NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 2027 NFL Draft DT Rankings (SUMMER SCOUTING!)

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers give you their Top 8 Defensive Tackles in the 2027 NFL Draft. DL/DE/Defensive Linemen Summer Scouting! Watch the cold open on YouTube HERE - https://www.youtube.com/live/hUbakMlIZr0! A huge thanks to our sponsor, Franchise Football League, for supporting today's show! Download the app or play on the web! https://www.franchiseleaguefootball.com/ Save 50% on Franchise League Football with code 'MBFL'! Supporting them supports us. Thanks guys! :) Here's more about Franchise Fantasy League: Everything You Hate About Fantasy Football, Fixed. You won your league last year. Congrats. Then August rolled around and... you started completely over. New draft, new roster, none of what you built survives. Where's the reward for all that work? Every fan has screamed at their team's GM at least once - bad contract, botched pick, letting the wrong guy walk. You've thought it: I could do that better. Franchise League Football is where you get to prove it. It's a contract-based keeper platform with a real salary cap. You inherit a franchise with existing contracts from day one - evaluating deals, hunting waiver-wire bargains, deciding who stays and who hits free agency. Blind-bid auctions set salaries. Multi-year contracts carry real weight. You can even draft college players before they declare, stashing future stars on minimum deals. Add automatic injury substitution, round robin playoffs, and weekly giveaways for high scores, and it's clear why FSGA named it Best Startup Product Experience. Built by MIT engineers. Rewards decision-making, not the luck of a random draft order. Use code MBFL50 to save 50%. Get started at FranchiseLeagueFootball.com or download the app. Subscribe and help us get to 75k subs! It's 100% free and helps us out a bunch. Thanks! WE HAVE A DISCORD!!!!! JOIN HERE! https://discord.gg/AjqamEUyEW https://discord.gg/AjqamEUyEW?feature=description if the link doesn't work for you, just search 'NFLStockExchange' on discord and it'll pop up timestamps: 0:00 Intro 11:23 Ranking Reveal / Football Starts Here 12:13 A'mauri Washington, Oregon 18:27 Bear Alexander, Oregon 26:20 C.J. Fite, Arizona State 29:56 A Bit is Born / Football Stops Briefly 33:29 Jayden Jackson, Oklahoma / Football Resumes 37:47 David Stone, Oklahoma 44:09 Tavion Gadson, Kentucky 49:59 Sponsor - Franchise Football League 51:59 Top 4 Ranking Reveal 53:57 Ahmad Moten Sr., Miami 1:01:23 Justin Scott, Miami 1:07:00 Will Echoles, Ole Miss 1:10:22 Honorable Mentions 1:17:29 Outro Follow us on X: https://x.com/NFLSEshow https://x.com/TampaBayTre https://x.com/ConnorJRogers We appreciate each and every one of you ADDICTS :) For business or other inquiries, reach us at [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You look like an evil banker. I live in the American Gardens building on West 81st Street, on the 11th floor. My name is... I'm 27 years old. I believe in taking care of myself, in a balanced diet and a rigorous exercise routine. There is an idea of some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me. Only an entity, something illusory.

And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake. my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable. I simply am not. NFL Socky Shane show. Audio only people, I don't say this is a ploy to pump our subscriber number up. You have to watch the cold open that the chef just dropped on YouTube. I mean, that is, Connor, that's Hall of Fame worthy.

That's unbelievable. I've never been, I'm already before the chat, or before the show even begins, the chat's going after. me. They're like, oh, of course Trevor could do a midday stream. He's unemployed. I mean, it's just, it is, it is rampant. And then the chef cooks it up. I want everybody out there to know that Tyler, our producer, texted us. Connor, it must have been like midnight last night. He was like, this might be the best cold open I've ever made, which could mean anything. And that truly was the best cold open that he's ever. Well, the giveaway was, yeah, clap it up for

that. W's in the chat. Enjoy the chef while he's here, folks, because he's just destiny. for Hollywood greatness at one point. I truly mean it. Like, it's just. Chris Nolan's in the stream. We know he's lurking. And he's on alert. Unfortunately, that was a great resume.

So, yeah, the Odyssey, too, is going to be produced, um, executively by, uh, Tyler R. producer. Yeah, he doesn't even have to do the grunt work. He's just an executive producer on a massive Hollywood films. I agree with it, with the American Psycho treatment. That was, uh, just, I don't even, my jaw is on the floor. Like, it was just unbelievable work.

I know the chat loved it. That was incredible. Again, if you're audio only, we do love you. We really do. But head on over to YouTube when you get a free minute and watch the cold open because it's truly incredible. You know what else is going to be incredible is this episode today because we're ranking McPounders.

We are ranking defensive tackles for the 2027 NFL draft. You know, there's going to be different tiers. You know, is it USDA choice? Is it prime? Is it Wagoo? You know, what kind of beef are we talking about here on this show to rank these defensive tackles? and I think it's a fun group.

We're going to do top eights. And I think the back half of the top eight, a lot of beauty is in the eye of the behold. I think the guys at the top are pretty much the names that we expect to see, but maybe in a little bit of a different order. But Connor, how you doing? And obviously, what did you think of this defensive tackle group when you gave it a look?

I liked it a lot. I thought it has plenty of talent, both from guys that have been multi-year starters and then a handful of guys that are kind of ascending from that five-star recruit profile. to being real impact college players. This is the beef episode. This is, what did chef say before we were on about this is the origin of the Dongulator?

Yeah, this is, yeah. All your McPounders out there. The question out there, which prospect is most likely to show dong? And you read the question for the first time live? I never learn to read it in my head before reading it out loud. I just floor it, which is like full Ron Burgundy's super chat mode. That's probably why we do the super chats in the after the episode portion of the show.

Save me. Save me. As a sensor for us. So there's a lot of different, I think, ways that you can look at into your defensive alignment. I think that we call a defensive tackle because I think that's probably what people know it most by, right,

when people were kind of scrolling by YouTube videos, they're like, oh, okay, yeah, yeah, defensive tackle. I want to see what the best defensive tackles are. But truly, I think this is an interior defensive line episode because there are a lot of players that, you know, maybe they're a little bit more of an interior defensive lineman or a defensive end hybrid. They're playing that four eye technique. They're playing more in that odd front where technically they're not a three tech or a

nose technique, but they're still asked to, you know, take up blocks. They're not necessarily using speed to get in the backfield. You have three techs, which is shorter your prototypical, like those are the guys that in the past have often gotten the most money because there really were the defensive line, or at least the interior defensive line focuses on how to get these guys one-on-ones, how to get them into the backfield. And then, of course, the nose tackles, man, I think every team's got nose tackles, but when you have a really, really good one, I think that totally changes everything.

So if there's a rare nose tackle, you know, guys like Vita Vea-Veja, right? Where you have to put two guys right in front of him every single time, which means somebody somewhere is getting a guaranteed one-on-one, no matter what, do we have one of those guys in this class. I think it'll be fun to find out. So, Connor, I think, I just think that this group as a whole really diverse and there's a lot of different skill sets that we get to talk about here today. That's the beauty of it.

It's starting to fall into a little bit of that cornerback combo of, are you an outside corner, are you a nickel? Are you playing these hybrid roles? Are you a press man corner? How are your eye, has your eye discipline and zone where you look at the amount of fronts in the league the styles and what you're asked to do. Are you an attacking scheme? Get off the ball and get up the field.

Are you more read and react? And what alignments can you play? What alignments do you thrive in? It's just a position group that goes so beyond the box score. And a lot do. But really, this one, you could have a player that has a one sack season and you're done watching the tape and you're like, that guy's a monster and teams have to treat him like he can completely wreck our offense.

So I thoroughly enjoy watching the defensive tackles for summer scouting and for our final draft rankings every year. Reading a couple of chats before we kick things off here. Andrew said first time in over a year that a live show lines up with my lunch break. Let's go. Appreciate you. Love that. Jumping in. On the lunch break.

That's kind of what we were hoping for. We needed an extra day to watch a little bit more of this defensive tackle group. And we were kind of hoping that the noon start time was maybe an opportunity for somatics who don't always have the chance to hit it live at 4 p.m. Eastern like we're usually going chance for them to hop in live so Andrew glad that you're here locked on said hey guys with all of the David Bailey hype going on right now is it too late to show some love the Connor for having him as a top three edge in the 2026 summer scouting what a call at the time giving you your flowers here today buddy thank you lock bomb in this industry you need all the wins you can get in between the losses so I genuinely really really do appreciate

of which you have so few uh you see Jalen Polk retired? I was going to bring it up. Hey, at least your name wasn't on a quote graphic saying that the Patriots had their wide receiver one and wide receiver two for the future with Jalen Polk and Javon Baker. Oh, no. Both guys not even in the league anymore. The quote cards.

They live forever. They're so meme worthy. They do. They do actually stay on the internet forever. I think a lot of people really quickly wanted us to sort of talk about like, hey, why didn't Jalen Polk work out? Guys, it's hard to actually, like, have that conversation and answer that because very clearly, like, this is not just a skill thing. Like, was it a little bit of a tougher transition for him? Maybe going from Washington, the NFL?

Sure, but Jalen Polk's not out of the league in two years unless, like, something's going on. He's lost confidence in himself, like something. Because even the worst of, right, health, the worst of what we saw at Washington, he's still in the league right now. So that's the, it's hard to like say like, oh, like where did we get it wrong with, wrong with Jalen Polk? We've talked many times before on this podcast. We're not afraid to point out kind of when we got it wrong and how we got it wrong. That's how you learn and you become a better scout.

But the Polk situation, it's just there's way too much unknown behind the scenes, made personal stuff that he was dealing with to why he's already retired only two years into his NFL career. Yeah. And like you said, Trevor, you know, could have kept playing if he wanted to. The Saints traded for him, even after that disaster start with New England. but it seems like wasn't healthy and it just didn't work out. And it goes to show you with the draft. I hear this combo a lot here in the New York area about Evan Neal,

where when you just, you're like, man, I know exactly what that guy's good at. Or there's no way that guy's not an adequate NFL starter. You can always be surprised in the draft sphere. It's unbelievable how this, this, I don't want to say industry, but like this line of work can humble you because you can always be surprised and these are just a couple of reminders. Eli sent us his rankings, which I have to read off every time now because people are just going to watch me sweat to see if I can actually read it. Whose will? It's will.

There's no will in this one, so I think I'm saying. William Helt? Eli, just sweating again. Eli gave us a $5 super chat said he watched three games on seven defensive tackles. My rankings before you reveal some of yours. Stone, David Stone from Oklahoma, Moten Sr. Ahmad Moten Sr. from Miami. Washington, Scott, Eccles, Alexander, Holmes Jr.

By the way, the chef is the go. So there we go. Those are Eli's rankings. Now it's time to dig into R. So we're doing top eights today. I think we got a lot of different defensive tackles that we want to talk about that are on the list and outside of the list. But I actually don't know if the animation is all going to reveal it once.

Chef, you might as well just hit the button. Let's see. Knowing him it's going to. bang bang all right there it is so i have bear alexander from organ at number five david stone from oklahoma at six tabion gadson from kentucky at number seven and cj fight from arizona state at number eight Connor i have uh tabian gout should i go eight to five i went five i went five to eight yeah you did now i'm i'm questioning everything five tabian gadsden from kentucky six bear alexander at oregon seven his teammate

Mari Washington at Oregon. Oh, eight. Yeah, is that a hot take? I don't know. Yeah, we're just start there, buddy. Jaden Jackson, the other Oklahoma defensive tackle. So you got Amari Washington at number seven from Oregon. I think that we have to start the conversation there,

and we'll kind of get to some other names. But that's the big one. I think that people are going to sort of like point that one out because we definitely have some discrepancy. He is in my top four. So Amari Washington, he's at Oregon. He's a senior. Six foot three, 330.

35 big ones. Now, he was draft eligible last year, and there were a lot of people who thought that Amari Washington would have, maybe should have been in last year's draft class. I'm not sure exactly where he would have gotten drafted in last year's draft class, but there are some exciting things about him as a prospect. I obviously have him a little bit higher, but what do you think about this, Connor? You've got him in number seven.

I want you to kind of talk about him here. Yeah, I got a defense attack. I see that DT2. Yes. Yes. All right. So, Mori Washington,

the first thing you're always going to hear at that size. And I know he's listed 335. He had a spring weight at 319. I mean, the bottom line is he carries a lot of mass. Yeah, he carries an unbelievable amount of mass. And he's about a hair under officially 6.3s,

like 6.2 and 3 quarters, listed 6.4. He's explosive at this size. You're just not supposed to be as explosive as he is. his size. And that athleticism just allows him to wipe out lanes before blockers even really settle into the play. The problem I have with him, why have him at seven? And I know a lot of people will have him as a top three to four defensive tackle is that he's a better prospect than this probably grade wise. But he has a little bit of the Keon Coleman syndrome of there's like five

plays where Mori Washington looks like maybe the best player, a defensive player in the draft. There's so much buffer in between watching him that he just doesn't do a lot where, and there's room for optimism of him just completely dying it in this year and becoming a force. Like his hands are high and wide and it leaves himself exposed where he gets washed out against double teams. And that size, I want him to take on double teams. I agree. I don't think, and I don't know if this is Oregon a little bit schematically,

although I didn't think so from watching the other guys. I don't think he plays with gap integrity at all. And that goes back to the buffering. Like, when you don't play with gap integrity, you're going to have a tackle for loss that you go, oh my God, that's one of the most explosive defensive tackles I've seen this year. Then you're going to have three plays where it's a six to eight yard run because he's losing complete control of a gap he needs to manage.

The win rate, 7.8% is fine. I don't think he's a polished pass rusher, but once again, he's such a gifted athlete that he's a solid pass rusher. I think that he's a bit of an enigma because I think he's built like a powerhouse run stuffer, and I feel like he plays like a high variance, explosive disrupting gap shooter.

And there's reasons why a staff will buy into that and love it, and there's also reasons why there is a little bit of bust, potential here. I know that's this is way too. I don't want to throw out bus potential in summer because we have a full year of college left for this guy. No, I know what you're saying. What I'm saying is I'm not buying the hype yet is what I'm saying. So I am obviously buying the hype of what he can be with him being my second defensive tackle here. But I won't totally disagree with you with saying that like the variance is is is more than I feel as though the national narrative around Amari Washington is that like he's just this consensus, you know, top 10, top 20.

type of defensive tackle. Everybody loves him. We're all good to go. And I agree with you. A lot of the notes that I have in the weaknesses category for him are some of the things that you said there. It's much more spread out, those great high impact plays. It is really incredible plays and then not a lot of action. But he was a first year starter last year. So, you know, I think that there's something to maybe, hey, second year in the system, second year as a starter, he'll really be a lot more consistent in a lot of different ways this year. Him being as high on my rankings as it is, is me buying into the potential of what he can become.

No doubt. Because you're sitting at 6.3. You're sitting around, whatever it is, like 320, 330. I mean, this is a massive, massive player. I mean, he was number four on Bruce Feldman's Freak List in 2025. While he was 338 pounds, he was clocked at over 20 miles an hour, almost 21 miles an hour in practice, had a 36-inch vertical jump, squatted. 755 pounds bench pressed 475 power cleaned 385 what i'm trying to say is that he can host the pod

if one of us you know has to you know step out for whatever reason if we've got some sort of scheduling conflict or emergency he i think the thing with him is that it's just pretty rare that you have a player with his explosiveness at that size and as i was watching a lot of these guys I just kept coming back to, I think the strengths way more than the weaknesses, certainly right now in summer scouting. We've talked about this as a theme throughout the entire summer. There's a different lens that you look at guys through when it comes to either January's final scouting reports or when it comes to June, July, and August. And I remember when I was evaluating him in December and January last year, my scouting report read a lot of lot closer to sort of what you read there.

But now that I know that he does have an extra year, I think that we're going to see more consistent, dominant play out of him. And so that's why I'm kind of just believing in the physical traits. I'm believing in the flashes. And I'm hoping that we just see it with a lot more regularity because I think he can be a special player with the way that he gets off the ball, basing it off of that great first-step explosiveness.

And their front is loaded with talent at defensive tackle, at edge. I know we're going to do linebackers as well at some point soon, but that's going to help him as well, because you can't just completely game playing against him entirely. So you also, you like Bear Alexander a lot. I mean, so do I. I have Bear Alexander 5th, I think, and you had him six. So we see him very closely.

Somebody in the chat earlier said, Bear Alexander's getting close to the Jailing Catalan Club of us talking about him for summer scouting, because I think this is year three. of Bear Alexander, and I remember, yeah, whatever it was two summers ago, we were watching defensive tackles. And this is when Bear Alexander was transferring to USC, or maybe he played one year at USC. I can't remember exactly what it was. In 2023, he had the big year at USC. So it was probably after that year. And then 2024, I feel like he didn't do anything at USC.

and then he found his groove again at Oregon. Yes, yes. So when I watched him after that 2023 season, I remember having him pretty high on my summer scouting rankings. I'm like, dude, people don't move the way the Bear Alexander moves. It's inconsistent, and he's bouncing from program to program. And I don't know how much I like that, even in today's open college football era. So he's a senior this year as well.

Obviously at Oregon, still at Oregon was at Oregon last year. He's listed six foot three, 300 pounds. I don't know. Do you have different measurables there for? Um, close. Six, two, five, eights, but up the three eleven. Ooh, all right. Put some picture pretty fun.

You love to see that. Uh, he was a former four star defensive tackle. He went to IMG Academy, committed to Georgia. He was at Georgia, played 12 games for Georgia in 2022. And he got on the field. Like, again, like you didn't red shirt. He got on the field for them in 2022. Transferred to USC had 12 starts at 2023 year, played three games in 2024.

And that was the weird year. He played three games. didn't like how he was being used and told the coaching staff, nah, I'm right-shirting. At least that's the way that it was sort of posed to the public. Obviously, I'm not in the building. But he played, I think it was the first three games of the season,

didn't love the rotation that he was in and basically said like, no, I'm not burning a year of eligibility. And he kind of stepped away. Transfer to Oregon 12 starts last year and it'll be a starter for them again this year. So winding road for sure for Bear Alexander, but a very talented player. So what's your note to read for Alexander?

Yeah, I mean, this is somebody that's now been productive at two different programs. But like you said, Trevor, there is a difference of transferring up or into better opportunity. And I think that's great with college football, especially for the draft. Then there's also the road bearer Alexander's been on that you kind of like peek at. And you're like, man, it's been a windy one for him where it's not like he was transferring up. Like you said, he started at Georgia. Right. And he was really good at USC.

Then he ends up at Oregon. The thing is, it's just he's so talented. He really is. He has a quick first step while weighing over 300 pounds, and he matches his quick first step with a violent strike. That first strike is always so violent. It's like watching a heavyweight boxer come out of the corner, and he's like, I'm going to throw the right hook at as hard as I can,

and you just have to figure out the rest. That's Bear Alexander getting off the ball. And he does it while winning from multiple alignments with real pass rush juice. You watch him play nose tackle and he can rush the passer as a true nose or a shade nose. And that's extremely hard to do. Yeah. And there's not a lot of guys like him that can do that, which is going to make him valued. But, you know, you look at some of the shortcomings.

I think after that initial strike, he gets caught up in the handfight and stuck on blocks. Once that initial strike, if it doesn't work, the countering isn't all there. It's kind of this long hand fight where, you know, I remember you saying this. years ago. Like the way he moves is going to make him stand out right away. He's got to maximize those movements by not getting stuck on these blocks. And then as big as he is and as talented as he is, the two-gapping strength is not only inconsistent.

And there's times where he's really good at it. I thought in the games against better competition, he wasn't very good at it. And that was one of those things where I sat there like, man, you're a really good player. You have real pass rush juice. But against some of the tougher programs, you're not the hard hat run defender that you're going to be asked to be on an NFL defensive line. So I love Bear Alexander's talent. Maybe it's just he's just too talented this year that it's just kind of he blows up

into an even bigger prospect than he is right now with some minor things to pick at. You know, I went back and forth about where to categorize these guys because just like corners when we talked about this last week, I have interior defensive line and defensive tackles broken up into three different categories. I have nose tackles. I have three technique defensive tackles. And then I have the three, four defensive ends. And that's sort of how I categorize all of interior defensive linemen. And the formula that I have for them for, you know, skills and film grades is a little bit different. It's weighted a little bit differently. That's why I'm doing that. I went back and forth with both Amori Washington and Bear Alexander of exactly

which category to put them in. Because Amori Washington, you know, that first step, explosiveness and some of the fast hands that he has, you go, okay, Gap shooting three technique. But I mean, at 335, I mean, I feel like he's got versatility to be able to be a good nose tackle. I think the same with Bear Alexander. There's times when he translates really well to a three technique player, but there are other times where they line him up as a nose tackle either head up above the center or as a shade nose, whatever it is.

So he's got that alignment, versatility and experience to him. And I think this year I'm just going to be watching Oregon's defensive line. very critically for how they are aligning these players and exactly what they're asking them to do here in their second years as a duo in the system. Because first year, a lot of times, like, maybe you're just trying to get the most out of a player and you're just trying to, like for Washington Bear Alexander, I agree with you, the run defense stuff with both of these guys left some to be desired, especially from a consistency standpoint.

But maybe they were just told like, hey, we have two very quick, great explosive defensive to tackle, just attack, get in the back field. That's how we're going to do it this year. And maybe this upcoming season, 2026, looks a little bit different in what is on their plate. Maybe it's a little bit more well-rounded. And I think that I'm glad just from a scouting perspective that we have another year of these guys. Because I agree with you, man, if you think about Bear Alexander, just going back to even three years ago when I was talking about him for summer scouting then, that first step explosiveness

paired with the hands. I mean, I watched a lot of Gerald McCoy when he was at, when he was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And what made Gerald McCoy so great is he had a great low and loaded stance. The pad level was really low. And he would fire off that front foot and it would be married to exactly what he was doing with his hands. And it would just, he would just be able to get clean and get by offensive linemen so easy. And with such great regularity because he was able to do that. I feel like I saw flashes of Alexander doing that when he was.

at USC, even sometimes when he was at Georgia four years ago. So it's all there for him to be an impact three technique defensive tackle. I just think that we're now at the point where you have played enough college football. You have enough starts and snaps under your belt. It's time to round out your game.

Because if he is largely the same player that we've seen over the last couple of years, is that an NFL player? Yes, absolutely. I think that's a top 100, 100 top of a player, maybe top 75. But in order for him to maybe be that top 50 first round, I think he's got to be more well-rounded,

and he's got to show that I'm not just living off of certain strengths that I have. I have gotten better as a player throughout my entire college career, and I think it's important for both him and Amari Washington this season. All right, so that's both the Oregon guys back-to-back. I do want to hear you talk about CJ Fight because he was on last year's summer scouting. He didn't make my top eight, and he just made yours. and he's an interesting guy because I think we probably both expected him to be a little ahead of where he is right now after we watched him last summer. But there's probably some still promise there, right, Trevor?

Yeah, I think so. I mean, he's still a decently young prospect, right? He's a true senior, but he's got a lot of starts under his belt. So he's 6'2, 307 pounds at Arizona State, obviously. He was a former three-star defensive lineman played both offensive and defensive line when he was in high school. He was also a member of the track and field team to the throwing events. I believe the shot put and the discus. He played in 11 games a true freshman for Arizona State, and he started five of them.

The year after that, he started all 14 games. The year after that, last year, he started 13 games. So this guy has been a mainstay on the defensive line for Arizona State for a long time. He is a true nose tackle, and he might lack some length, but man, I mean, I think that this is a powerful dude. Anchor-like strength in the middle. He could take up multiple blocks, thick, dense body. to play at that nose tackle spot, I think, at the pro level. Good technique with the hands, the feet to control the line of scrimmage,

really rarely yield ground, especially one-on-one against offensive linemen. I think he's got great effort in run defense as well. You could tell that that's just where he knows that his bread is butter. They have him on the field to take up gaps and be a run defender, and he relishes in that. He takes pride in that, which not everybody always does, but CJ Fight definitely does. I think that he's got a little bit of a high-wasted build for a defensive lineman,

which means at the pad level, it's a little bit more difficult for him to get super low the way that you would want nose tackles to get because, of course, like, you know, if the center is snapping the ball, you want the defensive lineman, you want that nose tackle that's right next to him to be firing off the ball really quickly, and you want them to be lower than that center, and that's tough to do with the center being able to sit as low as they do. So it's a little bit tougher for him to get his pad level down before the snap. It just doesn't have a very strong pass.

profile. And I think that that's what it comes down to. Like, if you are looking for CJ fight to be a versatile defensive lineman who could play nose tackle, who can play three technique, who can get in the backfield, I'm not saying that he can't do it. He just has not put that on tape yet.

There's just not much of a pass rush profile at all for him. And I think that he doesn't even really show the mentality for it. Even on long, third and long, obvious passing down situations, he's trying to wreck things up, front muddy up the offensive line so that somebody else gets to win now that's very useful but you just have to understand that when you're talking about oh these are my defensive tackle rankings

well the teams that are going to be interested in cj fight they're going to be very very different it's not looking across the board type of the thing and i think the arms kind of are a little bit on the shorter side for him as well i think that that doesn't help with his block deconstruction him getting clean and him getting into the backfield so to me right now with all those years of starting experience under his belt what you see is is what you get. But I do like what I see from him. You just got to understand kind of what you're getting there from him. I think that's a really good way to put it. He's somebody that if you dropped him on an NFL field today might be more ready and better than my D tackles ranked 8 through 10

or whatever it may be because of that. Like I wrote down grown man's strength in my notes. But we do chase upside in summer scouting. And with defensive tackles, we can chase pass rush upside as well, and that's just where I'm kind of hung up on him. Carter said, wow, Trevor clearly likes stopping the run more than Connor does, which is normally a flip at the script. You're emphasizing a point now. The chat is having their own fun little combo. Peter said first-time comments or longtime listener greetings from Italy.

Wow. Wow. Yes. Where... Peter actually posting up from Italy? That's what I'm wondering. Why, Sauter said, it's Pope Peter from Italy. Mamma Mia, my fellow man.

People in Italy do not speak like that, Sauter. Peter, if you're in... Mama Mia, my fellow man. Peter, if you're in Rome, go to Dar Bruton. It's an Italian restaurant that's just outside of the city. Well, this guy pulling out the wrecks. Listen, listen, I just, I can't gatekeep that from Peter. We can't do that to him.

Peter, I'll give you one. If you're in the town of Pisa, go to the leaning tower. No, don't do that. Don't do that. No, no, no, no. Dude, I made it to the top. It's all the green screen. It was one of those things where I'm like,

How much of a trap is this? But then when you get inside and go to the top, you're like, this is actually pretty sick and very narrow and steep. Is it overrated? The tower, no. Not at all. It's actually wild. As long as you go in it, the people just stand outside and take pictures.

I don't know what you're doing there. The town is obviously built around tourism. So it's like a two-hour trip. I took the train from Florence and went for the afternoon and then went home. I didn't spend the night so it's overrated no the pizza is perfectly rated perfectly rated

I think it's overrated Anthony Anthony goes Trevor is rich and well-traveled unlike us unlike us yeah Brady said hey guys did you all know that Treve went to Europe he knows all the spots name of city he has a place for you

oh Peter said I'm currently in Capri So I was yelled at for this. It's pronounced Capri. All right. See, now you're just showing off. I was yelled at for this. But you didn't have to bring it to the air.

I'm trying to help you. You could have texted me. I'm trying to help you. What's the text say? Hey, man, it's pronounced. You're a voice texter. It's the same. It's the same word.

Hey, man, it's Capri, not Capri. And it's just the same word twice. Hey, didn't want to. The tomato tomato. Yeah. I didn't want to show you up on the show, but it's Capri, not Capri. No, I did want to show you up on the show. That's why I brought it up, of course.

Yeah, as M9 said in the chat, a Capri's son. Yes, of course. Can't wait to hand my son his first Capri's son. Oh, Lord. I knew the show was bound to just go off the rails at some point. That's what happens when we go live at noon. We need to do this more often. I'll put a bow on it with this.

Jeffrey said, I lived in Italy for three. years and my favorite city was Florence. Connor knows what's up. Uh, that's awesome. Jeffrey and Florence is like top of the list of places people should go. It's just unbelievable. Peter, you should have the, hope I said that right. Is it Flore? It might be. I haven't been. I don't know. I haven't been. I don't know. Yeah, you want to save the voice text for that. Peter, you should, uh, try the pasta there. It's decent. You know what? Actually ask the establishment if they have a glass of red wine while you're at it. Hey, do you guys have any wine here?

Yeah, no, no, no. And say, do you throw the word good in there? Hey, you guys have any good wine here? That'll go really well. Um, we should talk about the Oklahoma boys because don't you have Jaden, uh, Jackson at eight? Yes. And I got David Stone at six. Yeah, yeah.

Spoiler alert. I have David Stone at three. Okay. So we can go, we'll go Jackson then Stone. Sorry, chef for the curveball. Yeah, there we go. Yeah, let's go. I'll be quicker on Jaden Jackson.

and these guys are both true juniors, which is pretty exciting for the talent that they have side by side, especially after you think Grayson Halton was just drafted from this defensive line. It's nuts. Looking to it already, by the way. Yeah. Yeah. Right.

Jaden Jackson, last year, you get to see just the bulrush power in his bag. He's got that long hair. It's such an easy watch on film because when you're like sorting through the congestion of the front seven, it's easy to find Jaden Jackson. He's got power, he's got this long hair, he rushes off the ball trying to build up and utilize that power. And he carries that over with some run disruption, quickness and aggression. Oklahoma, they have a lot of moments where their front is in attack mode.

And he gets to, you know, he had the five TFLs last year. And you get to see him kind of disrupt the run with that quickness and power combination. There are things that really got to, you know, trend. up words. He only had a 5.1% past Russia win rate last year. It's just a power profile as a rusher in my opinion. He's a good athlete and he has

he's agile at his size, which is remarkable. He's inconsistent though, getting off the ball with burst and urgency. I don't know if it's a young player not wanting to make a mistake and I understand that. But you watch some of these more experienced guys and when they get off the ball, it's just

hell for the offensive linemen. Where I thought Jackson, I think he's a good athlete, but is doing more thinking while getting off the ball. Once again, young player, the point of attack strength against the run is still developing. He can disrupt the run, but when he has to just hold up bodies and kind of wall up a lane or a gap or two, it doesn't go as well.

And he's just not built to eat double teams right now. So I really like what he can be as this disrupt. Like, you know, what go Grayson Houghton became. And he's a different player a little bit, but in terms of just the agility he has, has combined with the strength he could generate when he does less thinking and rushes and playing in that front he might be in for a pretty big year i saw him a little bit more is more because it sounds like obviously you talked about him maybe taking a little bit more of the the grace and halton

role and just playing a little bit more free getting into the backfield i stone will get the most of that okay because i saw jackson more as uh the nose tackle type because he's got more of like a squatty stance and bill to him really nice pop at the point of attack he just he was just outside of my top eight. So I understand certainly why you got him at eight here. Arm length appears to be pretty dang short for him. So I don't know if he's ever going to have that pass or success that you really want at the NFL level from a three technique. So I like him leaning more into that nose tackle role. I found this just pretty interesting. So he attended IMG Academy. He was teammates with David Stone as well. So him and David Stone have been running

defensive line since high school. I mean, Jackson started 10 games in 2024, started six games last year as well. So clearly he's just that powerful defensive lineman. And I think that duo is obviously going to be really good here in college football this season. But I wonder if he develops more of a passers profile. Obviously, if he does, it's fantastic. But I wondered if he would, he's just going to be somebody that sort of leans into that nose tackle type of a role. And so maybe the lens in which I was seeing him through kind of takes it down a little bit on the, on the list here for me outside of my state. I think he should lean into what you're saying. because he's stuck in the middle right now,

and that's fine for a young player, where he's, once again, when he's not thinking too much, he has quickness and agility, and he could be a disruptor. But you're right, his build and his raw strength

should fit more for a point of attack monster, but he's just not eating double teams right now. Yeah, and he needs to, obviously. And he has to. So, like, he's a player kind of in the middle right now, and I agree with where I wonder which direction he feels. fully leans into. And it's probably a good time

to transition to talking about his teammate. Yes. Who we both like better than him, David Stone, that I don't have those questions about Trevor. So,

David Stone, you have a number three. I have a number six. A true junior at Oklahoma. Measureable, six foot four, 315 pounds. And I believe this is, is this from Felton's Freaks list

maybe, but somebody could for 34 and 5 eighths inch arms. So we're looking at 72nd percentile height, 75th percentile in weight, 90th percentile in arm length. He is built the way that you want a versatile interior defensive lineman to be built, no doubt, but specifically like a three technique defensive tackle. This dude can get off the ball.

He's got the length. He's got the size. Great athlete. Also, I don't know if you saw it. I don't think this is for the full season. Do you see when he was wearing the spectacles? See when he was wearing the glasses? I remember on the broadcast.

On the game. Terrifying. It's insane aura. It's a defensive linemen. Awesome. I want him to just fully lean into that all the way to the NFL. I mean, he's going to psychologically, physiologically, biologically, let you know how he's whooping your ass.

That's what the glasses tell me when I see them. Yeah, when I see them on David Stone. So he was a five-star defensive lineman. He's from Oklahoma City originally transferred to IMG. Like I kind of mentioned there, we were talking about his teammate Jackson, was in track and field through shot put and discus before he got to IMG. because when you go to IMG, you're just focus on football. Played in 13 games in 2024.

Played 13 games last year, got two starts last year. The arm length is huge. The gas meter is full. I mean, the tank is full. Gas, GAS, gives a shit. I mean, the meter is full for him at all times. You know, it was interesting because I think he's more of a three technique defensive tackle at his best.

They played him at nose a lot last year, which I thought was interesting. I think that speaks to his versatility, but I think if they're playing him more in that Grayson-Holton position, like you mentioned, we're going to see even better version of David Stone this upcoming season. Quick, powerful. I mean, when he times getting off the ball with inside hands,

and he knocks you back on your heels, he gives you a little push, pull, yanking you to the side. I mean, some of those reps extremely dominant. He's got that versatile experience to him. He's got a decent amount of special teams experience as well, right? Those longer arms, they'll put you in on special teams to get your hands up to, you know, block the punt, block the kicks. all that kinds of stuff.

I thought from a discipline and technique standpoint, he was all over the place. And I can understand, so this is my version of sort of where you were talking about, Amari Washington. Stone, I think, has a long way to go to being consistent because I felt like he was all over the place last year. First of all,

getting low with the long arms kind of requires him to hunch his back a little bit when he's getting into his stance. And I noticed that when the ball is snapped, he's popping up pretty quickly. Because, you know, anytime that you're down in your stance, you got like a rounded back just naturally, you want to stand up and flatten your back.

So he kind of plays the higher pad level because of that. The hands are fast, but a lot of times, they're just, I just felt like he was swathing mosquito goes away. Like I just, I didn't really feel like there was a lot of rhyme or reason to sometimes the way that he was moving his hands. He was behind Grayson-Hawton for a lot of those true passers reps, so we didn't get to see a lot of that from him. And I noticed that OU took him off the

field for those short yardage situations, like second and short, third and short, fourth and short situations, he wasn't on the field. Now, I think that could be a little bit leaning towards, okay, Jaden Jackson's a little bit more of the more powerful player, so they're going to put him in there. Grayson Hallen was the more experienced player so he could stay in in those situations. But when we talk about David Stone being a potential first round type of a defensive lineman, there were just a lot of things that I kept writing down from the weaknesses category where I was like, I don't know if my first round defensive lineman could have these question marks and limitations the way that I want to see it. A lot of that stuff is very fixable.

The physical tools there for him obviously present a very high ceiling with him playing as a three technique. So there's a chance it could totally turn around for him this year. But as of right now, the way that I am judging David Stone, I felt like he still had pretty significant progress to being the consistent disruptor that his athletic ability yields the potential to be. Yeah, I think we see something's different. Notably, I was impressed by against the run. He played as a head-up high effort run defender where like I thought he saw the run

development better than I expected for his age. And I think his stack and shed is pretty polished because of that. He has a good eye for the ball and he understands when he needs to get off of blocks. And also some of that is just, it's the reason he was a five star. The raw strength and foot speed at his size is just, it's like, okay, here's a different one to me. Um, inconsistent pad level, but when he got underneath blockers with those inside hands, his hands are in sync with his leg drive, and it sends people backwards.

Where I think this guy's going to be a monster this year. I really, really do. I think it's just his time, the amount of snaps he's going to get an uptick in snaps, playing a lot of three tech. I think he's smart and disruptive and strong. And you said it, you know, just the effort is really high end.

When you have these kinds of tools mixed with that kind of effort and you're going to get good coaching at this program, especially on the defensive side of the ball, I'm pretty bought in. I think there's a chance he could be a really, really good player. I just think he's top 40.

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, he has first round potential to him. I just think he's a long way away from achieving that. This year would be big for him because obviously he's a true junior. So it's not like he's got to prove it all this year and he's got to take a massive leap. all of those categories this year.

I think we still got some time for him. Do we hit everybody in the... No, we didn't do Tavion Gadsden. Ah, and I am glad that we are hitting on him here. I wondered how high you would have Tavion Gadsden from Kentucky. I have him at number seven. You have him at number five, but this is a very exciting player,

so I'll let you kind of start things with him since you've got him higher on your rankings. Yeah, you kind of hinted at it there. with your body language and your voice. This is a different watch than all the guys we talked about. Tavion Gadsen, you know, former three star, didn't have the hype as a, you know, David Stone and some of these other guys.

Yeah, you see there, six three and a half, 303, this is an explosive, athletic, gap shooting presence with pass rush shoes for days. And he is not going to be for everybody, but an NFL front that needs their defensive lineman to get off the ball and attack up the field, I think are going to love this guy. I mean, really quick feet, super productive as an interior pass rusher last year. On just 185 pass rush snaps, he had 20 pressures.

So he had a 16.2% win rate. When you're watching a lot of these defensive linemen, the win rates kind of hover from like 7 to 10 or 11%. So this guy was in, based on the operative. opportunity he got. Now, it's going to be interesting to see if that win rate sustains as a 300 pass for a snap kind of guy. But he made the most of what he got. And that's because he could shoot gaps. I'll tell you the number one thing that stuck out to me, Trevor, that felt different than everyone else. Considering he's over 300 pounds, he has flexibility that just doesn't make sense. There's times where

he can kind of angle his way around the outside shoulder of a guard. And you think the quarterback's going to step up or shift or move the pocket and that's it. And he kind of, kind of keeps like turning his hips and angling his body where he doesn't look like, you know, a delivery truck like a lot of these defensive linemen do. He seamlessly turns and angles his body. So, and then another thing that I just said about Stone, but I think this guy's even more polished with it. And he has to be because he doesn't have the strength that Stone naturally has.

His hands and lower half work together throughout the entire rush. They're just constantly, and that's why he finishes. is he, you know, maybe not the box score production in terms of the Ross. That's sacks and TFLs, but the pressure rate is so high because as his hands are working, he's getting up the field with his lower half. And that's why he's often a disruptor of the quarterback. So Tavion Gadsden, I was not familiar with your game. Yeah.

But I really, really like this guy for the right kind of scheme. Think of some of these front fours. Sala in Tennessee, Damiko and Houston, what San Francisco? does. There's a lot of different teams that would love that Seattle that would love to deploy a guy like this. Yes, I agree 100%. I did not know anything about him. And there's good reason for that, right? Playing in four games redshirted his first year. He missed most of the 2024 season with, I initially read it was a PCL injury, but it was more than that. a bicep femurus repair in your leg, fibular collateral ligament repair. Like this was like major knee surgery and a major knee injury that he suffered in 2024.

And the more I kept reading about it, the more it just seems like he's lucky to be playing at the level that he is playing. Like he's lucky that this wasn't something that really derailed his entire football career. But he played in 11 games last year and he had one start because of it. of it and okay sure he's a little green and he's a little out of control just because of the lack of snaps because he hasn't played a lot in his college career the hands can be all over the place he plays a little too off balance and he can be on the ground a little bit too much but i am with you 100% good build not a ton of bad weight at over 300 pounds long arms for an interior player

violent rip move i mean when he gets off the ball and sometimes it's not even like a combo like sometimes a lot of guys like the club and then rip, right? You're moving the offensive lineman or the offensive lineman's hands one way and then you're ripping by him. But sometimes he's just getting off the ball and he just gets straight into that rip move. And it is violent and effective for him to be able to turn the corner from an interior rush. Powerful punch of contact when he is selling out for that bull rush and really just trying to push the pocket into the backfield. High effort, big man, very impactful. I noticed this on stunts as a crasher.

Like for any defense that you talked about a couple of defenses that are very like attacking, one gap penetrating for everybody, not just the edge rushers, but the interior defensive line guys as well. In defenses that like to use crashes and loopers on stunts, I mean, the way, again, the way that he gets off the ball and the way that he can rip into two different offensive linemen, not let them go and let the looper kind of come free and get to the quarterback. I thought he was very effective in that role as well. So needs more snaps, but a ton of talent here. Absolutely NFL ability there from Tavion Gadsden.

And obviously, I'm just glad that you recovered from that knee injury because the more I read about it, the more it was like, goodness gracious. I don't even know how you got back to form. But second half of the season last year, he was one of the best pass rushers in the SEC. So it was good to see. All right. So that was five to eight for both of us with a little spoiler alert. at the top for a couple of them.

I got to talk to the people about franchise league football, though, before we get to... Please do. I'm seated, by the way. Get to one through four. You're seated? Okay, good. You should be seated. I'm not cross the bowling or anything.

Okay, I'm just listening. He's locked in. Look, folks, the reason why he's locked in is because Conner's the fantasy football guy. We know that you guys are fantasy football people as well. Let's say you win your fantasy league one year. Okay, great. Now what? If it's in a redraft format, okay, so you just win, you get the title, and then you've got to

start over from scratch. that's not how football works in real life it's not how you know being a GM works and that's what fantasy football is all about right you're supposed to feel what it's like to be a GM but franchise league football alleviates that and gives you that feel of being an actual general manager of your fantasy team year after year it is a contract based keeper platform with a salary cap that is a perfect combination of dynasty leagues and auction league so it's the it's a lot of the fun and the suspense of an auction league, but then it's also the fun part of team building and longevity when it comes to dynasties. It gives you the power to be a real GM. Blind bid auction,

set the salaries each year, strict cap, multi-year contracts on players that you bid for, so you are truly rewarded when you make a great call on, and someone's career kind of takes off and maybe gets you into the playoffs, wins you a championship, you get to continue to, uh, to benefit off of that. You got college picks that are involved, which obviously very huge for this show, anybody who listens to this show knows that we give you a little bit of those nuggets for those future fantasy football picks free agency. Every decision that you make carries real weight. Franchise League rewards skill and decision making rather than just a random generated

luck that decides most fantasy leagues. There's even that college draft portion so you can stash college players now when they declare for the draft. They're already on your roster on a minimum contract deal. So again, it just pays to do more research, truly take responsibility for building this team. it's a very cool concept that you guys should check out promo code m bFL 50 saves you guys 50% off when you guys sign up franchise league football.com is how you can play or you download the app in the app store or google play store so check it out franchise league football we would also love for you guys to continue to check out this channel by subscribing we're on the march to 75k subscribers before the season begins and if you couldn't tell already from this episode we have a lot of fun here so we would love for you guys to continue to to continue to come back, be a part of the addicts, be a part of the chat, have a good time, talking to football,

and just hanging out with a lot of your good friends because that's what this show feels like to us. So we'd love for you to subscribe if you guys aren't already and become part of the addicts. One through four, the big reveal. The big reveal. I'm so curious what your rankings are going to be. I'm so curious where you're going to have the Miami guys.

Oh, so we get to have some fun conversations here. So we clearly both love the Miami. me guys. As any warm-blooded American should. That's exactly right. So we talked about Amari Washington already, who's number two for you, and David Stone already, who's number three for me. I think, wow, this is so, this is such a hard one because you have, for those listening, I have Justin Scott from Miami at four, David Stone from Oklahoma at three, Amad Moten Sr. from Miami at two and Will Eccles at one. Trevor, take it away. I have Will Echols at four.

Omoe. No reverse card. Amad Moten Senior at three. Amari Washington at two. And then I have Justin Scott from Miami at number one. So right off the top, what is notable to me is you and I both love Amad Motein Senior. Do you want to start there? I think so. Because I don't see him treated this way when I see the little very few. you people talking draft already on Twitter or whatever, it may be, ranking cards, all that stuff. I'll just say it right out of the gate, Trevor. If Indiana, and credits of them, because they did, if Indiana doesn't win the national

title game, this guy's the biggest or one of the biggest stories of the national title game. I mean, the film, he was a force in the biggest game of the college football season, a force. And, you know, right off the rip, 6-3-3-11, red shirt, senior four and a half sacks nine tfls 28 total pressures last year now keep in mind miami had a longer season but still he's strong he's tough he plays with a high motor i think he's quick off the ball with burst low into pads with heavy hands he played over a hundred snaps at true at nose tackle last year and did a lot of the dirty work in the middle of this defense that had all kinds of talent especially on the edge and that game against indiana

What's crazy is I'm pretty sure the Mendoza touchdown run, which watching that back again on the All-22 is just like, it's just so insane. Dude, he's an animal. He's unbelievable. He just sacrificed the body for the team. Yes.

Doing everything that he needed to do to win that national championship. It'll be a slow-mo moment in a great, hopefully great movie one day. I'm pretty sure it's Moten, because now we also watch Scott and we watch so much Miami. I don't want to be mixing this up.

but he almost makes the play. Is it him? It's him or Scott. But the bottom line is where I was like that one of them almost made the play and Mendoza somehow gets out of it and then the rest is history. But watching that game,

I was just like, man, Mowton was such a force on this team in the biggest game last year. And he had a great season. Obviously, I'm not just scouting from one game, but I thought it was an exclamation point. on what was a breakout year for him. Who almost hasn't?

One of the, they're two great defensive tackles and we're going to talk about Scott in a second. Oh, so, so Moden's there at the end. Okay. Scott, Scott actually cuts him off

and makes him pivot and do the big jump cut. That's the moment I'm talking about. Yeah. It's Scott where it's like, yeah, you're right. Scott gets in the way. Yeah.

And Mendoza just makes a great play. Nobody cleans up when Mendoza has to cut. But yeah, watching these two, and obviously you have Scott at one, we're going to talk a lot about him. Like they're just, the fact that they're both back this year is just, they're so good, man.

They play so hard. Their hands are so coached up. They know how to completely blow up blocks. It's a lot of fun to watch. Moten's a stud. Why are people in the chat yelling about him being a red shirt senior? I think there was a little, from what I could see before, there was a disagreement about red shirt.

and it's not worth their time. Okay, all right. Yeah, it's like it's a very an inside baseball thing going on in there. It's funny. I'm watching, but I'm trying to understand. I want to be on the inside joke of my own show. Dang it.

Yeah, we'll catch up on it. Dude, I love the Mahmoudan senior. And, you know, I saw him in flashes last year, sort of as Miami was making their run. Because to your point, nobody was talking about him. Nobody, to be fair. He was a redshirt junior last year. Like he could have been in the draft and nobody was talking about this player.

We're watching the same exact tape. And I'd tell you that a Mod Moten senior should be a back end of the first round, early part of the second round defensive tackle. Definitely. And I don't really know how we weren't talking about. Well, I sort of know why ultimately the NFL might not have seen him that way. But I'm very shocked at this player who has this many. flashes of elite strength and burst and some incredible plays was not talked about more.

So he's the former four-star defensive lineman. He's from Fort Lauderdale, won back-to-back state titles, a junior and a senior, committed to Miami. Now here we go. Now, this is the part where, okay, you can get into a little bit of the negatives and why he maybe wasn't viewed that highly by the NFL quite yet. Redshirted his first year, played in nine games the next year, didn't start. only started two games in 2024, started all 14 games last season.

So it took him three years to really crack the starting lineup here. And I think that when you watch him, he does play a little bit undisciplined, even last year. He would sort of like what you were talking about with Amari Washington. Sometimes I feel like he will sell out to get in the backfield. And it's like, all right, but you were supposed to have this spot. And now the running back just ran right where you were. were supposed to be because you were trying to sort of defend the run by getting into the backfield type of a thing. So there are times when I feel like he plays a little bit on discipline. He plays a

little bit too aggressive. However, the good far outweighs the bad, even if you're thinking about this from I'd like him to be a little bit more discipline standpoint. You mentioned the bill that he has is very much in line of what you would want to see from a three technique defensive tackle. He has a pretty athletic build, I would say, for being his size of six foot three, three, 310 pounds. First step explosiveness is a three technique defensive tackle. Excellent. The hands get faster

as he continues to take more steps towards the ball carrier. Everything that he does is twitchy. It's explosive. The hands, the feet, the movements, the change direction, everything is so explosive. The speed to power, unbelievably impressive. When he gets any sort of a runway

at all, if they put him in a spot where he gets a couple of steps before he hits the guard or maybe if he's kicked out and he's a defensive end. I mean, he can bulldoze these offensive linemen back. Very strong upper body. He plays on field goal block team as well and special teams. I think Amad Moten Sr. is a demon of a pass rusher from Miami. And I was just, I was so, after watching his tape, I was so surprised that we did not

talk more about this player from an NFL draft perspective last year. Me too. He somehow got lost in the shuffle of their two great edge rushers. And, you know, obviously Justin Scott was a five star, so everybody loves getting eyes on him and what he could be. And it's good for damn good reason. But when the lights were the brightest, this guy was their best player on the defensive line. I mean, that doesn't mean I think he's better than Ruben Bain or anything like that. But just saying, it's he was really good all year.

and then in their biggest games, the motor was insane. Absolutely insane. So, yeah, I'm glad we see him exactly the same way. Honestly, it was hard not having him number one. And I think I broke the tie by just going with upside. Yeah, number one. That's the only reason he's not number one.

And if William Eccles doesn't tap in, doesn't fully tap into that upside, there's a world for me where Ramad Moten senior is the best defensive tackle in this draft. I don't disagree with you at all. Yeah. He was, first interior defensive lineman that I watched because I was just excited to really I think me too put his film under the microscope and I'm like half a game in and I'm like

okay I if we've got a defense tackle better than him then I'm feeling pretty good about where we're at funny enough I have justice got above him you want to just hit the Miami guys now you want to yeah you should you should kick off with Scott your number one defensive tackle so Justin Scott is number one for me is number four for you he is a true junior so no red shirt here guys you I don't know what you're saying about red shirts we can't throw that in here with Justice guy because he's a true junior. He's 6'4, 300 pounds. He's a former 5-star as well.

Played AAU basketball growing up and actually was going to go the basketball route before a coach had to convince him to play football when he was a freshman in high school. Played both defensive tackle and offensive guard when he was in high school. Committed in Miami. Played 11 games in 2024. Nine starts in 2025 last year. He was number 75 on Feldman's Freaks list two years. ago. So the 10-yard split was clocked at 156, and that was two years ago as a freshman.

And I think this is the part that really stands out to me of why Justin Scott is my number one defensive tackle going into the year. Miami head coach Mario Cristobald told Feldman, he just gets it. He's an awesome kid. He's special. The sky is the limit. And I can sit here and obviously list some of the highlights athletically from him. Great overall build, good height, good length. He's got the arm length to be able to line up as a odd front defensive end or any spot on the interior defensive line in an even front. He's got that standout basketball background to him, not just a, okay, he liked to play pickups sometimes. I don't have the stat. I don't have the AAU stats, but he was playing AAU basketball. So obviously it was something that was a major focus

of him. The quick step out of his stance, very fast hands, improving pass rush acumen. I mean, the way that he approaches pass rush is calculated. Really good motor throughout his initial rush, getting to his counters, wanting to finish the plays, and just an overall fantastic football IQ, good agility, he can shoot gaps, he can hold the line,

he knows how to manipulate offensive linemen. That might be a little bit bigger than him, using his leverage, using where his hands are placed. And going back to Cristobal's quote, that's why I think Justin Scott's the best defensive lineman in this draft, because he's got the overall physical tools. He's got the athletic ability.

He's a balance and natural athlete for anybody who's around 300 pounds. And I just think, like Chris Ball said, he gets it. I'm watching him on spots where, okay, hey, your job here is to attack the guard, hold the line of scrimmage, you know, try to stack this guy up, control the point of attack, and then rip him off and try to make a play when the running back gets to you. But Scott does more than that. He doesn't just get his head. hands low and up and in the right position to control the guard in front of him,

he'll angle him the right way, where it's not just this, okay, let me stay square with this guard, let me look into the backfield, and then, oh, okay, he's coming to the left, but my head was already on this side. So, okay, maybe it's a little bit more difficult for me to get power of this. Everything is married for him, where he goes, okay, I think the running back, the strong side of the line scrimmage is to my left. What I'm going to do now is I'm going to stack this guard, but I'm going to angle them a different way to where I'm looking in the backfield and it's an easy way for me to shed him with my momentum then going where I need to go to make the play in the backfield. It's just all, it's just also calculated to me for a player who

was an underclassman for the last two years who's going into his true junior year. So I'm really a fan of the athletic ability, the overall physical tools, but also how he clearly approaches the game. Because we say this a lot on this show. And it's true. Very few players. get to win with athleticism and strength alone when you get to the pros. Right. These guys are too big. They're too strong. They're too fast.

You have to win with technique as well. And I think that Justin Scott does that. And that's why I like this player a lot. It's easy to because it's all there for him. It really is. I mean, the strengths, I echo a lot of what you said, high end quickness, agile, good closing speed. I know he had the one sack last year. He's going to finish a lot more plays this year because of that.

closing speed. He's quick off the ball. The thing that stood out to me watching him, blockers in the zone run game could not get to him in time. They just couldn't land on him in time. He just beat them to the spot. He's got natural raw strength to build on as he physically matures, but why I have him four right now and he could jump up much higher than this is, man, when you watch him on the line of scrimmage, he looks so much different than the other lineman. He's just, I know he's listed 300. and he probably is up to 300 today. Oh, you see he's light.

Yeah. I mean, he lacks the prototypical defensive tackle mass, and he can't take on doubles. I thought he lost the leverage battle in the run game a lot more than I'd prefer. It's a young player that is so souped up with talent. And already good, he's already good, but to me, like watching Moten's raw power

just blow by everyone and throw everyone around. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah. The ceiling for Scott is bananas. It is. And he,

it's just, if I see him grown to his body and by the draft, he's like 310 and he's a little stronger at the point of attack, then it'll be, he'll be right in the combo for the top tee tackle for me as well. God, how good is Miami going to be? Oh.

Yeah, they're going to be good again. Will Eccles. last guy that we haven't hit here. So you got him at one, and then I have him at four. So Will Eccles, the defensive tackle from Old Miss, talk to the people about him. I think this was the hardest position group we've done for me to rank a number one. I agree. I didn't feel that way about quarterback running back receiver corner edge.

No, I was very, very confident in all my number. This was the one where it was truly wide open. And I'll say it even extends almost one to four. Eccles, Moten, Stone, Scott. And they're all a little different, which made it even harder. I think Eccles' stats lie. He had five sacks. I don't think he's a good pass rusher right now.

That's why I have him in four. I agree. But my God, is he not, he's built like a tree stump. You can't move him around. And he's a great line of scrimmage defender. He is a one-man difference maker on the line of scrimmage. You watch the tape. The more and more tape you watch them.

Our teams are starting to just run away from him. They don't even want to try. They don't even want to attempt to go near this guy. He's a powerhouse against the run. He eats contact. It's like watching him swat away Nats. This defender launches at him and he's like, this is a joke. Like, I'll just power through you.

I'll throw you massive lower half. This is an NFL lower half. And he's rarely on the ground against the run, which I love. He's constantly still on his feet. He's got savvy awareness against double teams. He's probably strong enough

to take them on when he wants to, but I saw him split doubles where I was like, ooh, I was like he's also a smart, savvy player that's starting to see things pre-snap. And I shouldn't say that he can rush the passer

because he's so strong. His win rate was only 5.7% because he doesn't really have moves. He really doesn't have moves. Right. I'm sitting here and I'm like, he's already a borderline plus NFL caliber run defender and space eater and just force.

If he improves his pass rush to being average, it's over. It's over. So it was, it wasn't easy picking a number one, but this guy looks like an NFL player on a college field. and that is hard to say about college defensive line. Yeah, I agree. I think the hands are always very fast with him. I think that he's always trying to rip or swim or swipe or club or something.

He's just always working to try to get clean, which a lot of these guys aren't necessarily doing. I wonder, like, what the true first step explosive is for him, like when he's like, okay, like getting to the back field, let's really get after the quarterback here. Let's try to get a sack. Like I do kind of wonder how that will stack up at the NFL level, but maybe I just didn't see the best of it

the way that he might be able to put on display this upcoming season. But yes, I mean, he is an NFL level defender because of how consistent he was defending that line of scrimmage last year for Old Miss. So he's good.

I like, truly, I like all the guys that are in my top four, which is funny. I think that you would say the same thing about your top four, and you have one guy who's not in my top four and I have one guy who's not in your top four.

So it's just kind of funny that it's a little bit different of a group there. Is there anybody else that kind of like just didn't make the, list that you want to give a shout out to. I think Horace Lockett from UCF is interesting. That's the first guy I was going to say. I think he's very interesting because he's six foot four and a half.

UCF's got him listed six foot six. He's not six foot six. He's six foot four and a half three hundred and sixty two pounds. Colossal mass you want to talk about the new mcpounder it's Horace locket. Also Horace great nose tackle name. I mean great nose tackle name. He's got to succeed. He just has to succeed. I need my nose tackles to be named Horace. You just walk up to him during warmups. All right, Horace.

Ready to do two gap today? Essentially. Hell yeah, coach. Now, you know what's really funny about you saying that is obviously at 362? You want to see him do that all the time. UCF didn't ask him to two gap last year. He's attacks. UCF was very like their defensive line was very slanted.

They were running a lot of stunts. Like there were very few times. that he was actually asked to, okay, hold the line of scrimmage here, right? Get off the ball, stack the guys in front of you. Don't yield a yard. Open things up for everybody else. A lot of times UCF was like slanting everything that they did or, yeah, it was just stunts and games everywhere.

So I think that he's got that in him, but it'll be interesting to see whether or not UCF actually runs a little bit more of a, I guess I'll call it like a traditional front, allows him to two gap a little bit more because that's what I think that his role at 362 pounds is going to be at the NFL level. Yeah, he's one of those guys where he's just got to be on the field. Because whenever he's been on the field, he's been really good. But he missed all in 2024 for Georgia Tech. I believe it was a hand injury.

And then he tore his peck. Yeah. Last year after the year. Yeah, he really only played a couple of games. Really good tape for a couple games. But now he's had an injury track record. There's a lot of guys. I won't get too deep into it today because we're going to talk about them throughout the season.

Like David Hicks from A&M, AJ Holmes on Texas Tech. There was a couple. There was some, I think I had a Virginia Tech guy. Camari Copeland for Virginia Tech. Yeah, he is interesting. I think that he's pretty interesting. I didn't like AJ Holmes as much as I think a lot of other people do. Yeah, some people were shocked.

We didn't have them in our top eights, but I didn't. Oh, wow. He's pretty high on consensus. Oh, yeah. So he's six three, 300 pounds. He's a former three star committed to Houston initially. Redshirted the first year, three starts to next year, 12 starts to the next year, goes over to Texas Tech, starts eight games last year at Texas Tech. I thought he obviously has a good amount of experience, so he's got a lot snaps under his belt. I think he's a dirty work type of a player, like asking him to just, hey, you got to hold the line of scrimmage, you got to take up two blocks. You got to kind of like eat these players that are pullers or.

or combo blocks, whatever it is. I thought he had good effort and would do whatever you needed him to do on the defensive line. But I thought the build was very tweener-ish between like a 3-4 defensive end, three-technic defensive tackle. I'm not exactly sure where his best home is.

Even though he could hold the point of attack because of effort, not allowed to knock back power from him so that disruption, I just didn't see that speeded power from him. I have him listed more of a 3-4 defensive end because I just like him being more of a, a worker be type of a defensive line and then somebody that you would sort of build a defensive line plan around so i have them lower obviously outside of my top eight but i know a lot of people like him and um how do you say his teammates name matine iberoga i think is how you say

his last name so you had like a good attempt yeah the other texas tech guy um he'll be a little bit older as well he's a red shirt senior two six three 300 kind of the same thing but um i think both of those guys sort of the same story about them being three, four defensive ends and more guys that I think are just complimentary defensive line pieces rather than the ones that you would sort of prioritize with those higher draft picks. One shout out, because we got asked a lot about him on The Edge Show. I leaned to putting Quincy Rhodes from Arkansas in this group. Only because I know he's about 275 pounds, his best tape is as an interior rusher.

I agree. I also have him here, and he would have probably. I think he would have either been nine or ten for me. Okay, yeah. So I know we got so many comments on the Ed Show. How did you guys forget about Quincy Rhodes? No, I watched the tape and just thought his best plays are from interior alignments. So he should just get bigger and stronger and almost lean into that.

I agree. I do agree. I mean, Quincy Rhodes Jr. from Arkansas has some flash plays that are nasty. I mean, like, when he times the snap right, he gets off the ball, he pairs leverage. bridge with that super long arm that he has, it is absolutely impactful. You just don't see it a ton. And I feel like the athleticism, again, flashes where you really see it.

But I didn't see it consistently there from. I agree. I feel like he should be a little bit more of an interior defensive lineman type of player. Does you remind you kind of like Darius Robinson a little bit where like, that's an interesting one, a man without a position? Yeah, where very clearly like the Cardinals kind of drafted Darius Robinson and they said like, hey, we believe in you to be the edge rusher. that we think could be like a top 50 first round type of a pick.

And maybe Cardinal fans will correct me. I won't pretend to have watched every single David Robinson snap, but it feels like he's kind of just largely the same player that he was in college. And that's the very overdrafted type of player. Not a bad player, not a player who shouldn't be in the league or anything, but an overdrafted type of a player. And I wonder if we might be going down that road with Quincy Rhodes Jr. I guess we'll see.

That's a good call out. I was trying to think, what was Carl Brooks? Like height and weight? Yeah, at the end of the day. Okay, so he did get, he was heavier. By the time he got to the pre-draft process, he got up to 303. Yeah.

So that's not what I was shooting for. I just thought he played that way. Anyway, yeah. A couple of draft season 362 saying, do you all think Anthony Smith might fit better into this group? I don't. When we went over, edge rushers, what was it two weeks ago?

I very comfortably had Anthony Smith as a top five edge rusher in this class. I think he's awesome. But Connor, you had a little bit more concerns about like, hey, can he win with speed the way that you would want an edge rusher to win at the NFL level. Some schemes, I feel like Dennis Allen was always this way. They love the jumbo-sized edge rushers. Yes. So, and then even like Sala deploys a big end in a lot of fronts.

So there's always- He would fit that. Yeah. Right. Like John Franklin Myers has. that role when he plays under solace. Right. I'll see where that one kind of lands. I know we have a lot of super chats, so I would recommend people don't

run anywhere. All right. Yeah, we'll wrap it up here. We've got the after the episode portion of the show coming up in a second for everybody who's watching live. If you're missing this, if you're catching it after the fact, we release these at the end of the week, so you'll see them on Friday. But we'll go over the super chats, keep going back and forth through the chat here. But we would love to hear

from you guys. Let us know what you think about this interior defensive line class. Some of the takes that we had here on this show about those guys. you love the Miami guys. Maybe the Miami guys are one and two for you. Maybe there's a sleeper defensive tackle that we didn't even name or mention that you think deserves a shout out. Let us know in the comment. Subscribe to the show. Come back, hang out with us. I know this is a Tuesday at noon type of an episode, but we will be back to our regularly scheduled Mondays at 4 p.m. Eastern next week because we got to we got to get into

regular season shape here, Connor, because regular season's coming around. We're going to be going to two episodes a week very soon. So we got to get back on schedule. We're going to keep doing as many positional summer scouting previews as we can, all leading up to, of course, a big board episode. At least I think we're going to have time to do a big board episode. We are 100%. You guys know it.

Never going to miss an opportunity to have a mock draft episode. So we're absolutely going to get to a mock draft episode before the season kicks off. But anything else before we get out of here. No, this was a fun group because of all the varying opinions and skills. sets. That's why I always love talking about the D-line. And we're kind of hammering away here. I can't believe we're almost through summer scouting. I know. It looked bleak there a month and a half ago that we were going to finish. Well, I didn't know if you were coming back from Europe. I was learning how to change diapers. Well, if I knew that Peter was going to Italy, I would have stayed.

Capri. There you go. Look at you. I can't wait for a Capri son later. Look at you. Yeah. Jesus. All right. Stick around. We're going to. I and see some super chats in the after the episode portion of the show. But for the chef behind the scene, too, once again, phenomenal cold open. If you didn't watch it in your audio only, you got to get over to YouTube and see it. For Connor Rogers, I'm Trevor Sikkimusayn. Thank you guys so much for watching this episode of the NFL Stocky Shane show.

See you guys next week.