NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 142. Breaking Down Mel Kiper's Latest 2023 Mock Draft

Episode Date: January 30, 2023

Hosts Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers go through ESPN Mel Kiper's 2023 mock draft 1.0 with analysis for all 31 picks

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It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com slash BS, device and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. Welcome to the NFL Stock Exchange podcast. In this episode, we are reviewing the 1.0 2023 mock draft from the godfather himself, the one and only Mel Kuyper. Connor and I are going to go through all 31 picks of Mel's first mock draft of the season and talk about the things that we like, the things that we could see happening, maybe

not so much. Some players who are new to the first round that we have not seen anywhere else. It's a lot of really great conversations for a lot of different reasons. I'm Trevor Sycamore. With me, as always, is Connor Rogers. Let's ring the bell. welcome to the opening bell of the nfl stock exchange podcast i'm trevor sikama that is connor rogers joining you guys to start your week on a monday morning with a little mock draft madness last week we took a look at daniel jiramiya's mock draft and you guys seem to have

a lot of fun with that we had a lot of fun doing it. And so today, we're looking at the hair king himself, the godfather of mock drafting, Mel Kiper. He released his 1.0 mock draft for the 2023 NFL draft season. And Conor, I'm going to rip the shreds. We're going to go over it. No, we're not just going to rip the shreds. We're going to give our respects.

There's a lot of guys that Mel has in his first round mock draft that bring up a ton of really great conversations. Whether or not we think these guys are going to rip it to stretch. We're going to give our respects. There's a lot of guys that Mel has in his first round mock draft that bring up a ton of really great conversations. Whether or not we think these guys are going to make it into the first round, looking at different team fits. And I never really thought about this this way. I think it's going to be a really great conversation. Connor, how are we feeling on this Monday morning, my friend? I'm good, man. This is another fun one because it's very different than Jeremiah's mock, I think. I think you see some different trends in Kuypers that haven't existed in the space at all this year,

and we'll really highlight those rather than rehashing things that are exactly the same. Obviously, Mel, when he has a stance, he has conviction in that stance, and I think that's what's going to make this show a lot of fun is kind of dissecting, wow, this is a player that we haven't seen in round one or wow this is a player we haven't seen go this high so that's really what today's show is about yeah so you know obviously look we're going to be reading off the picks here but if you guys don't have any espn plus subscription please go get one i mean whether it's mel whether it's jordan reed whether it's todd mcshay whatever they do such a great job

covering the nfl draft and i just want to make sure that everybody out there goes and um gives a couple of dollars to some great resources that make draft season. A lot of fun. Mel is definitely one of those things. So we're reading off the picks, but if you guys don't have any SPN plus subscription, please go and do that.

So, so you can support them doing some great work. You know, I said it's a Monday morning and it is a Monday morning, technically from when we are releasing this podcast, but to peel back the curtain, as Connor likes to say, we are recording this Sunday afternoon prior to the AFC and NFC championships.

And so, Connor, I'm going to put you on the spot. Do you have a prediction for who you think is going to be in the Super Bowl? Do you have a prediction who's going to win these games? Yeah, I've been on Niners Chiefs for, God, three months. And I'm just a stubborn Irish man who refuses to move off. I know the world is on the Eagles and the world is on the Bengals. So I guess we'll see. I think that, I mean, I understand why the lines have been set that way.

Mahomes' ankle is a stick of dynamite that we just have no idea how that's going to play out. Mahomes could go out and throw for five touchdowns, and I would not be surprised. Mahomes could be hobbling around after a hit. You just never know. And then with the Niners, it feels like we've been watching the hourglass on Brock Purdy.

And it's been an amazing story, and he's done everything he possibly can for a seventh-round traffic. But I think that's what a lot of people are fearing with that game. But I'm going to stand on the table here and say Niners-Chiefs rematch. Where are you going, Trevor? So before the playoffs began, I said Niners-Chiefs Super Bowl. Same. No.

No. Hold on. Hold on. I'm going to tell you what I want to see though i want to see bangles eagles like i want to go complete opposite but i'm hedging myself so correctly you know i did it so perfect i predicted chiefs niners but my heart wants bangles eagles so either way connor i'm a winner you and i talked a little bit before we hit record and the art of hedging your bets sometimes. Yes.

And that's what I'm doing here on this show. I predicted Chiefs and Niners. I would like to see Bengals-Eagles, but honestly, I mean, if I'm being transparent with you guys, I'm saying Bengals-Eagles is like who I would predict at this point too. I just think the Bengals are a completely different animal, and I disrespected the Eagles a little bit too much in my uh my pre-season predictions but anyways i just wanted to get those out there so make sure we can get old takes exposed real hard when somehow

none of us are correct when somehow it's you know bangles niners and neither of us got it right no matter what um let's dive into this mock trap my friend this. This is a great one. As Mel and a lot of people often do, we got no trades in this. Not a lot of trades that are prediction mocks in January. And as we've said, it's a little bit tricky to do a mock draft with Chicago picking at number one because you just believe they're going to move. But no trades. So Mel Kiper has Georgia's defensive tackle Jalen Carter going number one overall Connor I like this as well I just put out a mock draft recently at pff.com myself and I also had the Chicago Bears selecting Jalen Carter I had them trading not too far back

I had him trading back one spot with the Houston Texans but ultimately I feel as though there's a lot of potential trade partners for the Chicago Bears but not a lot that still allow them to get a talent like Jalen Carter and I see what Mel is saying getting a stud three technique defensive tackle is so important for a Matt Eberflus defense that I just don't think they can pass this guy up, whether it's at number one or thinking about a trade down. What do you think about this? I think so, too. I think when you look at it right now, I don't know if there's a ton of motivation

for the Texans to swap, for the Colts to panic this early. I think Carolina is probably keeping their eyes on what's going on with the veteran market as much as we believe they need to draft and develop their own guy. What if a Lamar Jackson became available and you're in the division that the Ravens have no problem sending him to? And you have an owner that'll pay that guaranteed money, that giant stack of cash that needs to sit in escrow in the league office i mean so i think i i agree with because mel was challenged by this when they did uh a tv hit on it from todd it just shocked that there was no trade and mel made the point of it's january like and i agree with this too you do one trade and say it doesn't happen and there's a good chance it won't because predicting trades is often hell with mock drafts especially for four months for the draft it throws

off the rest of the mock draft so painting the realistic picture right now is uh is the right way to go and and jaylen carter going first is not surprising to me in all of these mock drafts now because i think you're starting to hear and they'll say he's not falling out of the top five but you're starting to hear little questions about you know will anderson's size and obviously he'll have to test really really well at that size and once again this is really nitpicky stuff but with carter as we did the idl episode uh last week he's a dominant force he's probably going to test off the charts he's got size he's got strength he's a dominant force. He's probably going to test off the charts. He's got size. He's got strength. He's a franchise defensive tackle. So that could be in the mold of, you know, the top guys in the league

when you think of, and you put Aaron Donald away for a sec, but I think of the tier of Chris Jones, Quinton Williams, Jeffrey Simmons. Apologies if I'm missing one off the top of my head, but Jalen Carter projects out as one of those guys. Dexter Lawrence. Yes, Dexter Lawrence. That's the one. I mean, he's just phenomenal in every way. Yeah. No, I agree with you. of my head but jalen carter projects out as one of those sexy dexter lawrence yes dexter lawrence that's the one i mean he's just phenomenal in every way yeah no i agree with you uh it's it's it's that and that's why we normally don't do trades in january mock um but it does feel like

it's inevitable i do feel like that is a little part of the mock draft game you know and we're in a different seat right we do a draft podcast three days a week you know you're on your shows talking about draft all the time i'm on my shows talking about draft all the time so you and i get to visit so many different scenarios all the time some people don't have that luxury like some people only have public draft thoughts once a week once a mock draft, whatever it is. And for people who I think have less of an outlet to consistently get their opinions out there on what might happen, it does make more sense to not do a trade just because

you don't want to derail the mock. But for us, we talk about the draft all the time. So we've talked plenty about what Chicago could do at number one overall. We've also talked about what you could do with trade. So I just think that sometimes you're in a different seat with it. But I think we both agree with Mel here that wherever Chicago is picking, I feel like he's their guy.

Because going back to even just scheme, a dominant three technique player, and Chicago's talked about this. Ryan Poles has mentioned this. Chicago media has talked about this. Certainly they are missing that paramount piece. Maybe where it all begins, even with an Iberflues defense of that

three technique player, that dominant three technique player. And I don't think they're going to pass that opportunity up. So whether they trade back or whether they pick at number one, I think Jalen Carter is the guy that they're going to want to come away with in this class. Two, now here's where the real conversations of this mock draft start. Houston Texans on the

clock at number two he hasn't taken quarterback but it's not bryce young it's cj stroud it's not even will levis who's cj stroud from ohio state connor cj stroud qb1 off the board what do we think about it things can change things can absolutely change but from a lot of different people i've talked to for the last month this one would really surprise me honestly if the Texans were sitting there at two and there's no quarterback taken at one and they went Stroud over Bryce Young or Levis I would personally be really surprised and that does not correlate with my rankings in any way i haven't done quarterback rankings yet i feel pretty confident that bryce young will be my top quarterback and i feel

pretty confident that i think i'll have stroud as my number two quarterback but mock drafts are about whispers connections um info they're not about rankings. They're not. And this one, this one surprised me for Mel. And I, once again, he might have an argument here that he, he just, he likes shroud as his favorite quarterback. I don't know. Uh, that's not something that I would pay attention to, but I think the Texans in this spot more importantly is that they would have to take a quarterback. I mean, there's just no way around it. So no surprise there, but I think this is safely the first time we've seen shroud as the the first quarterback off the board and specifically to Houston. Yeah, I think the Stroud's going to be in this conversation, right?

I mean, it's not too far off. You even look at Jeremiah's mock that we went over last week. And Jeremiah has Stroud as QB three, but he had him going nine to the Carolina Panthers. I mean, it's not that far off two to nine certainly could be seen as a major gap for some people, but both those guys are in the top 10. And when you're picking a quarterback in the top 10, you think they're franchise caliber guys.

So I would just be surprised if CJ Stroud ended up being the selection for Houston, because they have been a team that has just been in quarterback turmoil, really even going back to obviously Deshaun Watson's last time there with him holding out and then everything that happened off the field with him and how he left and how he was traded and just what they did after that with Davis Mills being in and out and like, oh, he was good, but not really. It was kind of fool's gold.

So they've just been so up and down that it would be really hard for me to think that the Houston Texans are going to look at the best player in college football over the last two years, cumulatively and say, he's a little short and just like, you know, and like pass on that kind of a caliber player, because shoot,

even with this past year year not being maybe as good as the Heisman Trophy winning season was from Bryce Young, go watch the games, man. I mean, Bryce was still running for his life, back against the wall, incredible pressure that he faced, and time and time and time again, the ball just goes exactly where it needs to every single time, it feels like. Look, you're right. We have not put him completely under the microscope yet

and seen every single throw for him that we're going to watch during our evaluations but i just have such a hard time believing that the texans are going to talk themselves out of bryce young if he is on the board so i don't mean that to be any major negatives towards cj stroud who i still believe can be a top 10 pick in this class. It's just, I don't see it. I don't see it happening with the Texans kind of convincing themselves that Young's not their guy. So three is the Cardinals. And this is where Will Anderson comes off the board.

Kind of chalk. You're not going to get any wild take from me in this spot. They need a pass rusher. I think what I have my eye on personally and once again this is whispers or info or chatter rather than rankings once again i want to keep emphasizing that uh is if this scenario plays out and if there's any conversations with a team like the cardinals of a tyree Wilson or a Devon Witherspoon that for Witherspoon, it's more tape and he will test well with Wilson. He's just such a freak. Does Will Anderson reach the point of being picked apart where those conversations happen? I don't know. It's something I have my eyes on. But as

we sit here getting pretty close to February, Will Anderson at three to the Cardinals with Jalen Carter off the board is pretty chalk. Yeah. So like I said, I recently did another mock draft for for PFF dot com. And when I got to number three, I've I've long thought about number three as a potential trade destination. You know, for a team like the Raiders, a team like the Falcons, a team like the Panthers, certainly at number nine, 11, the Titans, 16, the commanders. Right. These teams that might need quarterbacks to think about moving up to number three, because it's a new era in Arizona.

They move on from Steve kind, they move on from cliff Kingsbury and they're clearly a Kyler Murray's going to go into next season. He might not play at all. It's clearly going to be a time of rebuilding, recouping, and kind of a new direction that the Cardinals are going to go. So to that, I think to myself, man, would they want more draft picks, essentially? Do they think that they're not even close?

Would they want more draft picks, more swings at the bat, more darts to throw at the dartboard, if you will? And so I went into it with that notion. And then I kind of read up on Monti Osenfort, who is the new general manager for the Arizona Cardinals. Watch the, the, the,

you know, his, his hiring presser and, and read some more quotes about kind of what he thought about team building and all that, uh, comes from the new England Patriots, uh,

system of front office and that background. And he spoke so much about getting the right players in there. Now, of course he said the cliches of, you know, oh, if we get an offer that we like, we'll move back, blah, blah. But he spoke so much more about just getting the right kind of players,

getting superstars and the guys that are going to represent the organization, right? On and off the field and so many buzzwords like that. But it just makes me think that they're in this specific class, right? Because we talk about the guys, Jalen Carter, Will Anderson, the quarterback class, some of the corners. But then it's kind of just like a big pool of just like, all right, just pick anybody. There's not these major difference makers i can't see arizona looking at will anderson a guy who had a heisman trophy type of defensive season two years ago

who is so highly regarded both on and off the field a guy who is a permanent captain for alabama this past season a guy who nick saban continually praises so much for who he is, as much as the player that he is. I don't think Arizona is passing on a man. If Will Anderson's on the, on the board, even with trades that might be enticing to move down, I don't think they're going to pass on him. I think they want to draft a core.

I think ocean for it in his first draft wants to nail his first selection. Yeah. And I, I don't think they're going to pass on Will Anderson. So I totally agree with Mel here. I think that we can get close to writing this one in pen if he's going to be on the board. Yeah, I mean, Anderson's a stud rusher,

and they need players like that. It's a similar argument to Chicago, in a sense, where it's like, man, try to get the blue-chip talent in this class for your defense that needs help, which takes us to four and five. I think we packaged them together here, Trevor, because it's back-to-back quarterback picks the Colts, taking a quarterback at four and it's Bryce young is not a surprise at all.

Um, right. I think the question will be how much does it come to fruition of us hearing so much how much ballard prioritizes traits and size and and those type of things but five is the seahawks where that comes into play with will levis i don't there's not really a big discussion for me at four with the colts taking bryce young because i think that would be a slam dunk for them in this area they didn't have to move they get the best quarterback. The Seattle pick is a little bit of a surprise to me because I don't know how you can structure the Gino Smith contract in a sense where like, let's say,

let's say it like this. Do you think they can structure Gino's contract? We're only two years of guaranteed money are in it because you're not sitting will Levis for more than two years behind geno smith and i'm assuming geno smith is back with seattle i think anything else right now would be a giant surprise and i think on the flip side i i think geno smith is going to get at least two and a half to three years of guaranteed money so this one just it personally doesn't add up for me i i i don't get it i i don't get quarterback going to Seattle.

No, not at all. You are a team who's over under win total going into the year was like five and a half, six and a half. You so far overachieved that you made the playoffs. This is a team that made the playoffs. So you're going to tell me that the bonus pick that you have here for the Russell Wilson trade in the first round, you're not going to take a player that's really going to add on to the playoff team that you were last year I just find that so hard to believe they look at this roster and they look at what

what happened with this rookie class last year and it was so impactful that it really helped them out Pete Carroll also I think he literally said like yeah it keeps me up at night how ineffective their front seven was how bad their pass rush was as a whole this season and he just talked about like defensively how the Seahawks have been so long known for a defensive franchise and how they really did not hold their weight versus what the offense was doing this year so I I just I cannot see this being a quarterback pick. I really can't. I think they're bringing back Gino.

I think it's a strong contract. It's at least two years in. And if that's the case, what are you best case scenario? Not starting Will Levis or CJ Stroud or whoever it is for three years. No, you just made the playoffs. This team just made the playoffs. Pete Carroll, I think is the oldest head coach in football or Tim or Bill Belichick. I don't know who it is,, I think, is the oldest head coach in football. Or it's him or Bill Belichick. I don't know who it is.

But he's one of the oldest head coaches in football. I just cannot see any way that Seattle is currently structured coming off of last year that would make me think they'd take a quarterback at five. I just, I cannot see it. I think it's much more likely that even if they're taking a chance, they will be taking a chance on a defensive lineman in this class. I don't know who it's going to be. Tyree Wilson,

Miles Murphy, like I Lucas Van Ness at this point, I don't know how high these guys are. Sure. Sure. You're going crazy, but I think it's going to be something along the defensive line for Seattle.

I can't see quarterback. I just can't. No, I can't either. I mean, sure. There could be, if there's a surprise with seattle the surprise

is non-d line but defense right witherspoon christian gonzalez um hell if they just want to build this insane offensive line they take skaransky and play him a guard right like yeah i mean i'm just i'm just getting off the rails without getting off the rails and something i think shouldn't happen and that's will levis at five that's it and you're also they're taking the rebuilds quarterback right like Bryce Young to me is a guy you can win with by year two Will Levis I I see the potential I'm not even like a Will Levis hater there I think he's got a lot of tools and a lot of traits but I also think Will Levis is going to have a long road in the NFL. Pete Carroll's the oldest coach in the NFL.

I don't know. This just kind of went against logic. So I'm with you all the way, which kind of brings us to six. The Lions end up taking Tyree Wilson, which is fascinating because this has become a popular corner pick, Trevor. But you could still argue that as much as the D-line has added young talent in Hutchinson and Houston and they have a lean McNeil in the middle they could still use another piece up front it's just a matter of when they do that I think this pick probably leans more towards the secondary but if they love a freak like Wilson that somehow gets by Seattle

then I wouldn't entirely rule it out of course yeah. Yeah, I mean, you want to be careful, right? Because we say all the time, don't force picks, right? Pick talented players. Don't necessarily box yourself into just picking guys because you 100% need them. But at the same time, James Houston playing as well as he did last year, Aiden Hutchinson playing as well as he did last year, and those are rookie contracts for those guys. Are you

going to take a Tyree Wilson over CB1 in this class? I wouldn't in this class. I think Witherspoon is just too good. I think so too. I think so too. Shoot, I'd throw Christian Gonzalez in there. I think I'd be a little bit more happy with that. Great call. Great call. Those two guys I'm picking before

an edge rusher just because, I mean, I'm not the biggest Tyree Wilson fan. You know that. People out there know that. I'm picking before an edge rusher just because, I mean, I'm not the biggest Tyree Wilson fan. You know that. People out there know that. I'm not even the biggest Miles Murphy fan, right? When we kind of believed more in the potential of Brian Rizzi and thought maybe DT2 in this class could be a top 10 guy, that was a selection that made a ton of sense for Detroit.

But both you and I have really cooled on this, and clearly Mel has as well. Mel doesn't even have Brian Rizzi in his first round of this mock draft. So it's one of those situations where if you believe that Tyree Wilson is just the more superior talent, sure, you're drafting talent, but needs-wise, I'd much rather go with corner. I agree with you. Las Vegas Raiders at seven.

Home run pick. Love this pick. I feel like I'm going to mock draft this pick the most. Yeah already did it too right peter skoronsky offensive tackle northwestern i mean this one's just it's too easy for me i don't know if you have any if you have more words on or you want to go to eight no i think we went pretty heavy on skoronsky to vegas in the past before which kind of takes me to eight that's miles murphy um to the falcons i think the Falcons. I think the Falcons have to be all over edge pass rush in this class. I think this is a tough spot for them as Wilson and Will Anderson are gone.

Jared Virts went back to school. This would have been my... That's the big one. The last one's the big one. Yeah, this would have been my Jared Virts pick. I would have just written in cement Jared Virts' name. Yeah, it's like the Nick Saban interview.

It's like, stop asking. Right. We've already gone over this. So the conversation becomes much more difficult, my friend. I mean, yeah.

Miles Murphy is a big athletic guy that hasn't been very productive. Lucas Van Ness, if you want to put him in this conversation is a big athletic guy that spends so so in terms of production yeah the fact falcons can't miss here at edge they can't so you find yourself in a situation where you're betting on traits are you saying they can't miss as in like you've just got to take one it doesn't matter no they can't afford to miss and there's a lot of risk assessment here well this kind of sucks for atlanta if i'm being honest atlanta definitely needs defensive line but what these guys could certainly pan out to be good players right miles

murphy could pan out to be a good defensive end he's got a ton of speed with his with his size he's got a lot of potential he just it's it's not consistent right now he's a ways away a couple years away from really making the most out of that i think lucas van ness is a super interesting story i mean we're going to get to him later in the mock draft because mel's got him high as well as dane did i think dane had lucas van ness going not dane uh jeremiah had jeremiah had luc Van Ness going number eight to the Atlanta Falcons. And Van Ness is a guy who plays an undersized interior defensive lineman last year, played on the edge this year. Doesn't show a lot of pass rush moves. He's just kind of like a speed to power guy.

He's super explosive, you know, 6'5", 275 pounds. Like he's a good looking pass rusher, but he didn't know anything about pass rushing really outside of speed to power moves and a good bull rush and maybe a nice little push pull. But how much is he able to do that in the NFL outside of the next couple of years that you're going to want early production from him? So, man, it's tough for the Falcons, man. I think I'd probably be leaning corner for the Falcons, honestly. Even with Terrell there to get a corner across from him? To just get a corner opposite because you just don't want to force just don't want to force it Terry Fontenot is another general

manager who has talked time and time again about not rushing the timeline creating the best team possible and shoot man guys like Christian Gonzalez Devon Witherspoon I wouldn't even rule out like Brian Branch I like Brian Branch a lot for Atlanta it could upgrade the safety he's obviously an elite nickel defender um I know top 10 might be a little bit rich for the kind of style of player he is but he's just a damn good football player right and at this point in the draft are you reaching for needs or do you want to just get the best football players that are in this class? Because I tell you that Brian Branch is probably going to be a top 10, top 15 player

no matter what. Are these edge rushers? I don't know. But it's, yeah, you're right. LA Atlanta is in a very interesting situation as is Carolina. Picking a number nine. This is a good conversation here.

Anthony Richardson, number nine. Is this the earliest we've seen him in recent mocks i think so yeah i mean it has to be it's now it's i i would say that it's tied for the earliest because i have seen richardson to the panthers before i haven't seen anybody put richardson above nine like at seven for the raiders or five for the seahawks or four for the colts or anything this is definitely tied for the earliest that we have seen Richardson, but here he is as the fourth quarterback in Mel's mock that goes in the top 10 to Carolina.

What do you think? Very risky, but not insane. He has the tools of a top 10 selection. He'd bring a lot of excitement they have frank right there which gives you a lot of faith in this situation and i think carolina in this situation can go before the draft can you go get a jacoby brissett right can you get that guy that is pretty unrattled by somebody behind him that could take over at some point, allow Reich to be competitive early, and eventually hand the reins over to Richardson?

I don't think this is crazy. It's not my favorite option for Carolina, but they are in a very peculiar spot at nine because gut feeling Trevor. I think Levis and Bryce Young are gone before this pick. I think there's a chance Stroud has gone before this pick. Yeah. You'd love Stroud falling into your lap. If you're Carolina,

I would agree. I love Lamar Jackson to end up here in a sense, but that's not realistic at the moment this doesn't seem like a destination for aaron rogers they're trying to find their guy for the next eight to ten years not their guy for the next one to two so you're you can only play with the cards you're dealt with so i it's hard to really hate on this pick but but man, it's the old batter going up that hits 200, but also pops 40 home runs out a year. You don't know what you're getting, but it's going all the way to the bottom of the C

or all the way to the top, no in between. I think there's a possibility it happens. I also don't hate the fit, right? I don't hate him getting right i don't hate him i actually like this yeah to carolina with right ascending line good head coach yep yep and i think you know you'll get the run game going whether it's the backs that are there upgrading a little bit later you'll continue to i i think add pieces in the passing game it's a good young defense that you have there in carolina um yeah i again, I don't hate the fit.

I just have no idea where Richardson's going to go. And I don't want to touch on it too much because you and I haven't done quarterbacks yet, so we haven't fully done evaluations for it. But it always did feel like people were a little bit harder on Richardson than they needed to be. Yes, obviously it's not nearly as consistent as it should be. He had 19 big-time throws, 13 turnover-worthy plays,

and only an adjusted completion percentage barely above 60, which you want it to be over 70, really, ideally. And there were just plenty of times when the ball was just not going where it needed to be. But there were also a lot of times, and I think a lot more times, than people are caring to admit, when the ball did go where it needed to go. And he did navigate the pocket and feel the pocket very well. It doesn't require this imagination to talk about what could be for Anthony Richardson. It's simply getting it out of him more consistently.

And so he's not this. Richardson is not this like mid round project that you're taking it like a total flyer on. It's just a guy that still needs development. Remember last year was the first year that he was a starting quarterback and so we saw i think flashes of greatness like in the utah game and we saw uh flashes of where it didn't go well and in plenty of other games too so i i don't hate it and to mel's defense it's hard for carolina to get out of any mock draft without a quarterback how do you yeah you can a quarterback. How do you,

yeah, you can't sell that. How do you, Mel was put into a brutal spot here, but how do you, how do you justify that at all? And like, even if you're the Panthers, I'm not even saying from an unrealistic standpoint,

even if you're the Carolina Panthers, if your only option at nine is Anthony Richardson, guess what? Your draft, like they're going to draft it, whether or not, like you think like, ah, you know, we not, like, you think, like, you know, we'd be much more comfortable, you know, drafting him in the 20s.

Like, it don't matter. You have nothing right now. You have no other options. And by the time the draft rolls around, we'll see what happens in free agency. Maybe they bring in a guy in free agency. But, like, certainly right now, you got to draft a quarterback. You just have to draft a quarterback.

And all that to say, I wouldn't hate Anthony Richardson in Carolina. I really wouldn't. The only other thing I could think of. Take the chance. And the only other thing I could think of, and we'll move on because we've gone long on this pick, is it's year one with Reich. If you really are in this bind and your eval on Richardson

does not justify this selection. If their Evalon Richardson sucks, then they probably won't do it. Well, can you find a Saints type of trade out there where somebody flips you their 2024 first, plus more, obviously, for this pick, and you're just all in on the 2024 quarterback class. You have all this ammo, and you're like, we're going to walk away with one of Caleb, Drake. I know, it's not an easy sell. It's not.

I don't know if Tepper could do it. I don't think they can. But it's the only other thing I can think of. And another thing is, I don't think Fitterer can do it i don't think he i don't think they can but it's the only other thing i could think and another thing is i don't think fitterer can do it they're gm because fitter was already on thin ice and we thought that he might get fired with he can't rule so he can't do that no he can't do that he can't do that so i think you gotta pick quarterback all right anyway so that was our inter-region conversation we have another conversation here at number 10 yeah philadelphia eagles get dt2 off the board i already told you brian brazee is not in this first round mock and it's not siaki it's our dt2 from here on the show khalid jacancey from

pittsburgh going 10 overall connor 10 top 10 for khalid jacancei what do you think well I love the spot I mean if he's gonna go in the top 20 picks this is a great spot for the Eagles they get that interior pass rushing D lineman they love D tackles like this um so I love the spot do I think can't see ultimately ends up going this early I don't know it's just not common for a D tackle that we truly don't know if he's six feet tall. Honestly, like he's listed at six feet. Like what if can't see his five, 10 and a half? And I don't, I don't care. I still like the player a lot. It doesn't bother me. It bothers the NFL a lot. He is listed to 80. I don't, I think he's maybe two 70. He's just a unique player. So this is the earliest we'll probably see him.

Good for Mel for having conviction in that stance. We liked the player a lot when we did IDL last week, a real lot. The Eagles will have to do some assessing whether they want to think about a future offensive lineman here or think about a corner if they lose bradbury to free agency in this scenario i would take i keep saying this but it's because i'm just this mock there's one thing that bothered me about this mock draft and like the eagles at 10 should take witherspoon and i keep saying this this team should take withers or gonzalez either one right um so i the corners have fallen too far for me in this spot i would have gone that route but can't see he's an awesome player and would be a really

good one for the Eagles. What were, were you a little blown away by this or you, do you think the value is justified? No, I was certainly blown away by it. I think the world was, it became collage and can't see day when this mock draft draft dropped. It really did. And look, we did interior defensive line, our, our study of these guys a couple of days later.

And you know, on, on the the episode if you guys missed it on thursday connor and i both when we get to our number two dt we go yeah i mean that was right i don't know if i draft them in the top 10 but here's here's the thing too i think this is a conversation i've been having a lot of this these conversations with people in just like nfl media draft media um a lot of people whose opinions I really respect with player evaluation. It just feels like, especially along the defensive line, you're going to get a lot of non-first round grades from players that are probably going to have to go in the first round yeah you know it and when i had somebody actually on twitter reach out to me about this um because they were asking about collage you can't see for the lions potentially at number 18 like if the lions go corner at six thoughts about collage you can't go on 18 and they asked me

specifically what grade did you have on on can't see and i have an early second round grade on collage you can't see yeah and so you know the person kind of responded to me they're like oh okay so like 18 is probably a little bit rich for him and i responded back and i said look i may have an early second round grade on him but you might not get 32 first round grades in a class you might only get 12 right and then there are still 32 well 31 in this draft picks that have to be made so just because a player didn't necessarily get a first round grade that doesn't necessarily mean that they're not going to be a first round pick because you can only pick from the pool of players that you have this year and i know it's kind of a duh thing but it's something that you know but it needs to be said more yeah because and specifically for this

question right mel's got khalid jacansi going 10 overall on the surface level bonkers nuts how are you gonna have this player going 10 overall when you dig a little bit deeper you go all right we already picked a couple of edge rushers off the board who are probably a little bit developmental guys anyways and miles murphy and tyree wilson only other guy that's left kind of among that group maybe lucas van ness if you want to get in nolan smith okay but he's a little bit of an undersized edge guy right if you really not egregious if you really want an interior defensive tackle we've already talked about how brian brazee's tape was probably more mid-round level. We understand why that it might not have been

as good as it could have been this year. And you take that context into it. But you drafting that player at 10. Siaka Ika, you drafting that player at 10. If you really want to get a pass rush type of a specialist next to Jordan Davis, all of a sudden, this is probably the best option that the class presents of you. So I still think it's rich.

I would love for Collegia to go somewhere between like 15 and 25. I think it's really nice value in this class. But all that to say, things might get really off the rails in this one. And at a point, teams might just look at their big boards and go, forget about positional need.

We are drafting good players. We want to draft good football players, and maybe some things like this happen because of that. They're a Super Bowl contender. So the point becomes even more emphasized. Sure. When you need players that can contribute right away. And the drama meter for this draft is at an 8 out of ten right now which is pretty damn good i think it

could reach a 10 in a month or two because you got the quarterback carousel you got four guys that are in the mix you got all this variance um all right trevor i'll go i'll go 11 through 15 here and kind of throw you an alley-oop of what you want to send home. The Titans take Paris Johnson, which is just the no brainer of no brainers. No more Dennis Daly out there. Houston Texans picking for the Browns, take Lucas Van Ness. The Jets take Jackson Smith and Jigba.

Another surprise of this draft 14, the Patriots take Devon Witherspoon, which will, I think just turn me into dust on impact. When that pick is announced in my life i would why my soul would be crushed if witherspoon ends up a patriot but he would probably go to the hall of fame if that happened 15 the packers take michael mayer the stud tight end from notre dame um the things that kind of stand out for me obviously i think that we've talked a lot about

paris johnson jr We love the versatility. I think it makes a ton of sense for the Tennessee Titans. Lucas Van Ness at 12. I mentioned him a little bit. Kind of what I thought about his scouting report is I've watched him. First round seems rich for Lucas Van Ness, but in this class, you're just going to find teams that are going to want to take a chance on guys. So 6'5", 275 pounds pounds has some decent athleticism to him

pretty good athleticism to him dj said he's gonna test really well so we'll see how he tests maybe he does even crack the top 15 after that happens smith and jayba wide receiver one off the board to the jets i mean i'm throwing the alley-oop right back to you. Smith and Jigba to the Jets. Thoughts? He's my wide receiver one. I don't know if the Jets... What's frustrating is I love Jackson Smith and Jigba, and seeing him and Garrett Wilson play together again would be just freaking awesome. The question I have here is,

have the Jets afforded this luxury after missing on the offensive line here now for a couple of years. They took Becton instead of Wirfs. Whatever you think, it hasn't worked out. There's no argument there. And maybe Becton has a great year. I hope he does. To this day, that hasn't worked out. The George Fant signing was a miss and now he's hitting free agency. They have a hole at center as Connor McGovern's a free agent. Maybe you bring him back. You don't know if Dwayne Brown's retiring. There's just so many variables on their offensive line that can you pass on Broderick Jones in this spot?

I don't know if you can, as much as I would love to take Jackson Smith and Jigba because I think you'd have, you're running with the AFC teams, right? That are just, these offenses are absolutely insane and quarterback's another question here. But I love the pick and I love the player. It's, it just, it kind of bums me out

that the Jets haven't put themselves in to afford this luxury. Yeah, I mean, I definitely hear what you're saying with offensive line and I would agree. Patriots at 14, certainly Witherspoon, the player, I think is totally worth it at number 14. And so I think that it's, this would be a fantastic pick for the Patriots at 14. Certainly Witherspoon, the player, I think is totally worth it at number 14. And so I think that this would be a fantastic pick for the Patriots. I believe that offense is still more important for the Patriots.

Yeah, you've been on that. You're right. But even then, who are they picking at 14? It just doesn't seem like the NFL really loves this class. Sometimes we'll get a Jordan Addison, a Quentin Johnston, somebody at 14, but Mel has both those guys on the board. Quentin Johnston doesn't go until 22 in this mock. Jordan Addison doesn't go until 25. And so Zay Flowers isn't even in the, oh yeah, he is.

He's 31 to the Kansas City Chiefs at the very end. But this feels like for as much as us as mock drafters may like to put certain positions for certain teams because we think it makes more sense. I mean, I'm one of those people. I do think that Mel is probably more correct in a predictive sense where the NFL just, man, we, I mean, we might get two receivers to go in the first round. As crazy as that is, as we've seen over the last couple of years, it just feels like that's how the NFL likes this class. So if I could play devil's advocate and I don't, I'm not on this, but I'm just trying to throw a scenario out.

The new England has such a desperation for offense right now, right? Do you at least entertain the idea of Bijan Robinson? And I know Ramondre is awesome. Yeah, probably. Yeah, they probably would.

Right. You have to entertain it because Ramondre was a fourth round pick. That's overplayed those expectations, but he clearly played hurt this year. He's a guy that has been banged up. He's probably a one contract guy. Cause considering he's just a bowling ball into bowling pins every play i love romandre stevenson but i i think i can i think a good

offensive coach bill o'brien can figure out a way to get both of them involved uh i would entertain bijan robinson at 14 yeah and then they could uh you know reunite bill o'brien and and tianji hopkins by trading it's one of it's becoming a bingo card it's such a good joke you know who the patriots should go train for the guy who the guy who hates uh their current offensive coordinator yeah that's what they should do no that's actually as much as the o'brien hire makes so much sense that is a a very bad impact because i thought hop' number one spot in terms of making sense was New England. Oh, easily. Makes so much sense.

They can inherit the money. They have all the salary cap space. They need a stud-wide receiver. All right, so logic prevails and Michael Mayer is the first tight end off the board. What do you want really there? I think that'd be great for jordan

love in the future or aaron rogers who knows that story will play itself out so want to go 16 through 20 yep so 16 through 20 commanders uh going off into tackle broderick jones from georgia steelers uh 17 going joey porter jr oh you love the legacy pick yeah that's pretty cool the corner for penn state detroit lions christian gonzalez is, it's pretty cool. The corner from Penn State, Detroit Lions, Christian Gonzalez. This is where he comes off the board. The corner from Oregon, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Deion White, defensive lineman from Georgia Tech. Keon White.

Keon White, sorry. Yeah, that didn't look right to me. Yeah. Ron Burgundy moment for you. That was as Ron Burgundy as it possibly gets. Keon White. I read that out loud, and I was like, wait a second. You even stopped.

You kind of paused in the middle, and I'm like, he knows it's not written right. It's not him. Keyon White. Yeah, do this for a living, folks. Hop on board. Seattle Seahawks 20. My boy. Byron Young, the head rusher from Tennessee.

From Tennessee. From Tennessee. Not Alabama. Could have been either Byron Young. They're both my boys. Yeah, no, you wouldn't care which one. So I kind of want to jump ahead to your Buccaneers. Keon White's really good, and you don't hear about him a lot,

and maybe he needs this week in Mobile for that to happen. This is the earliest I've seen him. When Verse went back to school, he slotted to Edge five for me, just based on that show we did. And I will revisit the edge class as a whole, but he was edge six. Keon's big. He could play inside, outside.

He's going to test. Well, he's going to run a million miles an hour on the GPS for a big man. If you've ever seen that clip of him running down the field against Georgia, it's insane. So I like Keon White a lot. This is definitely the earliest I've seen him go, but I think this is kind of the little siren

from Mel saying, hey, nobody really talks about Keon White, but get ready for him in round one. Athletically, he's a monster, right? Yeah, he is. When we went over the Edge Rush show, I mean, he is a crazy athlete for his size there's no doubt about it and he definitely brings that to his pass rush profile but

there's so many inconsistent things about his game he feels very reckless right now just not a lot of discipline not a lot of um not a lot of control the hand placement is all over the place with him and so he just he constantly does not make the most out of his leverage he doesn't really long arm the way that he needs to. He's not swiping and disengaging as well as his strength and his explosiveness tells you he could have. And it's just because the hands are just not where they need to. I don't know if you draft a player like that at 20,

especially if you're the Buccaneers who drafted Joe, try and show you and get two years ago as their first election. And then Logan Hall last year is their first selection. So I was thinking about this for the buccaneers yeah they need defensive line help they need pass rush potential but i wonder if they just feel like they're committed at this point like joe try and show yank is just got to play better you know like logan hall she's got to be a bigger part of the rotation because i like keon white for like what he could be but where does he play you know when Shaq Barrett comes back you're hoping that Shaq Barrett

obviously comes back in in a close to form way after um the ACL injury that he had and so you're hoping that he comes back you're hoping that Joe try and show you can take that next step so there's the two edge rush spots Vita Vea has already taken up one of the spots on the interior defensive line and then like are you bringing Akeem Hicks back uh is Akeem Nunez Roches coming back uh are you even playing Keon White as like a three tech defensive tackle then what are you doing with Logan Hall you know and I do think that it's not just about the front four like you do have to have a pass rush rotation that's what it's all about. You got to have a rotation of six,

seven guys, all the best teams do. But this to me, I'd honestly, I'd rather honestly go like, Oh, Cyrus Torrance. Like I'd rather just be fine.

I get that argument. You know, like I'd rather just beef up the offensive line and be like, all right, left guard, solid center, solid right guard, solid right tackle solid., solid, center, solid, right guard, solid, right tackle, solid. And you can go back to Donovan Smith maybe being the weak link on your offensive line.

But if that's the case, you're all right with it. And then maybe you're drafting an offensive tackle next year if you feel like you need to. So I think I'd rather probably go offensive line other than defensive line for Tampa. So that's my thoughts. Yeah. The line of thinking for me reminds me of when Todd Bowles had Sheldon Richardson with the Jets for two years, and he really liked, he loved his versatility of playing him inside all the way to being a standup guy on the edge. So maybe that's, that's a deep cut think thought here, but I'm, I'm with everything you said.

20 to Seattle Seahawks. We got to talk about this one. Byron young, nobody can deny the tape that this guy put out this year for Tennessee. We've talked about him on the show for many, many months. He's had a long road coming from Georgia military college, six, three to 45. He was all sec first team this year voted by the coaches,

a senior bowl guy. I mean i mean he he just had a he's had a really nice two years here trevor the knocks on him will be that he's turning 25 before the draft he will turn 25 in march i think byron young this is very early for him. I think if he has a really good week in Mobile, which I think he will, and he tests as one of the upper echelon edges, he could sneak into the first round. But I think those are two massive things he needs to check off because I think that age is going to scare away teams,

not on day two, but certainly in the first round. And here you go. You don't got to convince me, brother. I think that Byron Young's got a lot of potential, man. I think that when the light comes on and when he hits it, the twitch is there, the strength is there, the density is there, the size is there. I really do think that this guy could be a really nice pass rusher

at the next level. So I'm excited to see him at the Senior Bowl. I really do think that he has back end of the first round potential. This is the highest that I've seen him, doubt about it so salute to mel for fighting the good fight but uh i like this for seattle certainly because they would need a defensive lineman especially in this draft after going will levis at five but even if they like were to go corner at five then okay this is maybe a target for them here and i'll just quickly touch on um mel having the detroit lions go tyree wilson at six and then pairing that with Christian Gonzalez at number 18.

I wish these picks were swapped. That's exactly right. And I feel like that would be the more appropriate talent value. But here we are. They get both of them anyways. I think it's a good combination. All right, 21-2. Hold on.

One thing for you here. It's very serious. Otherwise, I would have carried on. Do you think when they do the draft, if both Byron Young and Dalton Kincaid go, that they have a bingo room with all the old people that they sit and play bingo in? Listen, these are Trevor Sigmunds certified good football players

that you're attacking right now on my own podcast. And you know what? I'm not going to stand for it. All right, carry on. I'm not. I need to get a three and a half level, three and a half, ten level joke in before we move on to the 20s. I'm not going to stand for it.

21 to 26. Let's just go 21 to 26. Los Angeles Chargers. Tuli, Tuli, Tuli Pelotu, the defensive lineman from USC. Now, I think Mel has him listed as defensive tackle. I think a lot of places have him listed as defensive tackle. Yeah, it's tricky.

He's not a defensive tackle. He doesn't play there. He doesn't play a defensive tackle. He does not play there. I went to go watch him for the interior defensive line episode, and I watched like half a game of him and I went okay hold on is he ever gonna play inside the tackles because if he's not at like a four eye in a tight front or whatever or wherever he's lined up as a defensive end in a tight front he's an edge rusher he's six foot four 290 pounds and he has, I got the numbers up here. Hold on.

There has not been a single season over the last three years in which he has played more than 100 snaps at any interior defensive line spot. Left defensive tackle, right defensive tackle, nose tackle, shade nose. No more than 100 snaps at any of those positions. He is an edge rusher this guy plays right end left end and then we've got him listed at leo left outside linebacker uh rio and right outside linebacker which is just kind of like rio and leo are kind of like stand-up pass rusher roles like he's clearly an edge rusher that's what usc had him as so everybody out there, if you like Tooley, it's fine. He's just, I don't, he's not an interior defensive lineman.

So draft him accordingly, I think. Well, to piggyback off your point, he wins on the edge because of his power. And his power works against tackles. Right. I wouldn't kick him in and put him against guards and centers. I haven't fully watched him yet. And I guess I should. I'm sure there's snaps.

I'm going to pull. I actually want to pull up his. I didn't watch him for edge because I thought he was an interior defensive line player. And then when I went to go watch him for interior defensive line, he doesn't line up on interior defensive line. So when we go back and we do our final edge rankings, I will have watched all of him for edge.

So I guess I can kind of have a much better opinion of it then this is the highest that i've seen him be in a mock draft but just wanted to say lines up mostly as an edge rusher so if you want to move into the interior finally you're probably throwing some extra weight on him and then you gotta take that into account baltimore ravens at 22 they get queens all over the all over the place by the way he's the bulk of his snaps are at right and left like all fully off the tackle he's got right yeah you're you're right he only played he only played 52 snaps at d tackle and he played 647 snaps all year that's nothing right literally nothing right okay it's nothing um we got quinn johnson on this pod 22 that's what we're here for to the baltimore ravens It's nothing. We got Quinn Johnson at 22.

That's who we're here for. To the Baltimore Ravens. Minnesota Vikings going to Manuel Forbes. Cornerback from Mississippi State at 23. Jacksonville Jaguars. Deontay Banks. My guy. Another Trevor Sikama certified good football player.

This is like a very you mock draft. I know. Dude, Mel and i talk all the time we talk all the time sweet we text back and forth you know like you send them telegrams no no no you know i'm i'll you know i'll text them back and forth and it's just you know if you look at our text group it's just you know things about prospects and then you know really funny tiktoks you know it's just that's what yeah that's me and mel's relationship uh the new york giants number 25 jordan addison so they do get a wide receiver but it ends up being jordan addison so

21 to 25 any immediate thoughts there i mean the i love the addison pick for the giants i hope that's one that ultimately happens that's a great one that is a great one i i'm pretty confident they're gonna do whatever they have to to get daniel jones. And if that's what you're doing, you got to get them better wide receivers. A little high for Forbes and Banks for me, but... Nah, Banks is spot on. Yeah, Banks is probably going in the first round. I shouldn't say that. And also, I keep saying this little high thing. I need to make a new top 50,

so I stopped just saying that and not actually... Like, maybe it's not true. There's, like you said to lead off the pod Trevor like some way you have to draft players right you just run out of players right and you're like wait a second so I'm trying to tell people somebody has to go in the first round everybody's gonna sit here and then you'd be like yeah I'd be comfortable drafting him in the second round okay buddy well you're on the clock at 12 so tell me what you want to do at 12 yeah you're right yeah no doubt. I mean,

no, nothing crazy here. Both those teams need corner. Those are, you know, some of the best corners on the, on the board. I think people will still be surprised.

Keeley Ringo, not in this model either. We've just reached that point. I don't know what wasn't in Daniel Jeremiah's recent mock. I mean, yeah, you got two of the most plugged in draft guys in, in the industry,

not putting Keeley Ringo in the mock. Mel not putting Brzee. DJ putting him at, what, 31. Like, these are things that your ears should perk up when you see them. But no, those picks, I'd rather move to where it starts to get a little extra spice here. Yeah. 26, the Cowboys.

Yeah. Yeah, that's starting off with a good one. Bijon at 26, the cowboys yeah yeah that's starting off with a good one bijan at 26 to the cowboys are we finally moving on from zeke or is jerry gonna tell us that the key to victory for the cowboys is making sure that zeke and bijan get 20 carries a game so i think if you do this that to me means that they let tony pollard walk in free agency and they cut or restructured Zeke. You just you can't be allocating. Let's be real. Hold on one sec. Mm hmm.

I always like looking at the pick slots while I'm doing this. Pause our fakeness and be real for a second. Yes. Time to be. It's time to be real so all right so dallas here would be in a pick slot that's about 14 million total that's not too bad but it's still money allocated to running back right like it's still money guaranteed money so yeah i think would this be awesome for the Cowboys offense? Sure. But you're also saying goodbye to Tony Pollard in this scenario. And is that the best allocation of assets?

Well, if it means that you're, I mean, what's. Second contract, second contract, Tony Pollard and second contract, Ezekiel Elliott, or cutting both of them in rookie contract, Bijan Robinson. I'm picking Bijan Robinson every time. I think I am too. Right.

They know more about Pollard's injury than us. It was just a high ankle sprain, right? Or was it worse? No, no, he, he broke something.

Oh yeah. He broke something. I thought it was just a really bad ankle. I think he's going to be back for, I would assume at a minimum camp maybe even some kind of offseason stuff but i mean you just don't running backs getting hurt running back fractures tears right that's why it's like second contract with both those guys or rookie contract bijan well and also like and maybe maybe i'm misreading this because you never know what means the most to players. Tony Pollard needs to get every last dollar on this deal.

Like every last stinking penny on this deal. He can't take a discount to stay in Dallas. Right. He's 25 years old. Yeah. Coming up. He would, he was drafted in the fourth round coming off injury. Right.

Tony Pollard needs to make every last dollar he can. So Dallas, if they understand that, I mean, yeah, that's a tough spot. 27. So I,

I focused on 26 and didn't go further, but 27 Buffalo bills, Derek Hall, the pass rusher from Auburn. I like that pick Cincinnati Bengals going Dalton Kincaid, the tight end from Utah, a certified Trevor sick. I'm a good football player.

Denver Broncos at 29. Isaiah Foskey was at one time a certified Trevor Sikama good football player. Oh, you're – I mean, like, I'm kind of – no, no, no, no. Foskey, I still like Foskey. It's just, you know – Solid. Yes, he's a solid player, I think.

Philadelphia Eagles at 30. Brian Branch. Yep. Certified good football player. Yeah, that's it. 31, Kansas City Chiefs, Zay Flowers from Boston College. What are your thoughts on this little group here? Would you take Kincaid at 28 for the Bengals over Darnell Washington?

No. I wouldn't either. No. It's very team-specific, too, because— No, I'd take Darnell. I love what Darnell can do for them in the trenches. Correct. And I like Kincaid.

I think Kincaid will be a good tight end in the NFL, but they already have that in Hayden Hurston, a free agent. I was just going to say, he probably is. I'm assuming that was the thought of this pick, but what... Oh, he's on a one-year deal, so he is a free agent. Just bring him back. How expensive is Hayden Hurst? Damn. Probably loves being there. said that's so offensive yeah and i actually i like ignorance i am a hayden

hurst guy like i really my i think my point is i'd rather just bring back hayden hurst on the cheap than draft dalton kincaid in a first round selection he's gonna be 30 next year didn't he just get drafted yeah he was i think he was 25 you know his whole baseball background right oh right it was like a highly like a huge baseball prospect in a sense of what he was projected to be he got the yips like like actually got the yips not like rumor like he legitimately like forgot how to throw i believe oh no mentally fell apart was in a really dark place uh went back to school played football and the rest is history which is a really cool story for hayden hearst damn if you uh if that's if anyone listening to this pod is your first time hearing that i'm sure for most of you

it's not definitely uh google that story it's it's pretty incredible i don't think i've ever really looked into the yips part of his story i just knew that yeah the pirates drafted him he got a four hundred thousand dollar signing bonus uh he passed on going to florida state full full ride to florida state to play baseball he was in the pirates organization for two years he made one minor league appearance he walked five batters and threw two wild pitches in one third of an inning he could not throw a baseball anymore well love that he's bouncing back now he might be in the super bowl dude and he's almost got a career year at this point yeah it's been awesome awesome turnaround so might not be too much to bring him back but look if you're if you're totally moving on from hayden Hurst, then the Dalton Kincaid pick certainly makes sense.

But I think that you could probably bring Hayden Hurst back and then just pair him with Darnell Washington. It's a really nice 12 personnel package there for the Bengals. So that's yeah. I'm glad that we kind of unpacked that one a little bit more there. Bosky. I won't be in the first round for me, even knowing the whole 31 guys got to go this year.

Probably not. Flowers is very, very good. He will be, it'll be challenging when you're, I need to check his shrine way, and I know he's 5'9". He's just, guys his size don't get drafted in the first round. It's like Tavon Austin and- Yeah, but it's the same thing with Jordan Addison. Jordan Addison's like six foot tall, 170 pounds, though.

Six feet and 5'9 is a big difference. Man, now he's coming after the dating profiles. Listen to him. I like Zay Flowers. What are you, the enemy? Come on. Yeah, it's always your own people. Don't forget that.

I need to find this all right he was 5 9 182 jordan addison's like 6 foot 170 yeah he's probably drinking a protein shake as we speak he better be in a full little caesar's hot and ready pieces what he better be doing sir dude come on we're ball work come on i'm airlifting you out of cincinnati we're trying god to bulk on a budget out here don't hate on little c little caesar is the official pizza sponsor of the nfl is it really and i didn't even get paid to say that yeah yeah it is i uh good lord don't act like you're too good for uh meat lovers hot and ready nothing like meat lovers so somehow the eagles just pull off a heist and get brian branch at 30 let's not let that get away from us here yeah brian branch certified good football player he's

he's one of the highest floor players in this draft yeah and. And the Eagles get them at 30, which is, and it's, it's amazing because they could lose Chauncey Gardner in free agency. And they're like, yeah, well watch this. Here's Brian branch at 30. So the Eagles just keep doing Eagles things.

They can't keep getting away with it. What do you think it's like being an Eagles fan? Like I know a Superbowl this year would really take it over the top but it just feels like everything's gone right for you for a while it's got to be incredible right because if you're an Eagles fan chances are you're probably a Phillies fan and a Sixers fan and they're flyers well I was going to say that the Sixers and the Phillies are good yeah the Phillies had quite a run this year out of nowhere yeah you're right the flyers aren't good right now the flyers are the flyers are very not good yeah yeah yeah but i mean you take that

every day it's a trade-off sure incredible trade sure yeah i mean i wouldn't be you know i wouldn't be trading my team that went to three straight stanley cups for that but you know for a lot of other people out there i think that yeah you, you're probably going to take that trade. I just have no comment because if people don't know by now, as a Jets, Mets, Knicks, Rangers fan, like I don't really know how to even participate. Truly. No participation ability here.

Okay, hold on. Wait. Mets, Jets, Rangers. What was the other one? Knicks. Knicks. Yeah ability here. Okay, hold on. Wait. Mets, Jets, Rangers. What was the other one? Knicks. Knicks. Yeah, right. Okay.

Of course. Of course. Very forgettable. I feel like the Mets have the best chance, right? Yeah, because they have the richest owner in what? At least baseball. Sure. And money in baseball does matter.

People forget this. It's a great start. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. And money and baseball does matter. People forget this. It's a great start. Yeah. Yeah. Represent. Welcome to That's So Mets, everybody. I'm Charlie Sikman. That's Connor Rogers.

All right. Before we kind of recap what we saw from Mel's first round, got to talk about some of these players that we're going to get in the first round. If you think that their spot is going to mean that they are going to have incredible NFL careers, download Mojo now. Get in on it. Because Mojo is the all-new sports stock market that lets you invest in players,

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Go long and make money when an underrated diamond in the rough breaks out, or you can even short sell an overrated rival if that's how you want to make some money that way. It's a little shady to me, but hey, you know what? Shady, he says. Short selling. It's a little devious, but it's fine. You can make money however you need to make money.

Prices move with every play, every game, and every headline. And you can buy and sell instantly, anytime, all year long, so the action never stops. Mojo is live in New Jersey right now. So download the Mojo app in the Apple App Store and start turning your playmakers into moneymakers. Must be 21 years or older to use Mojo and located in the great state of New Jersey to make trades. If you've got a gambling problem, help us available but 1-800 gambler visit mojo.com for more details the deets well done mel kuiper yeah shout out to mel shout out to mel great first round like i said if you guys don't have espn plus go download espn plus um that means you can

get all the great content that mel does that todd Todd McShay does, Jordan Reed does. They're all fantastic at what they do, and it keeps you very plugged into the NFL draft, as we try to do here on this very show. Connor, it is officially Senior Bowl week, my friend. As people are listening, you and I are probably both in a metal tube up in the air. There's a good chance.

What? You never heard heard that it's true so we will be at the senior role this week and you couldn't tell right now like we're some vienna sausages or some shit i just throw it up in the air yeah so we'll be doing that we're on a flight to mobile alabama alabama and how i love when we plan out the pod on the pod it's always my favorite yeah oh it's great look we tell we tell people all the time that this is a show of everyone like it's not just us so we are getting them in on the planning meetings you're in the meetings because there are no meetings the meetings are literally right here. Right here, right now.

This is what it is. We'll be recapping the Senior Bowl. You'll have a day one recap Wednesday. Wednesday, yeah. And then I would think we're going to figure out how we're going to structure the last one. That'll probably, I would say the last one is very winners and I don't know if we do losers.

That's not really usually our MO. Maybe questions. I like winners and questions. Because it's tough to have a guy out there in pads for two and a half days, essentially, and be like, ah, loser. This is a harsh term. I'm not a big fan. Maybe it's winners and questions.

Maybe it's Gen Z of us to change the title. Yeah, it's a very – we're soft. We're going to fight the system. We've got losers and losers from the Senior Bowl. No good things. Nobody's getting drafted if you haven't heard. Only Will Anderson, Jalen Carter, and the quarterbacks. There are no other picks in this draft.

There are no other picks. No, so we're going to have, we will have, like Connor said, we'll have a day one recap for you because it's always great to just like see all the guys out there, first impressions, everything that we see. So we'll have some winners and lesser winners that we'll have from day one. But then I'm not sure which is going to be better. We're trying to think of the best way to get you guys the best content on whether we're going to be better. We're trying to think of the best way to get you guys the best content on

whether we're going to release an episode for Thursday or whether we want to see that last day of practice and give you guys an episode on Friday. So I'm, I'm not fully committed to when that episode is going to come out just because we want to figure out the best way to be able to give you guys the best stuff, but there will still be two more episodes coming this week, whether it's Wednesday and Thursday or whether it ends up being wednesday and friday so uh connor anything else

before we get out of here no i think that closes it out it's gonna be a fun week down there also i mean this is what you're into as well though this is when all the the buzz really starts to circulate a little bit here i can't wait and Indy, it just takes on a life of its own. Yeah. Because this is really the first event that you're going to have a representative from every team, a media member pretty much from every outlet, and a lot of different NFL coaching staffs because the way the coaching is set up between Shrine and Senior Bowl, it's a little different this year. It kind of starts the storm. So I would say this is when the fun kind of goes from 60 miles an hour to over 100.

Hurricane force wins for fun. Wear your seatbelts. That's where we're at right now. I can't wait to get down to Mobile. Can't wait to share with you guys the practice updates that we get to watch and the things that we get to hear, the intel that we learn about what teams might be doing in the 2023 NFL Draft. It's going to be a good time. I'm Trevor Sikma. That is Connor Rogers. Thank you.