PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Fran Duffy’s 2025 NFL Mock Draft: Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders or Travis Hunter at the top?

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

Let's get draft season going early, as ALLCITY's NFL Draft expert Fran Duffy outlines his initial 2025 NFL Draft Mock Draft, with Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter vying for the top spot. What teams are most likely to be interested in Abdul Carter, Will Campbell and Tetairoa McMillan? How early will Ashton Jeanty come off the board? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the pilot episode, the debut of the PHLY draft show with Fran Duffy. We're going to talk about all things draft from now, through the draft and beyond with Fran Duffy, the All-City Draft expert. How you doing? Doing great. I'm excited to get going here. Obviously, look, I know it's like the start of draft season. We've got All-Star games coming up. The National Championship game was this week, but a lot to break down.

I've been doing a lot of work on all these prospects. and this is the first time now that I can share all of my thoughts, unedited on all these players. It's going to be a lot of fun here in the next few months. I have known your draft sickness for over a decade. Yeah. It's a little bit terrifying to me that we're going to unleash this onto the world, but I think it's very exciting for the drafts that goes out there.

Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun, a lot of notes on players, a lot of thoughts. We'll have, you know, I had my first mock draft last week. That was my first time I've published a mock draft in a long time. So I'm very excited for what's to come. And I think it's great that we can announce that, In addition to this show, which will have you covered, you've got the mock draft, which is out,

if you were a diehard with PHLY or any of the all-city markets, you will also have access to your database, your notes on every player in the draft. You have been watching these players since the fall. I mean, this is like, this is the thing that to me encapsulates your sickness, and now you really are sharing it with the world. It's very exciting. Yeah, the way I'm kind of looking at it is because it's a process

that is constantly changing. I'm always adding info. And so as I'm adding info on players, you know, look, because I haven't seen a lot of, I haven't seen any of these players really up close in person. So that'll change here this coming weekend. And so as I start to get eyes on these players, both at the All-Star games, then at the Combine, that's going to change some things. So rankings will slide here and there. So, you know, instead of getting one final rankings update in late April, you'll get a chance to be able to say, all right, like this is how all the guys rise fall from breathing throughout the process. So it's going to be a lot of fun.

All right. It's very exciting. I want to ask at the end of the show today about what you're looking forward to at the Shrine game and the Senior Bowl as you get off and get ready to go this week. But let's get into it right now. Let's bring the pickies to the trough. The mock draft that you have published on All-City. We're going to work our way through the top 10 and a few other interesting picks throughout the first round. Let's get right into it number one overall.

The Tennessee Titans select quarterback Cam Ward from the University of Miami. Now, look, I went into this. process of doing this mock draft, not really sure where I was going to have the quarterbacks because I'm not completely sold on either of them as like, oh yeah, definitely want to take this guy this high. That said,

I think when you look at the teams at the top of the draft as we sit here in early January, I think these teams are kind of backed into a corner where you almost have to take a quarterback. And these guys are talented. There are pathways to them having NFL success. I don't think that this class is as bad as the one that we saw a couple years ago with Kenny Pickett,

where he goes in the middle of round one and we don't see another until later. I do think that these guys are going to go in the first round. That said, I think when you look at Cam Ward, his upside, his traits, I think that's alluring for a team holding the number one pick. All right. So the two quarterbacks, who everybody expects to be at the top of the draft, Cam Ward and Chedars Sanders, give me sort of a compare, contrast, their styles,

what kinds of quarterbacks they are. I think when you look at at Cam Ward, dynamic quick twitch type of athlete that can make people miss, his arm is really impressive. He can make every throw. I think if you want to kind of put him into a box, He's built in a way that's, he's a little bit bigger, a little bit taller, but he's similar to Kyler Murray in terms of that twitch in the pocket to be able to make people miss and create. But he's got some magic to him to be able to make some of those plays down the field as a runner.

There's a like a calmness to the way he plays. I remember week one against Florida, you know, they go on the road in the swamp. It's his first game playing for Miami. And he was outstanding in that football game and just made everything look easy. And I think when you look at the way that Jaden Daniels played this year in Washington, some of the late game heroics, some of the things that he did late in games to vault that team to victory.

He did a lot of that, Cam Ward, for Miami this year, a lot of fourth quarter comebacks, a lot of games where they're down early and then they come back. I think when you look at the way that he can impact the game as a runner and as a receiver, with those traits, there's a lot to get excited about. And he's a five-year starter,

started his career at Incarnate Word, the FCS level, worked his way up to Washington State, followed one of his coaches from FCS, up to Washington State, years was going to come out in the draft last year, was accepted to go to the Shrine Bowl, would have been a day three pick, but said, you know what, I'm going to go back into the transfer portal, goes back for another year. And he played, I mean, it was outstanding this year from Miami.

He was a Heisman finalist, was one of the best quarterbacks in college football. And now here he is in round one. So you brought up Jaden Daniels and stylistically, I'm not sure it's a, it's a perfect match. But storytelling-wise, it does sound familiar to me in terms of this guy has been in college for a long time, transfers, and has a huge year somewhere else. in the league now, I think they're a little bit more patient with like older quarterbacks, right?

It's not such a big deal. I feel like the Jaden Daniels rookie season maybe helps Cam Ward a little bit. Yeah, and there's, I mean, over the last few years, there have been some, I mean, Joe Burrow would be another example

of that kind of player from LSU, right? So I think that, and honestly, I feel very strongly about this now, if maybe even differently than I did a year ago at this point where to me, every quarterback should basically exhaust

every ounce of eligibility. Maybe not every single one. There are going to be those cases where are, it makes sense for this guy, a third year junior to come out. But I think when you look at all these players, the leash is so short in the NFL now. The patience is wearing thin. To me, people talk about like, oh, you want to get to that second contract faster.

I think you want to set yourself up to have basically immediate success. We've seen these guys come in. And if you're swimming early, the coach is getting fired, the office coordinator is getting fired, or the quarterback getting benched. We saw a couple of high picks get benched here midseason. One was able to bounce back in Bryce Young, the other not so much in Anthony Richardson. And Richardson, we all knew was going to be extremely raw. He only had a handful of starts coming in,

but still it feels like the patience is worn thin. So to me, if you're all these guys, and I'm glad, Drew Aller went back to Penn State, Garrett and Osmeyer went back to LSU. There are a couple other quarterbacks that seemed like they were going to enter the draft Carson Beck declared and then said, oh, you know what, I'm going to go back to school. So I think when you look at it overall,

it feels like everybody understands that that's kind of the atmosphere right now. So in terms of the caliber of prospect that Cam Ward is, You know, I think you think that he's not necessarily like a one-one type guy, but the situation here makes up the case. If he was in last year's draft class as a prospect this year, where would he have fallen in the pecking order of those guys? For me, he would have been behind Bo Nix. Really?

And I was a pretty pro Bo Nix fan last year. So I had faith that he would be a starter, not a high, high-level one. By- Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Drake, May. You had Nix next ahead of Pennix? I had Nix next ahead of Penix. Okay. So I feel like he would have been in that Nick's Pennix range.

And what about JJ McCarthy? Actually, I had McCarthy ahead of, I think I had him right ahead of Bo Nix. So that's good question. So Kand Ward in that class. Would have been Q5, QB6. Yep, exactly. Okay.

And now compared to Shudor Sanders, yep, why Ward over Sanders? All right. So with Sanders, I think that he plays a little bit better within structure than Ward does. I think that he can go out and execute one of those pro-style offenses you feel good about he's gotten pro coaching over the course of his career.

his offensive coordinator the last year in change. Pat Shermer, a coach that a lot of people in the NFL are very familiar with. He's at various stops around the league. Super exciting guy. Look, I think that that is important that he can come into the NFL having that understanding of how things work schematically from that end of it. But I think when you look at Chador, he's another guy. I mean, the touch and accuracy really stand out. The ball placement is impressive. His toughness on the field, he has been under duress basically from Jump Street. At Colorado, of the last two years. He's been sacked more than any quarterback in football.

He's been pressured more than any quarterback in football. That said, he has developed some bad habits because of that. And that does worry me a little bit. And I think as you saw his senior season progressed, especially once you got to about midseason, his pocket presence, his ability to manage muddy situations in there. You saw him kind of eject from the pocket, vertically, you know, basically work backwards in the pocket.

That's got me a little bit spooked in terms of what he can do going into a not-so-clean situation in the NFL. Tennessee, the Titans, that offensive line. I know they've got Bill Callahan. They're going to get that straightened out. But right now, I mean, those quarterbacks were under duress. The right side of the offensive line was a mess this year. So plugging Shador Sanders into a situation like that where you're not sure about what the

offensive line's going to look like. If he's got to play early, I think it could get ugly. And so that's one of the things that, to me, I look at and I say, all right, Ken Ward probably set up for better success right away than Shador Sanders. All right. We move now to the number two overall selection, the Cleveland Browns taking the raining high trophy winner, Travis Hunter. And I love this conversation.

Yeah. I know that maybe some people are tired of it, but to me, it's fascinating. As an NFL team, what do you do with Travis Hunter, who can obviously be a pro-calibur first-round prospect at two different positions? What would you do? Well, he's been adamant that he wants to play both positions. So he wants to play both wide receiver and corner. I think the only way for him to do that is to play corner full-time, go to the defensive side.

You're in defensive meetings during the week because it's the, the position. positionless football argument like oh you do all these different things well he's got to do something first like there's got to be one a at the top of that list and you can't be a full-time wide receiver going to the offensive meetings and then say oh you know what i'm going to have a package on defense now he's got to be full-time defense and then he's going to get a package of plays offensively or he's just a full-time receiver and doesn't play corner and all so i think that that the path if he does want to play both ways is that he's going to be a corner first and then a wide receiver he might decide that he just wants to be a receiver there

might be teams out there that say, I just wanted to be a receiver, but I think when you look at Cleveland, I think that this makes a lot of sense for them to add a blue chip talent. And to me, like Travis Hunter, if we're talking to all the top talents in this draft, he's the cleanest of the guys to the top. The guy that I feel most confident in saying this would be a top five, top 10 caliber player in any draft. It's an interesting tension because, I mean, you can argue about which one is more valuable. Certainly wide receivers get paid more and there's probably a longer run time of being an elite player then there is a corner

so he's incentivized to be a wide receiver but you don't want to waste what he brings to the table on defense would you say that as a prospect he's a slightly better prospect as a corner than as a wide receiver? I do think he's a slightly better prospect as a corner and I've actually done with him

so if he was just a wide receiver would he be worthy of the number two pick? No. Okay interesting. I don't think he'd be worthy to number two. I still think he'd be a first round caliber receiver, but I don't think he'd be worthy of the number two pick. I think if you looked him as a corner, I think you're still, you're in a, we're going to say this, I'm going to say this a lot. In this draft, he is what he would be a number two pick. We'll get into the wise behind that, but in this draft, I would feel comfortable taking him if he's

going to, if he's going to play defense. Now, if you're going to say he's going to play offense, like going back to the conversation about the, the quarterbacks, where would I put Travis Hunter if he was a receiver going up to last year? He's probably wide receiver three or four, maybe. Like I would have had Harrison and neighbors. ahead of him as a prospect. So he'd be around O'Donze. Probably. Okay.

And so the cornerback is doing the heavy lifting here. And again, the end of this draft, what makes him as a corner a special prospect? Yeah, I mean, he's got great size. The movement really, really stands out. He's really smooth. He has recovery speed. He can turn and run with anybody.

He's really competitive. And then also what he does from a route instinct standpoint. That's the thing, is that this guy's playing every snap, essentially on defense, on offense. he's still playing some special teams he's got a 4-0 GPA off the field when he does play defense they put him in single coverage on an island

non-stop we've never seen anything like this it is it's so much fun and for him to be like the kind of kid he is off the field as well you just feel so good about what he's going to be moving forward I'm just trying to think through the if he could do both

the problem is you can't just say okay you just go out and be on an island you can't just have a defense he's got to know he has to know the defense yeah If he's going to play defense at all, he's got to be a corner first. And then maybe it's 15 plays a game on offense. You can meet a red zone package, a third down package.

Like, yeah, okay. It's going to be interesting. Yes. All right. Number three overall, the New York Giants, they do take Shador Sanders, the quarterback from Colorado, would be especially juicy if Dion gets named the Cowboys head coach in the in the division together. I feel like that would not be the case.

Maybe the Giants would take him. However, you gave us the scouting report on Shador. already, but in terms of a fit here, like you like the structure with Brian Dable? Is this a thing that could work? Yeah, I think that, you know, I still have a lot of respect for what Dable is as like an offensive designer and a game planner, a play caller. I think to me, look, the Giants, they're backed into a corner. You know, they're very clearly on their last legs with ownership, right?

With Joe Shane and with Brian Dable, this is going to be their last run out. If they don't have success here this year, it's not going to look good for them for 2026. and so they have to have an answer a quarterback. You moved on from Daniel Jones. You made that move already. And so now, what are your options? So you're either going to go with a round one rookie or you're going to go to the pro market.

I don't know that they're going to be able to get Sam Darnold's to go. It's back to New York. Who else are you getting aside? Is Kirk Cousins enough to save your job if you're, if you're that organization? Can you pick it? But that's what I mean. Like, is that enough?

You know, there's been conversation. Oh, well, if Minnesota keeps Sam Darnold, maybe it's J.J. McCarthy. The Giants eight months ago could have taken J.J. McCarthy. They decided not to. And all that's changed since then is he has a season and the injury. He had a nice preseason and then got hurt. And so I just, I don't see them

saying, all we're going to make that move to go get J.J. McCarthy. I think, I think they have to take one of these quarterbacks. Now, I do think that, and there's been like some scuttle butt out there that they like Ward more than Sanders, but they're picking a number three. And this is like the whole thing that happened to them last year is that they wanted to make a move for a quarterback, but no one wanted to make that move. So if they don't have a dance partner, if Tennessee doesn't want to move down, if they want to

sit there and take Ward, they kind of have to take Sanders if they're going to have a shot moving forward. Okay. We move on to the fourth overall selection of this first Fran Duffy mock draft, the New England Patriots with a new head coach, Mike Vrable, guy who wants to build along the line of scrimmage, potentially. You have them taking the best edge rusher in the draft, Abdul Carter from Penn State. Yeah, a little bit undersized. linebacker made the move to the edge for the first time this past season in 2024.

And I remember watching that week one game against West Virginia and saying, man, like, there's something to work with here from that position switch. Because that was going to be a projection, right? He's playing offball linebacker. What is he going to look like as a full-time edge rusher? To me, this is a guy that is not one-dimensional. He's not just going to be a designated pass rusher type. He is very willing against the run.

He's still a little bit undersized. But if you can fill out that frame a little bit, I think there's plenty there to be able to work with. Now, the big thing when you're looking at Abdul Carter is that they still kind of moved him around as a joker, line him up over the center, line him up over guard, standing up and just let him go. That's, depending on what scheme you go to, that's not necessarily projectable to the NFL, right? So not every scheme is going to allow him to do that. So I do think there's some projection here, but I think when you're looking at the rest of the defensive players in this draft, and honestly, the rest of the players overall in this draft, I still feel best about Abdul Carter, his upside,

able to hit that? Is he as good as refined as some of the other rushers we've seen go in the top five, top ten of previous drafts? No, but I still love the player. I love the talent. I think he's got plenty of runway there to be able to make an impact in the NFL. We'll throw Tyree Wilson out because

neither of us quite liked him as a prospect but so like the Will Anderson, Aiden Hutchinson, Kavon Tibodeau, Trevon Walker, those recent top ten picks where would he fit in there? Yeah, I think to me, I would look at Walker and Hutchinson. I would say I would have both of them ahead of where I had Carter. I think when you look at Will Anderson,

I would have had him ahead of Carter. And that is going to be a recurring theme in this draft. Because when you're talking about a lot of these players that are going to go in the top 10, if you're going to compare them to other guys, their contemporaries in recent years, I'd say, yeah, I probably would have taken the other guy. Not that they're bad players.

Is that just the pass rush refinement for him? Or is it questions about the athleticism as well? No, I think athletically, everything. I mean, he's, uh, that's why people will compare him to Michael Parsons. I'm a little hesitant to make that comparison. I think of Micah is just such a freak at 200. That's the thing to remember. He can't just throw out. 250 pounds for three speed. Uh, I mean, he is one of one in that way, uh, in the NFL right now. But I think that Abdul Carter, like, the guy I wrote down while watching him early on this year was Hassan Reddick, like, you turn into Hassan Reddick. That's worthy of a

absolute pick. Right. So I do think he's a really good player, um, but you just have to kind of manage the expectations. I also think too, Mike Vrable has had experience getting success out of a player like this. He got some good years out of Harold Landry in Tennessee. It's similar kind of body type. So I do like the fit there as well. Is there, and we're going to get on to the other picks, but does it feel like the number one overall pick is going to come from one of these four guys? Is that fair? Or do you think there's any chance that there's anybody else who rises there? The only person I would say like pure wild card, like non-zero chance, and he's actually not even in the mock draft, but like, you know, at quarterback with the dynamic crisis,

Jalen Milrow from Alabama. Going to the Senior Bowl, the Senior Bowl has proven to be a place where a quarterback can see that stock rise. And so if Milrow, who's got, honestly, you'd say, like maybe the most impressive tools of any of the quarterbacks in this class,

if he goes down there and impresses people both on and off the field, that could go a long way as well. All right, let's take a step back here. Tell us how you approach this mock draft because this is not just your ranking of how you grade these players. This is much more what you're, what you're hearing, what you're thinking.

Yeah, so the way I approach mock drafts, and I get it. There's lots of different ways that people do it. Some people say, like, this is what I would do if I were in all 32 of these seats. I don't think that that offers much value personally. To me, like, if I'm reading a mock draft, I want to see, like, what do I think is going to happen? You will also have that content later. Exactly.

Like, hey, here are my rankings. Here's how I see these players. But to me, I want to try and project forward what I think is going to happen. And so I do a lot of work in terms of following all 32 teams. their their historic trends what do uh i watch every single head coach and gm press conference especially during the off season uh just kind of pulling in all of that content uh i mean that is deranged stuff but like you get like little nuggets here and there in terms of thought process and what they value what they don't you look at like historic trends of uh you know like the cleveland browns

like for instance day one and day two they don't for the most part there's always exceptions but for the most part they don't take seniors they take underclassmen from power five schools right So, you know, if it's the second, if I'm doing it's a two-round mock draft, which that'll probably start probably like next month. I'll start doing two and three rounders once we get into like February of March. If I get into the second round for the Cleveland Browns, I'm probably not going to give them like some redshirt senior offensive tackle, right? Just because from a tendency standpoint, they tend to trend more towards young players from from Power 4 schools. So I think when you look all across the landscape, that's one of the things I try and do is try and project what I think those teams are going to do. obviously ear to the ear to the ground in terms of who are people talking to who do they like

all of that kind of gets thrown into these mock drafts and so this first one uh of the year how much were you sort of dragging yourself through the mud what you know how less so okay yeah less so look there's um obviously a lot of the hay is in the barn in terms of the scouts work on these players and how and there's going to be all kinds of reports just because it's uh the piggies to the draw right there's there's so much thirst for this content At the end of the day, how one individual scout from one team feels about a player, while important, and it depends on the team on how it levels of importance there, how a coach feels, how a GM feels, how a director of college scouting feels.

All of that kind of gets combined into it. You factor in the medical, you factor in everything that leads over the next few months. So to hear like, oh, the Cleveland Browns really like this player or the Tennessee Titans, that doesn't mean anything right now as we sit here in early January. And then this show, this NFL draft show with Fran Duffy, I think our goal to serve both the true sickos and also the people who are sort of coming to the draft. Yep. Now I think we can we can do that.

Our cadence, we're going to be doing once a week for sure. Yes. On Wednesdays. But we're also going to be mixing in some extra episodes throughout. Obviously, we'll increase the cadence as we get closer to draft season. And then you're already going on the road. I know. I'm going to the Shrine Bowl down in Friscoe, Texas, down at the Star.

Following Monday, go from Friscoe. to Mobile for the senior ball. So I'll be down there for the, for the full week down there. Giles of Mobile. I'd love to join you. Love a Mobile. The Eagle season continues. Yes.

So I'll do those trips back to back and then in a few weeks off to Indianapolis for the combine. Very exciting. Yes. I love those trips every year. Number five overall. Number five. The Jacksonville Jaguars. This is a tough team to do.

Trent, we'll just look for the guy with the longest arms. Right. That's the, unfortunately that's not what went on here. But yes, Trent Balkey survives. Yes.

we'll see who the coach becomes, but you have them going with Michigan defensive tackle, Mason Graham. I will say whenever a GM gets fired, like a little part of me does die because I've done all the work on the Tennessee. So I'm like, the fact that only a couple got fired this year, I'm like, all right, we're off and running here.

But that said, yeah, I went with Mason Graham, the defensive tackle for Michigan. One of the reasons why I love this player. In relation to Brandon Graham. No. Disappointing. Not that I know of. I mean, who knows, maybe down the line somewhere.

But when you look at Mason Graham, there's that saying in the summer, you know, when you're making the 53-man roster, like, the more you can do. I love the players that can win in lots of different ways. And Mason Graham is one of those players where he's got a fast first step. He's got power. He's got strength in the run game. He can win with technique. He can win with effort.

And the more of those boxes you can check as a blue chip talent, the more of the better I'm going to feel about you overall. And I think Mason Graham is one of those high floor, high ceiling type of players. he was the guy who sealed the national championship game for them against Washington last year when the Wolverines won it all with that run stop in the red zone and the final part of the game so I think when you look at Mason Graham he can impact the run he can impact the pass he can line up at multiple techniques inside he's a guy I just I just feel best about now the Jaguars at five I wasn't sure quite how to feel obviously they still have to hire a coach

and that's the challenging part about doing that at this stage of the calendar some of these you're kind of making these picks blind that said I thought Mason Graham fit even with two first round picks already on that defensive line. That defense was horrendous this year. They need to add to that side of the ball. Three and a half sacks this year for Mason Graham. Three sacks last year. If you're taking a guy

fifth overall, is he going to provide enough pass-fresh juice for a defensive tackle? I think he does have enough juice there. The production certainly has not been stellar. And to the earlier point, like Jalen Carter went nine. Yeah. Probably should have gone higher. There were obviously there were questions around that. Talent-wise he would have gone higher. If you're

putting those guys next to each other, I'm taking Jalen Carter every day. Right? So like there are again going in this draft, I think Mason Graham is a top five, top seven type of talent. Okay. Number six. Number six.

The Las Vegas Raiders who don't have a GM or head coach. Blind pick here. Yep. Who does Tom Brady want them to take? You have it being Arizona wide receiver, Ted Tyroa, McMillan, who had 84 catches for 1319 yards this season a year after having 90 for over 1,400 as a. sophomore a year ago best receiver in the draft i think so yeah i to me coming into the year i had luther burden ahead of them uh the wider see from missouri we'll talk about them a little bit later

but uh yeah i think mcmillan i mean they had a down year at ariot at a year at a new coaching staff came in and it was a little bit of a down year for them when they changed conferences but i think when you look at t's r o mcmillan tmack uh is the abbreviation there uh when you look at timmanus yeah i think when you're looking at tmack similar in ways to like a Drake London style of player. Okay. So this is a big bodied pass catcher. He's not like purely explosive. Because some people have compared him to Mike Evans. People forget like Mike Evans you know in 2013 when he came out. I mean this guy was like freak show straight line speed was outstanding and I'm not saying that he can't run but I think that he's more like loose and fluid

and smooth than he is like twitchy explosive like wow speed long you are really making me not excited about this top 10. I mean that he sounds good but Drake London has a the top receiver in the draft. Like, okay. Yeah, that's, I promise it levels out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

This class itself. This class itself, I think it's, if you had a top 10 pick, you're probably left a little bit wanting. It's not that they're bad players. It's just when you compare them to other guys that typically go in that area,

it's a little bit light. Okay. Why would you call him, Ted Tyroa is so fun to say. It is. Yeah, I mean, don't, don't shorten that bad boy.

You're leaving meat on the bone. He's a good player. So I don't get too down on him. He is a good player. And a Raiders team that could use anything. They can use a lot. And Bowers together. You got something in the passing game, I guess.

No question. So you're making that for a soft landing spot for whoever is the quarterback of the future for that team. Number seven overall, the New York Jets, who have tried to solve the offensive line for a long time. You have them going back to the well here. Will Campbell from LSU. Another team that doesn't have a head coach, doesn't have a GM. So it's another blind pick here. I was going back and forth on

Well, you do work to study Brick Johnson's like posts on message boards to see who he likes over the years. You joke. But that is something that I have to keep in mind that like, all right, this is a team where there's going to be some outside influences at play.

But I think when you look at my decision here to go with Will Campbell over one of the defensive players, I did think about someone in the secondary. DJ reads an impending free agent. You know, maybe they can get a playmaking safety like Malachi Starks, but I think when you look at, again, a team that wants to be able to get a quarterback here moving forward. They're not going to get that here in this spot. So who are

they able to get to bring into help that future quarterback? I think you look at an offensive line and Will Campbell. I really like the player. Some people question whether or not he's a tackle or not. The arm length is going to come into question, I think, with Will Campbell. And so depending on how you feel about that, you might say, oh, maybe he's a guard. I still think he can play tackle. And now he's been a three-year starter at tackle as a true junior for L.A. he came in as a true freshman started right away day one uh was the starter i put a lot of stock in guys that do that especially at a high level of competition sure going up against top flight rushers in the cc uh and performing well i mean he is there are a lot of players that you see that uh for the

offensive line when they play early as true freshman the numbers are bad like the metrics are bad the amount of pressures and penalties and sacks he was aces like from the jump so i i do really like will campbell he's really strong maybe doesn't have like an a plus trait but just a rock solid player and I think a guy that's very much worthy. I think even in a typical year, he's going in the top 15. I mean, is this a guy who could have helium to all the way to number one? If they really don't like what they see from the quarterbacks and take the top offensive lineman? I struggle to see him as that kind of guy.

He's not a special athlete? Yeah, he's not a special type of player that way. From a physical talent standpoint, he's got, he's another one like kind of like Mason Graham, where like there's strength, there's power, there's enough athleticism there. The body type is a little bit underwhelming for a tackle, as I mentioned. So now it just comes down to like how do you feel about him overall? I think if you're if you're the Jets, again, not knowing head coach and GM who's there,

you took Olu Faschinoo from Penn State last year. He had played some right tackle here for the Jets this year. So maybe hey, you know what? We're going to make him the full time right tackle. Let's plug in Will Campbell, the left tackle. And they'll be the bookends for years to come. I do feel like usually these guys are in the top 20 who it's like, I don't know if he can stay a tackle.

I feel like most of those guys do just end up staying a tackle. Sometimes. I mean, Brandon Sharf was one of them. and became an all pro guard. So we've seen at times those, and he went five overall. And honestly, I don't think it was like,

I'd have to look back. I guess that draft, but, you know, I don't think that people looked at it out. Washington didn't bring him back on the second contract. So that kind of came back to bite him in terms of,

was that a good use of resources? But he was a great player for a long time, Brandon Schiff. Okay. Move on to number eight, a team that has a coach and a general manager. Yes, that's exciting.

Well, yeah, I guess. I mean, look, when you look at the way that this team finished down the stretch, it's certainly exciting. the Carolina Panthers. Now, you do not have them getting help for Bryce Young.

You have them addressing the defense. George's Jalen Walker, who is an interesting prospect from a study perspective, right? Yeah. So he was an offball linebacker by like trade, by label. Like that's the way he was used most of the time. But he did play a lot of high leverage snaps as a true defensive end, hand in the dirt, you know, playing off the edge. And so that hybrid skill set, that positionless label has been put on Jalen Walker.

I will say like I watched him early in the year and I just didn't see it as like as an offball backer. I don't know what the what the value is. I saw more as like a day two type of player. You know, as I you know, I think of like Derek Barnes when he was at Purdue a few years back. He was a third round pick of the of the Detroit Lions hasn't quite hit his ceiling. But you know, that kind of player. Maybe he's a Dante High Tower. Jalani Tavai from it was another guy that came out was kind of one of those hybrid players. Zach Bond. Well, yeah, exactly. Now here's the thing.

even on the edge rush reps, I wasn't like blown away by the athleticism, like that first step quickness. I do think he's got some pop to him. He's going to win with power. But this is a guy that doesn't have like a ton of rush production. We say that every year about the Georgia defender's up front. Although for that standard six and a half sacks for him is not.

It's pretty good. Yeah, no, I agree with that. But I think when you look at Jalen Walker, it is going to be a projection to say that this guy is going to be a pure edge rusher. If you're taking him this high, it's because he's a pure edge rusher. That said, like I think when you're looking at this scheme, I think he makes sense.

Agero Evereaux was retained as a defensive coordinator. He comes from the Vigfangio school. And they like to utilize those guys that have those multiple skill sets. They're just backfilling for Brian Burns. Well, and that's like Brian, to me, like if I'm comparing Brian Burns to Jalen Walker's prospects, like, no brainer. Brian Burns was far away, a better player coming out of Florida State than what you're looking at with Jalen Walker. But the way into when I talk with people, it's like look at him as an edge rusher and it might change the way you view him. I will say, like, based off the way I studied him in October,

I don't know if I'm going to feel, if it's going to completely move me that way, but I'll continue to do more work. That said, everybody seems to think he's going to go, like top 10, top 12. So potentially one of the players in this draft whose stock is most dependent, or at least his upside,

is most dependent on his testing results? Yeah, I think that's fair. You know, I think when you, if he goes to the combine and doesn't test all that great at that size, and if you're going to say he's going to be an edge rusher, I think that that will hurt his overall, the viewpoint in terms of him being a potential impact player off the edge. Okay.

You go to number nine. New Orleans Saints. Another team with that head coach. Well, they do've got Mickey Loomis still. Yep. And you've got him going with Will Johnson, the Michigan cornerback.

Yeah. And I really like this fit for the way that New Orleans has approached the draft. And that's one of the things I love about the Saints is that Mickey Lewis has been installed there for a long time. There are definitely trends. You've got the work. Oh, it's great. So I think when you're looking at it's great.

So I think when you're looking, looking at the way. And look, the other thing, too, is Mickey Loomis, he's got a, he's got his hand in a lot of pies down there, because he's doing stuff with the pelicans. He's, he's very much, like, let's, let's some of the, uh, the executives there do a lot of the heavy lifting from a scouting standpoint. So Jeff Ireland, the former Dolphins GM, he's been in charge of the draft for a long time. And so I don't want to just because the fact I know all this. No, no, I'm, I'm trying to be less bow on this show. And so I wanted to do a Mickey, Mickey Mouse, Mickey Loomis impression. And then you said Jeff Ireland. And I really want to do it.

want it to do an Irish voice, but I'm not doing it. So you're growing. This is impressive. It's a different show. That's true. I'm sure we'll hear about it on the P.H.O.I. Eagle's show. But I think when you look at the way the Saints draft, they value athletic profiles. They value guys that have the high ceiling. I think when you look at Will Johnson, one player that I think the profile is reminiscent of is Marshawn Latimore, who Marshall Latimore was obviously a first round pick of the Saints and a longtime starter, one of the better corners in football. Ladimore, when he came out, it was a small sample size. He was a redshirt sophomore out of Ohio State.

He was dinged up with hamstring injuries, especially that last year. Will Johnson didn't play a ton this year. He played the first half of the year. It was pretty productive for that Michigan defense, but then kind of put on the shelf the second half of the year due to some injuries and then didn't play down the stretch. So I think when you look at Johnson, the height, the weight, the speed.

People actually will question the speed, but he's a fluid athlete. He can play the ball. He's got good instincts. I think that he can come downhill and play as well. be a factor in the run game. So I think when you look at Will Johnson, there's a lot to like here. I could see him going a little bit higher. It wouldn't shock me just because of the upside. I could also see him falling a little bit further. I think a lot of more of memory serves went like 12 or 13. I think when you look at Will Johnson, he could go off the board in that range as well,

just because of the small sample size, especially from this year. We expect him to test well. Some people have questioned the long speed. What is he going to look like when he runs the 40? If he were to run in the four, three's low four fours, like that would be a huge boom. but some people think he could be a four or five guy. Okay. Close out the top 10. Yeah. At number 10 overall, the Chicago Bears, are they going to get help for Caleb Williams?

You have them getting some help. Protection-wise, Kelvin Banks, the tackle from Texas. Yeah, and this is another player that some people in the media have had really, really high. It's a potential top five pick. I haven't quite been there with Kelvin Banks, Jr. He's been a little bit up and down this year. He was injured in the second half of the season, so he was like in and out of the lineup. up and got dinged. He's had some inconsistent play. I watched him against Michigan and I thought that

he was on the ground too much in the Michigan game. I thought the Georgia game, it was a little bit up and down performance from him as well. But this is a guy that's got really high highs. He gets off the ball really well. I think he's got pretty good feet. I think in the run game, there's some technique things and some landmarks and things that can get cleaned up. But a lot of coaches will look at that and say, yeah, we can fix that in minicamp. So I think when you look at the way that Kelvin Banks kind of projects to the NFL. If you're betting on the upside, he could have the highest upside

of any tackle in the class. He could be better than Will Campbell. But if you look at what the film has necessarily shown, you might not necessarily see a player that is worthy of the number 10 overall pick. So it's kind of a beauty in the eye of the beholder situation. Now, one thing with the Chicago Bears,

with Ryan Poles, this has been a GM in the past that have said, you know, we grade the flashes. We bet on the highs with players. And I think if you're going to be that way, if you have that mindset, you might look at Kelvin Bank's,

you look at those highs and you say, we're going to bet on his upside. He's a little bit undersized. He's listed 6.3, 6.4, 326 pounds. Question about the arm length. Well, third left tackle for the last few years has been Braxton Jones, who had a similar type of body type. So now he was not a Ryan Pulse selection. But I think when you look at, you know, they've had success with a tackle of that body type,

they might be okay there. But Poles has also in the past been a big proponent of length. And if so, the arm length does not come through well, for Kelvin Banks Jr. That might affect him on certain teams' wards, and Chicago could be one of them. If you were the bearish general manager in trying to decide how to best build

around Caleb Williams moving forward, what would you be thinking, you know, roster building-wise? I think that you look back at last year and you say, like, oh, this is going to be the best situation that number one pick has ever fallen into. Look at these receivers.

And I know that they felt better about that offensive line internally, maybe than people in the outside did, but clearly that did not meet the standard. You know, it felt like Caleb Williams was constantly under-durdering. arrest. So I do think they need to address the trenches. Now, we can get into a discussion about whether Banks is that player for them right here or if it should be one of the other players that we'll

talk about later in the mock draft. But I think when you look at Banks for them in this spot right now, like I would not make this pick personally, but I think that this would be one that as we sit here in the middle of January, does make the most sense. Is there a flip side, a guy who draft consensus at the moment seems to think is more of a late first rounder who you like more than Banks? Yeah, I mean, I like Josh Simmons from Ohio State a little bit more. Now, he goes a few picks later in this mock draft, and he tours ACL midseason. So that's the other thing you have to kind of take into account is, all right, well, the film was probably a little bit more consistent this year for Simmons. But coming off the knee, what is that going to look like?

The medical check is going to be big for him at the Combine. But to me, I like Simmons a little bit more than Max. All right. So the Chicago Bears add a tackle to help out their offensive line. Fran, let's do a little background on you. Oh, all right. If you don't mind, fill the people in on when the sickness began. 1999 was the first draft where I was like, yeah, like this is pretty cool.

It was now that was the Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb, Kelly Smith, and the big debate here in Philadelphia was Donovan McNab versus Ricky Williams. And, you know, as a middle schooler at the time, was like very much into like, all right, what's, you know, what's going on with all these players? I wasn't a big college football fan like growing up. Yeah. So just kind of following along the storylines, that kind of. sucked me in and then that's when the Eagles got good and then I started diving in deeper into the

who did you want McNabb or Ricky I wanted McNabb yeah I thought they needed a quarterback at that point and so you it really was just those two they didn't really talk about Achille Smith it was McNabb or Ricky Williams but I think when you look at uh look at the draft and then the way that things kind of escalated for the Eagles from that point on I mean Andy Reid all the success they had now I'm starting to file all these drafts and really got and got sucked in I want to say like 2003 2004 was win. I'm like, all right, like this is, I'm going to sit here all day, Saturday, all day, Sunday, through two days of the draft and watch the entire thing. Your time at Temple, your time with the Eagles. This has been a lifelong passion. Yeah, so I got to Temple, graduated from high school in 2004.

When I got to Temple, I started one of my first jobs was doing freelance writing for a fantasy football website, KFFL at the time. And through them was starting to do draft profiles on skill players and they're coming out. So I wrote like the first player I ever wrote up was Kyle Orton. Nice. Neckbeard. Yeah. And actually then they started having to do other players not just fantasy players, but I did the second one actually it was Temeco Ryan's the second player ever wrote up. I still have some of those it's because they got first line of the sky report was incredibly handsome incredibly handsome yeah I think that might have been second line second third line

but I think when you look at you know just I was able to kind of get put through the paces there a couple years later I got hired to be a student assistant with the football team doing video and that's when I was like oh there's like coaching them I can watch because at that point I'm not just going to watch in TV you know watching clips there on the internet once I got into the world of watching the coaching tape which was in 2006 it just kind of took off from there and so now you're watching your grinding the coaching tape on all these guys in in your free time now is it is your job what are what when you are studying a prospect you talked

about before how how Ian coming earning air in Cunningham and uh Ryan Poles they like to say that they grade the flashes for you are you looking for upside are you're looking for dependability? Does it depend on the position? What's sort of your philosophy? I think I kind of go case by case. And I think the context matters with all of it. Right. So if it's a 25-year-old tight end who needs a lot of work, I'm like, man, all right. Well, I'm probably not as excited. If it's a 20-year-old who's a first-year starter, didn't start playing football until he was a high school junior, I'm willing to accept like the unrefinement and some of the rawness there. So I think when it's kind of take a case by case, I definitely one guy,

that have traits and guys that have upside. I would say over the last three or four years, the lens with which I focus on players and try and value players from a, trying to stack the board standpoint, I would say it's a little bit unique to how others may do it. And I would say like when I put out a big board later in the spring,

there are going to be some names on there that people are like, why is this guy so high or why is this guy so low? And I would say like a big reason for that is that I correlate a lot of my draft evaluations with, all right, what kind of player do I envision this becoming, right? So I think he's going to be a good starter at safety.

All right, well, you're the players that I think are tiered this way in the NFL. What does that guy get paid from a contract standpoint? And I try and have that all kind of leveled out against other positions. So, you know, there are going to be some players where it might seem a little weird, but I say, hey, you know what? Like, look at what, what Chondrey Diggs is making right now in the NFL. And you compare that to offensive tackle or lineback. or all the off-by, if you're a pure off-ball linebacker,

it's going to be hard for you to be really high on my list. Same thing at running back. Those guys are going to get tiered down a little bit. So, yeah, it's a little bit of a unique look into the process. Okay. Now, if you want to read the entire 32 picks of Friends mock draft, you can check it out on all-phly.com or any of the other all-city sites if you are a diehard.

But we're going to pick and choose a few more of the picks from this mock draft to discuss. And so at the number 12, overall selection, the Dallas Cowboys, so much smoke already, even though they don't have a head coach, about Ashton Genty, the dynamic running back from Boise State because they need a running back that is not where you have them going. I thought about it. I had it there in pencil to start when I started doing the mock. And then as I thought about it a little bit more, I said, you know what? I think that maybe they wait because this running, this is a very good running back class,

a very talented group. I think once you get into the second round, the third round, there are a lot of options available at that position. Now Dallas is a team in the past, and they've said this publicly, and there's been reports from media types down there as well about it about this, is that they like to be first out of position. They do like to start the run. Interesting. Yeah, they like to be able to, hey, you know what, and this might be at guard. It might be at linebacker, you know, whatever the position is. They like to be first. As opposed to getting the leftovers. Yeah. So that's interesting. You know, right now, like I haven't taken Luther Burton, the wide receiver from Missouri. so this would be wide receiver 2.

So you could say, all right, like, if you have Ashton Gently here and you have Luther Burden here, maybe I prefer taking Ashton Genti because the RB1 as opposed to wide receiver two. That said, I just think when you look at at this past game, the way that this team has operated in recent years where they devalued running back, obviously, the way the lack of resources they put into it the last couple of years and overcorrection from what they did. It's so funny because it's the same like front office staff. Right.

They completely flipped in terms of the way they handled it and to a detriment, right? I mean, that offense just lacked any kind of juice. They locked any kind of oomph in the run game of this season. I know it got a little bit better in the second half, but I think when you look at this group overall, they just, they need more help for Dak Prescott in the past game. Another running mate there for CD Lam. So I went with Luther Burden, a player that I think it's really dynamic.

I mentioned coming into the season, he was my wide receiver one. I think if you're looking at the way that Malik neighbors can impact the game, he can attack you with the deep ball, he can win over the middle of the field, yards after catch. He's got some sharpness to him as a round. outrunner, some dynamic qualities athletically. So he had a little bit of a down year from a production standpoint, not as productive as he was last year for Mazoo.

But this is a player that I was really, really high on coming in. And even though the numbers weren't there in 2024, I still think that this guy's a dynamite player moving to the NFL. It went from 86 catches for over 1,200 yards last year to 61 for just 676 this year while playing pretty much the same amount of games. What was the reason for that? Yeah, I think that, well, I do want to do a little bit more work for I say definitively, think the surrounding talent there in

Missou. It sounds to me like Jalen Rager again. We're throwing that quarterback under the bus. I have a name. I have a bunch of names listed with this comp for Luther Burton. Rager is one of them. Interesting. In terms of like the way he's built physically, the way he looks. So there are, I would say there's some similarities there from a play style standpoint. I also have like Brandon Cooks down there. Like he is that he's a movement type screen game yards after catch, shallow crosses, but also can can catch the deep ball. He can beat you in a lot of different ways. Now, again, I was very close

to making this Ashton Genti. And I was interested to see how I think if he doesn't go here at 12, like how far does he slide? They've had a lot of success Dallas going to Boise and plucking players. Tank Lawrence, they got out of Boise. Then this is with this leadership, with Will McLeigh making picks as well. Tank Lawrence, late in Vandrash. They took Cedric Wilson and made him a good player out of Boise. So I think that that's something where, you know, it's like the Eagles with Cincinnati. Like you feel comfortable. Once you've had success, and you've made some good meals shopping in that aisle, the supermarket. You want to go back to that aisle.

I do think that there's something there with Gentie, but I had them passing. Luther Burton, you think, can win on the outside, just thinking of him as a fit with C.D. Lamb, who does so much of his work in the slot? Yeah, he can do a little bit of both. So I think that with C.D. Lamb being used in that same way, I think that fits in perfectly.

All right. Let's move now to number 16 overall, where the Arizona Cardinals are on the clock, and you know Jonathan Gannon well, and you thought that Texas A&M Edge, Nick Scorton, is his kind of player. Yeah, I went back and forth. You know, I think when you look at the way that this defense is structured, I mean, I know they spent a first round pick on the defensive line in Darrys Robinson last year, did not get a huge impact out of him this year just because the injury he came in, didn't put, he missed a large chunk of the first half of the year. But I think when you look at this Arizona defense, the way that they were able to create pressure was, I don't want to say like smoke and mirrors, but basically they were there were, there was. trying to out scheme everybody on a weekly basis. And they're just added a little bit of a talent deficit up front.

Now, when you look at Nick Gordon, the reason why I think that he's a good fit for Jonathan Gannon is that he is a multifaceted player and that he can win against as a rusher. He can defend the run. He plays a lot of violence. You know, we've heard J.G., some of those things that he has said over and over in press conferences, you know, motor and mean and guys that are fanatical to the football. That is the way that Nick's Gordon plays.

He's kind of like a lowercase Jared verse in terms of from that standpoint where he's not like the most impressive physical specimen, but I think that it was the way that he plays, that fanatical effort, the physicality, all of that transitions. Now, he led the Big Ten in Sacks last year,

2023 at Purdue, goes down to the SEC, Texas A&M, and a lot of that production got cut in half. From 10 to 5, went from 10 to 5, but even like the pressure rate, you know,

went down a little bit. So a lot of the efficiency metrics were not what they were the previous year, which is a little bit of a concern. It's not like Verse, where Versus was at Albany and was tearing up the competition and then went to the ACC and continued that level of production.

But I think when you look at Scorton, he is a player that I think fits the mold stylistically of what Jonathan Gannon wants from his defensive players. Any other thoughts, position lines for what the Cardinals might be interested in? Yeah, I thought about a receiver there, you know, in that spot. There are some options there available. Offensive lines certainly continue to try to bolster the trenches. But I think overall, like this team just needs more blue chip players on defense. So to me, it was who is the best defensive player on the board that? fits the mindset of what Jonathan Gannon wants on that side.

All right. We move to number 20 overall. The Denver Broncos on the clock, and they are selecting running back Ashton Genti, bringing some juice from Boise to Denver. Yeah, and this one was fun. Again, I wanted to see how far Ashton Genty would slide. If he didn't go at 12 to Dallas,

who was the team that was going to end up calling his name? And I ended up going with the Denver Broncos. Now, Sean Payton, he's had experience, taking a round one running back. He's not averse to that. He did it with Mark Ingram coming out of Alabama a while ago now at this point, but he's had experience there. He wants to be able to run the football. You know, there's a Sean Payton. I know he's always regarded as a passing mastermind from that standpoint schematically, but he wants to be able to run the football. We saw them, he always had like a two-hitted monster everywhere

he had been in terms of having that success in previous stops, whether it as an offensive coordinator or as a head coach. And so I look at it and say, all right, you know, they just spent a pick on an Audra Guestime in the fourth round. last year out of Notre Dame, Javante Williams, not quite what he was pre-injury. So here you get Ashton Genti. The other thing with Sean Payton is that

he usually trends towards players from bigger schools, but he has said numerous times that if we're going to go to a smaller school, you better dominate. No one has dominated more than Ashton Genti at that level of competition in the group of five, even against the P5 competition, the Power 4 competition, he always excelled.

So I think when you're looking at Genti, I think he's a really good scheme fit. This is a playoff, right so the team where if you can get a blue chip running back and add him to that ecosystem with bow nix to kind of help him out I think I think it makes a lot of sense there and I think even defense is in good shape with good young players not not a lot of turnover expected there and then you know you could overrate one game but in their playoff loss of the Buffalo bills their running backs combined for 11 carries for 35 yards yeah

and again this is a coach that wants to be able to run football so I look at this fit here as something where it would make sense even look look Sean Payton is the one that's calling the shots there in Denver, but George Payton, the GM, he also, before Sean Payton got there, had spent some high quality picks, you know, high, high assets on non-priority positions. So I don't think the heat even pushed back on this one either. So I think when you look at it, I think this one makes a lot of sense. Now, you have also said that this is a good running back draft class.

Do you believe that Gentie is a solid full tier above the rest of the guys? I do, yes. I think that at some, and honestly, like, he could do, this is 20 overall. if he went 12, if he went 10, if he went 13, I'm just throwing numbers out, it would not. He's that kind of player. This draft is not great at the time. Could he go seven? Yeah, like Bijon Robinson went eight, like Genti could go that high.

If someone says, you know what, like he is just that much better than everybody else, I will say, like, on my board, he is going to be in that, that tier. But it's just a matter of how every team is going to feel about it. And there's, there's honestly, when you're trying to play matchmaker, there aren't a lot of great fits in terms of like, all right, this team already plays. that has a big asset or has a lot of money invested in that position. So trying to find that was tricky for this exercise. Is there another running back who you think might be first round caliber? You know, I think that Armarian Hampton from UNC, I think is the next guy that might challenge that.

But I do think that he's probably a cut below in terms of what you typically would see at that position. All right. Good stuff for the Broncos. Let's move on. Let's just get right to it. Let's go right to the Eagles. Okay. Fran. Now, you haven't picking 28th overall.

So I'm going off of, you know, what the draft order was if it ended and then just gone just saying you you don't have them going in the super bowl that's what the what the i'm going off the odds and like the records and things like that uh before we get to the pick okay let's let's take a step back uh because i know that we have a lot of eagles fans watching where do you expect this team position wise to be to be looking in the first round of the draft i think you start with the trenches all the time like every year just start with the trenches and just like assume that that's priority number one and if there's somebody there on either side of the line of scrimmage that is, you know, in that, that upper tier in terms

of whose best player on the board, I think that you'd probably lean that direction. So I would start there. I think then after that, that's when you start getting into discussions about tight end. You start getting into discussions about maybe safety. But after that, like, I really feel it. I think it's a pretty narrow band for the top of the draft for the Eagles. I think it's tackle or edge. Pretty much that's it. And then maybe detackle if Milton Williams leaves. And maybe tight end if that's just the road at the board falls. I think that is a possibility. And they move on from Dallas Goddard.

So in this scenario, you have them going with Minnesota tight end Ariante Ursary. Minnesota tackle. Minnesota tackle Ariante Ursary. I know it's a tackle. I just said it wrong. I said Ariante right. I was so focused on that.

You nailed it. You really started a lot. Erciente. Erciary is a really interesting player. And I think when you look at his background, there are a lot of aspects to it that say like, oh yeah, this sounds like the Eagles type of player.

Did not start playing football until late in his high school career. Love it. Check the box. Yeah. Has played both sides. He's played left tackle and right tackle. Love it. I believe it's a three-year starter at left tackle.

And in his red shirt year played right tackle in games. Also played like a handful of snaps at guard. And at north of 320 pounds, I think he's got the size to be able to, especially for Jeff Stoughtland to be able to play guard in a pinch. So I think I think I hear Jeff Stoutland running here right now so far based on this description so and he's he was on feldman's freak list as one of the top athletes in college football uh i think that does does show up on tape uh you do see that

that movement because i wouldn't say he's like the the level of jordan milada lane johnson can't he's not like that level of athlete but certainly for a big man this is the guy that can get out and move he can make those blocks in space uh and he's just unrefined he's you see like the hands in the past game up and down hands and landmarks in the run game a little bit up and down a guy that needs some good coaching, but the physical traits are all there. If it's not a tackle, okay, who are the edges who would be available right now? In this draft, you've got a couple guys going at the end of the first round.

Mike Green from Marshall and James Pierce, Jr. from Tennessee, either of those guys' potential fits for the Eagles? You know, when I look at James Pierce Jr. from Tennessee, he ends up going to Washington in this mock draft, and the reason why I think he wouldn't necessarily be a great fit, this is a one-year starter at Tennessee, was a four-year player, for a big-time recruit, pure like high side rusher and his impact against the run.

I wouldn't say that he's like a pure like designated pass rusher. Like don't get him on the field and rundowns, but it's certainly not a strength of his game. I think when you look at Vic Fangio, it's important for those guys that are on the edge to be quality, you know, not necessarily an impact player, but you have to be a reliable contributor as an edge setter in the run game. I just don't know if James Pierce Jr.

It's going to be able to meet that threshold for Vic Fangio in this scheme. Now, he does other things I think would make him a fit. I don't know that you would necessarily want, like, he and Nolan Smith to be like those guys opposite because they're similar type of body types. To me, like, if I watch James Pierce Jr. and watch it, I was much higher on Nolan Smith than I am right now on Pierce Jr. And so I looked at that. I said, all right, that's probably not a fit there. And then who was the other player? Mike Green. From Mike Green from Marshall. Mike Green is an entry player. So coming out of high school was an athlete recruit, was a wide receiver, linebacker. It goes to UVA. It goes to Virginia. And it doesn't really get on the first.

field there for a couple years, transfers down to Marshall and was outrageous this year. His first year starter. So he's only got one year of starting experience, but was insanely productive, one of the leading sack players in football this past season for the thundering herd. But not, even though he was like a wide receiver, a linebacker in high school, I wasn't blown away by the traits on film. I think he's a solid athlete, a solid mover, but not a guy where like, I'm looking at the first step and saying, wow, like look at this guy, get off the ball.

So I don't think he's unique from that standpoint. He's got a little bit of a modest frame. I don't know that I want him playing in reverse all that often. So I think that that multiple, he's more like a straight like 4-3DN with solid size. And in this scheme, I didn't think that the fit was perfect. And then how about Tileak Williams from Ohio State? It looks like maybe the versatility to, if they let Milton Williams go, maybe be able to play between edge and tackle?

Yeah, I think that he's another player where I don't know that the, because we know that they like to use the unique word. They like to throw that unusual turnaround with players. I don't know that Tileak Williams is the perfect fit for that. I will say the one guy that I did think about there was Walter Nolan, the defense attacker from Ole Miss, who from a pure talent standpoint, this guy is like the name I wrote down while watching was Jalen Carter. Interesting.

He is the way that he can win with quickness, with power, with his athleticism, he's a little bit unrefined still. He was a five-star recruit coming out of high school, goes to Texas A&M, relatively quiet the first couple of years, goes into the transfer portal when they made the coaching change. goes to Ole Miss this year and was lights out. First team all SEC, four-lane Kiffin down there, and one of the best defensive lines in football. I think that there are some things that everyone's kind of working through

from like his departure from Texas A&M, like didn't go as clean. So depending on who you talk to, there's some messiness there. But overall, the talent with Walter Nolan really, really stands out. And he's going to the Senior Bowl as a true junior. So he's a player where if he lights up one-on-on-once, he's going top 15, top 20. This is a player who, you know, we've talked about some players in the beginning of this episode who you don't have graded as a top 10 pick, but you are expecting based on reports at the moment to be potentially a top 10 pick. This is a guy where you have him at 32 overall, but you would grade him as a top 15 player in this class. Yeah, I think he's like right now, I can take a look at where I've got him on my list.

It's higher than 32 for certain. Let me just check real quick. Yeah, he's 15 right now. Okay. He's a good player, good talent. Last position to ask you about from an Eagles perspective, but also just a big picture for everybody. Tight end at the end of this first round.

You have Colston Loveland from Michigan going. You don't have Tyler Warren going in the first round. No, I do. I got 14 to the Colts. Yeah, so I've got Ty Warren. Whoops. Yeah, it's okay. I've got Warren going 14 to the Colts.

He grew on me as I watched him more. I would say with Tyler Warren, you know, I watched him very early in the season. And it was very apparent that Penn State just didn't have a ton of talent outside of him, right? especially in the past catching group. And so as I'm watching, I'm like, all right, like, he's a good athlete, but he's not a great at, going at 14, that's where Brock Bowers went last year.

He is not Brock Bowers. Like, he's not that level of player. But he's a good player. He's a good athlete. He's really good after the catch. They found every way possible to get him the football. They put him in the backfield and had him take direct snaps. They did all kinds of stuff with them.

So it's fun usage. But again, like not as dynamic as some of the other athletes that we've seen at that position. That said, he doesn't put the ball on the ground. He's great after the catch. He contributes as a blocker. He's a really good player. To me, like, I think he pray in this class. He's probably a top 20 pick.

I think when you look at Colston Loveland, I was left a little bit wanting. He would be a player that I... For you, he was more Colston-Lyclan. Yeah, I think that's fair. I was definitely a little bit lukewarm there on Colston Loveland. It's not that I think he's bad. I think that he's probably more like day two as opposed to day one.

But again, as we sit here today, it seems like the consensus is that he's going to go that high and so until I hear differently, I will have him in the mock draft. I think that the Rams, honestly, ironically enough, with both teams that took these players.

So the Rams, I had taking Loveland and then I had the Colts taking Ty Warren. Both of those teams were linked to trying to trade up for Brock Bowers a year ago and so they end up with a tight end here in round one. All right. First mock draft in the can. I know you feel good to have that behind you.

What is ahead of you is a trend. is a trip to the Shrine Bowl and the Senior Bowl over the next two weeks. What are the things that you're most looking forward to see? Yeah, I mean, look, both games,

there are some potential first round picks at both. At the Shrine as well. Yeah, I mean, Shador Sanders is going to be the shrine. Oh. And so what we're going to see

from the Colorado quarterback, who as we talked about, I've got going number three to the New York Giants in my mock draft. He's going down there with a bunch of his Colorado teammates. He's bringing the whole, the whole crew is going with them,

offense and defense. And so a bunch of buffaloes will be down there. But Shador, obviously is going to be the spotlight, but he's not the only potential round one pick there. I mean, Chavon Ravelle is the guy I had going in the mock draft. He's an injured corner from ECU, so he will not be participating. That was a rule that they changed apparently, but the Revel is going to be down there,

very talented player. I see it kind of reminds me a little bit of like a DRC type of, like body type, the height weight speed is outstanding. So he will be there. Kenneth Grant, another potential first round pick, nose tackle from Michigan. He will be there and is supposed to be practicing. He's not injured. So we should see Kenneth Grant down there in Dallas at the star.

So it's going to be an exciting week. A lot of talent down there at the shrine. Shrine Bowl has come a long way since those Romeo Cronnell special teams periods. I hope so. I have Shadur Sanders there. I mean, yeah. I mean, look,

they've had some talented players, certainly over these last couple years. I mean, they had Zay Flowers a couple years ago when he was the first round pick for the Ravens. And so, no, it should be a good showcase for a lot of talented players. And then the following week of the senior bowl,

now we will have coverage of both of those things from you for, for the die-house. hards on all city. But senior bowl, is there anybody who is, you know, in your mind thought of as a second, third round guy right now who could, who could pop all the way to round one with a big week? That's a good question. Jalen Milrow, we talked about a little bit here in the show. I think that Milro, the quarterback from Alabama, Jr., gets the opportunity to go to Alabama or go to the senior ball and elevate his stock with a strong week. I think when you look at Gray Zabel, an offensive lineman from North Dakota State played left tackle there, but he's played every position along

the offensive line. He reminds me a lot of Graham Barton, the first round pick for the Tampa Bay Bucks, who made that transition from tackle to center. I think that Zabel could do the same thing. And then you start just looking at this defensive line, that group that's down there. Nick Scorton, we talked about already, Shamar Stewart, both guys from Texas A&M, but you go right down that list, Walter Nolan, three or four potential first round picks. So now what that means is how does the pecking order change with those guys? Are there other players that look better than these proposed first round talents. How did the offensive linemen look

against these first round picks? And so to me, there's a lot of room for growth. We know those O-line, D-Line, one-on-ones can be kingmakers for those guys. So how that shakes out next week, it's going to be big for when it comes to round one in the draft. All right. Looking forward to it. Looking forward to talking about it.

Looking forward to reading about it and all that good stuff with our draft coverage on All-City and PHLY. How do you feel? Great. I'm excited. Well, look, it's going to be I'm going to be doing hits, you know, from Mobile, from the shine. Obviously, it's a little bit different here at PHLI because, you know, with the Eagles being where they're at

in the postseason. So I won't be doing as many video hits here for PHLI, but I'll be doing daily practice sports from all these practices. So every day when I go to practice, you can go to all pHLY.com and check out us on my notes and all these players. All right. That'll do it for the first episode of the PHLY Draft show with Fran Duffy. We will be back next week with maybe some extra episodes sprinkled in

as Fran is on the scene at the All-Star Games. Much more to come. Draft coverage-wise on PHLY and All-City. Thanks for watching. We'll talk to you next week. You're all-silly like the mayor.