NFL Stock Exchange: An NFL Draft Podcast - Long Shot Rd1 Picks, Trade Scenarios & How We Scout

Episode Date: April 16, 2025

Trevor Sikkema and Connor Rogers go through over an hour of mailbag questions from the Addicts with just a week remaining before the 2025 NFL Draft

Welcome to the opening bell of the NFL stock exchange podcast presented by arena, the sports super app that combines DFS, social feeds, sports news, everything. It is a sports followers dream all in one app. Go check it out. Go download it over at the app store. I am Trevor Sikima. That is Connor Rogers, uh, hanging out with you guys for it's been a minute, a mailbag episode, baby. I'm excited for this and Connor, we are 10 days from the 2025 NFL draft and we're opening up the mailbag for the first time in a long time. You obviously,

you guys get your comments and questions in for every YouTube episode in the YouTube comments, but this format, I mean, we are going back and forth with you guys, the addicts here in episode format. Connor, you ready for it? Dude, I feel like we haven't done a mailbag in like six months. So it is long overdue for us.

It really is. And I saw some of the questions, not a ton of them, because I want some to be a surprise, but just to kind of feel it out. And I wanted to see people interacting in the arena app with us, which was really cool. It was like overwhelming how quickly that happened, which was neat.

People, it just goes to show you this community, how embedded they are in the draft. I saw really in the weeds questions that we love about team scenarios, day two players, day three players. Today's going to be awesome, man. You're right. We're long overdue to get back in on the action. So a lot of the questions that we're going to be answering here on the show come from the arena app. Connor and I both have profiles that are there. There's an NFLSE account that's over there. We would love for you guys to come over and hang out with us over there.

We'll be doing exclusive NFLSE content on the arena app moving forward. So there's going to be some nuggets there that you guys can see if you follow along. And we said this on Twitter, we tweeted this out. If you are in the app, that's going to be the way that we're going to do a lot of these mailbags moving forward during the summer, during the season. A lot of that is going to be hosted on arena. So make sure you guys go get an account, follow the two of us.

Because. Yes, go ahead. Because, partially because of, you know, it's a new venture for us and we want people in there. But also, it's a better way for us to interact because if we don't get to your question here, there'll be times where we can respond in video format in that app.

We're like, yes, we'll never be out of our YouTube comment section because it is so much fun. Nothing we do on YouTube is changing at all. We are just now able to do more with the arena. So everything you love about NFL SE is staying exactly the same. But if you want more content from us, you are now getting it. Also, a $200 deposit match whenever you're deposit. Which little bonus I'll talk about all that stuff later

But let's let's let's get into the mailbag stuff right now question Number one this one comes from Ethan put me on blast immediately when are the hats dropping all right? I'm sorry There's a lot more legal setup to setting up a Shopify account that I thought I just want to take a picture of the hat Be like here's the hat pay us money for it, we'll ship it to you. Boom, there it is. Now I gotta, I gotta, I gotta give people, you know, my business identification number. Yeah, come on. It's not like New York City where you can post up with a table on the sidewalk and somebody gives you $15 cash and you move on. The big man is, is watching

the interwebs. There is one out in the wild. There's one stock exchange hat out in the wild. The Badlands event in Manhattan on Friday night, rowdy, wild crowd. I did a draft segment and I was getting the crowd to cheer for certain players and all kinds of, and I was like, any stock exchange fans out here?

A roar threw out a hat into the crowd. There's one hat in the wild. I love that. Just going around the streets of New York. It's about as rare as rare can be. Babe Ruth signed baseball. There are more of those. Willy Wonka golden ticket. There are NFL and see hats right now. A chocolate factory golden ticket. There are literally more of those than Willy Watt than hats.

So I promise you, I promise you that the hats are coming. We're almost done setting up the shop genuinely. We haven't done this before. So this is the first time that I'm walking through it. It's taking a little bit more time, but I promise you guys, it'll be up there and I can already tell from the demand that I'm going to have to order some more hats. So even when those things sell out, we promise we will get you the hats. They're really cool. I enjoy wearing them a lot. It's not just because I'm supporting the brand here myself, but like the hats are genuinely awesome. So we're

excited for you guys to have those things. But Ethan had a part two to his question. Where do you guys see Wyatt Milam going in the draft? So this is the tackle from West Virginia, somebody that we liked a decent amount coming into the season, graded really well. He was one of the highest graded offensive tackles that we had in college football over at PFF this past season. Connor, the more I watch Milam, I think he's a very technically sound guard. I think that he can move pretty well, but just, I think the footwork can be a little bit clumsy at times. I, I felt as though he lacked that athleticism to really protect the outside

shoulder against NFL level speed rushers. I felt as though he lacked that athleticism to really protect the outside shoulder against NFL level speed rushers. I actually feel like he's more of a guard and we saw some of that at the senior bowl when he was at the senior bowl. I'm wondering what you think about him and maybe a round value where you'd be comfortable taking a guy like that.

I'm a big fan of Wyatt Mylam and I just moved him over from my tackle rankings to guard about two weeks ago, which my full rankings will be out in about a week on NBC, my top 300 plus. And I'll do the horizontal board as well. I landed on that Trevor. There's just not a lot of guys with that arm length. And you brought up the outside shoulder protection issues that play tackle over the long haul

in the NFL. And the fact that I really like what he could do at guard, now that I'm trying to get more of a feel for him of a comp wise, and this isn't the direct comp, but, and he's played center and he's played center at a high level. But if you liked Joe Tippman coming out as a guard and he could play both center and guard, Mylam is similar in that,

where you see the movement in outside zone, you see a guy that's really tall for an interior player, but it doesn't affect him. His pad levels not through the roof where he's just getting driven backwards all the time. And I asked him at the combine about this because a lot of guys, not a lot of guys, but some guys are just dug in. They're like, I'm a tackle. I'm a tackle. He's like, listen, I'm training down with Duke Manny weather. I'm getting ready to play guard. I'll be ready for anything a team needs to me, but he's really bought in on this move.

He's a top 75 player for me. I really like this player a lot. He's like you said, he's graded out really highly and PFF for a long time now. There's not a lot of guys that start all four years on the offensive line at a college program and play at that high of a level. I think he's going to be fine moving inside. And I think if you like running plenty of outside zone, you'll be an even bigger fan of him.

Yeah. Zone guy in my opinion. I like that shout out there. Uh, my comp that I had for him in the PFF draft guide is Will Fry's. Both of those guys played offensive tackle, uh, at the college level, exactly the same arm length. And Fry is obviously somebody who kicked inside, had a really good year this past year before getting hurt for the Colts and signed a pretty lucrative deal with the Minnesota Vikings to play guard for them there. I have him outside of my top 75, but I think it got him. I think he was 91 on the big board. So same thing.

I think he's probably a third Brown pick and can be great for a zone blocking scheme. Matt Gilroy, again, in the arena app asks, any draft props you guys like? So we don't have draft props yet in, uh, in the arena platform. We're hoping that we get those, but you know, it's always, it's a little bit tricky on whether or not you could get those. Even the big boys, the big books sometimes struggle with getting those things up there. But, um, you know,

the one that I actually feel like I'm getting some steam over two and a half running backs. Again, we don't have this in the arena app yet, but like that is one in the first round, over two and a half running backs that I kind of like because I feel like we're getting Gentie. I feel like we're getting Omari and Hampton. And then I just need one more. And you're telling me that every team in the NFL wants to draft Quinchon Juggins or Trevion Henderson in the second round. Well, if that's going to be the case,

maybe you need to draft them in the first round to be able to get those guys. So I like that when I got that one a pretty good odds. I feel like there's a good chance we get three running backs in the first round. What do you think? That's a fun one. One that I think I gave out on happy hour. So I don't know where the odds have moved since is Tyler Warren to go top five was like 10 to one plus a thousand where once again, he's that for a reason.

He's not expected to go in the top five. But can Jacksonville feasibly take him? Can a team trade with New England to feasibly take him? I think New England will be answering the phones a lot on draft night. Those are the scenarios you try to draw up. That was a fun one. I believe Jaylen Walker's odds to go in the top five were pretty juicy as well. I wouldn't be shocked by that as much as you and I don't don't agree with that move. That wouldn't shock me as well. I like I like where

your head is that man I'm looking at there's I got I got another one. A lot of markets right now. I got another one for you. Yeah, please hit me. I saw Carson Schwesinger in the first round. Juicy odds, really good odds for as much as I feel like he is, universally it feels like talked about as somebody who like NFL teams really look. And now maybe it is very well within the realm of possibility that they really like Carson Schwesinger, but like as a second or third round pick. Right. Jalen Walker's not even really like a true off-ball linebacker.

It's basically just Jahad Campbell and then who? And then who's after that? And we see it every year. Demetrius Knight. We see it all the time. Yeah, but I think the NFL likes Carson Schlesinger more than Demetrius Knight. I would agree as much as I don't agree with that,

but I would agree. And I think that they're pretty close, I do, but it feels like the NFL really loves Schlesinger more than Demetrius Knight. I would agree as much as I don't agree with that, but I would agree. And I think that they're pretty close. I do. But it feels like the NFL really loves Swessinger more than Demetrius Knight. But like, it feels like we get linebackers, you know, Kenneth Murray, Quay Walker. Like it just, like the NFL likes to draft these guys. Was a good athlete. So, so I just, that's one where I found the odds were a little bit, they were pretty high. And I was like, Hey, you know, that's pretty where I found the odds were a little bit, they were pretty high and I was like, hey, you know, that's pretty cool. A little cheddar on that one. So Carson Swessinger to be a first round pick

is another problem. We haven't done linebacker rankings since summer. You want a little spoiler? Where do you think I have Swessinger? What number linebacker? Okay, so, or do you count Jaylen Walker as it? I do.

Okay. All right. So Jaylen Walker, I bet you have ahead of him. Jahad Campbell, Demetrius Knight. Because you're asking me this, I'm going to say you have Pooh Paul above him. I do. And then, again, because you're asking me this, I feel like there's one other one. There's one other one.

Cook young man. Is it the Stutzman? I have the Stutzman ahead of me. Oh my gosh, I'm brilliant. I'm hot. You missed one. You missed one. Oh wait, oh shoot, who is it?

I have Barrett Carter ahead of him too. Do you really? Yeah, I know that won't be, it's not that I think he's a bad player. I just think that I could just pull up the report. I don't want people to be like, oh my God, you hate this guy. He has a ton of, while you look it up,

just sort of give you a little bit more, people a little bit more context. He has a very high amount of positively graded plays at PFF. Yes. Also has a very high amount of negatively graded plays. That's why. Basically, my notes are, and I have a lot of positives on him. You talk about the athleticism, the plays that he blows up, how he kind of flip his

hips and coverage, lateral agility. There is no better click and close linebacker in this class. Yeah. It's just the negatives. When blockers got to him, like it was over in a bad, bad way. I thought he was on the ground against the run a ton, a ton, where I'm really curious about his NFL transition. He's been an elite special teamer.

I think he has really good athleticism. I would love him as a sub package backer with athleticism, but I think he's going to be drafted to do a lot more. So I just had some questions there. Adam's question sort of goes into what we just talked about. I'm wondering if you have anybody else that you'd want to shout out for this one. Who's one player that could go in round one that would shock everyone? It says, please don't say Tyler Shuck.

So I wouldn't say Tyler Shuck there. Marcus is out there somewhere pumping his fist. I was gonna say Marcus on the collab episode that we had last week, which by the way, we're still going to have another collab mock draft episode. We're going to have one more for you guys. But we're just going to do it later in the week because of scheduling. I guess my mind was Carson Schwesinger there.

Do you have anybody else like a shock the world type of first round pick? I don't know if it would shock the world, but I wouldn't be, I could see a world where Ariante Ursory goes in the first round. Okay. And I think people would be like,

oh, that's a scenario we haven't talked about since August or September. It just kinda, he just kinda has leveled out as a day two player for so long. A tackle that big with that kind of, you know, base in terms of his footwork. I wouldn't be floored, but I think the general public would be very, very surprised because like, what if there's a run on the tackles? Say Connerly and Banks go earlier than people expected and people aren't comfortable with Simmons Medical,

then step on down, Ariante, Ursary. Right. Yeah. I think that that's a decent call out there. I'll also call out Landon Jackson. I don't think that we talk about Landon Jackson in the first round at all whatsoever. And this guy is, for an edge rusher, 93rd percentile in height, 92nd percentile in wingspan, 51st percentile in weight, 75th percentile in 40 yard dash, 97th percentile in vert, 96th percentile in broad.

This guy who knows how to defend the run really well, he's got good lengths, he's got explosiveness. 40 yard dash 97th percentile and vert 96th percentile in broad. This guy who knows how to defend the run really well. He's got good links. He's got explosiveness. That sure sounds like a potential first round edge rusher to me. So figured it not a shock to world type of a thing. He's got bigger team grades and media grades. I agree. Yes. I think that's a good way to put it. Okay. Uh, Thomas is his next question here. Uh,

with this being in a weak quarterback class, so many people are saying to stay away from the position until next year and take Arch at number one overall. But given the Manning's history, why does everyone think that he is going to declare for the draft, especially in an NIL world? And this upcoming season being his only one as a starter, I think he returns for his senior season. What do you guys think? So obviously, this is a look into the future for the 2026 NFL draft. I also don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Arch Manning is just going to leave for the draft next year. I think that he would have to have a pretty successful season. But I think that Thomas brings up a good point that, hey,

money is a reason why he might stay. Money is is a reason why he might stay. Money is also a reason why he might go. I think that certainly, whether you're a one-year starter or not, if the NFL projects you to be the first quarterback off the board, you're going to declare. I think that Arch Manning's last name, his family history, everything goes into his advantage for that being the case. But I think it's at least a good question, Connor, to bring up of like, hey, you know, he's only going to be a one year starter at this point.

You know, is it a foregone conclusion he'll be in the draft and that he'd be one one? So I've cautioned some people about this because that being in New York, this is a big Giants topic, obviously, very consistently. Yeah. If you asked me today what I think he'll do, I would say he's not going to declare early And even if he has a good year now things can change right? Maybe there's just a the timeline moves a lot faster He feels he's ready they the Manning family likes the situation on the table where he's gonna go

Shit, it could be the Giants I Think the the way the question was framed was perfect. The NIL factor, he's going to make a ton of money. The Manning factor, where there's a belief there not to rush out of college. He hasn't played much yet, right? Like he has not played a lot of football yet where there might be a belief of why should we have him get chewed up and spit out in the NFL level where it's harder to learn than it is at the college level. So I'm not counting like, will we

watch whatever we can of arch for summer scouting? Of course, but I'm not of the belief he's going to be in next year's draft as it stands today. Yeah, I just think there's a lot more factors at play. And I think Thomas has a really good job at least bringing it up that like, hey, there's just no guarantee that this dude's 100% like going to be in the draft next year. Or that he's a number one overall pick. We hope he is. Right. I don't know today.

Ian, next question here. What's your favorite position to watch on tape? And what are the three traits that you value most from that position? Fun question. All right. Favorite positions to watch on tape. I love watching the wire receiver position. I know that's sort of an easy one, but it is one of my favorites to watch just because there's so many different ways to win.

I mean, when you talk about like traits that I like for those players, like route running, obviously in separation skills is one that I gravitate towards. And sometimes that can look different for different players. You have to understand like where guys are coming from, you know, a six foot six, 225 pound wide receiver is gonna move differently than one who is five foot 10,

185 pounds. So separation could look a little bit different where the pounds, so separation could look a little bit different, or the expectation of separation has to look a little bit different, but you have to be somewhat of a savvy route runner. You have to know what you're doing. You've got to be able to diversify your route tree in whatever your body type and athletic ability allows you to do that. I want to see you be an alpha at the catch point, right?

Can't be soft at the catch point. Again, I don't care if you're 5'9", I don't care if you're 6'6". You've got to be an alpha at the catch point, right? Can't be soft at the catch point. Again, I don't care if you're five foot nine. Right. I don't care if you're six foot six. You gotta be an alpha at the catch point. You've gotta want it more than the other guy. And then release packages, man. The longer that I have scouted,

the more I've learned about different release packages and how to win off the line of scrimmage, how to beat press, how to beat different leverages and understanding how to set up defensive backs in those ways. So I would say overall route running sort of goes into high football IQ, who you are off the line of scrimmage to create separation and win a route very quickly. And then being an alpha at the catch point.

Those are three traits that I always look for for a wide receiver. I love that. I'll go somewhere different and take the defensive side of the ball and say edge rushers. It's just, man, I would say the three things I really look for out of the gate are explosiveness, twitch, and length. And explosiveness ties into the ability to convert speed to power.

Because if you can convert speed to power, you can start to utilize the other two, your twitchiness and your length to kind of like counter speed to power, you can start to utilize the other two, your twitchiness and your length to kind of like counter speed to power. And obviously bend is a big factor of it, but I kind of put that into the agility overall, which is in Twitch. It's just so funny to not funny or but it's it's so interesting to watch the war that goes on across four quarters between an

offensive tackle and an edge pass rusher the mental warfare and How deep you can reach into the bag where? Hey, I've been speed rushing this guy for a half now He's gonna over set me because he can't get off the ball quick enough to match up with me Okay Can I cross his face to win inside? Whether that's an arm over whether that's a rocker step a spin move has become very very popular the art of rushing the passer from not just the edge, but really like a wider alignments, you know, five down to a nine is really

really fun to watch. So it's it's a position that it's remarkable to watch the type of athletes that are coming into the NFL at that size. It's ridiculous. Yeah. And it's always fun to see, you know, once you learn a little bit more about edge rush play, it's always fun to see like, okay, well, how is this team aligning this player? And are they doing it for a reason? Right. Oh, who is that? Who's the guy from army two years ago? Oh, really tall and long. Yep. Man, he was like six foot seven. He's listed that. Yep. I'll get it for you in a second. You got to get it for me. Andre Carter, Andre Carter, he was aligned consistently in like a wide nine technique. And

the reason why is because his path to the quarterback was a straight line if you aligned him that wide. And you were able to pick up on that pretty quickly because he didn't have that flexibility. So if you would have aligned him as a five technique, basically head up against the offensive tackle, he didn't have the first step explosion is in the bend to be able to consistently threaten the outside shoulder but he could if you align him as a wide nine and you force the offensive

tackle to get so far out to a an aiming point to be able to reach him and and and stop him from getting to the quarterback and so that stuff is very fun to watch. I agree with you completely. The two, or sorry the three biggest pieces of the pie for how I grade edge rushers, the most important category, the one that has the most weight, first step explosionness, the next one's flexibility, and the next one's hand usage.

So those are the traits that weigh the most to me when I'm going through my scouting profile of all of these guys and build them. Do you remember sometimes they would line him up so wide that he'd be off the screen of the all 22? Yeah, he'd be off the screen. And he would just fly into the play and you'd be off the screen off the screen 22. Yeah, he'd be on screen and he would just fly into the plane. You'd be like, what the hell is he blitzing from the

slot? It was nuts. Nuts. Basically, he was basically blitzing from the slot edge. Yes. Like, what is this throw back to the off ball defensive tackle days. John Leard had locked on NFL Draft. Now we've created on this show the slot edge. That's unreal. Yeah, he's my slot edge three. I actually love that.

That's incredible. We're just creating new positions. Actually, we're not. We're just calling defensive coordinators out for creating these new positions. These psychopaths. Carter's the next question here. How much weight do you give top 30 visits

in private workouts when doing predictive mocks for teams? Are there certain teams that play very close to the vest more than others? I think that there are. I don't have teams off the top of my head. I'm wondering if you do just that are like, oh yeah, like these teams that they visit with them. Like I feel like the Cowboys are one where if you visit with them, there's a good chance that you're getting drafted there. But I think it was Jason Light who was saying this the other week. He's like, look, top 30 visits aren't just for people who are at the top of our big board.

Like a lot of times the guys that we have on the top of our big board, we don't need to have them in for a top 30 visit. A lot of times we already know who they are. So a lot of these top 30 visits, I don't think people realize it's, it is sometimes almost like an interview, like it really is. So a guy could go into a team for a private workout and it's, I think the media always goes, well, this, this person went into, uh, for this team for, for, for a top 30. And it's like, okay, well, they must be very interested.

They're all over this guy. Well, they're intrigued, but maybe they didn't like what they heard. Maybe they didn't like the visit. Maybe they didn't like the workout, whatever it is. So I just don't think that we, as a whole, as just the regular media, we're so quick to say, oh, top 30 visit.

They're in on this guy, move them up the big board for the team. And it could sometimes be the opposite. That's the issue with it getting classified as top 30 when it's just a pre-draft 30 visit. You get 30 of them, use them how you want. But everybody kind of labels it as a top 30 visit. And you see teams starting to use these on guys

that don't even get invited to the combine to figure out what are we missing here? So it can mean something, starting to use these on guys that don't even get invited to the combine to figure out what are we missing here. So it's a it could it can mean something, but it can also mean nothing. It's you know, just another advantage point for a team to get a closer look at a guy. Tyler asked this next question. It's a fun one. When you're in full when you're in full on tape grind mode, what does that look like for you? A

monitor open with film, open with PFF, season stats, what do you have in front of you? What's the best way that you've found to optimize the process of discovering a brand new player, being able to efficiently watch tape and come to a conclusion? Does this change from position group to position group? And then he has another question about some players over the last three, years that you missed on and what you learned so we can get to those in a second because I gotta pull those up, but Connor what you set up like when you're when you're going through on? What about just like summer like summer scouting like I think that we should probably start there when you're doing summer scouting How are you doing this for the first time when you're really building out like players from the very beginning?

You know what I'm saying? Yeah, real cut and dried. I have, so I sit right now and record this show at the exact middle point of an L desk. So to my left is a gaming monitor. Like I only use it for gaming. Hell yeah, brother. Right in front of me is my desktop with my camera and my laptop underneath me. This desktop is largely for recording our show I obviously can use it as another screen if I need to

To the right of me is my actual work monitor that I plug my laptop into I have an iPad if I really need Another screen or a screen to go somewhere for sheets, but don't use that as much where some are scouting It's plug the laptop into the work monitor, Excel sheet on one thing, tape on the other, inputting as many prospects as you can, height, weight, whatever information you have from an athletic standpoint or a background standpoint, and watching tape and taking notes.

And it's so easy when the tape's on front of you in a bigger screen and the notes are underneath you to just kind of hammer away. Or inputting data from pff that's really valuable to me we talk about pass rush win rate all the time we talk about uh true pass sets you know anything man coverage reps all that kind of stuff summer scouting is a little bit more loose where i can take the ipad or my laptop and go sit outside, sit on the couch, just watch film in a real casual way. This time of year, it's like you're getting your notes ready

for the week of the draft when you're gonna be on the air for 80 hours in a row. So it's like, these are the things that I have to look at when this player was taken that came directly from my brain and my thoughts where, like dude, when Tyler Warren gets drafted, do you need to pull up your notes? No.

But when player number 245 gets drafted, okay, what did I see when I watched tape on him for a couple hours in March? So yeah, that's how it's set up for me. It's the most productive way I work, at least. Yeah, I mean, I'm a lot of this, I'm very similar to you. I have a vertical monitor to my right.

I have a horizontal gaming monitor to my left, which is for gaming, but also for work as well. And then I've got the camera right in the middle. Going through EA college football playbooks. Yeah, essentially. Yeah, yeah. So if you guys ever see my eyes like darting to like different

parts, like that's actually what it is. I'm looking at two different screens a lot of times, and I feel like this is a pretty optimal setup. But yeah, I mean, like when I'm going through summer scouting, you're building it from the very beginning. I've got my scouting sheet that I just have in a Google document. A lot of times what I do first is I want no background information. So I'm looking up a recruiting profile for them. I'm looking up the school bios, you know, anything that I could find about these players, what they did in high school, did they play extra sports? How long they've been playing in a certain position?

Did they play multiple positions? Have they been at the same school? How many starts have they had at this point? And then from there, after I sort of like build that profile, then I go into their PFF profile and I see, okay, two-year sample size or one year, depending on if they're a one-year starter last year. I get some preliminary PFF grades, some efficiency stats.

I'll throw those into the Google sheet as well. And then I get right to the film. I have now I have these categories and this template of every position that I go through. And so I'll throw in a couple of games for summer scouting and I'll get sort of like a loose, you know, feeling of what these guys are like, get some early strength and weaknesses in there. If I feel like I have a player comp, I'll throw that in there. You know, I can come up with like, oh, is this running back?

You know, he's a valuable on third down. You know, he's an early down type of a player. You know, like, could you see him as a receiving back? Like, what's his pass pro like? So, there are some other categories that are there, and then sometimes I'll throw in like a loose round grade. So, that's sort of how I go through it. Hopefully, that was a good enough answer to sort of what you guys are looking for.

I know that you guys listen to this show and you're like, yeah, I love the NFL draft. I just don't know where to start. Trust me. There were plenty of times where I didn't know where to start. And to be honest with you, I just kind of did. Like I just kind of started. Like I, I'll be honest. I didn't have like an NFL scout, like show me a sheet of like, Oh, okay. Like this is our grading scale. Like this is what we look at. This is what we do. My scouting sheet right now is of course,

like I've talked with people who have done that now, but how I started is I just was like, you know, I think hand uses is pretty important for an edge rusher. And you write that down as a category. You know, I think the bend is pretty important for an edge rusher. You write that down as a category. And then, you know, you just sort of have that framework. You get in your strength and weaknesses, all that good stuff. Okay. The second part of this question, I think is a good one. Could be a fun one. What are some players over the last three to four years that you guys missed on?

What did you learn from these misses? Did it change your scouting process at all? I have to pull up. I pulled up my 2022 board. Let's see what I got here. That's where I want to go. Evan Neil, fifth overall in 2022. Hey! It's tough.

I mean, listen, I'm not. I'm guilty of it. Yeah, that was that was tough. I mean, Evan Neil just I'm fourth I lose. Direct nerd. You know, it's funny too, because it has made me want to pull up Evan Neil, just pure notes. Evan Neil just did not play with near the confidence and aggression level that I thought that he was going to for being his size. And my last note is, needs more of a snap by snaps, kill streak demeanor in the run game. Yeah, and that is such a great call.

And I just ignored my own notes, like a moron. Well, it's hard when you hear, and you know and we try to be as transparent as possible, and we try to avoid groupthink, but it's hard. We talk to a lot of people in the industry. We have a lot of friends in the industry. I love hearing from people who are all over the industry. I love hearing from Renner and Jordan Reed and Field Yates and just like, Dane, like DJ, all these guys. Like so many to name.

There's so many people that I love listening to their work. John and Ollie, which might be a teaser for next episode. Hello. But like there are so many that I, these are my friends and I respect their opinions so I want to read their stuff. But I try to make sure that Connor and I get to our analysis before I'm reading other stuff.

But like Evan Neil was one of them where I agree with you man I had in my notes as well like he's got to play with the more of a killer's mentality he's got to have more aggression and he didn't he just didn't develop that at the NFL level and he struggled against power he struggled against speed he didn't very play very confidently the way that I thought he was going to who's another? That draft was a wild ride for me. Cause it's like massive miss on Evan Neal. Felt really good like I'd Garrett Wilson wide receiver one,

Kyle Hamilton in my top 10. Yeah. There's things I feel really good about, but then like trailing Burks at 14, like massive whiff. Oh yeah. Massive whiff. Where did I have Burks? 31, I wasn't a big fan. Good hit. Yeah. Massive whiff. Where did I have Burks? 31. I wasn't a big fan. Good hit. Yeah. Drake Jackson from USC. I had him at 29 overall in 2022.

Let me see where I had him. That was tough. That was tough. I had him 71st. Yeah, like that was, that's much closer to where he should have been drafted, but there were just so many flashes of him winning with, you know, a cross chop or a club rip or just even like getting around the outside. Yeah, it's agile for his size. I know, man. I just, I got very in on it.

Louisine, I focus way too much on the explosiveness. Not enough about like- Me too. Another guy. I had him in my top 25 of that year. Stuff you got to- Missed. The, I would say run defense floor stuff that you gotta be a lot better at than he was at,

or than he was coming into the NFL. I had Bernard Ryman pretty high, I had Ja'Quon Brisk are pretty high. Travis Jones, kind of still waiting for that one, had him 33 overall. It's definitely been moments. Yeah. But like the thing is, when you go through this,

not to give ourselves an out, even though we've never missed on a prospect. No, no. This is how the NFL draft goes. Oh, 100%. Like, yeah, you draft analysts have tons of misses across the board because there are going to be a ton of misses across the board. Yeah. The draft has a lot so much more bad. It's basically hitting in baseball is what it's become.

Oh, 100%. 100%. Where, and it's kind of hardened me. I'm sure me and you going, me and you are probably two totally different people from 2022's process. Of course, yeah. Where, and I will go back this summer at some point

when I'm just lounging and listening to a couple of our early pods. I've just become so hardened in the process where I'm like, I've seen this seven times before. I think this guy's a sixth rounder that hopefully can be your number six wide receiver and damn, he better play special teams. When everyone's like, if he does this,

he could be puking a kua. And it's like, oh man, I'm just not as that fun anymore. I'm just not. You know, it was funny. I was just on Robert May's pod who does a good job covering the NFL for the athletic. If you guys don't listen to his stuff. And we were talking about Mikel Williams and Shamar Stewart. And I said, look, I, I like these guys as like late first round players, because I think they're really, you know, high floor players with how they defend the run, the athletic gifts that they have.

They're just two dudes who are as strong as an ox. But I think a lot of people look at them, and they just go, oh, well, you draft players that have that type of ceiling. You just draft them, and you figure it out. Yep. I've watched Tyree Wilson. I've watched Lucas Van Ness. And I was lower on those guys than almost everybody in consensus.

And the reason why is because to what you're saying, like a learning lesson, I just don't believe that this is coming anymore. I just don't. There are some players that, of course, like every draft class, I'm going to have my exceptions just because you have a feeling towards certain players. But when it comes to that sort of stuff, like I'm with you, man. That's why, like I've got down to me as a rock who who where I do in my edge rush rankings, is he as athletically gifted as some of these other guys? No, but I've watched him do it. I've watched

him do it and have two phenomenal seasons when it comes to getting into the backfield, having a high pass or swing percentage, being a good run defender. There's no imagination there. I've watched the dude do it. So you know what my smallest I'm looking through through the 2022 sheets still just having so much fun. My smallest win of all time. I had Brock Purdy at two 60 and he went at two 62. It's like the smallest, like, hey, you were higher than the league was on rock party.

funniest part. I was right about Brock Purdy. You heard it here first. Connor would pay Brock Purdy $60 million a year. That's what he, that's what you heard. Yeah, don't tell anyone that I also had Jack Cohen at 245. I would never, I would never do that. Do not tell the internet that. Do not write that.

Don't put it in the newspaper. Do not write that in the papers. Okay, before we get to more of your questions here, once again, this episode is sponsored by our friends over at Arena. It is the sports super app that is perfect for any sports fan that wants a combination of probably the things that they love the most, right? We've got betting picks, we've got DFS, we've got a social media platform element to it, which is really cool. We're building that platform there. We'd love to hang out with you guys as you guys build your platforms over there. Um, and then, uh, the news as well, like it's, it's the best sports news, uh,

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flying high on the best we don't have NFL bets obviously NFL games aren't going on right now but NFL bets, obviously NFL games aren't going on right now, but, uh, hello NBA parlay that hit one $15. Oh, no, we're talking. I got a dude. I got a, I got a, uh, I got a hot one. I think it's going to hit today with hockey. Are we on shots? We're full DJ and shots on goal. There's nothing I love more in life than, than shot over I got Connor McDavid, more than two and a half shots.

Wow. And then I got Jack Hughes. But Jesus not shooting? How is he at two and a half? No, he is, he is, that's what I'm saying. You're gaming the system. And then I got Jack Hughes, baby. Little parlay, over two and a half, or more than two and a half shots for both those guys.

We're in. Can't be Jack Hughes. His shoulder turned to confetti like months ago. Oh, was it? No. Who was it? It has to be one of the other two Hughes. There's three of them. Yeah, you're right. You're right. It might be Quinn Hughes. It might be him. Wait. All right. Hold on. We're doing this live on the ad read. I might be, it's probably Quinn. It's Quinn. Okay. Quinn's good. Quinn's great phenomenal player. I was like Jack uses We'll see him in October Yeah, I got two and a half shots next

October I was like man. Trevor. You're really gonna ride this one out. I Love it. That's you guys you guys should go check it out It's been a lot of fun Just sort of exploring that platform everything that it has to, and it really is just a sports fan's dream. They have a $200 deposit match when you guys are signing up right now, so go check that out right there, up to $200 deposit match. We're going to be doing all sorts of stuff over there, exclusive content, the mailbag episodes, the mailbag questions, all that.

So follow at NFLSCshow, at Tampa Bay Tray, at Connor J. Rogers, and we'll follow you guys back as we kind of build that platform together. So just check it out Arena Sports once again in the app store you'll be able to find that good stuff that is right there. All right back to the questions let's get to it. Let's see who do we have top three visitors Tyler's question. Oh here's Devin Devin's the next question here Jalen Milro is a difficult player for me to rank on my board because he's so dependent on landing spot which team Do you think gives him the best chance to succeed in the league? That's really fun Giants Brian Dable. I don't hate that and I think it's what the Giants should do. We're at that point now

Where take Abdul Carter, assumingly at number three Don't just force taking Jackson Dart at 34 and a move up That would that's a good one. Let's try to think of one more cuz we've heard that one a lot Packers baby trade Malik trade trade Malik and Then you then have Milro beat Jordan loves back up backup. Yes, trade Malik Willis. I mean, we've seen LaFleur be able to work with a guy like that. Do the New England Patriots thing, what they just did with Jalen Milro,

or not Jalen Milro, Joe Milton. Strike while the iron's hot. I don't hate that at all. Get a mid-round pick for Malik Willis, and then just draft Jalen Milro in the third. I don't know if he's going to the third. He's going to Green Bay, so maybe he goes in the first. I don't know. But yeah, those are those are two landing spots.

I thought of there. Yeah, it would have been. I mean, it's not going to happen. But like this is just a question about the spot you think is the best. It would have been fun to see what Stiken can do with him. You know, obviously, though, they got Daniel Jones to compete with Richardson. So that one's not going to happen. In theory. In theory.

Yeah. All right. Hive Raven says, do you think the Steelers are regretting not making an offer for Geno Smith? Their third rounder is better than what the Raiders sent. Was that all the Raiders sent was a third rounder? Because they had to pay him. That was the whole thing with Gino,

is he had to be paid. I mean, the honest answer is yes. I don't know if they regret it because they do what they want. The Steelers are very like, you know, this is who we are and this is what we do kind of organization. But would I be very bullish and excited about the Steelers

this year with Gino Smith under center compared to what they've gone through in recent years? Yes, I would. Am I going to feel that way if they get the deal done with Aaron Rodgers? No, I'm not. Yeah, especially because, uh, could have a package deal, right? DK and Gino. Boom. Could have just had both of them come over right there. Could've made this easy. Less paperwork. Less paperwork is very important. You know? Here. Could've thrown... Could've split the U-Haul. That's what I... I was just about to say that. I was just about to say that. Not low moving cost. Lower. But more economically friendly

moving cost. Yeah, less gas in the air, fumes. Because now you gotta, I mean, now you gotta, now you gotta pack up all of Aaron Rodgers shit, and he's out in LA. Yeah, he's in Malibu and Jersey. He probably has to have a U-Haul come from each spot. And he's not gonna let you do like a U-Haul. It's gonna be, it's gotta be like eight Tesla trucks or something. Yeah, it's all electric. There's like 40 hamsters running on wheels just to power one tire. Unbelievable. Is this worth it, Steelers fans? Yeah, are you happy, Mike Tomlin? I don't know how we just threw Steelers fans on the bus.

Yeah, they're like, we didn't do anything. We're sick of this. Please save us. Jake's saying, if the Patriots go defense round one, and Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter aren't there. What's the pick? Is it as simple as Mike Alvarez to someone else? Love the show, keep it up, good work. Shout out Jake.

Jake, appreciate you. I would hope it's Mason Graham. Yeah. So we've talked about this before on a couple of Mocktrap episodes. Christian Barmore's long-term availability for this team is something that I think you at least need to think about. Now perhaps on their side of things, they're totally good with it. Hey, the blood clots are a thing of the past.

He's all good to go. He's totally fine. But if they are not, if there is like a, hey, yeah, I mean, this might be something that he has to deal with in the future. Mason Graham is a pick. I think you run that in for Mason Graham because in the meantime, you would have Mason Graham, Christian Barmore and Milton Williams to play on your defensive front along with Harold Landry and Keon White. I mean, like that's a pretty stout five guys that you would put out there.

And if Christian Barmore ends up, it might be something that he has to deal With in the future you're good to go because you got Mason Graham. He got Milton Williams. So I agree with you there yeah, that would be it for me the Unlikely, but just throw the scenarios out there just based on the best talent in the draft. I Mean they'd have to be okay with everything but Mike Green if they really want pass rusher They they're good at corner so Will Johnson doesn't come into play there Yeah, I just well I'll say this

There's a non-zero chance. They take Jalen Walker. I We can't emphasize this enough on this show. This league is There's clearly some massive grades out there for Jaylen Walker that don't exist on this show. Yeah. Like if we're talking about Jaylen Walker to Jacksonville at five, you at least say there's a non-zero for it to happen at four. So.

I think it's a good call out. It's a good call out by you. I could see. Yeah, I could see it. Michael asked this question. This is post-draft related, but closer to the start of the season, would you guys do an episode with Matthew Barry about top rookies for fantasy football?

Feels like that would be such a fun episode. That would be a lot of fun. Matthew would probably love to do it. Trevor and him sat together at my wedding. We did, yeah, yeah. We sat together. Matthew's awesome. And let me tell you guys how insane it is to me that I sat next to Matthew

freaking Barry at Connor's wedding. I mean, just I, I grew up playing fantasy football. I felt when I started working with the guy. With him as the guy. The guy. He's the guy. Not even the guy. The God. The God. This dude's word was law about what was going to happen in fantasy football. Back when I was in high school or college or whatever, you were paying for Matthew Barry's

expert advice on fantasy football and here I am, whatever it was, 10 years later, I'm at my buddy's wedding sitting next to Matthew Barry. I got to ask him about when he was in Avengers end game too, which is cool. Oh, that's the, that's the absolute best. That's actually, I that's a perfect mashup for you guys. Yeah. Considering how much you love that movie and that he was in it. It is funny. We were, um, Alyssa and I were, uh, during like the, the cocktail hour, we were, we were standing with him and his wife. And that was one of the first things of like,

oh hey, how you doing? How's work? How's everything? And it was one of those first non-scripted, hey, how you doing? Whatever, it was just like, so how was Endgame? That was pretty cool, huh?

You basically- Walk me through that. And he basically did. He talked about how, again, funny enough, he got that little role in the movie because I think it was the brother of one of the Roos- It was somebody who knew either the Russo brothers who directed the movie or something, but like, they basically knew him from fantasy football. And it was like that connection of like, oh my God, you know Matthew Barry, and it's like, oh my God, you work on end game, you know, and it's like, and they just collab that way.

His connections are absolutely insane. But when you were the guy for fantasy football, something that everyone loves to play, that's how it goes. So yeah, that would be if that's if that's what the people want, I will absolutely go to work on that because I think it would be more of a riot. It would be very informal and educational, but it would be more of a riot than those two things. I would love to do an episode like that. In the land of the blind, the one I'd man as king. I just want every phrase possible. When he says any of that my face my facial expressions for the cold open. I'll just be like

Yep, hell yeah, okay. Um, I think Braden asked his next one. Oh, yeah, here we go. I Get to NFL draft hot takes not me personally speaking for Braden, of course Dante Thornton significantly over Savion Williams and Jonas Sanker as safety four in this draft. Okay. Then he asked if we have any hot takes. I don't hate Deontay Thornton over Savion Williams. I think I might. Do I have it that way? Oh man, I've Savion at 22 and Thornton at 23. Yeah, I got Savion a lot higher, but that's because I'm just a sucker for the unknown. Sucker for Wildcat. Yeah, I just, yeah, I just, I just. God, I love seeing

the Wildcat. I'm a big, I'm a big Cordray Patterson guy, genuinely. So one of my, one of my first NFL draft, like, takes, like, you know, like you think back to like when you, you started this Connor and like, there was a draft or there was even like one opinion where you were like, actually, like, I actually like this wide receiver over these other guys that everybody's talking about. And then he turns out to like be pretty productive. And then like you just, you feel great about it. Mine was, I had Cordorale Patterson, either wide receiver one or wide receiver two in that draft that he was coming out. It was like 2012, 2013, something like that. And I remember that was one of the first drafts that I had done mock drafts and some rankings and things like that before,

but that was the draft where I really wanted to dive in every single position and have at least a top five or a top 10 for every single position. And I remember, I felt most confidently about wide receiver and Robert Woods and Cordarell Patterson were two of the guys that I was sort of like saying were my guys in that class. And Savion Williams just reminds me a little too much

Cordarell Patterson and how he's used for me to let go. Did I ever, because we're really going back in the time machine here, did I ever tell you the Mel Kuyper conference call story? I Need to hear I don't think I've ever even if you have the the addicts need to hear I don't know if I've told this story on the podcast and it recently came up Like very recently and I hadn't thought about in at least five or six years So that draft or maybe not that draft, the 2013 draft,

I was a junior in college, I had been blogging about the draft, all Jets kind of stuff. Always loved the draft since I was a kid, so this is like my first foray into like, barely journalism. I wasn't going to journalism school. Somehow the blog I was writing for free at the time had a credential or basically just the phone number to be on Mel Kuyper's annual conference call. Yeah. And I am 21 years old, an absolute idiot. And I'm like, oh my God, I cannot believe and I'm sitting in my room in my college house that I live in the house with seven other bros, like in the absolute ghetto.

And I'm like, I'm on Mel Kuyper's conference call and I might even get to ask a question. And I found the transcript the other day and I don't have it in front of me now, but in short, when I asked him, I was like, I loved Jamie Collins. And Jamie Collins, his last year of college, his team at Southern Miss did not win a game.

They didn't win a game. Oh, I don't remember that. Yeah, I'm pretty sure they did not win a game. So they were terrible. And I was like, listen, Jamie Collins, the team's terrible. He doesn't get enough love. I know everyone's looking at him kind of like, you know, mid rounds right now.

I was like, is there any shot he could sneak into the first round? And Mel, gracious as he was, just starts ripping off like Jamie Collins notes left and right. And he was honest. He's like, I don't think he'll go in the first round, but he's a really good player, blah, blah, blah. Jamie Collins goes in the second round, 52nd overall.

And he was a elite Patriots draft pick. Jamie Collins was great. But it's just, that's my first real, like, I'm doing this memory. Yeah, and that's the only time I ever spoke to Mel Kuyper in my life, but this one that I won't ever forget. That's awesome.

That is, that's awesome. I have been on those draft calls with Mel or McShay. I think DJ has done them before. He does them now, yeah. on those draft calls with Mel or McShay. I think DJ has done them before. He does them now, yeah. Scared shitless. It's terrifying. It was like, oh, if you have a question for him, you know, like press these buttons.

Not a chance, not a chance. I can't believe I did it. I did it. That's some guts. I don't know what was going on. I would have never done it. Yeah, and that was kind of my first moment of, you know what, it's weird,

like when you don't go to broadcasting school or you kind of just end up in this as a side job or whatever it may be at the time, it's hard to find the feeling that you belong. It's really hard. It's a feeling that feels so elusive. And that was one of the first moments of my life that I was like, maybe I can do this.

Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. So it's cool. Yeah, I mean, you know, to be fully transparent with people, imposter syndrome in this industry is very, very real. There's a lot of people who watch the draft, a lot of different opinions, and you're wrong a lot. And so like you just have a lot of imposter syndrome. And I would say certainly the last two

to three years, I've been covering the draft for a long time, but you know, there I've learned so much every single year that I do this. And I would genuinely say that this show and the people that listen to it and how cool you guys are with, you know, the conversations that we get to have the back and forth, how loyal you guys are to this show has been a big help of like, okay, yeah, I guess like, you know, my opinions aren't total garbage. And I maybe make this a little bit entertaining, or we make this a little bit entertaining for people to care about the draft year round. So this show has, it's funny you bring that up, but like this show and and the addicts and the people who listen to it have been a big reason why

I just continue to love what I do and scouting and all that good stuff. I echo that entirely. It's a very positive community and I don't think that's something that's easy to find on the internet. Yep, yep. You guys rule. All the parents out there, speaking of all the addicts, any of the parents out there, if you want to try to help your kids achieve whatever dreams that they have in life, whether it's owning their own business, maybe having a family travel in the world, whatever it looks like, you could help them do that

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slash doc exchange and meetfabric.com slash doc exchange the portfolios are made up by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Incorporated additional services provided by Apex Cooring Corporation all investing is subject to risk learn more at meetfabric.com back to your questions over at the arena. Let's see. Oh, Andrew magazine, who is like an OG mags, right? The goat just, just, just an absolute OG NFL SE addict. I'll even say sex addict.

He's a true, like when you call your banners, he will always answer the call. I know, man. I know Andrew's the addict. He's a true like when you call your banners, he will always answer the call. I know, man. I know. Andrew's the best. He's great. He has followed us since day one. And I just I really appreciate it. So it's really cool to see him already in the arena app

with us. We love it. When are we finally doing a meetup? That's the question. When are we doing a live NFLSE show? Yeah. I'm not going to lie, man. You guys doing the Badlands show, it made me think about,

like, I would just I would love to do something like that for NFLSE. So it's gotta be coming soon. We gotta figure this out. It does, the trickiest part, and we'll have to work with our audience on this and solicit a lot of feedback, is that where would we do it? I don't know.

Because like obviously with Badlands, it's Jets fans. So Midtown Manhattan getting 250 people there was even easier than I expected. With us, we would have to, I don't know if it's the Senior Bowl, the Combine, Combine would be really interesting. I don't know if it's Super Bowl, whatever it may be. It's got to be something that everybody is interested in attending and we would love nothing more than to make that happen

and are gonna do everything we can to make that happen. Senior Bowl might be a fun way to do it. You know, like if we wanted to stay a little bit of extra time, cause like we don't, we normally don't stay for the game, but like if we did a meetup with you guys on like a Friday, like the Friday, because practices are done Tuesday through Thursday,

you have to have credentials to watch practices, but we could hopefully do like a live pod maybe on a Friday. And then like if you guys are making a trip out of it, then you guys could go to the game, you know, that could be something that we might be able to do something like that. So we'll think of ways to do it, but I would love to do it. Anyways, Andrew's actual question.

How many running backs in this class would you be comfortable having as your starter asking for a Cowboys fan hashtag fire Jerry? His words, not my Jerry. He's not mine. Not mine. Don't come after me, Jerry. How many running backs would you feel in this class comfortable with? I'm assuming the question is really like giving a starting role to like you are taking the first carry of the season as a rookie. Like you are taking the first carry of the season as a rookie. How many we got? Is it Oprah's zealous to say 14?

Whoa, hold on. Wait a second. You want me to read them? 14 that you would be comfortable with taking carry one in September? Yeah. All right, give them to me What do we got? Genti, Amari and Hampton, Quincheon Judkins, Trevion Henderson, Caleb Johnson, Dylan Sampson, Cam Scataboo Baishall Tooten, Damian Martinez, Kyle Menungai, DJ Giddens, Jacori Kroski, Merritt, RJ Harvey, and Jordan James I'll tell you the ones that like I wouldn't lock in wouldn't put with the bullet. Uh-huh. Uh, Jacory. Yep.

I don't know man. You were like, you were like, all right, all right, hold on. I'll be a realistic. Cause Jacory didn't play last year. 13. Let me calm and collect myself. I don't know. I'm not asking these guys to be the offense or get 25 carries, but the question was to get to be the number one back for week one, would I be like, oh my God, the sky is falling if I have to give Damien Martinez 14 carries? No.

I'm much more conservative on it, But I would say you're scared. You're scared to compete. No, look, I was born scared to compete. I would say Ash and Gentie, Omar and Hampton, Cam Scataboo, Dylan Sampson, Caleb Johnson, Trevion Henderson, Quincey and Judkins, Damian Martinez. That's a lot. That's eight. And then like, even Harvey, like I love Harvey, but like. Yeah, not only, I get that one. You know what I'm saying? Same with Two and he's gotta stop fumbling the ball

and he's not big. That's what I'm saying. That's like, I got eight. I got eight guys. Yeah, maybe I got a little over my skis. I think Jordan James would be completely adequate if he needed to get through a game with him as a starter. I, you know what?

Maybe I'm just gonna, maybe I'll just be dead wrong on Jordan James. I thought, I think he was good and he's a great contact balance type of a dude. I felt like I didn't see like difference making NFL traits. Like even when I watched Bucky Irving, I felt like the stop and start agility, truly the broken tackle stuff and the yards after contact stuff

was like difference making for the NFL. I didn't quite see that with Jordan James, but I think there's a lot of people out there that do. So you know, there's a sneaky one in this category. Jarque's Hunter. Yeah, that's a good call out. It's call out. He's done it.

He's done it. And he's done it. He has an NFL body and running style. Yeah. Yeah. If he's not taking the first carry, he's probably like, the hell's going on? Like his body clock's just like, what? This doesn't feel right. Football's being played and I'm not getting the first touch.

Yeah, and I'm not in an ice bath in two hours. Yeah, right. Okay, we'll go- Maybe I'm a lunatic. I don't know. I just- I mean, you are, but we love you for it. Okay, we'll go sort of rapid fire because I do want to get to as many of these as we possibly can. Let's see. Kalani Jones, I've heard it mentioned a few times that it's possible that there just won't

be a week wide receiver class in the future due to incredible development and pipelines that exist for the position. My question is, are there any positions where the opposite is true? Where it seems like they are falling by the wayside? Wow, really good question. Are there any positions that we feel are underdeveloped? Yeah, tackle. To be honest with you, quarterback.

Well, absolutely. Quarterback is always going to get drafted high because it has to be. But in terms of how pro-ready these guys are, as Michael Irvin says, we're losing recipes. Like we're going further back. There's a lot of quarterbacks. And Kurt Warner went on a rant about this on social media. And I do totally agree with him when he said like, these quarterbacks are not asked to do NFL things. They are just the problem. College coaches are trying to win

college football games. And I don't blame them for it. But they're not teaching these quarterbacks how to truly read defenses, be Assassin's pre snap, know what to do post snap, understanding progressions, like even the progressions themselves, how long, how long you are allowed to hold onto the ball on your offense. It's just, um, I think the game is very simplified and I don't pretend to be a quarterback expert expert like JT O'Sullivan in the quarterback school. I mean, he does a fantastic job breaking this down in more detail. Kurt Warner does as well, obviously, but even from what I've seen, like, what'd you say?

We don't want to get attacked. No, but like I like those guys. I genuinely think that like those guys can break it down at a much more granular level. But like even me with my scouting eye, like I just feel as though I have to project so much more from these quarterbacks than eight, 10, five years ago. So I would say the quarterback is, is my answer to that position. You're absolutely right. I mean, that's the far and away front runner college game is not a great minor league system for professional football. No, it's not.

And here's a fun fact for everybody. It might be getting worse. So maybe NIL at quarterback helps because maybe it convinces some guys to stay and develop. But then the counter side is what's in the news today is guys jumping around isn't good for their development. It's good for their bank account, but you want guys evolving in a system and evolving with a team.

So the college game as a minor league system for the NFL is gradually getting worse and worse at preparing guys for the NFL. Yeah, I'm with you. I agree. Uh, Jaron's asking, can you guys shed some light on Koy Robinson from Alabama? Call me sick, but I have him as my edge nine behind Josiah Stewart. Shout out Connor with the Josiah Sameseys at eight as edge eight in this class.

Koi Robinson, we kind of talked about him a little bit in the edge rusher episode, former four star recruit going to Alabama and really he just had to sit behind, you know, Chris Braswell, Will Anderson, Dallas Turner, and he really didn't get his time to play. He played a lot of special team stuff for really four years. This past year was his first year. Now that those guys are gone now that especially Chris Braswell and Dallas Turner were gone. It was his first opportunity to really be a full-time starter. I thought he played really well really high pass rush win percentage.

He was like 22.3% really high pass rush grade, but you can tell there's just nuances of his game without starting very much of the position that need to be cleaned up in the pros. And so it's going to be a little bit of a learning curve for him there as well, but he's got the length to him. He's got really good burst. The footwork is, is sort of inconsistent. I should say right now, a lot of times he, you know, he's firing off the back foot and the back foot's not even pointed into the backfield. It's, you know, like to the side,

it's more of like pointing to the sideline. So he's not maximizing his power there. He's not getting his hands onto the offensive lineman with anticipation. It's more of reaction stuff, but he had an elbow and a forearm injury that even cut this past season short. So really nice developmental, three, four outside linebacker type of pass rusher, in my opinion. If you believe in the pass rusher's traits, I don't think it's crazy to have him in the top 10 and rushers. don't but I could see why somebody would believe in him because of what he showed this past year Yeah, I don't think this is egregious at all. It's a good name to bring up He has definitely been overlooked throughout this process

He brought the raw aspect of it Trevor and the fact that he's not the most dense kind of guy You brought up the injuries which is where I'll take this, because I thought you wrapped up the player really well. Him not being able to work, him not working out so far is definitely one of those, you know, probably more frustrating parts of the process for him. Totally, yeah. So that's another reason why he's gone overlooked.

Travis asks, what are your thoughts on the Raiders being legit trade down candidate for someone who wants to jump the jets for Armand Mambo or Ted McMillan? Well, it's good thinking It would probably be for Mambo so what the Raiders Actually, I like this a lot because Who would want to come up for Mambo San Francisco Dallas?

Dude, I think Dallas is dropping a wide receiver. That wouldn't shock me. Like, I think Jerry wants the splash, man. Okay. I think he's itching. Matthew Golden? Yeah. Man. Yeah.

Yeah, if the Raiders can move out of six, get more capital, and still get Will Johnson, sign me up. Like, all day. Yeah. All day. Yeah. All day, that solves your, Trevor said they need four corners. So you gotta start somewhere.

Three, J'Corian Bennett, we can get the benefit. I forgot we corrected it to three. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're down to three. We're down to three. They're holding tryouts like the movie Invincible with Mark Wahlberg for cornerbacks. What's the name, Vince Papali, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, legend in Philly.

There you go. His car's gonna break down in the parking lot. If your car breaks down for a tryout, that actually helps you make it in the team. Yeah, it is a good omen. No, I think that's a good call out by Travis. And I think that, yeah, San Francisco and Dallas are the two teams.

Because I don't think, you don't wanna go too much further than that. Miami, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Arizona, all of them could potentially have cornerback on their board. So if corner is, is a spot that you want, you don't want to go too much further than that. Um, Eli's saying, uh, when you watch film, how many times is a good question when you watch film, how many times do you need to see something before you write it down as part

of his game? For example, an edge rusher who shows incredible bend off of one play. Do you immediately say that this guy has great bend or do you need to see it consistently and add it to the scouting report? I'm going to be honest with you, when we get to, I don't know why I prefaced that by saying I'm going to be honest with you, what am I going to lie to you? You might. I might. Don't put it past me. When I do summer scouting, a lot of times when you show me a traitsy play, I will write it down immediately. I'm with you on the way. Now I don't say, now I don't say, oh, this like definitively this guy has great bend,

but I will say something in there about like, you know, shows the ability to bend over the, around the edge. And if I see it again, and if I see it again, and if I see it again, then I'll go to that sentence and I'll reword it. Consistently wins with some of the best bend that we're gonna see in the class. You know, something like that.

Or if I don't see it again, then you go, you know, okay, has flashes of flexibility, but doesn't often lean on it as a way that they win as a pass rusher. So that's how I would answer that. Yeah, I'm definitely more quick on the trigger on the keyboard during summer scouting with traits. Like if a guy's winning with length or a guy is winning with bend bend or he's converted speed to power

against a really good player, I'm gonna write that down. Now, do you wanna see like things like a quarterback throw a touch more? You're gonna want more examples of that. A running backs vision, you're gonna want a lot more plays and different looks and schemes than that.

So it's all on a case by case basis, but I think because summer scouting is, I really like Trevor, and I know you do this as well, laying the ground floor and then seeing what changes or doesn't change for the player over the next six months. Totally. And that's why summer scouting is a different, it's a very different process

from what we do this time of year. Very different. Yeah. Yeah. I would say that it's, when you're doing summer scouting, to your point right there, it's important to almost, I don't want to say everything,

but you want to write down a lot of what you're seeing. Yes. Because you want to be able to cross-reference it with what you see in the upcoming season. Oh, okay. We noted that this guy had some extra bend in summer scouting. We saw even more of it in 2024. So I think that that's an important part, and that's how we go through it here. NFLSE draft coverage is brought to you by Jack Link's Duos.

Jack Link's knows that there's nothing like a great duo out there. That's why they've created the new Jack's Links Duo product. The new product line brings two great flavors together in one bag, so it's not two different flavors on the same piece of beef jerky. It's a handful of jerky of one flavor, a handful of jerky of the other, and that's in the same bag, so they're mixing right there. We know that the NFL Draft gives us some great duos every year. Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase being reunited, Puka Nikua, Cooper Cup forming a great wide receiver duo that we have here, or we used to, RIP. They're not dead, they're just not a duo anymore. But there's a lot of great duos that are possible this year.

We've talked about Olufaxanu potentially being a duo with Armand Mambo. I actually recently did a trade in a PFF mock draft where I had the San Francisco 49ers trading up to number three to get Abdul Carter, Abdul Carter and Nick Bosa. Look at that as a duo right there. They've got a lot of different flavors Jack links does The mango and jalapeno that's my favorite you get the sweetness of the fruit good flavor

And then you get obviously the spice with the jalapeno they got original and teriyaki they got Buffalo and ranch so many different combinations There you goes you guys can find Jack link duos wherever you find Jack links beef jerky at convenience stores or select Walmart across the country. Remember when you sent me some? So Trevor, Trevor being the nice guy is he sends me the hats as soon as they, they get there and I opened the box, excited hats are awesome. Not to make everybody more annoyed that they're still not for sale. I take the hats out and sometimes we went, like cardboard night was like two days later or whatever it was, so I just left the box there.

My wife wants to kill me, whatever. But my dog had been sniffing the box more than she usually sniffs the box. And it's like making some noises downstairs and like groaning and she's an absolute scavenger. Like 105 pounds of like all I ever want to do is eat and eat and eat so Trevor I'm like Trevor's like oh, you also get the beef jerky, and I'm like what do you mean the beef jerky?

So there was like just pounds of beef jerky in the box that your response was verbatim you're like Wait, there's something under the hats? And then you realized that Gracie was sniffing at the box. I ran. I thought she had just devoured 20 pounds of beef jerky, but luckily there was a layer of paper tissue over it that had been sitting there for a day or two. And my dog was descending into madness,

like making noise, like pterodactyl noises I've never heard before. But yes, that's my story of duos and the beef jerky that is honestly delicious. I was gonna say if she does get into it, let us know which one's her favorite. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's sitting there going like, God, the jalopeno is just a 10 out of 10. The jalopeno! I can't, brother. Okay, I know he said rapid fire, but we are. We're going rapid fire here. I can't brother. Okay.

I know he said rapid fire, but we are we're going rapid fire here. I'm going to try to get through as many as possible. Three word answers. No, I'm not going to be that bad about it. But what's your guess? Top three pick. See three word answers. Archie asked who are three teams that you guys think are most likely to trade up and

three teams most likely to trade down? Love the pod fellas. Keep it up. Appreciate it Archie three teams that could trade up 49ers I think are an aggressive team that could absolutely trade up They have like one two, three, four five six, seven eight nine ten eleven picks in this draft could absolutely trade up. I Think the Los Angeles Chargers as well. They have ten selections in this draft. They could totally trade up. Think the Los Angeles Chargers as well, they have 10 selections in this draft, they could totally trade up. Think Kansas City, depending on how desperate they think they are to upgrade offensive line,

could potentially trade up, it's three there. Any thoughts on anybody who could trade up before I list off some trade off teams? They don't have more picks, but maybe Denver gets, you know, kind of freaky with it. They're like, ah, let's go get a premier offensive player. Mm-hmm. Could see it.

Yeah, that one. Chicago? Maybe? Houston should. Oh, yeah. But they don't have a lot of picks. They don't have a ton of picks this year. Could get aggressive though for an offense attack. Yeah. Some of the tons of that.

Yeah, some of the tons will come. Was future save an extra three down. We've said Minnesota a million times. Yeah, Minnesota. They've only got four picks in this draft. I knew England. And I think New England is a candidate to trade down. I think Indianapolis is also a candidate to trade down right

now. Indianapolis just has all of their original picks. I think Indianapolis is also a candidate to trade down right now. Indianapolis just has all of their original picks. I bet Ballard wants to get an extra day to pick in there if he can. What about Baltimore? They don't they don't need more picks, but that's the spot to go get a quarterback. Oh, shit. They have 12 picks. Yeah, but they're like, aren't they all day three? They have three sixth rounders.

Yeah. No, they have four sixth rounders. Yeah. No! They have four sixth rounders! They have all the sixth round picks! Well they sit there and play the comp pick formula to perfection every year. Yeah. Look, you know, we're gonna be very familiar with how many sixth round picks Baltimore has because, you know, just to tease this before we, you know, read a few more questions. We are doing the Marathon Mock Draft. It's happening, folks. Saturday, noon PM Eastern is when we will begin this bad boy.

We will start on the PFF Draft Simulator with pick number 1 and we will go through every single pick of a seven round mock draft. It's gonna be a live show, so it's gonna be a lot of fun. Please come in and get on the chat. We're gonna have a couple of charities that we are going to anytime. There might be a super chat or a donation

or something to the channel. It's going straight to one of the two charities that we're gonna come up with and solidify before we get to Saturday, just so you guys know that as well. But we're gonna have tons of really great guests throughout the, shoot, I don't even know how long it's gonna be, five, six, seven hour stream

that we have there. It's gonna be a marathon to get through the seven hours, but we're gonna have a lot of guests. Some of your favorite people in the industry we're gonna have come on to make some picks and some great conversations. So it is happening. Mark your calendars, get in on the chat.

We would love to have some fun with you guys this Saturday at noon is when we are doing that. It's gonna be awesome. If you have families, wake up, take the kids to the park, tire them out and just be ready to sit in front of the screen for six hours. Order some wings, get in on it. Brad, what are some of y'all's favorite prospect

a team fits? Can be prospects from any round. Best show on the planet. Always appreciate you, Brad. Awesome. Jaden Higgins of the Packers is one I really like. Slam dunk, dunk, yam at home. 100%

Donovan Jackson to the Bengals. Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. Gray's able to the Seahawks. Gray's it could be could be Gray's able to the Vikings as well if they want to upgrade that other guard spot. I don't love the player, but I'll be a, I'll have more belief in him panning out if James Pierce goes to the commanders.

Okay. Like Dan Quinn will get through and that defense will work for him. Jaday Baron going to the Buffalo Bills. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Do you think he makes it there? Italian dish in Rome, brother.

That's what that would be. Would be unbelievable. Jihad Campbell to your bucks. Yeah, they need him. That's, they really do. That makes sense. I think him and Levante David would be awesome. That would be sick.

An awesome one, two combo. Marian Hampton to the Broncos. Yeah, I think that's Levante David would be awesome. That would be sick. An awesome one, two combo. Marian Hampton to the Broncos. Yeah, I think that's a good fit. I don't know if there's like a scheme fit there. I just think that it's a good fit. It'll be awesome right away. You know? Because of Payton's genius run concepts and designs.

Right, right. That's about it. Rapid fire answer. Couple of others, shout out. Nick, I see your question is just a trade question. We already kind of answered those. Blake's saying, what's the most difficult position to scout for you?

Safety's tough. Safety's tough. Safety's tough just because you have to watch a lot. And even if you watch a lot, it's not a guarantee you even like nail the player down in exactly what they do. There's a lot of just nothing that happens with playing safety. I think linebackers the same way.

You know, a lot of true value with linebacker comes from you being a coverage backer. And a lot of times when you're a linebacker, they just want you to run forward in college. They just want you to be a downhill player. So I think both of those are sometimes tough positions to scout. Quarterback of course, because it's the ultimate like wild card position. But those are two. What about you? What do you think? No, I'm with you in lockstep.

I don't even think it's really close. I think some of the tight end usage in college makes projections harder going forward, whether you don't know if a guy could block or you don't know if he could be the number. You know, you could take a number two or number three volume role in pass catching. You just don't see enough of some tight ends in college. All right, I'll go two more questions. I've really enjoyed this. It's been a lot of fun.

We got to do more of these. I know we say it all the time, but you guys are awesome. This is a ton of fun for us to do. Why is this from Jack? Why isn't Maxwell Harrison a consensus first rounder currently 36 on consensus? I get that he's a little small, but he's not that tiny, actually has above average length to him,

weights about 30th percentile, but this is not a crazy outlier. Everything I hear about him can play man, can play zone, he's great in coverage, elite recovery speed, top level ball skills, production just screams that this kid could be one of the best corners in the draft. Where'd you have Maxwell Harrison?

Conn? I was very low on him. I had him as my corner 10. Okay, I'm a little higher than you on him. I've got him in the 40s. I'll be fine on the big board. That would probably be a better answer. I think I've got him, I've got him in,

and Savon Revel sort of like right there. The thing with Maxwell is he is small. I do think he has elite recovery speed. Ali and John sort of opened my eyes to him a little bit and how he plays this off zone coverage, but it's not really zone coverage. So he's not really feeling a zone. It's more of like off man, which is fine, but but it's not really something is super translatable to the NFL level he's got good ball skills to him he's got that elite recovery skill but in

order for him to be the defender that you want him to be you just have to have faith that his feel and instincts and true drop zone coverage are gonna be great and I think it's a little bit more of an unknown than I think that some people give it credit for. But he's a feisty run defender. He's got good ball skills. He's got really great recovery speed, but he's just he's small. And I got a you're not really going to want to play him in a ton of man coverage spots. And then just thinking, all right, well, he's not been a true spot zone defender. It's more of a

downhill zone defender. It's more of a downhill zone defender. It's just something to think about with him and why I'm a little bit more hesitant for him. Yeah, he's an excellent athlete. I think it's totally justifiable to take him on day two. I typically don't like slender corners with short arms. It's just a me thing. So he was kind of in a tough spot right out of the gate before I even turned on all the tape. And I think that you see ball turned on all the all the tape. And I think that you see ball carriers muscle through them all the time. He has played 10 snaps in the slot the

last two years, but he's going to be undersized against perimeter wide receivers if that's where he plays in the NFL. And I thought bigger wide receivers that he went up against in single coverage on tape climbed the ladder on him. So I just, I had some concerns as much as the athlete is wildly impressive. Last question here ish. Ask this one addict here. Love the show. What are some teams that you guys think are likely to double dip on picks, some skilled position guys on day two and three, for example, the jets may be getting a wide receiver in round two and a tight end in round three.

So I guess just talk about skill position stuff. Yeah, pass catcher there. You know, one that comes to mind is actually the the chargers and corner. OK, I think that with those 10 picks that they have, they're going to draft multiple corners. I really do think that they're going to do that. I'd go Seahawks and see her offensive line. I'd like to see them get a center and a guard. They better. Yeah, they better do it. Yeah, they better do that. You can say Miami can double up on offensive line. Yeah. I don't know if they're going to, we'll see,

we will see how much Miami bucks the trend of sort of them overlooking offensive line. Uh line this year. I think it'll be a telltale sign of how much that's just an overall draft philosophy or if they realized that it was sort of a mistake and it's part of what dug them into this hole here. Um, Carolina I think is going to make multiple additions on the edge. Yep. I think the 49ers are also going to make multiple additions just along

the defensive line overall. Vegas, I would love for them to make multiple additions just along the defensive line overall. Vegas, I would love for them to make multiple additions at the cornerback position. I think that's about it. I think it makes sense. If I was the Chiefs, I might take two running backs. One that I actually use draft capital on like third round or whatever it may be. And then just a premium freak athlete in the seventh round. And I know they have Pacheco there who hopefully is healthy this year.

Kareem Hunt's always around. They got looks at Carson Steele last year. Elijah Mitchell came over there, but I would I would take a real dart throw at the end of the draft on an athlete and Actually get an upgrade, but they don't have to they have enough depth there But it's just not I don't I just don't like that running back depth chart in Kansas City. I think that's fair I definitely think that's fair getting a lot more dynamic. I think yeah something that they're going to dynamic too Yeah I think that that's going to happen

Shout out to everybody who asked questions the one that's got that the ones that got into the show and the ones that didn't. We absolutely love you guys. Thank you so much for all the questions that we got over on Arena. That is the best way to get involved with future mailbags that we're going to do. Again, check it out. Arena, they're the presenting sponsor here of this podcast. It's a really cool all-in-one sports super app for you guys. It combines the DFS, it combines the social media, it combines your NFL news.

And we're going to be doing a lot of stuff over there, some exclusive stuff, some mailbag stuff. So go ahead and make an account with the download link I believe is in the link description. If you're watching this bad boy on YouTube, so you can find it there, follow us. We'll follow you back. We're trying to create that community in there, be able to go back and forth with you guys, but check them out. They also have that $200 deposit match for you guys to get into the DFS game,

which we're going to be doing a lot more of over the summer and especially when we get into NFL season. Shout out to everybody who's watching on YouTube. If you were watching this video and you haven't subscribed yet, please subscribe to the channel. We would love you for it. If you want to get in on some of the responses here that we have to some of these questions, youtube.com backslash at NFL stock exchange. You follow us on all social media platforms at NFLSE show at Connor J Rogers at Tampa Bay trade. It's the best way to do that. We are going to have one more episode even before the Saturday episode for you.

We're going to get a Colab mock draft in on Thursday. So that is still coming for you guys. But like we said, clear, clear your Saturdays. You don't have to be there for all of it. We would love for you to be there for all of it, but just pop in whenever you can. Get in on the chat. We would love to have a little bit of a warm up for the addicts, right? Because we do, we normally, Connor, we do one live show a year and it's that post night one live show that we do for the NFL draft. And so this is a little warm up for you guys to get used to the live shows. maybe a little warm up for us as well. We're going to be doing that full seven round with a lot of fun guests. Connor, you got anything else before we get out of here? No, really excited for

that Saturday show. Obviously we'll have another fun episode later on in the week. We're going to keep it rolling all the way through the draft the week after the draft. And thank you everybody for sticking with us and jumping in arena to get some questions for today's show. We are just about a week away, man. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. A little bit more predictions that we have to go. We're going to have a final big board and a final mock draft episode for you next week before we have the 2025 NFL Draft officially kick off. But a lot of great stuff between now and then. For Connor Rogers, I'm Trevor Sikamas saying thank you guys so much for watching and listening to the NFL Stock Exchange Podcast presented by Arena. We'll see you guys later this week. Thanks for watching!