NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Ranking the 2026 NFL Draft: Edge Rushers and Cornerbacks

Episode Date: April 15, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal and Ollie Connolly do a deep dive into the 2026 EDGE and cornerbacks Draft class. Find out where the guys think some of NFL Drafts top prospects including David Bailey, Rueben Bain Jr...., Cashius Howell, Jermod McCoy, Mansoor Delane and more could be selected in the Draft. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL offseason. This is where teams are built.
Starting point is 00:00:15 Free agency, combine, pro days, trades. Every move matters. From my draft boards and mock drafts to my vaunted top 101 free agents and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement. Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means. And who really.
Starting point is 00:00:30 really wins. Open your free IHeart radio app, search 40s and free agents and listen now. It's a tough sport. It's not for everybody. You've got to be a little sick to love this game and we've got some sickos. Welcome to NFL Daily where we'll decide today whether this defensive end class is top heavy. I'm Greg Rosenthal.
Starting point is 00:00:48 I'm joined by Ollie Connolly across in Manchester, England, and Dan Morgan, the Panthers GM was speaking on Tuesday. We're doing the GM press conference tour right And he said this edge class is a little top heavy for his liking. I don't know if that's what he's into or not. Do you agree, Ollie?
Starting point is 00:01:08 I think that there's real depth and talent in this class. I think it depends on what you're looking for. That's why I was a little surprise. I was like, first of all, we'll get into it. Is the top like elite elite and even the close guys to the top, is it that top heavy? But I heard that take and I thought, well, that was interesting. He might have been talking about the whole defensive line class in general, but I didn't really get that feeling from the trusted Daniel Jeremiah.
Starting point is 00:01:35 He thought this is a nice, deep class. I was curious what you thought, too. Yeah, I agree with DJ. I think it would not shock me. You take the top 12 guys. You throw them up in the air and it comes down in any order in three years. It is a really interesting position. And yes, we're going to talk about edges.
Starting point is 00:01:49 We're going to talk about cornerbacks. And we hit most of the other defensive positions, I think all the other defensive positions on a show. Ali and I did a couple weeks back. So check that out. But we'll hit the edges and the cornerbacks. Just before we get going at the top, it is interesting to think about with edges,
Starting point is 00:02:09 just as a position. How many of the good players in the league, we're drafted pretty late for such a premium position where it's like, you can't find a tackle late, you can't find a quarterback late. The other highest paid position has Nick Benito getting taken pretty late, Daniel Hunter, Max Crosby, of course, Trey Hendrickson,
Starting point is 00:02:28 Jared Verst, who was a defensive rookie of the year, got taken pretty late. Alex Highsmith was, was he a round three pick at the very least? Tully Poloto's, you know,
Starting point is 00:02:37 just got a huge contract. He was a relatively late pick. Herbig on the Steelers. Like, just a lot of guys. It's an interesting position that it seems hard for evaluators to know
Starting point is 00:02:48 who's going to become truly elite. That is true. I think if you go back through the Bob McGinn pieces that, you know, really take on heat during this part. the cycle where all the scouts come out and they kind of start juicing the conversation for people.
Starting point is 00:03:01 You go back through those and there's a shocking hit rate of guys ranked by the scouts from 13 to 16. That's like all the old pros in the league that aren't Miles Garrett or Will Anderson. And then there's this real amount of slop in the middle, usually from about 4 to 10. And a lot of that I think centers on being able to see a lot of the technical refinement of the position. It is difficult when you go through the college film. It's not fall in love with the guys who are doing a lot of the technical stuff that are they're going to be asked to do on Sundays. And really, just the best pass rushes, if you're looking for edge defenders, are guys
Starting point is 00:03:32 with elite physical traits. That's just the reality of the position. And then naturally from there, as you chase those traits, you're going to have a higher swing and misrate. Yeah. And, yeah, it's interesting to think about it. I immediately thought when you brought that up in terms of just a pure pass rush, or there's someone I'm really looking forward to hearing from you.
Starting point is 00:03:49 But let's actually start at the top of the edges. And initially, like the conversation, okay, is it Rubin Bain? is it David Bailey, but we happen to have on Ali Connolly, who writes the read optional. Everyone should subscribe. If you do subscribe, you would have been the first ones to see his report on Ruben Bain. And we talked about it briefly on the last show,
Starting point is 00:04:10 but Ali reported, you know, Bain was behind the wheel for an accident two years back now that resulted in the death of Destiny Betz, who was a college-age woman. And the police crash report at the time, stated that Bain, quote, operated his vehicle in a careless or negligent manner, no finding of criminal liability.
Starting point is 00:04:31 Eventually, this happens later, before she passes away, she was in a coma, and they find no finding of criminal liability. There was a second incident reported a year later that Ali did not report on, but it was interesting. I'm looking at ESPN. It's actually still there.
Starting point is 00:04:49 We're taping this on Tuesday, and like, Ali Connolly's report, crediting you as like the second. third highest thing in the stack. And I guess I'll start with this, because I do think we want to handle the bane off the field stuff. Then we'll get into the on-field stuff. Just like what led you to be reporting this now
Starting point is 00:05:09 when it's this weird story that everyone immediately after was like, the insiders say, oh, yeah, the teams knew about it. Yeah, we knew about it. But just no one had reported it. What led you to report it? Yeah, I can't speak to why other people chose not to report it. I understand there is a wave of fandom that is either player focused or from Miami that thinks I was kind of out to get Ruben Bain in some way to drop some salacious story before the draft.
Starting point is 00:05:34 That was not in any way the intent of the report. And honestly, it was quite the reverse that I really cannot abide in this part of draft season. When people start talking about off the field things, they just drop that into conversation. And you have no reckoning of what level of off the field concern. Is it just like people think there are quirky characters, is there a legal thing that's not being reported. There was no reporting about this at the time locally in Miami and hasn't come up previously.
Starting point is 00:05:58 And I was aware that people who cover the draft, people who cover teams, everyone in the league, was aware of this story, but it was not out there. So I just wanted to go and find at the source point what actually happened and what is this conversation that is going on that's being whispered and then being intimated on different shows that anyone having the relevant facts.
Starting point is 00:06:17 Yeah, and that makes sense. You're just doing the work The part, there's two parts I want to get into. One is like everyone pushed back immediately. This shouldn't affect his draft stock. Like, we'll see. The thing I would imagine teams would be concerned about, and you do allude to this and if you want to expound at all on the reporting, go for it.
Starting point is 00:06:40 But that they'd be concerned potentially whether Bain was transparent talking about these incidents, you know, when they've been speaking to them. Yeah, from what my reporting was talking to teams was trying to determine was this a pattern of behavior. As you mentioned, there was a second incident in 2025 after the initial crash that he had in 2024. Both of those he was cited for careless driving that were subsequently dropped. So I think teams are trying to find out how honest, how truthful, how forthcoming he would be with the second incident as much as the first one to see if there was a pattern of behavior, which I think is completely understandable, one from just risk assessment factor for those teams. and then we've had recent examples of James Pearce and Henry Ruggs. And I think it's something that's at the top of mind for some of these guys.
Starting point is 00:07:25 And when you're going through kind of the red flag stuff, it would be derelict, I think, not to sit down and talk with someone. And I do think trying to get to the transparency and the honesty, was this just a terrible, awful tragedy, which is what it appears to be? Or is there a pattern of behavior that we need to establish before we invest millions of dollars in a player? And to be clear, there was no field sobriety test administered. reportedly at either incident.
Starting point is 00:07:52 There were two crashes late night, and that's a good thing to remember about what's happened with some of these prospects previously in their accidents, and obviously it's a tragedy. The part of it that just doesn't feel right to me is just the weird media side, and I don't want to spend too much time on it. But you told me something after the, after,
Starting point is 00:08:14 and we can take this out if you want, about that you heard directly that a network or something was going to report on it like the second he got drafted. Tell me about that. Yeah, I can leave the audience to decide for themselves why they think that would be the case. But I had it confirmed by first alerted to by a team and that was in the report that there was concern that this thing might spiral on draft night, that they were aware that there was a report set to be released the night of the draft. They assumed it was going to be early in the draft and tried to force and embarrass a Laramie Tunsell type situation. That was the team's perspective. When I then followed that lead, it was revealed to me,
Starting point is 00:08:57 and I've confirmed subsequently that the plan was to have that dropped as Ruben Bain was selected. So once he was selected, that report would then be released, which I thought would then lead to a real scramble of people not having access to facts, not having access to information, and it would be the classic runaway internet trade of innuendo and concern and confusion about what's going on and the potential that maybe there is other stuff to come out in that report too. So my editorial judgment was that it would be better to get all the facts out that I had access to before the draft comfortably before the draft rather than that happened on draft night. Plus like facts are good. Like the truth is good. That is the point of doing reporting and it's
Starting point is 00:09:41 not your first role, although, you know, you do right for the Guardian. You've had that role before, and you do some reporting at the read optional. It's mostly just getting into the X's and O's. But that's the disconnect I have with like, how can people be mad when, when things are just being reported? All right. So that's out there. That's Ruben Bain. And he's a fascinating prospect because he was in the center of this football season right until the very end. And there's so much talk about his arm length, of course. He's a very unique, strong, like, exciting player. He's right there at the top of this draft in terms of potentially being the top edge prospect.
Starting point is 00:10:21 I think the expectation is he will go behind the Ohio State linebackers and behind David Bailey. But I guess I wanted to start with Bain as a prospect, because when you just look at the production, NGS, Next Gen Stats, did like a production. score of the last five or six years at the position. And it was fascinating to see both David Bailey, who's going to get taken early in this draft, Texas Tech, and Rubin Bain at the very top. And the other players on the list are Will Anderson, I think, was number one. Bailey was two. Abdul Carter was three.
Starting point is 00:10:57 Then it was Bain and then it was Aidan Hutchinson. And so these guys were incredibly productive players. When you kind of look at the two of them, when you're sorting out what you're, you would want as a pro. Like, I guess talk to me about how you sorted Bain and Bailey specifically. Yeah, I have a few guys clumped together as quality starters. I have Bain as my number one guy. I think it's just picking the flavor and style of Rishy.
Starting point is 00:11:22 I look at Ruben Bain and I think he reminds me a lot of Brandon Graham. It's kind of a short, stocky, square type build, all kinds of power, a good getoff, but not an elite getoff and doesn't have that bend that you usually see at the top of the arc from the really tier one elite ed. to me, he forms more of what would be your pass-fresh plan and someone like a Jared verse where there's real knockback power and they can win a lot of one-on-ones that way, but they're better as part of a collective
Starting point is 00:11:49 and his skill set can be maximized in that way, rather than it's being one, the tier one, get off and go, win every single one-on-one match up the way the truly great ones do in the league. And maybe Bailey, who we'll get to in a minute, has a better chance of being that higher ceiling guy, but if I'm picking up whether you're putting down on Bain, and this is sort of my experience with it, with him watching,
Starting point is 00:12:13 it does feel like the floor, and I hate that phrase, is pretty high for him. It's hard to imagine him not being like a solid NFL starter at worse. Like what did you like most just watching him snap after snap? Yeah, this is the tenacity, the force,
Starting point is 00:12:31 the physicality. I think in the run game, he's just incredible. He destroys blocks. like no one else in college football. And in the pass-risk game, it really is these stunts, these twists, who is willing to turn themselves over to the scheme, just throw themselves through someone's face to have someone else feast
Starting point is 00:12:46 and have something pop. And if you get yourself into the mindset of, we're not going to go and find Miles Garrett or Michael Parsons in this draft. But who is going to make a true pasturish plan sing the most? I just think Bain has, you can call it floor if you would like. I think he's just a relentless player with real knockback physicality. players are not easy to find where that power translates up to the next level. Derek versus a little bit of an outlier in terms of just pure power rushes
Starting point is 00:13:13 translating up and carrying that power up against someone like Trump Williams up against the great tackles. I think Bain has a chance to do that. I mean, I immediately just think and it matches up with the draft. He's such a New Orleans saint style player. So explain that to the listeners like how he is the same because they do, they love a, I do too. I think if I hate this is where I'd be most like Mickey Loomis. I love me like a strong just overpowering defensive end. Maybe it doesn't have all the moves in the world, but you kind of know what you're getting,
Starting point is 00:13:44 just pushing that pocket back. Yeah, they love those heavy ends, some inside outside flexibility. I think Bain is so incredibly intelligent as a pass rift for two. And usually the players who are kind of out to in, mash someone through the face, that kind of is the only tool they have in their bag. I think his just understanding of what's happening in the run game,
Starting point is 00:14:01 his understanding of how to tie things together, when is the right time to attack, when is not the right time to attack. He just operates on a different level than most guys you see in college. I think you see it when you watch all the biggest moments, key third down, playoff runs. The guy who was kind of just taking over the game
Starting point is 00:14:17 and collapsing things over and over again is Ruben Bain. Sometimes the other guys make the play. Sometimes he's just folding a garden and someone else can kind of clean up from the debris, but the guy who's really impacting the pocket on a consistent basis of Ruben Bain. And that's why the arm length conversation, which I feel like has died off a little bit, which I think is healthy, makes sense
Starting point is 00:14:37 to me. It'd be one thing if you're trying to compare him to an elite elite prospect, even if, even if Aiden Hutchinson was in this draft or something, but they're not in this draft because you didn't necessarily see the arm length impede him in any way at the college level. It felt like, or maybe you disagree. It felt like he had already figured out how to work through that issue. Like, are you worried about that issue? I'm not worried about that issue in terms being impactful. I think that that is really a conversation if the, you know, the, the parliots would be, does he win first contact? He's just making initial contact first. That is more difficult to do because of us to have shorter arms. That's just the reality. But I think when everyone has
Starting point is 00:15:14 enormous arms on the line in the league, that really only showed up for him though when it was finishing the play. So it's when he's getting near the quarterback. He will reach out to try and attack the ball. He just can't quite get there. I mean, it happens over and over and over again. And he just can't quite finish once he has the advantage. And that's frustrating. But if he could finish those plays is where he would be in that tier one conversation. If you can follow my logic, he's just really disruptive. And I think disruption is slightly undervalued for just the payoff of sack production.
Starting point is 00:15:44 So you're saying you can see plays where he's just literally like if he just had a couple extra inches on his arm that you think he gets to play. There are tens, tens, 20s of them, particularly when it comes to knocking down passes, which is something that the league is. now absolutely obsessed with. They consider that that it's just like a zero on the play sheet. It's similar to a sack that happened at the, you know, two yards into the backfield. They care about it so deeply. There are so many ways. Truly, if he had like an inch on his fingers, he would be even more disruptive.
Starting point is 00:16:15 I would just always bet on the disruptive guy. There's other players on the field that can mop it up if you just collapse the pocket and turn it into chaos in the backfield. And I just think he generates way more chaos than anyone else in this class. Yeah. And I just think in this class, he obviously plays a premium position. The style of play ultimately would have him getting drafted in the top 10, 12, maybe at the max, because it's just not like a deep class of top end talents.
Starting point is 00:16:44 I guess now that you've sat with it a couple days and reactions, I'm sure you've heard from a lot of people since you did your reporting, you know, the loss of life and the danger that he put everyone in, it sounds like multiple times is obviously like the biggest part of this story. But when it comes to how teams are going to look at him, do you have an opinion if you think like it's going to make a difference in terms of where he gets selected? I've spoken to multiple teams who are uncomfortable with the answers,
Starting point is 00:17:14 which I think you've discussed before. They had had access to this information for years. So it was sitting down with the person to find out are they comfortable with the responses to the questions and they were not. I think it's more of a risk-manage. management thing where they're looking on their sheet with their flag saying historical outlier in terms of the arm length you mentioned and we don't love the answers to some of these questions. So it's just not worth the risk to us and we'd just be more comfortable taking
Starting point is 00:17:40 someone else we would consider safer. I don't think it's going to then dramatically change the range he would go and I think he was always going to go probably from the seventh pick to the 12th pick and I would still put 12 as the floor. Well 12 is the Dallas Cowboys. As you were talking I immediately just thought like, well, he's not going to get past the Cowboys. So what are we talking about that I think it could be wrong, but I would think Jerry Jones would take him. Let's talk David Bailey then. Um, because it's interesting. You don't have him in that elite tier. You do have him behind Bain. I don't know like who else is in that tier. You can, you can tell me. But, you know, he is the guy that you turn on the tape and, and is most obviously special in terms of his
Starting point is 00:18:25 best trait, which is just the get-off the line of scrimmage, which is really special. So knowing, unless you disagree with that, why, when that's the case, is he not in that, in the elite tier? No, I agree with that. He has probably the best get-off of any player in the last decade. He truly rips off the out of the stance, like few people you will ever see play the position. He is essentially a carbon copy if he hits at the apex of what he could be. it's just Nick Benito again.
Starting point is 00:18:57 And that would be kind of a high-end outcome is we get Nick Benito, which is light against the run. You live with some of the downside stuff. It's only really one or two moves to get to the quarterback. But when it hits, the play is just instantly over. It's so fast. I mean, he has a... That's the slide tackle one.
Starting point is 00:19:15 I enjoy that one. That's when he slide tackles the quarterback. Yeah. And, you know, sometimes when they tried to chip them, and it just all happens. fast it just the play just cannot happen. Now, I think you could lightly criticize that he absolutely destroys bad competition, at least from what I saw. Against the better competition, I think he was still effective. And maybe that informs kind of where you're putting him. I don't think he was
Starting point is 00:19:42 ineffective, but maybe not as dominant. Then again, you can, you can kind of say that for, for maybe everyone, except for the tippy top elite guys. Yeah, I think it's vet criticism. I would also say that he turned guys who are going to get drafted late on day two and early on day three, he made them look like they shouldn't even be on the field. So the only, the times where he struggles, it's really in the run game.
Starting point is 00:20:05 And he has all kinds of effort and motor. He just gets crushed off the ball over and over again. And the BYU game was really telling because they just designed their offensive game plan around David Bailey, who might be the second pick in the draft. And they said, we are putting big bodies on the field
Starting point is 00:20:20 and we are doubling to David Bailey every single time. It will get after him in the first. the run game, it will slow down the getoff in the passing game. And with where the league is at right now, with all the heavy personnel, all the 12 personnel, all the 13 personnel, the extra lineman, you are really just living with hoping on the high end upside that he can just about survive in the run game. Otherwise, you're drafting second overall a sub-package pass rusher. Yeah, and I guess, I guess that explains sort of why you put him, where you put him. There is a
Starting point is 00:20:48 downside. It's hard to imagine him getting out of the top six. five, four even, well, I don't know, it could happen. Where would you like, like, where do you think he would fit best if you're David Bailey's agent? Obviously, you want to make the most amount of money, but also just thinking about the fit, the team and everything. Do you think there's a best outcome for him where he could fit well? Honestly, I think he's completely scheme independent because it's just that skill set. And do you value the skill set? How much do you value get off and burst? And I think he can convert some speed to power as well.
Starting point is 00:21:25 There's a really nasty spin move that he has, but he's kind of a pretty simple, defined player that I think every team of league would be able to find a way to weaponize that. It would be really fun to have him in more of a moving, morphing, defensive front where you could mug up a whole bunch of players, you're not sure what to do with David Bailey.
Starting point is 00:21:43 I do get a little bit concerned if he's just in one of these four down and go teams, if he went to the Titans, if he went to a team who just wants to say, it's four pass rushes and it's waves of pass rushes does he have the nuance in his game be able to beat up on good tackles over and over again,
Starting point is 00:21:58 the way the likes of Will Anderson, Daniel Hunter do. But if you've got him to one side of a tackle and someone mugged up inside and it's this kind of two-on-one conflict and if you're wrong, it's lights out. I mean, no one's getting off the ball as quick as the guy.
Starting point is 00:22:10 So that is where I think you could really get to one of those, can you get 12, 13 special type sack production situations. And it sounds strange to say about, you know, an edge. But like the times when he was in space.
Starting point is 00:22:24 I think like you can imagine him taking down some mobile quarterbacks that most like edges just could not. I was, I was impressed by that. I could just imagine like a very simple minded scout, which I guess I would be just being like, wow, you don't, you don't see that too much that like he is athletic enough to like bring down some guys in space in a pretty special way. Yeah, I mean, he is just a different caliber of athlete. He's not the smoothest.
Starting point is 00:22:52 he doesn't have true dip and bend, I think is where people would look at him and be lower on him. He is a straight line ripper. And then once he's kind of out of the stance and the play breaks down, he again can just kind of turn, rotate and rip it once again. So I think the Nick Benito one is the high end upside. And he played in a system where early on, it's a lot of mugged up attack-based looks and he's just one of the guys with the crazy speed off the ball. Then he refined his game and his craft over time.
Starting point is 00:23:19 There is some concern about how invested is he in that side of it. does he really want to refine and work on the game or is this just who he'll be for six, seven, eight years and he winds up being this kind of pass rush mercenary who's on your 101 list every single season at like 48 or something like that. But even that to me is a pretty solid outcome. He has one of the most difficult to find commodities
Starting point is 00:23:40 in all of the league, right? We should just get off the ball as a pass rusher. Right. I mentioned on our mailbag episode, they asked for some of the favorite prospects we ever scouted. Robert Quinn was one of them. and like that that's a guy just was fun to watch get off the ball. All right, let's get to like the next, maybe it's not the next tier of your guys,
Starting point is 00:24:00 but I guess my question to you is like, like are Akeem Medit, Messador and Cassius Howell, just like the weirdest prospects in the draft? They're both so unique to me and really fascinating to see where they go. What is it that you find unique about Cassius Howell? Well, he just seems like a pass rush savant, I mean, he's got a lot of juice.
Starting point is 00:24:23 You said teams want to, like, draft a pass rusher. Like, if that's what gets you drafted high, I feel like I don't know where he's going to get drafted, but he could be very high, but he's got the arm length problem. He might not be an every down player, but, man, he's got a lot of talent. I think he's as talented a pass rusher, just pure, like the pure package as anyone else. Straight pass rush, he's the best in the class. Okay. I truly believe that he is a pass first genius.
Starting point is 00:24:50 in terms of tying the moves together, setting things up over the course of a game, how he's able to get guys off balance than attack once there's an opening. I think there's just nobody quite moves like him with the speed, bend and burst off the ball in this class. It really is just, is he a specialist, and that's what he does, and how valuable is that to you,
Starting point is 00:25:09 versus can he live and survive on some of the early down stuff? At least with David Bailey, there is real effort and compete. It's just not a skill set for him. Cash is hell, it's a little bit more. I'm not as invested in having to throw my face into the fire to play against the run. I'll try and backdoor things. I'll try and undercut. There'll be some splash plate TFL stuff,
Starting point is 00:25:29 but you can just run him off the ball when he's lined up on the line of scrimmage. Maybe that explains why the consensus board has him at 33. I guess that's why I put him in one of the more fascinating players because you just said you think he's the best past researcher in the draft and he's not in the top 30 in the consensus board. So that immediately to me is intriguing. do with a player like that? It's tough.
Starting point is 00:25:54 It's with where the league is trending right now, I do think people are going to be caught in between. Are we kind of chasing the trend of where we're heading of heavier personnel? There's more rundowns. Everyone's running the ball more consistently. Where do we find a way to get this guy on the field to hide him in the run game so that we can uncork this pass rush potential later in the down? He strikes me as those teams who just let four pass rushes fly off the ball over and over
Starting point is 00:26:19 and they bring these guys in waves and rotations, that he's just the first one off the bench that everyone's fired up about. You kick someone else inside, he plays off the edge, and he just beats up on people one-on-one on the perimeter. Yeah, maybe, well, we always think how Nick Herbig should play more for those Steelers.
Starting point is 00:26:36 But maybe similar to that. I was going to say, do you have someone that's making his NFL career work, but never really got over the run-game deficiencies that you think Howell might have? I'm glad you mentioned Herbig. Herbig was the guy who came to mind for me with him too, where it's like not just like good pass rush, but like there's truly like an operating system that is the streaks ahead of where you should be in college. Being able to win inside, outside,
Starting point is 00:27:03 competitive enough to win through someone's face as all the different moves you'd have want. At times just seems like he's toying and having fun. He's like, I'm just going to try this because I can do stuff. No one else can even consider a bit of Daniel Hunter in that sense of the inventiveness of how he wins. but there is such a downside in the run game. Herbig, I think, is more in that Bailey mold of this competitiveness. He competes. He just didn't fit what Tomlin wanted. Howells is a bit more.
Starting point is 00:27:28 I'm not about that life. I get that, and I think it's a good question. Ask how do teams value that? But Adafioi just got $100 million. I feel like in this draft, like a pass-rush genius with some big deficiencies is more interesting as a top 15, 20 player than a lot of the other players
Starting point is 00:27:51 that are getting taken then. It is. I think the question is whether the genius translates when a lot of the linemen of geniuses too in the league. You've got to go against Lane Johnson. How much can your genius take over if you lack some of the physical tools to enact some of the way that your brain is thinking?
Starting point is 00:28:07 He really does have shorter arms and his show up on film a lot more than Ruben Baines does because he's doing a lot of the hand-fighting, a lot of the creativity. it's not just full throttle, you know, launching yourself into the frame of the lineman. So when you're playing that style and you'll play more the intelligent way, you also have to have the ability to go and win the initial phase of the rep. And as that goes up to the next level and you're seeing Laramie Tunsell,
Starting point is 00:28:31 then Trump Williams, then Lane Johnson, that gets offset a little bit where I think those concerns could show up. Okay, Akeem Messador, so he is 21st on the consensus board. Although, I don't know about the consensus this year. I feel like after the top 15 or so, I just wouldn't be surprised by a lot that's going to go on. And Messador was in that bucket to me with Howell, just as a weird prospect because he's older, because he was playing defensive tackle,
Starting point is 00:29:01 weighed a ton more before he was as an edge for Miami. He has a lot of moves. I've fallen for these guys in the past as a Raku, Liatu Latu who I think are both going to be good pros I don't think they're misses in either way
Starting point is 00:29:20 and I think they're getting better where he's just got a lot going on he's kind of a funky player to me he is a funky play he's also got a number of injuries all of them around his feet so you've got the health concerns
Starting point is 00:29:32 plus the age concerns is where you start to worry about what would you invest in his 15 too high is it more in the 20s type range that's fair Did you, in the end, put Messador and Howell, like, in that same group with Bailey? Like, where did you land on Messador, especially?
Starting point is 00:29:51 I have Howell a tier below, just because I do worry that he's a sub-package type specialist. Messador I have in that same tier as a good starter with Bailey and Bain. I think that he is as good as it gets and kind of stacking and shedding the point of attack. The pass-rish moves are absolutely off the scale. I mean, he has every single thing in the back you could ever won. It's not quite as inventive as cash as hell we were describing before. It's a little bit more slotted in
Starting point is 00:30:17 and mundane in what he's doing, but it's every single tool you could ever want. He's definitely got better dip and burst than the majority of the guys in the class. He really can crank it around the corner. And so you've got first step quick, you've got speed bend burst type pass rusher. I think the question for teams is going to be,
Starting point is 00:30:33 well, was he an overdeveloped player for the age and the volume of plays he'd played before compared to the competition he was facing? Does this stuff really translate to the next level? Also, was he getting, I know he's an edge, but so maybe it doesn't make as much sense. But man, they just seemed well coached.
Starting point is 00:30:49 We're going to talk about Kianti Scott in a minute. It was also an older prospect at slot. And it's just, do you almost take off a little juice from the whole Miami team? Because they seemed like they were just like a well-coached group. It is interesting because I would say with Bain and Messador, they both have very good first step springs. I wouldn't say it's truly elite,
Starting point is 00:31:11 but their snap timing is as dialed in as you'll ever find a group. And then their understanding of what they're going to face, how teams are going to set up, what the best move is at a certain moment. It's rare.
Starting point is 00:31:23 I can't think of a combination like that. Maybe Shane Ray and Michael Sam a few years back where they dialed in as a tandem on how to attack people. But Jason Taylor, I mean, I know he probably never wants to leave Miami. But if I was a head coach in the league right now, I would just pick up the phone
Starting point is 00:31:38 and drop whatever bag was necessary. to Jason Taylor. He can tell me whether to draft the guys or not. They were so well coached. It's not even funny. Taking away the speed on the back end, the overall talent, the team, just how it was kind of pieced together as a puzzle
Starting point is 00:31:52 as a collective and their individual stuff too. It was a remarkable coaching job. So he is their defensive line coach at Miami, right? Just for perspective for everyone. The Hall of Fame player with the Dolphins. I mean, it always doesn't translate like that, but man, he was such an intelligent player and he has turned apparently into a really intelligent coach.
Starting point is 00:32:13 That's a really nice wrinkle. I'm Luke Wilson. Join me each week for Film Never Lies. Since retiring from the NFL, I've had a lot of my mind and now got my own show. So if you're tired of lazy takes, if you want honest conversations, join us each week. Film Never Lies available on all TSN platforms in the IHeartRadio app. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal.
Starting point is 00:32:35 And this is 40s and free agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stopped. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg, free agency, the combine, the NFL draft, pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits.
Starting point is 00:33:00 To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions, included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. All right. The rest of the edge class, who do you like versus consensus? I'm just going to list some of the players that are kind of in this late first second round tier. Keldrick Falk from Auburn, who might be more of an interior player, but we'll put him in this bucket.
Starting point is 00:33:48 We didn't put him with the defensive tackles. His consensus board is around 20th. T.J. Parker from Clemson, seen him mock to the Patriots a little bit. He's 28th on the contentious board. Malachi Lawrence from UCF, 43 on the consensus board. Not a ton of snaps there, but I feel like getting a little buzz. and Thomas is another guy. Out of this class,
Starting point is 00:34:11 are there guys that you liked versus consensus? Yeah, Malachi Lawrence, I really like. I understand what you're saying about the limited number of snaps, but within those snaps, I think I haven't graded out similar to Bailey and Bain. He's got the plus length.
Starting point is 00:34:27 He's got crazy juice off the ball for the size that he plays at. He can really slink and fire around the arc. So he's got more dip than Bailey. The get-off is not quite at Bailey's level, but it's pretty damn elite for the league levels. He's got a lot of, like, technical failings, and he can be slow to get off sometimes because of the technical side,
Starting point is 00:34:45 but the actual burst when it's timed up well is extraordinary. He's got better feel in terms of the hand-to-hand combat than David Bailey does. He's just kind of a one-move, two-move-type player. Lawrence has got way more in the bag, and he was asked to play around the formation and play some inside, so it wasn't given the freedom, just kind of fly off the ball the way the Texas Tech players were. So there was some kind of schematic confine.
Starting point is 00:35:07 into him being able to just say, here's 300 reps in the season, just fly off from a wider alignment and go beat him on people one-on-one. I think in three, four years, I really do think he's going to be the guy who was the most impactful from the group. Ooh. So that's bold.
Starting point is 00:35:24 And look, the lack of snaps at edge didn't really hurt Jalen Walker. I know it's a different profile from UCF for Malachi Lawrence. He's 6-4-253, so yes, similar size to Bailey. I mean, Bailey looks big too, but both of them, but especially Lawrence, like he just looks bigger than his size. He looks like a guy who will hold up fine at the NFL level. It is more than athletic enough despite, you know, playing at a lower level of college. Yeah, I would say that
Starting point is 00:35:51 Bailey is blurrier. It's just all happens so quick. You can't even keep up with how fast he's moving. Lawrence, I think, plays a little bit more in control. It reminds me a lot of Matthew Judon, where it's both his explosiveness as Ben, but really the secret source is what he can. in being able to navigate and move through space, throw guys off kilter, then snap back inside. He is by far the best chase down guy in the scramble drill in this class.
Starting point is 00:36:16 And the volume of sacks in the league now that it's a second phase, someone's bouncing around, you've got to go make a play. He has the best pass-risk radar to me, if anyone in this group. So if he had played for that Texas Tech team, I think the production would have been pretty similar. That's a fascinating one.
Starting point is 00:36:31 You talked to a lot of people in the league. Do you think others share this? opinion and that he'll go a little higher. I think what teams are trying to figure out is they want him so desperately. I think 15 is where it starts. And they're trying to piece together. Can they move back and get picks while still getting the guy they want? Are they going to be forced to decide?
Starting point is 00:36:52 They're going to take a guy early than maybe they would have wanted to. But really, they would struggle to sleep that night if they didn't come away from the first round with Malachi Lawrence. Wow. And so you're saying that specifically about Lawrence. If I'm listening to this, because I'm not into this, but, you know, they, you know, they do those, they do the over-unders on where guys are getting taken. Like, you know, you heard it.
Starting point is 00:37:14 You heard it here. Before Schrager is saying this, like, the day before the draft, you heard it on NFL Daily first. Keldrick Falk is an interesting guy. I know enough to know that he might answer the question, like a guy you were lower on consensus then of the rest of these prospects. Like, why are you not a fan? because he was a guy that came into the year
Starting point is 00:37:37 with like a lot of hype, big, big player, not necessarily a pass rusher. I guess he would, in the perfect world, he'd be kind of, I don't know what would he be, like a three, four end in a perfect world? Yeah, three, four end or playing outside, heavy end on early downs to those forward down teams, then you put him inside to kind of beat up on guards
Starting point is 00:37:56 on the passing downs. He just really slow off the ball. In fact, everything he does is pretty slow. Now, there are flashes. You'll show some in the clips here when it's really all time to, and you see the real special talent, and he's incredibly young. And so if you're looking through the draft board, in that middle band range, it's a lot of
Starting point is 00:38:13 the specialists we talked about. It's Cassius Howell, it's Arn Mason Thomas. This is just pure pass for a sizzle. Falk does have the potential, I think, over time to be more of that every down player, just being able to find a spot anywhere in the front where he can maybe go and cook someone. So if you're betting on long-term upside, I can see why teams would buy into the fact they can kind of refine some of the skill set. I just think everything he does is too slow.
Starting point is 00:38:36 I think too slow off the ball, too slow to decide what to happen when he's about to engage with someone. And for a height, weight speed guy, you would just love every once in a while to take over a game with sheer ferocity, run through someone's face. You're playing Missouri. It's a bad tackle. I'm just going to go dominate this quarter until they've got to send extra help.
Starting point is 00:38:55 And it just doesn't happen. Yeah, that to me is such a test. when you're watching the All-22 during the season of these teams and some team is on their third tackle, I do, when I'm watching those games, I do like to watch who's facing them because sometimes it's like a mid-tier starter.
Starting point is 00:39:17 It's their job to win that matchup, you know, consistently. And they usually do. And it's like, okay, that kind of helps to make me feel like you are worthy of being the mid-tier starter because you have to take advantage when you have those mismatches and maybe you're saying Falk isn't necessarily going to do that. Yeah, and in his defense, he played in specific techniques,
Starting point is 00:39:37 which didn't really allow him to play at the speed and tempo you would want him to do. And there are glimpses of him doing that kind of stuff, just purely on the edge and winning with some speed and aggression into contact. It's just really flashes compared to where he was considered, one, coming into the end, and then two at the start of the draft cycle. I mean, this is a guy who was mocked going in the top five, top 10, and I think it slowly come down. I think Schrager in the recent mock draft he put out was like he's not in the first round
Starting point is 00:40:03 conversation. Shregers pretty damn good at targeting who's going in the first and who's not, whether the teams are correct or not. And I think that lakness off the ball, a guy who wants to play as a technician when they have the profile of just taking over as a physical type player, I think gives teams a lot of pause. I always feel bad for the guys that kind of the draft net community kind of got wrong in the in because I don't know if the NFL was ever that high on him or not.
Starting point is 00:40:30 And then you're on draft day and he's viewed as some huge faller. Whereas like, if he had just been in the low 40s the whole time, you know, we wouldn't have to spend all our time doing that. Give me a later round, beloved, I'll call it, before we move on to the cornerbacks. If you have an edge that you like and just want to say, I know you probably could go on a bunch of guys. And you could go on a third round pick, just for anyone that you want to talk about that we haven't hit so far.
Starting point is 00:40:56 There are so many in this class. Okay, just rip them off quick then before you get to your favorite. Jay Sean Barham, I adore. More of a joker type move piece, play around all the formation, play some linebacker, play some edge. I adore Jay Sean Barham. The other guy I would highlight is Keirang Crawford, who was Kelderick Fult's teammate at Orban,
Starting point is 00:41:13 who was the guy making all the plays. And is the guy that they built, it's a really exotic, aggressive type defense, and everything that they built was around Keirang Crawford, who's only played for, I believe, five years. of football. They did not build their kind of creative stuff around Keldrick Folk, who at that time was projected to be the second or third overall pick in the draft. And he has real juice off the ball. Another guy where there are questions about what can he do in the run game, can he kind of
Starting point is 00:41:42 stand and clang and bang down the trenches. But as a move piece, kind of a mugged up threat playing all over the formation, I think he can be really impactful. He is excellent in coverage. And most these guys who are more of the move pieces are really just kind of attack-based players. It's all forward movement. It's, hey, they can play over a guard. They can play outside the tackle and really get after it in the pass-rush game. Very few of them have shown real coverage chops and Kieran Crawford has. So if you told me he was playing for Brian Flores next season, I would have a sneaky
Starting point is 00:42:11 feeling for like the highest volume of rookie splash plays from the edge group would come from Kieran Crawford. I love that. He's projected to be about a third round pick. We'll see. Yeah, maybe he'll be out there like him in Van Gogh. just ripping off screen passes for touchdowns and coverage. That would be fun to watch.
Starting point is 00:42:29 All right, let's go to the cornerbacks. It's a class where some consensus has formed around Mansour Delane and Germad McCoy as the top two guys. Everyone should check out our 40s in Free Agents episode from this week as me, Mina Kimes, and Daniel Jeremiah. And she had McCoy as one of her, Mina did, as one of her favorite players in the draft. awesome 2024 tape missed 2025 with a torn ACL. Let's say you're the GM, Ollie, and this is I think where it's all leading to. That's why we're, you know, you're on short-term contracts here with NFL Daily, because we might just lose you.
Starting point is 00:43:05 You're like Doc Rivers when he joined the Bill Simmons podcast. An owner, you tried to scout it out, but ultimately you did a bad job, and it's not a good owner. He is putting his thumb on the scale in a way. way that you didn't think was going to happen. And he barges into the draft room a couple picks ahead of where you're going to go. And he's just sick of you guys getting killed in the secondary. He says, you have to take a cornerback. You have like the ninth or tenth pick. It's maybe even too early compared to where you want, but you have to take a cornerback. Who are you taking? It depends on the flavor that I like. Well, it's your team. In this, in this world, it's,
Starting point is 00:43:46 you know, they're kind of in theory running a scheme that you like. There's some good synchronicity with the coaches. Mansour Delane is more of my vibe of player. Okay. But I think Jermab McCoy is slightly more talented. And it would be really hard to sleep having passed on Jemab McCoy. So that's your answer? Because you've got to make a decision.
Starting point is 00:44:07 I would take Mansour Delane. There's some kind of like help with the risk and the injury concerns. But it might wind up getting me fired in three years where Jemob McCoy is the most explosive playmaker on the back end in the NFL. and I've got a pretty like solid player. Valuable context, and I'm glad you did answer it, but you gave the context. Okay, then why do you see McCoy as that exciting? Like what is the potential for him, assuming he comes back and he's looking healthy?
Starting point is 00:44:37 He did do some workouts, you know, he missed the season at Tennessee, but got healthy enough to run a 40 and work out at the pro day. Yeah, he's incredibly explosive, really physical when he's up in press man coverage. I think his best work, though, comes off the ball, triggering and closing from depth. It's a zone heavy league now, and his best stuff are just scanning it off coverage, breaking underneath, and then he has really rare ball skills. It's just tough to find guys who can go and play the ball in the air the way that he does. And so if you're looking for one of those more playmakery types where they could be a little bit more volatile,
Starting point is 00:45:11 McCoy is just a guy who makes plays that he has no business making. So, Mina comped him a little bit to... Unless I'm mixing it up to Stefan Gilmore. Yep. But with maybe even, I mean, not like Stefan Gimler didn't have good ball skills. I mean, he helped win a Super Bowl with him. But do you have, do you have someone that he kind of reminds you of a little bit? I think Gilmore one's pretty good, I would say, where it's a tough physical pressman
Starting point is 00:45:37 corner who will kind of batter guys up throughout the rep. I think McCoy is just more athletic in the air. He can really go up and get it and twist and contort. His eyes work at a ridiculous speed. when he's in off coverage. I think Gilmore was more of a press-only type player. There's a bit more versatility with McCoy's game. People, I think, prefer him as a truly bump and run-type guy,
Starting point is 00:46:00 follow people all over the formation. I kind of prefer him playing off, being instinctual, going and driving down the ball from depth. But he has that versatility, and it's usually you get one or the other. It's usually you get Stefan Gilmore. It's like, what a great press cover corner we have. Zone off coverage, reading and reacting to the game.
Starting point is 00:46:17 He's not quite on that level. So that to me is really the special thing about Jamop McCoy, and I would be pretty stunned if he was not the first one of these corners taken. Interesting. So, and you're saying all that, and everyone is just expecting Jets to go, like edge receiver, maybe even training up for receiver. But I don't know, I can just imagine the Jets taking a cornerback or trading up for a cornerback.
Starting point is 00:46:41 Not a two. And I don't know if one gets to him at 16. It would be very, very Jets to pass on Alvall Reese for a corner who didn't play one. last season. Right, no, I don't mean number two, but, but maybe he falls to 16, potentially, or they, they, I really doubt he falls to 60. Okay. Your, your type of player, though, is Delane. So that, why, why does he fit kind of the mold of the types of guys you like? He's just really smooth. He really reminds me of Kamari Laster, you know, I adore. He's just quicker than Kamari Laster is. It's everything is really polished. He didn't give up a reception last season to the same receiver twice
Starting point is 00:47:15 in a game. So once a guy caught a ball, and that, was usually some kind of bubble screen pre-designed thing that was logged against Mansour Delane. No one caught another ball in him all game. Incredibly fluid, incredibly intelligent, excellent, open press, and in off coverage. He's not quite, I would say, the playmaker that McCoy is. He's more of a forced turn-down, shadowed the number one receiver all over the formation. But what he did in Elshu's defense, it was a really pro-style defense. He's playing inside outside.
Starting point is 00:47:45 He's playing tight to the formation. he's playing in space a whole bunch. It just looked like Sunday football being played on Saturday. And so he might not have the high wattage plays that like a McCoy would have, but I value, I think turn downs are ball disruption. It's a way of elongating the play to allow the passers to come home. And he's a little bit more in the Satan vein. No one is as good as Patrick Satan,
Starting point is 00:48:09 but it's that style of player as opposed to more of the explosive big-time playmaker. Yeah, and just fluid. I love what you said. It just looked like Sunday football. He was someone that rewarded watching the All-22, because it's not as flashy, but you can just see his footwork, the way that he moves,
Starting point is 00:48:26 it looks like how the guys are moving on Sunday. So do you think this is like a big two? Do you think there is a separation between the top two, or do you think it's kind of a big four? Where Colton Hood from Tennessee, Avion, Terrell, maybe from Clemson would potentially be in that four? Or is there a difference?
Starting point is 00:48:45 No, I think this. a pretty significant distinction between those two and the next two guys. And I would say with both Delane and McCoy, so much of the league now has played 15 yards and in. It's a lot to the flat. It's a lot in the run game. It's a lot in run support. Both of these guys get after it at a crazy level. I mean, they compete like nuts. And then they're both really talented shadow cover corners. Again, usually you've got to do a trade-off. Is either you've got the talented cover corner guy. You're looking at Sauce Gardner. Or you have guys who just get after it and help you in the run game and a passable in coverage.
Starting point is 00:49:17 It's pretty rare to find guys who can do both this working man coverage in zone and help you in the run game to get two in one classes. It's pretty unorthodox. You're making me more excited about this class and especially the cornerback class, premier position and making me think that's another team that you can look at the Cowboys at 12. Do they end up with one of these guys feels possible? So then if they're the top two,
Starting point is 00:49:43 Are Terrell and Hood your next two? Or like what does your next tier look like? I prefer Chris Johnson from San Diego State. You and Mina. Another one of her favorite. Another really aggressive guy. I think Meena and I both have the type of like
Starting point is 00:50:00 if there's a corner who's willing to come and get involved in the action, that's my kind of guy. Yeah, and we had a pretty lengthy conversation and I feel like he's been one of Jeremiah's guys as well as just a complete player from San Diego. state and makes me think, I don't know, when all the smart people, like you guys are all talking him up, then like he's another guy. If you're looking at that, like, where he's getting projected in the desert and whatever that at least right now, one week out, like you might do well if you find
Starting point is 00:50:29 a Chris Johnson number out there. Where is he currently projected? Do you know? I don't know. I mean, I never look at any of this stuff. We're not allowed to. We're not even allowed to give advice. So we're right on the end. On the consensus board, do you know where he is? I don't know. The consensus board, he is 39. Now, whether that reflects much, I don't know. But it feels like between him, and I would throw Brandon Cisei of South Carolina in the mix to 41 on the consensus board.
Starting point is 00:50:56 Maybe not similar as players. You can tell me what you think of C-Says, but just as guys that the insiders, as we get closer to the process, seem to be talking about more as potential first-round picks. Yeah, Johnson, I think the floor with Johnson is San Francisco, which is what 26 somewhere around that that to me would be the floor and I think that'd be a pretty
Starting point is 00:51:15 good fit to the dinas were interested okay I like that avion Terrell is a guy who maybe is going to play at slot corner in the league what do you think about him and am i being too simplistic by saying actually it's okay to just say he moves like his brother um we overthought uh we overthought Dalvin Cook, the cooks in general by thinking like, oh, he's like, he's like 75% of Dalvin Cook, James Cook. And it was like, no, he kind of looks exactly the same, just like a little lighter. He should have been taken earlier. I don't think he moves quite as well as his brother.
Starting point is 00:51:54 He is really smooth. I don't think he's very explosive. And like the sudden burst to me is lacking. I understand when a guy runs a four, six at a pro day, and then he says that he pulled his hamstring, but he ran a second time, which would imply to me the hamstring. I'm sure it wasn't that hurt. That there's like a natural instinct to say, oh, we'll just move from inside.
Starting point is 00:52:13 It doesn't make a ton of sense to me. You really do need quick fire, quick, twitch reactions of all the quick stuff that's happening in the slot. And so to me, there's an easy way to protect someone like that by just playing them on the outside at depth in a really zone heavy system, someone like the Panthers where you could play 12 yards and in. You can actually hide that better
Starting point is 00:52:33 if they can kind of read it and react and flip pretty well on the move, which he can do. and they've got some kind of natural depth built into try and match stuff vertically down the field. It's a pretty small percentage of plays now where there's true one-on-one coverage of the ball is traveling 20 or more yards in the air.
Starting point is 00:52:48 It's a lot more quick fire. It's a lot more in-out twitch work. He just doesn't really have that knack. He is a smooth player. He's not an explosive player. Yeah, that's sort of what I was getting at too when you talked about Sundays. Maybe that's more my time.
Starting point is 00:53:00 I've always really liked AJ Terrell. Watching Avion Terrell, he looks smooth. I'm like, that looks like Sundays too. Now, it might be Sundays where he's just average, and he's getting cooked by the good players and playing pretty well against the other players. But those guys get taken highly, and those guys maybe have a season where they pop off and they get a nice second contract.
Starting point is 00:53:21 So that's sort of what I meant with him, where when I watched him, I was like, yeah, he kind of looks like a guy that probably won't kill you that will play a lot in the NFL. He's going to give up explosive plays. I think. So it's going to be a bit more of a roller coaster for a guy who profiles is more of a steady player. He's probably going to actually get caught a fair bit more than that.
Starting point is 00:53:41 Though a lot of the steady guys in the league do get caught for some explosive plays. So just the idea of pushing him into the slot, which I know is like a common narrative. That just doesn't really work for me. I do think you need to be more of a fluid type, twitchy type player, which he is not. He is, though, really impressive blitzer.
Starting point is 00:53:59 And rundown blitzing is a massive part other cornerbacks work these days and he's probably the best in the classic timing it, seeing it and reacting it in the Blitz game. So depending on the defensive style, I just keep circling the Panthers of. He makes so much sense what they do defensively that if he can be a plus starter, it would be in that kind of system. If you're a man coverage heavy system, if you're all the jets early on day two, that would be a bit of a stretch. So you think he's a better blitzer than Keante. Scott from Miami. Let's have the conversation about the potential like slot cornerbacks.
Starting point is 00:54:33 He's another interesting prospect we talked about. I'm curious for your take on him because he is someone where, look, cornerback tape depends what you're into. But, you know, sometimes it's not as exciting as a play-to-play basis as other positions. But Keante Scott, like, you can find the highlights in any game tape you want. Like there are splash plays from Keante Scott who's, who's, yeah, like I mentioned, an older prospect didn't produce that much until his age 24. season, I think at Miami's sixth year.
Starting point is 00:55:02 But he was awesome last year, really fun to watch. And I think could be a fun player, a little bit of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson vibes. Maybe, I don't know. Something in that mold. Something in that mold. Yeah, I mean, he's an absolute savage. He wants to run through everyone's face over and over and over again. He does fit this mold of these big nickel-type players, I think, who are impactful and
Starting point is 00:55:23 kind of walling things off in zone as opposed to being match-up threat guys. He can get cooked out in the. route, second level, big explosive plays. He's more of a run-down enforcer on the edge, which is, if you go and look at the best teams in the league, the best defense in the league, they all have that. It's Cooper DeGine, it's Kyle Hamilton, it's Nicky Monwarie. Like, that is the player model you're chasing for. And with the volume of split safety coverage and two deep safeties, you can hide guys pretty well than being caught on an island as those kind of traditional smaller inside-out type nickel players. So I'm a huge believer in Scott.
Starting point is 00:55:59 I probably based on the age, that profile, the league does kind of suppress the value on those type of guys. But he is a guy I would stand on the table for him. Would be pretty delighted to have as a defensive coordinator. Oh, I love that. And yeah, like, I'm not saying he's going to, he's not someone where I have any feel where he's going to get drafted higher than expected. He might be a late second.
Starting point is 00:56:20 He might be third. Who knows? But he just looks like one of those guys that you're like, oh, that's a good third round pick that's still playing like six years into the league and playing at a pretty high level. Are there any other guys kind of in the mid-round, early mid, late rounds, that you want to give a shout out some Molly Connolly, Beloveds? Beloved is maybe a tough stretch.
Starting point is 00:56:40 I really do think this class drops off pretty significantly. Honestly, after the top two guys, I have concerns about almost everyone that middle band. The slot group is up and down outside of Scott, I would say. Lower round, probably the most interesting one that I'm just intrigued by what the league will make of them, is Devin More out of Florida. He's 6-3-198 was a massive recruit, has kind of the frame of those old Seattle corners. So it's like the long and lean and explosive athlete.
Starting point is 00:57:09 He's just been decimated by injury throughout his career. So he's not played a whole bunch of football. But it does feel like the value, if Pete Carroll was still in the league, if he were still running those Raiders, you can just feel this would be his third round gamble. Bring me the athlete who's 6-3 with the long arms, who's crazy smooth for someone that side.
Starting point is 00:57:27 and we'll just kind of figure out the traits and we'll figure out the football player afterwards. And then after the season, you'd read the ESPN article that's burying Pete for making them take him if he just gets hurt again. Poor Pete. Is there a guy as we wrap up here that you're a little lower than consensus on?
Starting point is 00:57:48 Someone that people are familiar with maybe if they're into the draft process, like a first second round type that you're not really feeling. not feeling would probably be harsh, but Cise I do have a tough time with. He is quite comfortably, I'd say the most technically flawed player, where it would almost feel painful to throw him out in year one with where he's at right now technically.
Starting point is 00:58:15 He's an Uber athlete, crazy explosive fluid for the kind of twitch he can develop too. So I understand the athletic profile. I just think that technically he is a, complete mess at the moment, particularly in Man Coverage, which is what he's kind of tabbed at as is a bigger, longer press-style corner. I think if you threw him out there in year one and you've got to go against Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase and all the great plays in Lee, he's just so far behind being able to keep a match up with real speed off the ball. He got fried by Casey Concepcion. It was a bloodbath in that game. The Vanderbilt game, they don't have first round caliber
Starting point is 00:58:53 receivers in that game. He is just completely lost all the time. So he's a guy where you are really drafting the talent and the traits and hoping you can kind of bring it on over time. I'm not sure if teams even have the life cycle to do that now. It's like a two-year situation or you're out. Do you really have the time to develop these these corners that you take in the second round? Except for Spags. Spags has the time. I was going to say, is Spags, are they just good at drafting the right guy that fits the system? Or are they good at developing? Because when you're talking about C-Sace, like I immediately was thinking, well, who are the best defensive back development teams.
Starting point is 00:59:26 The chiefs come to mind. I'm trying to think of some others. It's such a volatile position that it's tough to find anyone who consistently nails it. It was Pete. And now it might be Mike McDonald. It might be the charges guys.
Starting point is 00:59:38 The charges go and find guys in the fourth, sixth round. They start in the rookie season and go and play. And I think they focus and they're really good at seeing what a player does well and just having them do that.
Starting point is 00:59:48 And that's how you get Josh Joe being an afterthought on one defense to a guy who's starting the Super Bowl, playing more than recoil and being valuable, and that's just having a vision. So, yeah, a lot of it is about how you land,
Starting point is 01:00:02 where you land. Ollie's landed with us. We're making them work overtime this week. We're going to go back and finish our prospect evaluation, rankings, whatever we want to call them. Later in the week, we're going to talk about the quarterbacks,
Starting point is 01:00:16 the running backs, and the tight ends. We already hit the wide receiver. Hit that button. Thank you, Ollie. Again, everyone, check out the read optional because most of it's the X's and O stuff. It's the podcast with John Ledyard. It's diving deep.
Starting point is 01:00:29 If you want to hear way more about all these prospects, you can go there. If you want to hear from me and Jordan doing a mock draft back and forth, we're going to be in your feed next. See you then. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL off season.
Starting point is 01:00:53 This is where teams are built. Free agency, Combine, Pro Days, Trade. every move matters. From my draft boards and mock drafts to my vaunted top 101 free agents and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement. Surprise signings.
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