NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - 49. Draft Grades for Every Team in the NFC West & AFC South

Episode Date: May 10, 2022

Hosts Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers break down every pick -- what they loved, what they liked and what they didn't get -- for the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts

This episode is brought to you by our good friends at NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. I'm sure by now you've all got back into your Sunday routines, but they could be even better. With NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV, you get the most live NFL games all in one place, every game, every Sunday. And you can even watch up to four different games at once with MultiView, one of my favorite inventions of this decade. It's exactly what you need to catch all the action. Make your Sundays more magical. And also, YouTube TV is great. 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 get back to our divisional draft recap

with the AFC South and the NFC West. We're going to go down every single team, every single selection, and tell you what we loved, what we liked, and what we didn't like for all eight teams in each of those two divisions. It's a good time. We get into the draft strategies.

We get into some of the trades that got some of those picks to that point, how each team navigated the draft, what they did, prioritizing certain positions, and whether we loved it or we hated it. I am Trevor Sycamore. With me 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 Sycamore. That

is Connor Rogers. And we are continuing our grade series here. We're going through every single team in the NFL, grading every selection of their drafts from the 2022 NFL draft. Today, we are talking about the NFC West and the AFC South. So eight teams in total, four from each division. Connor, my man, before we get into it, how are we feeling? We feeling a little bit better? Even more pep in the step now here on a Monday morning? There is pep in the step, my friend.

You and I were just sharing a laugh about what it's like to live alone and then go to living with a lovely woman. So yeah, there's a lot of pep in the step. Good vibes on the stock exchange today as we get closer and closer to finishing grading all these NFL drafts. Upping the standard of cleanliness, I think, is the theme whenever anything like that happens. I don't want to say I was a slob. I wasn't a slob before. You were a slob, yeah. But I feel like Alyssa listening to this podcast, if she ever does,

she's going to be like, yes, you were. And that's not true. Don't listen to her if she says that. I was not out of control. I'm not a slob. I'll never leave a sink full of dishes, especially before I go to bed. I take the trash out every night. don't listen to her if she says that i was not out of control i'm not a slob like i'll always i'll never leave a sink full of dishes especially before i go to bed i take the trash out every night like always clean the kid clean the kitchen you know what i'm really bad at trevor and like

the good thing the camera's not zoomed over because i have a little couch in my office i let folded clothes sit around for weeks weeks weeks like i'll do laundry and i'll leave them in the dryer like just folded clothes are my kryptonite dude i can't i'll just i'll do laundry and i'll leave them in the dryer like just folded clothes are my kryptonite dude i can't i'll just i'll just wear them i'll just put the shirt back no shirt no i can't they're clean they're clean i am i am back in the dresser kind of guy i am washer dryer we're folding those bad boys within like unless i'm out and like come back like i go to dinner or lunch or something like that when i hear that the dryer is done i will get to it as soon as possible because i want to either hang the shirts up or put the shirts back in the dresser because i hate de-wrinkling

clothes so i fold them hate doing but i i don't put them away. What? Yeah, I pull them all. I just let them sit on the couch. Put them away. What did you do? No, it's like, ah, this could wait. And then playoffs start on TV for hockey. And then there's a baseball doubleheader. And then we record Stock Exchange. Then I work for VR.

And then I'm like, ah. So yeah, that's my kryptonite on keeping things tidy. Here we go. Well, that's also Aly list is kryptonite so uh she can't yell at me for that one that that one i actually have two people like that there are right correct there are many other things that she compliments me with and when i say that i mean yells at me when i don't uh when i when i'm not as tidy as i should be yeah you guys are like davante smith and aj brown you know what we're right there and that's such a great segue into

what we're talking about today. Cause we're talking about the Tennessee Titans as one of the teams in the AFC South. We're talking about the AFC West as well. Before we get to it, guys, let us know what your, I don't want to say embarrassing, but what is your kryptonite when it comes to, if you were living alone, let us know, is it dishes? Is it, is emptying the dishwasher? Is it laundry? Is it stuffed constantly in the fridge

let us know i'm very curious you don't have to like totally out yourself but no you do you this is a safe space this is an addict's uh good intervention yeah yeah if yeah if you tweet it no one else will definitely see it it's totally a safe space so before we get into the draft grades here for these teams gotta tell the people about our friends over at Jock Market, the presenting sponsor for the NFL Stock Exchange. 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 you love.

Essentially, you're looking at betting, but instead of betting on teams, you're betting on players. So it's not like, oh, this team's going against the spread. Is this team going to cover? What are we going to do? What's this total team going to do this night? You could pick one player, even if the rest of the team around him totally sucks. And you could say this dude's going off and you could put your money on that player to play really well. And if they do, you're going to win a lot of money back. All shares have a guaranteed cash payout at the end of the night.

Deposit now with the promo code PFF. And if you deposit up to 100 anything up to 100 they will match you 100 as well so that's some extra cash to play with you'll also get a free pff edge subscription when you sign up over at jock market that's jock mkt.com backslash pff or you do it on the app as well that's what connor and i use for it so you guys can use whichever one is more convenient for you. Connor, where are we starting today? Which division, which team do you want to start with today? So we're going to start with one of the toughest divisions in football recently, and that would be the NFC West.

And we are going to start with what is, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating teams in the NFL in the Arizona Cardinals because they were... Oh, brother. We're starting with the Cardinals starting with Steve Kime. Uh, because you know what, Trev,

I, I didn't hate it. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. I think this team, we've said this before in the pod, barring, you know,

some bad injury luck elsewhere in the division. I think they're due for a little regression this year, which is scary. Uh, we obviously like the Rams this year again, cause they won the Super. I think they're due for a little regression this year, which is scary. We obviously like the Rams this year again because they won the Super Bowl and they're still good. Always like the Niners. Seattle is a little retooling, so Arizona's got them. But, okay, let's get right into the draft with Arizona.

So, I loved... Wait, wait, wait. You've got to read the draft. Yes, I will never... We've got to be clear. I will never, ever remember this. Ever. As long as will never. I will never ever remember this. Ever. As long as I live.

That's why you do it. Okay, so they traded their first round pick for Hollywood Brown. So they do get credit for that. And we'll touch a lot on that during this. They took Trey McBride in the second round, 55th overall. They took Cameron Thomas, the pass rusher from San Diego State, in the third round, 87th overall. They took MyJay Sanders in the third, so they doubled up on

pass rushers in the third round. MyJay Sanders 100th overall pick that I really liked. Keontae Ingram, the running back from USC, so no fourth round pick, no fifth round pick. Two sixth round picks. Keontae Ingram, running back USC. Lekitas Smith. Lekitas? Lekitas?

I always mess up his first name. I'm sorry. I think it's Lekitas, but I haven't heard it. I've heard it both ways. I think only one person say it. Which is the worst. So we'll go with Lekitas Smith today. Virginia Tech, big mauling offensive lineman.

Three seventh-round picks. Christian Matthew, defensive back. Jesse Lucchetta, linebacker from Penn State, who's rushed a little bit as well, kind of an interesting player. And then Marquise Hayes, an offensive lineman from Oklahoma at the end of the seventh round. Back-to-back picks, Luchetta and Hayes. So, after all that being said, Trevor, why don't you kick us off here?

What did you love? Okay, so I did love two picks about this draft. Look, I know that we've, and when I say we, I feel like I've been the catalyst for it. I've kind of pooped on this entire draft for the Cardinals, but like there are good players. There are guys that I like. The picks that I loved, I like Cameron Thomas a lot.

I really do. I would go as to say that if I was putting guys in a loved category from this draft, because we're going to break it up into loved, liked, and then didn't get, I would say that Cam Thomas is one of them because I think he's a player that they need. He is a versatile defensive lineman who could play in a lot of different alignments and formations

and a multiple front defense that I think could fill a heavy role for you. And he's a high energy guy. He's a high motor guy. And I think that no matter where you play him, he's going to give you that maximum effort. And I'm not so sure if he's going to be a consistent at all time starter maybe he could break into it I would love to see it but even if he's not I think the floor for what he can be on this Cardinals defensive line was needed they definitely needed guys that they could play at a couple of different spots that were always going to be able to give them that kind of value and that energy along the defensive line so I did like the Cam Thomas pick in the third round so I want to say that that was one of the higher ones on my list and then i like keontae

ingram as well didn't get utilized a ton at usc but i think this guy's got more in the tank i think that best ball is ahead of him feel could definitely apply to keontae ingram if you ask me i love the size speed combination of him i think he's got the whole package and he can be a three down back he can he can and he can be a three down back. He can, he can be groomed into a three down back, but I think that, you know, until he gets to that point, maybe he doesn't, who knows, but I think he's got the skillset for it. Even if not, he can be a specialist for you. He can be a great rotational guy, got to come in and change the pace for you.

So I like his ceiling. I like what he could be. I like both of those guys, or I love both of those guys. I should say the players that I liked Marquise haynes them getting a really nice defensive lineman pass rusher kind of a player with their very last pick or um i think that that's yeah it was their last pick right yeah 257 257 he was their last pick i think that he was great value at that point in time i also liked trey mcbride i did i didn't love the fact that he was their first pick in this draft if you take marquise brown out of it i didn't like that their very first selection out of this draft pool was a tight end but since it was and i'm

looking at it i guess in a vacuum or objectively, I like Trey McBride. I think he's a good football player. I think he is a true all situations, three down tight end, if you will, can play with his hand in the dirt in line. I think he could play as a slot receiver as well. If you want to get him on some kind of like short yardage situations. I don't know if he's ever going to be this like big vertical threat for you, but I think that he could do a lot from the tight end position.

So I like those guys. The thing that I don't get get certainly i don't understand well that's a bad way to say it's not that i don't understand the marquise brown trade i get it they probably knew that deandre hopkins was going to get suspended they probably wanted another wide receiver anyways because they wanted to one make kyler murray happy with some of the that he had success with when he was at oklahoma two he wanted a consistent vertical deep threat which marquise brown definitely is it's a compliment to what deandre hopkins can be when he's on the field i understand how they're going to utilize marquise brown i don't love

trading the 23rd overall pick for him knowing that you're also basically going to have to pay this guy a decent chunk of change in a year or two that's what you're gonna have to do so you paid a high price to just get him on the roster and now you're about to pay another high price to keep him on the roster so i don't think that i don't think marquise brown is worth that caliber of investment so i did not like that i also did not like the fact that they did not eat their vegetables as alex clancy our guest on the guest mock draft series said, did not really invest in O-line with priority picks the way that they needed to. And both of those things I think were big reasons why I didn't like this draft overall.. And on my value chart, they got value on almost every single pick. Cameron Thomas was a net zero. I had him 87th. He went 87th. I didn't rank Christian Matthew in my top 300, but they got value on every other pick. So I like the players. I don't really like Arizona's process. And I know this is a

constant crapping on Steve Kime. And I, this is actually has really nothing to do with Steve Kime today. I loved my Jay Sanders. I loved Marquise Hayes. Um, I do think Hayes can be an upgrade and pass protection on the interior of their offensive line. That's going to help them a lot. Something they needed. I don't know why he went at the end of the seventh round. I thought he easily could have been taken. You know, I had him at 175, so I thought the fifth round would have been the fourth round for him. He's got a chance to start. I like Luchetta a lot. I think Luchetta can rush a little bit. I think he can play off the ball a little bit. I like these players. I really think that McBride fits their offense and Earths probably has a year

left in the tank. And once again, I didn't really love Cameron Thomas as a pure rusher, but I really like Majay Sanders as a pure rusher. So I like the players. Loved Majay, loved Marquise Hayes, liked Trey McBride, liked Jesse Lucchetta. I don't get, they're still playing with fire

a little bit on this offensive line, and they're just never going to learn. Cliff is telling you that he doesn't really care at this point because they don't get they're still playing with fire a little bit on this offensive line, and they're just never going to learn. Cliff is telling you that he doesn't really care at this point because they don't invest significant. Taking guys on day three for the offensive line, there's a lot of risk in that no matter how much you slice up the value. You're not prioritizing. But getting away from that, my problem with this football team is Hollywood Brown is going to be good for Arizona

because he fits what they want to do he can win vertically he's going to get more targets there it's it's a good fit I fully agree with you Trevor that the process of that trade is bad and this is probably a lot of people reading listening or especially Cardinals fans that are like oh god here comes another PFF you know rant but like look at what A.J. Brown went for. A.J. Brown is in a different stratosphere as a football player, in my eyes, than Hollywood Brown. And you look at Hollywood Brown going for that first-round pick, where at that first rounder, they could have had Jermaine Johnson.

It's a team that lost Chandler Jones. They need a pass rush out. They could have had a premium offensive lineman. There's a lot of things they could have done there. Like you said, Trevor, you're going to have to pay him if he has a big year, and I think he's going to have a good year. But how did we get here? Like, this is like, this is such a cliff move. Look at all the capital that cliff has sunk into wide receiver and missed on, right? Like Andy Isabella was the second round pick, right? That's a miss. Okay.

Right. Hakeem Butler was a top of fourth round pick. He was the first pick of the fourth round that year. Right. Total dud. They obviously let Christian Kirk walk, which I'm fine with. They took Rondell Moore in the second round last year. He's fine. He's fine. But, you know, they paid New Hopkins all of this money,

and he's obviously aging. He was hurt. Now he's suspended. Cliff is supposed to be this offensive like genius right but why do you keep needing to sink all these assets into wide receiver over and over and over again when all these other offensive geniuses like kyle shanahan and sean mcveigh and guys like that are getting better value at wide receiver in different ways so i i just don't like the process of it. I gave it a B because I really like the players.

I don't think Arizona is an improved football team this year. I don't even think they're the same as last year. They don't have a pass rush. And you got to give Maje and Cam Thomas time. They don't expect to replace Chandler Jones this year. You're going to have to pay Hollywood Brown. So you're going to run into financial situations. You haven't paid Kyler Murray. I still don't think this offensive line

is any good. Arizona is the type of team that they're going to be fun in fantasy football. They're going to probably feast a little bit here and there on hot stretches in the regular season. They are not built for the postseason at all. They're not built for the postseason at all. They're built like a seven on seven team in my eyes. And those teams get exposed in the postseason every single year. So a little bit of a mini rant of crapping on Arizona. And I feel bad about that after giving them a B for the draft. You should. But I had big expectations for this team this offseason.

And I haven't met them. I don't think the Cardinals are going to be better. But we can get to that exercise when we talk about wins and losses later in the offseason. Yeah. And I think we'll be able to dig into a little bit more of that. Seattle Seahawks are the next team that we're getting to here in the nfc west they took charles cross the offensive line from mississippi state number nine overall in the first round second round they had two picks boy mafe the edge rusher from minnesota kenneth walker the running back

from michigan state uh in the third round they took took Abraham Lucas, the offensive line from Washington State. Fourth round, Kobe Bryant, cornerback from Cincinnati. And fifth round, Tariq Woolen. Very surprised that Tariq Woolen lasted the fifth round. Yeah, me too. They picked him up, the UTSA cornerback. Absolute freak of an athlete.

Tyreek Smith, the address from Ohio State. They also got him in the fifth round. And then a pair of seventh round picks, Bo Mellon, the wide receiver from Rutgers. Another player that I thought was going to go a little bit sooner. And thenellon, the wide receiver from Rutgers, another player that I thought was going to go a little bit sooner. And then Derek Young, the wide receiver from Lenoir Rhine. What do we think about this draft, Connor?

What did we love? What did we like? And what did we not get? One of my favorite drafts this year. And my favorite draft on today's show. Spoiler alert. I love Charles Cross. Oh, is that my favorite?

They've been missing the... It was tied for your favorite, Trevor. Spoiler alert. I love Charles Cross. Oh, is that my favorite? They've been missing the... It was tied for your favorite, Trevor. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got one other one. So they've been missing this kind of pick on the offensive line in Charles Cross for a long time.

He's going to be really good there. I love the Kobe Bryant pick where they got him. I think he's a starter at corner, outside corner. And I love Bo Melton. I think he's a starter in the slot. So I think they got three starters in this draft. I like Boye Mafi. I think Boye Mafi is the type of athlete that they bet on. Do I think he's going to be a superhero? No. Do I think he can generate pass rush and develop with his athleticism? Yes, he could be a number two

pass rusher in that scheme. I gave it an A minus. I love this draft. I think Seattle really needed a home run draft to restock a roster after moving on from Russell Wilson and capitalizing on the draft picks they got for him. But don't forget, they had lost draft picks because they traded for Jamal Adams. So they weren't dealing with a plethora of assets. They were dealing with almost a normal amount of assets, but they did a good job.

The only thing I don't get is Pete Carroll sinks some serious capital into running back consistently. He really, really does. I like Kenneth Walker. Kenneth Walker is going to be really good there. I am now very well aware Chris Carson's situation is not good, but you took Rashad Penny in the first round a couple of years ago who turned the corner last year.

Once again, Kenneth Walker is going to be good. I don't despise the pick. i think they could have waited a little more and got a more premium position in the top 50 with that pick but i'm not going to kill it it's an a minus it's a good draft i like this draft man yep i did i the picks not to life i loved i loved the charles cross pick at the top really did i thought that was a fantastic job of them investing in a premium position with that number nine overall pick. Like you just said, making the most out of the selections that you're getting back for the

Russell Wilson trade, which you absolutely have to do. I liked the Kobe Bryant pick. I think that was big for them. And then I loved the Boye Mafe pick as well. So those are three picks that I absolutely loved. I think Boye Mafe is going to be fantastic for him. I think he's going to grow into a really great speed rusher for them on the outside. And they, they really want to emphasize that.

I know that that's what they want. That's what they were searching for when they had Clowney on the team. That's kind of what they were hoping Clowney was going to be. And so I think that that is somebody who is going to fit a mold of what they're going to want to do very well. They're going to put Boye Mafe in positions to succeed. So that's why I loved all three of those picks the what i liked about this draft basically everyone else like i'm like i'm looking at this like i love them getting they and them investing again in offensive line going for

offensive line again in the third round with abraham lucas okay maybe not maybe he didn't go as high as he was rated on pfs board but still a good developmental athletic offensive tackle like that tarik woolen them getting him and him and him in the fifth round was fantastic for him bo melton you mentioned what he could be as a slot receiver i even like tyreek smith and derrick young as well yep in the third round the one place i think everybody goes to is what you brought up running back Kenneth Walker, but we talked about this in yesterday's show. And I'm not just saying this, I promise I'm not just saying this because I got Kenneth Walker in our draft

to win offense rookie of the year. I'm not just saying this, but Chris Carson really might not be the same guy. He might not play again. He might not play again. I was reading the quotes from, from Pete Carroll because you brought that and and you brought that up in the show and i i knew that it was it was kind of iffy what chris carson was going to be again but then when you brought up yeah like yeah what pete said like it wasn't good i was like oh damn i don't remember exactly what

pete said his quote on chris carson in march so this isn't that long ago goes chris feeling pretty good he's making progress looking forward to playing he thinks he's going to be able to pull it off we're optimistic at that he won't know until he gets really going again physically he'll be able to run around and all that stuff just whether or not he could take hits so we'll have to wait and see that's not good man running back you take hits every time you touch the ball you take hits every time you're on the field essentially think of his running style too his running style is based on contact right and rashad penny it's not like he's been healthy every to every year that he's been in the league so all of a sudden you say to yourself and and look i am guilty of this too i did this

on the draft show for pff i was like here we go pete carroll and running backs and you know what i like the pick i really did uh with more context on how iffy it is to play again and how banged up rashad penny has been they're going to run the football that is what they want to do and with that being known i like the kenneth walker pick i gave this one an a minus i'm with you i gave this draft an a minus i liked liked it a lot. The only thing that I have is a don't get is Seattle had many opportunities. I don't know how many off the top of my head. They at least had one, two, three, four, but really they weren't going to pick a quarterback at nine. So really they have three opportunities to take either desmond ritter or malik willis and they did not and i felt like them taking one of those two players

where they took abraham lucas at pick number 70 i agree with that yeah that would have been to me the sweet spot because you went you got the pass protector you got the you got the edge rusher and you got the running back that you wanted you almost like you hit gold on what you wanted to do with your first three picks. And then one of those quarterbacks are still on the board and you didn't take them? I just said, I like the investment in offensive line, but if I'm picking a don't get here,

it's that they had three legitimate chances, one really good chance to take one of these quarterbacks. And they just didn't, which kind of tells us what they thought of the quarterback class overall, but that's the big, that's why this one's maybe not an overall a is because they didn't take that chance when they don't have a franchise quarterback already on the roster.

Just my take. Yeah. I think that they wanted to fully rebuild the offensive line and I was not a Abraham Lucas guy but I get the the approach um and then I you heard Pete say they thought Drew Locke would have been like the first quarterback taken in this draft class so they really they really do believe in giving Drew Locke a look this year and I think they like the fact that like with Russ and this is probably crazy but I'm just explaining it with Russ.

They always wanted to run the ball first and Russ pushed back on that. Now they have a quarterback room that they can legitimately just run, run, run like Pete likes. And that's probably not a winning strategy in today's NFL, but it's something that they believe in. And, and you know,

they're going to roll with that. So that's why they avoided, you know, they're going gonna give these quarterbacks a look this year and then they'll go into a better class next year and if drew lock stinks it up and they're picking top eight then they'll get a good quarterback so uh really interesting so me and trevor both giving an a minus yeah do the seahawks one of the better drafts uh this year all right the 49ers connor's best draft of the day tied for my best draft of the day so i have another a minus in there somewhere yeah you handed it you hand out two fat grades today um all right so the diners here no first round pick second round pick 61

drake jackson the pass rusher from usc two third round picks ty davis price running back lsu wide receiver danny gray from smu uh one fourth pick, Spencer Burford, the offensive lineman from UTSA, who's played tackle and guard, probably going to be a guard at the next level. Fifth round pick was Samuel Womack, cornerback from Toledo, or defensive back from Toledo. Three sixth round picks, Nick Zichalj, the offensive lineman from Fordham, Kalia Davis, the defensive tackle from UCF. And then Tariq Castro-Fields all the way in the sixth round,

the corner from Penn State. And then the seventh round pick was Brock Purdy, the quarterback from Iowa State. So the 49ers had a very, very 49ers draft with taking a running back, as Kyle does, a little early. A lot going on here, trevor for an interesting team obviously devo samuel not moved so maybe not as much draft capital as we maybe anticipated going into the week of the draft but for me i love the tariq castro fields pick i thought that was great value for a guy that could start a corner down the road. I like Danny Gray and Spencer Brierford because they're developmental guys that fit the 49ers.

I think Brierford's enough of an athlete at guard to run their system and develop like how they developed in Tomlinson there when he came over there from Detroit after kind of being known as a bust early in his career. Danny Gray's got track speed, former high school sprint champion in Dallas. They're going to find ways to just get the ball in his hands like SMU did on those shallow crossers and run. I don't get the Ty Davis price pick, and I'm not going to really run this one into the ground because I already have. I don't really get the fit.

I thought he was drafted really, really early. I didn't really think the film was that great. I thought he underachieved at an LSU program that had their problems over the last year. You know, Kalia Davis was fine. They got some value picks in this draft. I thought they really, really needed a safety that can be a big nickel kind of safety for them. I thought there was plenty of opportunity to get that guy in this draft, and they just kept passing on those guys over and over and over again. So overall for me, I gave this a C+. I wasn't very kind to this draft. I think the Niners got some pieces in this draft.

They didn't get any star players, but I can't get over the Ty Davis price pick at a spot where I thought they could have got a really, really good player at a more premium spot, and they could have taken a... There was better running backs that went two or three rounds later. I don't know what else to say. Tied, tied Davis price needs to make a large donation to the university of Florida for being drafted as high as he was.

Because if he did not have that 287 yard, three touchdown game that LSU beat Florida, his stats are not great there are a couple of games that he even had this year where he averaged 100 yards where the yards per carry average are just not that great and that's what you look at over the last couple of years he just he he has not been that big of a breakout of a player. And look, maybe the vision's phenomenal. Maybe Kyle Shanahan loves how he's going to play behind his offensive line, his running scheme.

But I agree, that pick was silly, especially when you look at the fact that they picked two running backs last year. And we've already talked about this, so I'm not going to spend too much time on it. But they had a late round running back hit last year. Elijah Mitchell. You had it hit.

What are you doing drafting? Did they just hate Trey Sermon? Well, I mean, Trey Sermon was hurt, right? And that's kind of been Trey Sermon's thing. Yeah, but they think he's just hurt forever. He's always been hurt in college and everything. Right. Maybe they just don't. Trey Sermon was a third-round pick last year.

Maybe they just don't love the availability. I don't know. That's all I've got. Here's my thing. This isn't an anti-running back rant. I like the Brees Hall pick for the Jets. I've really come around on the Kenneth Walker pick. Yeah, I'm a homer. It's because I'm a homer. Man, there was a lot of running back picks

I really liked in this draft. James Cook to the Bills. There's millions of them. Damian Pierce to the Texans. Oh, love that pick. Ty Davis Price went 93rd overall. I had him 193rd on my board. Even if I'm wrong about the player, I don't even think he fits

what they want to do. He's not explosive at all. He's not explosive on tape. 30-inch vertical matches that on the athleticism. He doesn't play sub 4-5 on tape, on pads. I don't know. I don't know. Not a fan.

Kyle is fascinating to me because they have some killer picks, and then they have these picks that are just so off the rails, and everybody's like, that was really weird. And then two years later, the guy's not on the roster anymore, and nobody talks about that. And it happens in every 49ers draft. I don't know. Whatever.

I didn't love that either. That was my, I guess I'm going like the opposite so i i didn't love that one either i like drake jackson a lot i like him getting to work with tamiko ryans i think that's going to be absolutely good coaching there it's great for him it's gonna be beautiful gets to stay on the west coast a little bit of that home confidence because i do. I think that's a really underrated part of these guys succeeding early on. And I've seen multiple examples of this in players' careers, where they go to a city that might be totally across the country, and they know nobody. They got no family there.

And it takes them a lot longer to get their confidence just in life, and that bleeds into on the field. And I think that Drake Jackson getting to stay a little bit close to home is definitely going to help him out there with him going to san francisco i love the coaching environment he's in there i love the danny gray pick he needs to work on making sure that he catches the ball when it comes his way a lot more but you mentioned the track speed it's totally there kyle getting to stretch the field vertically get his athletes on the field you know you love that certainly we hope that trey lance and his big arm is playing this year and playing well even though the narratives and the conversations around that have been kind of crazy lately where yeah people are saying like oh yeah he's not that

good and it's like okay who cares you drafted him at three overall and traded three first round picks to get him lay him like it's you don't really have a choice at this point so i i don't know the the narratives have been wild it's going to be a wild summer there with those i like the castro fields pick as well i give this one a b minus i totally hate this one i think i might be a little bit of a sucker just because i love the spot for drake jackson i feel like it's gonna be a home run for them as a team that did not have a first round pick so i I gave this one, I gave this one a B, B minus. And that's kind of where I'm sitting with it.

Yeah. Sitting right on the fence. Yeah. Sorry. I'm going to do that all day on this show. So I can't even talk my shit. Like when we get to the next division, it is going to be,

I'm going to be very honest, very, very honest about sitting on the fence. All right. Rams here. Not a lot of fence sitting here from either of us. And listen, let me just be honest. It's hard to get a really great draft when you don't have any draft picks.

I don't know what you want me to say. Like, if you want me to go revisit all the trades they made, then I'll factor that into the grade. I'm not doing that for trades they didn't make this week. The Rams won a Super Bowl. It's all good Rams. Right, I was going to say, if you did that for this one, you're like, okay, they got Matthew Stafford and they won the Super Bowl. The draft is an A. Yeah, and that's not good content

right now. So, I mean, any Rams fans who are listening to this, just hear that we just said that. Yeah. They traded for Matthew Stafford. You won a Super Bowl. Awesome. This draft is an A. It doesn't matter. Yeah. There you go. You are an A as a whole. It's awesome. A as a whole. That was not great.

All right. So the Rams. Rough right now. Rough. The transition back has been something. All right. The Rams draft. Yep.

Logan Bruss, their first pick was 104 in the third round. Logan Bruss offensive line from Wisconsin. N'Kobe Durant, defensive back. I want to say South Carolina State. Kyron Williams, the running back from Notre Dame in the fifth round. Two sixth-round picks. Quinton Lake, defensive back from UCLA. And Darion Kendrick,

the defensive back from Georgia. Really interesting player in this draft that had a tough process. So those are two sixth-round picks, both on DBs. Three seventh-round picks. Linebacker Daniel Hardy. And I need to pull up. I have my graphic with just the schools right now I should actually use the NFL.com ones because some of these guys I did not rank in my top 315

which is gonna happen Daniel Hardy was from Montana State uh defensive end Russ Yee safety from Kansas State and then AJ Arcuri a tackle from Michigan State. So three, a lot of late day three capital for the Rams. Got it. Trevor, you want to take the floor for this one first? Yeah, I mean, I liked or loved, I don't really know how to feel about it because it's like, again, you're trying to, you're trying to capture where the Rams were in this draft.

I like Logan Bruss as a player. I like him going to the Rams, them being their first selection here in this draft. It's like, okay, a player. I like him going to the Rams, them being their first selection here in this draft. It's like, okay, I don't know if I love that one, but given the circumstance, just know that I think that that was a really nice pick for them. Jacoby Durant, I actually feel bad for because Connor, I don't know if you remember this, but Jalen Ramsey tweeted right before this selection that he can't wait to talk about what's about to happen with the Rams. And then they drafted Jacoby Durant, but he was actually talking about troy hill getting traded

back to the rams and so like if i was the kobe durant i'd be so i'd be like hell i i would have seen that and i'd be like oh my god like jalen's hype that i'm joining the team with him and then jalen i think was actually talking about troy hill so uh big shout out man we still love you we really do yeah now we're rooting extra hard for you correct we are obviously like i like the kyron williams pick as well i think he's a good player him lasting until the fifth round and you know the los angeles rams just have to pick good football players with the with the small amount of picks that they have as far back in the draft as they have and so what kyron williams is never going to be rb1 in the the NFL he's not going to be a first rounder he's not going to be a top 50 kind of a value pick but a fifth rounder great cool rotational guy going to give you what you want on third downs

love that from him so uh those are the picks that I like the Darion Kendrick pick I guess I mean you're just taking a chance on a guy who was a uh high recruit coming out of high school played for Clemson playing for Georgia just clearly does not not have the athleticism as we saw throughout this draft. Corners that can't run don't make it. There's like three that have. Look, and you know, like six-round pick, I'm not in the business of wasting picks, but still, this guy's played for two big programs,

won a national championship with Georgia. He's got that experience to him. You might as well, I guess, at that point, just take it. The don't get, none, I suppose, because it's a lot of late picks. Yeah. Like, you gonna do you know what are you gonna do for a lot of these guys a lot of them like you said they're they're kind of not even guys that a lot of teams had ranked they're they're trying to get into their specialist role so i gave this one a b minus all

things considered knowing if you factor in matthew stafford and then winning it all it's an a but i like this draft i think this draft was fine, so I gave it a B-. Okay, so I love Kyron Williams. Awesome value there. I think he's going to be a really, really nice third down back for this team. I liked Logan Bruss. I think he could start on the interior of their offensive line for them. This isn't really a don't get, but more of a question I'm going to raise. F them picks is fun until your depth really hurts. And we're going to see soon. Andrew Whitworth wrote off into the sunset, that offensive line does not look good on paper,

in my eyes. I think their defensive depth is a little questionable. And you become a dynasty by replacing your stars by drafting the next year. And they used all their capital to get more stars.

And they won a Super Bowl, so they get an A for that. It's awesome. This is a draft show. So I'm pulling this all the way back to the draft. I gave their draft a C+, because they didn't have a lot to work with, and I didn't really think they did anything special with the few picks they had. And I think the Rams, if injury luck doesn't go their way this year, I mean, they have a tough hill to climb. I think it's going to be really tough to not only repeat, but get back in the top of the NFC. So that's my Rams take a C plus grade

a for the overall winning the Superbowl and using the picks to get that climb that mountain. But obviously this draft as a whole kind of shrug your shoulders. Not that you're surprised. All right. That's the NFC West heading over to the AFC South before we get there. We've got to remind people that this podcast is sponsored by Sunday. Does your lawn have weeds, bare patches,

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nfl that is 20 off your custom plans at getunday.com slash NFL. AFC South now. Connor, what's the first team from the AFC South that we are going to be diagnosing here with their draft class? Indianapolis Colts. Obviously a fascinating team, made a big move, got Matt Ryan in the off season. Carson Wentz out the door.

No first round pick because of Carson Wentz trade initially. Yeah, so, so, oh God. So, a lot to unpack with the Colts, a team that is expected to contend by now. Chris Ballard has been there for a while. He's had his fingerprints on this roster. They think they got the right quarterback in play. They think it's a division that they could take advantage of.

So, for the Colts here, let's take a look at their draft. They obviously, first pick was in the second round, Alec Pierce, the wide receiver from Cincinnati. Three third round picks. Jelani Woods, the tight end from Virginia. Bernard Raymond, the offensive tackle from Central Michigan. And Nick Cross, the safety

from Maryland. Fifth round pick, Eric Johnson, pass rushing defensive tackle from Missouri State. Two sixth round picks, Andrew Ogletree, the tight end from Youngstown State. And Curtis Brooks, another pass rushing defensive tackle, this time from Cincinnati. So they dip into that Cincinnati well, not once, but twice. And then Rodney Thomas, a defensive back from Yale, to end their draft in the seventh round. Trevor, what'd you love?

I loved a lot, given the fact that they didn't have a first round pick which i just kind of jokingly said was a great move from them uh moving on from carson wentz and getting matt ryan in there i think that was really smart and we're factoring that in i kind of really loved how they how they navigated the draft now it was a little funny because a lot of people are going to look at the alec pierce pick as their first selection number 53 and go okay that's a little funny because a lot of people are going to look at the Alec Pierce pick as their first selection, number 53, and go, okay, that's a little rich. Like, I don't know if I love Alec Pierce there, but at the same time,

they got Bernard Raymond at 77, which I think a lot of people would consider a steal for where they got him. If you flip Bernard Raymond and Alec Pierce of where they're picked, you are like, this draft is great. And so I'm kind of just taking the players they got and I'm like, all right, they got good players. I don't know how it worked out for them, but it did.

They obviously navigated things really well. They knew something about Raymond, I guess that he was going to fall a little bit there for so great for them to wait and be able to pick up on him. Probably a little bit of luck involved, but that is the NFL draft. I liked Alex Pierce. I liked that he is a big-bodied athletic player that they can use on the outside that can really help them vertically Michael Pittman I think is growing into a full-time all-around number one ex kind of receiver for them but I love the fact that they

got a bigger guy with a ton of athleticism to play opposite him and really stretch the field you hope that's opening up stuff underneath for their tight end passing game certainly everything that Jonathan Taylor can do out of the backfield as well. You're hoping Paris Campbell can be that guy, can stay healthy and be that guy as well. So I like his fit in that offense. Jelani Woods went earlier than I thought he was going to. But at the same time, I guess he's just such a freak athletically at tight end that it's hard to really wait on him, I guess, because everyone in the league is probably looking at this guy thinking of what he can be, 6'7", 265 pounds,

and just moves at an unbelievable level. So the theme between, I think, really all of their first three picks, Alec Pierce, Jelani Woods, and Bernard Raymond, is that athleticism in bigger-bodied players, which is something that you want to cover. That's what the NFL is all about. You're taking swings at these bigger guys who can really help out the athletic ceiling and Nick cross as well.

I think that he is another player who is a great athlete. I should have just mentioned him as well. All four of those guys. I think they're really coveting athletes and they did a good job doing that. The didn't like in this class because I'm a little nitpicky here, but it's because it's clear they have a type like i think redundancy was the word that i was going to use as maybe something i didn't get for the colts because okay eric johnson he's a big body defensive lineman um you know robin rodney thomas is built differently but he's the same thing he's like he's like more of a tall

well-built kind of a bigger guy there alec ogletree is the same kind of form that Jelani Woods is in, and you're taking a chance on these extremely raw, athletic, pass-catching tight ends, and maybe you could have gone with a little bit more of an established one later. I don't know. I just felt like that's a little bit of a risk, but hey, if both of them hit, you're getting two incredible mismatches there. Really did like the Curtis Brooks pick because he's an older prospect but he is definitely a guy

who knows what he's doing pass rush wise i mean he had an elite pass rush great from pff last season so older prospect but he's hoping that you're hoping that with that being the case and the production that he's already shown at cincinnati you draft them you get to play them right away get those benefits there so i really did i i liked this draft i gave it a b plus um maybe could have given it an a minus if i knew exactly what they were going to be able to do from some of the guys that are similar that they drafted a little bit on day three but give it a b plus i i did like this draft yeah it's clear they they value size and athleticism as much as maybe anybody in the NFL, right? When you look at all their picks and the style of pick they made,

and you look at the structure of this offense right now, Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce, you know, two big wide receivers they have in this offense, Mo Alley Cox, Jelani Woods, obviously huge athletic kind of tight ends. The way they build their offensive line, their running style with Jonathan Taylor. So for the Colts here, I love Bernard Raymond. I thought the value, like you said, Trev, was great there.

I think he can really, really fill that void that they've had to worry about with the loss of Eric Fisher, obviously. So I think Raymond can come in, and that was just excellent value. I like Curtis Brooks and I like Nick Cross you're taking athletes on defense that instinctually have not put it all together but there is a place where they do and they start making really big plays especially Cross who is such a good athlete that it makes up for his lack of instincts at times and if it starts to click for him before he's going to get there and those those past deflections are going to be interceptions.

So I'm with you. I really like what they did on day two. There's nothing I don't get with this team. It all kind of made sense for who they are and what they want to be. So I gave it a B. It's hard to get into the A when you don't have that first round pick. That kind of held them back here. Obviously, they don't get bonus points for trading that first round pick for Carson Wentz.

That does not help their grade here. So I like the players they got. They're very true to who they are and their style of drafting. And I think it was rock solid for a legitimate contender in this division that is going to look a lot more like a pro team under Matt Ryan this year. Yeah. And we're going to get to this a little bit because we're obviously talking about the Tennessee Titans in this division as well. But I think the colts are poised to take this division i really do i think the titans are going to take a step back and we're going to get into that in a second but i think

the colts are ready to take a step up i thought it was a good draft you're right for the identity that they have there as long as they're getting something out of the players that they were drafted on day three who i thought they might have already had molds from. Shoot, maybe that's exactly what they wanted. They just wanted more of those guys. As long as they know how to use them, I think it's a really great draft for the Indianapolis Colts. Let's look at the Jacksonville Jaguars next. Let's go to Jacksonville.

Trayvon Walker obviously is the one one at the top of this draft. Number one overall, the edge rusher out of Georgia. They go Devin Lloyd at 27 in the first round. They trade up from the very beginning of the second round, back up into the first round and go get Devin Lloyd out of fear that he would not be there because they thought the patriots were going to take him which i thought was very funny um didn't have a second round pick because of that because they picked twice in the first round luke fortner the interior

offensive lineman from kentucky at 65 in the third round then chad mooma the linebacker from wyoming 70 in the third round no pick in the fourth round snoop connor the running back from mississippi state or sorry old miss uh at 154 gregory jr in the sixth round the corner out of a talcha baptist i believe is how you say that and then in the seventh round uh monteric brown cornerback from arkansas what'd you love what'd you like what didn't you get connor i love the devin lloyd and chadma pairing. I think it's going to be awesome. I think it's going to be a staple of the middle of their defense for a very, very long time. I really, really liked Monteric Brown. He was one of my sleepers in this draft. I had him 191. He went 222. I think he could be a really good zone corner. He's got size. He's got really, really impressive ball skills.

That was one of my favorite seventh round picks of the entire draft. Then where it starts to teeter the other way, I did not like picking Trayvon Walker first overall. How different would this grade be if they took Aiden Hutchinson, Kayvon Thibodeau, Iki Ikuonu? It would have been an A for the Jacksonville. And instead, they took Trayvon Walker, who I think will be an OK player in this league. I don't think he'll ever be a superstar player.

And honestly, Trevor, a pick that I have a huge problem with, I hated the Luke Fortner pick. I hated it way much more than the Trayvon Walker pick. I had him outside my top 100 at 107. They took him 65th. There were better centers on the board. There were better interior offensive linemen on the board. That pick just felt like it didn't make any sense to me.

I know there was a need for them there, but this was not the way to address that need, in my opinion. So, yeah, for Jacksonville, I gave it a B because I think they got players. Like, Muma and Lloyd are going to be really good. I think Montero Brown could be a starter one day. I think Trayvon Walker is fine. Like, when you put it all together and look at the players they got,

you're like, okay, they got some players now. But they could have, they should have had an A. They had no reason to not be one of the teams to walk out with, at minimum, an A-. It was there on a platter for them. Just take one of the best players in the draft, and the rest will fall into place, like it kind of did by getting Mooma and Lloyd, by getting Monteric Brown. You can have a miss here and there. I don't think Fortner is going

to be what they want him to be, but even if he is, then it's a big turnaround. This was disappointing. This was disappointing for Jacksonville. This is what happens when you have Trent Bulkey running things. It's the most disappointing B I can give because, like, once again, they got good players. They should have gotten so much better. It felt like they took a baby step in the shallow end of the pool when they should have been diving off the diving board. And it's just I was very disappointed with Jacksonville.

Yeah, they took – now, look, I like Fortner. I do. I think I'm higher on him than you are. And they needed a center, but they took Fortner at 65 and Dylan Parham went 90. So that is a significant gap, if you ask me, for a player that I thought was even better,

even if they wanted like just a center, I think that he is a, is a better player. I'm, I'm, I'm looking down the list now and see if there were other center offensive line prospects. That was the big one that stood out in my mind that they really could have, I think, done a better job of, of, of picking, but I don't want to be too hard on it because I don't necessarily hate Fortner. I don't hate Walker either. I don't hate Walker at all as a player. There's just so many other players that I had ranked ahead of him

is the thing that makes that one tough to pick at the very top of the draft. I get what they're doing. Like, I get what they're doing with Fortner. I get what they're doing with Walker. I just would have went different directions. And of course, instant grades. They haven't played a snap yet in the NFLfl here's one for you we're gonna go

off of our big boards so yeah when was the last time the number one overall pick was talked about this little ever like when do you ever hear since this draft people talk about trayvon walker i uh i mean I don't know. I'm looking now. Eric Fisher, 2013. Eric Fisher. That's the answer. The draft this was always compared to was 2013.

Maybe Jake Long in 2008. Jake Long was an animal, though. An animal. He was just hurt. He was just hurt. He was a freak as a prospect. I know it's a tackle and it's boring, but he's really different if he can stay healthy.

Eric Fisher's probably the only one who's in a similar conversation since the year 2000. I'll say that. Yeah, I don't know. It's a tough one. I love the Devin Lloyd pick. I like Devin Lloyd a lot. I think he's going to be a really great football player. I hope you're right with the Chadmuma pairing

because I had Chadmuma as linebacker three in this class. I just didn't. I thought it was weird that the Jags used that many premium picks and then also premium salary cap money in free agency yes on foyer luacon yeah on a linebacker it's like okay you got a lot of money and resources in linebacker now like you better hope it works out you better hope that it gives you more value than linebacker maybe traditionally does so uh that one's a little bit i can't love the mooma pick even though i'd love mooma the player just because i didn't really like how they navigated it i like the monteric brown pick as well i have mooma in the

light category but then i've got walker and fortner and uh don't really get uh those are guys who find players again it was just i gave this draft a c minus all right i'll just i'll just be honest with it i gave this draft a c minus and i't, it's not even because I hate the players that they ended up coming up with. And you put it great. I do not hate these, this group of players. It's weird how Jacksonville acquired them, where they acquired them and what the thought process was in acquiring them. That's kind of my take in it. At the end of the day, the draft weekend is about getting players who will benefit your football team who will make your franchise better and if the jaguars did that i guess who cares about the order who cares about how it went versus my big board whatever because i think that

these players could be good players for them it's just weird how they went about it and i wouldn't i'm not a fan of the process that they had to get to this point that's kind of my overall thought on it just i mean i know it's hyperbole but shouldn't everybody in the jacksonville position like the jets eventually the texans there's a lot of teams like this the lions don't you want to make the turnaround that the bengals did? And nobody, it's impossible. It's rare. I don't want the Bengals to become this model.

But your goal should be that. Where you're like, this is going to make us a lot better. Jamar Chase is going to make us a lot better. When I look at Jacksonville, I don't feel that way. I feel like they're just constantly crawling. I think they think that, though. That's not good. They think that. Clearly, they made that, though. That's not good. They think that.

Clearly, they made the picks. Yeah, you're right. I don't think that they're not happy about the picks. I'm just not exactly a trendsetter. My prediction of this is going to be that they're fine because Doug is a competent coach. Yeah, I agree. He gets pushed out by the end of the year

because they realize they reached on a couple of these guys. And they're going to look back at this draft and go, man, if Doug had the reins, this could have been an awesome draft. But now they're playing catch-up again, and they're just an average team. Anyways, that's it on Jacksonville. This is what I fear. All right, the Texans. Obviously one of those teams that...

Hell yeah, baby. This is a big draft for Houston. Hell yeah. A really, really big draft for Houston. A team that made a lot of moves in this draft uh made a lot of moves before the draft so the first pick was Derek Stingley the corner from LSU another first round pick Kenyon Green the offensive lineman from Texas A&M two second round picks Jalen Petrie safety from Baylor John Meche wide receiver from Alabama third round pick Christian Harris linebacker from Alabama fourth round pick Damian Pierce the running back from Florida.

Thomas Booker was one of their two fifth round picks, the defensive lineman from Stanford. Teagan Quattoriano? I always do this. Quintoriano. Quintoriano? Quintoriano, I believe. Quintoriano.

All right, the tight end from Oregon State, Austin Dekulis. You got that one. That one screws people up, and you nailed that one. Oh, no. No, that one. People look at that one, and they're like, Dekulis? No, Dekulis. Dekulis?

No, I screw up Quattoriano every time I read it. Look, man, any cue, any last name that starts with Q. All the Shrine guys. All the Shrine guys have these crazy names. They're all Shrine guys. It's because you weren't at the Shrine Bowl this year. I with Q. All the Shrine guys. All the Shrine guys have these crazy names. They're all Shrine guys. It's because you weren't at the Shrine Bowl this year. I didn't go to the Shrine Bowl. I don't know how to pronounce the names.

Yeah, come on. Oh, man. All right. So, Trevor, I know you really like this draft. What do you want to start with? This is the draft that was tied for the Seattle Seahawks as my favorite on the day. This is an A-minus draft for me.

Derek Stingley Jr., my number one player in the class. They got a number three overall. Love it. Let's go, baby. In the phone call that Derek Stingley had with Lovey Smith when he told them that he was going to be a Texan, that they were about to pick him, Lovey Smith said to him, hey, how's this sound? You're going to shadow the number one wide receiver every

week. Does that sound good to you? Derek Stingley went, hell yeah, it sounds good to me, coach. Look, all of this talk, I get it it Lovey Smith's history it's all very zone scheme based and if you're doing that with Derek Stingley you are uh what's the what's the phrase like keeping it like keeping a Ferrari in the garage or something like that right that people say it's like you're you are not maximizing what Derek Stingley could be, but it's not like rich strike Gallup, but it is. Yeah,

it's good. It's topical. It's good. Love it. Love the switch there. He ain't no underdog though. Not anymore. He's not.

So Stingley, you get him. And if they're going to play him as an outside cornerback and let him play man coverage, beautiful. Same thing with Jalen Petrie, right? Jalen Petrie can be this man coverage

versatile slot slash safety player for you that can play inside outside shades of these uh slot receivers these guys on the inside he's really great with his leverage he understands things very well gets spacing he's not the best athlete in the world i kind of wish he popped a little bit more when i was watching him on tape but played really well in the senior bowl all three days of practice love what he was able to bring there I've got great faith that he could be a good slot defender a new age slot defender in the NFL so those two guys getting in this defense I love that love John Mechie as well think that John Mechie is a lot more of a complete wide receiver than people are giving it credit for and in this Texans wide receiver room I think

Mechie's got a chance to once he gets healthy off that ACL tear, get to start to play right away and be a great compliment to Brandon Cooks. Damian Pierce, ain't nobody really around him, man. I think that that running back room's got carries for the taking. And I think Damian Pierce is going to start getting those carries,

hopefully more than he did at the University of Florida, Dan Mullen. And I hope that they get to use him quite a bit because I think he could be great for him. What I liked about this draft, I liked the other two high picks i really do kenny green look man kenny green got picked what was it 15 was it big 15 yeah yep so he so he gets picked 15 okay if kenny green would have been selected nine like like a lot of people and i i get it i get what people are saying because we had all

of the mock drafts that we ran and we were so comfortable picking him for the Arizona Cardinals at 23 or picking him for the Dallas Cowboys at number 24. And we were just like, okay, that's where Canyon green is going to go. And because he went a little bit sooner than we thought we were like, Whoa, that's different than what I thought but in reality it's nine picks man it's nine picks you already had the big three offensive linemen off the board cross Iquanu Neal they were already all gone we knew it was going to kind of be a pick your preference after that you and I both didn't love Trevor Penning he goes after Kenny Green the end of the day Houston needs good old linemen I think Kenny Green's gonna be a good old lineman. I think Kenny Green's going to be a good old lineman. So it wasn't as much of a mock draft comfortable spot as we saw him go in the

early twenties. It was a little bit earlier than that. And I think that caught a lot of us off guard, but I think Kenny Green could be good, man. He's got so much experience at so many different spots at Texas A&M. I'm going to love the fact that he's going to be able to hone in on one spot, hopefully hone in one spot, but who knows? Maybe he could be an Elton Jenkins kind of player for you, which we've seen how that can impact the offensive line with Green Bay Packers.

So I did. I like the Kenyon Green pick still. The Christian Harris pick I liked as well where they got him, an athletic linebacker who could play in the middle, gives you that sideline to sideline ability. The don't get is maybe the scheme fits. Again, going back to especially the secondary picks and maybe what they do with kenyan green does it does that turn out to

be a detriment of the picks because you selected a player maybe maybe it was like the front office selecting a player because of his talent and the coaching staff not being able to implement them the right way that's the maybe don't get but but all in all, A-minus draft. Love what Nick Casario and the Texans did here. All right, so I love the Damian Pierce pick. I think they got their lead back. For a team that couldn't run the ball, I think his running style meshed well with Kenyon Green being a people mover.

They needed more of that on their offensive line. I liked John Mechie pick. I liked the Jalen Petrie pick. I think when Mechie's. I liked the Jalen Petrie pick. I think when Mechie's healthy, he's going to remind people why he was a fringe round one wide receiver when healthy. The ACL tear really cost him a lot. So that could be their number two across from Brandon Cooks. Petrie replaces Reed a little bit with the things he could do close to the line of scrimmage. I like a lot of the players they got in this draft.

The reason I gave it a B- is Stingley, to me, is still a huge risk at three. If you wanted a corner that badly, I would have taken Sauce. Me getting on here and saying anything different for anybody that's listened to this show for months would have just known it's total BS. I've said Sauce is the best corner in this draft. I think Sauce is the most scheme versatile in this draft. I think Stingley was the man-to-man guy i think sauce is really good in zone really good in man he tackles stingley can tackle i'm not saying he can't i i don't know i don't think

stingley will ever even want to play zone he wasn't like that at lsu so i look at it and just go, man, I think they really wanted the guy that can be special and Stingley can. But there is a there's a lot of risk and it's not a risk I would have taken. So that was my biggest problem with the Texans draft and why I gave it a B minus. But I do think they'll look back on this draft for a roster that was paper thin and think they got starters all over the place, all over the place. I do think they overdrafted Christian Harris, but they got started. Really? Yeah.

I didn't, I didn't have him in my top 100. Oh, okay. So you're way low on him. Yeah. I had him on 16. I think he's a great athlete that just hasn't really found a position yet.

If you let him run and chase from the backside, it'll be fine. If you want him right in front of the traffic and the, and the, the muck, really, he gets lost a lot. And I'm curious to see how they play him. If they have a good plan for him, he'll be fine.

So, yeah, they got good players across the board. A B-. Not spectacular, not great. It's just I'll die on the hill that it should have been sauce instead of Stingley. We'll see. RIP. RIP.

I'll come to your funeral, my friend. The Tennessee Titans. This is the last draft that we're talking about today trailing burks why i just hear from argus on the first round at number 18 because traded away aj brown which we're going to talk about here roger mccreary top of the second round the cornerback from auburn nicholas petite ferrer the offensive tackle from oh State. They got him in the third round. Second, third round selection wasn't a leak. Willis crazy enough at number 86 did not think that that was going to happen. Fourth round, Hassan Haskins.

And then in the other player that they got in the fourth round, Chigoza Mwanko. Is that how you say his first name? I just said Chig Akonkwo. Akonkwo. Akonkwo. I was not pronouncing the first K. Chig Akonkwo. I wasn't at the Shrine game, and i know how to say chig's last name you know what you that's

you prepared for your your draft show better than i did then um kyle phillips the wide shooter from ucla in the fifth round who was another shrine bowl guy you know i know more of nailed it i was at that one uh Theo Jackson the safety from Tennessee had the sixth round at 204 and then Chance Campbell the linebacker from Ole Miss as their final selection in the sixth round would you love would you like what didn't you like about the the Titans draft I I didn't love anything um I really really like Traylon Burks and Malik Willis I am a Traylon Burks guy there's's no way to like trading A.J. Brown. There's no way around it, but if you had to replace him, this was the guy to try to get

back some of that production. I think Titans fans are going to really, really like Traylon Burks, and I think they're going to do a really good job getting the ball in his hands right away across from Robert Woods. I don't love it. I like it. I really like Malik Willis here. I think this is a good spot for Malik Willis. I think that the value is really good. I think this is a good place for him to sit for a year or two. I hope they get a little creative with him, especially in the preseason and use him in the red zone and get him moving a lot and create some looks where you roll out

and obviously some RPOs. There's a lot you could do with Malik Willis because he's athletic. He's got a big arm. That while you're developing him off the field, there are ways, wrinkles, to get him involved. So I'm excited about Malik Willis. Hassan Haskins is a classic Derrick Henry backup. Big north-south runner. Let's go through it a little more here.

Yeah, so, and then the only one I didn't get they reached on petite frere um i you know it's it's fine everybody reaches on offensive lineman i am at 92 they took him 69 not that crazy uh i do think their offensive line is a little more leaky than we've ever seen before with some names out the door but you know overall i like roger mccreary too i think they they got now they have depth at corner which is really exciting for them. They could use it. So I actually think Tennessee did a good job, all things considered. I gave them a B+.

I actually think this draft was one of the better ones they've had in recent years. I think they got some players on the back end that are going to be serviceable backups. Aquanquo was their type of tight end. They love those athletic guys that you could even run jet sweeps with or get on the slip screens where they chip and sit in the middle of everyone and you dump them the ball and run.

He could do that. Tennessee's draft will be remembered for two things, though, Trevor, after all of that. One, if Traylon Burks can be 80% of A.J. Brown, and two, if Malik Willis is actually the guy after Ryan Tannehill. Nobody will care about anything else. It's an interesting draft for the Titans.

I gave it a B- really out of the benefit of the doubt for John Robinson, the general manager in Tennessee. The A.J. Brown trade is tough in reading some quotes afterwards they talked about how the gap between those two players between the two parties to come up with an extension was hopelessly vast and when I look at A.J. Brown's contract and what he agreed with, with the Philadelphia Eagles, I mean, it's, it's not that bad. I mean, like he's, he's getting $25 million a year. So he's getting paid as a top seven wide receiver. His fully guaranteed money is I think top three for wide receivers and his,

well, his, his total guaranteed money is top seven for wide receivers. And then his fully guaranteed money is the most 56 million as a fully guaranteed amount, I believe is the most for a wide receiver, but you know, it's, it's essentially a three-year deal. When you look at it, he's 24, the guaranteed money goes out the window three years from now. If you're Tennessee, you just got the one seed without Derek Henry.

You just got the one seed. Without Derrick Henry, you just got the one seed. Ryan Tannehill ain't getting any younger. This is your winning window. Yeah, you're right. You just paid Harold Landry. You just paid this money for these guys to not go anywhere on your team, to stay good. It's just, even if you are okay with the swap of Traylon Burks for AJ Brown,

because you're, you look at what Traylon Burks did in the slot when he was at Oak, when he was Arkansas and you hope, okay, there's some of the slot production that we get back. And you're hoping that why Robert Woods can be a great outside wide receiver for you. And you're hoping some other guys are going to step up as well. Like, even if that's the case man like you can't be it's it's not like AJ Brown reset the market right he signed

a good wide receiver deal but this guy is now your entire offense outside of Derrick Henry he's your entire passing offense you don't have Johnnie Smith anymore you don't have Julio Jones anymore yeah you don't have these wide receiversith anymore you don't have julio jones anymore yeah you don't have these wide receivers and these other tight ends that have kind of been there i think ferkshire is still there actually but still i mean like it's not like ferkshire's the difference between a playoff team and not i just it's it was a hard draft for me to love all things considered because i don't know how you sit here and you tell yourself that we were not even close to a deal with aj brown given the deal that he signed with the Eagles.

Yeah, it's a bad deal. The deal that he signed with the Eagles was fine. Yeah. So what are you doing now? Is Ryan Tannehill, now you drafted a quarterback who is now going to be immediately in the shadow of Ryan Tannehill. And the second Ryan Tannehill stops playing well, you're going to want to, the fans are going to gonna want to put malik willis in you put an accelerator on your own timeline for a winning window now you're you are hoping that traylon burks can be something for you very soon or else you are immediately a one-dimensional football team you mentioned how the offensive line's not

as dominant as it has been in the years past or it's not it's not shaping up to be this year it's hard man i love the hassan haskins pick because or it's not it's not shaping up to be this year it's hard man i love the hassan haskins pick because of what you mentioned he's a perfect backup to derrick henry it's exactly the style of player that they're going to go for i like malik willis going this late i like them taking a chance on him i like roger mccreary he was a top 30 player for me i think he's a great secondary guy and now they've got christian fulton roger mccreary uh caleb farley in theory when all those guys are healthy, it's a great secondary group. Love Kyle Phillips and what he could be as a quick hit, reliable option,

almost like a, I'm sorry, a Hunter Renfro type. I even like the Chance Campbell. Shameless. I even like, look, it spells itself out, man. If there's ever been one before, it feels like it's this one. And I like the Chance Campbell pick. I do. I think he's going to be a good linebacker for him on a team that I think

needs some linebacker depth. And I like the Chance Campbell pick. I do. I think he's going to be a good linebacker for him on a team that I think needs some linebacker depth. So I like all those picks, but the Brown pick is just, it's ugly to me, man. It's ugly. Given the fact in the context of what we heard before, the Petit Frere pick I just thought was a reach because I've never been a big fan of him. Again, I give this a B minus because of the benefit of the doubt to John Robinson, but this Titans draft is a tough look for me.

I think the Titans got objectively worse this offseason oh I agree I already thought that they overachieved last year with 12 wins being the one seed the AFC around them got a lot better and I'm not shocked that the Titans don't even make the playoffs this year and if they don't make the playoffs this year all of a sudden you're looking at Ryan Tanneill a lot different uh you're looking at some of your other veterans a little bit different because you're also gonna have to pay jeffrey simmons pretty soon so it's like tides could be turning real quick here for the tennessee titans and i know mike variable ain't happy about it but maybe mike variable and john robinson aren't seeing eye to eye maybe john robinson sees a mini rebuild coming up when for able wanted to go

all in. And I don't know, I don't know. It's just going to, it's going to be, it's going to be very interesting to see how things play out in Tennessee this year. I think you lose, you run the risk of losing trust with your fan base when you come out and kind of pound your chest and say, that's, this guy's going to be here as long as I'm around. And I'm not blaming Mike Vrabel,

because maybe he wasn't as involved in this situation as these guys typically are. But if you're a Titans fan, you have to feel disappointed, right? Like, how can you not? And I love Traylon Burks, but it's not fair to think trailing burks is going to be a.j brown it's not i don't really think that's fair a.j brown was a pretty special player and during his time at tennessee he turns 25 years old this summer he's getting better i don't know it's it's tough it's tough in a division that the texans and jaguars kind of rolled over last year

i don't think they're good this year but they're they're gonna put up a fight but the texans had a good draft and doug peterson doug peterson is now the head coach in jacksonville with trevor lawrence right lovey smith and with the texans it's no guarantee anymore and i just looked it up ryan taniel's contract he's 34 years old the contract was absolutely uncuttable for the last three years but after this year he turns 35 and his contract gets pretty decently cut he's he becomes a 36.6 million dollar cap hit but they save eight they save uh 20 so how much do they save how what's math here what's the math a little a little under 20 million they save a little under 20 million so he would they're gonna keep him around but you just drafted malik again like what happens if the titans win six games this upcoming season you're treading water which is the worst place to be i'm not like a hundred percent saying that

that's going to happen but don't sit here and tell me that's not within the realm of possibility if they win six or seven games what do you do because you've got malik willis then sitting there if ryan tannahill's coming off a bad gear if this passing offense is not where it needs to be because trailing burks is taking a little bit longer of time than he needs to to get up to speed i'm just saying man i'm i'm worried for the tennessee titans titans fans out there i'm worried for you i hope it works out for the best i truly do but uh i'm a little bit worried for you before we get out of here i gotta got to remind people the NFLSE, those five letters will save you 25% on a PFF subscription over at pff.com.

You get the fantasy football guide. You get the in-season betting tools. You get the draft guide. You get all the premium stats. You get everything. So go check it out. Look at the different pricing models that we have for the different subscriptions over at pff and if you don't have one use that promo code nflse when you sign up and you'll get 25 off connor we got one episode left with the divisions one episode it's

been fun man this has been uh real deep in these draft classes talking about the day three it's the it's the good stuff i'm gonna miss it um you you get a little sad on the last one which will be thursdays because that's really it it's you say goodbye it's um turn the page it's like a game of thrones where they they push the body out on the boat and they have to shoot that flaming arrow on it saying goodbye to the draft class and they keep missing the arrow and it's like it kind of feels like that where it's like, man, I kind of want to miss the arrow. I don't want to say goodbye.

See, you're out here shooting the arrow first, missing on purpose. Yeah, and you're like, give me that. And then I'm shoving you out of the way and hitting it one shot because we've got some awesome summer content. Look, I'm with you. It's bittersweet. Obviously, we've talked so much about this class, and then we're done with the recaps.

But, y'all, we have some awesome plans for this summer. It's going to be jam-packed. The Mondays are going to be great. The series we do in between every week is going to be great as well. So make sure you guys stick around. I know y'all listen to this podcast because it's a draft podcast, so you listen to it in February, March, and April. And we appreciate the hell out of you for listening to us then,

especially as a new podcast, and even here listening to some recap episodes. But keep rocking with us during the summer. We ain't going anywhere, and we are going to make this a fun summer previewing what could be for these rookies, what could be for these teams. We're going to have a lot of fun, get a lot of creativity. It's going to be a blast. This is the NFL Stock Exchange. I'm Trevor.

That's Connor. We'll see you guys on Thursday. Bye.