NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - The One With the Wide Receivers

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

In a virtual room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler put the next wave of NFL wide receiver under the microscope. Before the heroes talk about the future, they discuss teams that may need to address the WR position in this year's draft (00:30). After the break, Matt Harmon from Reception Perception joins the show for a deep dive into this year's draft class (13:44).  Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Around the NFL podcast runs the entire route tree poorly. Welcome to another edition of Around the NFL. My name is Dan Hanses. Got Heroes here. Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler. Very special edition of 18. It is the one with the wide receivers in friend's style.

Boys, we're going to dive deep today on what is a very rich and promising wide receiver class. And I will say this, Gregie, quarterback's always going to have the most juice, right? Naturally, because they are the most important player. They can change the fortune and direction of a franchise immediately. the most recent example, of course, being C.J. Stroud in Houston. However, to me, it is wide receivers that gets my juice flown in the sense of you want to fix your offense. You can do it overnight because these guys are now entering the league and so many of them are instant, you know, number two, fringe number one guy. Some guys, the special ones are immediate superstars.

So when you hear about this class in particular, it feels like we're going to get a couple of those this year and maybe more. That's a great point, Dan. Receivers on a rookie contract before, like a CD lamb until he's going to get paid, whatever he's going to get paid this off season is such a ridiculous value. And I think the contracts, top receivers are getting there, kind of reflecting that after quarterback, if you had to pick one position that you think is the most valuable,

it's either left tackle, receiver, or edge, but it might be number one, true number one receiver, and there's only so many of those. And that's a bit of a flip compared to what teams thought about 10, 15 years ago. I also wonder if what we're experiencing with this draft class, and it certainly stands out wider C-R-Wise from others. They've been getting better and better, and it's like, is this at some point the new norm?

Because I think, like, the one, starting to watch these guys, like, so many of them, like, usually it's like, oh, he's really good at this, but he's got to work on this with NFL coaches to kind of get up to stuff. So many of them look completely prepared to start right away. And we aren't that far away from a time when, like, you could draft a wide out outside of like the top one, two, or three. And they're kind of ghosts until season two or even three sometimes. But these guys look like ready to roll immediately, a big chunk of them. They're out there doing those seven on sevens. and the quarterback camps and all that stuff and they practice it on air

and it's why I take exception to the money drop. I can run an out route. It's Walker's favorite thing in the world to go over to the middle school. They got a nice football field which has some open. And we're practicing quite a bit. We're throwing routes

and I break off that route. I can get off press coverage. I mean, Greg, what if you have like a 6-200-something pound cornerback jamming you at the line? How's your out-route looking then? I'm just going to duck under them. I kind of, I do this little move. I slip on.

Okay. You're undersized. You're 45 years old. Like, let's know our limitations, bud. Like, you can't play on the outside. You'd get manhandled. The route tree is complete, though, you know. The idea of, like, again, you've been down on Hunter Renfro in the past.

Like, that's kind of your ceiling, bud. Like, that's what you have to operate in that realm. I don't want to be the bear of bad news. Like, I'm an inline tight end blocker. Like, I know, and maybe hit me at the, at the red, in the red zone and a little misdirection, but at least I know who I am. I see myself as a 5-6 AJ Green, you know. I mean, to say that Hunter Renfro is Greg's ceiling, it's like the ceiling three stories up on a building from where Greg is, or any. I'm just trying to like rain him in somewhat to, to say, and I've been putting in some work lately.

Are you running these routes against your, your, how old is your son again? We spent way too much time. We got that football, you know that football where it's got the routes on the football. So if I love that ball. you know, what's a five route? Let's do it. No, there's no defenders there. Okay.

And by the way, coming up just a little bit, Matt Harmon, he of the reception, fame, and we'll talk to Matt about what that means and which players are really jumping out to him. But before we kind of get to Matt, yeah, I mean, every team can use a number one, right? Even the teams that have a number one. What's better than one number one? Two number ones. it's the second most important position

a backup quarterback and the third most important the third is the backup backup quarterback Charlie Cassidy, where are you buddy? Greg, who's a team or teams that really jump out to you that are going to be all over this wide receiver class when you look at what they currently have in house?

There were so many when we did this exercise like I wrote down no less than 14. It's crazy like as many good receivers that have come in so many need it. But Baltimore is one that I think is high profile that hasn't gotten a lot of attention. Like, Zay Flowers is not a one. Rashad Bateman is not a two.

Aguilar would probably be best as a four. So they're not going to find a one most likely in this class, but man, they're counting a lot on Rashad Bateman right now. And maybe they'll pick up a veteran at some point. But that is a high profile team. And just staying in that division, too, you look at Cincinnati. The most Cincinnati move in the world is just replacing Tyler Boyd

one for one in this draft with a slot receiver. I could see that happening. And then Pittsburgh, they have one receiver. It's George Pickens, who hasn't exactly been the most reliable player in the world. And their two and three is, I don't even know who quite. They really don't have a two or a three. It's Cuez Watkins. It's Calvin Austin.

It's Van Jefferson. So that division, all those teams need receivers. The Browns are the only team that look pretty solid. Yeah, cycling back to Baltimore, I trust the Ravens in so many ways in terms of roster building. But they've proven time and time again that they can't find a number one wide receiver. or if their franchise's life depended on it. Not that Zay Flowers is a bad pick. No, he was a good pick.

I think you're right that he has the ceiling to be, you know, even a pro ball player, but he's maybe not the number one. You mentioned Rashad Bateman. He was also a first round pick. Is there a third first round pick? Who's the other name he threw out there? Nelson Aguilar? Not there anymore.

He was with Philly, but he was another high for a high round pick. Odell Beckham, they brought in last year thinking he would fill a role. And that didn't really work out either. So would the Ravens go back to the well once again with kind of the one blind spot when it comes to really identify top tier talent? You've got you brought in Todd Munkin and they'd correctly addressed Wide Out a year ago

but then you've lost like O'Dell Beckham's gone and like you're kind of back where you started from and like this is the draft class to do it. I think there's a couple teams like you know it's a little more overt but I see like coaches getting canned if they don't figure out what they're doing at Wide Out in some situations like the, Arizona Cardinals, they've got literally, they've got a fringed number two type of guy and nobody

else. And it's like, they're in a weird place because it's like everyone points to them as the team that's going to trade with the Vikings to get Minnesota up to number four to take their quarterback. But then it's like, okay, you pass on Marvin Harrison Jr. when like the most important player in your franchise history in the modern day age was Larry Fitzgerald. You can go get that player, a version of that player again. It's like, I think Cardinals fans, they're really split and they're divided on like, wait, do we trade these? Do we acquire picks and get lesser players? Or do we get this guy who can change the franchise for 15 years? 12 years? I'm with you. I'll just talk that like, oh, the bears, should they take Roma Dunzi at night? It's like,

he's not getting there because there's too many teams in front that will be taking receivers and the Cardinals are one of them. And if the Bears do have a chance to take them, they should because they need a receiver. They've got DJ Moore. They've got Kenan Allen, who's a 32-year-old on a one-year contract and nothing else. And I look at the AFC East and the dolphins are all set. They're loaded. They have maybe the best one-two punch in the league with Tyree Kill and Waddle. But the bills, their struggles to have a real wide receiver room.

We're well documented before they traded Stefan Diggs. So you would think they will be all over one of these prospects we're going to talk about with Matt Harmon in a bit. The Patriots are a team that is screaming out for some juice. and like who is it now they're going to most likely target a quarterback at the top of the class. But they could use wide receiver help. And you imagine they're going to go hard at this group. And then the Jets who have Garrett Wilson, who is a budding superstar entering his third year,

who could be a monster if Aaron Rogers stays on the field. Mike Williams was, I thought, a nice move to bring him in. But you can't assume Mike Williams is going to stay healthy coming off an ACL and all his issues. The Jets sitting where they are in the draft, like I'm of that. that this I'm of the thought like if Joe Alt is there who's as flawless as a offensive lineman prospect as as you as you'll see if he is off the board by the time the Jets pick at what eight I believe I'm going and grabbing one of the 10 is I'm sorry I'm grabbing one of these wide receivers because they're going to one of these big guys will be

there because of all the teams that are picking a quarterback at the top of the top 10 so that's a team that jumps out to me like that would be you want to get a As somebody has obviously been struggling a little bit as a Jets fan after last year's harrowing season, if you pair Garrett Wilson with one of these gifted young players and then everything else they have, Breece Hall and Mike Williams is a three, I mean, you can really start to get excited. So we'll see if they go that route. Yeah, the Colts are a team at 15 that I think are a nice spot. Like Brian Thomas Jr. To them is one of my favorite matches. But because of what you just said and because of

of going through the top 10 and thinking like, well, which team doesn't need a receiver here? I kind of think he'll go higher than people expect and we'll get to him a little more later. But like the Titans, they could still use a receiver. I know everyone just thinks it's tackle, tackle, tackle. They could absolutely use a receiver on that team still. The Falcons could absolutely use a ride receiver. Like even teams later in the draft, not that they're going to trade up for these top guys, but like the 49ers have to think about the future of replacing either Devo or Ayuk.

The lions, they love Amman. Ross St. Brown, but he's an inside guy, and, you know, outside, it's like your hope in James and Williams works out. It's Josh Reynolds. Like, they need receivers. The Panthers are still short in weapons. They're just like so many teams to me. That's why I just think there's going to be, what, 12 receivers maybe go in the first two rounds. It's going to be a lot. But you can't get this far and not mention, like, the Chargers who, like, I mean, this offseason's been a disaster on that front. I think, like, it's one of those times where what the draft provides couldn't match more perfectly with the way football operates right now. You

don't have two. It's not in 1986. You don't have like one wide receiver and a number two and a bunch of tight ends and fullbacks. You need four or five of these dudes. Not to mention we're coming off a somewhat me a year from wide receiver in 23. So those teams that have been looking for wide receiver helped and weren't able to get it in most cases last year. So now it goes down that road. And I thought you were going to go in a different direction, Mark, in the AFC West. We cannot end this part of the conversation without mentioning the defending champion chiefs who pick at 32, who made a move and got Hollywood Brown, a move I wasn't in love with personally, and it seems so obvious to me that there's another move coming. My question is, do they sit

where they are, or do they really go aggressively up the board and try to get one of these big boys? Because that would be the talk of draft night if they do. Get aggressive. All right. Anybody else want to throw out another team? You could just do that whole division, because the Broncos, like, the Broncos sneaky need everything, but they have Cortland Sutton, and then just a lot of question marks. Tim Patrick, Mims.

I mean, it's not the worst receiver group of the world, but again, there's so few of these teams that you couldn't see, like, a second round picket receiver helping. I waited so long for it not to be a conversation anymore, but now that it's here and gone, I miss it. But, you know, Cortland Sutton and Jerry Judy, they could be.

dynamic. Going to miss that conversation. Are you? You can still talk about them in Cleveland. You know, Jerry Judy, he's the long-term future as a Cleveland. Are we cool with the Browns mark with the Mark Cooper getting up there? I think what they've done is kind of interesting. Like Judy and Elijah Moore represent players that haven't had breakout success on any level.

They've been frustrating. You can see it a little potential, but other teams gave up on them. and Amari Cooper is getting up there in age. I thought he had a great year last year, but that team has to feel is all in with their financial situation and everything else as anyone out there, but they don't have a lot of draft picks,

but I would absolutely want them to get a wide receiver. You know who really helps them in that realm as a playmaker? That David Anjoku, it's quite a player, Mark. He's a good player. I've come around on that. All right, with that said, let's take a quick break. and when we come back, we will have Matt Harmon to break down some of the young wide receiving talent about to flood into the league

and all those teams we just talked about, many of them, well, all of them are going to be jockeying for these guys and we'll find out in a couple of weeks who gets him. We'll be right back. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game

from scouting reports and player development to team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning roster. Every week we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture.

If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel?

That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more.

To the end, Zod. Touchdown Harrison again. Rising to the occasion is Norman Harrison, June. Here, Bowers, heading to the end zone. Man, is he devastating after the catch? That's Brock Bowers. There's the shot to a Dunezai. And it's caught on Tuesday. Malik Neighbors, my, oh my.

Malik Neighbors is just lighting it up this morning. The catch made by Brian Thomas. He's got another touchdown. To straight speed from Brian Thomas. How pretty was that? Welcome back. Yes, it's the one with the wide receivers episode. And we just talked about what teams are going to be aggressive on draft weekend, targeting wide receivers, the teams that make sense.

But now let's talk about the wide receivers themselves that are entering the league. And it's a potentially historic wide receiver class. And we think wide receiver boys, and you think the NFL and you think about route trees. And you think about the receptions. but you f*** think about the perception, don't you as well? Matt Harmon, welcome back to around the NFL. Oh, man, Dan, thank you for that intro. I got to think about stealing that for like the start of our own podcast.

That is pretty good. So I'll have my lawyers talk to your lawyers and maybe we'll come to sort of an agreement on buying that IP there. No problem working a little bit blue to make a point. Matt, of course, a former colleague of ours at NFL Media, was a fantasy guy. And as he was a fantasy guy, he created the mythology reception, which has its own website, which you could check out. And Matt is all over that. And also, of course, does writing and analysis for Yahoo. So Matt, welcome back to the show. And it's

always good to see a friend. And yes, even though you said it before we came on, I'm now going to steal that little bit of pre-show banter. You've moved away from the swoosh hairstyle. Then I saw you when we live together in El Segundo before you move back east, you said, I'm a hack guy now, and that surprised me, quite frankly, as a fellow follicle guy disappointed me. And now you got the Travis Kelsey fade. So it looks like you're not a hack guy after all. I would say I'm like a 50-50. You know, when the weather is nice and you know, you're doing a lot of sweating, it's nice to have the hat. That's good. That's a nice call. You know, I mean, look, Dan, see, you're a gifted hair guy or follicle guy in your words. And you're wearing the hat right now. So I mean, you know,

It's good to be able to do both. Versatility as you get older is important. It's not an incredible upset that we've spent the first 40% of this interview talking about Dan's hair. Also, we're too old to do the Travis Kelsey. At least I'm speaking for myself. I'm much too old, but you pull it off. You look like you could be the unathletic third brother of the Kelsey.

I think I'll take minor offense to the unathletic part because I do. like to say that I, I work out. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm a gym guy as well, uh, but at the same time. You did two Hall of Famers, Matt, you know? Well, listen, I, if I hit my peak a little earlier, I think I could have gotten there. No, but in all seriousness, um, I, I just want to say for the record. Yes. I don't want to call it the Travis Kelsey. You guys can call it the Travis Kelsey, but officially it's a, it's a, it's not the Travis Kelsey. Just, just, just to get that on the record. What is it? What is it? What is it the, uh, because my, my haircut is the modified gentleman's contour famously what is yours called just it's just a fade just a regular old fade okay okay but enough honking

let's focus up hair is great but these wide receivers my own harmon and uh can you give people that maybe are not familiar with the reception perception model like how you how you came uh to study the game this way wide receivers and playmakers this way and what it what it tells you and then we'll get into some of the players in this draft class, which obviously have to be very exciting for what you do. Yeah, wide receiver business is booming right now. That's for sure. But what reception is is the methodology that I created around like 2013, 2014. 2014 was the first year that I tracked league-wide data with reception or close to league-wide data. I'm not charting every single player in the league. And certainly not every single college prospect. That's for

sure. But what I do is I go in over eight-game sample for NFL or college prospects when the film is available and chart every single route they run, where they line up, really try to give you a view of what a wide receiver is doing in isolation, because all those years ago, my thought was, you know, you're lucky if you're a receiver, you get like eight to ten targets a game, but you're running, you know, 30 plus routes a game. You're playing like 60 plus snaps a game if you're a true number one guy. And we all know that quarterback or wide receiver production is so inherently dependent on quarterback, it's dependent on past protection, it's dependent on like the environment that they're in. And even, we know this more now, even maybe more than we did

10, 11 years ago that a wide receiver is not a wide receiver, right? Like these guys are so different even if they all have WR next to their names. So reception, through that charting data that I'm the only one doing the charting. You know, James Coe, my business partner would love to maybe take some of that work off my hands. Yeah, he'd love to add some more people to the team. But to me, you got to pry the charting away from like my cold dead hands, man. That's why I love to do this is actually the grunt work of it. But through that charting data, it tries to give you a real picture.

of who a wide receiver is in isolation, away from their production, you know, for a variety of different reasons to try to categorize these guys, try to understand them within their roles. And obviously from a, you know, for fantasy fans, you know, you want to try to spot a breakout before it's coming. I was going to ask you real quick, like, have you, um, the same way, you know, PFF started their own way to, you know, track, mythologize, like play. Like, have you had NFL teams or scouts of that ilk reach out to you about, about what you do? Every now and again. If there are any NFL folks wanting to, you know, pay me a bag that listen to this show, I'd gladly do. You guys know this as big, big media bros, like consulting work. That's where

it's at. I'd hire me as your consultant. I'd love to do it. I don't know if that would require me taking, you know, information off the site to my loyal subscribers. But really, I'm a man of the people, Mark. I'm out there for the folks that can afford a, you know, $30 subscription to learn about wide receivers. Whenever, hey, if it works out, it works out. Whenever I meet somebody and they tell me they're a consultant, they're almost always very wealthy. So that's something I want to get into one day.

All right, so with that in mind, let's get into it. And we kind of built up the ATN heroes here, some superlatives, and we're going to tee you up. And you could tell us which one of these prospects, because we're hearing, what, three out of the top eight picks maybe to start the draft could be wide receivers, maybe even better than that. We'll see.

it's not just the big three. There's a lot of talent in the stress. So let's start here. The 2024 Reception Perception Man Crush Award winner is. Oh, I'll just start off with Roma Dunesay there because to me, I don't watch college football on Saturdays. You know, I'm a happily married man and I already ruined like three days of the week with NFL work. It would be kind of hard to justify to Mrs. Harmon like, hey, I'm going to ruin one more day of the week by watching a bunch of college football. It's something that doesn't really have anything to do with my job. So I'm not super familiar with these players before watching them for the draft other than obviously i knew knew marvin harrison junior's name and knew the hype around that particular player so coming

into this process i didn't really know anything about these guys but the first time i put on the film of roma dunzee i mean whatever superlatives you have for this exercise boys i could probably say rome's name for most of them because i think he is just so good at everything i think he's an extremely clean prospect you know he lines up on the line of scrimmage as a true ex receiver which is not something we could say about last year's draft class right like last year's draft class It was a lot of guys like Jackson Smith and Jigba, Zay Flowers, even Jordan Addison, these guys that were going to play off the ball and be more of the kind of complimentary players. All three of the top receivers in this draft class are not of that ilk, although Malik Neighbors doesn't really line up as that true X, but specifically Rome, like he's just out there doing NFL things, running NFL routes. I love the way he gets off the line of scrimmage against press coverage.

I think he's a great separator, really kind of underrated as a separator because he has all these contested targets on his resume. but a lot of that is the fact he's running downfield routes. He has a quarterback who's willing to trust him in those tight areas. To me, he just looks like kind of a I did prospect comparisons, like aggressive and cautious comps for a Yahoo video series this year.

My cautious comp for him was Alan Robinson, like another guy that just you can line him up at X back in his prime and you could win there, you know, it's kind of short to intermediate but also be a contested catch threat. My aggressive comp for him was DeMonte Adams, another guy that wins at all three levels, great. route runner, nice separator, pretty like a solid tackle breaker after the catch, and obviously

someone you could throw to and contest the situations. Like, hey, you funnel 30% of your offense to this guy and you never think twice about it. I do think at his peak, Rome could be that guy. Here's a comp from Daniel Jeremiah. He sees Larry Fitzgerald as a comp coming out of college, which is obviously high praise too. That's a hall of famer. Mark. Yeah, well, I was just going to say watching him, the contested catches stand out. I feel like he had defenders and his beehive and he'd come down with the ball. But also, a lot of it is with these college guys. Like, you've got these quarterbacks, like paired with Michael Pennix Jr. I felt like they had like 10,000 catches or combinations that were like 40 yards down field where it just was like he could do no

wrong. And like, I'm with you. I came away just kind of in love with this guy. So I love what you said. Yeah, there's so many, you mentioned the extra receiver, even the ones further on. And we'll get to them. It seems like in compared to the last couple of classes, there's like six, seven guys that you can see as as number ones. The thing I was worried about going into it, and you can tell me how the reception worked out for Roma Dunez. It was like, whenever the first thing you hear

is contested catch guide, that's been almost been in like a red flag for players in the last handful of years. Drake London's a bit of an exception. I think he's kind of made his style of play work in the NFL and he's gotten better. But you're seeing Adunze maybe a little more subtle with his route running,

a little more versatile than maybe just positioning him. And he's kind of turned into, to wide receiver three. We'll see if the NFL agrees with that or not, but he's kind of landed as a three, even though at the beginning of the process, guys like Jeremiah maybe had him as high or higher than Harrison or neighbors. It doesn't feel like a lot of people believe he's going to go ahead of them. You seem to think he's a little more versatile, though, and you would put him ahead of him, would you? I had a long kind of internal debate with myself. You know, my war room up here, me and the two dogs. We had a long internal debate of like, who was the wide receiver

one in this class, which to me, I think I was close to making it at Rome. I eventually maybe just broke a few ties in favor of Marvin Harrison, but Rome is the second guy to me and Malik Neighbors is a third guy. Now, my mission statement with this draft class, these top three guys in particular, like, these guys are all so close. They're all great prospects. To me, they're all tier one prospects on my stacked board for the last four classes. So like, you like this guy over this guy? That's fine with me. You want to take this trait over that trait also fine with me. It's kind of reminiscent. You brought up Drake London. To me, this is reminiscent a little bit to that draft class where like you could put Drake number one. You could

have put Garrett Wilson number one. You could have put Chris Olave number one and I would have been fine with that. Ultimately, I went with that year, kind of the route running craft guy, which was Chris Alave and then, you know, then Drake London, then Garrett Wilson to me. I think I'd probably flip that up now that they're in the NFL. But I see this group is very similar to that. It kind of depends what type of player and what number one receiver you value in terms of a traits perspective. But yeah, like on the separation part of it, it was a very similar exercise with Drake London where you actually had to watch him on film and see the routes develop to, like, no, this is a guy that is getting open early in the routes and maybe gets thrown into some of these

contested situations. Like Terry McLaurin's always kind of high in the NFL in terms of percentage of contested targets, but I don't find any issues with his separation. and I think he's just played with some erratic quarterback play. And Michael Pennix is a good quarterback, but he is a little bit of an erratic pastor down the field as well. All right, I'll throw it out yet. And look, Rome could have been the answer to this,

but now you're going to have to pick someone else. All right, the wide receiver in this class that would have been the number one receiver in last year's class. You could go with any of the top three guys. I think you could honestly make an argument that even like Brian Thomas and JSN kind of have similar grades. in terms of last year's draft class. But I'll say Malik Neighbors as the obvious guy here.

Another one that to me is my wide receiver three, but easily with a bullet would have had like a tier break between him and any of the players last year. Neighbors is very fun. He's like an easy player to love because I think it takes like three plays to see, oh, this guy's different from an explosiveness standpoint. Like I mentioned that 22 class, I'll bring it up here again, that he's kind of the Garrett Wilson of that draft class to me

where he's a little bit of like a wild horse route runner. not the most refined player, but he's so explosive with the ball in his hands. And if he just continues to develop, you have a lot of confident, just like I think Garrett Wilson has developed into a true number one at the NFL level. I think neighbors could do that too. One thing noticing watching him is like, I love the seeing the body language of the poor individual that's forced to try to cover him because it's the kind of like the way that you watch a sprinter at the end of a race where he's bending his like upper body forward to try to hit the tape first. And these cornerbacks like are losing control of their bodies and like he's catching passes nine or ten

yards ahead of them. And I just think he's like the kind of guy that could like break someone's spirit by the end of the first quarter in the NFL. He seems so reliable but like so flashy at the same time. I mean it maybe it is the LSU thing and I'm just a simpleton, but he really did kind of remind me of Odell or like or like a little bigger Steve Smith type where he's just got such a natural feel as a runner. And he has great hands. So I hear you that maybe it's a little rougher around the edges, running routes or something, but he just seems very easy to project in like any of these systems that, like, he doesn't need to even get any better to just like immediately just put a thousand yards plus up there.

The only thing with him that's different from these top two receivers is he does play out of the slot the most, which, I mean, who cares? It's not that big of a deal. But 50.3% of his sampled snaps in reception, came from the slot. He was more of like a split between on the ball or all. off the ball. But that's totally fine. Like you can funnel your offense through that player. But it's similar to kind of DJ Moore coming out of the NFL draft where the guy, but kind of like a 2x version of that type of player where he was rough around the edges from a route running

perspective. But he was explosive and you could see that he was going to develop that in the league. That's why I'm not like, I'm not docking him out of my first tier of prospects because he's just the least refined of these three players. He's also like not even 21 yet. I don't think he turns 21 until after he's drafted. So he's a guy that you do feel pretty good about that growth. But like you said, Greg, his explosiveness and his ability to break tackles, which in my opinion is easily the best in this class. And I think it's actually the best of like the last three classes,

his ability to make plays in the open field. That gives you like a floor for any. If you're a team like the Giants, which I know it's weird with the Giants because they, a lot of things are weird with the Giants. But they don't have, they have a lot of like these slot guys, right? Like guys who have played mostly inside.

And Neighbors is a mostly inside guy at LSU, but it feels like they need someone to just say to Danny Dimes or maybe Drew Locke at some point. Like, this is your first read. He's going to run a crossing route or a dig route, something like that. And you just get the ball to him and worry about the rest later. It feels like a good way to start to kind of build a foundation on your offense. That's the Jets offense with Garrett Wilson the last two years, basically. Yes. Yeah, correct.

Which is why I kind of see those two guys similarly. All right. Here's one for you. I'm not Marvin Harrison Jr. Malik Neighbors or Roma Dunzee, but I have the best chance to put up number one type numbers as a rookie. If we're just talking numbers,

depending on where he's drafted, I kind of think it's got to be Brian Thomas, who's the consensus wide receiver four. He's my wide receiver four in this draft class. I don't know if he has, he definitely has the ceiling of a number one, but I think he probably projects best, as like a high end number two, he only runs like three routes. I mean, in his reception

sample, 67% of his routes were a slant, a curl, or a go route, and that's it. It doesn't mean it can't learn it. How do we kind of learn that with wide receivers in these weird systems that they can learn it when they get there? I was just going to say like in use, but at the same time, his success rate on a wide variety of other routes is really high. Like I think he does show the skills to expand that route tree, but it gives you kind of, like if you look back at D.K. McHaff's rookie season, 67% of the routes that he ran as a rookie was a slant, a curl, or a go route.

And so I think that's sort of the development plan for Brian Thomas. But if he lands with the right offense, like I think about the Colts at 15 make a lot of sense, like you have a guy in Michael Pittman that you're going to throw the ball to a ton in the short to intermediate area. And then you have Brian Thomas just kind of ripping you on the routes that you wanted to Alec Pierce to win on. That makes a lot of sense to me.

Just from a pure numbers perspective, I think he can put up like number one. numbers and then maybe eventually grow into that player he's the guy i was hoping you would say for the last one because i don't have many draft takes we're i'm personally like a like a student who's just studying for the test at the very last minute and then like is overconfident going into it but my one overconfident take is like you can't take brian thomas junior too high if i didn't know anything about it i'm just sort of basic but i didn't know anything about where these guys were and you just watch brian thomas's six games you're like wait wait

Why is he not a top five pick? Why is he not? Like, because his stop and start and his ability to move so smoothly at that size is just insane. Like, it's just as insane. I kind of see his ceiling, like in a perfect world where it all went well, is like just as high as those other guys. And I get it.

Like, he used to be a basketball player. He ran a limited amount of routes that, you know, some of these deep threats from the SEC, like, like JMO, haven't totally worked out. But a guy that huge that can run like that, that can stop like that, like he looked like Nico Collins, to me, looks now. And Nico Collins is great now. And I was like, if he looks that good now and he's this age and, like, his testing is off the charts, like he could be Nico Collins plus, plus,

which is like a top 10 receiver. So, like, I wouldn't be shocked if, like, if the Falcons or one of those teams takes him in the top 10 just because of the way he looks. If Adunze goes early, like I don't see why he was. wouldn't go against ahead of some of these defensive players or tackles too, but maybe I'm stupid. You're not stupid, Greg, but I think the good thing with Brian Thomas is, the good thing with Brian Thomas is you also saw him get better throughout the year, right? Like I think a lot of analytic models will ding him because he only has this one big year of production. But

that production, number one, was earned. And number two, like you saw him on film get better. Like the September routes are not as good as the December. out. It's like the later games he's getting better and better. He's already making that development and that projection that you kind of want him to make. And I just love the idea of him across from a competent number one. So that Atlanta spot makes a lot of sense too where you're getting the most out of him. And then, you know, Drake London's your Michael Pittman from the example that I gave earlier. All right. Everybody, let's stop down for one minute. We'll take a break and then we'll continue on with Matt Harmon.

What's up everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies coaching trends and how front offices construct winning rosters every week we study the tape talk to decision makers and share the insights you won't find anywhere else is the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow we break down the draft analyze matchups and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day plus we dig in the coaching strategies roster construction and the trends that that shaped the league year after year.

Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different? Did you see the Colts Pretzel?

That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now.

to learn more. All right, we're back. So along those similar lines to Mark's question. So we've now hit on the Mount Rushmore here, if you will, of prospects at this position. Let's talk superlative for Sleeper Stud. So who's flying under the radar here a bit as a 2024? I'm not saying superstar or number one wide receiver, but a guy that steps in and is an immediate difference maker like a Nico Collins and then he develops and turns into a star.

Like who is the difference maker that people aren't talking about? I really like Ricky Pearsall is kind of my favorite guy that's in a few tiers down, fun player. I think he's a really good route runner. To me, he seems like a guy that's just going to be a quarterback's best friend very early on because he's really good on like slant routes and flat routes and these sort of just routes around the line of scrimmage. But he's got legit juice down the field. He's a guy that you see on film play all three positions. So you see him a little bit at X.

I think his most likely home in the NFL is going to be as a flanker slot, like a guy that moves between those two positions. Someone that I think has that sort of floor that you're talking about early on, Dan, where he just gets open against man zone coverage. It's a little more average around press, but again, there are ways to hide that. You get him working around the line of scrimmage. He's a quarterback's best friend.

He's always at the right landmarks. He's always at the right place in terms of where you want him from a route running perspective. But I do see the upside for him to develop into like 120 type of target player in year two, year three. I think that there's a chance that he goes higher than people think just because he checks a lot of like athletic measurements as well that you really want to see. So he's been a guy that outside of the first couple tiers of this class that I've really gravitated to from I don't know that sleeper perspective because more people are talking about him now than they were at the beginning of the process, but definitely a player I like. It's the draft process. Everyone talks about everyone

at something. I'm almost disappointed though that that he was your answer because he's really one of only two options for my next category, which is just white guy that Mark is going to fall in love with. There's really only two guys, probably towards the top of the draft, unless I double-dink. Yeah, but Greg, it's the other guy, so you set the table well. Oh, okay. Well, it's up to Matt, though, to guess. There's no way the guy isn't Ladd-McConkie.

I mean, there's just no way. It's got to be. It's got to be. I love them. But the great, of course, but the best part about Ladd-McConkey, Somewhere, Zach Zner just got like a shiver and he's like, someone is thinking of me. Wasn't Zach Zenter was in the news for something recently. In 2006 during the preseason, maybe.

No, I swear to God, I saw something about like he went back to school or started a business or something. I'll, I'll deep dive that for you, Mark, and send you the article after the, after the show. But yeah, Ladd-McConkie, the great part about him is that he's not just your typical, like, lunch, pale, gritty white slot receiver. the guy legitimately wins on deep routes and like actually in terms of reception the game sampled here he was more of an outside receiver you saw him play a lot more

now he does struggle against press coverage he does struggle against contested situations but again those are things you can get around from like a deployment perspective you can move him inside you can also move them off the ball like so many of these receivers now I think are going to have their worlds opened up by how much motion is going on in the NFL right now

especially these like full speed motions that a lot of smart coaching staffs are using. So McConkey could be a guy there, but I think he runs the best out routes in the class. Like just pure, I'm selling vertical routes and then I break to the outside. That's Ladd-McConkey to me. His success rate on out-routes is among the best in the class. It's among the best of the last few years. So when I was trying to think of like a comp for him and go beyond the gritty white slot

receiver comp because I don't really think that's how he plays, I like went into the RP database and looked like who has some of the best out routes since 2014. And Tyler Lockett popped up as like a guy. comparison player. And I think that's sort of the kind of the bucket that Ladd fits into. If he can play inside, he can also play outside, and he's more of a speed-based slot receiver when you do line him up there. I've got one for you. Like if you, Matt Harmon, had to write like a Shakespearean sonnet to, you know, not one of the stars that we've talked about, but like a girl next door type of wide receiver, that's a weird way to put it. But just like a little

under the radar, like who would you pen the sonnet to of your affections? Pierce all would have been an option but I'm intimidated by the leg tattoo so I'll go with Malik Washington who actually went to school in Charlottesville near where I live now in Virginia Beach guy's just like a fun player I don't know what the ceiling is for

a smaller receiver like this that really only has like one year of major production but I mean he's got fantastic hands he breaks a ton of tackles like he plays bigger than his size so if I was writing kind of that sonnet to a player I definitely think I'd pick Malik Washington is kind of the deeper sleeper here.

It shows how hard this class is crazy because it feels like, you know, six receivers could go in the first round or something, but it almost feels like there's like nine or ten guys who could be five, you know, there's like five or six guys who could be that fifth or six. And there's not really a consensus who it's going to be. And then that means there could be like 10 to 13 in the second through two rounds. Like Malik Washington is not a name I've even heard as probably in the first three rounds. There's like 15 to 17 guys, and it really seems like there's a lot of disagreement where there could be 10 to 12 guys that could go anywhere from like pick 25 to pick 75,

which is just crazy in terms of what flavor. Like if you're running a team, which guy who's athletic do you not really trust? Like an awesome athlete that maybe is in that bucket of like he could go pretty high, but that you're not really feeling. I haven't really had that, well, I don't really have any, like, true full field athlete. I do think that the Xavier worthy 4-2-1, the speed part of it, if that pushes him up in the first round, that's going to make me just a little bit nervous. I think he's much better at doing, like, real wide receiver things than some of these other

kind of smaller speed-based receivers, but he's just not good at contested situations. He's a guy that's going to have to kind of be used in one of these specialized roles where he's full speed motion at the snap that that's definitely great like teams want viable target earners in that position now you so i can see the vision there depending on the coaching staff but there are just a lot of other receivers that i prefer in terms of that can give you like high volume perspective like high volume type of season so he's one that if you went in the first round i'd be a little nervous if you went in the second round i'm like all right i i see where your vision is there i to that point i'm totally with you a player like that with that skill set

and that flash you got where he ends up is so important and what coaching staff and what the surrounding talent is you kind of you have to have a scheme that knows how to use a player like that you kind of hit on um a question greggie i had i was asking kind of who to you might be more lequan tread will well than justin jefferson so a guy that is so there is there a guy are you out there other than uh other than four to one that jumps out to you as someone that you think is like ooh if i were running a team i'm staying away or are you just like this class enough where there aren't a lot of red flags out there there's not a lot of red flags in terms of the early guys because i know some people don't like ad mitchell the other receiver from tex

i actually like him better than zavier worthy um just because i i think you see him do like real nfl x receiver things and he's definitely a volatile prospect but i can understand chasing the upside there. The guy that I've been kind of like back and forth on where my feeling on him changes depending on the game that I chart is Xavier Leggett, who some people do have as a late first round pick. To me, that's definitely pretty rich, despite the fact that he's got great tackle breaking ability and he shows an ability to get open on a certain routes. At that size, it's very impressive to see him working out there. But at the same time, I do think he is a developmental player that might take a few years and even like that type of you know average

separator is typically like it matters even more where he ends up because you've got to find the right quarterback to to sort of see that like sort of see that vision if he's going to be an outside player which I do think is going to be the case like I look at another guy Keon Coleman who's not a separator but if you look at his reception profile I won't bore you guys with like the very hardcore percentile stats with this get dirty get dirty with the numbers That's a drop. I was going to say there's another drop. But like over the last few draft classes I've charted,

there's a handful of players that have been below the 35th percentile and success rate versus man, zone, and press coverage, or at least two of the three. Almost all of them have been total flameouts except five guys. And they've all become like big slot receivers. Like Rishie Rice was an outside receiver who didn't really get open. He moved inside in the NFL, found career success in year one. I'm on Ross St. Brown. He was good against zone coverage, but wasn't really great

against man and press coverage. As an outside receiver at USC, moves in the slot, has a great career, obviously. Juja Smith-Schuster, another one, struggled, beaten man press coverage. Outside, as a collegiate player, was a big slot receiver in his good years with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like, I see that vision with Keon Coleman, where he's a guy that is below that 35th percentile mark in man and press coverage, but it's a pretty solid zone beater, and he's pretty good on these routes, like dig routes and slant routes. And so if the right team takes him, you know, that has a coaching staff, like the chiefs, they take Rishie Rice. I talked to Rishie Rice at the Super Bowl, kind of asked him, like, when did the vision of you

becoming this receiver, like a big slot receiver sort of, when did that materialize? And he said it was right after he was drafted. And like Brett Veach talked about in the post-draft presser, they saw him as like a juju kind of replacement for them, which was weird to me because he was mostly a pure outside receiver in college. So the right team takes Kiann Coleman has that vision for him. I can see that working out with Leggett because he's a. a ball winner and like he theoretically is more of an like a straight line athlete in my

opinion. I think he has to be an outside receiver. And in that case, it's going to take kind of the right team to really maximize that skill set. He looks like the freakiest maybe of any of these play. It's a little worrisome that you're like a fifth year senior that, you know, for various reasons, didn't have production before you were 23 playing against some 19 year olds. But if you just like look at this man running down the field, he's a total, he looks like D.K. Metcalfe or A.J. Brown. So some team is going to fall in love with that at some point and just try to make it work. And don't forget, Greg, that Tommy Callahan, son of Big Tom Callahan after a rough start on the road with his colleague, ended up making Callahan's brake pads

hugely successful in Tommy Boy. So just because you might, he was an eighth year senior, as I recall, and Tommy did just fine in the end. That's a trench and point, Dan. Nice, nicely done. Thank you. Last thing before you let you go, Matt, because I know you're busy. Wither Brock Bowers.

I don't chart tight ends, man. No, I love it. I love it. I love the man that draws a line of the sand. What about after last year? Last year was a great year for the tight end. The man has a code. Respect the code.

Respect the methodology. It is a serious code because the Kyle Pitts Bros. have been banging on my door for years now about like where's our Kyle Pitts reception chart. And I have two reasons why I only stick to the wide receiver position. One is kind of the statistical reason that I've been doing reception perception now in these wide receivers for 10 plus years. I've been working on this for a long time.

have a very understanding of what the data show, very good understanding of what the data shows us, right? Like, you score this against man coverage. I understand where your position should be. I should understand, like, what thresholds are, that, all that type of stuff. To start a whole new database with tight ends, we're starting from square one. The second reason is, can I, if I can work blue on this show, I got enough shit on my plate, okay?

Like, I got enough wide receivers on my plate, right? We're talking about there's, you mentioned it, Greg, there's going to be guys that come off the board in the third round that I'm not going to have a route chart for and it's going to make me nervous. It's going to make me feel weird. Let's be fair, though. We began this conversation with you saying, James Coe, your partner with reception,

who, by the way, is one of the great showmen and hosts. But he wants to bite at the apple, and he wants to start studying. He wants to start charting. Give him tight ends. Throw him that bone. Let's expand the property. I would love to.

James, this is your call. Step up to the plate, buddy. Contribute to the charting here. I mean, listen, this is what we did with Derek Classen, who does great work on quarterbacks. I was like, hey, Derek is a free agent, not working for football outsiders anymore. Let's get him to chart quarterbacks

for receptionperception.com, and that's what he does now. So aspiring tight end whisperer out there. Yeah. This is your call. Come chart tight ends for reception and that's how we'll get it done. Yeah, I just don't think,

I don't think like tight end perception's going to work well on certain corners of the internet, but that's okay. You couched inside of your success. It'll work it great. I was going to say. It'll work great, but I mean. That's a little, a little backdoor entry to get into the data.

Nailed it. Matt Harmon at Matt Harmon underscore BYB on Twitter. Sorry, Mark X. Also check them out on Yahoo. And of course, reception perception.com, which has everything in the wide receiver realm. And if we're lucky, tight ends very soon. Matt, you're the best, buddy. Appreciate you, boys, for having me.

Yeah, this is awesome. And can't wait to see where these guys actually get to. drafted and then we can have a real conversation about how they're going to play thank god miss you that you guys too thank you all right let's take a break and when we got them back we'll put a button on this one what's up everybody daniel jeremiah here and i'm bucky brooks on move the sticks we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies coaching trans and how front offices construct winning rosters every week we study the tape talk to decision makers and share the insights you won't find anywhere else.

It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig into coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture.

If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you don't miss it listen to the move the six podcast on the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts hey this is matt jones i'm drew franklin and this is nfl cover zero we're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different did you see the colts pretzel that was my other big takeaway from that what was that oh my we think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get.

Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. All right, welcome back. and, yeah, I got to get me myself a mythology. I mean, that's, that does, we didn't have, if we had more time. You kind of do have a mythology. I think you're talking about like a methodology.

You've created quite a mythology. Oh, mythology. Yeah. Methodology is I think that you are. Methodology, methodology. That's what you got. You've got that down. I think the methodology part of it, I'm just letting you know, I think you've got a lot going on too, just like Matt was saying, like, it would probably take about 100 plus hours a week to create some sort of rival site to this. And you starting it back in 2013 would have been a wise move. Are you ready to take that on now?

Well, it's just like, how does one come up with a methodology? Like, how does one, like, how does that originate within one's own brain? That, that to me is something that I aspire to have an idea coming to me. my mind that makes me think, not only is this an interesting idea, this might be a methodology. I mean, this is not the way you use the word methodology. You have done that, Dan, like this is that podcast. The way you create different episodes of the shows and heighten certain characteristics from other people. And that is your methodology. That's very nice. That's the correct usage. But that's not what I'm thinking of. I want something like Matt has where people come off. Like, whoa, that guy is smart. That guy has his own methodology.

I mean, people are like listening to ATN and be like, whoa, Dan really nailed his methodology this week. But part of your mythology is this like state mandated math test that you flagged hardcore. Yeah. No, part of your mythology, though, is the fact that you're notoriously ill at math, that you don't have any skills at math. So you can't market it. You don't have to reverse market that.

Let's, uh, that's true. Okay, let's talk about Zach Zena real quick, undrafted rookie out of South Dakota state, Mark. the preseason rushing leader in 2016, when he rushed for a buck 83 on 35 totes, 5.2 yards per carry. It didn't really translate. And Zach is obviously long gone from the league, but he is active on social media. I just came across this late in our conversation with Maddie. Here it is. Zach Zener 31, follow him. when someone tells me I don't have time, I think they don't have a strategy.

I had 25 minutes to eat lunch and shower and no prepped food, parentheticals, yesterday. Put two salmon fillets in the air fryer, showered, then ate it with some veggies and supplements. Still made my 2 p.m. Part two. Wasn't my best meal? No, but I got my protein in and the nutrients came from unprocessed whole food sources. The key was that I had a plan in case I didn't have time. to prepare my typical lunch. Strategies and plans are crucial for any goal,

especially healthy and wellness. There you go. So Zach is on the path to, he's got his own methodology around health, fitness, and wellness. So he's on that path in life. I think I, if you look back on it, I, from a certain angle, I properly scouted him. Which angle would that be exactly?

I mean, we're 10 years later and he couldn't be more successfully. He's writing long mantras about air friars and showering. And he's got almost 4,000 views on that first tweet. I'm sure he's a blast at parties. He was in the news recently, as Matt said, that he's taken his MCAT, and he actually has a nutrition company. So it all, it all, and he wants to be an agent. So he's got a lot of things going on.

And, you know, now we've got some white receivers to fill his place. I was surprised he went Pearsall there, too, by the way. because Pearsall was a guy didn't get me going watching him because those guys it's kind of a cliche to say that the white guys fit better in the slot

and they tested out of the gym there's got to be a better way to put that well but it's true what do you mean? Well go on. That's like a big cliche that you put the white guys in the slot there's not many white outside receivers

for a long time and these guys have crazy athletic scores but Pearsall really is a slot guy and that kind of limits I think where we would go And McConkey, he mentioned, like, was not beating outside press coverage. Like, was not the type of receiver that you would normally see go one. But he snaps.

He moves well, like, and some team's going to fall. Don't you think McConkey is, like, pretty fun to watch? I mean, I'd spend, like, yeah, I didn't spend hours. Right after the catch. I can see him working out for teams. He's not. That's what got me. That's what put me in the door right.

So I was like, is he related to Phil McConkey? And no, there's no relation. Really? I was, according to the internet. I mean, I guess. I guess if you, I mean, if you, you know, if you dug deep into the family tree, you know, I'm sure there is, but it's not like his son or something. Big Funk, can you dig deep into the McConkey family tree and see if the former New York

Giants wide receiver teammate of Sean Landena, I believe, Mark, who had a circus catch in Super Bowl 21 against the Denver Broncos, if he is related in any way to the highly lauded draft prospect lad maca mcconkey lad l-a-d mcconkey thank you anything else boys it's fun it's such a crazy draft that there's guys like a like troy franklin he's got an outside chance to get drafted in the first round like we didn't even mention harrison or whatever there's just it's almost hard to like figure out which one is which guy here like texas for instance has two we mentioned that could both go in the first round and in worthy and A.D. Mitchell, there's just like guy upon guy upon guy. And that's good because as we talked about, there's like a million teams that

have needs at the position. And you're right. It feels almost strange not to dig in on Marvin Harrison Jr. in this episode, the one with the wide receivers. But I will say this. He is number two on Daniel Jeremiah's top 50, 2004 NFL prospects that he just put out. And I don't agree with the decision, but I don't have full control of things. Like, we will. have Jeremiah on the show next week. And let's dig in on Harrison when he is with us. One last thought, because we have so many potentially high-end wide receivers, or certainly at the very least sought after wide receivers. And a reminder that not everything works. And of course, Matt Harmon is going to be tracking this on RP, reception, and a lot of these guys

are going to pop, but sometimes it just doesn't translate. I thought about with this many wide receivers this position it's probably if you probably really do the dive it's probably not that out of ordinary it certainly happens with the quarterback position for obvious reasons but teams can go on runs in the first round two years come to mind 2003 last year four straight wide receivers Seattle took jSN at 20 the chargers took quentin johnson man at 21 uh baltimore took zay flowers at 22 and then jordan addison went to the vikings at 23 and then i had mentioned Lequan Treadwell, who did not work out from Minnesota. He was part of another run in 2016 when Houston took Will Fuller at 21, Washington took

Josh Doxon at 22, and then Treadwell at 23. None of those guys really made it. Well, Fuller almost did, but then disappeared, strange. So I wonder if we're going to get that, if we're going to get this year, another one where we get a run of three or even four guys in a row. I think we will, but I think so we're going to get, I still look at, I know it looks like the best class we've ever had during our show, clearly. But 40% of them aren't going to be on the same team for years from now. Receiver is different, though. Receiver has hit well.

Like you look at that AJ Brown class and granted those guys, it was crazy because they went in the second and McLaurin was in the third. They were all over the place. A lot of the, like, to me, it's hit at a higher level than other positions. And the difference this year is like, I'm pretty confident Brian Thomas would have gotten. drafted over all those receivers last year, and he's four here. Like, I think he'll go top, top 12, top 15. So it is a better class than I think we've seen in the last few. Then there'll be some boomer bus guys after that.

Well, and like a rookie wide receiver contract is very valuable, too. But I'm just saying, I'm telling you, let's talk in four years and see where we are. They're not all going to be starters and number one dudes. All right, Mark, we get it, you know? I mean. I don't know, because I'm even like. I was like looking at... But we don't have to dwell on it.

Because, you know, I was looking at the draft class from just like three years ago and I find it relatively depressing. Which one? Just like in general, what's happened to tons of players that we were squawking about. And I'm not, you know, I get it. I'm not trying to go down that path, but it's like...

Oh, Mark. You cynical son of a bitch. What? I'm with you, though, but I think it's like... I'm with you. I said it first, but, you know, we don't need to hammer it home. That many of these guys will not play. I'm tapping it.

I'm just touching it. How about the 20-22? It would be the closest comp, but this one would probably be viewed as better. Garrett Wilson, Drake, London, O'Lavie. I mean,

those were all hits. I'm not talking about the first five guy. We're talking about like there's 16, like 20 people. Like the comps for the bottom 10 are, a lot of them are just sort of normal wide receivers. So whatever, we'll see. We shall talk in half a decade.

I will be right. Yes. We will circle back in exactly half a decade. Finally, one bit of update here, Big Funk, who never shies away from any challenge, including incredible Photoshop work on the 2004 San Diego Greybeard's Media Guide. He has an update, according to Randy, this is a direct quote, there is no reported relation between 80s McConkey in 2020s McConkey. Well, that was what Mark said. That was my report. Right, but we threw it to Randy.

So if you want it, if it makes it feel more official, Randy is officially going on record that there is no relation. Well, I appreciate Randy, but it doesn't feel any more official to me because I went and researched it like this week myself. But that's fine. Oh, if this isn't good enough for you, Randy says, well, take this, Mr. Seneca. The McConkey name originates from Irish Del Riata. No, diaryota, de lairata. It's Gaelic, I guess. So while not direct, there may be something somewhere down the line.

Well, sure. We're all related somewhere down the line if you go far enough back. You know what? I think that's a great way to the end and the episode, Greg, that we are all, we all bleed red. And we might not all look the same. But we are one, even if we are not the same. Till Monday, he'd the call. down college prospects and NFL rookies. To evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find

anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Thank you.