NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 174. Most Impactful Non-1st Rd Rookie For Every Team

Episode Date: May 9, 2023

Hosts Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers give you their choices for the most impactful rookie from each team not including the obvious first round selections

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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 giving you our most impactful rookie

from every single team in the NFL without using first-round selections. So anything from round two all the way through an undrafted free agent, we're going to tell you who we think is going to be the most impactful rookie on each team. And also some shout outs that maybe guys who won't be the most impactful, but guys who will have contributing roles will definitely matter. I'm Trevor Sycamore that is connor rogers joining you guys after some much needed r and r a little rest and relaxation

after the draft we know you guys so many people tweet at us, Connor. And we're like, are we alive? Where is the episode on Sunday? And we absolutely love you guys for it, but ended up having a scheduling conflict on Sunday. So we're bringing this to you guys on a Monday evening. But Connor, it's good to see you again, my friend. I feel like it's been 10 days and that might have been the longest stretch that I've ever had not seeing you or hearing your voice in the past year. So buddy, how the hell are you? I'm good, man. It was funny. I said to you when we got on it at our classic talk 30 minutes before

recording the show routine that we always do. I'm like, it was nice, but I also felt a little empty like I was missing something all week. But man, it's good to be back on. I'll tell you what, Trevor, like today we're gonna have a really fun show where you're going to do impact rookies for every team without using first round picks. So and to be honest, when I did this exercise, I tried to avoid always doing the second rounder like there's a couple of UDFAs here and there and things like that. But I'm gonna be honest, like as much as I'm excited for this show, it's going to be awesome. I'm also really excited to start to put a bow on this draft class until we get a look at these guys in preseason and as rookies and get into our summer scouting down the road. That part of me is like I'm starting to get that itch a little bit again.

And it's really nice, dude. I cannot remember if I felt exactly this way last year, but I already have the desire to get the next year's documents going like like to set up the google sheet for the 2024 class to start diving in some of the tape on some of these guys and i don't know if it's just because for the last like two months we had to dance around saying that this class wasn't really as star-studded at this top as we've seen in other years and feels a little bit like it but also this next class coming up i don't mean to be a grass is always greener kind of a guy but there's a lot of at least notable names you know i felt like going into this class there was a lot of figuring out you know you had to learn about who these prospects were this upcoming class it really does feel like

there's a ton of guys we already know at the very top and in what's projected to be the top 50, top 75, top 100, whatever it's going to be by the time we get to the end of summer scouting. So I'm very excited to get to that. But you're right. Before we get to those episodes, we have a fun one today. You mentioned it. We're talking about our favorite or most impactful selections, I should say, from every team in the nfl outside of round one so you want to

just go in alphabetical order is that the best way to do this yeah whatever however whatever works i feel like i don't know how you set it up in your document i haven't enough about alphabetical order do you have it by division i yes because i just used the doc i made for grades okay and just made a new cell next to it called impact rookie not round one but like it's not going to take me very long to navigate uh by alphabetical order so you will lead us to the promised land because yours is an alphabetical order and i will piggyback with my selection for each well now i'm thinking about on the pod now now that we're doing the pod on the pod it might be easier for timestamps if we do it by division.

Okay. All right, let's do it by division. We're doing it by division, folks. We are so back. My God, we're like we never left. We haven't missed a beat. We've been gone for what? 10 days?

I don't know. Eight days? Nine days? We have not missed a beat. We are planning the pod on the podcast, and we are starting with pod on the podcast and we are starting with the nfc east and we are starting with the new york giants trevor this is actually a pretty good one because the giants got some value across the board in this draft even after

taking deontay banks in round one but who do you like from their group to really help out big blue this year most impactful player i think he's probably going to be John Michael Schmitz. I mean, I love Deontay Banks, right? I mean, he was one of my favorite fits of the entire class. We raved about him in the draft grades episode. Him and his man coverage skills, getting to go along with Don Martindale and his man coverage tendencies

and their defense coordinators can be perfect. But for me, I do feel like John Michael Schmitz is going to have the biggest impact for them you sign daniel jones to a massive contract you've got to make sure the offensive line is set up front shoot this dude's got a chance to start right away right i mean like if i'm looking at the depth chart who else is going to stand in front of them like shane lemieux is kind of the only guy in the depth that might be able to play a center for you if you don't think John Michael Schmitz is ready,

but he's such an experienced player from his time in Minnesota. I feel like that's not going to be an issue. It sometimes is for offensive linemen and just any player really, but not Michael Schmitz background. So as a player who I'm projecting for a strong starting role, that's got to be the guy that I'm pointing to as the highest impact player. Yeah, and getting away from doing round one, which I really didn't do for any of these, it has to be him.

And you like Jalen Hyatt, but I like Jalen Hyatt year one at least to make more an impact in terms of his presence than catching 10 touchdowns that are 50 yard bombs in an offense that I don't know if they're ready to do that yet quite honestly I don't think that's something you know if Brian Dable was back in Buffalo with Josh Allen maybe they look at that that way and Daniel Jones should take more chances this year a little more comfort a little more help but this is year one and John Michael Schmitz has played what like 2400 snaps already at the college level he's somebody that should

slot in right at center for them and not really skip a beat yep I thought that one was not low hanging fruit but it's he's a non-round one guy that has a road to logging the most snaps out of any rookie in this entire draft that's not a quarterback. So we'll stay in the division and we'll go with the Philadelphia Eagles next. We'll take the Eagles. Who is your guy outside of round one that you think is the most impactful for this group? I went with Tyler Steen because when you look at the Eagles draft class, they are in a situation that, you know, they went up and got Keely Ringo later on, but there's a lot of good corners on that team already. It felt like Keely's the guy that they

can mold the way they want for when they do eventually move on from one of the veterans. I like Sidney Brown. Number one, I had a feeling you were going to talk a lot about Sidney Brown and there you go. And yeah, and number two with Steen, you know, this draft got so much attention from the Georgia guys they took. And Steen being a top 70 pick kind of got buried in all of this. And when you look at the Eagles roster,

maybe he's an injury away from playing. Maybe he comes in and kicks so much ass at guard that he starts, honestly. And Steen's a classic case of a guy in a little similar way to Matthew Bergeron that you like him so much better when he kicks inside. And he got to do that at the senior bowl. I think he is an excellent run blocker. I think with all the help he'll have on this offensive line, they can cover up some past pro developing early on. And I think he fits everything the Eagles want in their interior offensive linemen.

So he gets no flash in a class full of, in a class full of flash, but I really liked Tyler Steen to help out this offense. Yeah. We saw it very similarly because the two guys that I gravitated towards immediately for this answer for Philadelphia was Tyler Steen or Sidney Brown. I figure that you talk about Steen when we talked about him even pre-draft. Both of us liked him a lot in a potential transition to guard, and I do think there is a world in which he becomes their starting left guard.

I think the left guard spot is the one that's – no, it's the right guard spot that Cam Juergens would step into. That's so weird. Cam Juergens at guard is just so weird to me he's just he he is a he would be a much smaller guard and if you want a bigger body there tyler steen definitely makes sense and then you can absolutely just be a versatile guy along the interior offensive line obviously he's going to take over we think he's going to take over once jason kelsey ends up retiring um but for right now i i do think tyler steen's a strong selection for this question that we're asking.

I'm going to go with Sidney Brown. I love Sidney Brown. He was a top 50 player for me with them losing Chauncey Garner Johnson. I think that it's more than just losing the versatility because they signed Terrell Edmonds and Terrell Edmonds is experienced guy where he's got some versatility as a strong safety and coming down at the linebacker level, you know, for a nickel corner, and coming down at the linebacker level. For a nickel corner, I think I'd probably trust Sidney Brown a little bit more.

But Sidney gives you that energy level that I feel like this Philadelphia secondary and defense as a whole just feeds off of. The personality and play style of Sidney Brown fits so well with what we have seen from Philly over the last couple of years that that honestly is why I think this dude's going to get on the field. I really do. I think he's going to be a part of that safety rotation because he's played every single spot during his time at Illinois. He's got the athleticism to move. He's got the he's got the the motor that never stops. He'll take any assignment. He's got fantastic instincts,

right? You watch this past year at Illinois, and they let this guy almost just play this amoeba position where they said, Sidney, just roam the field. Go where you think the ball is going, and he was often right there either at the catch point or very soon after. So that's something that as long as the speed of the game isn't too overwhelming for him at the pro level,

I really think that we could be in for a strong second half and playoff push contribution from Sidney Brown for the Philadelphia Eagles. I mean, it makes a ton of sense. A good athlete, a role that, you know, when you're a safety and you're not drafted to start right away, you are either one injury away from playing significant reps or you're in a secondary that's going to roll out three safeties when needed and be that kind of chess piece player so i like the sydney brown call out i i really really do um that moves us over to the dallas cowboys trevor this one i went wildly off the board wildly off'd we go? I went with Hunter Lupke, the UDFA super back. And you look at Dallas. You look at Dallas.

Yes, they drafted Deuce Vaughn, who can be a nice little third down, pass catching, kind of back. I love Tony Pollard. I do. But those two and Rojo, it just felt like there's this, and I think Lukey got $200,000 guaranteed.

They made a big UDFA investment in him. I look at the Cowboys roster and just go, man, there's a role for this guy as the big bruiser. There really is. And he's such a good pass catcher at North Dakota State. He ran like a,

he ran a big route tree. I mean, wheel routes. He ran all kinds of different routes effectively. I look at Dallas's backfield, unless they plan on bringing Zeke back into the fold, this guy's going to get burned.

He really should. He should make the team. They should use him. He's a short yardage back. He's a good runner. He can catch the ball. They should use him. He's a short yardage back. He's a good runner. He can catch the ball. His blocking is getting better. I just, I think this is the dude.

I really do. Yeah. And I mean, there's not really anybody else who's close to his profile. What's in his way. Right. Like, like even if, even if you want him to be just like a full back type

or a short yardage kind of a back hunter luke he's pushing 240 he's like 6-1 240 who weighs the most on this roster right now what's tony pollard way tony pollard they got him in 10 209 all right good guess nice that's nice uh ronald jones they've got him listed 208 i mean rico dowd dowd all from south South Carolina is at 215, but he's the only guy who's close. So he definitely fits a mold where you could see this guy as a special teamer or utility player out of the backfield making teams. So I like this call out.

This is a good one. Didn't Mike McCarthy say to, he did. He said, I want to run the damn ball in March. Like, listen, Kellen Moore's gone. Mike McCarthy's doing his I want to take the ball out of the quarterback's hands routine. I think Hunter Luebke makes this team. I really

do. I love the call out. You went deep with this one. I look like a coward because I'm going to say their second round pick. I'm going to say Luke Shoemaker. He'll be on the field too too you lose Dalton Schultz and they've got a deep tight end room there they have Jake Ferguson they've got Peyton Hendershot who both of those guys were contributors last year anyways even with Schultz there but Schoonmaker is a player

who I felt like was underutilized at Michigan I think he's got three down ability he is a he's not the most imposing blocker, but he's a very willing blocker to me. He's somebody who's always going to give it his all in that area. And it's not like he's a liability there either. I think he's got really nice stop-start ability. He could turn the hips. He can hit the comeback routes. He can hit fade routes and corner routes when it comes to red zone situations. So I really do think that the best ball could be ahead for Luke Schoonmaker. And so he is the player in this group who I would bet on the most outside of

Mazzy Smith, who I think is going to get on the field no matter what, because he's a first round pick. He's the player who I would say is the most impactful for the Cowboys. What about the commanders? Commanders are the last team here in this division. What do you think about a player outside of round one, so outside of Emmanuel Forbes, who could make the biggest impact?

Chalk for me. Jaratavius Martin's going to be awesome in this defense. There's just no other way to deny it. I really like the offensive linemen they took. I mean, I really do. I think Stromberg's their future starting center. I was a big fan of Braden Daniels as this chess piece O-line like Swiss Army. Hey, we need you to pinch in at left tackle.

Hey, can you kick into guard? Can you snap the ball? But looking at just this year, I mean, Jartavius Martin should be their nickel from day one. And I think he's going to be awesome. I really, really do. I love his athleticism. I think he has ball skills. I think he's a tough player coming downhill.

I loved this pick for them. There was part of me that wanted to go KJ Henry, but their front four is so loaded and they even have depth behind him that I think KJ Henry was a pick maybe for two years from now. So Jartavius Martin should be really good right away for this team.

Yeah, so I looked at this question and didn't necessarily think it was the biggest impact from year one. And so I think I figured one of us was going to go with Jartavius Martin because we should, right? He's one of the very few safety nickel hybrid players who, when we say safety, we don't just mean strong safety. We mean he has the athleticism to play free safety as much as be a

sub package defender. So one of us had to talk about him no matter what stromberg you know he's got the potential to be a starting center for them so if he ends up being elevated to a starting role at the center of that offensive line that's obviously an impactful pick but kj henry is interesting to me because of the situation that the commanders are in with chase young and montez sweat by declining chase young's fifth year option they have put themselves in a situation where both sweat and young are unrestricted free agents next offseason they've already got all the money in John Allen they've

already got all the money in in Deron Payne if both of those guys ball out sweat and young which I'm sure that they would love for that to be the case, they're probably only going to bring back one. Best case scenario, they can only bring back one. They've paid a lot of guys already. KJ Henry might have a starting role on this team next year and the year after. So I think that with the kind of pass rush that he develops into, he deserves a shout out as well.

My answer, you know what, I'll just, for fun, I'll just say that it's KJ Henry. I think that he could be an deserves a shout out as well my answer you know what i'll just for fun i'll just say that it's kj henry i think he could be an impactful guy for them there so you got jartavius martin from you you got kj henry from me uh where are we going next what team what division all right so let's just go right through the nfc here then we'll go to the nfc north uh starting with the bears for me with this, it did take a little bit, you know, an adventurous approach because it doesn't seem that obvious, but I think Roshan Johnson is just too good in their backfield to not eventually be the guy. I like Khalil Herbert. Khalil Herbert just feels like this guy that'll always be your one B back. Penny stay healthy with the full workload. I don't know.

I like him as the one B kind of guy. Deontay Foreman has had such an interesting career, but the downhill North and South running of Roshan Johnson in this offense. I mean, I really think he just becomes their Jamal Williams kind of player for me, maybe even a little bit more juice as a younger guy. So I think Roshan Johnson is gonna just get they're gonna get to camp and they're gonna look at him and be like oh this guy's too good we're gonna have to get him carries and and touches in the past game right away I I wonder if they look at him like David Montgomery right and they're not built the same not they're

not visually the same player but they're both those power type of players, right? So you already had Khalil Herbert, but they had Khalil Herbert last year when they had Montgomery. So they're looking for the smash and dash no matter what. So is it going to be a Deontay Foreman or is Roshon Johnson really going to be able to stand out? So I like that call out a lot. That one makes a ton of sense. Mine is an easy one, but you guys who have listened to this podcast even before the draft know that i'm not just cherry picking on the second round pick this is my dude he was a top 40 player for me and tyreek stevenson the corner out of miami you and i were chatting a little bit when we were going through mock draft exercises before draft weekend that hey why aren't

we talking about corner as more of a priority need for the Chicago bears. And I love the fact that they went after Tyreek Stevenson in the second round because Connor, I genuinely think he can be the starter on the outside opposite Jalen Johnson. And to me, that's a really nice man coverage duo that you have with those two guys on the outside. Then you got Kyler Gordon,

the rookie from last year, you could play him in the nickel. You got the safety Shaquan brisker. You eddie jackson those guys like that is a really nice young secondary there for me but i do think that there is a clear path to stevenson being able to start in year one and beyond with his skill set so i like stevenson more than you anyways uh so this this one was kind of an easy one for me. I knew you weren't going to pick him. I'll also shout out Tyler Scott, right? Tyler Scott, the wide receiver out of Cincinnati, being a fourth-round pick, I don't know exactly where he's going to fit in this wide receiver room

as it currently stands. It's decently full. They traded for DJ Moore. They've got Chase Claypool. They had Darnell Mooney. They've got Equiminia St. Brown as well. Now they have Tyler Scott. Is Tyler Scott just that designated deep guy?

Even if that's the case, I think he can succeed for them. But I think his starting role with Stevenson still matters more to me. So those are our two for the Bears. All right, so we move over to the Green Bay Packers. This one for me, Trevor, is Tucker Kraft. And that might be, you know, maybe a little odd to people when you look at it and go, well, he wasn't even the first tight end they took. But I look at Tucker craft compared to Luke Musgrave. Number one, he's on a roster. Um, God, you look at the bears.

They were in, I mean, the bears, the Packers. I want to make sure I get this right. Yeah, last year. They were in 12 personnel on 314 of their offensive snaps. That's almost 30% of their snaps. That's a lot. That's a lot. So whether you like Musgrave or not, and I'm not as high on him, both of these guys are going to be on the field. They are going to play two tight end sets.

There's nobody else in that tight end room that scares you of getting reps over them. I look at Tucker Kraft. He's a way better blocker than Musgrave. He's stronger. I thought he's much more impressive after the catch in terms of his power. I really, really liked him. I really did. So I looked at, you know, this is a team that made a lot of draft picks and a lot of draft picks that have opportunity to play this year,

whether it's Jaden Reed, Dontabian Wicks, Grant DuBose, both Kraft and Musgrave in a tight end room that has nothing really that scares you to get playing time over them. We can talk about the defense, obviously, but man man i think tucker craft because of his ability on the line of scrimmage is the guy for this team right away yeah my answer also would have been tucker craft if you went somewhere else i was going to take tucker craft for that reason this is a team that has uh wanted to utilize multi-tight end sense i just don't think that they had the talent to be able to do so so i'm glad that you pointed that out good on you for having the numbers to back it up there i'll go with jayden reed though because for as much as look i i kind of thought this on draft night when they drafted

jayden reed i was like man where's jayden reed gonna play it's like they already got the two young receivers there's got to be some veterans in that room where's he gonna crack the lineup dude i'm looking at the depth chart now and with Lazard gone and just the rest of that wide receiver room looking completely different, you got Christian Watson on the outside. You got Romeo Dobbs on the outside. Jaden Reed could genuinely be their starting slot receiver. You'd say Jaden Reed that early. He better be.

He better be. And remember, when we were in mobile for the senior bowl or as will mcdonald like to call it the reese's bowl is that what he said yeah i think that i'm pretty sure that jim nagy like because he had said that in an interview and jim nagy quote tweeted and he's like every so many players just call it the reese's bowl like that's just what they call they don't call it the senior bowl they call it because they're so used to like whatever branding they're stuck wearing for eight days in a row. Right, it's true.

It's the bowl. I get it. They get free Reese's, you know? Yeah. This could be the Reese's pot if Reese's wants to. They want it. Sponsor it, right? So anyways, Jaden Reed,

when I looked at it for this exercise, I found a clear path for him to be a starting slot receiver and going back to what we saw in Mobile, he was cooking people off the line scrimmage in a way that I did. I did not expect, you know, when I looked at Michigan state tape from him and the reason why he was lower on my wide receiver rankings is because a lot of his shorter stuff

was very schemed up. It wasn't him necessarily getting open quickly off the line of scrimmage, getting into his routes, really cooking people close within 5, 10 yards. And then the not schemed up stuff seemed to be all vertical. Like he just seemed to be kind of a vertical receiver. And the senior bowl was different though. So maybe they see him that way. Maybe they see him as that off the line of scrimmage artist

in his footwork and his releases and somebody who could really separate when you give them those two-way goes and a lot of space off the line of scrimmage so i'll say jayden reed since you took tucker craft the vikings here i'll give you the floor first for this one what do you like for minnesota i went a little deeper on this one as well i mean most okay most impactful is probably Makai Blackman because this corner room needed a major upgrade. Blackman is somebody who I think has got a diverse skill set. He's going to be able to play right away.

And so in terms of players who are going to have a guaranteed impact, it feels like Makai Blackman. But I will shout out my boy, Dwayne McBride, because I don't know how much longer Dalvin Cook's going to be there. We heard rumblings this off season of teams trying to trade for him. You know, is he going to be on his way out? How much longer is he going to be in Minnesota? So if Dalvin Cook is on his way out, Dwayne McBride, who'd very well be that guy who slides into a major contributing role at running back. And so that's, I think the obvious answer is Makai Blackman

because of the opportunity he has to be a starter. But wanted to give McBride a shout out, had to as my RB3. It makes me wonder when they brought back Alexander Madison and did use a pick on McBride. Is there a small chance Cook is moved or cut post June 1? We'll see. We'll see. But Madison's contract. OK, so it was two year.

All right. I mean, that's that's kind of like a standard because you would want to give him this year and then you don't want to be caught having to resign-sign him next year and lose actual leverage so that makes sense yeah i went with uh jaqueline roy because this or is this show like to call him over summer jaqueline raw wah like patrick wah but this deep line was also like your point with the secondary i mean i could have taken mckay blackman i could have taken jai Blackman, I could have taken Jay Ward. This secondary needs a lot of help. This defensive line needs a lot of help as well.

At a minimum, Jaqueline Roy is going to rotate in on this defensive line. And just because he was a fifth-round pick, I like the effort that he plays with. I like the power that he plays with. So for Minnesota, a rotational interior player was a big deal to get. And I think he will significantly help them out on a huge weakness last year. The last one in this division is the Detroit Lions. Trevor, I'll be quick here because I went super chalk, but he's just too good to pass up. It's Brian Branch. I mean, they could have taken

Brian Branch at 18 and I would have still felt this way. Instead, they got him in the 40s. Brian Branch is somebody you can move all around your secondary. I think he will make them a much tougher team up front. I think he could be that big physical nickel they've been looking for as well. My answer is obviously the same. It's Brian Branch, but I'll shout out Sam Laporta, right? Sam Laporta's going to start. He's going to pass happy offense.

He's going to play this year. And with them moving on from Hawkinson, I don't think it was that they didn't want to emphasize the tight end position in the passing game. They just didn't want to pay Hawkinson as if he was going to be a focal point no matter what, especially with Amon ross st brown already on the team with jameson williams already on the team and with them probably saying there's a good

chance we get another receiver at some point right so in an offense where hawkinson might have no matter what been the third fourth go-to option in the passing game. They didn't want to pay him as if he was the second or first. So that's why you move on from him. But that doesn't mean that, oh, they don't want to get the tight end involved in the passing game at all. I don't think that that's true at all whatsoever. And I think them drafting Sam Laporta as high as they did signals that too. So he's going to be used in the offense.

They are still going to throw the ball to tight ends, especially ones like Laporta who give you a lot of yards after the catch ability so my answer is is the same with Brian Branch but I would also feel comfortable shouting out Laporta too because I think he's definitely going to have a place for him moving over to the NFC Sal Tampa Bay Bucks pretty big draft class looking for a lot of uh guys that'll help front. I went with Yaya Diaby for this one because at a minimum, his athleticism should get him on the field in passing situations. This is a team that I think they want to see more from Joe Tryon-Choenka this season. They want to see more from Logan Hall, but wanting to see more doesn't guarantee you anything. Yaya Diaby is going to get looks,

and he is a very explosive player. So the Bucs went into a mission in this draft. How do we become more explosive on the defensive line? And they walked out with Kalijah Canty, Yaya Diaby, and Jose Ramirez. I think all three of those guys are going to help this year. Yeah, Diaby is certainly going to be in that defensive line rotation the easy answer and I'm glad that you teed it up for me though for most impactful rookies that aren't named Kalai Jekansi is without question Cody Mock to me I think Mock is going to slide into a starting offensive guard role because of what's happening at tackle Tristan is moving from the right side to the left side and Luke Gedeke who is a utility player for them he could play on the interior and he started at the interior spot

for a couple of games last season they're now moving him out to right tackle that leaves an open offensive guard spot for them they already projected Cody Mock to be an interior player anyways and so I think that the interior offensive line with Gedecky moving and then also Shaq Mason's out of there as well. A lot of a lot of snaps up for grabs. And I think that Cody Mock's going to be a starter for this team in his rookie year. He should be. And being a second round pick with an opening there kind of indicates that he will be the Falcons for this one. I kind of had a feeling where you were going to go with this one. So I tried to I tried to I tried to zag a feeling where you were going to go with this one. So I tried to,

I tried, I tried to zag a little bit and went with Clark Phillips just because I really think he could start in the nickel for them. If he shows that he's comfortable in the slot, that's what everybody's wondering with Clark Phillips, but man, he's got good ball skills. They got kind of this wide open corner competition

for everybody besides AJ Terrell. I mean, I know they traded for Okuda. They didn't give up enough for Okuda that they're guaranteeing him anything. I look at Clark Phillips and go, man, he's the classic case of he's small. He didn't test well. He's a good football player.

He always finds a way on the field. And that's what he'll do when he'll get into camp this defense has gotten a lot tougher and more well-rounded and i thought there was a lot of value of where they got clark phillips so i went with him because i would assume you're leaning on the offensive side of the ball yeah and i look i love the shout out i would love for clark phillips to be in contention for this highest impact player i really would i'm a little bit more scared of him going to the nickel just because of what I saw on tape with him in college. He was more comfortable on the outside, but he is such a good football player, man. I hope he figures it out because

he's going to be a fun one. If he does mine's obviously Matthew Bergeron. This is a player who I think is one of the top 50 players in this entire class. I think I ended up having him top 30 on my big board when it was all said and done. Actually, I think you almost had him top 20. I think I almost had him top 25. I think he was 26 overall. I feel like he could start for you to tackle, but I think he could be a damn solid offensive guard for you too. I think that's where he's going to start. And that really puts together a very solid offensive line for the Atlanta Falcons. You got Jake Matthews and Caleb McGarry at the tackle spots. You got Chris Lindstrom, Matthew Bergeron,

and then Drew Dahlman at center. That's a really solid five. That's a five that I can have a lot of confidence in going into the season. Bergeron, maybe he doesn't have as much of a mean streak as like Chris Lindstrom does, but I think that playing with that group, he will. Because Bergeron is somebody who loved

the hand usage, loved the contact balance, loved that the feet are always churning. He's always trying to move people off of the spot. You can tell he takes a lot of pride in it. That's what Atlanta's offensive line has always been about since Arthur Smith got over there a couple of years ago. So love the fact that he's getting to start. And obviously that makes him a heavy impact rookie for this year and beyond. Moving over to the Panthers. Who did you like here? This one I thought was actually one of the more difficult ones to pick out of the group. Highest impact's got to be Jonathan Mingo, right?

Maybe. So I wrote an article over at pff.com that identified my favorite picks for every team. And I tried to go a little bit deeper and i ended up picking chandler zavala for as my favorite but yeah zavala and i'm not sure if you're gonna pick him or not it kind of is the back right can the back hold up because if it can and you got probably starter there for them that's what i think but mingo i think is going to be a starter for them no matter what i mean the rest of that off the rest of that offense all of those targets are up for grabs it's a lot of guys you know terrence marshall jr okay is he gonna be dominant for you

how many targets are you giving him this year dj charke you brought in adam feeling you brought in but those are new faces how much are they getting in the mix laveska chanel hasn't been what you wanted him to be mingo he feels like that player that they drafted in the second round for a reason you prioritize this kind of player because you love the size speed strength combination and i think mingo is going to get every chance to be a starting wide receiver for this team even as soon as the first couple of weeks of the regular season so i'll'll go, I'll go with Jonathan Mingo here as my most impactful player. I agree with you on Mingo for a lot of the reasons he said. One more thing too, every receiver in that room around him from Terrace Marshall, the DJ Shark to Adam Thielen to LaVisca Chanel all have injury problems. So even if you're worried about him being in a room

full of veterans, there's a chance he's just gonna have to play i will say that the dark horse candidate here is zavala because i think he can genuinely just by his play and his reliability and pass protection i think he can win that left guard job to play next to icky but you made the good point trevor that the reason he was even there when they got him is because of the medical situation. So we'll see what Zavala could do. But just on talent, if Zavala is healthy and ready to go and looks like the player he was last year in college, this offensive line is going to be really, really good. Really good. And that's huge for Bryce Young, huge for Miles Sanders and this offense as a whole.

To round out the division, the New Orleans Saints here. For me with this one, it took a little thinking. But when you start to imagine where they took him, the suspension, pending suspension to Alvin Kamara, Kendrick Miller should have a really big opportunity to be an impact rookie and I like Jamal Williams Jamal Williams is your classic like perfect number two running back because he's good in pass Pro he's great at the goal line he's good in short yardage if Kamara gets a lengthy suspension and they just start to kind of imagine this offense eventually without him Kendra Miller is the guy that's going to get the workload on the early downs.

And when you look at the Saints draft class as a whole, I mean, Brzee went round one. We're not using him. Foskey's in the rotation. But outside of that, this is the Kendrick Miller show from this draft. Yeah, I think that Kendrick is obviously a great choice for highest impact player because of what you mentioned, the Alvin Kamara situation around him.

I'm going to go with Nick Saldivari actually, their fourth round pick. Now remember, the Saints traded up to be the first team to pick in day three before the draft started because they wanted this dude.

They moved up to go get Nick Saldoveri. And I think the reason why is because they think he could be the starting right guard for them. Over the last three years, Cesar Ruiz, his PFF grades in 2020, this is overall blocking grades. In 2020, it was a 58.6. The next year it was a 57.6. And the next year it was a 56.6. So year it was a 57.6 and the next year it was a 56.6 so it's just gone down by a point every single year the saints declined the fifth year option on ruiz so he's going to be a free agent after this season i really do believe that sal de barry who played offensive tackle at old dominion but feels like he's probably more of a guard at the nfl level he could earn that right guard spot.

He could end up being a starting offensive lineman for this team. So I'll go with Sal Deveri here to round out this division. Really good call out. Moving on to the NFC West, we'll start with the Arizona Cardinals. Depending on his recovery, if he's good to go for like half of camp, Garrett Williams is going to start for this team. Garrett Williams is going to start for this team. Garrett Williams is going to start for this team. And when Garrett Williams was healthy for Syracuse, he looked damn good.

He showed off ball skills. He showed off to be pretty fluid in terms of his movement ability. I know the Cardinals maybe are in for a tough year, but that means get the kids the reps. Give them the reps. And there is a runway for all of the corner reps for Garrett Williams. That would, if you went with BGO Jolari,

if you went with your dude, then I was going to go with Garrett Williams. There's a lot of safe choices here. I'll say that. I know, I do love it. But you know what I'm going to say? I'm going to say sixth round pick ketro clark is going to be the most in fact well i i mean i i agree with you i think it's probably gonna be garrett williams but if i'm if i'm getting with it if i yeah if i'm if i want to give a shout out here ketro clark right and i've got a couple

of reasons why i think that would be the case one i think he's a really nice nickel corner loved what i saw from him when i watched the Shrine Bowl practice tape. His instincts and his recognition was just so, so advanced. It was so impressive. The way that he was able to sniff out plays before they were even started, knew where the ball was going to go, loved his recovery speed when he was able to put his foot in the ground and really get after the ball as it was released from the quarterback's hands, trying to make an impact at the catch point. He was doing that all week long at the shrine bowl. So that is something that I absolutely love to see from him. And then when you look at the depth chart right now,

I'm just looking at our lads. They have Isaiah Simmons as the nickel corner for this team, as the nickel defender for this team. But we know that Isaiah Simmons is just kind of, you know, this Swiss army knife. You're going to be using him everywhere. So there's going to be plenty of weeks, plenty of series where you're not going to have him as your nickel defender.

They have Keetrell Clark as the next guy in. And the way that I look at this roster, I kind of agree with that. Now, their head coach, Connor, Jonathan Gannon, he's coming over from Philadelphia where they had a nickel corner Now, their head coach, Connor, Jonathan Gannon, he's coming over from Philadelphia where they had a nickel corner who is quite small himself in Avante Maddox. So we know that he's not afraid of playing these feisty, quick corners with a lot of attitude and a lot of ball production, a lot of good instincts.

So if Clark can show those things early on as a rookie, I genuinely believe that he can be an impactful nickel defender for them in certain situations so uh ojalary is a great call out garrett williams great call out i everybody out there knows that i love love michael wilson but clark could be a sneaky impactful player for this team and i just had to say that it's a good call out Arizona. They, their rookies are gonna get a chance. Um, and another draft, did you know the Rams draft was 14 players deep? I, I did just because I've had to do so many damn write up son. It's we're a team that never drafts. They went the complete other way and had 8 million selections. A lot of them on day three for me, Trevor, a guy that we really liked.

I want to see Kobe Turner play a lot on this defensive line with Aaron Donald. And when you look at the roster in front of him, there's a chance that he does. There really, really is. And the Rams are kind of fun because as much as they're in a weird retooling phase, they have so many draft picks that are in the second line right now for the team. They're like all second stringers and that can go one or two ways for them. And Turner was the guy I look at and go,

man, he's played a lot of ball. He had a great season. He's in attack mode. He fits what they like to do up front. I think he's getting to get going to get into camp. And they're like, yeah,

we kind of like him wreaking havoc with Donald, not rotating to help Donald. So I went with Kobe Turner. I'm going to go with a player who I also think has a very streamlined spot to start. Byron Young. He does. Who else is in front of him on the step chart as a pass rusher? No one.

The answer is no one. Michael Hoyt? Nick Hampton's a rookie. Guys, they drafted. Jack Young's a rookie. There's nobody on this roster that's really going to check. So the fact that he was drafted in the third round i think that uh yeah i mean i think that that he's got all the all the chance in the world to start he had one of the best first

steps that we've seen in this class as a pass rusher now he still needs to learn what to do after he has that explosive first step right get some pass rush profile to him but uh i think that there is a starting pass rush spot for the taking for him. And I think he's going to earn that. So you're going to see a lot of, at the very least, specialized moments for him to really show what he's got as a pass rusher this year. Seattle Seahawks. This one was like hitting a pinata and all of the options just fall out. And you're just like, which one do I grab first?

I mean, this draft class was insane. They all are going to have opportunity. We're not using the first rounders. We know Witherspoon and JSN are going to be sick. I love the interior offensive linemen. They took both of them, Anthony Bradford and Oluolu with Timmy. But Trevor, I went Cameron Young. This defensive line, they lost in free agency.

Al Woods went to the Jets.. Al Woods went to the Jets. Quentin Jefferson went to the Jets. Puna Ford, did he sign yet? I know he's been out there for a long time. I thought he did. He's been out there. Didn't he go to the Bills? Yes, he did go to the Bills.

That was a great move by the Bills. The HCEs just basically signed all Seattle's D-line free agents. Cameron Young's a great run defender. He's strong. He can stal run defender. He's strong. He can stalemate. He can contain. He's going to play. And he should play a lot. And he's going to do all the bullshit that a lot of these guys probably

don't want to do, honestly, in a defense that should attack. Derek Hall, Daryl Taylor, and Shannon Wosu, Boye Mafe, those guys are pin years back and go. Cameron Young's like, okay, I'll take Wosu, Boye Mafe. Those guys are pin years back and go. Cameron Young's like, okay, I'll take on two blockers. That's fine.

Cameron Young, he might have no stats at the end of the year. And you're going to look and go, I played 300 snaps and he graded out as a 70, which is good by the way, for a rookie. I feel good about Cameron Young. He's buried in a great draft class, but he's going to play. And I think he's ready to do it. I think the answer, I love the shout-out. I think that this whole Seattle class, top to bottom, was fantastic,

and they're going to contribute at major, minor levels some way. I think that this whole class is going to fill out the depth of this roster. Zach Charbonnet is the pick for me because I know they're going to use him so much. Kenneth Walker was phenomenal last year, but they're going to use the two-back system. I think that they're going to lead heavily on their run game. I think that Zach Charbonnet is going to hit the ground running, man. I don't think there's going to be really any kind of acclimation period. We already know that he's built for the NFL. He's got the size and the strength profile for it.

I think he's going to be ready for action very quickly, and he's going to be a major part of this rotation for them as they try to make the playoffs again and make an even greater playoff push. So I think he's the perfect complement to what we saw from Kenneth Walker. So he's already going to be in that rotation pretty early. All right, the 49ers, to close this out,

here's the thing with the 49ers. When they go to tight ends, and they were in either 12 personnel or 22 personnel over 21% of the time last year, about 22% of the time, they were in 12 or 22 personnel. Trevor, they ran the shit out of the ball when they did that.

When they were in 12 personnel, they ran at 61% of the time. When they were in 22 personnel, they ran at 61% of the time. When they were in 22 personnel, they ran 84% of the time. The pick for me here is Cameron Latu. When you look at the Niners depth chart, they got Kittle. We know what he can do. Latu gets the Alabama four-star defensive lineman, converts the tight end. I like what he could do on the move as a blocker. Once again, maybe the Cameron Young situation, not a lot of stats,

but the film junkies and the fans of this team will know. I think it's Cameron Law too. I could go with Jake Moody. No. I didn't like this draft very much at all did you but did you hear did you hear our clip out of it that evan sowers tweeted out yes yes yes yes yeah evan i was on the couch uh evan's a good friend of mine shout out evan so he's he's seems awesome but i was like damn i was like we were ruthless you were like this draft stunk and i'm like it

sucked and you're like it's stuck i'm like oh my god we're like usually a pretty happy go lucky pod we're pretty optimistic because we're dealing with fan bases that are absolutely stuck in the mud because you are rooting for the draft um and i was like okay well the niners have had a lot of good things happen so i think they take it on the chin and, like, we don't care. We're going to be awesome anyway. They're going to be doing – they're going to be – But it was – I listened to it. I was like, oh, my God.

Well, we went in. Okay, I didn't like the first pick. I didn't like the second pick. The third pick was okay, and then we're in round five. Yippee. Right? So, anyways, my shout-out for somebody who I think could be an impactful rookie is D. Winters, the linebacker from TCU.

They're losing Aziz Al-Shahir, who was a big time contributor for them. Man, the Niners last year had a case for the best LB1 in the draft, or sorry, in the league, in Fred Warner. The best LB2 in the draft in Dre Greenlaw, and the best LB3 in the league in Aziz Al-Shahir. Like they had a case for each of those tiers. Not saying those three were the best linebackers in the NFL, but every tier, LB1, LB2, LB3,

they might've had the top player at every single tier. So you're losing Al-Shahir. I think it was time with the Tennessee Titans. It's just going to leave some snaps at Sam linebacker for them. D winners might be able to fill that. And we know that it's a team that if the linebackers can stand out, they'll certainly play and they'll get them on the field. They'll let him be impactful.

So TCU linebacker D winners in the sixth round. And he's got a chance to make an impact here in, in, in year one. I like that pick at a minimum. He should, he's so fast. He should be a really ideal special teamer too. So yeah, that one, you know, in a tough draft class, he's won. Moving to the AFC. The AFC East, we'll start with the Jets.

We'll go in the same order that we did the grades. For me here with the Jets, kind of chalk. Although you could make the argument that maybe he doesn't start. Joe Tippman, for me. They brought back Connor McGovern. They signed Wes Schweitzer as their backup interior guy. I think Tippman starts at center. Maybe McGovern gets that veteran nod,

but I'm not betting on that for the Jets. I think they saw Tippman and said, he's the kind of athlete that we could do things in our run game that we've dreamed of. And we have not had the center to do that since Nick Mangold's retired. i went with joe tipman obviously there was a lot of different guys that'll get some playing time this year for the jets but joe tipman's going into robert sala has said it's a camp competition to play i think joe tipman's going to come out on top yeah i and i think that

that's the obvious pick just because of what you mentioned you know it's such a streamlined starting role. If you're a starting player in this draft, in the Jets draft class, then you're probably going to get that title. I'll say running back is Yabana Kanda just because of what he brings to the table. Right. I like Michael Carter. Obviously love Brees Hall, but what's he exactly going to be like when he comes back? Can you give him a full running back load?

Like I like Carter for what he is. I think he's a really nice change of pace back i think he's a really nice depth player but when i'm looking at the rest of this jet step chart especially for the running backs that are there travis die bam night those are the other backs they have nobody's bringing the speed that abinakata is so that's why i think he really has a chance to stand out and either be the RB2 or RB3 of this team, because they're going to want to get the ball in this guy's hands just on the off chance that all the blocking lines up and this kid hits a lane and he is absolutely gone because he's got four, three speed. He's fast as hell. And so that he, he is somebody outside of Joe Timmon, who is the obvious one. He's somebody who I could see having a big impact for the Jets team.

I'm with you. They should really take it slow with Brees coming back. You don't need to be the Russian king in September. You'd rather be playing in the big, meaningful stretch run. The Patriots, for me, non-combine invite. I think the earliest non-combine invite selection of this draft, Marte Mapu. New England's one of those teams that they love defenders like this.

You look at what they've been able to do with Kyle Duggar. They're going to see some two tight end sets. And you look at what Marte Mapu can do, whether it's as a safety, as a linebacker, really this box kind of player plays with his hair on fire. New England, I like their first three picks a lot but mapu feels like a very belichick guy that they love how different his usage can be uh especially his speed coming downhill i don't think there'll be much of a training wheels period for this guy in new england you know what's funny is that they drafted a kicker and a punter they drafted uh chad rylan

the kicker from maryland and then bryce beringer from the punter from michigan state and i think they're both gonna start so like that's inside that's their entire special teams like kicking units that are gonna start for this team and they drafted joe cardona years ago so they love they love drafting special teams. I think Mapu is the obvious answer here. So I would agree with you. He's somebody that I think will have the highest impact outside of Christian Gonzalez, who I think is going to start right away.

You know, White is going to be a rotational player. You know, maybe if one of City So or Antonio Mafi ends up starting for this team. But as of right now, there's not a starting role to be had. You drafted Coles Strange the year before. Mike Nwainu has been really good. You got David Andrews still at center. He was hurt a lot, though, last year, Andrews, I thought.

I thought David Andrews dealt with some concussions last year. I know he's older. How old is he? So he's 30. He did play 14 games i thought he well he obviously did miss time then i'm just saying if andrews you know does maybe get oh so he went on ir in 2020 because he had thumb surgery i know he had i thought concussions last year so they took jake andrews early man do you just is your last name have to be andrews to play center for the

patriots i was gonna say you know say, that's why they do it. Nobody will know. They want to save costs on jerseys because if David Andrews gets hurt, then they'll just give the jersey to Jake Andrews. Look,

Sal Robert Kraft became a billionaire. It's just little money moves, folks. That's why Belichick's the greatest of all time. He's just outsmarting. They don't know which Andrews is in that center. They can't capitalize on the deficiencies. Yeah, yeah. When you guys were in third grade learning multiplication, you know what I was doing?

I was buying real estate. That's what makes us different. When I was in third grade. We are not the same. I was putting my money in the housing market. Culture changer. Dolphins. I mean, Devon, a chain, right? Is there, is there a different way to go here? Yes. Miami. Yeah, there is. You're right. I mean, absolutely. Yeah. I know you're going to go to an interesting conversation.

So I'll go on a chain really quick. Listen, I like Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson. They both get hurt. Okay. It's and guess what? It's not a knock on them because every running back in the league gets hurt. Even if they don't, a chain speed is just a Mikedaniel dream to play in an offense that already has jaylen waddle and tyree kill so i think a chain will make the biggest impact but trevor

there is a case to be made for the guy that wasn't a first rounder but was their first pick and a player i player i had in my top 30 yeah no, no, it's Ryan Hayes, you know, beating out Teron Armstead for that left tackle spot. That's a big example. Ryan Hayes. Step on, you are the impact rookie for the Dolphins. No, it is Cam Smith, and it's Cam Smith for, if you guys listen to the Team Grades episode,

we touched on this a little bit. I love the Cam Smith pick because in theory now, it gives them five starters along the defensive back, two outside corners, a nickel defender, and then two safeties

all without using Jalen Ramsey. So now week in and week out, you can have the flexibility to play Jalen Ramsey however you see fit in the way that is most advantageous to you. Is playing him on the outside against their wide receiver one on the outside the best way to do that? Okay, we're going to play him that way. Does the other team have a slot stud kind of a player that you want to put Ramsey on to blanket? Okay, you can do that.

If you want to have Ramsey as a free safety for you or as a strong safety getting to roam around the middle in the second level you can do that because now you have in theory five players without Ramsey to start in that secondary so um the most impactful one to me is Cam Smith because in those games if this is the plan if in those games Ramsey's not playing on the outside Cam Smith's probably playing on the outside. So that's one that I absolutely love. Okay, moving over to the last team in this division, the Buffalo Bills. Man, I went with Dorian Williams here. It's a great pick.

I like Dorian Williams a lot. You look at what the Bills lost this offseason at linebacker and Edmonds. You look at Milano plays the game like he's an F1 driver. I mean, the guy is like 100 miles an hour. He gets banged up and they are a different defense without him. Dorian Williams is one of the best coverage linebackers in the draft this year. And that should matter a lot for a Bills defense that they're in a division that they throw. Everybody throws the running backs all the time.

So Dorian Williams for me, although, man, I am fascinated to watch this team if Osiris Torrance gets a chance to start. Yeah, I mean, that's the one for me. It's kind of an obvious one, but it was their second round selection of Osiris Torrance, the guard from Florida. I think he can have the chance to be the most impactful player because right he can start right i think that there were some deficiencies along the interior offensive line oh shoot a right tackle too with buffalo they just have to get a lot better and buffalo is not really a team that outside of it feels like i don't want to misspeak here i don't i don't know all the numbers off the top of my head so if bills fans if you're listening to this

and i'm wrong please let me know in the comments but it didn't they didn't feel like a team that ran a lot of power last year outside of josh allen doing some qb sneaks and things up the middle but with torrence you now have that ability he's a major people mover he's somebody who you can run power behind right you can run duo you can run some counter plays as well right you can run some pullers with him like you can do things where you are just attacking or moving these guards getting them on the run and trying to hit things up the middle so i think i think my answer would be torrence here i like the dorian williams call out that's the one i'm most comfortable with but if torrence gets a starting spot then he's he's going to be one of the most impactful players,

they have no doubt. So the Bills only ran power 36 of their 475 run attempts. There we go. There we go. I'm always here to slam down the alley-oops you throw up. I appreciate it. We are the walking Miamiami heat we're the we're the lebron james and duane wade of data that's what they call us wow they call us the nerdiest thing of all time all right the the amc north cincinnati bengals trevor why don't you go

first i've gone first way too much and this was a draft that i mean the bagels just i loved what the bagels did in this draft a lot to choose from right when i was going over what my favorite picks were from this draft i started this blurb by saying i like all of them i thought they had a fantastic draft for a team that is in a winning window especially for where they are most impactful i think i'm gonna say chase brown from illinois and a lot of that hinges on what happens with joe mixon joe he's currently on the team mixon it feels like if they Didn't move on from him yet. They probably won't. But Mixon gets hurt at any point. Mixon goes down. There's no more Samajit Pirai in there.

Brown's the next guy to step up. And we saw last year at Illinois how this guy can give you a heavy return on investment no matter what the carry load is. They use the crap out of them at Illinois. So if they say that Chase Brown, hey, buddy, Mixon can't go this game. We got to scratch him. We're going to give you the ball 30 times a game. He's going to be like, okay, it's fine. He's not going to be sweating.

He's not going to be thinking twice about it. That's just what he does. And moving forward, whether Mixon's on the team next year even, Chase Brown can be the potential starting running back for this team. I liked him a lot. I had him in my top six in my running back ranking. He's somebody who's got the athletic ability to be a starting running back at the NFL level, but I also love his mentality.

I love how he fights through contact. He's not the most dense dude in the world, so it's not like he's breaking off of every single tackle and staying up and getting those yards after contact, but he always has that mindset. If he has the ability to stay up after contact, he's going to, and he's going to get you those extra yards. Love the fight that he plays with.

Love the vision that he plays with. So he is somebody who I think could be a starting back at the NFL level. Maybe not like this feature back that you're giving the ball to 300, 350 times a year, but somebody who I think can even lead a committee at the next level. So I'll go with Chase Brown. Don't think they'll do it, but the Bengals can save over $10 million if they cut Mixon after June 1st. So man, don't think they'll do it, but not entirely ruling it out. Mine was Jordan Battle. I'm fascinated to see if Jordan Battle can pull away a starting safety job from a presumably Nick Scott and I think Battle's a really good player he really really

is and the same could be said about DJ very smart player the same could be said about DJ Turner I look at the Bengals in this draft getting Battle, Turner, Miles Murphy, and Chase Brown all currently slotted to be backups. And I think all four could start week one if they are needed to. That is why I gave them an A-. I thought they crushed. Speaking of that, the Pittsburgh Steelers, unbelievable draft. This is the Seahawks of the AFC in terms of the pinata.

Just take your pick and you're probably going to be right. Cause we've never missed on a prospect. I went with Keanu Benton here. I thought the Steelers could use a little beef on that interior, the defensive line. Yep. Benton is somebody that if you need him to play shade nose or true nose or three tech,

he could do it. And he is going to slot right in the middle of this group. I think he's a responsible run defender. I think he's got juice as a big body pass rusher, pocket pusher. Could have been bad. Could have been bad. Saved it.

Saved it. Count it, Benton, man. Can't wait to watch him play for the Steelers. My heart wants to pick donna washington yeah i was leaning the answer to the question the question is most impactful yeah non-first round pick benton love that pick i think that he is going to be a major impact player along the defensive line the answer to this is joey porter jr because he can start right away. And it feels like whether or not he's ready, he's going to start right away. And so maybe the impact's great. Maybe the impact's not so great.

Lion King meme. It's just basically. So I think the obvious answer is Joey Porter Jr., but I do still want to shout out Darnot Washington because even if he is not individually a stat stuffer for this team, his presence, I think, is going to be impactful because of what they can do with heavy packages with multiple tight ends in the red zone, on short yardage situations, how often they get to put two tight ends out on the field i i just feel like the offensive potential in the personnel that they can throw out there with

darn out washington even just on the team is something that every team has to pay attention to because shoot even if washington's just kind of like coming along he's not exactly the dominant blocker that he has the potential to be. When you put a 6'7", 270-pound tight end on the line of scrimmage, the other team does not have the luxury to say, okay, let's just rotate our small little 100 and – what's 100? Like 215-pound tight end down over – like it's just not going to work.

It's not tanked out there, Trevor. You have to account for him being on the field, whether he achieves the potential that you want from him his rookie season or not. His presence is enough. And to me, that's impactful. So the answer is Joey Porter Jr. for me, but my heart says Darnell Washington for those.

Good call out. Steelers, second most common personnel group, 12 personnel. They ran it 22% of the time. They want two tight ends on the field. Yeah, they want the beef. They got the beef. Baltimore Ravens, not going to lie, struggled a little bit with this one. It's non-round one, so Zay Flowers eliminated.

I went with Trenton Simpson because I don't think the Bravens like their linebackers outside of Roquan Smith. I really don't. And I think if they get to camp and go, man, Trenton Simpson is just better than Patrick Queen. We'll just play him at weak side

linebacker. We don't care. And I think Trenton Simpson is better than Patrick Queen. So, he's got to earn it. This is not one where it's like, okay, the path is clear. He's in there. But when you just do the evaluations and talk about the speed in the middle of this defense, for me, the impact guy is Trenton Simpson. I agree with you. It's Trenton Simpson. I think that,

I think Patrick Queen's probably out of there. So they're going to move on from him. I think they're going to sub Simpson in that role. So I agree with you. I think that he's the pick. I want to say Voorhees. But he's not. Is he out for the year?

I know you're doing multi-year. I know you're doing multi-year. I was actually curious. He's out for the whole year. He's out for the whole i know you're doing multi-year i know you're doing i was actually curious he's out for the whole year for sure but when you look at baltimore's depth chart he wasn't going to start this year anyways kevin zeitler is 33 years old his contract is up after this year he has a couple void years on it so i don't know if they'll bring him back if he wants to be brought back but vorys on one side ben cleveland on the other, Tyler Leonard, Bob at center.

Like, that's the power profile that they want. That's what they want. So I could genuinely see Voorhees eventually being a starter for this team. And the answer is Trenton Simpson. You gave the obvious one. But Voorhees does have a path to be a starter for this team if he recovers from his ACL um in good time and can really hit an off-season program next year uh he can hit the ground running there so why don't you start us off with the Browns here oh wow you're gonna make me take your guy

I I have a runner up though that I actually plan to talk about. Okay. So I think the very obvious answer for Cleveland is Cedric Tillman, because he is the receiver who they took first, but they took him in the third round. So it still counts. They don't have a receiver like him on the roster. I guess they kind of do. They have David Bell, but David Bell is so limited athletically that I didn't think that he was

going to be a factor for them anyways. Amari Cooper is your number one who you could use on the outside, who you can use in the slot. Donovan Peoples-Jones is your field stretcher. Same thing with Marquise Goodwin. They're going to play that kind of role. Elijah Moore is your slot guy. They need a big X receiver that can play on the line of scrimmage

who is a possession dude that they can go to in a pinch when they really need to complete some sort of pass with tight coverage in tight areas that's edgar tillman they did not have this player on the roster last year and i think that as long as tillman is healthy because you and i agree we feel like he played hurt last year if he is fully healthy he is a major impact contributor for this passing game so i think it's edgar tillman completely agree no argument for me i'll throw a quick runner up at Siaki Ika. I know he didn't test well. I know his play took a dip from 2021 to 2022.

This interior defense was not good last year. You need a big, beefy body. I love that they have Dalvin Tomlinson. You need triple B. Triple B. I love Dalvin Tomlinson. If they go into a lot of games, like we talk about the Steelers wanting to be that two tight end power run

team, you're going to need another big body next to Dalvin Tomlinson. So Siaki Ika was my runner up. And that takes us to the AFC South, the Indianapolis Colts. They had a phenomenal draft, gave them an A. I even love that.

They got a meal. Eki or as a UDFA cannot fathom that he wasn't drafted. I went Josh down to your Trevor. Yeah. And you should, and you should, and you probably should. Right.

I just look at downs. He catches everything. He's a really good slot receiver in an offense that already has Michael Pittman and out Pierce on the outside. I get it. My Isaiah McKenzie's there. I think downs is a better long-term player. It doesn't scare me at all. It downs is also going to help them on special teams. He really, and you know what? Anthony Richardson is going to have some hiccups at times and he's going to need to fall back on just getting the ball out. And they're going to coach him up on that short area of the field to be better in that way. And Downs can be your blanket because he's so good against zone.

So I think Downs is the answer here. Yep. I would agree. Downs is absolutely the answer here. Although I am going to give a shout out to Darius Rush. Not Julius Brentz. I think Darius Rush could actually be the starter. He's got a shot.

So I think that Darius Rush honestly could make a case for that outside cornerback spot. If you look at our lives right now, they slot Julius Brents in there and it makes sense, right? Because Julius Brents was the second round pick. Darius Rush was the fifth round pick. But I think this is going to be open competition between all of the rest of their corners opposite Isaiah Rogers for who's going to get that spot on the

other side is an outside corner. Kenny Moore, they have as their solidified nickel corner. He's one of the best nickel players in the game. So one that spot is totally up for grabs. And I think there's a good chance that Darius Rush wins it. Cause I like him a lot. I like Darius Rush a lot. So I'm not saying that as a slight to Julius Brents, I just am a big fan of Darius Rush's game.

I'm a fan of how he progressed throughout the season. He's a former wide receiver who converted over to corner, so he's still really learning the corner position. He made that transition when he was at South Carolina. Julius Brents, fantastic player, but Darius Rush I felt was the better corner in mobile, right? So I think that he's going to have a chance to stand out in Colts camp again. So I'm going to go with Darius Rush.

Trevor, take the wheel for the Texans. Big draft for the Texans. A lot of players that, okay. Are you going with Tank Dell? I'm going with Nathaniel Tank Dell, baby. Look, you've got so many targets that are up for grabs from this team, even from just last year. Brandon Cooks led this team in targets with 93.

Second on the team was Chris Moore with 74. That's ridiculous. Those were their top two target players. And not only are those low, so you're really going to want to ramp up the passing anyways, they're not on the roster anymore. Neither of those guys. So, you know, you got Robert Woods, you got Nico Collins.

Now you're bringing in Tank Dell. I just think that there is no hierarchy or incumbent player. You're getting John Mechie back as well, which obviously is fantastic. Everybody loves you. You sign Noah Brown. I'm just looking at their depth chart. Now you have all of these receivers,

but it's not like, okay, well, this guy was the guy last year. We got to give him his targets. Anybody amongst the group of the names that I just mentioned could be their wide receiver one next year, including tank Dell.

I think that he's going to get there and he's absolutely going to show out. Low moving costs, so he's going to be right at home, played at Houston, obviously got drafted by Houston. And so I just, I really do believe that he's got a chance to be, shoot, maybe even their wide receiver one. But if not wide receiver one, then probably more likely that he is just a contributing guy somewhere to wide receiver two, wide receiver three, but he's the player that I'm picking here.

I went with Juice Scruggs. I mean, they are going to give him every chance to be their starting center out of the gate. And that door is wide open. Yeah, it is. They took him 62nd overall. So for me, Juice Scruggs, if he's even decent, he's going to hold on to that center job for a long time.

On a defensive line that has a lot of talent, Tunzel's already really good. Titus Howard has taken the right steps. Shaq Mason's a good player. Kenyon Green needs to be better in year two, but that's a good landing spot for Juice Scruggs, and he will be their starter at center. The Titans. This one for me is Tajay Spears. I look at, you know, Derrick Henry's a guy that somehow is not really slowing down a whole lot, all things considered how many carries the guy has had in his lifetime, but they needed that lightning

to his thunder. They've never really had that complimentary back that scares you. And Spears is that kind of guy, whether he can, what he could do off a swing pass inside, outside running is elusiveness, his ability to run skinny. They're trying to rebuild this offensive line. They made some moves in free agency. They drafted Skowronski in the top 12. I think Tajay Spears, maybe the most, the best of his impact comes after Derrick Henry's career there in Tennessee. But I also think they're going to really use him as a change of pace guy for Henry right now. So obviously love the Tajay Spears call out. I think that if he's healthy, he's going to be a fantastic spell back to Derrick Henry.

Tennessee, I thought they were going to be in the top 10 of 12 personnel, multi-tight end usage. They weren't, although it was 21%. So they had 247 snaps last year where they were running 12 personnel. That's a lot. That is a lot, obviously. That's a good amount of their snaps that that are going with that it's it's top half of the league so i say all that to say if we're not picking will

levis which is i think the obvious right he plays quarterback yeah he's he's gonna be the most impactful you can go hear that on any other show titans right josh wiley is somebody who i think could be a big contributor for them because you know you got a conco at tight end as they're starting tight end this year and that's about it I mean they have Trayvon Wesko but Trayvon Wesko is kind of this like tight end fullback utility kind of player hybrid dude Wiley's the only other for sure pure tight end and receiving tight end at that that you have on the team. So obviously Skowronski's going to start right away. And when Levis ends up starting, he's going to have a ton of impact.

But I think Wiley is the other name that I go to as somebody who could have a major impact with how much they run 12 personnel. Good call out. Where'd you go for Jacksonville? I think it's got to be Antonio Johnson, right? Fifth round pick. Yeah, I was torn though.

They have a nickel corner need. We were mocking Brian Branch to them for so long. They ended up waiting to hit that and I think lucked out hitting that with Antonio Johnson. I mean, I would say so he has the talent level to start at nickel very early in his rookie career now i don't know why he lasts until the fifth like even if you didn't love antonio johnson he's better than a fifth round player in the the second. What happened? Right.

Tell me what happened. Were the interviews terrible? Does he have something medically that we don't know about? Because at worst, Antonio Johnson should have been a priority early day three selection at the very beginning of the fourth round since he was still available. You had teams that had all night friday night and in the early part of saturday morning to stare at antonio johnson still being on the board and all of them still passed on says a lot so i don't i don't know what happened there but just from the outside this is an this looks like it could be an absolute steal for them as a

really highly graded nickel defender that we've had over the last couple of years in college football. My runner up, Tank Bigsby, a little bit of the opposite of the Titans. This is the thunder to them already having their lightning. In Travis Etienne, I think to have the best version of Etienne, you don't run him into the ground. That's why they drafted Tank Bigsby.

Tank Bigsby has leg drive. He can push the pile a little bit. He got no help at Auburn. He should be a better pro. So I went with tank there as we move on to our last division, the AFC West Trevor Denver Broncos here. Ooh, interesting draft of the Broncos. They obviously did not have that first round pick. They had to wait a little bit. They had Marvin Mims, their receiver room, of course, Drew Sanders, their linebacker unit. But I went with Riley Moss.

I think this is going to be the guy starting in at least their, you know, nickel group, right? We know how good Pat Sert tan is not oblivious to that. They have Kaywan Williams at the nickel. Demari Mathis long-term Riley Moss is going to be pastor. Tan's running me. And that's something I feel really, really good about for Denver.

Hey, they drafted him earlier than I thought he was going to get drafted. So the yelling and kicking and screaming that nobody cared about him. And then he, you are. So this actually makes a lot of sense that you're championing him here. It's the high impact player. It's so true.

I'm going to go, I'm going to go with Drew Sanders. Look, I was wary of Drew Sanders as a first round pick. I was wondering if the NFL was going to do it. We had heard, we had seen some mock drafts and scenes that people put Drew Sanders all the way up the first round. I was a little wary of that.

Second round would have been totally cool with him getting drafted in the second round. Third round pick, big fan. Okay, now to me, you got really good value on a good football player. One that maybe is a little bit of a tweener right now, but he's not a tweener because of athletic limitations or body limitations. He's just switching positions.

He just played edge rusher at Alabama. Couldn't really get on the field behind a will Anderson and Dallas Turner. And he ended up wanting to play more off ball linebacker and get it in the mix of things and tackle some people anyways. So he goes to Arkansas and he looked pretty well. He looked pretty good. I'm going to be honest with you.

So they have him play off ball linebacker. I love the speed and the length that he brings to that group with Josie Jewell and Alex Singleton. It's something that I think he brings to the table that those dudes even do not. And if you want him to be an edge rusher for you in certain situations, he's the same type of rusher that you're getting out of Baron Browning and Randy Gregory and Nick Benito, these speed three, four outside linebacker type of players. And so he's, he is a, he's an athletic upgrade as their, as their off ball linebacker. And he is a natural fit as a rotational edge rusher.

I love the fit for him there. I think they're going to get him on the field a ton. And so Drew Sanders was my selection here. Okay. Moving to the chargers here. I went wildly off the board with this one. I understand how the chalk pick should be Tully Tui-Piloto. Not going to argue anyone on that.

Or Dion Henley. Yeah, those guys are going to help a front seven a lot. But I want to show some love to Max Duggan. I want to show some love to Max Duggan. I'm just kidding. I think Gerard Clark makes this team as a UDFA. Okay, love it. They were a bad run defense last year.

I think they need a big ass body up front to rotate in and help on the goal line. I think Gerard, I know they have Scott Matlock as well from Boise state, more of an athlete, Gerard Clark, all 330 plus pounds of him on the interior. I am going to be watching him throughout the preseason.

I thought that was a savvy UDFA land for the chargers, for a defensive line that just, they got to be a little bit tougher and a little more stout. So love the shout out there. I really do love anytime we can get some UDFA love on the show. I know there are some people in the comments who are looking for us to go over some UDFA. So we're,

we don't have a full episode devoted to it, but obviously, a little bit of fix here. My answer is going to be Diane Henley, because I don't blame you. When you look at Henley's skill set, this is a guy who played safety. But before that, he played wide receiver. Now he's playing off ball linebacker. He's played so many different positions throughout his career in high school football and college football i'm sure i'm not even listing all the ones he played in high school football is such a fantastic athlete they drafted kenneth

murray in the first round a handful of years ago to be this athletic centerpiece of their defense and i don't think that he has progressed the way that they have wanted him to to round out his game as more of a linebacker who is athletic versus just an athletic football player who happens to play off-ball linebacker they bring in eric hendricks because i think they needed that veteran presence that those instincts that awareness especially in coverage they declined the fifth year option on murray so murray is an unrestricted free agent coming up. Henley could be the player who steps in to immediately fill that role, who could be their starting middle linebacker moving forward.

And he is somebody who brings you that athletic baseline that you won't really drop down too much from what you've got with Murray, but maybe he could be more in the anticipatory category, what he could do in coverage, all that stuff. So I think my answer has to be Henley for what the future of him could be. I'm with you on that. No denying that. Where'd you go for the Kansas City Chiefs, our second and last team here?

All right. Hold on. I'm pulling it up here. I showed some love to B.J. Thompson. He is a toolsy, freaky pass rusher. He had the 903 RAS. He's got insane length.

He's got almost 35-inch arms. He's about six feet, six inches tall. He's got a diverse pass rush package. He's working on a spin, arm over. He can do a lot of different things. I think he's a year away from playing. And we know Felix Anadike Uzama and George Karloftis are going to be their new duo. But I liked the B.J. Thompson pick a lot and think he's a future DPR on a team that,

with Patrick Mahomes, they will always be trying to close out games and have you in throwing situations. So I was a big fan of the B.J. Thompson pick. I think Keiondre Coburn's going to get into this lineup, man. Now, it's a pretty stout interior defensive line for the chiefs. Anyways, Christian's obviously it's stud Derek, naughty, great nose, tackle George Karloff, this heavy handed edge player who could play as a defensive end or, or even outside more as an edge.

You can eat six servings of rice. Correct. Also puts every Chipotle out of business. The second that he, that he gets, or maybe in business, actually out of stock probably owns. Yeah. Out of stock was a better way to say that. But when I look at Coburn and what he could be as a big,

beefy nose tackle on this team, have Byron coward, but Coburn probably presents a more streamlined role as a nose tackle. Yep. Then coward does. They've got to Sean Wharton. Mike mike dane is more of an edge rusher i don't know i i just look at they have danny sheldon as well so maybe danny sheldon's the guy who ends up being that kind of a player but if they want to go younger i think coburn really can make an impact for them i think he really can be a nice rotational player with Derek Nottie,

and he can give them some good reps throughout this season. It's going to be a long one for the Chiefs. We always know that it is. It was either him or maybe Nick Jones, the corner from Ball State, but they got a lot of young corners, so I don't really know how quick the path to playing time is for Nick Jones, even though I like how feisty he is as a corner. So I'm going to go with Keiondre Coburn. Final team, Las Vegas Raiders. Thank you for waiting around Raiders fans.

I mean, Trevor, there's just no way to say someone besides Michael Mayer here. It's just to me, it's Michael Mayer. Yeah, it's Michael Mayer. He was the best tight end in the draft. I thought he was a no brainer top 15 player in the draft. Was it? I think he I think he was the best tight end in the draft i thought he was a no-brainer top 15 player in the draft was it i think he i think he was i know that's not a that wasn't the most popular take i should say no it's fine i'm just giving you shit i'm just giving you shit because you and i had a different tight end yeah fair a lot of people did um but man josh mcdaniels this is his prototypical tight end maybe raiders fans want something different here I'll throw a little love to Christopher Smith I think he could that would be my other one okay go ahead then yeah

run away no I was just I was just gonna say the obvious answer is you're correct Michael Mayer especially with what they're losing in Darren Waller I mean they've got Austin Hooper as well they still have the receivers you're signing Jacoby Meyer so it's not like the it's a barren wasteland obviously I'm not even mentioning Devontae Adams, who the entire passing offense is going to run through. But it's not like Michael Mayer is going to come in and he's automatically the second best receiver on this roster. That's not the case.

But he is going to be the most impactful, I think, of the non-Tyree Wilson picks that the Raiders made. But Chris Smith, I do wonder, I do wonder if this dude ends up getting some sort of action this year they traded up for him you know if and i certainly hope this does not happen but if anybody either at the strong safety spot or free safety spot goes down with with an injury or even at nickel corner like if nate hobbs were to miss some time in any way is chris smith that guy that they're gonna put almost next man up does he have a good enough off season a good enough camp a good enough pre-season to prove that he could be that player because we've said this before on this pod throw

the combine out with chris smith he plays a lot faster than what his combine said he's he's an awesome watch during his tape at george over the two years. So he is the other player that I would also shout out as maybe a sneaky, impactful guy here. All right. That is our non-round one impact rookies. A little bit longer show, but we've been missing from the feed for a little while, Trev. So it's good to be back, man. It's true. No, it is.

It's great to be back. So to give you guys, well, actually, I should say, let us know what you think. We want to hear from you guys. Those are our most impactful rookies. We want to hear from you guys too. This is always a scouting community. It's not just the two of us talking about players.

We want to hear from you guys as well. The best way to do that is over on the YouTube channel, youtube.com backslash at NFL Stock Exchange. For those of you that are listening on audio only, if you're already watching this bad boy on YouTube hit in the comments section just scroll down get your thoughts and we would love to hear from you give you give us your takes on our takes we'd also love to hear your organic takes players that you think are going to be high impact selections outside around one that maybe we didn't show enough love to we would love to hear from all of that we'd

love to hear as many shout-outs of some players as we possibly can here. If you guys are listening on audio only, you can hit us up on Twitter and Instagram at TampaBayTrey and at ConnorJRogers. Just to let you guys know, for scheduling purposes, we're going to be... We kind of have to slow down a little bit.

I don't know if you guys can hear my dog. Made it so far. Dude, we made it so far. I don't know if somebody's knocking on the door or what's going on, but we have to slow down a little bit here with the month of May. So we're going to be going to one podcast a week. I might be able to give you guys something on a second podcast if i've got the time to do it i would absolutely love to do it but just so you know the plan is right now it's one

podcast per week for us probably until we start summer scouting because once we get into summer scouting we're going to need to do a lot more than just one week but that's kind of the plan as of right now this might surprise the audience but we're still figuring our shit out tell me if you've heard that before so uh i mean we got it all under control uh or soon we will and yeah we're just doing one episode it's post draft we're kind of cooling off trevor and i are recalibrating and we are gonna really dive into tape soon i mean that's the reality of this situation, too. Like we have a lot of tape to catch up on for next year's draft. That'll start for us pretty soon.

And we're looking forward to doing that. And we are so excited to have a bigger audience on board for the year round process. Like last year, there was some of you that were on board. And it's amazing this year. I feel like a lot of people are really going to be here with us for this draft class the whole year long process. If this is going to be your first summer rocking with us during summer scouting, one, it's a blast. We go over as many players as we possibly can. At the end of summer scout, we're going to go through every single player just the way that we went through every single ranking.

And at the end of it all, right when the college football season is starting, we're going to give you guys a way too early post-summer scouting 2024 mock draft we're going to give you a big board on the top 50 players that we have from this class and then every single week connor and i are going to give you our top five that we have from all the film that we watch of all these players which hopefully gives you guys a great baseline going into the college football season for you guys to gather your own thoughts for you to come back to the show on future episodes and say, Hey, finally get around to this guy. Or if it's somebody that we've all been talking about, like you guys included throughout the summer and he absolutely balls out. That was so much fun when we were able to do that after summer scouting last year,

when guys were going crazy that we were talking about in the summer. And, and, um, a lot of the addicts in the, in the chat were like, this guy's going off and you guys were talking we were all talking so that's that's one of my favorite times is just getting to see a a first-hand look at these guys so i'm with you i'm very excited for it all right well that wraps up another show we'll be back it'll either be monday morning or tuesday morning during this one week uh situation so just stay on the youtube feed. If you subscribe to the podcast, you'll know right away. You never have to fear.

But man, it's going to be a really fun summer and we're getting ready to get underway. Yep. Very excited for it all. Appreciate you guys listening. I'm Trevor Sykema. That is Connor Rogers. Thank you so much for listening to the NFL Stock Exchange Podcast. We'll see you next time.