? It really depends on – it just takes one coaching staff to fall in love with a guy. I think probably for me, tight end is a little bit rich at 10 just because I think it's a – I mean, given overall contracts and whatnot,

it's not pass rusher. It's not offensive tackle. It's not wide receiver. It's not quarterback. It's not cornerback. But if you think that guy is a difference maker and you think you're a tight end away or you have a young quarterback that could really use a guy like that,

maybe looking at Buffalo who really preaches character in their locker room and wants to run the football, but also could maybe give Josh Allen a guy that can be an outlet for him, not only stretch the field a little bit up the seam, but also can be a dump off after the catch threat. It depends on what team falls in love with the guy. Personally though, number 10 overall, I'd probably look to go in the top 10, I'd look to go elsewhere, filling in more high value positions that high. But again, if you think he's that guy, I'd look to go elsewhere, filling in more high-value positions that high. But again, if you think he's that guy, I have no issue with you taking him.

Absolutely. And so what would you say, and we'll briefly touch on this, where do you think he goes then? You mentioned Buffalo. I've also seen him projected to Jacksonville. I've seen him projected to Denver. You can pretty much list any team from 7 through 15, and some people have had him projected to Denver. I mean, you can pretty much list any team from seven through 15 and some people have had him projected anywhere in there. So, you know, Nick or Sarah, maybe actually both, where do you think he goes? Where do you think like the best fit would be for him

and kind of that, you know, low, low teens area? Yeah, I think there's a number of, a number of teams that you could look at. Like Nick said, you know, Buffalo Preach's high character. That would be one spot inside the top ten that I would look at. Another, I mean, you could look at the Jacksonville Jaguars. I think seven is, I mean, that's really rich. You're looking at Vernon Davis' range there for a guy who, I mean, absolutely lit up the combine and had, you know, he's still going. I mean, that seems like forever ago, had he's still going i mean that seems like forever ago but

he's still going with his career anyway so i think after the top or you know including the top 10 and after denver green bay uh i know miami just took giziki so they're not in on that uh maybe atlanta maybe uh i don't i don't know who's all who's all behind them. Carolina's probably not in that mix. Minnesota may be looking for a replacement for Kyle Rudolph. Yeah. So, I mean, Minnesota could be the squad, although their offensive line, they might as well have me out there at this point. So I don't know what they're going to do. But as far as scheme fit, I think Nick maybe can speak more to that.

As far as scheme fit, I think Nick maybe can speak more to that. I really know strictly Broncos and pretty much whoever has a similar – so Washington has kind of a similar West Coast type deal. And then obviously we'll see that in Green Bay as well with Matt LaFleur coming in, coming from the Shanahan tree. So it's – selfishly, I'd love to see him in Denver. I don't know if they'd be able to trade down and still get him but i really feel like with what skangarello had in san francisco with kittle and even you can i mean you could we can get into this with fanta as well because he's

more comparable athletically to george kittle but um you see what they had in george kittle out there and how big of a weapon he was in that offense. I think that that's going to become a focal point. And I saw just kind of a quick picture of the tight ends at Denver's minicamp right now. And one of the top three guys is Temerick Hemingway. And so, I mean, so that's what you're dealing with there. So I don't know. I would bump that up a little bit on Denver's list,

especially if they were to trade down off a 10. But I think maybe Green Bay, Minnesota, and those kinds of teams who run the West Coast style offense where he can use that ability after the catch. And just the whole gambit of his skill set as an inline blocker, vertical threat, all those different things that he can do. Definitely. Nick, do you have any other things you want to add to that as well, or any other teams you would like to add as a possible destination? I think his four will be Pittsburgh. You know, they just lost Jesse James and McDonald will be hitting free agency here soon. And they could definitely use a weapon like that over the middle to help the offense. You know, they've lost Leigh Pemple and Antonio Brown. So they're the team that's looking for weapons there, but I really do like the fit with Minnesota.

You know, their interior offensive line does need work, but if you can add a guy like Hawkinson that is perfect for that Gary Kubiak West Coast run offense that can be learned from or play with Rudolph for one season, that makes a lot of sense. I also would love him in Denver. You saw Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco. He ran a very heavy dosage of 11 personnel with one tight end. And if you're running with that one tight end and that West

Coast offense, the heavy 11 personnel usage, your tight end's got to be able to do both things. He's got to be able to be a receiver and a blocker. So I think Hawkinson would make a lot of sense. I just think 10 is a little bit rich, but in the end, gun to my head, I think he ends up going to green bay green bay spent a lot of money on the defensive side of the ball they're doing a lot of work on jonah williams i think jonah williams is going to be gone by 12 so i think that in the end green bay ends up taking him giving aaron rogers a security blanket over the middle and not only that but helping the the run game open up a little bit as well yeah i've heard a lot of i have a lot

of green bay packer fans as friends um living living in Wisconsin for four years and going to school near there. A lot of people reaching out to me about what Noah Fant versus TJ Hawkinson means and whether or not they think either of them is worth it or one of them is better. And so interesting kind of scenario for them. I think it would be huge to get Hawkinson in Green Bay. I would, like you said, I would love to see Hawkinson in Denver. If it is a little bit rich or if there's not enough, if they're not able to trade back, then I think it's a great pick as well. And so moving on, you know, don't want to, I would love to talk about TJ Hawkinson all day. I mean, he's just the prototypical Iowa football player, but his running mate Noah Pham is likely to be drafted in the first round as well. And

what's interesting about Pham is he didn't have as much production in his junior year. Obviously, we talked about that. You know, Hawkinson got a lot more of that production, got a lot more plays that kind of went for him. I think fan was used more as a decoy throughout the season and obviously used in the red zone a lot more, but we saw some of his athleticism on display in a few games. Then at the combine, I mean, he just, he tore it up exactly how we expected him to running a four or five 40 yard

dash at six foot four, 249 pounds. I mean, that's, that's incredible. His three cone drill was 6.81 seconds. I mean, that's 95th percentile stuff right there. And he jumped 39 and a half inches. So, you know, a lot of people look at him as kind of an athletic freak. You know, mock draft ball has him kind of an Evan Ingram mold, but I think personally fan is a better blocker than Ingram and a more, a more developed blocker than Ingram mold, but I think personally Fant is a better blocker than Ingram and a more developed blocker than Ingram. And I think people might disagree with that. They haven't watched the tape, but I first with Fant, I want to talk about his blocking because you hear people who may, maybe don't really watch a lot of tape say Fant isn't a good blocker. And I feel like that's just

kind of a cop-out. What have you guys seen on tape from Fant that maybe says otherwise, or maybe do you agree with that take that he isn't a good blocker? Well, if you're comparing him to TJ Hawkinson, who can really get after it, I mean, that's kind of hard, and I feel like people are pigeonholing him just because of the, you see him move around out there, and he looks like a wide receiver, so how could he block like that? Is he an elite blocker by any means? No, I wouldn't say that, but you threw out the Evan Ingram. He's kind of the athletic package of Evan Ingram.

But like I was on here last time, two names that I threw out for him were Jared Cook and Eric Ebron. Both guys that, you know, because of their athleticism, their receiving ability, especially down the seam, being a vertical threat. You know, they're not being used as much as a blocker. They can do it, but that's not where they get their value from an NFL team. You know, if you're using him in there, leaving him in there in line, blocking 60, 70% of the time, instead of having him out there running, you're, you're not using him to his skillset. So I think that's probably more of the usage of his game, but he's a, he's a fine blocker. It's not, I wouldn't say it's a strength of him. I do think he can actually get better

there. I was, I was happy to see him come at the combine almost 250 pounds with the long arms, pretty good frame. So I do think that there's still a little bit of upside there to improve as a blocker at the point of attack, anchoring in the pass game, et cetera. But I think he's a fine blocker, and anybody who's saying he is a poor blocker, I think it's either you're pigeonholing him with expectation because of what type of receiver he is,

how dynamic he is as an athlete, or you are just looking at him compared to Hawkinson and saying, ah, he's not a good blocker, when in reality, in a vacuum, he's a fine blocker. I'd say he's average for a tight end. Yeah, I think that especially coming from the Iowa program, where he's going to be really strong as a blocker in the NFL is assignment-based blocking from different positions. So you're going to see him, he's going to be really strong as a blocker in the NFL is, is assignment based blocking from different positions. So you're going to see him,

he's going to be able to do the things in line that a lot of college tight ends can't do coming into the NFL. He's going to be able to do, and he may not, you know, he may not be moving Cameron Jordan off the line of scrimmage or anything, but he's going to be able to go in there and do his assignment and not be just a complete liability.

But I think where he's going to be especially effective is when he is lined up as that big slot, getting to the second level and sealing some outside runs especially. Because he, like I said, assignment-based blocking. He's going to know exactly what angles he has to take, and he's going to know the type of speed that he has to go in order to get there. He's not just going to be flailing around out there. He's not just a decoy in the running game out there as kind of like, well, they may throw to this guy, so we need to cover him.

That's not going to be the extent of his blocking abilities, essentially, to put it lightly. I think that, like Nick said, he does have to get better in that area, and he does have to become more strong at the point of attack but that's really not the strength of his game the strength of his game is is playing at 100 miles per hour as a receiver and then when he needs to he can come in and block and obviously we know as this is a Hawkeyes podcast anyone listening to this knows watching Kirk Ferentz football you just don't play for Kirk Ferentz unless you can block in some regard.

So I do think it is a cop-out for people to just say, to pigeonhole him like you guys said, with those other receiving threats at tight end like Eric Ebron, Jared Cook, and those guys. Those guys are essentially just big wide receivers. And that's not what Fant is. Fant played in line at Iowa. He had to. That's the offense we it's painfully sometimes the offense so it's it is what it is what people think but people who do turn on the tape that's they see that he is a willing blocker he's capable he's able to do it and he does need to get stronger there and he's not Hawkinson there he's not Gronkowski there but he's not a liability either and so there's that's I think that's an underrated borderline strength to his game. It's not something that you're going to chalk up there and say,

well, this is one of his greatest strengths, but it's something that he's better at than most college tight ends coming out. And I think there's something to be said for that. Absolutely. And I mean, the way we talk about him, obviously his blocking, it is not on par with TJ Hawkinson, but he does have the ability to stretch the field and be a vertical threat that there's not a lot of tight ends in the league that are like him. And so I think he is almost a bigger matchup problem in the passing game. If you do split him out wide, he's going to be bigger than most corners.

He's going to be faster than most linebackers and safety. So he has that ability to be kind of that game-changing weapon. So what do you guys feel about the talk that he could go in the second round? I mean, his draft has been kind of all over the place after the combine and skyrocketed, but it's really interesting to see kind of how his draft stock is now starting to fold into that, I would say, the early 20s to mid-20s. Do you think there's any chance that he falls out of the first round at all?

I think given the lack of elite talent at the top in the playmaker position this year at wide receiver and running back, I think that there's – I can't see a way that he falls out of the first round. I mean, you are seeing teams use the tight end. It's kind of becoming, like I said, a renaissance position again where these teams, you know, they're getting playmakers there and they're figuring out how to use them and I mean the tip of the cap you know a lot of people can be kind of hard on Brian Ferentz but his ability to scheme open and use both these tight ends was very very underappreciated this

past season you know kind of the Gronk versus Aaron Hernandez role when he was with the Patriots in 2012 but I can't see him falling out of the first round because he is so talented athletically. The upside is their teams need weapons. We're seeing these weapons get paid big money. And just the landscape of this class. The top for running back and wide receiver, not great. I do like the depth of the wide receiver class.

I don't really like the running back class. But you've got to get your weapons. Yeah, I agree with that. I think there's enough teams that get your weapons yeah i agree with that i think there's enough teams that have multiple first round picks there's enough teams that have multiple second round picks to kind of be not uh not reckless with their first rounders but they have the opportunity to be flexible and look at their draft from a big picture perspective from the very start so you think you know you see a guy like no offense at the beginning or even Hawkinson for that matter, and you're looking at, well,

is this really the best value for our first-round pick? Well, you can get guys, like Nick said, if you're targeting a running back or a receiver, you might get the best running back in the draft late in the second round or sometime in the third round this year. You might get one of the best wide receivers in the second round. I mean, it's just crazy how it is. But if you have an opportunity to get an elite tight end prospect i mean these guys are both considered top 15 players by by a lot of outlets and so if you're able to get one of these guys in the teens or the 20s even or even if you're the patriots in the 30s

and wouldn't that just be i mean how it goes it goes. But it just seems that these guys are – they're particularly good value this year in a draft, like Nick said, where it's not top-heavy at the skill positions offensively. Yeah. And so where do you think, looking at Noah Fant, he's going to be drafted likely after TJ Hawkinson. I have two questions. Do you think there's any chance that he gets drafted over Hawkinson and what would be kind of the ideal landing spot for Fant? Where do you think

he's going to ultimately fall in this draft? Well, for me, I don't think he will go before Hawkinson. I think that the Hawkinson's ability as a complete tight end is very valued, but also there are questions. I mean, as good of an athlete as Fant is, there are some questions with Fant as a receiver. I mean, I have some pro football focus stats in front of me right now from Mike Renner on Twitter here, and he said 13 drop passes on 91 catchable passes in his career, which is not great. Four contested catches this past two seasons total, which that can be partly because, again,

Ferentz did a good job scheming him open, and Stanley was not very – Stanley was risk-averse. But the main thing that honestly kind of scares me, contested catches for tight ends is scary, but also only broke three tackles in his career. So I think that Hawkinson ability as contested catch receiver, the Yak ability, pushes him up above Fant for me, even though Fant does have tantalizing athletic upside.

And, again, you're talking about some teams. Maybe I could see a team like Seattle go for him, giving know, given Russell Wilson, another weapon, really good compliment to Will Disley, who's the tight end that they drafted in the third round last year that I believe. I could see Houston going after a player like that, although they need offensive line, but I'm very much of a, I don't draft for need, I draft for talent. You know, otherwise he missed players. And then Oakland has those two picks there end of round one that I could see him ending up there after losing Jared Cook. I love it. I've seen him mock to the Raiders before,

and I think that would be a good landing spot. You'll be able to learn with him. And I think people don't give John Gruden enough credit, and some of that's rightfully so, but he is a great offensive mastermind. He would know how to use Noah Fann in that situation. Sarah, what are your thoughts? Yeah, I agree. I think that kind of that floor, if I'm putting together a mock draft,

I wouldn't let Fant slide past 27 where the Raiders have that selection there at the bottom of round one. Just too good a value there, especially since they have two first-rounders before then. But like you said, I mean, we've seen him projected anywhere from 12 at Green Bay all the way down to even probably 32 or into the second round. And so it's tough to know right now. It's all about what teams – like Nick said, you're drafting for talent.

You're not necessarily drafting for need, and especially for a team like Green Bay that has two first-rounders. I know we mentioned them with Hawkinson as well, but if they decide to go a different direction at 12 and he's still sitting there at 30, that's another floor situation. It just feels like he's too good a value, and maybe as Iowa guys, I don't think we're overvaluing where Noah Fant can go. I'd be interested. I never noticed him struggling with the drops. In the three years we watched him play, I never really thought, man, Noah Fant's got issues with drops. And so I went back and kind of looked. It looked like those were spread out like five, five, and three

as far as these last three seasons. And he didn't necessarily have those contested catch situations because he's so good at creating separation. And that's part of the issue too is he's such a good threat in that regard. He beats linebackers. He beats smaller defensive backs. He beats those slower safeties. He's just too big, too fast, too strong,

and maybe he does need to learn to be more creative after the catch. I don't know if that's something that you can necessarily learn but that's definitely it's definitely worth looking back at the tape when somebody brings up numbers like that because those are a bit staggering but i did also look so he had 91 targets at iowa and if he had 13 drops he had 78 catches so i don't know all 91 of his if all 91 of his targets were catchable targets, that would be pretty amazing. And Stanley is very risk-averse. Let's call it as it is. You've got to protect that darn football.

This is Kirk Ferentz ball we're talking here. All right, and that concludes our first part of our three-part series with the NFL Draft. A big shout-out to Nick Kendall and Sarah Bettinger. Really appreciate them jumping on the show. Obviously, they're a great host on their own shows. They have two podcasts themselves. They're great writers.

If you follow any of their content, you definitely should. Follow them on Twitter if you have Twitter. They're fantastic, and I really enjoy talking to them and love having them on the show. So again, a big shout-out to those two for jumping on the podcast for today. Just a reminder that we are going to be doing this tomorrow and Thursday as well. So if you love the NFL Draft, if you love your Hawkeyes, make sure to tune into the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast the next two days and the preceding days as well,

because we have some fantastic content coming to you as we recap and give analysis of kind of what happens during the NFL Draft Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. We're going to be pumping out a few shorter shows, just giving you kind of some recaps of what happened, letting you know what our thoughts are on all those picks. And if you liked what you're

listening to, again, make sure you subscribe and like our podcast wherever you got this podcast at. And if you have Twitter, follow us on Twitter at LockedOnIowa. Follow us on Facebook at LockedOnHawkGuys. And if you love my voice, if you love hearing my thoughts, follow me on Twitter at Wade underscore Andrew. Again, thank you for tuning in on today's fantastic Tuesday episode.

I really appreciate you tuning in and joining us for our NFL Draft Trilogy. We've been working on this for a few weeks and really excited to be able to premiere that content to you. Thank you again and have a great day, Hawkeye Nation. We'll see you next time. you