NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 45. Best/Worst Draft Grades From 2022 NFL Draft

Episode Date: May 2, 2022

Hosts Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers give you their instant reaction draft grades for the 2022 NFL Draft. This episode just highlights the best and worst of their team draft grades -- as the guys will get into the details of every team's draft hauls over the next few weeks. 0:00 - Best: Ravens 6:30 - Best: Eagles 12:55 - Best: Chiefs 14:45 - Best: Jets 20:10 - Worst: Patriots 25:50 - Worst: Cardinals 28:05 - Worst: 49ers 29:40 - Worst: Browns 31:00 - Worst: Bears 33:00 - Best: Falcons 34:20 - Best: Giants 35:45 - Best: Texans 37:25 - Best: Lions

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It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com slash BS, device and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. Welcome to the NFL Stock Exchange podcast. In this episode, we're giving you our instant reaction, favorite and maybe not so favorite draft grades for certain teams around the NFL following the 2022 NFL draft. What we're going to be doing is we're going to be weighing where these players were picked according to how we saw them,

our big boards, the halls that we really loved, the players that we really liked that went to certain teams overall, giving you A's, B's, C's, D's, and maybe even some S's for some drafts that we didn't like. We're going to be going through the top and the bottom of our list to highlight things that we loved and weren't so hot on when it comes to these team halls.

Obviously, these guys have not played it down yet. So their careers could be anything at this point, but we love doing these instant reactions. It's what it's all about when it comes to building these big boards out. Getting players that we believe can really help these teams either get towards a winning window or heck, maybe even cap off a winning window with a Super Bowl. I am Trevor Sikama. With me as always is my co-host, 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 and this is the post 2022 nfl draft show here on

a monday morning very excited for this one giving you guys our favorite hauls our best draft grades and also our worst draft grades we try to keep things as positive as possible here on this show obviously draft weekend is a time for every team to get better but look we got to tell it like it is and connor that's what we're going to do today. It was a fun weekend, my man. Hopefully you've caught up on some sleep, but you ready to give some grades out for some of these teams? Dude, I'm feeling great.

I'm alive, not as sleepy as I was on the Friday night 2 a.m. recording or whatever it was. So let's rock. I'm happy that we're going to knock this out and really talk top and bottom almost to the draft, the highest grades. And then, of course, some of the ones that we're trying to figure out.

And I will preface and Trevor's going to preface this as well. We're going to go really deep in the weeds on every single draft. So if you're disappointed, you can get to hear about your team. Right. I'd be middle of the pack or I'll be honest. Sometimes you get to go through drafts and you find something you liked that you missed the first time around. But today's a very, hey, these guys crushed it.

These ones I have some questions about. And then the next couple of weeks, you're going to know literally everything about every player in all the classes. Yep. We figure we give you our tippy top and our very bottom thoughts on these teams. And like Connor said, we're going to be going through division by division. We're going to be going through every single pick, every single transaction, how a team navigated this entire draft.

And honestly, whether they are a team that we believe is a stock up or a stock down and we're going to get into a lot of that as we kind of go through here but let's get right to it my man let's get right into the positives we'll go how about we do this let's go three drafts that we really like and we'll give you our grades for them we'll go over all the picks we'll do our three least favorite drafts after that and then we'll end on a positive note and we'll go to other drafts that we really enjoyed. I think the tippy top one, and I'm looking at your list and we have this team at the very top.

It's not going to be a surprise to everybody, but funny enough, it is a team that we don't talk about a lot because we didn't know a lot about. And it's the Baltimore Ravens. You know, it's so funny. We do all these mock drafts and we go, Oh, what are the Raven do you know what the answer is Connor they're gonna do the right thing that's just what the answer is for the Baltimore Ravens that's what they do every single year and this year no different man Kyle Hamilton Tyler Linderbaum at the top getting David Ojabo Travis Jones if you cut the draft right there that's it yeah I Daniel Follelet, Jalen Armour-Davis, Charlie Kohler. They got Isaiah Likely as well.

Tyler Beatty as their final pick. Dude, this was an A-plus grade for me. From what they had going into it to the players they got coming out. I love this draft. You know what's even funny? When they so-called reached on a punter, they almost get a pass because they did so well with the first seven picks of the draft. It's like you've put yourself in a position to draft a punter, they almost get a pass because they did so well with the first seven picks of the

draft. It's like you've put yourself in a position to draft a punter that is obviously a precision kind of guy. He's excellent at pinning teams inside the 20. And you think you're a team that when you flip the field position, the defense you've drafted, you've paid not just over the last couple of years, this offseason, but now from this draft is so good that that's going to be a game changer for them. So obviously we just, we loved what they did. It was an A plus from each of us. How can it not be? I mean, Kyle Hamilton value goes 14th overall.

Adam is a top 10 player. Linderbaum I had as a top five player, 25th overall. Jabo, top 20 player, 45th overall. Travis Jones, my last first round grade at 24th overall, 76th overall. And then like you said, I really liked their developmental swings. Daniel Falele, to me, is somebody that he needs to develop a mean streak. We've seen guys go to Baltimore and develop that mean streak. So, and he's got the rest of the tools. He's, you know, obviously has pretty heavy feet for a big guy. That's a scheme where you can get away with that. You saw them sign Morgan Moses in the offseason

to hold down right tackle. Now you have the guy behind him that fits the scheme. Jalen Armour-Davis, perfect developmental corner for that kind of defense. Charlie Kohler, not a developmental player, has played a ton of football. He's really going to be a great number two across from Mark Andrews. And you said it, Trevor, you got Isaiah likely later to be competing for that number two spot. But they're one of the teams in the NFL that can run 13 personnel successfully. So Baltimore Ravens crushed this draft. two spot but they're one of the teams in the NFL that can run 13 personnel successfully so Baltimore Ravens crushed this draft I think you also have to factor in maybe not as much I mean it's kind

of a different flavor of how you factor this into a draft hall but they were able to get number 23 overall from Marquise Brown which I thought was a really great trade I know the draft I know Lamar Jackson wasn't super happy about losing one of his favorite receivers, and that's something that they kind of have to deal with and make sure that they're replacing him over the next couple of years. Did his best friend not tell him? Hollywood said that he requested the trade like months ago, I thought. I don't know. And I understand Lamar being upset.

I'm never going to hold that against him. But look, man, for Hollywood to request that trade and for the Baltimore Ravens to get 23 for him, I mean, he wasn't even picked as high as 23 when he was picked. No, and you've got to pay him. And you've got to pay him! So now they don't. This is a receiver who is going into the third year of his contract.

He's got one more year, and then he's got the, I think it's the third year, or is it the fourth year? I can't remember which one it is. This is his fourth year in the NFL. Okay, thank you. And then he has the fifth year option potential. Guys don't play on that. Can we talk about that?

Who the hell plays on the fifth year option anymore? That's good. No one. That's no one. And if you just traded 20, like the Cardinals and unfortunately we're going to get to the Cardinals and not so great light. The Cardinals just traded number 23 overall for a player that they are

going to have to pay. You just traded a first round 23 overall for a player that they are going to have to pay. You just traded a first round pick to a wide receiver that you were going to have to pay a second contract to just to make Kyler Murray happy because you didn't like, okay, we're talking too much about the Cardinals. Don't need to talk about the Cardinals here. Now, he's a killer scheme fit there. It's great. Value of the trade, no good. Scheme fit is great. He's a killer scheme fit. The Ravens, the Ravens being able to move on from him when he didn't want to be there for a premium pick you better believe that goes into it Eric DaCosta killed this bad boy this weekend he absolutely killed it there is a reason

why the Baltimore Ravens are in the playoff conversation every single year this is why because they draft good players because they go about this the right way and yeah they've been one of the best teams for a while and and this is a big reason why so i have them as an a plus grade you have them as an a plus grade who's another draft hall that you really love from this past weekend man the philadelphia eagles for me um when you something i'm gonna do this year that i've been trying to get better at over the years is factoring in something you just brought up trading right, right? Trading and acquiring, you know, obviously some pro talent or more picks, things like that. The Eagles, if you just told me, hey, they walked away with Jordan Davis, N'Kobe Dean, Cam Juergens, I would have been like, cool, man, like really good job using those first

two round first two first round picks and then their second round pick on cam jurgens and it's like no they got nicobe dean in the third round and they use the other first round pick to get aj brown that to me is dynamite howie roseman knew to jump up for jordan davis he got aj brown when everybody once again believed and maybe mike rabel's pissed but everybody kind of believed rabel's's quote and everyone's quotes. They're like, hey, we're not moving A.J. Brown. We're not doing this. And then bang, he's moved. He's a guy to me that's worth paying.

I know a lot of people on the Tennessee side are like, oh, he's hurt a lot. A lot of guys are hurt a lot in this league at wide receiver. For me, he's worth paying and worth that gamble for them. Now you got A.J. Brown. You got Devontae Smith. You got tight ends that are successful. You got a big bully in the middle of the defense. You got a future big bully in the middle of the offense.

And Cam Juergens that we had Jason Kelsey on our show. And Jason was a part of the scouting process for Cam Juergens and told Philadelphia, this is the guy that reminds me the most of myself. And I think Jason, I don't want to put words in his mouth. I think this was his favorite center. He really liked Tyler Linderbaum too, but he loved Cam Juergens. He was jacked up when they got him and he can't wait to get him in that room. And then the Kobe Dean, I know there's injury stuff going around everywhere.

I get it. I've heard it too. I saw Austin tweet the shoulder specifically during the draft. It's Albert Breer said it's a laundry list of injuries. The Kobe Dean can come in there, get him right. A pro staff, a pro medical staff of the NFL level. I think the guy's just going to prove every doubt or wrong. I don't care how small he is. I don't care that he's banged up. It's nothing he's not seen before. N'Kobe Dean in the third

round, 83rd overall pick. Awesome. Kyron Johnson's got some pass rush juice for a sixth round pick. I like Grant Calcaterra in their offense. That's the kind of move tight end that they really value and really like. So for me, I loved the Eagles draft. It was my only other A plus. And obviously I've talked, you know, the teams that I've really, we talked about on other shows are going to be in here as well. But these are the two, put the whole thing together. And you're like, yeah, these are my two favorite drafts. The Eagles also got an A for me. I have one other team that's an A plus, which we'll get to in a second, because the other three teams that we have that we gave really good grades to are different.

The Ravens and the Eagles are the two teams in the A category that both of us agree with. You gave them an A+. I gave them an A. I could have very easily given them an A+, honestly, because you're right. When you factor in the A.J. Brown trade, they killed it. If you just take a step back and you say

to yourself, theagles walked out of day one picks 15 and 18 with jordan davis and aj brown that's incredible they didn't pay that much to move up by the way it's incredible no they really didn't it was a good move up they popped up ahead of the baltimore ravens which was important because i think the baltimore ravens would have been a team that would have been very much on their radar to take them. And of course, you also have to think about if Houston was willing to move with Philadelphia, then that means that

there are probably other teams that might have been calling up. Maybe the Chargers were looking to pop up not too far away to go up and get Jordan Davis. Going up to get a damn good football player is something that I definitely give the Eagles credit for. So I absolutely love that. And then the Kobe Dean in the third round, this is the kind of risk I think you take now is every team in the position to be able to do this often. No. And I think that we as draft fans

don't do as realistic of a job as we should when it comes to guys like this, comes to these guys like sliding down the board where you go like, oh, this is a top 50 talent. When he's healthy, take a chance on him. Well, here's the thing. These teams do a lot of these medicals and rechecks, and they think long-term on these guys, and they wonder how much

they're going to be able to hold up and us on the outside we're kind of sitting here going take a chance on them take the chance on them but the thing is you don't want to be doing this too much because you can't these picks are still really important when it comes to contributing rotational players sometimes guys turning into just plain old starters, and even just the guys that build out your roster and talk about how deep the talent is on your team. But for Philadelphia, they already are not going to pick linebacker early. So this is a team that is often always going to have a linebacker need

that I love that they took a swing for with N'Kobe Dean because even if you say red shirt this entire next year coming up be our starter in 2023 that's a player that will be a major difference maker for the entire identity of your defense and I think for Philadelphia specifically this pick made a lot of sense and i'm glad that they made it not every team has that kind of opportunity and if you do it too much you do this risk taking thing too much you could get very burned with it and the middle and back end of your roster could really suffer if you do this if you take too many swings like that but i think the eagles were in a spot to where they could do that and because of that I really liked the N'Kobe Dean pick just all around for every reason so man yeah

I'm with you I think that's a great way to put it and it's something that you know draft analysts have to be to be fully transparent with everyone we have to be really careful with like I personally don't publicly report medical info I hear. I'll hint that on the pod. Sometimes you'll hear me, oh, there might be a knee. There might be that. I don't personally like to do that to the guys before they get drafted. I don't feel like that is something

that is my lane. But behind the scenes, it's really real. It's really important. And it's something that teams have to do. Sometimes their team doctors will tell you, I won't clear you to draft this guy. And I've had, not scouts, player executives tell me,

I loved him, I wasn't allowed to draft him. And it's not an excuse. It's real. So it's a really good point, Trevor. On a lighter note, who is your next team in line here? Dude, Kansas City. Kansas City is the other A-plus with the baltimore ravens for me i i thought the chiefs absolutely killed it as well they started it off with a trade up going to get a trend mcduffie so hitting a major cornerback need like people talk about the size

of the measurables damn good player just again a damn good football player who i have faith in the chiefs to use correctly they got a great edge rusher in george karloftis who i thought was a top 15 player. They get him all the way back at 30. Sky Moore, I think, was huge value for them at 54. They were able to stay patient, get a really good football player there. Brian Cook. Leo Chanel, round 3, 1-0-3, did not see that coming,

did not think that he was going to go that late in this draft. And then they got two of my favorite players, two of, I feel like, my guys. These guys that we're a little bit higher on. Joshua Williams, the corner from Fayetteville State. And then how Darian Kennard lasted to pick 145 is beyond me. It's kind of weird. I got to think that it's medical. Like something's not adding up there,

even if you think he's only a guard, which I think you and I both do. I thought he would have been an awesome run blocking guard. Right. top 100 so i don't know something's weird there something's up yeah but anyways if you even just count it up to that that is an a plus draft for me the guys that they were able to get i think that it was a perfect blend of picking those best player available picking really great guys not forcing a need but also the picks went very nicely into a need. And I think the Kansas City Chiefs got a lot better after this weekend in a lot of different ways.

Big fan. I like their draft a lot, too. I really like the Sky Moore pick. I really like the Trent McDuffie pick. I really like the Leo Chanel pick. I'm excited to talk about that one at length when we do that division. I think it's good that me and you have some different ones here just for the sake of showing you know some different perspectives here and this

next one is it's kind of tough for me when this happens because i'm the last thing i ever want to do is be biased but the jets got an a from me and with full transparency that i disliked the last pick they made so much that it caused them to not get an A+. And it's nothing against Michael Clemens. What was the very last pick? Oh, Michael Clemens? Top of round four. There was just a lot of really good players on the board that I thought would help them more.

They're pretty deep on the rotation up front where it's like, man, you passed Calvin Austin. You passed Zach Tom that I thought really would have helped them in future of center when McGovern's a free agent after next year. There was a couple corners. So not to just destroy them, let's get into the positives here. I mean, they walked away with,

just to be fully transparent, my wide receiver one, my corner one, my edge three, who was a top 10 player, and my RB one and my tight end two. And when you do that in a draft for a roster that's been pretty bare bones, I was saying this team's gonna look a lot different in training camp for the reporters that go out there and cover every year,

for the fans that go out there and watch every year. Sometimes you could just feel the difference of having high-end athletes that are playmakers, right? We know what Garrett Wilson can do. I loved Garrett Wilson going all the way back to September. Jermaine Johnson's somebody that's just had a hell of a process, and they got him at pick 26, right? If they took him at four, everybody would have been like,

oh man, I don't know about this. If they took him at 10, I would have liked it, but I understand people's reservations that early. When you get him at pick 26, it's like, oh my God, this is great. So I really like the pairing of him and Carl Lawson. I think Garrett Wilson is going to be a really, really good player for a long time. Obviously, Sauce is somebody that, in my eyes, was far and away the best corner in this draft. And then Brees Hall.

Taking a running back in round one is very questionable. But after that, it's kind of all bets are off. And I know people love Michael Carter. He's a good player. But he's an undersized guy that gets banged up. And there's just no denying that. It's going to be good for Michael Carter and good for the Jets that he's not this workhorse back that he's the number two guy Brees Hall is now your workhorse back in a team that wants to run run run and you know I love Jeremy Rucker kind of a cool

story grew up on Long Island family are insane Jets fans like that that is what dreams are made of that situation and he's just a damn good player and then Max Mitchell I project him as a long-term swing tackle I don't project him as a starter but when you take a tackle in round four And he's just a damn good player. And then Max Mitchell, I project him as a long-term swing tackle. I don't project him as a starter, but when you take a tackle in round four, if he's a long-term swing tackle, you're comfortable with that. So I really cautiously, cautiously loved what Joe Douglas did.

I thought it was a great draft. Now I didn't have them on my top five, really because I knew that you were going to bring them up and I wanted to be a little bit different different but they'd be getting an a minus grade for me i thought that they did very very well and you know the underrated part of why i feel like the jets had a great draft is i think they did a really good job on the fly i can't remember if i said this on this podcast a couple a couple of days ago or if i said it on the fly. I can't remember if I said this on this podcast a couple of days ago or if I said it on the draft show.

I think they navigated the draft very, very well as it was coming to them. So this is a team that had a potential offensive line need, which was kind of up in the air. They could be flexible with that a little bit. They had a wide receiver need that they had to hit. They wanted to hit edge rusher. And then they had a corner need.

It was just a matter of when they were going to take one. There was a lot of talk about corners going pretty quickly throughout day one and then being real and it ended up being real in the fact that derrick stingley ahmad garner trent mcduffie kair elam all go round one and then the other corner that i think a lot of people would have put in that group was Andrew Booth, but he had the health concerns with him having core surgery now twice. So in reality, there was maybe, maybe you want to throw Kyler Gordon in there.

Maybe you want to throw Roger McCreary in there, but that depends. Kyler Gordon was a little bit slower than you wanted him to be. Roger McCreary had a little bit shorter of arms than you wanted him to be. So there were limitations with those guys. And if you said said to yourself we want to get a starting caliber corner the jets probably looked at this and said to themselves okay derrick singly just went three ahmad garner is not lasting until 10 and then if we don't pick

a corner with either of our picks at 4 or 10 we might not even get one we like in the top of the second round. No, we don't get one. And you've got to realize that their corners are small, like Reed, Carter, Guidry. I love Trent McDuffie. He can't go out there with a ton of small corners. You would have essentially been taking a risk on Andrew Booth at that point at the top of the second round,

which you probably didn't want to do. So I think when Stingley went three, they did a really nice job. Maybe it was a pivot. Maybe it was a plan all along. Hitting corner at four, which we didn't think that they would do. But in reality, when you take a step back, it was a great plan. You hit corner at four, you get what wide receiver you want at number 10, because you know there's going to be a big run on wide receivers.

And then you get to the point where Jermaine Johnson slides a little little bit you know we had george karloff that's on the board as well david ojaba went well into the second round drake jackson the same thing you had boy mafe arnold abacate both those guys going in the second round they handled this very very well when it came to the timing of when they were picking which position with their premium picks love that for the jets i think amongst what you said with those players there i thought that they navigated this thing really well as well so those are three of our top draft classes there we've got two more in our favorites that we want to get to but we'll sandwich it in between connor's three classes that were a little bit questionable and let's start

with the one that both you and I just it's hard to understand here understand good way to put it what the New England Patriots were doing it really is Cole Strange at 29 29 I like Cole Strange Cole Strange a nice football player he can here's the thing he could be great for the patriots but i don't think you had to take him at 29 i don't think you had to take him at 29 so they go they go close range of 29 they get tyquan thornton next marcus jones the small corner who's a good football player but a small corner it's probably my favorite pick right right jack jones right after it, okay. Pierre Strong, a running back, interesting. Bailey Zappi over Sam Howe, over Carson Strong.

And then they go with another running back in Kevin Harris right after that. It was just, dude, it was such a strange draft. It was as if the Patriots did not pay attention to consensus boards at all. It's as if they didn't really. But that's the draft as much as it is, and it is primarily about getting good football players on your team. You still want to play the game well. If you know that you can get a guy that you really like around later, get him around later.

You know, like that's part of what goes into this. It's Bill Belichick. He's the greatest head coach of all time, get him around later. You know, like that's part of what goes into this. It's Bill Belichick. He's the greatest head coach of all time, but he's certainly not been the greatest GM of all time. And I think that this past draft, man, this gets a D from me. This was my lowest grade of the weekend.

This is a D grade for me with the Patriots. Me too. Yeah, I gave him a D plus. I think they got small school happy, which I know Bill's had some success in that area before that's fine but obviously Cole Strange a player once again a top 100 player for me not a first or second round player for me I believe he was in college for six years um when you just look at it he's going to transition to center full-time at the next level he'll be fine there it goes back to what you said, that you do get graded also

on understanding how the board is going to fall. Why not get more draft capital in this spot if you really think that's your guy? Tyquan Thornton, I just don't know if he can catch the football consistently. And I'm not being a jerk. I'm being completely honest. It's fun that you run in the four twos. You're an incredible athlete. You're size and speed. I called him a poor man's DJ Chark, but I just don't, he, he fights the football a lot.

And man, I'm pretty sure after Taekwon Thornton, and I'm going to look this up while talking, there was a run of wide receivers where you go, well, somebody is going to be really, really right. And somebody is going to be really, really wrong. So it went Taequann Thornton at 50, George Pickens at 52. Yep. Alec Pierce at 53. Yep. Guy Moore at 54. When you read that to somebody, yikes, which one of the four do you have the least confidence in? Taequann Thornton. By about almost 100 spots on the big board.

So this is me looking at it and going, I'm serious. I don't grade with any bias. This did not help Mac Jones. I like Marcus Jones a lot. Completely fine with that pick. I think he's going to be a good slot. He's one of the most electric returners

I've ever seen in my life. He's awesome. Jack Jones. I think I's going to be a good slot. He's one of the most electric returners I've ever seen in my life. He's awesome. Jack Jones, I think I had him as player 300, and I thought he did a nice job developing after he transferred from USC to Arizona State. I would be surprised if he's a starter. There was a lot of really good players at 121.

They reached on him. Pierre Strong's fine. Kevin Harris is there like Damien Harris. Poor man's Damien Harris. Yeah, but Damien Harris is there. Once again know, Damian Harris, you know, poor man's Damian Harris or the guy after him. Yeah, but Damian Harris is there. Once again, why do you have 8 million running backs? Billy Zappi, I did understand them taking him over Howell as much as I don't think he's half the player Howell is.

It's just the scheme fit. That's the kind of backup they like to have there. Once again, though, Sam Roberts, Missouri, Northwest Missouri State University, they got a little small school happy. The value stunk. The value is the reason this draft stunk. You're in a, this isn't 2008 anymore.

Like, look at what the Chiefs did, as you read. Look at what the Browns have done this offseason. Look at the Bengals. Look at the Bills. Look at the teams that are trying to chase your heels. New England's not in a tier of the other teams I just talked about, right? But look at the teams trying to chase your heels. The Dolphins have done a lot of nice things.

The Jets, they're not there yet, but they've done nice things. The Chargers, the Raiders, the Broncos, you're not keeping up. Man, it's a tough draft. There's nothing, I'll stop there. But it was a very tough draft to digest because of the lack of understanding the board going into your own cave and saying we do what we want to do is fun and cute until things get real and that was the thing like i don't even necessarily hate the players like i like that's my problem with it i like cool strange i i would

even i would even like tyco on thornton if he was picked a little bit closer to where he actually should have been picked. I just think that Bill, I joked about it, but I feel like the Patriots had 18 players on their draft board. 18 total. And they said, don't care. We're just taking them.

It's spelled like the Rams draft board with every pick coming outside the top 100. If you just hit all the team that they went to in the picks, you'd be like, oh, the Rams had a pretty good draft. Right. All things considered. you'd be like, oh, the Rams had a pretty good draft. Right. All things considered. And it's like, no, these picks were,

three of them were in the top 100. Just very strange. We'll see. Someone's got to be wrong. I don't know, man. Tough. Arizona Cardinals are another draft that I didn't like. We've kind of had our fun with Steve Kime's drafts

here on this show. I'm just not going to be a fan of Steve Kimes drafts. That's, it's probably the way that it's, that it's going to be. You're picking Trey McBride as your very first selection in the second round because you traded number 23 overall for a wide receiver who fits your team. Well, I get it, but then you're going to have to pay, which is already a little strange because you're not really giving Kyler Murray the contract he wants, I think probably because of timing, but also maybe it's because of his demands as well.

So now you're bringing in a player that Kyler Murray likes to cater to Kyler Murray. But now you're also going to have to pay that player in about a year for that to even matter at all. Kyler's not taking a discount because you drafted his friend. You traded for his friend. And it's just, it's strange. I did not like that maneuver. And they have trench needs. They got to replace chandler jones they have to bring juice into the into the defensive line and i think that they need to get a lot better along the

offensive line and instead they drafted a tight end and again i like trey mcbride i like some of the players that they drafted but their last three drafts now they've drafted off ball linebacker off ball linebacker tight end with their first selections it's bad man it's bad i don't know what to tell you i think this i think the arizona cardinals are in for a major regression but i think that they are going to score a lot of points because now they've got the offense that cliff kingsbury really wants except for the offensive line which they didn't even really address offensive line at all until later in the draft cam thomas okay. Edge player, Majay Sanders.

I'm not sold on, did not love him as a player. So it is just topping down. It's just a draft that I did not like. I gave this one to see because I didn't mind some of the players that got, I just, the prioritization that the Arizona Cardinals have is very strange to me. I think they're,

they're trying to be the Ravens. They're just not good at it is probably the way that I would put it. I gave him a C but yeah what were your thoughts on on the Cardinals and then who is your next draft that you didn't I haven't liked a lot of things they've done um they weren't in my bottom three but I was glad to see you get them in there because I'm I agree with you and I'm curious how I'll digest that but by the time we get to that division I would not be surprised despite extensions if Kime and Cliff are on are feeling real warm by the time we get to that division, I would not be surprised despite extensions of calm and cliff or on are, are feeling real warm by the end of the year with that division. So,

all right, let's run through them. Who you got next? Yeah. Uh, so me, for me, my next one was the Niners.

It's just, it kind of had some Patriot moments where I'm like, wow, I don't really know where that came from. You know, Drake Jackson at 61, it's fine. I, once again, he's a finesse rusher. If you think you can unlock power out of him and they've done an incredible job developing pass rushers, I think that's the

right spot for him. The Ty Davis price pick at 93 is tough, man. I don't even think he fits the scheme. It felt really, really early for him. That pick was, was brutal. I like Danny Gray. No problem with that. and then after that I just don't really think they got much maybe you could develop Spencer Burford but Samuel Womack Nick Nick Sikeld uh Kalia Davis three Castro Fields Brock Purdy I don't know make the team I just felt like Trevor they did not do enough with those two top 100 picks especially when you factor out that there's a really good chance Debo Samuel is not on this team next year. And I know their offers, the Jets was disrespectfully low for Debo Samuel, and maybe they just could

not pull the trigger for a trade for him. But now that they didn't get picks from this draft to replenish and he's say he's not on the team. This is not enough. It's not even close to enough. The running back pick at 93 of Ty Davis Price to me is inexcusable. That's my it's inexcusable. It demolished this draft grade.

You drafted a running back late in Elijah Mitchell who panned out for you. And then you drafted a running back the next year. He made up for the Trey Sermon pick. You were relieved. And then you just did it again. I don't under, I don't know. It's a C. It's a C.

It's a C. It's a bad draft. I'm not a fan. I was not a fan of that draft either. The third and final draft that I was not a fan of was the Cleveland Browns. Now it's difficult, right? They don't have a pick in the first two rounds. Okay, that's interesting to work with. Martin Emerson is okay. I think he's a scheme-specific corner,

but at least he's playing some freshman coverage that you like. But I do think he's pretty scheme-specific. Alex Wright is fine. The David Bell pick, I don't have a lot of faith that David Bell is going to be a big difference maker in the NFL. Perrion Winfrey is not the kind of defensive lineman that the Cleveland Browns needed. They needed a power run-stopping defensive lineman, and they picked the exact opposite of that. They picked a quick, specific, speed, pass-rushing, one-gap-penetrating defensive linemen they were the first team to pick a special teamer off the board kate york who was the highest drafted special teamer since believe roberto aguayo in 2016 picked a running back after that not a lot of difference makers in in the late parts of day three it was

just okay um i don't want to kill the draft i don't think it was terrible but i don't think cleveland got better this week outside of if kade york becomes absolute ice as a kicker now cleveland had the worst field goal percentage in the nfl last year it was a need so it's terrible but i mean outside of him just becoming absolute stones for you then i i i don't see a lot of difference makers with what cleveland did I gave them a C, I think C minus, C, C. Yeah, C. I gave them a C. Okay, this one I gave a C plus, the Chicago Bears. I'll be quick.

Man, talk about being conflicted internally. I love Jaquan Brisker. He was one of my favorite picks of the draft at 48. And Kyler Gordon at 39 is fine. And they're going to fit really nicely with Matt Eberflus. But holy crap, man. I am very afraid for Justin Fields. I am, and we've talked about this in length already,

so I won't go too long here. You know, I like Vilas Jones. I had him closer to 150 than 71. So I felt like there was better wide receivers they could have taken in that spot. It felt like a special teams pick a little bit to me. Yeah. Braxton Jones is a developmental tackle he can't make in

there yeah Braxton Jones he's not going to be on the field this year I'd be surprised I like Dominique Robinson that value was really good there yep you know and then they took a bunch of back-end roster players at best after that so they've done really nothing for Justin Fields I'm starting to question and I've said it before do they care about Justin Fields or are they already looking at the next quarterback class as insurance of, hey, he wasn't our guy. And I think Justin can overcome that. He's a good player.

But this draft was a little puzzling. And it kind of put the cherry on top of a puzzling Chicago Bears offseason. It felt like, hey, we're new here. We're going to take things slow. Right. And I get that. I get it. But it's not really good for the young quarterback they have there.

Good football players in Jaquan Burr, Skern, Kyler Gordon. Yep, but after that, dude. And I like him a lot, but it's just, unless you are hitting next offseason really, really hard, unless you have a big-time plan to hit next offseason really hard with wide receiver and offensive line, you're kind of wasting the rookie contract here with Justin Fields. And it's not great's i mean it's

not great i would say it almost will be because you know they can do it they can still save it if they hit it hard next year you could still save it because then you're surrounding him you're getting a couple years you got the fifth year option and all of that like quarterbacks can play on the fifth year option i'm worried about the hits he's gonna take this year well sure that line is that line is really really bad yep really bad all right let's get back to two teams that we really like before we before we before we get out of here love the atlanta falcons man absolutely love me too i love that you had this in here this is an a for me they get drake drake london who we both love uh in the first round arnold libikati they get troy anderson

dude bonkers day two bonkers incredible d'angelo malone tyler algier it's all there man it was all there what an incredible haul i think all the way from the very top to the very bottom they got players specifically that will help them and make them better and we talked about it pre-draft this is a massive massive draft for terry fondo he had to nail this one because what he's done over the off season, moving on from Julio Jones, obviously the Calvin Ridley thing was not in his control. Didn't get Russell gauge to bring,

to bring him back, ruin things kind of with Matt Ryan. When they went off to Deshaun Watson, it would not good times in Atlanta. The defense is absolutely terrible outside of AJ Terrell. This is a good draft. This is, this is absolutely what they needed to get some building blocks around the

roster. This was a, this is a solid a for me. I truly absolutely what they needed to get some building blocks around the roster. This was a solid A for me. I truly loved what the Atlanta Falcons did, exactly what this franchise needed. Eva Cady and D'Angelo Malone on day two was like my pass rush dream. Huge, man. I had Eva Cady top 30.

I had D'Angelo Malone top 45. I'm going to be watching that tape every single week. This is the most excited I've been for a preseason. Good stuff from the Falcons. All right, the next one for me, the Giants in A-. Day one, slam dunk, Kayvon Thibodeau, Evan Neal. Really, really loved that. The Wondell Robinson, their day two to me was not great.

I'll be transparent. Wondell Robinson to me was like, okay, you clearly do not like Kadarius Toney, which is not your fault. You didn't draft him. But do you have a plan here? I do like Josh Izudu there. I think that he's going to compete for a guard spot, and they want to be a tough and nasty physical football team,

and they took his teammate Marcus McKeith in late on day three, which is pretty cool to see. Cordell Flott, he plays tough in the slot, but he's got to gain some weight. It feels like he needs a redshirt year, so maybe Darnay Holmes holds that down. The Giants have the slot corners. I like the Giants draft, but then like the Wendell pick and the Cordell flop pick,

I was like, all right, good players, but what are they playing for you? They were both early for me. They were reaches, those picks. Daniel Bellinger in round four, loved that. Dane Belton gives you versatility. He can play the slot. He's got ball skills.

DJ Davidson's fine to beef up the middle. Darian Beavers at 182 is right around where I had him. So I think it helps the middle of their defense. But the way they attacked the top 10, the way they got value on the offensive line, and they changed their identity at tight end with Daniel Bellinger were things I really like. So the Giants get an A-. They're still far away. I don't know if Daniel Jones is going to be the answer there. I don't know if Saquon Barkley is going to be there for a long time, but you're seeing the Buffalo Bills ground floor being put in place before whatever the future really holds at quarterback. And it was cool to watch. Houston, Texas, baby. The last draft that I absolutely love, which is funny because I am

very accustomed to hating Houston Texans drafts. And I absolutely love what Nick Cotterio did. I really did. Derek Singley, my number one overall player in this class, getting him at number three. You know, I absolutely love that one. Kenyon Green. Okay. Maybe a little early for Kenyon Green, but they just need offensive line help. And if you know what it is, at least if he pants out a guard, if he pants out a tackle, great. They just need good offensive line. I think Kenyon Green is going to be a better pro than even what we saw in college. So I liked that one a lot. Jalen Petrie combining him and Derek Singley gives you that ability to play a different modern type of coverage where you can play man you can really defend people well on the slot Jalen Petrie has

that body type and those instincts to be able to play Seth Galena was talking about this on the show you know you can play inside shade outside shade from the slot not everybody can do that and I think he can handle things and angles and different shapes and sizes slot receivers really really well so I like that I was higher on john mechi than most getting christian harris damian pierce as well to start things off in day three loved it houston texans a minus draft absolutely loved it maybe i would have had different offensive linemen in there instead of instead of kenyan green but still that's that's that's barely a blemish on the draft that's why it gets an a money from me great job from nick casario a

guy who again had a lot on the line with what's been going on the draft. That's why it gets an A- from me. Great job from Nick Casario, a guy who, again, had a lot on the line with what's been going on, the turmoil that's been in the Texans franchise. They get an A- from me. This is a great start for the Houston Texans to set themselves up to draft their franchise quarterback next year. That's what it's all about, and I think they did a great job of that. I'm oddly rooting for Davis Mills to be like the next Dak Prescott. Or that. Listen, or that.

I don't know. I don't have full competency. Or you go draft Will Anderson next year or or that I don't know I don't have full confidence next year or something yeah yeah I don't have full competency will be but I am rooting for it all right so the Detroit Lions were my last one on today's show and a reminder to everyone we are going to do every draft in depth to really you know you're going to hear about

your team just like you got to hear about your team on the guest mock draft series you're going to hear about your team for draft grades but this is our like we are this is the best we're freaking we're not even 24 hours out from the draft being over and we're just screaming that's basically what this is all right Detroit Lions a minus for me uh talked a lot about Hutch and Jamo already everybody knows I feel pretty strongly about that they got a almost a Trey Flowers kind of player and Josh Paschal who who, which is good. That's a good thing. He's a second round pick and he's going to come in and be a tough guy.

You can kick him around three tech, five tech. Kirby Joseph, fine, free safety with some range. They needed a safety with range on the back end. James Mitchell, man, he's the forgotten man in the draft because he tore his ACL. He's one of the most explosive receiving tight ends in terms of what he could do as a catch and run guy. I hope he gets healthy and comes back. This is one of my favorite picks of the entire draft right here. Malcolm Rodriguez, sixth round, 188th overall. I think he's gonna be eight year starter.

I think his ability to get downhill, attack A gaps, attack B gaps, fill his keys, stop the run, a tough guy. I don't care that he's smaller. He plays big. He can be a thumper. He's got enough range sideline to sideline. I mean't care that he's smaller. He plays big. He can be a thumper. He's got enough range sideline to sideline. I mean, it's just stupidity that he almost made it to the outside

the top 200. The Lions, this was a killer pick right here in round six. So I really liked what the Lions did. It's an A minus. Of course, the big question with the Lions is always going to be, can Jared Goff take them to win enough football games? in a NFC North that I think is more I'm not saying the Lions are contending for the NFC North let me just be fair but the three teams after the Packers to me is I think there might be a little bit of a dogfight there all right there we go that was some of our favorite and not so favorite draft grades instant reactions from the 2022 NFL draft obviously these guys have not played it down in the NFL yet. Anything can happen, but that was just what we thought of the draft versus our own big boards,

where we had these players ranked and some teams that we thought did really well in the draft process. As you can tell a little bit of an audio issue had laptop battery issues, forgot my charger, like an idiot. So we had to splice together the ending of connor's talk where with the detroit lions but we're going to be coming to you later this week and over the next couple of weeks breaking down every single team's draft hall in the details we're going to be talking about where we see each player playing for these teams how much we see them contributing early on and

what they could mean overall to this team getting better achieving winning windows and maybe even going after superbowls appreciate you guys listening this has been the nfl stoggy change we'll see you next time you Bye.