NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 39. Guest Mock Draft Series: Deebo Trade Talk + Picks for Titans, Bucs, Packers & Chiefs (with Turron Davenport, Jon Ledyard, Justis Mosqueda & Seth Keysor)

Episode Date: April 21, 2022

Hosts Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers talk potential Deebo Samuel trade, and get guest mock draft picks from Turron Davenport for the Titans, Jon Ledyard for the Buccaneers, Justis Mosqueda for the Packers and Seth Keysor for the Chiefs

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I got it this year. 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 on this episode we've got four great guests rounding out the 20s of the guest mock draft series but before we get to that we got some Debo Samuel that we've got to talk about Debo on

the move how his move is going to impact what happens with AJ Brown and maybe even DK Metcalf we're going to dig into all those things and then guess mock draft picks I mentioned it for the Tennessee Titans the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs we get to learn a lot about what these teams might be targeting and who exactly they might be targeting here at the end of the draft which gets tough to it does it gets tough to predict. These guests, they help us figure it out a little bit more, and they're going to give you a little bit better of a guess

when it comes to the back end of that first round. I am Trevor Sycamore. With me, as always, is Connor Rogers. Let's ring the bell. welcome to the opening bell of the nfl stock exchange podcast i'm trevor sikama that is connor rogers now i get to say it connor we are good morning fresh off his good morning football appearance the man was looking fly as all get out. You were in studio. They didn't look. They didn't extend that invite to me.

They don't do that to just anybody. A little different travel experience. You're right. You are right there in New York. It would have been difficult for me to take a cab from Cincinnati, Ohio, over to New York. But hey, you did great, buddy. You made the podcast proud. And now we've got two alumni for the podcast from Good Morning Football. you man it was a blast what a welcoming crew they are at the good morning

football desk it is unbelievable how welcoming they make you feel how comfortable you feel um and dude just you know we had the nfl stock exchange name thrown out there one more time on the almighty nfl network so you and i are riding high right now as we are about one week from the NFL draft. The diehard sex addicts have to love it. Oh my God, they're itching their face. They have, they have got to love it at this point, which we love every single one of you. So thank you for everybody who tuned in to my segment as well as Connor's segment. We appreciate you guys a ton. So, Hey, on this episode, we got the guest mock draft series. We are coming towards the end. This is the second to last episode. We've got four teams that we want to get to but connor before we

get to all of that we've got to talk about debo samuel and we are recording this on wednesday at 5 p.m on the east coast so if debo gets traded between now and when this podcast comes out, too bad. This is the intro that you get. We're not re-recording this. We are not redoing this. Even if it's the Jets to trade for him, we are not redoing this. We'll touch on it later. We have a bonus episode on Saturday,

so you don't have to wait too long for our takes there. So, dude, Debo Samuel. Jeff Darlington comes out with a report, basically says that Debo Samuel has officially asked for a trade out of San Francisco there was whispers of this leading up to this point but it was always kind of this thing where it's like okay you know Debo's playing hardball he's watching what other wide receivers are getting San Francisco's not gonna lose Debo Samuel he was such a integral part of what made that offense go what made them a playoff team that nobody wanted to face when playoff time came up last year and here it is Debo demands a trade but apparently it's not because of the money I'm

sure there's a little bit that could be involved with the money but usage goes a long way into this being the what what's the position called wide back right what are they what are they the the hybrid position for Debo Samuel, the wideback or whatever. He didn't want to be that. He wants to be a wide receiver. I don't blame the man. He doesn't want to get hit.

What do you think about all this, Connor? I know your beloved Jets are in the conversation to potentially get him. What's your thoughts here? Man, they're jonesing for a wide receiver. We know that they are going to be at the forefront of any star wide receiver

becoming available. And that's where the conversation kind of hits a little bit of a yield sign, right? Trevor available. Debo Samuel has requested a trade. The 49ers have not officially made him available and everybody knows that they are going to come out asking for a lot. Now, the problem is if they ultimately, you know, face the facts that he's not coming back to play for them, if that's really where this is, which was, it sounds like it is for a lot of reasons. As you said, it could be usage. It could be money. It could be, uh, I know Adam Schefter briefly said

at some point on air that it could be location, which is very interesting. Obviously, you know, Devo Samuel did not play his college football on the West Coast. So maybe he's looking to come back East. I don't know. So it's a lot to unpack. The Niners, if they do come to this point where they have to move on from him and there's nothing they can do, there's no dollar amount they can find to bring him back, then they're going to have to work fast because we are one week out from the NFL draft. And if you're the Niners, you don't want to trade him for 2023 draft capital and be looking that far down the road. You want impact now. And I'm not saying you're looking for Debo Samuel's replacement, but how do you replace that immense production, Trevor? I mean, you know,

it's so fascinating to me. I've seen a lot of thought on, you know, Twitter and all kinds of places recently that his production is so valuable, but it's not sustainable because you can't use him like that. I think what people don't realize is eight weeks into the NFL season, right? And I was somebody that was,

followed Deebo Samuel very closely early in the season last year because, you know, stupid, selfish moment. He was on my fantasy team. He only had six total carries through the first eight weeks of the season. So he was not this wide back that we're used to seeing. Right. He was incredibly, insanely productive as a wide receiver.

Insanely productive as a wide receiver. Insanely productive as a wide receiver. So even if he pushes away those chips, says, I don't want to be used like that where I'm battered into the ground, and is just a wide receiver, we are still looking at an extremely dynamic special talent at that position. And I think all the leverage is on his side right now.

And the one last nugget I'll say, and this is from Peter Schrager, and this has been going around for quite some time. A lot of Jets fans know this as well because they're following DK Metcalf, AJ Brown, and his mentions all the time. Now, Debo Samuel, all three of those guys represented by Torrey Dandy.

So there is no... So Torrey Dandy is about to get paid. He's about to get paid, and he's about to get paid and he's about to get all three of these guys paid one after the other with no discount here so these guys are getting mega bucks and it's even worse for the teams knowing that the leverage is tough that there are other teams like the jets that will pony up the cash. So it just creates a wild storm of pay us, pay us big. And we want,

we want everything that we can get in this pool. And you know what? Good for them. Honestly, good for them for maximizing. Maybe the only time in their career they'll ever have this kind of leverage. Yeah.

And honestly, you know what you mentioned leverage right there. It's a good time to be a wide receiver. Never bet on better time. Teams are desperate to get better at playmaker. We've seen that in the NFL draft, and that kind of goes along with how many wide receivers we see go in the first round,

how many we're projecting to go in the first round this year. Even in the top 50, you could extend it to the early part of the second round as well. It's that the words that we use are arms race, right? That's what we keep using to describe this situation Debo Samuel Tyree Kill those guys you don't like Stefan did Stefan Diggs when he was before he got that massive extension right we're seeing with AJ Brown we're just seeing why receivers have so much control because if they say to their teams

no I'm not signing that deal trade me guess what there's gonna be teams that will are willing to pay that price even if it's a crazy price i think that we're seeing that so you know it gets tricky in debo's situation because his contract is coming up because he wants a new deal you never want to make a you don't want this to be a habit of trading capital away just to also then pay a player you don't want to trade to pay that's not what you want to do and i see you know i think the teams that everybody expects to be involved in this the new york jets the kansas Kansas City Chiefs, the Green Bay Packers. I mean, I've seen the Baltimore Ravens, I guess maybe. But mainly those three teams.

The Chiefs have 29, pick number 29 right now. Green Bay Packers have 22. I'm talking about the highest picks. I know the Chiefs and the Packers have two. The Jets, from their lower first round pick, they have number 10. And you could say to yourself, okay, when you look at what Tyree Kill went for, Green Bay is probably going to have to offer 22 and a little something else. Kansas City would certainly have to offer 29 and a little something else.

Oh, yeah. Jets might be able to just offer 10 and nothing else. And they could offer 10 and say, take it or leave it. We'll give you the 10th overall pick. And some people might say to you, okay, well, if the new york jets are going to take a wide receiver at 10 anyways just trade 10 for debo samuel the problem is you and i have had this conversation yes you're trading 10 to then spend 25 plus million dollars a year on a wide receiver where a rookie wide receiver who you might think is talented enough to draft overall at 10 could give you a hell of a lot of team flexibility on that rookie deal for

the next five years so that's i think what is is just interesting about this i see a lot of people just go like why don't they try just trade for him just like Debo's good just trade for him and it's a little bit more complicated than that oh man you're you nailed it it's and it's a great point um because when you look at it this league has become not as simple as just a piling up talent and I know yes that is the ultimate goal that's the very simplistic way to look at it but a big part of this league is pictured on a cork board and you have all the position groups and you're going to take a certain amount of them and they are going to be a large percentage of your salary cap. And for teams that are franchise quarterback, quarterback is always in there.

A lot of times there's somebody on your offensive line with big time money. A lot of times there's a pass rusher, maybe two, in that group as well. But you need to decide if we're going to spend here, how do we save here? And Joe Douglas was obviously, to use the Jets as an example, because they were the most recent, you know, they were in on Tyreek Hill and lost. They did not get him. Now, Joe Douglas would not trade the 10th overall pick. Like you said, Trevor, because the $25 million per year contract that would have came with acquiring Tyree Kill, that the Jets would need to save on a position, and this is for every team, the Jets are just the example here. Need to save on a position elsewhere with

that 10th overall pick. And I know top 10 picks make a lot of money, but we're talking about obviously still a different structure in general. It's way, way different tax bracket, if you will. Yeah. So you're looking at it, right? This is the Jets are such an easy team to use for this because they are in the thick of this right now. They have the almighty rookie quarterback wage scale right now for Zach Wilson. So they save money, so much money from that alone. Okay, so we're going to put $24 million a year into a Debo Samuel type of player. Well, we want to keep that 10th overall pick because now we want to save money at pass rusher. Or we want to save money on pass rusher, or we want to save money, you know,

on a, a safety or something like that. You need to, the perfect example is the jets paid CJ Mosley a billion dollars a year. Maybe you draft a Devin Lloyd at some point. And CJ Mosley has gone in 2023. Debo's money kicks in, in 2023,

but you're swapping the CJ Mosley money out because of the player. You just took 10th overall to step in. That is the corkboard of how NFL teams do this. And it just hits home your point of why it's not as simple as Debo Samuel might be worth the 10th overall pick as a player, but money is an asset. It's a huge roster asset. For as much as the cap can be manipulated it's still not entirely fake you still do have to you know do your manipulating and so that's just kind of what it would take there is a little bit more involved but um we'll see if the evil gets dealt we'll see what what team it is to uh what the contract ends up being of course that we'll be we'll be able to

react to that as well right before we get back to the guest mock draft series gotta remind you guys that if you don't have a pff subscription now is the time my friends draft 50 that's the promo code for 50 off half off an elite subscription that is a yearly subscription of the best that pff has to offer it's 50 off right now if you don't have it go get it the nfl stock exchange podcast is presented by our friends over at jock market that's jock mkt their motto stop betting start trading it's a really cool blend of daily fantasy and regular fantasy sports that you know and love you buy and ship you buy and sell shares of players in real time for real money while the games are happening say you want to buy one player five shares five dollars each throw basically

you're throwing 25 on the line if they end up being the number one fantasy player that night in their sport which you might know they got a juicy matchup that number might pay out 25 dollars per share and then of course you're making a lot of cheese on that so it's a really cool fun and new way to bet deposit right now with the promo code pff and you're going to get a 100 deposit match on whatever you put down as your first deposit up to 100 plus you get a free pff edge subscription as well if you don't have that or you don't want to use the promo code to go get an elite jock market jock mkt.com backslash pff that is jock market.com backslash pff okay i'm doing my breathing exercises.

I'm going to list off all of the picks. Oh, you're a madman. Up to this point. I got to do it. Look, if you're watching on YouTube, the list is in the description, so you can just go see that at any time. You don't have to listen to me ramble,

but for those of you who are audio only, we still love you. We still want to make this the full experience. So, Aiden Hutchinson went number one overall to the jacksville jaguars trayvon walker two to the detroit lions kyle hamilton three to the houston texans cave on tibideau four to the new york jets charles cross five to the new york giants which gotta say connor doesn't look so crazy anymore does it they came out man they came out hot pissed about that one but there has been some rumblings. Evan Neal, Carolina Panthers at six,

Saskarner Giants at seven, Falcons Jordan Davis at eight, Seahawks Derek Singley at nine, Jets Ike Ikuonu at 10, Commanders Drake London at 11, Minnesota Vikings at 12, Tyra Linderbaum, George Karloff at 13, to the Texans, Jermaine Johnson to the Ravens at 14,

Malik Willis to the Eagles at 15, Trevor Penning to the Saints at 16, Trent McDuffie to the Ravens at 14 Malik Willis to the Eagles at 15 Trevor Penning to the Saints at 16 Trent McDuffie to the Chargers at 17 um Jameson Williams Eagles 18 Chris Olave Saints 19 Andrew Booth the Steelers 20 they've got Devin Lloyd to the Patriots at 21 Traylon Burks to the Packers at 22 Cardinals got Zion Johnson at 23 Dallas Cowboys got Garrett Wilson at 24 I have no idea how that happened but it did uh Buffalo Bills got Brees Hall at 25 which puts the Tennessee Titans up at number 26 let's get into it here we go number 26 it's the Tennessee Titans a team that is very polarizing where people think of the Titans where they are in their winning window

how good they can be are they close to a rebuild Are they close to a rebuild? Are they close to a Superbowl berth? Well, to answer all those questions and so much more, we have to run Davenport from ESPN covers the team about as well as anybody could to run. Thank you so much for joining us, man. Yeah. Appreciate you guys for having me. This is something that we're kind of making an annual thing. Yes, we are. Well, you keep, you keep knocking it out

of the park every time we have you on for the titans so we got to keep asking good we got to keep asking you to come back on so at that point it's kind of it's on you so we appreciate you joining us once again man i'll start off first question is kind of a little bit of what i talked about right there what are the titans right now because i i think the people thought they were going to be a good team they didn't think they were going to be terrible, but losing Arthur Smith, losing some of the tight end work. Okay, what's going to happen? Well, what happened was they got the 1C last year.

It was an incredible season, 12 wins, lost to the Bengals in the playoffs. Obviously, Derrick Henry not being fully healthy for that probably played a big role into it. But all things aside, in in a vacuum a healthy derrick henry a healthy roster where do the titans think they are right now do they think they are close to being one of those contenders in a now really talented afc or where do you believe the team thinks they are yeah they fully think that they are one of the contenders in the afc and i understand

that sentiment just being as though they're coming off of being the top seed. And there has been a little bit of change. But along with that change is more continuity, right? It's going to be a second year in Todd Downing's offense. Todd Downing will have another year as a play caller. And I know there were times where he kind of struggled to layer plays, right, where you call something and you're trying to get this look and see how they defend it, and then you come back to it

with something different. That was an area for improvement for them. But overall, you look at the uptick that the defense had and how they really stepped up that Rams game, especially, which was the first one without Derrick Henry. They saw how the defense can take a step forward and that's what they're believing that the offense will do this year of course A.J. Brown's going to need to be in the mix for them to do that.

Teron looking at this offensive line it's fascinating this is a team that they know how to run the football they know how to block up front not just for Derrick Henry but for Ryan Tannehill and now we're seeing some changes, right? No more Roger Saffold. There's some young names that could be penciled into more key roles, whether it's Dylan Radins,

who they drafted last year and a couple other guys across the board. Do you look at this group as one or did they look at this group as one that they're excited about some younger guys ready to step into roles

or they're looking at this draft and going, we need another big piece here to add to this unit for what we've lost i think they feel they need to add another big piece along the offensive line now dylan radins is a guy that they like but they don't exactly feel at least at the combine mike ray will say he didn't feel that he was ready to start and that's that he's charging offensive line coach, Keith Carter, along with the conditioning staff to, to get right. Now, if you guys remember last year,

Dylan Raiders has some strength issues coming into the, to the draft. And that was one of the knocks on him. He worked out with Joe Staley during the whole draft prep time. I think it's still something that he has to do. And I say all that to say this, I see him more playing at right tackle as opposed to left guard. Obviously, as you're playing on the interior, man, that's strength on strength.

You're in a phone booth and that's just how it is. Whereas you could finesse a little bit more at tackle. So I would imagine he's going to be more of a tackle and then you look at the guard situation that's where they had their biggest loss and Roger Saffold so left guard I think they're going to look to the draft to to fill that and there are some really good options and some guys that I categorize as buy one get one free and we'll talk about that when we make our pick so let's flip over to the defensive side before we get to your pick there. Tell me about this defense just overall,

because when I look at the depth chart, I mean, you see Jeffrey Simmons, he's a stud. They paid Harold Landry a lot of money. Obviously they got Kevin Byard on the back end, but what's the belief in some of these other guys, like guys like Christian Fulton, Caleb Farley, Elijah Molden, in the secondary guys at the linebacker level. Now, you know, the players who are on the defensivebacker level now you know the players who are on the defensive line next to simmons and landrew is there a clear cut priority maybe maybe

in round one but maybe even right after that in rounds two three four all that for the titans that they would is there a priority position on defense that they're going to look for how are they viewing their defensive side that's what makes it really interesting, right? Because you look at the best player available side of things and a guy like Devin Lloyd or N'Kobe Dean could be available. It's like, okay, well, that's likely going to be BPA. But David Long Jr. is a guy no one talks about. But good grace.

If you watch Titans games, this dude, he's a playmaker, man. And you see him attacking the line of scrimmage. He's not the biggest guy, but he comes up aggressively against the run. He's outstanding in coverage, sideline and sideline. And you match that with Zach Cunningham, who was just a violent football player. I think they're solid at the second level. You still see a lot of mocks putting Dean and in some cases Lloyd to them. I don't know that that's a pick that they would make. And oh, by the way, they spent a third round pick

on Monty Rice last year, who played pretty solid football as special teams wise. And he filled in a few times when David Long was out. So I think they're set on the inside linebacker side of things. I could see them getting another corner. And the reason being is Christian Fulton. He took a huge step forward last year in the second year. I think he's going to continue to progress. Elijah Molden, to me, is an outstanding nickel receiver, corner rather. He told me that we got to speak to him earlier this week.

And he told me that one of the things he really wanted to focus on was press coverage and getting better in that perspective so that'll be really good so that way you know you don't see those guys being able to stretch the field as much from the slot but there is a question with Caleb Farley and I love his ability I really do but the problem is availability is the best ability and that's not exactly been something that he's brought to the table over the last few years if he can get on the field and just fulfill a part of the potential that he has they'll be solid but i don't know that that's a gamble that i would make so when you look at you know guys like mccollum you look at uh josh williams i think those are guys in the

draft that would be really good. I don't know that they're in a position to spend a first or third round pick on corner. But as you get to the middle of that, I think that is something they can do. Looking at the wide receiver room and even, you know, putting aside everything with A.J. Brown contract wise, assuming he's there and he's A.J. Brown, one of the best young receivers in football. Julio Jones move didn't work out, but now they trade for Robert Woods, who before the season-ending injury last year for three-plus years

was just a consistent performer at a high level. That's going to be a quietly huge add for this team. Is there anyone else on this depth chart that they think can really factor in as a number three, or is this another team that might look into the draft and go, hey, rounds even two, three, or four in another another deep wide receiver class they can look to add a name into that spot i think they can look to add a name absolutely um sky more uh chris and watson i know they they've met with trailing bergs johan dodson they met with those guys chris alave but that's kind of like a pipe dream for them it's not gonna happen like he's at 26 you know it'll be like a pipe dream for them. It's not going to happen. Like, if he's at 26, you know, it'll be like a Laramie Tunsil situation.

So, hopefully, for his sake, that doesn't happen. But to answer your question as far as the number three option, you know, Nick Westbrook-Ekinning, who was an undrafted free agent out of Indiana a couple years ago, he, as a rookie – you know, I told him this, so I'm not speaking behind his back. He had physical confrontations with the football. It was like Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. He was fighting the football, and he couldn't catch it whatsoever,

but he's gotten better from that perspective. Now you're seeing him really corral the ball. It's not making noise when it hits his hands. He was pretty consistent last year, one called upon. That is a guy they feel will step up. Des Fitzpatrick was a fourth-round pick. noise when it hits his hands and he was pretty consistent last year one called upon so that is a guy they feel will step up death fitzpatrick was a fourth round pick the sense of urgency with him really wasn't there initially but he eventually settled in and he's the guy that they'll be looking to you know get some help from but absolutely man when you look at uh this draft

isaiah weston out of northern iowa is a guy I think would be an outstanding fit. You know, he's an X. He could play Z, but in my opinion, he is an X and he would fit there perfectly just because it's vertical speed. Man, it's all about having in the receiver game. It's not heavy hands, soft hands. You got to tell me it's soft in the hands, not boxing. It's not the heavy hands. So, all right, Teron, let's put you on the clock here. It's been a very interesting guest mock. And, you know, we've had a lot of these B reporters come on and make the picks for what they would do. We're going to do the same here with you. You've kind of outlined what the Titans might do themselves. And you can talk about that a little bit here with your pick,

if you think that it's a realistic one that the team's going to look at but who would you be taking if the board fell this way who would you be taking for the Tennessee Titans here at number 26 yeah if the board fell that way I would go Kenyon Green and I know there's a lot of interest in here we go okay and if for me and I always like when I'm watching someone else and another guy pops up, I'm like, dang, who is that? Who is that? And in watching Isaiah Spiller, every single run that he had that was an explosive run was right behind Kenyon Green, you know. And I think when you look from a Titans perspective,

they really appreciate versatility. He could play tackle in a pinch. He could play guard. I think he will come in and be plug and play in place of Roger Saffold. And you don't really have, well, I don't want to disrespect Saffold as an established veteran. You don't have as much of a drop off from Saffold to Green as you would from like Green to some of these other guys that are available in my opinion he's the top guard and that would be an excellent fit for them it's not a sexy pick but guess what in order to be able to push the ball down the field and get the ball to your receivers you need

protection up front he could do that in order to be able to get those home runs from derrick henry you need holes to be open he could do that so i think that would be the pick but trailing berks i saw he was gone that's a guy that i would really consider as well if he was there do you think that the team believes that probably interior offensive line is the way to go of course anytime you're picking this late in the draft it's all about who falls to you but do you think they'll have that interior offensive line spot pretty high on their list too i do i do because when you look at the way this team is built uh they invest heavily in the trenches you mentioned harold landry right bud

dupree yeah right uh you look at at jeffrey simmons he's going to be up for a deal then you look on the flip side i mean they put some money into that offensive line right uh ben jones just got a contract uh roger saffolder just that's the way it was as far as how everything fell he had to be a cap casualty but dylan radins in the second round isaiah wilson was just right you know we can have another conversation about that but uh yeah so they've invested in the trenches and i think they'll continue to do that now i kind of got to ask when did you know it wasn't going to work out with isaiah wilson because that was that was way quicker than i thought it was going to be like that was he was when he got in there i was like man you know

play style wise he's massive he's strong i get it for the titans that's probably why they fell in love with them but then it was just so quick that that pick fell apart and then it's like boom you're just off the team yeah uh i'll be honest with you the second pad at practice i turned to one of the reporters and i said you're not gonna get anything from him this year oh man because every single time all i saw him doing he was always on the ground always on the ground and they get in their stance and he's not he's bigger than you know than everybody so i expect a little bit of difference but it was like this you know what i mean like his back was like two backs above everyone else and he just was so in such bad shape that he couldn't even get down in the stance

and then he also he got colt uh was it colt brennan what's the the quarterback from hawaii oh um uh cole mcdonald cole mcdonald yes i had the the previous two previous generations right right cole mcdonald he got him cut yeah he got him cut because he got beaten along the edge and uh mcdonald had to kind of change his trajectory of the throw on a deep outbreaking route and one of the corners came up and picked it up picked it off and three hours later mcdonald was cut so yeah it kind of showed early just football wise that it wasn't gonna work wow man well going back to the canyon green pick um connor what do you think about it canyon green lasted all the way to 26 feel like it's a good fit i love it it's the pick i would

have made here um listen he's played four spots on the offensive line he fits their brand of football he relocates guys to different zip codes on plenty of plays we know his team wants to run he's plug and play a guard i know he's going to need time if anybody wants to give him a shot at tackle it didn't always look great at a and m but man this is a great land this is a mutually great fit great landing spot for kenyan green and for the titans this is one of the best talents on the board at a position of need yep no i totally agree absolutely love it this is a great one-in-one fit here everybody go follow taron davenport on twitter follow all of his great work over espn as you guys can hear he has got one of the best eyes for talent and eyes for the game yes in this industry one of

my favorite follows taron thank you so much for joining us here appreciate you guys i'm honored all right we are up to number 27 highly anticipated pick for a lot of reasons mainly because i think of the guests that we have here he is the executive b reporter for pewter report it is the one and only john ledger john thank you so much for joining us here at 27 to pick for the tampa bay buccaneers absolutely. I appreciate you having me. I haven't been on Good Morning Football yet this year or any year, so I do feel a little bit out of place. No, okay. We got to get him out.

We got to get him out. I tried to do that crew with my hair, but honestly, it wasn't. I think probably the best beard here. Maybe I get the fan. You can grow the best beard. Okay, so as long as I get something. Back in our lockdown NFL draft days, sometimes you would go when you lived in Pennsylvania,

you'd go full mountain man for the season. So I've seen, I'm going to, I'm going to give it to him. I'm going to give it to him. All right. So John, no shortage of storylines that have happened in Tampa Bay this off season.

Right. Tom Brady retires. Ali Marpet retires. They're going to, they're, they're losing every free agent. The sky is falling. tom brady comes back now every free agent is back and then bruce arians retires so i mean it was absolute whirlwind but with this being a draft podcast and you can kind of go on whatever tangents you want my first question is when brady retired

what was the draft outlook for this team? Like when he retired and when the dust settled and when all the news articles were written and you were looking forward to the draft, what did you think their draft targets were going to be and how different might that be from what it is now? Or maybe it's not. You tell me. Yeah, I don't know if it's crazy different because I don't think they would have drafted a quarterback. I really don't.

And I don't know what we would have seen happen, obviously, in free agency or via trade if he had stayed retired. But I don't think it would have been a quarterback in the draft. So maybe it didn't change that part of it. But what it did was the ripple effect, right? So some players like Ryan Jensen were coming back anyway. But there were other players who I'm sure it helped incentivize them to come back to Tampa Bay.

So it kind of took other needs off the table or change their needs as a result of Brady coming back. So I don't know if the move by itself changed the draft board, but now I think as they look ahead and they see who they brought back, it's like, okay, there has to be, I don't care what they say. Obviously they want to draft for the future. It goes without saying, when you're taking a player in the first round, you want them to be good five years from now. And you don't want them to be good just for this upcoming year but they're

kidding themselves if they're trying to think we're going to believe that the player they take at number 27 overall or if they trade back um isn't going to be a guy that can make a difference on the field for them this season i would just be stunned if that's the case well i thought that that was going to be the case in the second round last year john but then they drafted kyle trask so i've been proved i've been proven wrong before in the second round you may be right this year that may be the philosophy but in the first round it's going to be a player who can contribute i think so john obviously a lot they were able to retain so many valuable players and even spots they lost they were able to make absurd moves like acquiring Shaq Mason for pennies, it felt like. What's an, not an obvious need, because, you know, we're going to get through all of that

on today's show, and a lot of the fans listening already know the obvious needs, but what's an maybe underrated need on this Bucs team, whether it could be because of free agency in 2023, that it can open up, you see a player walking out the door or just a hole on this roster, even for this current year. I think most people know the tight end until Gronkowski makes a decision. And even when he does, they need a tight end, you know, long-term for this team, for sure. That's one. And then defensive tackle with Sue also still a free agent, both those guys, if they, if Gronk wants to keep playing, he's going to do in Tampa Bay. Everybody knows this. If Sue wants to come back, he's ready to go. I just think they're waiting

until the draft. They want to see how this thing unfolds. Everybody knows this. If Sue wants to come back, he's ready to go. I just think they're waiting until the draft. They want to see how this thing unfolds. So there's still options to add to those positions. But right now they're two obvious starting lineup holes. The other one would be left guard. Although they have players they believe that can compete for that spot. Aaron Stinney, Nick Leverett, and Robert Hainsey

can all kind of compete for that spot the way the Bucs see it. I don't think they're up in arms about adding to that spot and replacing Allie Marquette with another star. I think they feel like for their offensive lineman or for the best players in the league at their position and they should be able to get by with a fifth guy and the history tells us that they're probably right on that so I would say the secondary is probably I think it's hard for people from the outside to sift through all the young players that they have there okay they have all these young players and nobody's become a star other than you know

Carlton Davis and Antoine Winfield certainly look like they're on their way outside of that. What's the outlook like in last year, good people mocking them a DB. Then I think this year, last year, I didn't think it was going to happen this year. I think it could very well happen. Like this could be a year where you see a defensive back in the cards for the bucks could be early in the draft. They, you mentioned who's players who aren't contract years. I mean, you've got Jamel Dean, Sean Murphy Bunting, Logan Ryan, Keanu Neal, Mike Edwards, Jairus Cockrell, Dee Delaney, if you want to go all the way down. Like basically every DB on the team is a free agent after this year

except Carlton Davis and Antoine Winfield. So those are your cornerstone pieces. Maybe Dean is one. This is a big year for him. He has to stay on the field. But when he was on the field last year, he was really good. And so you don't know beyond that. Even with Logan Ryan and Keanu Neal, the two new players they brought in.

So, yes, somebody that safety, I think, could be a need. Or outside corner, and it would tell us that they don't think that much of Sean Murphy Bunting or they don't trust Jamel Dean to stay on the field. Could be one or the other. But defensive back would be a position that they could take in the first, or they could not take it all. And neither outcome would really surprise me. John, you do such great work covering the draft, not just for Peter report, but just at a general level to obviously going back to our days when we were working at the draft network and before on lockdown NFL draft. And so I kind

of want to just go straight into that draft angle with this pick because I'd love to hear what you think about not just maybe what the Bucs are going to do here at 27 but some general thoughts on maybe what you think the strengths of the class are going to be at this point in the draft so I know before we hit record you said that you know four or five options you think are going to be on the board for the Buccaneers so before we get to your pick who you would pick for this team who do you think those options are going to be on the board for the Buccaneers. So before we get to your pick, who you would pick for this team, who do you think those options are going to be for them at this point and why? Yeah, I can't really, even though I know you said pick who you would pick. And so it is in my mind and I am going to pick who I would pick, I think in this situation,

but I am so kind of conflated with, like, I can't be unrealistic with my pick. Like, I just don't have that capacity as a person. So, like, I'm trying to also be realistic within the parameters of what I think the Bucs actually might do. And I think that there's a couple players that they'll consider at this spot. Devontae Wyatt is one, and he's on the board right now for me to look at. Georgia defensive tackle.

Bruce Aaron said it at the combine. We want more pass rush inside. We want more explosiveness inside. We need to want more explosiveness inside. We need somebody quicker, twitchier next to Vita VEA. Most head coaches and now he's not a head coach. I see that most head coaches don't give you that kind of insight into what they're looking for in certain positions, but with Bruce, you always know you can expect some of that really intricate detail with this stuff. So there's no mystery. Like they're looking for three.

I mean, there's no mystery with who they brought in for top 30 visits. They brought in Devante Wyatt, Logan Hall and Perry on Winfrey. Like those are explosive upfield three technique type of players. Like they are not looking at the Jordan Davis's and the Travis Jones of this draft class. They're looking at the twitchy guys on the inside. They're looking for a different body type with Vita Vaya. So I think Devante Wyatt is one, and I think Logan Hall is another. Those are two players on the board that I think the Bucs will consider at number 27. Now, with Wyatt, there's obviously been some whispers

of like off the field stuff that's happened with him in the past. Some of it is in the past. Most of what I know of it's in the past. We've checked in with some people. Seems like it is, he has turned a corner in a lot of those things and kind of flipped the page a little bit so there is a lot of optimism i think but he's also 24 and he didn't

really break out until this past year and it's worth noting that even in a breakout year his production isn't crazy or anything to look at so if you're looking at things through those lens there are some peripheral concerns with his profile at 27. You're probably a little more willing to overlook those things than at, you know, seven or something like that where athletically and physically why it would probably profile in other years, but the production and the eight breakout age and all that kind of stuff hasn't really matched up as closely with him.

So he's under consideration. Logan Hall, who also broke out this past season is under consideration. I think a little bit of a different body type, very different body type than Vita Vea, for example, but more along the lines of Will Golston's body type. Again, I think they see pass rush, interior pass rush potential. I would like Hall for this season as a rotational player. Long-term, is he an every-down snap guy? I'm not totally sure whether I'd see with him, but those are two guys under consideration. I think if he's there, and he's not in this mock i believe arkansas wide receiver trailing burks would be one that the bucks would consider they don't necessarily see wide receivers the

biggest need but they definitely like burks so if it was just best player available and they didn't feel like any of their needs were on the board which is unlikely but i think burks is somebody that they would consider at this spot you could could say some similar things for Zion Johnson too, at this spot. Again, I don't think they feel like guard is their biggest need right now, but those are options. Other guys, I would say two other guys that I would mention is Louis seen the safety from Georgia. Again, just a strong safety. It could play in the box, could play underneath coverages, also could play deep when you need them to, but probably isn't a single high guy early in his career. That's fine.

Winfield profiles as a single high guy. Seen could fill Jordan Whitehead's role, but has way more upside just in terms of size, athleticism, to develop into something more. So a player who could maybe by year two play single high, and you could roll Winfield down and be more interchangeable with your safeties. That's really what the Bucs want, I think, from next move, they make it safety is to become more interchangeable there. So I'd

say that guy. And then I'd say also, you know, I think Trey McBride, the tight end from Colorado state, I know this is high for his average draft position, but the Bucs Jason, like kind of said it the other day, kind of let slip. He's like, you always wish there were more tight ends in a class than there are. They've brought in two tight ends for top 30 visits trey mcbride and kate otten like those are the tight ends that they've really zeroed in on otten this is too high for him mcbride this is probably the the peak of his range like this is probably as high as he would go so if you're looking for a surprise pick i think that could be you know mcbride in the box i just think he he fits exactly what they look for. Off the field, personality, demeanor, age, profile, skill set, all of it. He fits what they look for.

So the fit is good. They'd love to trade down and make it happen probably, but we'll see. All right, well, let's waste no more time. Let's get into the pick. I think you laid out the needs really well. You laid out a lot of different players that could be a fit in the first round for the Bucs. John, you are on the clock now for the Bucs. Which direction are you going in with how our always interesting draft board fell? Well, with the way this board fell, I'm going to go with

Georgia safety Lewis scene with the 27th overall pick. You know, I think this is an opportunity to add another young player to the secondary. keanu neal is a question mark he just is he's missed two seasons he's coming off a year at linebacker which didn't go well i think he's two years ago when he played safety again in atlanta i think he was pretty good but i don't know how much you're banking on that paying the guy you know near the minimum for a one-year deal like if he becomes if he's a starter temporarily great but long term i don't know if you see it that way. Logan Ryan is not a strong safety.

He'll play in the nickel. Maybe he could help a free safety in a pinch. Mike Edwards, same thing. He's a free safety. He's not really a strong safety. So they're kind of out of options that are ideal for them at this spot on the roster. So Seen makes a ton of sense to me because he can do that right away, step in a role like that, play around a lot of scrimmage, play in the box underneath coverages, Bucks are zone heavy, and he would be able to play in those zones pretty quickly. Man-to-man coverage is where he needs more work and development.

Good. He would get time to be able to do that. He would, same thing with single eye free safety. If he wanted to do that in the future, he has time to grow into those kinds of roles. He has time to add some weight to his body, but physical hard hitter. I think he plays with good instincts. Some other things that parts of his game probably need a little bit more development, but in terms of the fit and his ability to step in early on in Tampa, I think he'd come in and be a difference maker in their secondary. And that's something that I still think that they need. They need more talent and more depth in the secondary. And he would give them both. We know that they're going to pick secondary players if they believe it's a need we've seen that in their recent history they are um very willing to dip into that secondary pool you okay you mentioned that the pick that you were going to make which is

lewisine was maybe not necessarily the pick that they would make you mentioned the scene is probably one of their guys there do you have like a pecking order or a ranking of the players, the realistic options of players that you listed that you think that it would go with? Yes, our Bucs best bets are going to be coming out. And they're already coming out. Okay, all right, okay. I don't want to steal it from you.

And our final seven round mock draft is going to be coming out soon. So you will get the full picture there, but it is one of the players that I mentioned there. If you are mock drafting for the Bucs, one of the, one of the, what, five players I mentioned there and Burks is off the board. So not, so I narrowed it down to four or five for you. When does this come out? When is your, this, the,

so the final seven round mock draft, I think is coming out. It's coming out. It might be coming out Sunday night at peer report. Okay. Look, as long as it's comes out. It's coming out. It might be coming out Sunday night at Pew report. Okay. Look, as long as it's comes out before I have to turn in my final mock draft, that's all I care. Yeah. Oh yeah.

It'll be out. So you can copy face. Okay, great. Beautiful. It's just, that's what it's going to be. It's just give me a copy face straight into it.

We got it right last year. We got both first and second round picks right last year. I mean, like, I'm not just saying this cause I used to work for Pew report, like Pew report. And Scott has been there all along you know like i worked there you worked there everything and so like we've always been pretty big on the draft but like scott's got a good beat on what the bucks are gonna do he loves the draft and also he's got y'all have

really good insight into what jason light might do or tendency. So y'all, I mean, y'all have a pretty good idea of what might happen. It's hard to 27 though, dude, it was hard to 32 last year, right? But it's going to be hard to 27 because there's a couple more needs and it's, it's going to be tricky this year, but hopefully it's in our best bets or, or we feel like we've got a good, we finished it up today and completed it. So we feel like we've got a good outlook on it. So if you're looking to, looking to who the box might draft, yeah, that'll drop this weekend sometime. All right, there we go. Everybody make sure you go read that. You listen to all of

the podcasts and live shows that John and the pewter report people are doing. They cover the bucks about as well as anyone possibly could covering a team, whether it's draft fantasy football in season, whatever it whatever it is john y'all do such great work appreciate you for joining us my friend thanks buddy always appreciate you guys you guys are the best keep doing what you're doing it's always a good lesson and it's great to see you both thriving thanks all right round two for the green bay packers i shouldn't say round two because it's still round one so that was a bad reference the second pick in the first round for the green bay packers okay there we go they pick trailing berks in number 22 very interested to see who they're going to take at number 28 because we

have one of my favorite guests on this guest mock draft series we have justice mosqueda who is the community producer gotta get the title right for acme packing company uh the blog that covers the the green bay packers over at sb nation justice how are you doing my friend appreciate you joining us i was doing better until you told me Traylon Burks went 22nd, and I know you cracked that smile there. That's not where I would have gone, but hey, once the dominoes are out there,

what can you do? Listen, you know, we got to let Pete be his own man, and he took Traylon Burks over Garrett Wilson, and, you know, we got to let him move with that. I think that that's just what we got to do. Would you have taken Garrett Wilson at 22? I'm not even a Garrett Wilson guy, but I would have taken Garrett Wilson. I mean, he's, he's a vertical threat. He's an acrobat. I think he's limited to those two things. And I think people might think that he's, he's better than that, but I would take that over, uh over Trelon Burks where, you know,

you're hearing some stuff now where it's like in the interviews and stuff, you might be falling down because people are learning why maybe he was playing in the slot so much and why they had to kind of dictate touches for him. But it is what it is. At least it's not a Christian Watson and his 35% of offensive snaps that he played and like 100 receptions at the FCS level, even though he ran a four, three over four years. So I learned very quickly that Packers fans and chiefs fans want no part of

Christian Watson at the back end of the first round. So don't do it. I stopped mocking him. Okay. Now you're speaking my language. All right. So before we get to some Packers-specific questions, Justice is a OG pillar of draft Twitter, and he might roll his eyes at having that title, but he has been on the draft Twitter game for a really long time. So I'm curious.

We're talking about wide receivers here. Who do you like the most in this class? Who are the guys that you really like? Maybe either your top guy, your top two guys, something like something like that i mean it's jameson number one for me i mean he could just fly and it's really as as simple as that and then number two is chris alave for me i know he's not everyone's favorite from ohio state um some people think he's the third best wide receiver from ohio state which is crazy to me but he's just so dang smooth he reminds me so much of like calvin ridley. I think he could come in and produce immediately.

So just kind of viewing it from like a Packers perspective, they need speed, right? So it's like those two. And then Garrett Wilson is kind of like a distant third in my mind in terms of like the top of the draft for me. Yeah. No, I like the difference of opinion there. And yeah, if Jamiams was healthy i think

it would have probably limited a lot of the debate honestly in this draft that you know if he was healthy he didn't have the acl tear i think everybody would have been pretty comfortable with him as a surefire top everyone would have pointed to him and said this is the one guy who could produce against that georgia defense right let's not overthink this right no you're absolutely right um so i kind of want to throw a different angle at you once again before we get to the Packers, although it kind of does have a little to do with them, I think, at the end of the day.

This edge class, this is regarded as, you know, in my eyes, maybe not an edge class that has this blue-chip talent. It's not headlined by a Miles Garrett or a Chase Young or a Nick Bosa, but it's definitely one of the deeper edge classes we've seen in a while in terms of it's more than just a three-, four- player edge class. How do you kind of stack up this edge class? And is there anyone outside the obvious names that we kick around over and over again at the top of this draft that you've kind of been a little higher on similar to how your approach was with the lobby with the wide receivers? Yeah, I like, I like these guys. I think it's

a pretty good class. I think the one guy I don't necessarily get is Jermaine Johnson. He's a guy I probably think of like that guy usually goes in the second round and he's being talked about as a top 10 type of pick right now. And I'm like, I don't, I don't really get it. But I really like Karloftis relative to like where people have him. I think he should be a guy that, you know, you're picking at 12 or something like that. And you're, you're should be slobbering being like, people have him, I think he should be a guy that, you know, you're picking at 12 or something like that. And you're, you're should be slobbering being like, Oh my God,

I can't believe this guy's here. And then later in the draft, I mean, boy, Mafe does some interesting things. I know he's on the older side. He's definitely like a designated pass rusher type of guy, but he can give you some snaps. And there's not that often that you can look at the second round and say like, Hey, these guys actually should be going there. Right. Like you've seen guys like Aziz Ojalary, who's like only a run defender basically like go in the second round and not

be able to produce early on. I think a guy like Arnold Evachetti is really interesting. He was a guy who stood out to me really early on. I wasn't even watching the edge rushers yet because I was kind of going through like Packers positional need rankings basically. And like start with wide receivers. I'm watching Ohio state and I'm like, who the hell is this 17? He keeps standing out. Like, is he in this draft class? And it's Evacati. And you just keep watching them over and over again against these big 10 offensive linemen. You're like, this guy should be a top 40 pick easily now he's kind of risen there

um the one guy i think people haven't necessarily caught on to is like josh paschal um from kentucky he's really fun and he might not be for everyone because you do kind of have to move him around on the defensive line but like if someone wants to use him like as darius smith and i know that feels kind of like a lazy comparison because they're both Kentucky Wildcats, but if you want to bounce him around the line of scrimmage and he can come in and immediately be your third guy, and you're just going to improve your pressure packages incredibly early on.

You have to be a little bit more versatile. You can't just like roll out the ball and just kind of play bland defense. So like fits like Philadelphia or where, like I'm just thinking of bland defenses off the top of my head like those aren't going to be teams that overvalue him but like he can come in and be a great designated pass rusher if he's there after pick you know 40 he's definitely the best guy on the board in my opinion so let's get into some of the the packers options here in the draft and obviously we've we've got the wide receiver pick up at number 22 but let's imagine we're just going into this draft for the packers specifically replacing davante

adams take that 22 pick away that's already been made in this guest mock draft where are they right now in replacing that kind of talent in the offense and they signed sammy walkins they've got alan lazard um i think brando cobb's still there. Right. So, I mean, it's not like it's star studded guys, but are you somebody who thinks that they should double dip a wide receiver that if they don't pick a wide receiver in the first round at this point, it's malpractice. Like where are you with the priority that is wide receiver relative to the

other Packers needs right now? I mean, they definitely need to take one, right. At the very least. You look at the production right now, the, the contract details today, it's four 20 Sammy Watkins, you know, he got basically like a $2 million deal. So that doesn't even necessarily mean that he's locked in to making this roster. But if you look at kind of the roster construction, you got Sammy Watkins, you got Rand randall cobb you got alan lazard you got amari rogers okay that's that's

four roster spots you know alone plus you figure one of them is going to have to play uh someone else is going to have to play special teams because none of those guys do it so like they had a guy uh malik turn of malik taylor who was doing that last year let's assume he makes it that's five wide receiver spots you got locked in already so my thought at wide receiver is maybe you don't have to double dip but you have to at least take one giant swing which is why i think like i don't know bend the ear of the chargers at 17 and be like hey 22 and a third like that might be able to get us chris olave like if that's the difference between a chris olave or sitting there and being like ah we should take treyland burks to replace alan lazard in the year like that that makes more sense to me because they

need speed is the other thing and the speed wears away quick right like we talked about the top three guys in the draft and then you're talking about 4-4 guys, and you're looking at Alec Pierce, Christian Watson, where you're like, ah, I really have to squint at these guys to think of them as year one producers. So with that being said, when I hear they need speed, and obviously they're a team that has no problem rolling out and playing 6'3", 6'4", wide receivers over and over again, are they maybe one of those mystery teams for George Pickens?

I've seen you tweet that you're obviously personally high on him. I've seen draft ranges for him, unlike any other player, right? I have seen people say, hey, he could go in the first round. A lot of people understandably are playing it safe and thinking his range is in that, you know, late, maybe top 40, but right in the 40s around there. I mean, when you break it down like that in terms of the fit of what they need, the ceiling with Pickens, is that completely insane if they wanted to take a different player at 22 that they value extremely highly, and then at 28, or even if they move back into the top of the second round, look that way for a wide receiver?

I would love that i would love george pickett's at 28 if we could sign that up right now you know eight days before the draft i don't care who's on the board at that point just plug it in i get to go to sleep you know just sleep calmly at night that's it yeah i'd be good with that for sure i mean i'm personally i like pickens more than burks honestly so well as do i he's ahead of him in our rankings i feel like pickens isn't gonna go in the first round i think that he should be considered too and there's just a buzz around it there's there's just not a lot and i don't know if it's just like again like i feel like we're finding like character stuff with people

or like teams aren't gelling with certain prospects more in this class than it feels like in the past so like i don't know if that's george pickens thing because when you look at the rest of it the size the speed the strength the profile the play on the line of scrimmage like it's all there for george pickens i'd certainly consider him at the back of the first round but just doesn't seem like that he's getting that buzz so what about i talked to nicobe dean like last week and nicobe was like best dude i ever saw in practice george pickens by far and it's like this dude is playing against first like top 10 offensive linemen fairly consistently over his career and he's still

like yeah george pickens is that dude and imagine him producing in practice against that georgia defense mind you again the only guy guy that was able to actually get numbers on that Georgia defense, James Williams, who still has, he's coming off of an ACL tear, but it's still being talked about as a potential top 10 pick. It just seems like we're going to look back in three years and be like, wow, we

really blew it with the George Pickens thing. This is music to my ears. I absolutely love this. All right, so let's look at the rest of the roster for the Green Bay Packers. We know that wide receiver is a big need. But I'd love to hear from you, defensive side of the ball, kind of like what they're thinking, what their needs might be there. I know they have some offensive line creativity,

but like where a pick might matter most for them along the offensive line. And I also know that green bay more than other teams feels like they have certain thresholds at certain positions so as you go over what their needs might be maybe some thresholds if they if they apply to some of those positions that green bay might target yeah if you guys ever look up uh the ras stuff you guys are following the draft i'm sure you guys know what that is relative athletic score um most of their picks like 80 of them are like 7.0 or higher so think of like top 30 percentile like they're just basically just

spamming those guys offensive line the thresholds that are important are basically like average to above average uh agility drills in both uh the three cone and the short shuttle uh they also have pretty strict thresholds for size um that really comes in handy with like the wide receivers and the corners right so like they're not going to take a super skinny or super short uh wide receiver like they're pretty much going to look at like guys who are like 511 or higher um across the board so in terms of position needs though i mean i think the big ones are just like line of scrimmage defenders i mean mean, you look at their defensive line, they had five guys last year that they played consistently on the interior. That probably wasn't enough. I mean, there were so many games that their guys were just

gassed. Um, and, and when the backups came in and it's Tyler Lancaster coming off the bench, teams just know like, Hey, we can just kind of run at the backups. Once the backups are in, um, the edge rusher is the depth really hurt them. I mean, think about it last year they signed whitney merciless because they needed him whitney merciless is now retired zadaria smith got released after he missed basically the entire season uh this past year um because of his contract situation so now like their third rusher on the edge might be like tipa nalia who's's 230 pounds. It's not, it's not great. So I could see them easily, depending on who is available looking at an edge rusher or an interior defensive lineman.

I think a guy who makes a lot of sense just based off of kind of where he's being mocked and stuff. Like if, if George Karloff, this is there at 22, I think that's the one, like all Packers fans, like look at each other and are like, yeah, we didn't need to take a wide receiver there. Like that probably makes sense. We'll grab one at 28. And that's maybe where, you know, George Pickens comes into play there.

Carl Loftus and Pickens, the Justice combo at 22 and 28. Sign them up. All right. Speaking of that, let's put you on the clock, right? Your pick 22 was out of your hands, but you do have all the power for pick number 28 for the Green Bay Packers. Justice, where are you going with this selection? The 28th pick of the NFL draft, Logan Hall.

Defensive lineman, Houston. Okay, so yeah, go ahead, go ahead. I love his game. He's putting on the weight right now. I think he's going to get a little bit bigger once he's in the pros. Very athletic for his size um you watch some of his games and you're like holy crap this is absolutely a first round pick just in terms of height weight speed like all the planet theory stuff right um i think he's athletic enough that he can play on the edge for

some reps i think ideally he's like a five tech which i think that would go nice with what green bay has right now so if your interior often or your interior defensive line is Kenny Clark, Dean Lowry and Logan Hall, you're pretty happy. And then you rotate Hall and Lowry, you know, at three tech or whatever, but I think Logan Hall too, can play some edge reps. So like you're talking about pressure packages, maybe he could play outside the tackle and that can get, you know, Rashawn Gary, um Gary on the interior head up on a center or a guard or something like that. And you end up helping two positions at once. I think that's kind of like the perfect pick for the Packers in this situation with, you know, whoever's

left on the board right now. I was standing next to Logan Hall on the field of the senior bowl. And that dude was just, I mean, not to say a cliche, but like built different, like physically, like his lower body, just like he was built like an NFL defensive lineman. So that immediately stood out to me. I know he could play at a variety of different weights. And he feels like he fills all the profiles of what the Packers would actually go for as well, right? Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, they just, they hit athleticism and then like defensive linemen pass rushers just constantly it's just like they just spam that in the first round they'll take corners every once in a while but they they rarely target kind of like offensive guys i mean sometimes there's tackles like a brian belaga or something like that they famously never go wide receiver in the first round and all that so So they definitely invest in these defensive line prospects and kind of looking at the board. I mean, to me, when it came down to this pick with a wide receiver already off, it's between Evachetti and Logan Hall for me. All right. And then he ends up going Logan Hall. Connor, what do you

think about the Logan Hall pick? He's got some steam from the guys who have been on for this guest mock draft lately. So now he goes off the board here at 28. I like it. I'm pretty high on Logan Hall. I don't know if he'll make it into the first round, but this just goes to show you that it's going to be close. There is a good chance. There are homes for him at the back end around one. And I really like that Justice highlighted his versatility. The different ways you can move him along,

you know, the alignments on the defensive line is really going to be the value with him as he grows into that body, adds more mass, and becomes that every down kind of player. So Logan Hall, he fits that front perfectly, and I like the pick. If he doesn't go in the first round, he is one of those priority guys at the beginning of the second.

Absolutely. He will not last long, no doubt about it. Everybody go follow Justice on Twitter. Go follow all of his great work over at Acme Packet Company. Justice. Thank you so much for joining us, my friend. Anytime guys, whenever you need me, we are up to number 29, the last pick in the twenties here in the guest mock draft. It is the Kansas city chiefs. The first of two picks that they have back to back here, they've got 29 and 30, but to tell us all about what they could do with both of these picks, but at least what

they're going to do at 29 we have Seth Kaiser on who is the writer for Chief in the North it's a sub stack that covers the Kansas City Chiefs Seth thank you so much for joining us my friend it thanks for having me this is fun this is that time of the year where we get to do dude fan fiction that is the NFL draft and it's awesome it really we get to play pretend if you will role play as a bunch of nfl gms with absolutely no consequences to it which is the part that i absolutely love so look seth obviously kansas state chiefs one of the juggernauts in the nfl they have been over the last couple of years they've been to super bowls they've won a super bowl now they're losing tyree kill and losing arguably the number one wide receiver in the nfl that is essentially a cheat code i mean

i'm i'm i'm surprised that it was still legal that patrick mahomes and tyree kill were allowed to be on the same team with traffic kelsey as well right now he's gone all jokes aside and they got a pretty penny back for him so they got a lot in return including be having two first round picks now but how do you go about replacing a Tyree kill what is the thought process there and is that something that's even feasible to do here with the extra first round pick I don't think it's feasible to replace Tyree kill just because there's never been a Tyree kill in league history. You know, people want to compare, but in terms of, of athletic profile and the way he plays

profile, there's just never been a wide receiver like him. He's, he's one of the greatest athletes I've ever seen play. People never really appreciated it until they watched it live and they'd watch him on jet sweeps, just run around NFL corners. Like it was high school or something. And you can't replace a guy with singular traits like that. So I think what you have to do is you try to add high-level players. You try to add pieces. You try to add, okay, this guy can do this, this guy can do this, and then this guy can do this. And all together, you've got three guys that can all do in total what Tyreek Hill does.

And hopefully because it's three guys instead of one, you end up slightly ahead of the curve. You know, MVS is a deep threat. He doesn't do a lot of the other stuff Hill does, but he's a good deep threat. Juju Smith-Schuster, he's good on shallow and intermediate routes, not a deep threat. So you got those two guys,

but you still need an X receiver. You still need someone who can provide a little more juice to the passing game. And then I think the hope is piecemeal is better than one player i have to hang on to that hope because when i saw he got traded that i mean that blew my mind that was one of the most unwelcome trades that i've ever seen as a fan well it happened it happened so fast yeah yes that was the thing it was like it was like oh you know uh Tyree Kale you know he's he's the Chiefs have allowed him to explore a trade and then two hours later it was like okay teams are heavily interested in Tyree Kale and then two hours later it was like okay Tyree Kale's

on the Dolphins and it's like hold on that was that was four hours of our life what the what in the world just happened here I I was upset at the time. And I mean, they got a good offer from Miami. They got a ton of picks and I get it, but really it tells me that they really meant what they said when, when they said they kind of let Hill dictate some of the process and they weren't looking to take a bunch of bidders because, you know, it's like, Hey, VH play the market a little bit, man. Like maybe, maybe wait a minute and see if someone offers you more um but it was it was crazy i mean my my friends who tend to know more things than i know behind the scenes i mean they were saying as recently as a week or two before the trade they

were like no both sides really want to get this done and then it all fell apart man um they have a lot of picks now i've moved on other than a slight twitch every now and then but you know it's barely noticeable they do have a lot of picks right now so we know we have you picking 29th today but let's stay away from that for a second have a little fun and pretend that you're gonna get creative with this draft capital in a way that we can't do on this mock draft format but that the Chiefs can do on draft night and move up from 29. And it doesn't have to be 29 and 30 to come up.

It could be 29 and a collection of day two picks to come up with all the extra assets they have. Seth, who is the, I guess we'll look at wide receiver because we do know it's still a need. Who is the wide receiver in this class that would be your dream to have on the Chiefs that you'd sit there and go i would like them to get a little creative with this draft capital move up get this guy and it

would be a little easier to deal with that tyree kill trade because of it sure uh it's tough because there's three guys that i have is like my absolute tier one guys in in london williams and olave whose name i can never say right but i think he's a really good receiver. Those three are all my tier one guys. And oddly enough, given the way that Andy Reed generally does things, the one that I would go with, I just, I fall in love with the prospect committed the Cardinal sin. If they could find a way to get Drake London, I'd freak out because his skillset is very different from the guys they've

traditionally used. But I have also never seen a guy turn 50-50 balls into, like, 90-10 balls. Like, every single game against every corner. And he can separate. People think that's because he never separates. Well, it's because they threw him the ball, like, 15 times a game. That's why you're bound to get more contested catch situations. He'd be my absolute dream guy just because I think he can win in a way that the modern NFL allows because of how much more physical receivers can be than corners.

And he's just unbelievable at it. So he would be my guy if they were going to get kind of creative, but I don't think you can go wrong with any of those three guys. Moving over to the defense side of the ball. You need to hear edge rusher as a potential need. They've got some guys still on the roster but you know it seems like you see a lot of mock drafts of them potentially tapping into edge here at pick 29 or 30 the same thing with corner you know when you talk about the

kansas city chiefs you talk about scoring a lot of points and not only building a offensive weaponry but also a defense against passing could be to their advantage especially for a team that scores as much as they do so on defense what do you think the priority should be here at the back end of the first round if it was you know between an edge rusher or a cornerback which one would you be leaning as the bigger area to go after i think if I were the Chiefs, I would lean towards edge rusher, partly because they've shown over the last two or three years, especially the ability, and they've done it multiple times, to take corners from out of nowhere, develop them. Spagnuolo puts them in a position to succeed to where they don't play great, but they're decent. You end up with three or four decent corners and they play pretty well.

You can live with that. And they've shown they can do it. They, you know, Charverius Ward just got paid. He was traded for an offensive lineman they were going to cut anyway. LeJarius Sneed was a low pick. Rashad Fenton was a low pick. Rashad Breeland was kind of on the scrap heap. I mean, for some unknown reason, I always thought he was a good player.

But they've shown they can develop corners well and put them in position to succeed. They have not shown they can develop addressers or defensive linemen, really. I mean, they've got a new defensive line coach, but they desperately need talent there. Frank Clark has not played particularly well. It's Chris Jones and then a bunch of shrugs.

And that is not fair to Chris Jones who is an awesome player um I think they just have to they have to attack that early and often because they have not shown they can necessarily develop guys to maximize their potential you just need more talent there looking at the offense now post Tyree kill you talked about how you know it could be a little bit more varied or there could be using a lot of different guys and separating targets. And do you think that can play into the draft where we see an identity change? Maybe they add a tight end, a second tight end to play with Kelsey and they run more, obviously, 12 personnel. Or maybe they do add another back to this roster when Edwards, he layer, you know, gets a little banged up, but you think there's going to be any kind of element in this draft that makes them a little bit more of a smash mouth team.

Or do you think with my homes and Andy, this is just who they are. I think it was interesting to watch down the stretch last year in, in response to all the shells teams were playing against them. They really became more of a dink and dunk team in a way people didn't think they could do. Tyree kill basically became a really really turbocharged possession receiver it was it was weird to watch and so they've shown they're willing to adapt some things andy reed's never

going to be a guy that's going to run the ball a ton but their current offensive line combined with the way teams play patrick holmes and will play patrickomes. That's not going to change with or without Hill there. It's begging for them to run into light boxes out of shotgun. It's begging to run just a bunch of duo right down their throat because that interior line is awesome at it. They're so good at it and it just drives you crazy. You know, they run for like a six yard gain on first down and then not run again for another, you know, they run for like a six yard gain on first down and then not run again for another, you know, 15 minutes. So I think you could see a shift in philosophy that way, trying to get teams having to make difficult decisions with personnel with another tight end,

because Kelsey's a good enough blocker against, you know, secondary types on the move that he can make teams pay for playing small against them. You get another guy like that. They could do some interesting things. So I'd like for them to like that, they could do some interesting things. So I'd like for them to do that, but I've been hurt before when it comes to Andy and running the ball more. I don't think Travis Kelsey is going anywhere anytime soon, but he is, what, 33, 34? I'm looking at his contract right now,

and obviously they start to owe him a lot of money on the cap over the next couple of years it goes to the 14 16 18 million and then at that point you know he's 34 35 36 how quickly might life after travis kelsey be coming now that tyreek hill is gone like are they are they about to almost kind of just like reset this offensive identity because for the longest time of course it was Patrick Mahomes it was Tyree Kill and it was Travis Kelsey and it's that combination but with Hill gone with with Kelsey aging are we close to almost more of a total reset on the offensive side of the ball with Kansas City than maybe we're leading on to believe you know it's all going to depend on how kelsey age is he's obviously when you watch him play he's obviously already i get emotional just thinking about it uh he uh

he's obviously lost a step he's not i mean he was a crazy explosive athlete coming out he's not that guy anymore however he's uh sorry he is open just as often as he ever was. And unless he loses a full another two steps or so, the way he gets open is that he reads the field better than anyone I've ever seen. And I don't mean any tight end. I mean, he's a freak. He just, you know, everyone noticed what happened in the AFC Championship where, you know, they play that same coverage i'm just gonna you know go right up

the scene right the game in just a different way and that's why he's always open and that included last year when you look at the all 22 the man just lived open and whether that's just because of hill i don't think it is i think if you have a really good understanding of nfl zone concepts or match concepts and you know how to exploit it you're going to get open but you never know when that floor is just going to drop out and you would assume it's going to happen in the next few years not everyone's tony gonzalez and complain to their late 30s so i do think you're seeing a transition period here they had the first patrick mahomes window which would be like the hill kelsey window because you're not going to get two guys like that again. I mean, those guys are, they're, they're all timers. And so I think now

they're starting to move to the second window. And if Kelsey can maintain what he's been the last few years for another couple of years, that'll make transition in it a whole lot easier. So that's a long way of saying, man, it depends, but it would be great to see him hang on. I mean, again, last year, he wasn't really winning with just pure athleticism anymore. He's just such a great route runner and he can still move quite a bit. So I think he's got another couple of years of elite play left in him. That should help ease the transition, but that transition is coming. All right, Seth, let's put you on the clock.

Pick 29 for the Kansas City Chiefs. The power is in your hands. Who are you taking with this selection? Sure. Well, like I was telling you guys before we got started, I mean, my feelings got hurt because I saw that my three main guys at receiver were gone. That said, fortunately for me, a couple of guys that I'm not quite as high on

as everyone else were also taken. And that left George Pickens just right in my lap. Let's go. And, and so, I mean, I, that was actually a pretty easy pick for me to make with Pickens there. Some people will probably view it as a reach. I think most people. Not me. Sorry. I'm so excited for this.

I didn't know if we were going get george pickens in this guest mock so this is this has me absolutely hyped right now let's go i love it and and that'll help me that'll help me explain to people who doubt it maybe people think i'm an idiot but the the reality is most people that i that i respect that that have really watched the film with pickens said he's gonna be a good one one. And the stuff that he does, you know, you can talk about his athleticism, you know, whether he's more, he's as explosive now as he was in 2019, you know, usually takes two years to come back from an ACL. ACLs aren't what they used to be for starters. That doesn't scare me that much. You give it a year and a half, two years,

the chiefs just watch this happen with Juan Thornhill at safety. But what impresses me about Pickens is the way he wins. He's much more of a technician than he gets credit for in terms of a route runner. He's really, really exceptional at finding the open spaces, moving to the open spaces and exploiting them. And we just got done talking about that with Kelsey. That's something that translates incredibly well at the NFL level, even if you're not 6'3". And fortunately for him, he is. And he moves way better than a dude his size should.

And so I think his ceiling is quite a bit higher than people are giving him credit for. I think after the group that you've already got taken, I think he's one of the few really legitimate wide receiver one potential guys left. And I think he's got a good few like really legitimate wide receiver, one potential guys left. And I think, I think he's got a good chance at it if his health permits it. Connor listens, listeners of this podcast already know how I feel about George Pickens. So what about, what about you? What do you think about George Pickens going 29 here to the Kansas city

chiefs? This is a fun one, man, because it, you know, Seth was put in a position where and for a lot of people the board has fallen perfectly for them where a player at a position of need is right in their lap so they can't pass up and in Seth's spot that was not the case the wide receiver run was insane they went off the board so I like that he was not afraid to go outside consensus take a player that has not been mocked consistently in round one, but Pickens in that offense is such a easy fit to envision, even with his lack of production coming off the ACL tear, which once again, we got to give him time. The size speed is going to play

in that Kansas City offense. So this one is a lot of fun.'s creative and it is one of those ones on draft day if the board falls the chiefs don't move up the wide receivers are gone i wouldn't hate to see this pick for them oh i'm so happy there will be thousand yard seasons in george pickens near future if he ends up going to the kansas city chiefs everybody go follow seth kaiser on twitter follow all of his great work at the chief of the North newsletter. Seth, thank you so much for joining us, man. Not just because you picked George Pickens, but also for the great knowledge that you instilled upon us.

We really appreciate it, man. Of course. And you can Venmo me that, that 20 bucks anytime. Yeah. I got you. I got you. I got you off air. We'll hit, we'll hit it in a few. I appreciate you guys having me. This is fun. All right. Only three picks left. We were up to pick number 30 in the guest mock draft series. We got 30, 31, 32,

and the recap of the entire guest mock draft picks coming to you on a bonus episode this Saturday. So make sure you guys look out for that. And then of course it's draft week next week, everybody starting on Monday, we're getting right to it. Final player rankings, final mock drafts, final big boards, everything leading up to Thursday night, round one of the NFL draft. I'm excited for it. Before then, we'll see you guys on Saturday. We'll see you guys on Saturday. Thank you.