NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Draft Talk with Daniel Jeremiah

Episode Date: April 8, 2021

A room filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal bring you all of the latest news around the NFL starting with Sam Darnold to the Panthers and what Dan's Dad has to say about it (3:30). The Boston Herald is reporting a more significant knee injury for Julian Edelman than we thought (17:38) and multiple teams are contacting the Falcons for the 4th overall pick - and they might be listening. (19:40). Draft analyst and podcast host of "Move the Sticks" joins the show to talk about the upcoming draft and also Gregg's outfit (30:31).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. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet,

we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football. football podcast on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and

NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Around the NFL podcast.

Attended every Wesselmania and recalls very little. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. I come to you from a virtual room filled with some heroes. Mark Zessler, Greg Rosenthal. Yes, Wesselmanians. What events they were right there by the sea, cornhole, the big green egg, tunes, good people, good vibes, and many drinks. Not true, though.

I remember them because I made the mistake of bringing my daughter Ellis to most of them. I think at some point I finally realized there was one where. you know, jello shots and I think hard drugs were like introduced to the mix. And I was like, okay, no more, no more Ellis coming to these. But I, you know, I always had to drive home from Marina del Rey. So it wasn't, it sounded like I was getting too wild. In Wes's memory, Mark, can you step in and clarify the hard drugs comment about around Wesleynia?

That was not something that exists. I don't know if I'd call that a tent. Oh, believe me. But Craig, Wes would have nothing to do with it, but there were Nerdy Wells. Wes had a very open policy of who wants to come and who doesn't. And I can definitely confirm some people were bringing in some things. West may have no idea about it. And they may have been in NFL employees.

They may still be. This is like the dark side of these parties that Greg was eyeing with his It was like three in the afternoon. It's like, eh, right. Greg, it's slightly on you, Greg, you're at your third WrestleMania, we all know what these are now. and what they devolve into, and you continually bring small children. And I viewed it as a wave to, as an escape hash to get out of there.

I mean, of course, she's going to see crazy stuff. So I don't know what was on round two and three of that. See, I would disagree. The first couple were pretty family friendly, especially during the afternoon. And then it got wild later. That was this whole thing. There were actually a lot of kids at the first, Wesselmania or two. And you're right.

Once we got to three, there was no. It used to be there was like a 2 to 5 p.m. or 12 to 4 p.m. pocket where it was a little tamer and then you get out of there with the kids. But by three, these individuals, they weren't waiting around. They were going to hit it running right out of the bat. Hard drugs. Like hard. People just like knotted out in the corner. Knowing those parties and the characters involved, they always kept the children far away.

but you know it's it's tough being a parent sometimes sometimes the kids got to come or you can't go right it was either that or not go right you know there was like an infinite home and i wasn't i wasn't allowed to leave the older one you know it's a tough spot welcome to the show uh we have we are approaching the draft now and um and it yes it pains me to say this but you know daniel jeremiah is kind of the guy in terms of the NFL draft and the walk up to it. So we booked him. We booked him on the show today. He's going to be on today's episode. We're going to dive deep on the draft. A nice conversation. I look forward to having with DJ. We can maybe hopefully move past our issues and have a civil conversation. So look forward

to that. Also, you know, we are kind of in the afterglow of the Sam Darnold trade. And that happened in the middle of our recording on Monday. In fact, right after it. And we, you know, did some surgery on the show. And so it all was happening very quickly. And I was just like last couple days, I've had a chance to reflect on it a little bit because as you guys know, better than anyone that had a lot invested in Darnold, as did all Jets fans. And it is kind of shocking that it's over, that the Sam Darnold era is over in New York. And Joe Douglas spoke to the media the day after the trade to the Panthers. And he said as much that it took a lot of things. to fall into place for it to end after three years. And that's just the way it happened, whether

the regime changed, the timing on his contract, where they were picking in the draft. And it's just kind of hard to believe. And I still do believe Donald can be better and even good in an environment where it gives them a real shot. But I have to say, it is a relief, no longer having to ponder the chicken or the egg nature of his entire career in the NFL, that is now something the Panthers fans have to work through and figure out because it was very, it was extremely stressful. So while I wish him well and I think he can do well, that's as a fan, that was exhausting and it's off my plate and I feel good about that. I mean, one of the factors was he didn't play well. I mean, and then it was that there was a huge chunk of the media in general

that turns around and I think has protected Sam Darnold because of the environment he was in as much as any quarterback in the league. And so is that fair or unfair? I mean, you can look at Darnold from a couple of different viewpoints, but the hardest thing as a Jetsman, I think, was defending bad quarterback play from a guy that everyone felt should be so much better and making the team better. Right. I mean, it was tough on Dan.

For a while, he was trying to convince us like Sam Darnold was super good looking. Like, that's how much he was pumping him up. He is. I think he is a handsome guy. He's fine. He's fine. I mean, he's not as handsome. He's no Zach Wilson, who's like a young Ephron, Zach Ephron. I'm feeling even better about the Zach Ephron slash Zach Wilson. I mean, if you like your men like little boys, you know, you know. I think we're just getting old, but he looks like he's like 14 years old. I think we are certainly getting old. Speaking of Sam Darnold and the end of the road, I think this is a good time to check in with Keith Kansas. His name is Keith. His dance dad.

No doubt about it. He's a big jet's fan. What is he going to say about the game today? What is he going to say about the game today? The Sam Darnal era is over. I thought Sam Donald was the kind of player that I think teammates probably appreciated. he played through pain and he seemed to try hard and didn't seem to throw people under the bus

or anything of that regard. But as far as the way he progressed in the three years he was with the Jets, I had lost faith in him as a Jet fan. I don't think he was going to change much. I agree he didn't have the team around him, the coaching around him. But I've seen other young players in recent years that have been drafted on other teams come up with not the greatest teams and have put up

some great numbers, where Sam Donald, with all the publicity he was getting, and a claim, he just never seemed to improve. And as a matter of fact, just went down, as we all know last year, was ranked dead last among all active quarterbacks in the ratings. And just hopefully the Jets will in the draft. will come up and the quarterback that they pick will become the quarterback that they can work with. I think it was a good move by the Jets. Good luck, Sam.

Full disclosure, my dad was always out on Sam Darnold this past year or so. There was no on the fence. I'm on the fence and I'm just trusting management to get this right. Keith was ready to roll on the Darnold era and move on. So I hope he's right. I hope he's right. Good analysis as always, though. The Panthers don't hope he's right.

I think that was the thing. The thing with Darnold is we're just such a quick football, like, cognizanti to move on. Like, we didn't need to wait to move on from Dwayne Haskins and Josh Rosen. And I think when you really look at it, that's the company Darnold was keeping, even when he was protected and things went well on a certain play. That said, it's like, we've done this long enough to, like, assume anything. If Matt Rule can fix him up nice and fancy, he could be average. And I think there's a ceiling, and I'm not a bit, I'm not really buying this, but, you know, maybe it can be average. There is a bit of an irony here, by the way.

As I say, I'm passing Darnold off to another fan base, and there was a lot of stress to it. I'm kind of passing it off to Sessler, who's the president of the Matt Rule dynasty fan club. He's now kind of your quarterback in a lot of ways. Yeah, and I think actually, like, he goes to a really one of the first. of the best, you know, scenarios you could have picked for him. And if Joe Brady is as brainy as they say in creative, I think, you know, it'll help. And I think that's good for Sam Donald. I wouldn't have wanted him to see him go somewhere where he was in a work, like a Jared Gough type landing spot where things seem to fall apart even further once you get there.

But I don't have any great faith that Sam Donald's like a great quarterback. That's all. I just want to see it. I don't have to have that. He could be a backup. I would be very interested if they drafted someone at quarterback. I kind of, I think, and this is something I thought about more, I'm convinced they were in on Mack Jones. And between striking out with Stafford, Mac Jones potentially, and Watson, then Donald kind of became this fallback line. But who knows?

Maybe Mac Jones doesn't get taken. Or maybe Tray Lance falls and they decide to take a shot. Who knows? And speaking of the Panthers, Teddy Bridgewater, by the way, is now allowed or has been given permission to engage with trade partners. So, Greg, I know you had floated the idea that he might still be in the mix of the Panthers. The Panthers are done with Teddy Bridgewater. No, I was totally wrong in that.

They're going to take a financial semi-bath to move on considering the investment they made with him, which wasn't small. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either. And they're going to kind of hit the reset here. And I'm with you. Just like I thought Ryan Fitzpatrick would have been a lot of fun in Denver. The Broncos job, if you were a quarterback trying to figure out where you landed in landscape and you're still looking for work. And there aren't many quarterbacks in this category now with Teddy.

You've got to get up to Denver and take on Drew Locke with that good offense and really strong team all around. All right. A lot to get to. Before we get to DJ and we'll talk to DJ about some jet stuff at number two, because we know his connection to Joe Douglas. Let's hit the news. Can you believe Philip Rivers would actually be the fourth pick in the dress?

It's funny, boys, that's the agent of Ben Ralthusberger at the 2004 NFL draft. Lee Steinberg. Lee Steinberg and one of the more famous agents in NFL history. And that pops up every once in a while. Stephen Ruiz, who does really good work over at For the Win. He's their lead writer. He floated that back up onto Twitter this week. It's a whole behind-the-scenes breakdown of the 2004 draft following all the top picks everywhere they were, miced them up at the draft tables.

And it just got me thinking how disappointing it is that as the draft, since in those 15 years, 20 years has gotten bigger, the access has gotten tighter and tighter and more and more controlled. Would that be great if we had this every year and then you can look back on this stuff? Instead, you know, you just get this recycled every year or so on social media, which I appreciate. But at the same time, I wish we had this for this draft or the Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold draft, like all that stuff. No, that's not how it works anymore. I prefer less access, more sterile coverage, more robotic, less insight. That's what I'm, so we're heading in the right direction.

Plus, I feel like there's more, maybe this is not true. But like that draft as Rathlisberger was fallen, you really, like you weren't expecting that going in necessarily, you know, you really didn't have a good feel. of what was going to happen to Rivers and Rathlisberger in that draft. You kind of knew what, you know, probably what was happening with Eli. But, like, as he's falling, that was great drama in real time, just like Aaron Rogers when he was in the draft room. And Lee Steinberg, by the way, is one of 400 agents

who believes Jerry McGuire was made about him. That's like a thing behind the scenes in Agent World. They all think it was about them. Also invites me to his Super Bowl party every year, by the way. How is the party? How was it? I went to one many, many years back. It's conflicted with other things that we were doing,

but he's continually nice enough to send the invite because I think he knows he and I could really chop it up if we were to get in a room together. Look at Greg's face. He's still eating lemons, lemons and limes. All right, let's get to the news, and we'll start with a sobering bit of news here. Two of the 22 women who have accused Deshaun Watson

of sexual assault, harassment and separate lawsuits publicly spoke out on Tuesday detailing their experiences with the Texans quarterback during that news conference. Ashley Solis, the first woman to file a suit against Watson spoke up about her allegations against the all pro. Here's a little bit of what she had to say. No longer practice the profession that I love the most without shaking during the session. My handshake whenever I placed them on a client, and I've had to cut session short. She only knew how heartbreaking that it's to me. I got into massage therapy to heal people, to heal their minds and bodies, to bring peace to their souls.

DeShon Watson has robbed me of that. He took that away for me. He tainted a profession in which I take enormous pride. Lashes of Watson's face rush to me in the moment. I'm in counseling as a result of this Sean Watson's actions. I hope he knows how much pain he's infected on me emotionally and physically. And I hope he knows how much pain he is inflicted on these other survivors. The NFL released a statement on Tuesday saying they're continuing to closely monitor all developments in the matter.

Mike Garfolo, the NFL Network, reported the league office has been in contact with Tony Busby, the attorney involved of this. And finally, the Houston Police Department said last week it is investigating Watson after a complaint filed with them last week. So the story continues to develop. Very tough to see one of these. accusers step up and speak out and it really adds a level of humanity to the situation. A tough watch.

It was, you know, it's been an, I think an important week in the, in the Watson story with these women coming out and then also kind of the business community around Watson, starting to pull back from him. He's lost multiple endorsements, including with Nike. and the NFL sending out another statement on Tuesday, I think, was significant just because of the wording they used. They did compare their first statement about Watson, which was very business-like. And this one, which was, of course, as well, but they, you know, they did use the words how the allegations were deeply disturbing, how serious they take it. And Stephanie Stradley is a really good follow for Texans fans always, but she's also a lawyer.

And she sort of wrote a frequently asked questions about the Watson case that I found. really informative part of it was you know don't don't opine on it it's very hurtful it's it's very um difficult thing for non lawyers or really anyone to talk about so i but i do think it's important we just follow this story it's it's so significant and i do think i think the nfl statement was was telling and that he's going to be in a holding pattern here for a while i think the question you know just in terms of football is just like will he play football in 2021 is very much an an open question, I think. Yeah, I mean, I agree with everything you said. And right now, it's looking like Tyrod Taylor, you know, gets closer and closer to being the starting quarterback.

But all that is sort of just, I don't know, like when you go and watch these, when you listen to these voices, and it's not just names or a number of names or how many, and you listen to what they say. I mean, I just think it brings a whole different wave of reality to it. And, you know, Deshaun Watson, who knows what will happen here, but I think the league and all of us and everyone didn't know quite what to do with it a month ago. It's changing now. Yeah, it certainly is. In other news, the Boston Herald reports, it's doubtful that Julian Edelman will be able to play a full season in 2021. The report cites a source familiar with the Edelman situation. He's got a knee issue and it's a type of situation where he could undergo surgery on the knee

but it's only a temporary solution he only played six games last season and greg you are a boston sports fan it does make me think another uh underdog uh little critter that you were uh your fan base is a fan of dustin pejoria of the red sox similar situation a a guy that was beloved by fans um and had a knee issue that just would not get better uh edelman seems to have a similar situation here and it puts the Patriots in a tough spot because he is a franchise legend let's face it right I started wondering why is Julian Edelman still on this roster just knowing the Patriots and then and I looked and I realized he only has a $2.8 million base salary this year and that was the answer last year he was still making kind of big money

now they have all this cap space they obviously love Edelman and so they're just not in a hurry. I kind of buy the conspiracy theories that I know is happening among Patriots fans, though, that a report like this is maybe getting put out there because he wants to get released. Like, I could buy that. You know what I mean? Like, this is, this is coming out. He wants to get released? What kind of market does Julian Edelman have at this stage? Not much, probably, but, you know, he might like to choose, you know, where he plays next Tampa, you know, for it. Oh, he wants to replace Antonio. Who knows? Who knows? There you go. I kind of buy it, though. I kind of buy.

I also buy that he won't be healthy. So it's not like I think it's wrong. He's 35 years old and no one at his size. I've never seen take a pounding that he has throughout his career. From his first year, it was always amazing to me that he's lasted and been as durable as he has until this point. In other news, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that multiple teams have contacted the Atlanta Falcons about acquiring the number four pitch. in the 2021 draft. Schefter added that the team is open to moving out of that spot.

As we know, the way the draft board is set up, and almost certainly will play out with QBs going one, two, and three. The Falcons don't have an immediate need at quarterback with Matt Ryan, but he is in his mid-30s. They could use a guy that's the future, but also makes sense, Mark, that they would potentially trade away the pick if they got a big-time guy.

Godfather offer because it looks like that's the highest available pick. The Niners, Jets, and Jaguars aren't going anywhere. Yeah, I mean, I guess like, why not take the calls? I mean, there were other whispers that the Falcons internally sort of felt like, well, if we're going to take a quarterback of our own, assuming that you're going to be at number four every year is not the way you do business. So maybe that's, they're in a valuable space themselves. The one thing I think about, if it's not quarterback,

because you've got the Bengals at number five, who obviously have their quarterback. And if the Falcons took a quarterback of their own or someone else did, that number five spot becomes the first place where Cincinnati can pick one of the incredible skill position players the best available. And so would someone ever want to hopscotch Cincinnati knowing they're going to do that to get a wide receiver of their choice or fill in the blank? That's all, I mean, I'm assuming it's quarterback. It's just a safe way to think. And that could be a number of teams. But with this kind of stuff, like am I going to be up at three in the morning? pondering this and, you know, fretting over it, no, let's just see what happens.

You know, we'll know more a couple weeks from now. It is kind of the intrigue with this draft, I think, because I guess there's a chance San Francisco doesn't take Matt, Mac Jones, but it looks like the intrigue. And, you know, there was a report, I'm most surprised by this, that the GM, you know, Chris Mortensen said the GM of Atlanta kind of likes Trey Lance, I believe, you know, or is looking at quarterback, whereas Arthur Smith is kind of all in, like, he's down with Matt Ryan. And so they're trying to figure that out. Them taking Mac Jones, the 49ers, at three really would be wild because I think according to Charlie Castleley's poll of like

executives and then our friend DJ who's coming on, Trey Lance and Fields are ranked way ahead of those guys in most people's eyes. DJ has those two in the top eight of all of his players. So if your team like the Lions or the Panthers or the Patriots, certainly you got to be looking at this like where do I need to move up to get fields or Lance if I like those guys. Very intriguing. In other news, the Rams, their general manager, Les Sneed, said he believes Matthew Stafford, their new quarterback, is going to be there anywhere between five and eight years. Seems nice.

33 years old Stafford is. I mean, if he went on the long side of Sneed's projection, he's the quarterback in his 40s, which this assumption that all quarterbacks now can play in their 40s just seems kind of silly to me. Also silly, the idea of what the team, what's the famous John Lennon quote, life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. The assumption here that Matthew Stafford will stay healthy as enough and his body will cooperate, that's what it comes down to. I think he has the skill set to thrive and I think he will in this Sean McVeigh system.

But any thoughts that he's a long-term solution, you're not going to know until that body where he's had back issues. He just had thumb surgery. Is that going to hold up in the long term? It's a dicey proposition. And Sneed really bet his job on it here, I think, by bringing in Stafford. I mean, I would just say this, though, in terms of, like, how you really want to create like a stunning headline, what if they traded multiple picks and a third round pick and their starting quarterback for Matthew Stafford and Les Sneed said, we think he'll start here for two years, like people would go nuts. So it's like over-projecting and saying, he's got he's our guy um deep into the future we've made the right choice like uh you know

of course he's going to tilt towards the longevity i mean it is a two year deal he's they inherited two years and 43 million on the contract right but you don't that feels like what the nfl is now everything is just two year projection and then you reevaluate i'm just say you wouldn't pitch it that way to the to the to a like a frisky reporter i mean they would do something else with it or or and i'm sure that's what they're hoping for or to you know season ticket holders They're trying to sell some tickets. You know, they want to think of Stafford as their long-term guy. I'm sure that's what they want.

I mean, they also said Jared Goff was their forever quarterback, like a lot, that McVeigh and were tied to hip. The only thing with, like, thinking guys can play great into, like, their late 40s, Fitzpatrick is an exception. But the other guys who have done all that are all-time greats. It's like, yeah, Tom Brady and Drew Brees and Aaron Rogers are aging well. But they were, like, coming off of an incredible spot. You can't expect the assumption that all these guys, I mean,

do you could even make the case that if you were building a roster of all-time goods, Matthew Stafford might be that quarterback. So I think he is, he's proven over the first 11, 12 years of his career that he's, you know, a rock solid franchise starting quarterback. But is he one of the great players in NFL history? Well, not yet anyway.

In other news, Peter King's Monday night, Monday morning quarterback column. He wrote about some of the new wrinkles to the schedule after the CBA was signed, sealed, and delivered, and the new TV deals came together this year. That second game in week one on Monday night is history, the one that famously had, for some reason, thrown Chris Berman a bone, and they were having him in the booths and the big bell bottom and not knowing who anybody was. That second game is off the books now.

But for ESPN, who always hosted those games, it's a win because what they did was there's a Saturday, week 18, double header that ESPN gets. And I believe those are flexible games, which means they will have playoff ramifications. And that feels like a big W because it's good for us here in California. But that second game on Monday night and week one was starting at like 10.15 at night for people on the East Coast. Yeah, exactly. I always I liked them but I also were if it wasn't a good game you would you would feel the effects you would feel the effects of the the previous day and a half and you're like oh you know I've been waiting all off season for one game and now it's like I'm just you know it's too it's almost too much

that Saturday night though mid-January that sounds fun that sounds pretty good that that end of the season slate's going to be challenging um and like it's just going to be a lot of Saturdays. That's where NFL network's going to get in the mix, too, you know, some of the international games, but also the Saturday games. But this little Saturday night doubleheader, get ready, Mark. Say goodbye to your family. I mean, I've been doing this for long enough where I presume that there's a massive chunk of every year that is oriented towards one thing, football. And football is family. They tell me, I could argue that it's not always that. But it's a massive upgrade. Because a lot of times, if you look at what the second Monday night

game has been i think they know to your point that half the country is you know getting to bed at that point that they've not been marquee scenarios but that saturday scenario will be used to make it into two contests that no one can steer their eyes away from finally in the news this from the new york post Daniel Jones This week, along with several Giants' offensive players, wide receivers, tight ends, and even a few linemen, travel to Phoenix for a few days of throwing sessions. The Monday to Friday workouts organized entirely by Daniel Jones

will be the first unofficial work on the field in advance of 2021. Yeah, baby, that's also our first trope alert of the 2021 offseason. Trope alert Trope alert Oh yes The trope alert And this one is a Well worn

The veteran quarterback On maybe shaky ground Organizing a throwing Sesh And making sure the media knows about it To show that he's a leader On the rise

And everything is fine I mean isn't that technically Giants West If they were going to name Jets camps That happened west of the Mississippi Jets west for all those they trademarked that the giants couldn't touch it it was too perfect that's not

how jets giants things work but okay i like it when there's like a quarterback competition this isn't the case in new york but when there's the starting jobs up for grabs but one of them does the the off-season thing like that's a power move and then the other quarterback has to decide it's like when it was sancho tibo could just show up but you know when it when it's two guys are somewhat equal then the backup the other quarterback has to be like shoot do i have to show up at this guy's quarterback thing i guess i do or else like he's going to face time with the guys do i have to organize my own and if i organize my own will like will darius slayton come to mine and then you've got to pay for it the quarterback pays for a lot of this stuff sometimes that's why that's the sneaky

hidden value of signing mike glennon as your backup you know he's not throwing any cam it's like mike we'll see you in july whatever and just uh if you if you're new to the podcast or you know just starting to understand how the offseason works when we get to because we're going to have a return of OTAs it looks like in traditional mini camps and rookie camps and then of course training camp in July and August some training camp tropes to look out for draft bust X looks like he's ready to turn the corner new quarterback wide receiver tandem display undeniable chemistry player X I'm better now than I was before devastating lower body injury Second year player X, the game has slowed down for me.

Soft-spoken star ready to take on recently vacated leadership roles. That's just a tease of what's to come and what to keep an eye out on. And my job, to you, the listener, is to make sure all of it is documented ahead of the 2021 season. You can count on me. That's what's happening in the news. All right, time for our special guest. And, you know, listen, here's the thing. It's not just that he knows it's his time of year.

He knows that we know it's his time of year. And that's what hurts the most. Daniel Jeremiah, we really, we're happy to have you. Well, Dan, I'll tell you what, it's great to be with you. Sessler, it's great to see you, pal. I do appreciate Greg waking up three minutes before this segment started. Greg, it's great to see you as well, pal. I've been here the whole time.

I've been, you know, waiting, sharpening my knives. I've been ready for this for a year. This is, this is, Greg, this is either like this Hollywood style, you know, jeselnick influenced hairstyle you're going with or it's I just woke up five minutes ago. And I think I'm leaning towards the latter. I showered. I wanted to be here for your, like, last appearance on NFL network before you, you know, you follow Mike Mayock out the door.

A lot of speculation. A lot of speculation about DJ. And that goes back when Joe Douglas got hired, his jammons of the Jets. It was all over the place. And DJ had to come out and say, no, no, no, no, no. I love my job at NFL network. I love working for the Chargers. But that, you know, on that subject, on Joe Douglas.

And let's get into it here, DJ. No. Because you do have a relationship with Joe Douglas. You worked in football circles with him, your buddies. And he just made a huge move in this draft. Or maybe he didn't make a huge move. And there's a lot of ramifications there. Trade Sam Darnold.

You're at number two. And I have to ask this because you don't make this trade, right, DJ? of Sam Darnold and then most likely to stay at number two, unless you're pretty sure Zach Wilson or the quarterback you're going to take, probably Zach Wilson is a can't miss prospect. Because on the other side of it, DJ, this is like a once in 10, once in 20 years leverage situation in the draft in terms of where he was.

How hard do you think this decision was to stay it to if that is indeed what ends up happening? Well, I don't necessarily think it was hard because when you have conviction on a play, at that position, there's really, you're not going to be swayed. I mean, to me, it would have taken a monumental hall of picks much more than even we saw take place with that San Francisco Miami trade to consider getting out of number two. If you believe in the quarterback, because not only do you feel like you've got somebody with tremendous talent coming in, you restart, you reset the clock. And financially, it's such a boon.

And it would be one thing if the Jets, you know, just had their seven picks in this draft and seven picks in next year's draft. And you say, man, look at all the holes on this roster. How are we ever going to fill all of them? But they're in a situation due to the trades. You look at Jamal Adams and Leonard Williams, some of the trades they've made, the hall of picks. I think it's 21 picks over the next two years.

So they can get the quarterback at two. Now you move on from Sam Donald, and you've got a ton of picks where you can fill in around him. And I always like to point out when we're talking about Sam. Like, he did not get a fair shake there. I'm a Sam Darnold believer. I loved him coming into the. draft. You guys know that. And I still think he's got a chance to be successful. But he didn't have

the infrastructure in place to succeed with the Jets. And I think the focus for the Jets is to make sure that that is in place for the next quarterback, who, you know, I really believe it's going to be Zach Wilson. All right. So, DJ, let's just say that you were a GM, or let's say you were inside the body of John Lynch, the 49ers GM. And I would love that. I would swap. I used to work out with John Lynch when I was in college when he was in the NFL. John Lynch was there. Tony Bisselli was there.

And I can tell you, that was the peak of my athletic existence. And I would say John Lynch right now after going into the Hall of Fame and been retired for several years is still light years ahead of where I was at my peak. So if you want to swap me out with John, I'm happy to do that.

Still a little weird, though. No, that's DJ's way of always working in that he was a QB1 of a D1 program. He gets it into every segment he does. Got to weave it in. Get it, though. If I'm DJ's wife, I'm watching this. Roll those stats on the lower third. You'd really be impressed. I'm thinking, like, you want to be inside John Lynch's body? Like, I don't know. That just seems weird. Be happy with who you are. I think in this case, let's say you control his brain, all right? And we've got Trevor Lawrence going to Jacksonville, Zach Wilson, with his nice little hair going to the Jets. And then we've got number three. What do you do? Who do you pick as the 49ers quarterback? Who is the third best quarterback in this draft?

to me, I think it's a close call for me personally between Trey Lance from North Dakota State and Justin Fields from Ohio State. Those to me are the next quarterbacks in line and I would have Mack Jones fifth. Now, in terms of who I would take, well, I have, I have Tray Lance one spot ahead of Justin, but they're going to be afforded the luxury I don't have, which is to spend a ton of time with these two kids to see who they're most comfortable with. I don't know that there's a wrong decision between those two because the upside is so tremendous. And if I'm Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch, I want to take my offense from where it is and take it to new heights. And in order to do that, I've got to get somebody that can expand what we do. To me, that would be one of the

two options between those two guys. But everything we hear is everything points towards Mack Jones. And that's how I do mock drafts. And that's what you hear around the league is the expectation is that will be Mack Jones with the third pick, which I'll throw it back to you guys because Dan, I know you've heard this a million times. How many times you've heard the cliche of it's, you know, it's about the jimmies and Joe's, not the X's and O's. Well, this is a decision if they take Mac Jones that is the exact opposite. This is all about their offense and their system versus the talent of the player you're going to select. Isn't that what they say you shouldn't do, though? Are you supposed to take the best available player and all that? Yeah.

Yeah, I, that's what I would do. And that's how I was brought up with the Ravens way of doing business, but you look at a team like the, you know, Greg's team, you look at what happened in New England, they just draft players that fit them. And if they take a guy in the second round that the rest of the league thinks is a sixth round pick, they don't care because they feel like he fits what we do and he's going to be able to do what we ask him to do. So it's a little bit of that thought process. I don't agree with that. To me, I just want to get the most talented people and we're going to work around what they do and not be quite as married to everything that I've traditionally done. But that's how they operate. It's partly why. It's partly why,

I don't totally want to believe it. Like, I don't want to kill the 49ers for this pick or think about it until I see it. We still have another Justin Fields Pro Day. Trey Lance seems like he would be. I think they'll do one with Trey Lance too. Right. I think they'll, he would kind of be perfect in that system, especially for a, for a situation where maybe you play Jimmy Garoppolo for a year or see how that goes and you have

Trey Lans. You have four quarterbacks in your top eight. I mean, and Mac Jones is nowhere near that. Does that mean in at least the years you're doing this? This has to be the best quarterback class you've ever seen. I can't imagine you've ever had four quarterbacks in your top eight. It's not like you think Trey Lance and Justin Fields are interesting. You think they're two of the top eight players in this draft.

Yeah, I think they're really talented. I think all four of these guys at the top are tremendously talented. Now, it's a little bit of a different year, Greg, in that you look at some of the other positions. Like, we don't have, you know, the edge rushers that you would see, you know, typically eat up spots in the top 10. We don't have that this year. We've got some good corners and some good tackles, but in my opinion, the tackle group is not what it was last year with that group.

So those are the positions that usually secure spots in the top 10. And without those this year, to me, you look at it, you see a bunch of quarterbacks, you see a bunch of wide receivers. That's just kind of what this draft has given us. But yeah, I think these four quarterbacks in pretty much any draft year would be highly coveted because, again, the ceiling is so high because these guys are so athletic. and just big-time arm talent. So, yeah, to me, Mac is behind those guys, but if, you know, 49ers don't care what I think, they don't care what the other 31 teams think.

They're just trying to find the guy that best fits them, and everything you hear seems to be pointing towards Mac. So moving off the quarterbacks for a moment here. So you have right now Kyle Pitts, the Florida tight end, going at number five. And it seems like the way you wrote it up on NFL.com, if the Bengals don't take them at five, the Dolphins makes a lot of sense.

cents at six. And then he does that research. And I'll just name them right now. These are the first round tight ends in the last 10, 11 years. T.J. Hawkinson, Noah Fan, Hayden Hurst, O.J. Howard, Evan Ingram, David & Jokou, Eric Ebron, Tyler Eifert, Jermaine Gresham, who has taken 21 picks ahead of Grunk in 2010. The one thing they all have in common is none of those guys are stars. And I guess my question to you, DJ, with Pitts, a hot draft prospect and a unicorn and all that is like how come there's no can't miss tight ends or there hasn't been in a long time? Well, I would answer that a couple ways. First of all, if you're uncomfortable looking at that list of tight ends, fine.

Just put WR next to his name and draft Kyle Pitts as a wide receiver. You play him at wide receiver. You'd be happy with him at wide receiver as a top 15 type player. Second point I would make is I have a higher grade on him than all those tight ends that you mentioned. So to me, and it's not even close with where he is in terms of the talent that he has. And I would, the third point that I would make, and Cessler, I know you can probably back me up on this. And I know life has taken a terrible turn for this person. But if you go back and somebody wasn't doing popping wheelies in a strip mall parking lot as a tight end,

we wouldn't be talking about that type of impact of taking a tight end in the top 10. Because this kid is, to me, he's a better receiver and route runner than Kellyn Winslow. Callen Winslow, maybe a little bit better blocker. But he was, to me, he would have had a phenomenal career until everything went way off course. I mean, you remember that one season that Winslow had, and that's an interesting comparison. I have a little bit of an off-the-radar question for you. I just was thinking about this. You're in touch with everyone.

Have you had like a one-on-one phone conversation with Bill Belichick, or is that remained an untouchable territory for you? No, well, first of all, if I had, I mean, I'm sure I would not be allowed to divulge that I had, but honestly, I haven't. So the only talks I've ever had with Coach Belichick is when he's coming to the booth at the combine, usually to give Rich a check for St. Jude, and we visit a little bit. But that's about it. So I've been fortunate to make a lot of, you know, new friends and new contacts since they went over to the media side. But Coach Belichick is still, he's still outside of arms reach for me here. So I'm bummed about that one. But you're kind of wearing like a Belichick inspired outfit here, just like a t-shirt and like an open ended. Like, are you going to work out

later or what's going on here? You know, Ricky Schroeder, I don't. I don't know. I mean, do I go get a workout in later? Maybe. But I didn't cut the sleeves off. If I would have cut the sleeves off, maybe I could go with that. But, you know, look. Greg does have a stylist, by the way, just to clear that up. He doesn't even give you. I just want to remind Greg, I want to remind Greg of one thing, Dan, that structure has a 30-day return policy. So if the jacket doesn't feel great, you still have a few more days where you can return it. I was going to say, Greg. Classic DJ, uh, wholesome zinger there using a reference from like an 80s. sitcom that no one except DJ and his 27 children. He had a train that went around the family room. A great show, a great show. Greg wasn't even born then. Don't worry about it.

I call DJ the wholesome assassin for takedowns just like that. And he didn't even let you go with Ricky Schroeder, Greg, or Rick Schroeder, his NYPD Blue Days. He dinged down the Silver Spoons, Ricky Schroeder in the biggest of the house. Some of Alfonso Rivero's greatest work, by the way. This is not just like in America's Funniest home videos. Jason Bateman on that show is Ricky's best friends. started. Jason Bateman, correct. Yeah. All right. Let's move back into the 2020s. What

Mark, you got something else for DJ? I would look at, when you look at guys like a J.C. Horn and Asante Samuel Jr., are we, do these players get too much attention because they're legacies, their sons of great players? Or are they actually like, I am annoyed, for instance, when the Browns passed up on Clay Matthews and when they passed up on like J.J. Watts' brother, It's like, shouldn't something about their DNA tell us they're just going to be ready for action? And on top of it, if you were the son of a pro player, you know the life. Like, why does some of these teams pass up on what I think would be more home run prospects, or am I just out and left field with that concept?

Well, not to go back to the 80s before DJ answers, but you remember Jose Konseko? There was Ozzy Konseko, too. I know. It doesn't always work out. I would go father, son, more than maybe brother, brother. Okay, brothers. Gotcha. So I'm glad you guys brought that up because that,

Ozzie Konseko's name has come up in the draft room where we were talking about a player who had a successful brother or father. Can't remember exactly what it was. And somebody in the draft room was making the case, you know, it's a jeans, you know, this guy's got the jeans, da-da-da-da-da. And one of the other scouts in the room said, look, this guy's a little more Ozzy Konseco than he is Jose Kinseacho. And then another guy in the room piped up and said, yeah, this is more Randy Quaid than

Dennis Quaid. Let's not get carried away here. Although take no offense, Cousinetti was a great role. but I just think the acting chops is a little different. Yeah, that's there. That's fair. But you're a fan of these corners. You're a fan of these corners.

I like them. You got a right guy. Yeah. Look, if it's close, that can be something that's a tiebreaker between a couple of players because I know this guy's, he's just been taught how to be a professional. You know, since he was a kid, he's been around it. I think it's not specific just to football. You know, you see it in baseball with a lot of the great players who are sons.

I think you have Vladimir Carrero, Jr., you've got Tatis. you've got Bichette, you've got BGio, like there's all these sons of players now that are in the major leagues, and I think you see the same thing in the NFL. So these guys, to me, they've been around it, they'll be a pro. The other thing I would point out is I think it's fascinating. Some of the advice I've always tried to give young players, like high school players, going to college, is every year in the draft, we have a wide receiver list that's a million names long, and you're trying to cut off the list at some point time, like there's just a million of them.

And the DB list, the corner list, we're trying to create guys to push them up. So if you've got the option as a high school athlete, you're a five-star athlete, you've got a choice. Go play defense, man. It's an easier route to travel. If you're a big, tall, athletic kid, get out of that long line in the wide receiver group and go over to the corner group. And all these sons of athletes, you notice they're not dumb. They're not asking their kid to play wide receiver. Go play corner.

And we're seeing them come out in droves. that's why I'm teaching my son Walker at the beach he likes playing cornerback too I don't know if he's going to be tall get him in a pedal but he could be feisty he could be mean I mean his father didn't play but that's okay no that's okay I'm getting like a nekel roby coleman vibe here Greg I think that's what we're working with and that's great man let's do it I would take that you know nice NFL career help his dad retire that would be terrific. There's like a lot of small cornerbacks, wide receivers, rather,

in this class, too. I'm sort of struck by how maybe the same physical requirements aren't the same at the position. We know Devante Smith, but even Jamar Chase is a guy who is talked about as sort of a can't miss, I don't know about generational, but kind of the guy in this class.

And yet, he's not a guy necessarily that you think is big and tall. He's definitely strong or is definitely going to run like a fast 40. And really, this entire class, it seems like a lot. Like, how is that position and especially the top? How do you separate these guys when maybe they're not as physically dominant as some top receivers in the past? Yeah, it's a good point. I mean, and normally when you have guys go in the top

10, you're talking about some height, weight, speed guys, you know, big time, check all those boxes and prototype size. When you think of the Andre Johnson's, the Larry Fitzgeralds, the Calvin Johnsons, those type of players. And this year, we have a bunch of really good. receivers, but we don't have many of the big guys. I mean, even last year, you go back, you know, outside the first round, you saw Michael Pittman, we saw Claypool, you had T. Higgins. Like, we had MIMS. There was a bunch of those bigger power forward type receivers.

This year, it's more about speed and quickness. And Jemar Chase is unique to me because even though he's a six-footer, 200-pound guy, he plays big. Like, he goes up and gets the football, plays above the rim, and then you get the route running. and the run-after catch stuff that comes along with it. So while that's not traditionally what we see go in the top 10, to me, he's a little bit of an outlier in that regard, and he's going to come off the board real quick.

And then after him, you get kind of the debate between the Alabama guys with Waddle and Smith. You know, Smith, much is made about the frame. But to me, when you look at the way the game's played right now at the NFL level, with the lack of contact in the middle of the field, it's not as big of an issue. and people say, oh, how's he going to get off press? He's not a big, strong guy.

Well, you can't really get your hands on him either because he's so quick. He's a real sliddery type athlete. So there's not a lot of surface area to press. So I think he'll be fine. And then Waddle is somebody that's going to get over the top and somebody that's, he's the fastest guy in college football. So when you look at all the GPS numbers that the teams have,

in terms of wide receivers, I should say, his GPS numbers were at the top of the list. I have a little tiny one word question that will require a one word answer. Like when you grind through this tape at an impressive degree, is there one position group? Because I know when I've watched all 22 sometimes, I'm just being real here. It's like, I got to turn some music on because it will send me right into Dreamland if you're, if you allow it to go on for too long. Is there a position group that puts you to sleep more than any other where you're just saying this is not as enticing and engaging to watch? He only gets a one word answer on this.

Oh, wow. Well, I mean, I don't want to, you know, I don't know how long the segment is. You can answer as long as you want. DJ's time is valuable. He's going to start charging us per minute. it pretty soon. You're hilarious. For me, it's different for everybody.

Everybody has a different position that they don't enjoy. For me, it's safety. And really more so over the last 10 years, when you were first, when you first started scouting, I started in 2003, there was a little bit more of traditional offense in college. So you just had a better sense. You saw a lot more things developing down the field and you could see these guys read and react. Well, the college game now, you see so much RPO games.

You see so many slants and bubble screens that you can go through three games on a safety, and you're like, I don't know what this guy can do. He's 14 yards deep, and it's just a bunch of slants and bubble screens. And literally, you start rolling through these guys, and until I got the ability with the technology to be able to sort cut-ups where I can look at every play they're involved in. So instead of just watching three games, I can see every time they were kind of in the vicinity of the football over an entire season. It makes it easier, but it still feels like to give myself a,

I think this would be a 90s reference, maybe early 2000s. You remember the M&M video where there's just all the M&Ms, like, you know, walking around and stuff? The real slim shady, yeah. Yes, once you get outside the first two rounds and you start watching safeties, like after the seventh one, I'm like, what's the difference between this guy and the previous four guys that I just watched? It gets a little challenging.

That's fair. And thank you so much for your time, DJ. Before you go, I just want to know because you are the son of a preacher and you're the wholesome assassin and all that, but just be real with us. Would you rather go 32 for 32 in your mock or have Kuiper or McShay go O for 32? Just be honest. Oh, wow. You know what? I would say, I would, yeah, I would rather go 32 for 32.

But the real answer is I just don't care. I really don't care about the mock drafts. And people get so worked up about it. why I just kind of laugh, man. Like, I miss on players, and we can have fun with them all the time, of the guys that I miss on in terms of my evaluation. And, you know, okay, that's like, okay, I need to learn and get better from those mistakes.

But, like, mock drafts, whatever. Yeah. If you're listening to executives, like, that sounds like a guy that might be doing his last mock draft. That's the guy ready to the end of the challenge. I'm just saying. Executive. No, I'm turning to a pumpkin, man.

Once we get through with this draft, I'm not worried about mini-camps and sweating it, whether this guy picked in the first round is going to come in here and look like a bum. I'm going on vacation. Yeah, we won't see DJ until he's in the booth at the stadium in Englewood. All right, you can watch DJ and the entire 2021 NFL draft on NFL Network starting Thursday, April 29th at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Yeah, it hurts, but you made the show better, DJ. Thank you for joining us. I appreciate it. It's always great to be with you guys. And Greg, don't forget. It also comes with a coupon for Express with that, So get your white, something nice. Good to know.

I will. Thanks, DJ. There he goes. DJ, he said it all. Even though structure, they rebranded, and structure became express for men. But, you know, Greg, it was on his radar. Some of your style. Let's just put it that way.

Yeah, I always worry, you know, we're going to play some of that on the around the NFL broadcast. People should check out our show on Fridays as always. And, you know, I always wonder, like, how are those clothing, you know, insults going to pop on a podcast? But I guess it's just a sign that DJ doesn't really understand the medium, you know. He's not a podcaster. Well, maybe one day he will be. Yeah, that would be good. It definitely, we received a flurry of texts from Greg after about the whole thing.

So he was a little annoyed, I think. He can get under your skin a little bit, maybe, and vice versa. I'm not sure. maybe are you being serious not at all not we're not being serious at all yeah everything that we were discussing off the show is now part of this show

and I will say keep in mind that maybe DJ knows that referencing how you looked Greg won't play for the podcast because he's secretly trying to destroy our show yeah look at that too because he's the son of the preacher he's the wholesome assassin but he is a killer man

That's why he's the wholesome assassin. It's true. He's competitive, too. And that's why, you know, coming in, you know, second or third place behind us in terms of, like, audience at the NFL, it kills them year after year. It's why I think it's going to be his last year at the end of the NFL. Listen to Greg, sharpening the dagger is returning fire on DJ. I think it really did get to him a little bit. No, I think, you know, I can't, I'm, there's nothing I can add there to what Greg has just said.

I think it's, you know, he's explaining. It's so hard to get under gray skin. It really is. I can count a few times I've done it, but like, even if you do, he doesn't show it typically. I tend to think that DJ and I get along well because I'm of zero threat to him. That's how I start to see it. So maybe he feels threatened by all these other. Greg, the final words goes to you.

I think DJ sees me as a kindred, wholesome assassin spirit. You just started the show by telling me this. you bring your children to drug dens. Well, I didn't know it was going to be that way. The first Wesselmania or two was pretty taking in. Hey, Ricky, get in here. Get in here a second. Do you think, do you think DJ got under Greg's skin during that segment?

You know him well. You just did your Jeslnick Rosenthal Vanity Projects, a live show and everything. You know Greg very well. Yeah, yeah, he seems pretty, pretty agitated today. I'm not going to lie. I don't know if there's other stuff going on behind the scenes, but, you know, Greg, you do seem pretty uptight. Interesting.

Well, I'm in a new mood, too, Greg. So you're not, it's not just you, Greg. You know, I've noticed that as well, Mark. You seem pretty pissed off. What's up, guys? You don't know how to talk about it? You both seem really uptight. I don't know.

I mean, we don't have two more hours. to get into it so all right wow is it have anything to do with us mark yeah are you mad at dan and no no no no no no not no it doesn't not not our little group here not this foursome no okay great are you mad at dan and i it's the it's the force of no i'm not mad at anyone all right that's good okay that's good all right well i'm glad we settled that ah yeah all right we got to get uh get rolling our NFL Network hit is on every Thursday. Check it out on NFL Now with Andrew Siciliano or whoever is in that host chair. We do a live hit. And like Greg alluded to, NFL Network, we're back on Friday at a later time, actually, I believe. So check out your local listings

and please DVR the show. Give us support on that end of things. And of course, on this end of things, we haven't asked for this in a while. If you can leave some comments, some five-star ratings, that's always a big deal. We're trying to win a solely award what is it what's the award the sony award i think you're close you you bungling the name show after show kind of indicates it's not right on top of our uh a cyclops award i don't know the answer we're trying to win a cyclops that would be an awesome trose remember imagine if you won this ward and it was like a a head like a cyclops uh with a big eye like you know one of those characters ricky what is the name of the award one of the one of

those characters the synops synopses you don't know it either you don't know it either I want a cyclops this is making me feel better all right

good stuff yeah so make sure you check that out and then we'll be back Monday and remember yes we're going multi times a week two times a week with a podcast and then the network show

right now but we'll be five days a week draft week so look forward to that as well all right that's it everybody we're almost to the weekend but maybe take the rest of this day maybe we all drop off the radar we take a deep breath and we come back tomorrow for the network show feeling great that's a good plan all right this dan hans is signing off for quiet storm

the old boss ricky hollywood behind the virtual glass be good to each other everybody heat the call I'm not going to be able to be. In the heat of battle, your squad relies on you. Don't let them down. Unlock elite gaming tech at Lenovo.com. Dominate every match with next level speed, seamless streaming, and performance that won't quit. So you can push your gameplay beyond performance with Intel core ultra-processors.

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Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

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