NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Bunkercast XIX: Draft Talk with Peter Schrager

Episode Date: April 7, 2020

A bunker filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, Marc Sessler, and Gregg Rosenthal are joined by GMFB's Peter Schrager to talk draft needs for each team and to do a deep dive on where he thinks some of the big names will go. Love you bro!Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast will flatten your curve. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis and I'm coming to you from a city filled with heroes in bunkers. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethall. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan. Hey.

Not a lot of curve flattening happening in this house. I'll tell you that much. Slightly annoyed. Whoa. It's like a screwball. Wait a second. We have one more guest on today's very special edition of the Iran the NFL podcast. Wow.

He is the senior national writer for Fox Sports.com. It's like the 96 Bulls. He's going to say. The man in the middle. He is co-host of Good Morning Football, the iconic NFL Network Morning Show. He writes for GQ. He's the co-author of the New York Times bestseller, out of the blue. And that's everything that you could read on his Twitter bio.

Peter Schrager, welcome back to the Around the NFL podcast. Yes. That went from sounding like the 96 Bulls to an episode of Silk Stalkings on USA. Silk Stalking. That's funny that you bring that up because Silk Stockings is kind of the the cleaner or the Goody Two Shoes

step sister of Red Shoe Diaries, which came up on Monday's program. Yes, and on Friday, we'll talk about Emmanuel in space. An epic. Peter, give me a little backup on this. because I didn't get it yesterday. In films and programs on certain channels late night in the mid-90s,

is it fair to say that 50% of those programs involved virtual reality headgear? Yes. Absolutely. And then the movie Johnny Nomonic came out with Keanu Reeves, and it was like, demolition man, that was everyone's. And now here we are in 2020, living in bunkers and in quarantines, and very little virtual reality headsets being used. No, it feels like a missed opportunity ultimately.

This was the time. Peter, welcome back to the show. How are you doing in this obviously unprecedented time in human history? Dan, I'm a lot better. Now, all things considered, we're all in great shape because everyone's healthy that is in this household. But I was in New York in our apartment. And after a few days of New York City living with my wife, who's also working, myself, who was in the middle of free agent frenzy. a three-year-old son,

those 1,200 square feet continued to get a little, little more cramped. I made the first really father, big boy adult decision of my life. I basically walked to Enterprise rental car in Brooklyn. I said, can I get an SUV?

I got one for two weeks. I said, can I just pack it up with as much of his toys, my sons as we can? Let's hit the road. Our in-laws have a basement and we have relocated from an apartment in Brooklyn to now a basement in Baltimore, Maryland,

where you can see a Super Bowl poster from Super Bowl 35 when the Ravens with Brandon Stokely and Trent Dilfer did a little bit better than Kerry Collins and Joe Jerovicious and won a Super Bowl down in Tampa. That is our decoration in our back, but we have now been here about three weeks

living in a basement, my wife, myself, and my son, and then our fabulous in-law. for taking us in, Sarah and David have been unbelievable hosts. But this is what it is. Don't cry for us. There's a lot worse situations, but it's a long way from being at the combine and getting in an elevator with Sessler and talking about where we want to go for steak dinner

tomorrow night. Yeah, we might as well unpack that right now. How are things with Sessler and Schrager? Because Mark did share that story. He kind of presented as a bit of an awkward, almost like a curb your enthusiasm. type exchange with it ended with the famous comment I love you bro like I think the only thing that was awkward was the clipped time period because you know you got in we were having a chat and then my my door to my the room to door to my floor opened up I get out and I'm like you know I haven't

seen Peter Strager in a long time there's this online you know you're here you mentioned you've been hearing about these whispers of a feud I thought this is tough to unpack in eight to nine seconds inside a metal box. The door opens, I get out, and I'm like, I have to close this conversation. Well, what if I don't see Peter again? What if a pandemic were to hit the country and I wouldn't get a chance to circle back with Peter? And I just said, the first thing that came to my heart, which was, love you, bro. Yeah. Which I think that's, you know, that's, I don't think that's negative. I saw that as a, I'm not sure when I'll see you again. I wish the best for you. As that door closed and the steel pipes combined, I whispered, it wasn't audible, I whispered,

Love you, too. Oh, cheesy. It was definitely, you might have missed the exchange, but it wasn't just a monologue. That was a dialogue, and I'll go one further. There's an arrogance to me saying, I'm not sure what's going on on your podcast. I hear a lot of stuff on Twitter. I knew it all. I listen all the time, guys.

But I had to take the high road and be a little bit like, you know, TV guy. I'm not really involved with what you're talking about, but I knew. And it actually hurt my heart thinking that Sessler felt there was a feud. Right. Well, you handled it with extreme poise. You said your first instinct was love you, bro. But actually, your first instinct was to make a list of the people you respected most at the company and not include Peter. Well, let's back up the truck a little bit because if you're new to the show, you should know how this started.

Mark has been on something of a quest over the past almost 12 months looking for respect in the industry. And when Peter joined us poolside at the NFL media talent summit on the west side of London. Los Angeles. Dan, let me explain. Let me explain. June 2019. June 2019. Just as time stamp that.

Okay. Time stamp. And this is what happened. When you look around the circle here at the four of us, which one do you respect the most? Which one do you respect the most? Which one do you respect the most? Now, it's not important what the answer was. I think it might have been me.

Maybe it was less. I don't remember the answer from Peter in that moment. But because Mark didn't get a. from you he's been asking multiple guests on our show pete for like that same thing he's looking for that validation and maybe the tip unsolicited totally peter if that ever happened again maybe whoever asked the question you just say it say to them because obviously that's what they're looking for i'm just going to say out of it otherwise obviously and i knew that at the time but i found the question to be to be so so self-serving for mark that moment that i couldn't just i mean look

He did a deep dive on sideline reporters probably two years ago. I was interviewed for it. It was one of the best articles I've read on the profession. He's done stuff on Cleveland Browns that I've read that is some of the most fantastic sports writing you will find. This kid is as good, a journalist and writer that the NFL network has under its umbrella, but you can't just give out bouquets and roses. You've got to keep him honest and you got to keep him hungry. And I think his work has actually gotten better and steadily improved since that comment was made poolside.

Would you agree? I think I would say this. you know, yes, that's true. You galvanized me to a certain extent. And I don't think that article would have even made it to publication were your words not involved in it. So we'll go there number two. But, you know, some of the great, you know, relationships that began as feuds, I think to the iconic friendship between macho man, Randy Savage, and Hulk Hogan with Greg sort of playing the Miss Elizabeth role in all of this. Look where that wound up. Very, very productive relationships. So I just thing, you know, we're in a tough time in our country. Let's use this as a tent pole moment

and move forward. I've heard the words I need to see. In fact, I might just log off here and go and make myself lunch because I feel good. Before we, go ahead, Peter. I feel great about it too. You brought up a wrestling reference, which is fair. I would think almost Farvin Rogers. Now they take their, they're like, you know, buddies. They go and they hang out in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, or wherever, you know, they can. And there was an obvious feud, and now they've gotten over it and I think everyone is better for it and I'm ready to bury whatever hatchets were there. I just want to hug you virtually. Now the only problem with that, I am doing that too. The only problem with that comparison is that I bet Rogers and Fav actually still hate each other.

But, you know, that's, Wes, you have such a good view on things, clear-headed, you're a shaman. Can you please put a bow on this whole thing before we can get it to the mock draft from Peter? Well, I think the bow would be that Peter clearly respects Mark and Greg, but Dan and I are up for grab still come on come on that checks out I did find it interesting now that Peter is taking credit for any

growth that Mark has made over the last six days somehow I made it about me nice move puppet master so we we obviously well not obviously but we're not the most accomplished journals when it comes to college

football one thing to respect about Peter Schreger is that that Peter knows the whole thing. He's plugged in. He's a great NFL insider. But if you're looking for a mock draft, he's one of the top guys to go to as well because he has that knowledge of the game,

college and pro level. And he's plugged in as an insider. And before we get into the mock, Peter, I guess I'm curious a little bit, your process for when you do an exercise list like this, a mock draft. By the way, good job by you. I don't like, if I were like a respected college

or mock guy, I wouldn't do 11 mocks either because I feel like that cheapens the brand. You do one, two, maybe. I know Mayak goes next level just doesn't he drop one like right before the draft. But this is your first one that just came out. That's respect. Yeah, two things. One, I told NFL.com because they were like, let's start it off before the comment.

I got, no, no, no, no. Let's do one after free agency when I actually know what the rosters look like. And then let's do one more two weeks later. And then the day before the draft, I'll do a third and final one. said, okay, that's a good compromise. Set of like 11 of them. Second of all, my process is very different than Daniel Jeremiah's, Bucky Brooks, Maurice Jones, Drew.

Mine, I will tell you guys right now, and I think you guys are better at this stuff than I'm, I am not an exes and O's guy. I can't tell you the first thing about what a player does in the nickel as opposed to when he's just a lone corner. I could talk to talk, but I would never fancy myself to tell you, here's what I think the team should do. And I think when we look at Daniel and we look at Bucky,

and we look at some of these guys, McShea and Kuiper. A lot of what theirs is, is here's what they should do. I fancy myself as the guy who bases everything on this, and I'll text around and be like, what are you hearing? What do you think? What about this guy? Does this guy make sense there? And if there's a former coach who used to work on a staff elsewhere,

does that seem like it fits the tendencies of this coach? So everything that I put forward is based on intelligence from other people. I would never fancy myself to be able to be Ozzie Newsom and put myself in his shoes, but rather I know people who might know Ozzie Newsom, who might know what Ozzie Newsom might do if the board was to fall this way. Your in-laws in Baltimore are potentially friends with Ozzy Newsom. Potentially, they're not. And that's how I want it.

I want my mock draft that I read coming from a guy that's making phone calls and not just looking at the roster and throwing darts. So let's get into it. That was a shot across Jeremiah's bow. Number one on your list. Let's just kind of go through it. We'll speed through the first round here. Joe Burrow, you have it number one.

Did you think, and there's been a lot of theorizing that Cincinnati finally spent some money, essentially for Joe Burrow to convince him. Do you buy into that? Did you hear anything like that in conversations you've had? Or is that more just like a theory that's caught fire a little bit amongst the football Gagnacente? Gagnesente. Leading into the combine, there's a lot of talk that Borough didn't want to be a bangle. I got to the combine, spoke to people in Burroughs World, also spoke to people in the Bengals organization.

I think that there's a miscommunication of, I don't want to be a bangle. I'm going to be like Eli or I'm going to be like, oh, well, I won't show up to, hey, I'm down to play wherever instead of saying, I want to be a bangle. So there's just like Middle Road. He's an Ohio kid. I don't think he wants to be the pariah of Ohio. I also think what they did in free agency was very against the grain for what they usually do in free agency. They made a lot of moves.

I think Joe Burrow is going to be a Bengal. He's going to be the pride of Cincinnati, Ohio for many years. And I think that the only way it wouldn't be is if there was some crazy, crazy trade offer. And I think even more than like two first round picks, it would have to be like three or four first round picks for the Bengals to consider it. But I think I feel pretty confident, speaking with Zach Taylor, speaking with other people in the Bengals organization, that, If Burrow was their quarterback, they'd be more than happy, and let's keep on rolling. Who would make a trade offer like that? You hear a little bit about Carolina.

Like if there was a team that would trade up to one, who do you think would be? I don't see it being Carolina. I would think the Dolphins, which you've heard a bit about, have the ammunition to go and get them. And if they wanted to give the first, the 18th, and I believe the fifth, to go get Joe Burrow, that is a haul to get a quarterback. And yet if you were to say, that's our franchise quarterback, we want to get him and we want to build a thing around him. I don't know if Cincinnati says no to that. I would toss to you guys, the first, the fifth, and the 18th.

If you're Cincinnati and you have that giant void at quarterback, you know Andy Dalton's not going to be the guy, do you say, okay, well, we can't say no to those three picks? I think you got to really think about it. If there's another quarterback on the board, I think that you feel very strongly about. I think you have to think about that unless you think that Burroughs head and shoulders above everyone else. I'm just taking, if you believe in Burrow, you just take them. That's what I, I mean, talk about a team, and I get the Carson Palmer had a nice run there, no doubt. But a team that has had absolutely no identity for so long, Joe Burrow changes everything. And I've seen Cleveland, for instance, put up three number one picks.

And, you know, two of the three, zero impact years later. got to nail those picks too. I would go burrow all the way. There's precedent here. I've mentioned this several times on the show, but Mike Brown's a guy who turned down the biggest draft pick offer I've ever seen. When the Saints wanted Ricky Williams, he turned down the entire Saints draft another number one, another number one, and a number two so he could draft Achilles Smith. So my sense, if Mike Brown likes a quarterback, he's taking him. At number two, I want to give you the other wild card here. And I'm saying this, not from anyone in that building.

There is a whisper or a suspicion that the Patriots aren't done at quarterback. And it's not James. It's not Cam. And it's certainly, you know, it might be Andy Eat all and whoever, but that there might be some interest in quarterback. And they won't be able to get a quarterback at 23. I don't know if it means they want to get Burrow or if they want to go up for Tuo or if they want to get Love or Herbert. But the Patriots do not have a lot of draft ammunition. The Patriots don't necessarily have many cheap veterans that they can trade to Cincinnati,

but I would always put the Patriots in a conversation of a trade-up just because it seems very hard for me to wrap my arms around, Stidham, Hoyer, and nothing else going into the 2020 NFL season. Here's an idea for you. What if Robert Kraft, in one of the most Machiavellian moves we've ever seen, trades Bill Belichick to the Bengals for Burrough? Number one overall, you'd make Josh McDaniels your head coach, and you just fly into the 2020s and beyond. I love it. I don't think craft is anywhere near that war room, but I do love it.

Yeah, I think if Bill Belichick didn't want to work for Woody Johnson, he's definitely not working for Mike Brown. The second pick, kind of a fascinating pick, because you have Chase Young, the edge rusher that everyone raves about. It's a chalk pick. But at the same time, you leave the door open in your blurb from the sense of, you know, Tua will be out there at this point, most likely. and then what is going on with the Redskins and Dwayne Haskins? How do they really feel about him? If they really do have doubt, Peter, in that building about the guy they took in the first round last year, and they really loved one of these QBs, couldn't you see it being a Cardinal situation all over again?

Well, I could see it being even more so because at least in the Cardinal situation, Steve Kime had to look into the eyes of the owner and say, yes, sir, I did draft a quarterback last year and I'm doing it again this year. They're total, you know, Dan Snyder is looking at new faces. Kyle Smith's the GM, Ron Rivera is the new coach, Scott Turner's a new offensive corner. If they come in and they're like, this Haskins doesn't have it or taking a quarterback, he's got to give them the power to do that. However, and this is big because this is going to be a story I'm telling you throughout the draft. And I might have to change my mock draft because I've already what the comments I'm getting. There is such a mixed bag when it comes to text messages and information and confidence.

In Tua right now, and I think any other year, because of what's going on in the country right now, any other year, a team could be wowed by Tua once they bring them into their facility, and they do the dog and pony show and the car wash, and here's Tua on the board, and he's the most brilliant quarterback we've ever seen. And here's our doctor looking at Tua, and oh my God, his hip looks amazing and his ankles are fine, and this kid's going to be, he's got no opportunity, no pro day, no chance to go into any of these facilities, no chance to meet with any of these coaches in person. He's literally holding up a phone and Skyping and trying to get. So I look at that and I look at Ron Rivera and say, okay, Rivera's a defensive coach. Rivera is looking at De Ron Payne and Jonathan Allen and Carrigan and Matt

Ionitis and we have a strength here, but why not get the best defensive player in this draft and maybe in the past few drafts add him to our lineup and then we're in identity. We've got Chase Young and Haskins, look, he's got a year under his belt, he's going to learn Scott Turner's offense, and then we can maybe reassess after this. Instead of taking this huge swing on a quarterback who they've never met in their building and their doctors haven't had a chance to examine since the Combine back at the end of February. I just think this whole entire coronavirus is affecting so many millions of Americans. And in our little bubble of the 1% in the NFL and these college prospects, it might not negatively impact any player more than Tua, just

because he can't show what he's got and his doctors of these teams can't see him. I don't see them with the second overall pick taking Tua based on what the circumstances are in the country right now. It still feels like that's the sort of stuff you hear and you'll hear negative things about Tua, I'm sure, leading up to the draft about a lot of, you know, top shelf quarterbacks, you know, leading up to the draft. But this is a guy that, and I'm sure you heard this stuff too. This is a guy that people thought Stephen Ross, the owner of the dolphins, wanted, you know,

18 months ago. So to me, like the fact that they can't work them out or, you know, whether it's the dolphins or the lines, whoever it is that would take them, I just feel like any quarterback is such a leap of faith that I don't, I don't buy that he'll slip at all. And I still could imagine a scenario where teams trade up with, whether it's Washington or Miami. I mean, Washington or Detroit.

I'd also say this. Haskins got a bad rap last year within that building. And whispers came out and I got stuff, you know, new staff, fresh page, Haskins, you know, who knows? They might fall in love with Haskins. And he has a real opportunity these last few months to be the leader, especially in the situation this team is in and this organization and every organization is where the quarterback now has more contact with the rest of the team and probably knows

them better than a new coach. So I would think Haskins has a real opportunity to get those guys under his wing and prove to that organization. No, no, no, I'm the guy. Don't move on from me just yet. more intrigue at pick three, Peter Schrager, chatting with Peter Schrager, who's mock draft at NFL.com. You have the lines staying put right now, taking Jeff Akuta, the cornerback from Ohio State.

There is so much speculation, and it makes so much sense with the lines seemingly happy with where they are at the quarterback position to trade out of this pick and pick up a huge bounty of picks, but you see him right now is more likely to use that pick and help their defense, which needs a lot of it. Yeah, I'm not going to say Matt Patricia's got one year left or Bob Quinn, but there's been a couple years of missing the playoffs now. You're going into your third year as the head coach. Yeah, we're close in a lot of games.

And you lose Darius Slay and Akuta, who I met with at the Combine. We had him on Good Morning Football down there. He was fantastic. Is one of these prospects that across the board, they're like, sure thing. You know, and I know no guy is a sure thing, but Chase Young, Jeff Okuda, if you want two guys that you know you can plug in right away and contribute at a high level, go for it. And I'm not saying that the Lions won't trade back, but I would say this, to get a sure thing and a franchise cornerstone and a guy that they know can contribute, especially if they feel like, you know, their seats are hot or whatever it is, I think that's more likely than trading back and getting a bunch of second and third round picks for this thing. I think Akuta of the Lions makes a lot of sense. Oh, I'd be livid if I was a lion's fan.

You had a sure thing in Darius Slay. Get me a break. How are you getting better as a team if you just go ahead and draft a cornerback after you traded the last good cornerback? I would be so upset if I was a Lions fan and they did that. Well, you're going to be paying Jeff Akuta one-tenth of what Darius Slay is going to want. Right, but are you a better team? No, but I look at the cornerback position and saying, okay, who is it out there?

Okay, no, I'm Patricia. I'm a defensive coordinator and I'm a coach. Yeah, for one more year. They can have it both ways, though. The fact that they might be trading back to five or six or where Carolina, I mean, that's kind of having your cake and eating too. If you can get picks and you're still getting a top five or six player, then that's pretty nice for a team like the Lions who need more than just one player. There's going to be quite a game of poker on this Tua thing. I bet you, because I remember last year, and Ian might have been the one reporting it, and I'm not saying he was fed false information, but I think Schepter might have had it too.

but like the Raiders, no, but the Raiders really like Haskins was like a big story. And then I think Schaefter had something similar where it's like, wait, the Raiders are in the quarterback market. They had the fourth pick, you know, or third pick, whatever was. Like that stuff happens right before the draft and it's real. Like people will tell you that and you have to kind of wait and whatever it is. I think the Tua thing is going to happen in about a week or two where everyone's going to be saying that they're hearing Tua because I think a lot of these teams might not be

as interested in Tua and might want to hear what the offer is for Tua. So beware or be ready for that. And I'm not sure, I don't have one team and includes the dolphins that has been banging down the door telling me we absolutely love Tua. He's our pick if he's there. And I think that could be something to examine, especially if Detroit's at the three spot feeling pretty good about trading back, you're going to need someone wanting to trade up to get Tua. Well, you have the Giants, everyone knows Dave Gettleman's never traded away a first round pick or traded down. And you have them taking Jedrick Wills, offensive tackle, making. a lot of sense. They got their quarterback last year and now they're going to build the line

with the best offensive lineman prospect in the draft and then at pick five and six two quarterbacks. So you have the dolphins, yes, going with Tua and then Justin Herbert going to the chargers with the sixth overall picks. So the big three quarterbacks come off the board within the first six picks. And that could flip-flop. Like if the dolphins take Herbert, I wouldn't be surprised at all. If the dolphins take just in love at five, I wouldn't be shocked. I don't know who the dolphins have number one on their board at quarterback. I do think they're taking a quarterback at five. And then I would think that the Chargers would take a quarterback at six, despite all their offensive line needs and how strong an offensive line class it is.

From what I gather, they were very heavy in the Brady sweepstakes. They didn't get Brady. Tyrod's a great starter for a, well, not great, but you know, he's a starter for a year and a good mentor and all that stuff. I would be surprised if those two teams don't go quarterback, five, six. I can't say I'm 100 percent certain what order after Burrow, but I think quarterback, quarterback, quarterback five and six. I'm at one note of where we are, you know, six picks in and it continues as we go down your first round here is, A, it's one of the best, you know, in terms of what people are saying about one of the talent richest first rounds in a long time to the point where like all these players seem to be falling exactly where teams want

them to. I mean, I just, I'm accustomed to thinking if you're the Chargers and you're at number six, you better trade up to get that quarterback. But, but there's these other guys here that make this scenario much more realistic than in the past. Yeah, no, absolutely. And that's why Akuta, Chase Young will be the second pick. I'd be shocked if he wasn't. But like Akuta is a complete wild card. Jedrick Will is a, yes, Gettelman hasn't traded back. But Joe Judge is the new coach and how many different expatriates are front office guys now and how many Patriots, former assistant our head coaches now, there's definitely a dialogue that could happen there where he's like, hey, look, Flores called me, I've worked with them 10 years, he's gone, or Patricia's on the phone,

whatever it is, Belichick's on the phone. I think those relationships matter more so than the history of Dave Gettelman, never trading back from the four spot. Your next three picks, you got three defensive players coming off the board. Isaiah Simmons, linebacker safety out of Clemson to the Panthers, Derek Brown, defensive tackle out of Auburn to the cards, and then Javon Kinlaw. defensive tackle out of South Carolina thoughts about that spot of the draft yeah so Isaiah Simmons if he's there I think that would make sense Clemson guy South Carolina you know state and then obviously he's got the South Carolina and then the Carolinas with the Panthers

and I think he's fast and he's fierce and he's a leader it's like Matt rule like just intense I'd be surprised even especially after the Dandre Hopkins trade if Derek Brown was still on the board at eight and the Cardinals who are desperate for defensive line help wouldn't take him there And then Kinlaw is really me with, like you said, the dart at the dartboard here. I can't tell you what Marone and Dave Colwell are thinking. But I would say this, a lot of juice around Kinlo after the combine. Very raw prospect. But a guy that everyone's talking about, and after him on the defensive line, things get a little thinner.

I think he's the last top-tier defensive line prospect. And knowing that the Jaguars lost Clay as Campbell, Unique Ngokwe is probably a question mark with his future there. I wouldn't be shocked if they paired Josh Allen. with Kinlaw inside and said, okay, at least we've got our sturdy front here and going forward with the Jaguars. I've seen a lot of speculation that there could be four offensive linemen off the board in the first 10 picks. You have it in this mock draft that by the time the Browns pick at 10, there's just one

guy off the board. So Mackay Beckton goes to the Browns at 10. And that 11, another offensive line needy team, the Jets, who like, the Browns tried to address their offensive line in free agency, they will then take Tristan Worf's out of Iowa. That makes a lot of sense for the Browns. Let's start there and then we'll get to the Jets because I have a thought on that. Is there any way the Browns don't take an offensive tackle if it shakes out like this where they have the pick of, you know, three of the four top guys? Yeah, if one of the star defensive players falls to them. I mean, there's a lot of

whispers about clowny maybe being signed by the Browns if the Seahawks don't strike a deal with them in the coming weeks. And if that's the case, then yeah, I think they should go offensive line. But like if Derek Brown somehow slipped or if, say, Akuta somehow slipped, I think they would listen to that, especially knowing that they've got, they've needed help all over the place. But to me, you've got all these offensive weapons, you know, you've got all this firepower. And yet Baker Mayfield was running like a chicken with his head cut off all last season. And I think that offensive line, especially when there's four guys, including Thomas, Andrew Thomas, including him and Beckton and Worf's and all these guys, when they're all there, I think one of them will fall to 10. And I think that would be a safe, if not smart decision.

Would you be happy with that, Mark? Yeah, I mean, I think it makes too much sense. You got Jack Conklin on the right side, and they've needed two tackle spots. I can't think of too many teams with two raging voids at tackle that succeed. And so it's a great draft for it. Why not? I haven't seen a mock draft that doesn't really have Cleveland taking a tackle at number 10. So I feel like you could even put up your in-laws house on this one, potentially.

Peter, it seems like a sure thing. Unless, like you're saying, Isaiah, someone drops to them that they're just fascinated by. Or they say, we know that we're not going to keep these wide receivers for a round. Go grab C.D. Lamb or someone else and blow the whole thing up. Yeah. And Simmons is a fascinating prospect, because at the Combine, We're all, you know, jaws agape and the whole thing. And I said it on the broadcast and got some heat from Clemson fans, but on the Combine

broad, I was like, it's all great and it's good and well. But, like, you very rarely see a roaming safety go top five. You very rare see a linebacker at that size maybe necessarily. I mean, Devin White went in the top five last year, but Giants fans are doing flips for Isaiah something. It's not an easy plug and play, whereas if you say this is going to be your left tackle for the next 10 years, or at least you hope so, that's a lot easier. in the room. So Isaiah Simmons, fantastic prospect, great athlete, incredible college player.

I'm not so sure that there's a guaranteed top five or top 10 thing with him because I'm not so sure where he fits as a comp and I'm not so sure it's an easy plug and play as here's how he's going to impact our team right away other than he's a great defensive player. You know he's going to make plays when he gets put in the game. The Jets at 11, the moves that Douglas made in free agency and he was aggressive in rebuilding the offensive line, not a lot of huge names on that line. But if he feels good about those guys, I don't know if you can use this pick on anything other than a wide receiver.

You got Sam Darnold in his third year. What other guy that you draft in the top five as a quarterback? How many teams can you think of never went out and got a real deal wide receiver to pair him with on his rookie contract? And they've never done that for Darnold. I think if Douglas is happy with what he's done with this line, I think you address that and go get one of these guys. You got Jerry Judy going to the Raiders on the next pick,

C.D. Lamb, going to the Niners to pick after that. Am I crazy to think that this should be a wide receiver pick 100%? Not crazy at all. If the draft board was to fall this way, yet Worf's is one of these guys where it's like, here's the last offensive tackle in the top tier. And here's a guy who comes from Kirk Ferrence's offense. and here's a player who's super athletic

and the whole thing. And I did the Jets preseason games as one of the broadcasters last year alongside Anthony Beckt. And I, Ian Eagle, Humble Brack. What a job with those guys. And it was a disaster from day one, like in the preseason.

And then every single time the Jets took the field, the offensive line was such a mess. And look, McGovern and Van Roten and these guys are fine, but like you're telling you we have a... They're not, you know, they're not... They still might have... the worst tackle combination in the NFL right now. I mean, so I agree with you, Dan. It wouldn't be

surprising because especially Judy and Lamb seem like safe picks. I mean, people have, the teams have missed on tackles more than anything. And Judy and Lamb, they move in such a way that you just can't imagine them not contributing almost right away. And we've seen that out of a lot of a lot of receivers. That said, like, I don't think he feels good about his offensive line, Joe Douglas, that is, after the moves that he's made. I don't think he could. I mean, George Fant and and Adoga or Van Roten are their tackles? There aren't many teams in the NFL. I think that would feel worse about their tackle situation.

I totally get that side of it. I guess if Douglas, and we've been told he's an offensive line guy, we'll know, basically, when he makes that pick. If he really does feel good about what his free agency hall was, he's going to take the wide receiver, but if he thinks he needs the help, and if they have this guy, they're having mocked dress where all these top linemen are gone.

And if the Jets have the option of Worf's or the top-wide receiver, I'm sure they're going to be very happy. It's a good debate. And I think I remember when DeBrickershaw Ferguson was drafted the same year as Nick Mangold. And I remember being in Radio City. And, like, Jets fans are into the histrionics and the dramatics when, and Dan, you know, it's when like someone gets taken, like, oh! And I remember when Ferguson got taken, they all were like pointing to their heads, like, smart pick. And then Mangel was taken. They were like, yeah.

Like, Jets fans also like to fancy themselves as, like, football guys. So if the offensive line pick is the pick over a wide receiver, don't be shocked if Jets fans all do like that clap. Smart, bro. Yeah, you are in dangerous territory, Peter, but I appreciate what you're saying. Very smart. Exactly right. All right.

Wes, how you doing, by the way? I just want to say hi to you. Yeah, what's up with? Thanks, Dan. I'm done well. What do you got going on? You got takes? I was thinking that was a prime opportunity for Hansis on Sessler crime

where two teams in obvious need of offensive tackles the Jets trade in front of the Browns and take their guy. I like that. But they, what, to trade with the Browns or they have to get up even higher? I just think it depends. It just depends. If the tackles fall the way that Peter has it here, I think the Browns and Jets would be very, very happy with that

because other mocks have these guys going up a little higher and then suddenly you're taking Andrew Thomas. Yeah. Or the kid from Austin Jackson from USC. I would think that C.D. Lamb would be quite a gift for Jimmy Gropo who goes from a little bit of limbo, wondering if Tom Brady's going to take his job again to all of a sudden getting perhaps the best wide receiver prospect on the market.

That would be a nice little turnaround and fortunes for Jimmy G. Here's the thing. I think Oakland and San Francisco there, I think, I'm sorry, Las Vegas and San Francisco, I think they're both taking receivers there, and I think it's going to be a combination of the three top ones, rugs, lamb, or Judy. I've heard from people around the league that the Raiders,

love lamb. I've also heard that the Raiders love Judy. So I went with Judy there and then I said, okay, the 49ers ago with lamb, but I wouldn't be shocked

if it was rugs lamb Judy or if it was Judy lamb rugs or if it was Judy or if it was like, you know, the order of those three is a complete grab bag at this point.

I felt knowing the team needs for what the Raiders had and what they can be going for, Judy made more sense, but it could easily be lamb if that's how it shakes out. And the Las Vegas Raiders have to be thrilled

if they get the first wide receiver choice on the board because what team has a more glaring need than the Las Vegas Raiders and a number one ride receiver after the Antonio Brown fiasco. Fiasco is right. You absolutely right. I saw Peter in one of the videos you guys posted

for Good Morning Football, you think the 49ers are getting a superstar at number 13. DJ has Henry Ruggs in that spot. You've got Judy, I think. But either way, you pair, even if you pair a guy like Ruggs with Debo Sanchez,

where, you know, that theory that your wide receiver core is supposed to be like a basketball team where you've got power forward, you got point guards, you can put the fastest guy in the draft with the most physical wide receiver in the NFL, and now you're cooking. Yeah, and I think what's so interesting is Debo Samuel's stock over the last eight months, I mean, this was a guy who wasn't starting out of training camp last year, and yet now we got to the combine, and everyone I spoke to about this wide receiver group, every single front office guy or coach, and I try talking to as many as I can, they're all like, yeah, we're looking for that Debo Samuel type. So he's now the prototype going from a player that, so now you pair him with another wide receiver, and suddenly you have one of the best wide receiver

combinations out of all the young groups in the league. And Debo Samuel, as of October, November, wasn't even a household name. I think you see the depth of this class in the mocks with the wide outs because i feel like in any other in a lot of other classes last year for instance if lamb or judy is in that class there may be top five picks and they're one of the people that everyone's talking about a ton going into it because they seem about as complete and as kind of bulletproof and they they do different things well but in a lot of classes they would be one of the media's favorite talking points whereas here they could get pushed down to 12 or 13 i don't know if that'll happen because I think, you know, the Panthers are there, the Jets are there.

There are still teams you could see taking a receiver earlier. I'll give you a quick one here. I said to a well-respected offensive coach, I'll give me some comps on these guys. He goes, well, Jerry Judy's probably like Amari Cooper. He says, C.D. Lambs probably like DeAndre Hopkins. And Henry Ruggs is probably the closest thing is Tyree Kill. I'm like, those are three of the best wide receivers in football. He's like, yeah, no, that's, and I'm not being hyperbolic.

I'm not exaggerating, like, those are the comps. I'm like, well, that's pretty darn good if I can get that at 12 and 13 and 14. I need one of those guys on the Jets. At 14, you have Andrew Thomas, so the fourth big tackle off the board. And then you have a run of three defensive players, Kenneth Murray, linebacker to the Broncos at 15. You know, some of these names, they're kind of newbies to me. So I'm going to do my best and correct me when necessary. Kalevon, Chason.

Yeah, you're right. It's close. Edge rusher out of LSU to the Falcons at 16. And Xavier McKinney is safety at 17 to the Cowboys. I guess it makes sense starting with 14 there, Peter. You now have Tom Brady there. Might as well get that offensive line up to speed and as good as possible because Brady, we know,

is not moving like he used to. And he never moved that well to start with. Yeah, I would basically, between, I'd be surprised if the Buccaneers took any other position than offensive line and whoever sitting there at 14, I feel like would be the pick. That's it. And then you go down from there.

I think the Kenneth Murray story is the most fascinating because this is a guy who is second round talk maybe coming out of college. And then he got to the combine and everyone's like, oh, he's my favorite player I met. Favorite player I met. His story's great. This is a guy who was a sophomore captain at Oklahoma. Think about all the talent that's there.

He's a sophomore captain. And when he was 11 years old, his mother, who is, I believe, a retired police officer and his father, who's a pastor, they adopted three special needs children, and Kenneth Murray helped raise them, and those are, like, important little bullet points when you walk into that room and then in his personality, he's, like, funny, he's self-aware, and he's super, super energetic about leadership. So I had multiple teams tell me, like, this guy just, if we had a top 10 pick, we'd have to

consider him. He was that much of a leader in a cornerstone, and Lincoln Riley speaks to the world of him. So I gave him to the Broncos who already have Chubb and already have Vaughn Miller and added the big fellow Jarrell Casey up front. And a lot of Broncos fans were attacking me saying, well, if Henry Ruggs is still on the board, there's no way they're passing on them to get another defensive player. I just think of Vic Fangio and like the way his identity is

and here's another defensive leader and let's just add it on to it. So wouldn't be shocked if Murray went earlier. Wouldn't be shocked if the Broncos went wide receiver, but I felt like that was a good fit at 15. That Kenneth Murray's story, which is there's a lot. of great stuff happening there. A very similar life arc to Greg. Oh, yeah.

I mean, I'm a member, I might give back to the community. Oh, is that right? The best player on the Broncos team... A lot of similar bullet points. The best player on the Broncos team last year for a lot of weeks in the second half of the season was Alexander Johnson inside linebacker

who sort of came out of nowhere. If you had Bradley Chub, Von Miller, Alexander Johnson, and then this guy, that is, that's like the old 49ers four pack of lineback. there. Broncos fans are going to get mad at me, by the way, Peter, for even bringing this up. But have you heard anything about Denver and their quarterback room and potentially make a play for a quarterback or a veteran guy? Or are they okay with Locke and the guys that are behind him? No, it's a fair question. Look, everyone gets so sensitive, especially with a guy like

Drew Locke, who finished his season so well. I remember last year, I came out and I was like, This is at Columbine. The Cardinals are taking Kyler Murray, and they're taking them. And Cardinals fans were so protective of Josh Rosen because that was there. They've already invested. And that's what Broncos fans are with Drew Locke. But I'll tell you everything I've heard out of Denver is that those guys are all invested in Drew Locke. And this is not one of those situations where second round pick last year had a nice finish, but let's go get our guy.

No, I think Drew Locke is the quarterback for the Denver Broncos next season. All right. Fair enough. Let us keep moving. So you have Ruggs, man, Dolphins fans are going to be flying. If they come out of this draft after the big free agency and then their first two draft picks, they go get two playmaker, you know, high visibility offensive players,

Intuit quarterback, and then Henry Ruggs, the third out of Alabama, a wide receiver at a pair with two. That's what you do. If you get a quarterback, you love and believe in, pair them with another young playmaker at Whiteout. That makes a lot of sense for Miami. Yeah, it does. If he sat there, if he was there at 18,

You put him with Devante Parker. That's fantastic. That's a home run. The way the draft fell for me, that's how it went. Like, I couldn't give the Falcons a receiver. I didn't think that the Browns were going to go receiver. And it was like, why is Ruggs still on the board? I don't know.

If he's there at 18, scoop him up, you Skype that in, you zoom that in, whatever you do now in the virtual draft. That one, that one's pretty easy. But I'm probably being a little bit, I don't know. There's very little chance that Henry Ruggs will still be there at 18. But the way this thing fell, that's where he went. I mean, this is unprecedented, obviously, Peter. But are you hearing a lot of consternation from these team builders about just worrying about the technology and the communication on April 23rd? I actually got an argument.

I spoke to one today, a coach, an assistant coach. And he was like, and the thing with Zoom is that it's so easy to hack. It's so easy to hack Zoom. I'm like, all right. There's like 80 stories about hacking Zoom out there right now. And it's like, football guys. And I want to tell Schefter. I want to tell the reporters who are just running with it.

Like, they're worried they're going to have, like, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs and, you know, like the Pentagon are on Zoom right now. If people are really worried about who the Rams are taking in the third round or who the Cardinals might have hire on their linebacker board, like, I don't think they're all hiring hackers right now to get into it. I would think that the world, you know, there's a lot other companies going on. It's just another company. And yes, can you hack into Zoom?

Yes, I've heard of crazy stories. the New York public school system is dealing with with people hacking into Zooms, but I wouldn't make that your first part. I wouldn't be worried about the hacking. I'd be more worried about getting your veteran coaches and personnelmen on the same page in different locations and figuring it out as opposed to this great fear of the security of Zoom. They're going to do it. They're going to go, they're going to hack into Merrill Lynch.

They're not hacking into, you know, the Philadelphia Eagles' second day two draft board. Let me, give me a number, one to 100. the, if you had to predict the chaos level of any technological issues happening during the draft, maybe it's one or two. I'm with you. I don't, I think tons of companies operate this way, but we're dealing with a different group of employees that maybe not all of them have operated in such. IT departments. This is, this is the time for the NFL IT departments to shine. I'm just saying, we have, there is the occasional gaffe in the perfect war room situation. So, like, do you see one to one hundred? What would you give this?

Yeah, it's going to happen. It might not happen day one. It's going to happen at some point. There's a million ways this could happen. It could happen when the GM is not in the same room as the coach, who's not in the same room as a defensive coordinator. And, you know, one of their connections goes bad and their Wi-Fi freezes, and they make a pick, and then it opens back up.

And the defensive coordinator says, well, why the heck you pick him? I was screaming. Well, you were on mute. Like little things like that to the entire thing. Like, I talked to a team today, and he was like, we still have been given clarity on how we submit the pick. Like, does it have to come from a text message or does it come from Zoom? Like, that stuff hasn't even been hashed out 100% yet.

So it's going to be the NFL.com fantasy app. They're just doing it. Exactly right. You don't want to autodraft. You end up with Antonio Brown. I just, I don't know. Like, I don't know where this is going to go wrong, but it leads to an opportunity of a gap. And yes, these IT men are suddenly the first or second most important people in the organization.

because things better not go wrong and you better have a good IT staff. Oh, my gosh. I mean, I said it on Monday show. We need, they need to hire or if they already have them in-house, the NFL needs to send the top IT guys in the world to each of these general managers' homes

or whatever's going on. Dan, that has to happen. You join Good Morning Football every Tuesday morning and do a power ranking list. If I can get a power rankings list of IT departments of all 32 teams, I would gobble that up. That is a great idea for an article. Also, I could do another one.

The next day, I drop the power rankings of the GMs that would need the least help and the most help. And people are going to be surprised where Dave Gettleman falls. Everybody thinks he's going to go 32. He might be a little higher than you think. Grandpa's learning some things. That's it. He's been on Zoom.

He's been on Skype. I've heard all these guys are like, I'll tell you, I talk to Chuck Pagano. I don't think he'd have a problem with. He's like, I was like, how you doing? Coach is checking in. And he's like, I'm doing these Skype meetings. I love them. They're great.

I'm meeting all these kids. And I'm like, all right, Paganos, you know, he's not 30 years old. He's on Skype. He's working it. That's true. Well, Peter, so we cycle through the front half of the draft. You can check out the rest of Peter's write-up, his mock draft 1.0, 1 through 32. And Greg, you'll be happy to know that the Patriots are, they're turning the corner with Jeremy

Chin, the safety out of Southern Illinois. So you don't have anything to worry about anymore about the future of your beloved team. I mean, Southern Illinois, it sounds perfect to me. It makes total sense. He's Isaiah Simmons, but with a lesser name, Jeremy Chin. Oh, yeah, Patriots sounds, they're going to be totally cool with that when they take a safety they've never heard of with their first pick. They'll be fine.

The Patriots have never heard of any of the players that they've ever taken. You know, I've never remember a fan base being more upset than when they took Logan Mankins. And they just put them on the all-decade team. 32nd pick, first round. This guy didn't play for Rutgers. The Patriots aren't going to do that. That's fair. That's true.

That's fair, dog. Guys, I appreciate you having me on. It was a return to normalcy. I appreciate it. Yes, and it is great having you on always, Peter. I'm glad that we work things out. One last thing, one last loose end to tie up is we did a game on Friday called text or tweet, where Mark and Erica gave us the choice to either send a text that they've constructed to someone or a

tweet that we'd tweet out into the ether and when it was gregg's turn mark and erika gave him a text to send to you um and if maybe you could uh pull it up mark uh our gregg author by erika erika actually uh yeah peter's i think learning that this text was not written originally by me uh as we speak i believe all right so can i read you the text yes let's hear it because i didn't know i didn't know it was some gag and i answered earnestly like an idiot um gregg gregg with two Gs, as it is in my phone. Let me know if you need help with that Yeti microphone, because I asked him about what microphone.

They knew this. They wrote it. It was Mark and Mark and Erica wrote this, but I believe it was genius. I know we joke a lot, but I wanted to send you a text and just let you know that the fact that you respect me the most out of the ATN guys just really means a lot to me. Maybe it's the quarantine that's making me so reflective, but I sincerely appreciate you and look up to you. I mean, when you told me that, what was my response?

When they gave me that that's what I have to send out, I said, oh, that's fine. I'm getting off easier than anyone. I mean, it goes a little heavy on the, I'm getting reflective in the quarantine, and I look like a doofist that it meant a lot to me that you said that. But the rest of it, I was fine with, giving a little love out to Peter Schrager. Why not? Can I read you my response? Oh, sure.

Because I'll tell you this. What happened to me during this quarantine is that I became really like, you know, don't sweat the small stuff, get rid of the toxic people in your life, Marie Kondo, like all this crap. I'm like, really, I'm leaning into it. And I'm like, you know, the people that you really appreciate, let them know, like, FaceTime them, tell them. So I got Greg's text and I thought he was being earnest. I responded back, ha, ha, ha, three has, stop that. You're awesome. And I respect the fact you are not one of those hardcore football guys.

Instead, you're hilarious, you're smart, and you have real interests outside the game. How's that? And then we just had a nice, normal conversation. So you brought us together, Erica. Look at Erica and Mark, bringing people together. You're welcome. What do you think, Eric? I just want to say, because a similar type of scenario, Peter happened.

No, Peter wants to hear from you. Yeah, no, I think it, I love bringing people together. Well, I'm glad that it worked out between Greg and Peter, and there was no awkwardness there. There was some awkwardness with the listeners for me when I sent out my. tweet saying that I really wanted to hear from all of them. Then they felt like I was kind of having a laugh at their expense, but we worked that out as well. The game's a little bit insidious.

It's sneaky insidious, but I'm glad that it all worked out for everybody. Yeah, thanks, Erica. Thank you, Erica. You're welcome, guys. Peter, thank you, my man. That was a great breakdown. And you could look for Peter's next mock draft 2.0.

When is that dropping again, Peter? next week probably like next tuesday or wednesday i appreciate you guys stay safe and uh love love love the podcast getting us a lot of people through some weird times right now love you too peter and good morning football is kind of ramping up to speed as well you can check it out on social on twitter and instagram as they look for a path in this new bizarre world we're in uh so check out good morning football and follow peter on twitter if you don't already this is dan hansis signing off for The Quiet Storm, the mailman, the old boss, Rick Hollywood, and the great Pete Schroger. This is an Ihaired Pardt podcast.

Thank you.