NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Ranking the 2026 NFL Draft: Quarterbacks, Running Backs and Tight Ends

Episode Date: April 17, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal and Ollie Connolly do deep dive on this year's, quarterback, running back and tight end draft class. Gregg and Ollie tell you what they think about NFL Draft prospects like Fernando Mendoza, Ty Simpson, Jeremiyah Love, Jonah Coleman, Kenyon Sadiq and more!NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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're finally going to talk about Fernando Mendoza. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm with Ali Connolly.

It's the day where we go over quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends. I had a different intro lined up in my head, Ollie. But our producer, Eric, reminds me right before the show. He's like, we haven't talked about Fernando Mendoza a lot. You just skip right past him. Say he's going to the Raiders. You talked about him on 40s and Free Agents. This isn't 40s and free agents.

This is the real deal show. This is the SICO show. So we can dig into some of Fernando Mendoza. We do have all offseason, all preseason, the first six weeks of Kirk Cousins to discuss how Fernando Mendoza fits with the Raiders. Yes. I've been waiting and trying to catch up watching all these guys. And this was a fun day to try to catch up and look at all the different positions.

And while we're talking about premier players, we haven't given a ton of juice to on this show. I'm actually going to start with Jeremiah Love and running back. So we'll go running backs, quarterbacks, tight ends. I don't really have like a ranking, but we'll get into some of your tiers if you have them at this point. And I assume Jeremiah Love is all by himself at the top of those rankings. And I guess I'll start here.

Like when you compare Love historically the Notre Dame running back, 5.9 yards per carry in each of the last two years, really good as a receiver, just big, strong, fast, everything that you could kind of want in a running back. How do you compare him historically against some of the good running backs that you've evaluated over the years? He really is Reggie Bush with a little bit more weight, which I think immediately moves you into the comparison of, okay, how close he to Bejan Robinson and Christy McAfrey? It's kind of a three down everything you could ever hope for in a play type threat. is he more in that Ezekiel Elliott band?

I would say there's a bit of a split maybe between Z coming out compared to McAfri and Bijam. I think he's right around that Ezekiel Elliott Strand pushing as close as could be possible towards Bejohn and McCaffrey. Yeah, and that's why I feel, I mean, we're all just splitting Harris here, but we talked with Mina earlier the week in 40s.

I don't think she views him quite as highly. And maybe that's because, I don't know why I'm starting with the negative with him, because I love him. I mean, his feet for that size, his lateral cuts, his ability to receive, it's just, it's all just bananas. And to me, it's very unique for almost any prospect that's come out in the last 25 years. I mean, I'm not going to compare him to Lidane and Tomlinson either, but just in terms of the size and the feet, the movement, it's incredible. I guess if you were going to pick a knit, I'm curious what your answer is for this.

How confident are you about him at if he's got four yards blocked, it's an inside, you know, Carrie, is he going to get those four yards? Is he going to turn four into five? When I was trying to think about like, what am I missing when I just am completely in love with him and would break all my like, oh, don't take running backs early about him.

Is that what I'm missing about him? Is there any question there? Not for me. I do want to come back to that idea of taking running back early though. Okay. The only single knit you could pick is some of the goal line carries, there's some stuffs.

Or he tries to leap over the pile and gets knocked. I mean, Bejong gets taken off the field at the goal line. There's plenty of great backs who they'll sub in much heavier back to this pound the ball between the middle. Half, or 43% I should say, Jeremiah loves career yardage, came on 15 plus yard runs. He is just an explosive play waiting to happen. He plays all over the formation.

There are some real receiving chops there. He's willing to stick his nose and impasse protection. He's not necessarily the technically greatest guy at that stuff, but the willingness for a play who knows, I got a chance to win the Heisman trophy here and I'll still stand my nose against these Miami guys if I have to. That to me crosses off everything you could ever be concerned about.

And I think you're getting someone where the benchmark is going to be top 10 most productive play at his position. And then it's just, what is the kind of all-field threat? Can you really be a top-end receiver like Bichon Robinson? Can he be a truly dynamic 50-R play waiting to happen like Jume Gibbs? I think those are kind of the conversations the floor would be, can he have a similar impact to Sequin, where when he's in a great ecosystem, he kind of tips it over the top, or it's like this isn't as valuable for a bad team, if that makes sense.

That does make sense because I always thought, you know, Sequin didn't quite answer the question. I just asked you about if you have four yards blocked in the middle, is he going to get those four? Does he turn four into six enough? I thought with the Giants, because it was a difficult situation, he always was hunting those big plays in a way that I think actually was a little bit of a negative for him as a pro. He still has that a little bit. I think he's gotten better. But it really helps to have an offensive line.

To me, I don't see that as much. And when you say, like, Reggie Bush, except, you know, he's six foot, what is he, six feet, two, twelfth? I mean, that's incredible. I mean, I can remember Reggie Bush once coming up. We used to work with him at NFL media. We were having some, I think he just coincidentally drove up on a mechanized scooter into a beach bar that we were at, like with a backpack on and bought drinks for everyone, hung out all night, cool guy. But I always remember thinking him coming on the scooter. I mean, like, of course he's bigger than me, but he's not that much bigger than me for an NFL player.

And it's just like shocking. And Jeremiah Love is not, it's not that. I mean, he's such a freak physically that. And to me, he's a very natural. It's like he has a good feel for the game, that that combination is tough, tough to look past. It really is.

To me, with the Bush comparison, is the, this spatial feel of being able to fit like six moves in where other normal humans just have one. We just roll through the highlight reel there on YouTube, and you see in the pit game, paring a studded step into a jump cut into a spin move, Kyle Lewis,

who's going to be a second or third round pick as a linebacker or safety, put on a poster with what Jeremiah, I love Condutu, it's just so rare to see someone cram so many moves, whether it's a jump cut, the spins, the hurdles, he's just a different kind of athlete. And yet you still get, I thought, from 24 to 25 answered the questions you're asking, is, well, he just, when we need to go get four, throw his nose into the fire to just pick up the dirty yards. And I thought he answered that in 25. In 24, it was a lot more of the creativity. Let's get him out in space. And he's the best

athlete in the country. I thought he just became an all-around better football player. in 25. Yeah, it's a great shout. You said let's come back to the running back value decision, and it's going to be one that both Arizona and Tennessee are making right at the top of this draft, because I think Jeremiah Love is, at the very least, in consideration for those two teams. Where do you land specifically in this draft and specifically Love? The thing that I think is interesting about it is a league has done a pretty phenomenal job of recognizing who's worthy of those picks and who is not. It's pretty hard to find a recent history, the busts who've gone that early. And I understand the question of value and how much they add to the winning of the team. But if you

just go from 2016 in the top 15 picks, you've had Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournet, McCaffrey, Barclay, Bejohn, Jumey, Gives, and Ashton-Gentie. Gentie, this one year, we'll wait and see on that one. But other than Leonard Four-Net, and you can even make a fair argument for Leonard Fordney-Fonet, that's a pretty damn impressive hit rate for one position. The league really does recognize, oh, these guys are different. They're worthy of going high in the draft. And then it just becomes the question of value. But the volume of misses at project tackles

and project edge defenders. It's really in the middle to late band of the first round where you start to see all the whiffs and things go a bit skewiff. But at the top end, you know, you can almost guarantee at this stage. We're getting a great player. It's just a weird team who can maximize their greatness before kind of we use the polar tread on the tires.

That's it. And Genti was a, a special player, but to me, he wasn't at that level necessarily. And that's what I thought about when I, when I kept watching love, is just like the certainty of it. I am very much a guy who, like, when it comes to the draft especially, like to me, that has such incredible value. And maybe you could argue it's, it's not certain. But it just feels like there's no way he misses, which is, you know, you're, you're balancing how, you know, a lot of things, you know, economics, the position, all that stuff, but I'm also balancing, like, how good I feel about just taking a bird in the

hand. And to me, Jeremiah Love is very much a bird in the hand. Like, that's why I get so excited. It's easy to evaluate for, of course, he's amazing. Like, where I don't think it's as dependent as other positions. Obviously, you're going to need a good offensive line to help you reach the highest of levels, but I think he's going to help any team. And with that in mind, like, I am curious. We did a, what teams should do mock draft on Thursday. And I did take love for the Titans, which I wasn't, like, until I was even on the clock, I wasn't sure, because I think Carnell Tate would be

a really interesting pick just for the Titans. And I thought about it all day. Do you think I should feel good about that? Like, where do you feel in terms of shit? I'm a coward on it too. I'm a coward on it too, because I say all this about the league recognizes who the great ones are that if I'm pushed onto the clock at four,

oh it's tough without having the ideal infrastructure to just take the running back. I think I would do it. When I rethought it, I was like maybe I should have taken Sunny Stiles there and I would have been happy to take love with probably he would have fallen in the commanders in our draft. I think the back to linebacker conversation

is almost mute and this is coming from a guy who's obsessor about linebackers. I think if you're getting to the long-term economics of having a B-tier receiver, if that's what you project Carnell Tate to be in the league, that becomes a pretty fair conversation. So to me that would be a good conversation. I love Sonny Stiles.

I think he's maybe the second or third best player overall in the class. But to try and put the right stuff around Cam Ward, which should really be the name of the game. They spent all the money in for agency defensively. I think it should come down to do we take Carnell Tate, do we take Jeremiah Love? What do we think best fits in the operation of our offense and what we'll get the most out of Cam Ward going through year two and year three?

It's fair. I love that pick. I love the Arizona pick is also interesting. There is more Jeremiah Love, Buzz. You do wonder if they're trying to make a team trade-up. I don't think anyone's trading up for a running back, but I do think they're considering him. I'm guessing they won't take him in the end.

Do you have, obviously, I would assume, a tier break. What does it look like in your running back two tier? And is it like two tiers down to the next guy? How are you doing it? It's a pretty stark drop if I would say. I do like Judarian Price, Jeremiah's loved teammate at Notre Dame. I understand and I'm somewhat excited by Mike Washington at Arkansas, the big explosive dynamic playthreat.

And then I am a big fan of Jonah Coleman, the kind of more gritty between the tackles running back out of Washington, who really has a Kyle Munung guy like running style, and those guys just kind of appeal to me. Whether there's a clear separation between Judarian Price and the other two guys, I think, is where that is. distinction would come. Well, Price, you know, was stuck behind Jeremiah Love. And because of that, he only has 250 carries or something in college and 15 catches. And you are thinking, like,

this guy's obviously not going to be a 1A. I mean, that's the value of love is there's, there's only so many guys that are going to be like that. So he's going to be in a tandem. And so you didn't really see him on passing downs a ton. You didn't see him carry the ball, period, a ton. Are you a little worried just like about, like, does he do enough special that you get excited to take him as like a second round pick in the limited sample size that you see? The only reason that conversation is tough, and I know again, that sounds like a cop-out, is the rest of the class really collapses off into that day three, where you just kind of throw in day three dart. So I think his value kind of gets artificially inflated in this draft specifically.

If he was in last year's class with Scadaboo and Samson and all the players who were in last year's, I would probably have around six or seventh, I think, in the class. But just given the needs of the position and people building their economic model as a franchise around, we'll just draft these guys every single season. I think you'll get pushed up. I think it can work both ways. I have some concerns about what we haven't seen. I feel pretty good about what we have seen, which is he's more of a downhill player initially

who then has real dynamism and burst at the second level. One cut and go, make a guy miss, turn it into a big gain. I don't think he's got great feel as a readout player in the backfield. So those more wide zone-based systems, I think, is traditionally where those players are slotted in. And I think he may struggle there. But in the downhill, get after it, maybe the Jags looking for an extra running back to pick up, I could see how he could work.

And you can talk yourself into, well, there's no tread on the tires here. I mean, he's not carried the ball more than 15 times in the game in his career. That may be a concern in terms of what we haven't evaluated, but it's not a concern in terms of some of the long-term health concerns. considerations. Yeah, he's a player to me also that just like he plays looks bigger, bigger than than he's listed at. You mentioned Jonah Coleman from Washington, who was the other player. I definitely wanted to talk about because when I'm looking at players for certainty, look, if he ended up in a terrible situation, maybe it's not going to work out for him.

But he's got a little bit of wiggle. He's got a little bit of patience. He's got feel. He's the guy that I'm talking about can turn three into five, can turn five into eight, can turn eight into And he had some big plays, I mean, including against Ohio State even. But to me, he's more in that Kyron Williams mold of, you know, he's not going to get you a lot of plus 20s, but he could get you a lot of 10 to 12s. And in that system specifically, in one of the McVe-Shannahan-type systems, I think he'd be a great fit. And he feels very certain to me as a wherever he's going to be.

Like, he's going to be a good pro, which is massive to feel that sort of certainty. I agree with you. 71% of his yards came after contact. That's what he is. He's a smaller back. He really competes his tail off in pass protection. So I think teams will feel comfortable about putting him on the field on all three downs. He's forced into that as a rookie. But as you mentioned, he's not going to rip off these 20-th-thirty-yard big booming runs. He gets caught from behind consistently, even when he makes guys miss or he flattens someone at the second level. But he will be a churner. And I think he's going to be a really tidy complimentary back in year one.

As I mentioned, the Manungai thing stands out to me with him where he actually winds up getting more of those third down reps, even though the profile is more of a gritty, bruising, kind of churn out yards type play just because of more of the trust. And maybe you'll have more of a lightning, quick type player on the field on first or second down, then you put the more dependable guy on for short yardage and for pass pro. It's tough to evaluate vision and feel. I mean, that's what made Frank Gore a potential Hall of Famer. But, you know, for a mid-round guy, I feel like Jonah Coleman is going to have a really good feel

of where the holes are opening up. At the first and second level, he just might not be able to take it all the way. Let's go for a later running back if you got one that you're betting on that you would like as a dart throw. Yeah, there's a few of them, honestly. I think Kalon Blackout of Indiana is 25 and slow.

And so that's the knock and why he'll go late. And he has probably the funniest running style in the class. He really has, like, digested Isaiah Pacheco in a way that I think will frustrate the fan base immediately. the legs are moving an awful lot, but there's like no forward momentum. It's just kind of churning in place. But he is comfortably the best past protector in the class. And he's had constant visits to teams throughout the process.

He wasn't invited to the Combine. So I think there's some checking out the medical side of things. But teams, I think, will really appreciate how advanced he is and that he'll probably be on the field more than other potential sixth round pick types. I would say, Desmond Clairborne from Wake Forest is the really explosive player the smaller 5-9-188 player. He's the absolute guy in space that you want out of that later part of the class. That's the guy that Mike McDaniel probably has circled.

Like, get me a nowhere close to Devon A-Cham, but can you squint and maybe say, hey, we could do some 8-chani stuff with DeMong Claibor. I think that that would be one of the maybe. He's probably going to go in the fourth or fifth round, I would say the team's all ID for just some juice. I like that. And yes, fantasy heads are going to be looking for, like,

which running back does McDaniel get his team to take on day three? Because he always takes one. There's not a draft where Mike McDaniel doesn't take one. Eric is behind the glass probably thinking like, okay, you said you'd finally talk about Mendoza and then you just went through like day three running backs before even getting to him. Let's talk about him.

Because the more I watched Fernando Mendoza, the more I liked him, I think this is maybe a common trait in terms of like the experience of watching. him kind of a grower and I'm trying to think of a not a comp for him because I think he's more physically impressive the more you watch him

you realize like oh he is the prototype like he's a massive dude and he is I hate to say it he kind of is sneaky athletic I mean that's been that's been like banished like you're not allowed to say that about people but he's sneaky in

how high level maybe his athleticism could be at the next level Yes, it's more Daniel Jones athleticism, I think. It's kind of like sometimes looks like he's falling over himself, but he's moving incredibly quickly. It's all the straight line. Large man moving really well, though, is impressive, yes. Yeah, and I think Red Soan Threat, doing some fun power read stuff, quarterback draw stuff.

I think that's certainly a part of the Arsenal that the Raiders could tap into. I would say some of the functional mobility, so how he navigates around the pocket, he's a little bit robotic. He's a little bit stagnant. But everything else to me is moving from an A to an A plus, whether it's throwing the anticipation, throwing to every level of the field, doing what he was asked to do within the offense. People will know by now all about the RPO-centric nature of Indiana's offense, but it's tough for me to knock someone down for things they were not asked to do. I don't think that means that they're not capable of doing them. Well, that's why I meant a grower, because it almost took just more games to get to see all the different types of throws.

that would happen. And if you are watching us, you just saw an improv play, which, you know, he doesn't major in. But one thing I thought about with Kubiak drafting him that I think Kubiak is obviously going to tap into, I thought he was a good thrower on the move. Like just a very accurate ball placement quarterback,

including when he's on the move, which is something I think Kubiak's going to build into that offense. Yeah, and he really has some of the advanced figure-out gene stuff that just the great players have. There's a little bit of Carson Palmer of, I'm going to get drilled, there's arms draped all over me, I've got to stand in and you just got to take the hit to let the thing go. Sometimes it's a no-step throw. Sometimes we show it there in the highlights.

It's just jumping. It's just find a throwing window to dump it down to the running back. It's not maybe in the full progression of the offense. It's not within the rhythm, but you just got to find a way to make a completion. So I do think he's operating at a really high level in terms of the mental attitude side of the game. The only real concern would be a guy who plays the way he's going to play. which is rhythm and structure, can he really slide and navigate the pocket

and avoid pressure and play under pressure? He is so tough that he is just willing to stand in and get rocked. And that is so fun and it's great and he bounces back from big hits and just knives people over and over again, but he will have to find a way to stay on schedule by slipping and sliding and tapping into some of the Brady-like stuff,

the Breeze like stuff, the Kirk Cousins-like stuff. That is what those guys do to become pocket playmakers Because where they can really chase some explosive plays down the field in the league. Yeah, and he, I mean, he took some hits. When I was saying going back and liking it more, I think it was partly watching the Cal tape, which showed a different side. And it was just rough, but you also thought, and shout out to Nate Tice, who had a good eye on it.

Before this year, he had Mendoza as his QB1 in this class from the Cal tape. And you could see a lot of that accuracy. You could certainly see the toughness. He did take a lot of sacks there. It was a disastrous situation. He took a relative lot of sacks. And so I guess that would maybe be a slight concern. And you're talking about him just standing in there taking hits.

It's a little bit of a Ryan Tannahill, Andrew Luck. Like that's a good quality. They managed to hold up over it. But I don't know. It's a tough way to play football. It is. You got to really mess the stick slide climb through. That's how these guys make, you know, $40 million in the league.

And I think it's just getting quicker at everything he does. he's already operating at a rapid level by college speed. And so that's what gets you really excited. But there's just an extra gear you've got to crank to moving into the NFL. But the precision to every area of the field, the anticipation, it's just remarkable. And it's in a pretty slender offense. But these are big time, big time, difficult throws under fire, both at Cal as you mentioned, then at Indiana, in the biggest moments on the biggest stages, third down, fourth down.

he's basically the most accurate passer to playing college football on third and fourth down in college football history and he's doing it against elite competition in the playoffs with really talented receivers but not an elite

everyone's going in the top five type Ohio State receiving course so the floor here to me is just exceptionally high and then it's just can you master some of the intricacies within the game? Is he a good enough athlete

to mass those intricacies the way he needs to to push on and be maybe a top 12 to top eight starts in the league? Yeah, me like maybe the ceiling is slightly lower than some of the top prospects that have come out, certainly like a Caleb or a Drake May or Andrew Luck coming out. But I still think the ceiling is relatively

high. You talked about the mental side and the intangibles because I do get a little bit of DAC from him just in like stacking, like just good plays. I think making good decisions. I don't know if you have, I mean, I don't know if we even need a comp, but like maybe and he could even occupy like a similar space in the NFL sphere if he if he really pans out yeah probably more late stage deck without the real juice and the creativity of the deck who first came into league i would say but that winning pre-snap i think is is going to be an essential component of his game um just as i mentioned has to quicken everything up that that that's what it's going to come down to they well they need they could use uh you know he wins so much and he had some pretty one of the

throws that really convincing, man, he has great. Like, he does have a really good arm was, you know, just, he's hitting some like 60-yard, you know, throws down the middle of the field of the post. But for the most part, he's winning with these outs and these back shoulder throws. And I don't really see the players. I mean, you could have Bowers do some of that, but I don't know if they got the people. Who should, I feel like the Raiders need a round two wide receiver that would, that would compliment him. Yeah, I've been banging this drum in the third round, go and take Elijah Sirat, go get the teammate, maintain the chemistry, do the Jamar Chase thing, but do it in the third round where the value will be for the player. What I'll say on those throws, there's one against

Oregon in the playoff game that is the most absurd throw any of these guys recently have had. Not one that is the crazy move around and do something that's, you know, absolutely insane, but a no-step throw under complete fire, 35-yard shot on a rope against press man coverage where he throws Elijah Serat open along the sideline on a deep comeback. You could not walk down and hand it to Surat any better. That to me is just about, one, the goods to stand in, two, the knowledge that I have no time to take a step, the ball just has to go. And then the precision, the placement, understanding what rev should be on the ball, that translates to everywhere in the field. That's where this thing of, oh, he doesn't throw it to the middle of the field,

the whole much like, well, that's just the system he's asked to play in. Those tools that he has to make that throw on third down against Oregon in a playoff game, it's not as going to vanish because all of a sudden the target is in the middle of the field. All right, we've gotten properly excited. I promised a friend of ours, friend of the show, Stephen, who's been mentioned by Raiders General Manager John Spitech a couple of times, just

trying to talk to the Raiders fan that he's going to do well for him. You know, he is my trainer, also a friend. I have said, at least at this point, the NFL gives us, it's the best perk we have, two tickets to the Super Bowl if we're working at the Super Bowl. And I did say if ever,

I was like, if the Raiders make it, you can have one of those tickets. You'll probably take my son. So you got you got to kind of quote unquote babysit him a little bit. I've never been worried about that actually happening to this point. Now, you know, you add Fernando Mendoza. It'll take some years, but maybe, maybe Fernando Mendoza can get that ticket for Stephen. We'll see. I don't think any other quarterback in this class is going to present a similar threat. But let's talk Ty Simpson. You know, his best throws to me were really great. You know, if you just look he reminds me a little bit of Bryce Young

in the sense that like the high level throws are better than people would think for his size and stature but obviously way more inconsistent than Bryce Young not really a similar player in that way but I just mean like the top end throws are pretty great he's a huge outlier in terms of size, age and you know starts at the college level

of guys that will have succeeded just just on that front how concerned would you be about taking him like where would you start to feel comfortable taking him? Well, you're probably going to have to do it at the top of the second round. Where would the comfort level be would probably be a third round player? He's a tricky one because he does really advance things. He comes out of a pro-style offense.

It's Ryan Grub's offense from the Seahawks, take him back down to the college level. And so you get to see all these high-level pro throws, and yet you do see some of the nitty-gritty work of the lack of experience. You've got to throw the ball with no laces. You've got to quicken your tempo at certain points. Even if the rhythm of the play says this, sometimes the ball's got to go.

They're sending an all-out pressure. You just got to find a solution. That's all the stuff that Mendoza's mastered. You just got to figure out on the fly sometimes down what the play says. With Simpson, he is kind of a stick to the script, stick to the play kind of player. And to learn that on the fly in the league, I think is pretty tricky as what has undone a lot of those guys with minimal starts.

Yeah. Like he didn't have a chance to, learn as he goes. And so that and the age. And I feel like there hasn't been a lot of talk about his size. And yet, there really aren't that many quarterbacks at his size under 6-2, under probably a plain weight of 210,

that have succeeded. And the ones that have are guys who are taken at the very top. So to me, a lot of alarm bells are ringing that, like maybe the ceiling is a average to slightly better than average start. but the floor is worrisome for me for a guy that might get pushed up this draft. I don't know if you're going to need to take him at the second.

I'm sort of in the camp that he might have a Malik Willis type, you know, quote unquote fall where just teams feel like you comfortable with him maybe taking him in the third round. The difficulty with playing at that size, one is just the body armor and he's already got some injury concerns and he is really tough. He will stand in and rip it all over the field. But he's taking some mighty hits. he's already dealt with some injury concerns. It's like, can he just hold up physically for a 17-game season,

ideally 20 plus if we're really going to do the thing with a franchise quarterback? So I think that's a real concern. And if you look at guys who've played at that size before in the league, that size of height plus weight, they all have an easy identifiable super skill. With Breeze, it's the brain and the accuracy. With Michael Vic, it's the wheels. And with Ty Simpson, it's really, even the guys who really love him,

if you listen to Wolofsky, who's like, this is the number one guy, it's that you can see him make the throws that he has to make on Sundays because he's already operating in a playbook that is a Sunday playbook. That to me is not really a super skill. I don't see him as a mental processor on the level of the really great guys

who've come out recently. In fact, the big dividing line of week eight of the season, and I know there's some health concerns too, but where the game started to, you know, it started to get away from him and he kind of crumbled in terms of accuracy and decision making,

you can see the adjustments defensive coordinators make to him. They start changing. in the pre-to-post snap picture a whole bunch and he's not quite identifying things as quickly, that is where you would like to say, man, if he just went back for another season, could he have maybe picked some more of this up?

And he's considered pro-ready, but I just think it would be tough to throw him out there early in the rookie season. I get he's got all the mental acumen. He's incredibly smart. He's diagnosed a whole bunch of pros to four ready at the college level, but some of the under-the-hud work

is just not yet ready, I would say, for Sundays. Yeah, I just feel like to make up for those red flags, you've got to have something really special about you. And he does have a good arm. He can make plus throws. Like, they are there. He's gutsy, as you mentioned,

but I just don't know if there's an attribute that's special enough. That said, I did check out my newsletter from the read optional. It's not just the podcast. I subscribe. And you did have your quarterback tiers posted. And you're relatively high on Simpson.

You had them all by himself ahead of the next group pretty significantly. So you do like a lot about them. And so I just want to point that out because we're talking a lot of negatives. The ceiling, to me, will be Brock Purdy. And if you take the first six, seven weeks of the season, and it's a double-edged sore

because how much it's just the body breaking down because he can't take the pounding of playing a full schedule, both in college then in the pros. But the really great of him working at such a rapid rate in the pocket. The pocket movement, the navigation, the agility in the pocket,

unbelievable throws on the move. He's a really talented throw on the move, which is where I think the Cardinals make a ton of sense for him, and then just rip in throw after throw to the middle of the field, on time, in rhythm, with anticipation, all the stuff you see on Sundays just relentlessly over and over again. So I can see a path to being a solid starter, is where I kind of have him right now.

Get into the next Purdy level. Purdy was able to just do things early in his career that Simpson doesn't have access to you right now, but that would be the really high-end upside. What's the best possible outcome here? I would say it's Brock Purdy. Everyone's chasing their own Brock Party. You know, I feel like Garrett Nussmeyer could also be this year's Brock Party.

But let's take a break, actually. Let's finish out the quarterbacks and we'll talk tight ends to wrap it up after the break. 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. 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. 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. 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 I-Hourdes and Free Agents on the I-Hour. heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Back on NFL Daily. Quarterback, like, draft prospects go on such crazy, at least media-driven, like, roller coasters in terms of their value, because there was a moment when Saints fans were thinking, well, we just got a tank so that we can get Garrett Nussmeyer as our quarterback

this year. pair him with dad, who's on the offensive staff there. And that's going to be our guy of the future. He moves from LSU to the Saints. And here, you know, you fast forward a year, kind of a disastrous second year. And it's one of the criticisms I think of Ty Simpson because you never got to see like more tape from him. Was it only going to get worse for him? And it did get worse for Nussmeyer.

Although I got to say, watching him, I get why people I respect a lot, Nate Tice, Derek Classen. They both had Nussmeyer ahead of Ty Simpson, which is interesting. I don't know if I'd go that far or not. I don't really, I didn't feel like I watched enough to have a take. But I do feel like I feel that Nussmeyer is going to have a career. I think he'll be in the NFL for a while. Like maybe his floor is a little longer. He'll be a good backup, which is a valuable thing.

Where did you land on where he is as a pro or a potential pro? I agree with you entirely on that. And I would say, look, Nate, friend Duffy, Derek. you mentioned, these are all outstanding quarterback evaluators, naked for certain it's like 10 times the quarterback evaluator I am. They have Nussmaier's second over Ty Simpson. Let's not go 10 times. I mean, come on.

Tends a lot. Having Mendoza a year before us, yeah. That was good. That was pretty good. Just the problem I think with Nussmay and where it impacts migrate is, he has similar health concerns to Ty Simpson, but they're more long lasting. And it makes it really tricky because do you just evaluate the 20-24 tape before he gets a core injury and I think a succession of injuries to go with that.

How much did that impact him being able to rotate and throw the football and things like that? And the 2025 table, lots of it is pretty gnarly in terms of decision-making inaccuracy and then just the ball dying on him down the field, his ability to handle pressure. You know, you're dealing with that level of injuries. You probably don't want to stand in there and get rocked the way Mendoza was doing. If you just go to the 20-2040, but I agree with you, I think you see a really high-end-back up with starter potential, not quite a kind of force-multifying franchise game-changer type

player. But if that's who he really is and all the injuries are cleaned up, then I can absolutely see the case for saying, well, the 2024 version of Nussmeyer is better more consistently than Ty Simpson in the games we got to see him start. Yeah, he looks to me, and I guess that yeah, the health is a concern. Although, look, he's not going to be starting right away. So he just feels like a guy that I can imagine coming in for three games, whether it's year one or or two and keeping your offense going. And in this class, it's not a good quarterback class. Like, that might be the second most valuable quarterback in some people's rooms.

And I think he's intriguing. If you could pick one guy that's not Ty Simpson, I guess maybe it is Nussmeyer or maybe you tell me if it's Nussmire that's likely to start 20 NFL games in his entire career other than Mendoza in this class, who is it? I probably Nussmay for what you said, he's probably going to be an all-time great backup and just go from team to team as like doing the Jacopra set thing. I will say though, tail and green from Arkansas has my attention. 6-6-27, most explosive quarterback in the class.

When you pull up the mock draftable spider charts, it is Leonard Floyd, Jamie Collins, and Calvin Johnson. That's how great a size speed athlete he is. So there's some kind of like Terrell Pryor stuff going on. he is adamant, he's not moving positions, and some of the film is outrageously good, particularly in 2024, you watch him against Texas A&M, he is just shredding people all over the field, unbelievable wheels, unbelievable size,

and is super intelligent and understands pro-style offense. I mean, he played in the Lamar Jackson Offensive Louisville, which is a true pro-style drop-back game, and so I could see it, I would really love Mike McCarthy to get in the lab with him, for two seasons. And maybe eventually they convince him, hey, could you try being a receiver? Because you kind of weighing in here like Calvin Johnson could be helpful to us.

But I would love a true quarterback savant who's obsessed about the details to get to work with Taylor & Green. So I would love the Steelers to try and do that in the fourth round. I need to watch more. I've just seen the highlights. They are outrageous. I think I'm burned because I went and re-listened to our episode last year where we picked favorite players in the draft with DJ and Mina Kimes. And, you know, Jalen Milrow was one of the of mine. And I shouldn't feel burned because, like, of course he didn't really play as a rookie, but could Green be a better version of that? And you're saying, you know, you're saying he's got it up here and pro-style offense? He could be a special athlete. So a fun player to watch

on day three. All right, let's talk tight ends where Kenyon Sadiq from, from Oregon, is one of the few players in this draft to me that just you watch and it's just an elite, wow, incredible athlete. And look, he's only, quote unquote, only, but six feet, 21. So that's on the smaller side for a tight end. But he pops. I think he would have been a consensus top 10 pick almost in any class if he had production. But he's really not that productive in college.

Did not do much the first two years. And even last year, he has like a Janu Smith in Tennessee type stat line, like 50 catches, 550 yard. that sort of thing. So not crazy production, but a crazy athlete. And in this class, I think, where there's just so few guys that pop so much, I don't think he'll stay on the board too, too long. No, it feels like the range has come down slightly from post-combine.

I would say that maybe it's more down in the teens to the 20s. Fair. I'm still unsure. You know, when... I feel like it's 12 to 25 anywhere, or 10 to 25 anywhere there. It's hard to tell. Well, the Ravens just say, let's get the best athlete. available still in the class or will they all pass and say hey he's kind of johnnie smith how much

are we interested in the johnny smith i just know when you watch him as you mentioned he just moves completely different i put on the the ruckers game the first two plays like i got to go for a walk i got to go for a nap this is just absolutely insane he moves at a different speed to everyone else he is really up for the fight in the blocking game uh he really gets after it he's really tenacious he's a little all over the place technically but just the willingness stands out so much and the burst and speed he has is exceptional. He's not quite as snappy out of the break. There's a real refinement that needs to happen as a receiver.

But we've seen Travis Kelsey be a little loosey-goosey, make it up as he goes along and win with athleticism and smarts. And I think that there's a real path for him to be a complete game breaker early in his career. Yeah, I mean, your conversation in the Rutgers game is crazy about taking a walk. Like, yeah, I think you can make the argument for pass catchers. in this in this class like he's he's the one that inspires that the most of just like wow that that's different that's special and I love what you said about the blocking because this is where I would like to hear what you think about how he would be used at the next level because there's been some like

Vernon Davis comparisons but man Vernon Davis was a beast blocking and a bigger player and I think if Sadiq is giving you what you want out of an NFL tight end in terms of the versatility, then the ceiling is like a level higher. Then he does fit as a guy who could be taken in the top 15 of this draft. It makes sense. Yeah, I think he's almost being pigeonhole because of just the athleticism, that it would be like design touch stuff. And that is what Oregon did with him.

It's a lot of like screens and creative ways to get the ball on his hands or dialing up shot plays with him along the side. line. I think if you just drop him in right now and say you're kind of like Sam LaPorter, and it's a lot of crossing routes and runaway routes and we're going to do some play action stuff and just get you into space, he's going to outrun everyone. It's just that simple. He's a better athlete than everyone on the field and he's willing enough to stand in there and clang and bang with people that you can put a second tight end on the field and it can be a 12 personnel situation, but he gives you real receiver chops and actual breakaway speed as the second

titend on the field. So I don't think he needs to be gimmickified. in a way some of those guys who are, you know, Eli Stowers in this class, for example, where it's the athletes who are really just receivers and they call them tight ends, I think he's just, he can do some more of the classic dirty work that you would need to to be able to then weaponize the special elements of his game. And I'm glad you mentioned that because I also think, like, I just made the Vernon Davis comment. It really falls apart on a number of levels because he's a more natural fluid pass catcher. Like, I mean, he can make some, some, I'm not saying like he, he would be like a wide receiver one, but he's not just a big guy that they're throwing the ball to.

Like, I mean, he makes some outrageous grabs and I think it's pretty pretty natural. I'm excited about Kenyon Sadiq. I took them for the Cowboys because I panicked that the, the draft fell exactly, I think, how they wouldn't want it to. Essentially, only like one lineman goes in front of them. The two cornerbacks are already gone. Is it that crazy? I like Jake Ferguson, but is that that crazy

to just add another weapon for the Dallas Cowboys? Whatever makes Dak happy makes me happy. I think that would make that happy. I mean, it would. I'm thinking like I have this feeling George Pickens is not long for Dallas.

Like it's maybe one more year or now or something. I was just like, I don't think it's that crazy. Jake Ferguson is happy. It really wouldn't shock me though if there were like a couple of teams in the league who graded out.

You know, some of the teams great. their tight end receiver class together. Yeah. So it wouldn't stun me if someone said he's just our number two guy on the board. We don't think we got any chance at Carnal Tate. And we're just grading it as who's the best like offensive weapon out of this batch of players and that he's just the number two guy for them.

Since he's the most interesting one, we'll stick on him for a second. Why do you think his production wasn't higher at Oregon? Because there's nothing that tipped off to me just watching his targets, basically, why he didn't get more. Yeah, he was open more than he got the ball. Part of it is just the stroke to the offense. It's really RPO and one read base and he wasn't the primary read.

Then there's a guy stood next to him, a second titan. He's going to come out next year. It's really, really special. Might be even more special than Kenyon Sadiq. There's only so many touches to go around. Okay, that's a good answer. You mentioned Eli Stowers,

who is the projected Titan 2 in this class, but it has some great plays too, like climbing the ladder. He is a natural receiver. But I do think if I'm picking up what you're saying, that he might fit that tweeter role of is he just like a big guy, like a receiver playing tight end, which makes it tricky to evaluate in a class where I think there's,

you're a little wary of pushing these guys up because tight end two might be open for grabs, basically. Yeah, and those guys are usually more beloved by consent to say, I would say, than where they wind up getting drafted by the league. With him where it's tricky is the between it is, they're really going to have to make a call just kind of weight-wise and what they view him as. Because right now he is a zero in the run game in terms of the blocking.

He wasn't even on the field for a lot of that stuff for Vandy. So he's not a full-time player in college. You're going to make him a full-time every down tight-end in the NFL. He's only played the position for two and a half years. He's a former quarterback turned into a tight-end, and there's a great history of a production of that of that line going from quarterback to tight end. But he really is to me more of just a really exciting receiver who makes tough contested catches, who can grab the ball away from his frame.

There's highlight reel grabs all over the film. There's really good after the catch work. And I just think a team's going to have to make a call on do we just kind of slim him down? We just make him a big power slot receiver or do we kind of beef him up and see if we can work on some of the block? walking side of the game. But on college, it's a lot of either running to grass and he's just better than everyone else or it's smoking linebackers. I wonder, is he the kind of athlete, if he's playing in a three-point stance as a tight end? Can he truly be an NFL safety? Can he truly be these big nickel players like a Nicky Monwary? I think that's a pretty fair reservation to

have. Yeah, I can just imagine him as a rookie. It depends where he goes, certainly. But just not being able to get on the field enough and you're manufacturing a couple touches and he's almost like you know you're using him in like not an hback roll but you're using him out of the backfield a little bit and yeah that that to me is is more of a third fourth round type of player right now the consensus is he's tight end too maybe late second we'll see who who would be your your second tight end i don't know if you've made a tier behind cadiq no this is why i'm a bozo and would get fired as a gm but My guy is Oscar Delp from Georgia, who caught 20 passes last season. Meanwhile, Eli Stowers is clowning people all over the SEC,

and I'm saying I'm not sure you can get on the field. There's pretty fair questions about you mentioned production before of Kenya Sadiq. I mean, 20 grabs in a season is a pretty big knock on Oscar Delp. But as a do-everything kind of player, he came to Georgia initially as the move-type piece and more of the receiving type player. Over time, they tried to make him more of an in-line blocker. That's why he wasn't in the final year for Georgia. He's on a team with Darnell, Washington, and Brock Bowers,

so it makes sense why they've had to kind of maneuver his production, how they've used him. But he just has the size, the athleticism, the get after it in the run game. He's got some real juice after the catch. And he gives me the kind of twinges of Tucker Kraft and George Kittell, two guys who really got after in the trenches in college, who were kind of traditional crossing route type players in college and never really had that overwhelming production.

And yet their skill set just align so nicely of how the league really maximizes tight ends. No, I'm with you. I watch them. The more I watched the depth of this class, I was like, oh, this is actually a pretty good tight end class. They haven't gotten a lot of pop. Delp, to me, has a lot of potential.

Eli Raritan from Notre Dame is probably not going to get anyone incredibly excited, but he just looks like a guy. He has good hands. He was smooth. And I was like, well, I think that's an NFL player. I don't know where he's going to go exactly. There was a couple guys like that, Max Claire from Ohio State to me looked like a professional tight end.

And I would throw Delp in that mix. You know, maybe Delp you think has a little higher ceiling than those two. But I think they all look like capable. Okay, it wouldn't shock me if they had pretty good careers tight ends. No, Claire is another one. I would have Delp and Claire right next week to them. I think Delp is a more natural, gifted blocker right now. Claire is really up for the fight.

He just whiffs constantly, but the tenacity and the willingness is there. And when he was at Purdue, he was doing a lot more of that grubby work, whereas at Ohio State they kind of moved him around a lot more. But he's a really good athlete. Both of these guys are really good athletes. Both can shimmy-shake people at the top of the route. And that kind of winning at 10 to 12 yards, winning at 15 yards and fall down is the name of the game for the guys who get into that beat.

I think in the league, who want the complete game breakers, as you maybe will project with a Sadiq. So you're not feeling Rared in there. I mean, test it well? I like Raredin. He's a little lanky. He's a little cumbersome. He's only really had one year of a full-time starting,

and the blocking stuff is pretty mediocre, I would say. But I would take him as a guy to have for year, two, year three. Maybe I'm just getting like Anthony Fasano, Notre Dame flashbacks. if you want to go way, way back for a big lanky guy. Do you have any, I know you love a blocking tight end. And I think the league is coming around, not like this is that bold of a statement. But I do feel like the blocking tight end capped off with Charlie Colder's contract with the Chargers is on the upswing in terms of value. People are looking for him.

So is there anyone in this class that stand out to you as a blocking tight end beloved? Sam Roush, that's downfut. absolute muller will not stress anyone as a receiver, but Charlie Kohler is the kind of perfect comparison there. He has some after the catchability. He also has some of the tiniest arms for a 6-6-6 man you'll ever see. So whether he can truly grab the ball away from his frame with Kyle Hamilton drained on his back is probably a bit of a concern.

But as they just in line, putting an extra tight end on the field, then Sam Rouse can really get after it. And then Will Kuzmerek, Ohio State, is a very similar thing. sturdy, reliable, crushes people. It's between those two for who's the best blocking type player. I would say Roush has a little bit more receiving potential than Kuzmeric, but Kuzmerek will probably make $5, six million for eight years in the league. Will Kzmerich from Ohio State? Consensus is 179, but if you think he's one of the top two blocking tight ends, that feels like early day three. It's like, okay, let's get to day three. And then someone in

the room's like let's take that guy in the fourth. Yes. We're not going to mess around. So if you can find any over unders for real sickos out there for the Will Kazmeric over under, we're taking the over. That's it. We went through the positions, Ollie. We did our defense.

We went through offense. The next time I talk to you, it'll either be draft week or the draft it'll already be over. We might have you come back to do a little draft recap. Are you ready? Are you cramming? What's going on? I'm not cramming.

all the work is done. I'm looking through trying to find some, is there any day three guys I've missed? It's one of those classes where it just completely falls apart after like the 100th guy. So you've got to go dig through Ottawa University Presbyterian.

Is there like a titan hanging out somewhere around that you can find? Yeah, you don't need to mention the name, but you told me one team gave you a name to look at like an undrafted priority free agent. And what did you say? He was the worst athlete. Come on.

I can't put it. I'm not going to say who it. It is. I'm just saying like that's, you know, you got to do the digging and sometimes you find the worst athlete that you've ever seen. Sometimes you find gold. We'll see. Yeah, like, like Efton Chisholm when you were going through the mines last year. All right, that's it for this week. That was a really fun week. I think we properly got our listeners ready for the draft. But if you need any more, we're going to be back on Monday. It'll be me and Patrick Claibon in the studio talking about what we want to see. We got a mock draft. Final one

coming. Jordan Rodriguez. on the show. We will see you then. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.