The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - 2023 NFL Draft Round 1, picks 1-10: Bryce Young to Darnell Wright

Episode Date: April 28, 2023

Robert Mays, Nate Tice and Dane Brugler react live to the first 10 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. They discuss the three big trades, the Texans' aggressiveness, the Colts' big swing, the Seahawks' zig-zag move, the Falcons’ new offensive weapon, and much more. Follow Robert on Twitter: @robertmaysFollow Nate on Twitter: @Nate_TiceFollow Dane on Twitter: @dpbruglerSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Athletic Football Show. I'm Robert Mays. Little housekeeping for you guys. We're breaking up our live draft stream into three different shows from the first round, just to make it a little bit easier for everyone to digest rather than dropping a four-hour podcast into your feed. This is show one, bringing you the top 10 of this year's draft on an absolute blast doing this with Dane and Nate. Let's get into the top 10. Here we go.

This is the Athletic Football Show's draft. Night Special live in studio from Kansas City featuring your host Robert Mays the athletics NFL draft beast Dane Brugler and of course the one and only Nate Tice plus special guests along the way the NFL draft is now officially open welcome to the athletic football show's live coverage of the 2023 NFL draft we apologize for a little bit of a delay I was wiping barbecue sauce off my face it's been a rough couple days. Thrilled to have you guys here with us today. The man to my right needs no introduction. He is going to be our Sherpa and our guide through the next two days of dense, dense draft coverage.

A man who writes the beast and is a beast in his own right. It is Dane Bruegelder. Dane, it's so good to see you. It's so good to be here. After months and months of projecting and what's the best fit, how's it going to play out? Finally, we can react in real time as we find out where these guys are going to go. And we just saw some late movement in the betting odds with number two and C.J. Stroud. What does that mean? Here we are.

The draft's about to start. And we feel okay about number one. But after that, no one knows. And so this is going to be a lot of fun reacting with you guys in the moment with every pick. Also joining us today, it's my good friend, Nate Tice.

Nate, you have been like a kid on Christmas morning for the last day or so. We were all together all day yesterday. And it did feel like Christmas Eve. You were just kidding. over the last 24 hours. It is a big day. What are you excited for tonight?

The draft has had a lot of highs and lows personally over the years. Whether it's, you know, just like I just wanted to honor my father today. It was the 20th year anniversary. We missed the countdown right here before we started this live show. But, no, really, it feels like Christmas. And also, it's fun now that we actually get to analyze and react and have outrage to real things as opposed to mock things or fake ideas that we, We have now see, like you mentioned, the CJ Stroud movement, it's just hilarious.

Smokescreen season's a lot of fun, but now it's nice to be able to see everything. I see clearly now. I really, really enjoy that. Dan, you've done, what, 10, 12 drafts at this point? Can you remember a draft that had this much uncertainty, this much mystery, 15 minutes before we were supposed to kick this thing off? No, and obviously, this is what the NFL wants. They want the intrigue. They want the ultimate reality show.

You know what? Why do we love the draft? It's because it is a reality show. We don't know. It's the unpredictable nature of it, and that's a lot of fun. And so, you know, it's okay. We miss our mock drafts, whatever, that's fine. It's going to be even more fun reacting in the moment when a trade happens. Or, you know, the big thing is these quarterbacks. If Bryce Young does go one, who goes two, who's the next quarterback,

and that ripple effects of the quarterbacks affects the rest of the first round. So the quarterbacks, having four that could go as high as the top 10, that creates the, that's really the driver of just the unpredictable nature of this draft. We probably are going to get Bryce Young at one. I think we've known that for a little while. But after that, it's anybody's guess. What is the guy whose position, draft position, where he lands is the biggest bit of intrigue to you right now, Nate?

Oh, man. Well, the Bijon watch is very interesting. I think we talked about on their show. It's really, this is a continuation of that I thought. I'm very interested to see where the tight ends all land. Like Michael Mayer from Notre Dame, who I think is a... You're a character in your own. I know.

I know. I know. I know. It is a tight end from Notre Dame. But I'm really interested. I am. I'm interested to where these positions

kind of shake out and where the runs on certain positions happen. So, but if I had to go one specifically, I'm going with the

Y tight end from Notre Dame, but that's Michael Mayor and I just really think that's the guy to really keeping an eye on. Who do you think has the biggest range

potentially outside of a Bejohn Robinson in the first round tonight? I mean, Bijon be the easier answer because we could see you go eight to go eight to 26.

Yeah. The Falcons of the Cowboys. Somewhere and there he's going to go. It'll be interesting, because you have a running back that is a special talent, but when you look at the landing spots and the Eagles, they don't draft running backs in the first round.

They could use them, but doubt we'll see that. Do we see a trade? How is that going to all play out? So that's an interesting one. After that, you know, JSN, Jackson Smith & Jigbo, wide receiver, Ohio State. He is probably going to be the first receiver drafted and could go as high as, at least right now,

with the Titans picking 11. We know they need a weapon. Mike Vrable loves those buck guys. Yeah. Could see him go 11, but you know what, if he fell out a 20 in the Seahawks, that wouldn't be surprising. Or Minnesota. So I think JSN and these receivers,

we're going to see him come off the board in that 11 to 25 range. Jordan Addison, USC. I think Zay Flowers will get in there too, Boston College. But where they end up and the order is kind of an still an unpredictable part right now. We're talking about all the mystery and all the things that are changing in the moment. We were at lunch today talking about what might happen with for Mar Jackson. Well, maybe if they trade for DeAndre Hopkins, does that encourage Lamar to potentially sign an extension? Do they get a little bit further down the road on that?

By the time we got back to the hotel, Lamar had signed his five-year extension. The numbers on that, astronomical, as we might have expected. Five years, $2 million, $52 million AAV setting the new mark in NFL history. It's about $185 million in guarantees, which is essentially right in line with the biggest contracts that we've seen at that position. all of this talk about how different the Lamar contract would be, how it would reset all these things, whether it was going to be a new barometer. And Nate,

it was the same thing we've always seen, is that Lamar got about a 5% markup on the last huge quarterback contract that we saw handed out. And it always seems to happen that way. I remember when Derek Carr and Matthew Stafford signed contracts, it was like, okay, Derek signed one, that's the record saying contract. And then a week later,

it was Matthew Stafford. I think, same thing. I think it was $5 million more. Like, it was honestly that it was just that quick, that much. And that seems to be every mark. for every position. That's why we always go crazy. It's like, it's a new record-salary contract. And then borough's down to street, Herbert's down the road. We see all those guys coming. And so maybe those might be $7 million more. We can overreact to that. But it just seems funny

that this felt like it was point A. And we just revert it all the way back to the starting point of what we expected the contract to be. But that's always so important for the Ravens to get this done now before that Borough contract, before that Herbert contract. And I mean, if we're being honest, the timing would have been better two years ago. But here we are. And better late than never. You know, you kind of got a feeling when Odo Beckham signed that one year deal. Okay, I think we're getting closer.

We're getting closer before the draft. They might draft a receiver in the first round and really change that wide receiver depth chart with Schaibetman's coming back off the injury. So all of a sudden, the Ravens are in a much better spot now to compete in that division. Even if I always thought this was going to happen, I always thought this was the most like, Even when everyone's like, all the relationship is fractured and there's no, I was like, I don't know, man. I don't think you move on from 26-year-old former MVP quarterbacks when you've built your entire strategy around this guy and you don't have a natural replacement. But I still wasn't allowing myself to get further down the road on certain aspects.

Like, what is he going to look like with Todd Monk in? And now OBJ is there. It's like, well, we can't start imagining that stuff unless we know Lamar's going to be there. But now it's happened. So now I'm starting to envision the Ravens future in a way that I wasn't before. So, Dana, I wanted to ask you, do you think this alters or affects their draft plan at all in your mind? Or do you still think the same positions are on the board that would have been without any clarity of the Lamar Jackson situation? Yeah, I think this is what, this was the end game for them.

You know, you look at, you know, DeCosta in that front office, they have, they're very steadfast in their plan. And I don't think that it changed. You can say that. Yeah. So I don't think this really changed anything. You know, if the right receivers on the board at 22, you could absolutely see them going that direction. If the right corner is there. Right.

Cornerbacks very much in the mix. We know they love their edge rusher. So for the Ravens, you know, wide receiver, even with Beckham in the fold, still very much an option, especially with the right one is there. I know they love Zay Flowers. I think that if he's there, that's definitely an option. Joey Porter, as much as we talk about how fun it would be if Joey Porter Jr. went to the Steelers, even more fun if you went to the Ravens, you know, the team that his dad grew or played against, you know, the rivals there.

So, you know, it's while this day, deal. I'm glad it happened when it did. I don't know that it changes all that much as we get ready to kick off this first round. When you draft a quarterback in the first round, you hope that one day you're going to give him that contract with Mar Jackson guy. That is the ultimate goal. You get an MVP guy that is worth paying. That is what the Panthers are trying to do with Bryce Young. That's the guy that's the guy that's conversations about why he deserved to be that guy, Dane, even though he has that kind of historical outlier status. Why do you think Bryce Young eventually became the favorite to be the number one pick and likely the guy that the Panthers were going to land on? Yeah, real quick with Lamar Jackson,

too, let's remember he was picked at the end of the first round. Yeah. So where guys are picked tonight? That does it. That's the start of the story, not the end. You know, with Bryce, he has been the top quarterback in this draft the whole time for me. I mean, I think he is special in a lot of ways, especially above the ears, or above the neck. His ability to see the field, process, be accurate, understand what the defense is doing, and then the body rhythm, the way he moves, it's all, it's subtle, but it's all in concert.

It's controlled chaos with him. You know, it just, it's not, it doesn't look like he's out of control ever. So the size is an outlier, but you know what, you have to, when it comes to quarterbacks in the draft, you have to sacrifice on something. No such thing as a perfect quarterback.

Right. So with Bryce, you're sacrificing on size. And it's not necessarily a height thing. He creates for himself. It's the frame, the slightness that he has. And, you know, durability, can he hold up? But, you know what? I'm okay sacrificing on that size.

I'm going to bet on everything else he brings. Right. Nate, why don't you show us a little bit about those characteristics that make Bryce Young such a special prospect and just such a different sort of player than we've seen in the position come out in recent years? Yeah, and starting off right what Dane said, like that playmaking aspect and everything above,

above the neck, all that brain power that Bryce Young plays with. asked to handle a lot. And here we got like perfect visual examples here is that even on the plays where he is doing the playmaking aspect, there are times where he is also doing the things the mental side before the snap. So right here, even this play against Ole Miss, where he is just walking up to the line, communicating with the offense line, giving the mic point. Bill O'Brien was offense coordinator. And yes, I've made jokes about Bill O'Brien as a play caller in the NFL. It's still an NFL offense. And he was asked to handle that. So here he is making all the calls, making all the checks and after a snap of the ball, this is everything that Bryce Young brings to the table.

There's been the comparisons to Steph Curry and his movement and his playmaking ability is where those comparisons come from. So right here, he makes a guy miss in the pocket. And that is what he does time and time again. And yes, we're going to say the size as far as the frame is going to be the big weakness or the big point of consternation, but the height doesn't limit him in far as what he can see down the field. So when he makes a guy miss, he can go through, and that looks like a running back right there going through the hole. But you just look at his eyes down field. He's still, he's in attack mode, just like Steph Curry, always in attack mode, keeps his eyes down to field and creates a first down out of nothing. And that's what Bryce Young brings the table time and time

again. And on top of it, you can just do all those mental sides and he plays bigger than he's advertised. And you were talking about the height isn't a detriment for him. He's able to throw over the middle of the field. And that's just such a great thing to show. And that's why he's probably going to be the number one pick. Dan, you talked about how during the college football season, one of your favorite things every single week, was waking up on Sunday morning, getting the tape in your inbox, and getting to watch whatever it was that Bryce Young did that week. And now, it seems like Carolina Panthers fans are going to have that same experience weekend and week out. Yeah, it's fascinating when Carolina made that trade and they move up to number one. And we're all guessing

who's it going to be, which quarterback is it? And, you know, we thought maybe C.J. Strau, could have really been Anthony Richardson. It is the guy that will be, we think, the moment he's drafted will be the smallest quarterback in the NFL. And he's a complete outlier and you have to be okay with that. But again, you know, going back to the tape throughout the fall, the amount of plays he made that don't even show up in the box score are just amazing. His ability to create outside the pocket. It's not like he's just faster than everybody else.

He just understands angles and understands the timing and he just has a sixth sense for it. And it's very subtle and controlled. But, you know, I think we think of Alabama and we think of these super teams. his offensive line was average at best this past year. The weapons at receiver below average, not even average, below average. Now, he did have Jemir Gibbs running back. Might hear his name called the night. Fantastic talent.

But for the most part, he was dragging that offense up and down the field constantly. But he still showed up in the biggest stages against the best opponents. And he was the catalyst of that offense at every single snap. So I just cannot be more impressed with a quarterback. It's just you have to get past that size. Absolutely. And that's the thing, too, is that, like, you're, that's the, is the durability is going to be more of the big thing.

But you're talking about the angles. And when we think of playmaking, we think of, you know, the Mahomes plays. That's the one that you're going to go into your brain. Even Jalen Hertz, creating out of structure. It's not just scrambling with Bryce Young. Like, he's not that design runner rushing. It's the extending the plays. And like that throw I just had right there.

There's so many where he's hanging in the pocket and just moving in the pocket, left, right, stepping up, stepping back, and then delivering a throw. So it's just, even at that two and a half seconds, the defenders have to defend for it, now it's four and a half seconds. That's tiring when he does it over and over and over. And receivers are getting open. Yes. And he is just a master at that. And in the NFL where everyone's a little faster, you know, it'll be tougher to do that.

But he'll have to adjust to protect his body. But, you know, again, in college the last two years, he had, he faced a ranked defense 13 times. In those 13 games, he averaged 315 passing yards per game and had a 35 to 6 touchdown interception ratio. So, you know, this isn't like he just feasted on Austin P. He took on Tennessee by himself. Yeah. Exactly. He showed up what it mattered.

Or Austin P. Just take a shot. Sorry. But, you know, he won the Hysman in 2021. I was way more impressed with his 2022 tape because of what I talked about earlier in the lack of talent around him and how much he had to do. So, yeah, this is, you know, for Frank Wright, you know, head coach of the Panthers a little different than, you know, the quarterbacks he's had in the past.

and Frank Reich himself is a big quarterback. I think he was open about the idea that he had to be sold on this. They had to talk me into it because you got a 6-4 Frank Gregg. You got a 6-4, Josh McCown. You look at the guys that Frank Reich has coached Carson Wentz, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, all these statue-esque guys that were taken in the top five for a reason because they fit the old archetype of what we thought a top-five quarterback look like. Bryce Young fits potentially a new archetype for what we think a top-five quarterback looks like.

Okay. So in the history of, in the Super Bowl era, we've only had three quarterbacks drafted in the top three lead their team to a Super Bowl win as the starter for the team that drafted them. So it's only happened three times. And it hasn't been, we have not had that big success rate. Right. But all those guys were bigger quarterbacks, Peyton Man and Terry Bradshaw, Troy, those are the three. Can Bryce Young get into that mix? Look, when you look at the NFC South, I mean, if the Panthers, if they do make this pick,

that's the vision that's really open for competition. Not just the South. What's the line that we've trademarked? The wide open NFC. You've got the Eagles, you've got 49ers, you've got a lot of question marks. I mean, the Lions are fun. They're up and coming. Seattle's a good team.

They're going to get better the next two days with the draft picks they have. But you look at the Panthers and the offensive line. They add another weapon in the draft. It's easy to talk yourself into Carolina making some noise. now that they have a quarterback that you can really get excited about. No, what you mentioned with the offensive line too, that makes me kind of more optimistic about even what I do think is a weakness. Yeah, because the size does show up sometimes, crowded pockets and everything.

I think he's going to get a lot, he's going to get cleaner pockets in the NFL than he did at college, which is crazy. When you usually go to a blue blood program like Alabama, it's like, oh, it's kind of easy mode. And the other quarterback we'll talk about tonight, C.J. Stroud, he had some of that at Ohio State. But it's kind of, yeah, like you said, the averageness around him relatively at Alabama. They still win a lot of games there. But the averageness, like, maybe you more optimistic about what the NFL's like.

Guys get hurt all the time. You're playing with backups all around you. The quarterback has to carry a lot of weight. Because usually if the quarterback's out, it's the classic client with Tom Moore and Peyton Manning, you know? You just say you had to carry a lot of weight. I was prior to you for, you know, breaks your long. Is he 24 hours?

I mean, that's, yeah, it's combined weight. He always had to carry, not just actual weight carrying weight. But that's exactly it is that when you go to Carolina, it's like, oh, wow, clean pockets. And he's got decent enough receivers. round up and a great defense as well. I think they can hit the ground running. He's fascinating to me because he's going to be such a study in how much creation matters, creationability matters. And there's a lot of prospects like that in this draft where there's one aspect to their game,

where we're going to find out how much it matters. With Jackson Smith and Jigber, we're going to find out how much change of direction and feel for certain voids and zones. We're going to find out how much that matters. So many of these guys where they're imperfect, but is there one aspect to their game, one little superpower that's going to allow them to sustain in the NFL despite some of those deficiencies. Peter Skoronsky with 3,2004 inch arms, Emmanuel Forbes, the coroner from Mississippi State, 160 pounds at the combine. Miles Murphy's got Wopperhamham. So, you know, you look at some of these things that, you know, you wish we're not the case,

but they are so good in other areas. And Bryce Young is obviously the epitome of all this being such an outlier size-wise. but being so special in so many other areas. It kind of tells the story of the draft. It does. It does. Like kind of like the all pro team tells the story of the season, the MVP. Like he kind of epitomizes this whole draft, just what he is.

I just think about quarterbacks in the NFL. And you meant one name you didn't mention, but I feel like it's kind of just a shining example of this creation, a superpower aspect to his game is Joe Burrow. Yeah. Right? Like Joe Burrow isn't, Joe Burrow's 40 probably wasn't very impressive at the combine. Joe Burrow was an overwhelming athlete. His rushing ability isn't the best thing about him.

But without that creation ability, Joe Burrow wouldn't be Joe Burrow. So I think that if we're trying to find a through line with all of the elite kind of top-end quarterbacks in the NFL, that ability to kind of conjure something when it isn't there. Most of those guys have that at this stage, and Bryce Young has it in droves. It's feel and poised. It's something you won't see any combine number to figure out the data, and it's something you have to see the tape and understand what he's seeing, what is he feeling, and what is he doing to find the best solution.

I did comp him a little bit to Russell Wilson, not because of the size. Size has nothing to do with it. It was more because he's a problem solver. And that is the ultimate respect I can give to Bryce Young is he is a problem solver no matter what. And I thought that's what Russell was all those years in Seattle, is he just found ways, whether it was using his feet, using his arm. He found ways to make plays. And I think Bryce Young is the same way.

Gentlemen, it is officially 7 o'clock, and the Carolina Panthers are on the clock Oh, my goodness. With the number one pick in the 2023 draft looking at C.J. Stroud here on our little draft stream that we got going. We're watching along with you guys. It's always going to be the plan. We wanted this to be just a collective kind of communal experience around the draft.

No tip and picks, none of that. We're going to be watching right along with everybody else. Nate, one of the reasons that we're talking so much about Bryce Young and about this pick is that's the only thing we know. That's the only thing we feel decent about. It's minus 5,000 right now. Because everything else, all the other quarterbacks that are coming off the board in the top five, we really have no idea how this is going to shake out.

And the betting markets have been an absolute mess over the last week. I think when we recorded a podcast last Friday, Will Levis was not the favorite to be the number two overall pick. And then he was the favorite to be the number two overall pick. And now C.J. Stroud is the favorite to be the number two overall pick. It's been... With Will Anderson's sandwiched in there somewhere. It's been so wild.

And I think, like you said, Dane, this is exactly what the NFL wants. And I think that... It leads to why I feel like this right now. And I think why I'm just so kind of geeked up and energized by this, because it just feels different than a lot of the drafts that we've done before, including the draft that we did last year, it's like, how, when's Kenny Pickett going to go? You know, sometime in the first round?

This is a drastic departure from that. Nobody knows anything, and that's okay. You know, it's okay to say we don't know what's going to happen. I mean, you know, it's the unpredictable nature of the draft is one reason we love it, and we're going to get that tonight because based on what happens at two, that's going to set off a ripple effect, and that's going to determine what happens at three, four, and the trades and the quarterbacks.

And so we've never seen four quarterbacks drafted in a top nine picks. Will we see that tonight? That'll be an interesting part of this. Will we see a big trade? I mean, Texans at two. We've got a veteran Nick Casario, GM. We've got a first-year head coach, D'Amico Ryans. What do they want to do?

Do they want to get that cornerstone defender? Do they want to get the quarterback? I mean, yes, the betting lines have kind of shifted in with CJ's drive, but is that because we're anticipating a trade at number two. It's no guarantee that it's not the Texans. It's just the number two spot. And Vegas is not in the business of being wrong, but that doesn't mean that CJ Stroud's going to be the number two picks.

So we're still figuring things out along the way, and it's just, it's going to be a lot of fun to react in the moment to each one of these picks. Doing the videos on each of these quarterbacks, like I would do at the end of them, like a best team fit. And so many of these guys have just been like, that makes sense. And usually you can kind of see some clarity as you're breaking that stuff down. Like I'm sure you do with mock drafts.

You're going like, oh, okay, tackles actually would make sense here. Or corners would make sense here. For these quarterbacks, I go, yeah, the Colts, yeah, sure. Yeah, that works. The Texans need to sell tickets. Yeah, so that works too. And each one made sense in my brain. So that's the thing.

I haven't limited any of them. I haven't taken any off the board. And now, and now we've added more. We're like, well, what if the bucks trade up? And so now that's, and then like we're creating more canon, C-A-N-O-N-N, like in our head, like just going like, oh, that could happen. More fan fiction. And that's why it's going to be so fun to kind of see

with the reality of how it breaks down. Pull it back to Carolina a little bit. Can you remember a team that was drafting first overall that there were kind of such good vibes and good feelings and just optimism about where they were compared to the conversation around the Panthers here over the last couple months? Because even the general kind of tone of what we're talking about with,

oh, the offensive line's pretty good. If they get one more receiver and they got all these pieces on defense, I can't remember a team drafting with the first overall pick, even if they have to trade up to get it, where we were discussing them the way we're discussing the Panthers right now. Yeah, and I think that's fair. I think we were obviously excited when Joe Burrow went one, and we thought, oh, this is big for the Bengals

and what that means for that franchise. But this is- They were horrible. Yeah, they were shocked. There was no Jamar Chase there. They needed so much help around him. And the same thing with the Jaguars when they drafted Trevor Lawrence. I mean, they won the sweepsticks that year to pick number one and get the guy we had been talking about forever

as being the future number one pick of that. draft but the jack cars needed so much help and urban my heart was still head coach at that time so yeah this this feels different where yeah you have a head coach at a second spot which you know you learn from the first spot you learn your lessons you're better to go um you know you've got an owner that's very motivated to win you've got a a GM that's been in there a couple years uh Josh mccown's in the mix I mean it does feel like there is more optimism now do they need to get more talent around brisha being the quarterback yes DJ Moore leaving in the trade to go to Chicago, that's a big void to fill.

And then also on defense, they need some more playmakers. So this is not a team that I think anyone's going to be picking for the Super Bowl realistically, but you can at least feel really good. They're headed in the right direction. I agree. Like, a winning record, I think isn't way out of the realm here. Like, I actually think that's more what I'd lean towards. Like a true winning record, possibly 10 wins.

And because I do like the defense and like you mentioned that, maybe one more two pieces there, but they kept that second round picking that trade. And that's huge for potentially finding a pass catcher. I do like DJ Chark. DJ Chark has a lot of injury history. I like Adam Thielen. Adam Thieland's my age, maybe you're younger, young 33, in case anyone's wondering. But also it's maybe just getting one more of those guys.

I like Hayden Hurst. All these guys are fine options, but not that guy that you're like, oh, that's his ace. That's his number one guy he's going to go to on third down. And so having that second round pick, I think, is so huge because that's right where all the receivers and pass. There's a run on tight ends potentially. just that nice little area to find that pass catcher. And getting them both in year ones, a nice potential chemistry. And it's nice for propaganda that they might want to do in Carolina.

It's pick 39. So it's right there. As soon as the first pick in the second round will be 32. And yeah, they'll be in a good spot to reset their board tonight, go back and see, okay, who is the receiver we need to go get? Or who is that pass rush or who's the corner? And so, yeah, the Panthers having that second pick, it's not like they're completely punting on this draft after they make this.

first pick. It's not the Ricky Williams trade. Mike Ditka's going to play golf, and yeah, he's done. He's good, yeah. Do you remember that ESP in the magazine picture? The Brian? Yeah. It was the first issue.

They must have paid him a lot of money. And even beyond that second round pick that they didn't trade to the Bears, this is a team that still has a third round pick. They still have two fourth round picks. They still have a fifth round pick. They have enough ammunition date where, let's say there's a receiver that they really like. They can move up from that pick in the second round because they have a little bit of these pieces that they got from the crew.

McAfree trade. And for a penny and for a pound. And so the Panthers absolutely have this opportunity to potentially be a little bit more active in the draft than a team that made this huge move up the board from nine to one possibly would be. And that's what I like about how this has happened with the Panthers is that it's all made sense the sequencing of it. You move on from the last regime.

You go get a Frank Reich. You have all these pieces from the Christian McCaffrey trade. So I think that Scott Fitterer has actually done a pretty good job of kind of keeping this team afloat, keeping this team ready to make these sort of moves, even if in the middle of October last year, Dane, it felt like everything was falling apart for this entire franchise. Right. Obviously, they moved on from Matt Ruhl. You know, you weren't sure what was going to be happening in the future of this franchise, but I think they did write the ship a little bit. Remember, they brought in Miles Sanders as the new, you know, leader of the backfield there.

You know, when we talk about the offensive line, I was ready to go. You know, it's not like you need much maintenance there. And everything we talked about with Bryce Young, you know, it was really important what you said about the Bill O'Brien offense and the verbiage. And, I mean, he was, Bryce Young was at the line setting, resetting, based off of what he's seen. And that's a big difference with a lot of these quarterbacks in college. I mean, they're not, you know, he's not looking towards a sideline to get the call.

He's not necessarily, you know, relying on a center to make these calls. He's doing it himself. and that brain power that you talked about. That's as big of a reason as any why he is that number one pick and why projected number one pick. It hasn't happened yet. But why we think that's going to happen and why it makes sense for the Panthers to do that.

Absolutely. It's kind of funny that you mentioned that with the quarterbacks are in the mental side and seeing them set protections or even just huddling sometimes. They're just calling a play in the huddle. That's something some of these guys have never done. And when they get into this level, that's usually the biggest jump is the mental.

side. There's concepts that all translate to every level. As far as passing concepts, hand, the ball off, footwork doesn't change. But the verbiage, the how, what's put on your plate pre-snap is just, it's faster, it's harder, everything's harder, not just the physical aspect, but the mental aspect. And that's what's kind of funny with C.J. Stroud, I know we're talking Bryce Young, is that he's considered the most, you know, safest one. He was probably asked to handle the least pre-snap just because of the Ohio State offense. Shear amount of time just turning around and looking, going back. And going to the play. here we go

there we go oh good oh good now the panthers are on the clock now we have 10 minutes they're really making a meal out of this here I was wondering why there wasn't a clock I thought it was just cut off off I was gonna have to guess how much time

I thought there was cut off on the screen so that's why good well you know what I'm sure the people in the crafts that love the Patrick Mahomes coming in and you know do it's rock star thing and they deserve it they absolutely deserve that moment and the chiefs have the 31st pick so we'll you know book ends yeah yeah that The Chiefs, yeah.

I think Travis Kelsey's got a music festival happening in some way tomorrow. Do they get that kick line in the Panthers room in the back there? That's the contingent they sent to all the produce. Yeah, that's exactly. That was so many people against the wall back there. For those of you listening, we just looked at the Panthers' draft room. There were 47 people sitting in that room at whatever the Panthers facility is. That's not in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

I know that much. But wherever the current lies. It will be really interesting after this pick is made to get the, background behind it. Did they know who they were taking when they made the trade? Right. Did they have, like, this is who we are going to get? Or were they open-minded?

You know, we like this guy, this guy, this guy, and, you know, we feel good about all of them. We'll eventually fall in love with one of them. And to get that background, when this is all said and done, we'll be really interesting. It will be because that's what happened a couple years ago when the 40-9 years moved up. They said the whole Mac Jones, Trey Lance debacle, what was getting rumored and everything? And they said, oh, yeah, we didn't know at the time. I don't know. I think the Niners have massaged it a little bit,

but they've tried to make it seem like it was for Trey Wentz the entire time. I think we've learned since that that might not have been the case. Exactly. They talked themselves out of it. But that's, and then going with the Panthers, which you're just saying right there, that might be what it might be?

Like, that's the thing. But the whole time I thought it was Strout, Strout, Strout, Strout, it was like, that just seems perfect for what they are and what they want in their quarterback. And then ever since then, it was like, nope, young, young, young, young, which shows what I know. I thought the same thing was strong. I thought he was the one guy that made sense to everybody in the room.

Yep. You know, ownership, coaching staff, GM, everybody can get around him. That people have to remember is just everybody to be on the same page. And based on what quarter, the quarterbacks go, the next few picks, we'll be talking about that more. But yeah, and so, but I'm okay with that because to me, Bryce Chong is the best player in the draft. You know, I, not everyone thinks he's the top quarterback in this draft, but in my opinion, he is the best player in the draft. So I'm all in favor of the panther going in this direction. When we did the quarterback podcast issue, we talked about the top four quarterbacks, we do it every single year.

But the podcast that we bookended that with that we did right after was about all the things that you should have in place that have led to quarterback success stories over the last 10 years or so. And if you want to go down that list for Carolina, Veterans Center was one of them. They re-signed Bradley Bozeman. He's back there. Continuity with the offensive line coach, pretty much all the pieces on the offensive line. The other aspects of kind of the cushy situation that they've dropped him into, Andy Dalton is there. Yes. Josh McCown is the quarterback coach there.

Frank Reich is there. Now you have Adam Thielen there as a veteran receiver. They have so many different things that are going to make Bryce Young comfortable. The landing that he is about to take into Carolina is so much softer than we typically get for quarterbacks dropped into a top five situation in almost any other circumstance. I think you have to be a little bit excited about. about that. What's cool is because sometimes I can be too many chefs in the kitchen, all these quarterback-minded guys. And what's cool with Frank Reich and what we've seen with all the different quarterbacks he had in Indianapolis and in Philly was it changed the system.

There was, yes, there was carryover what plays they ran, but they went from under center, under center. Oh, Philip Rivers here, he can't drop back from under center anymore. So we're in the shotgun now. That's what we're doing every snap. So just little things like that, oh, wow, we have no receivers. So let's use a bunch of tight ends. He has that flexibility, even if it is a quote unquote traditional offense, he has that flexibility as the man in charge to kind of adapt to his personnel. What's nice about Bryce Young,

he does that traditional pocket passer thing as well. He throws over the middle field and all that. So it's kind of, I'm interested to see what he thinks the strengths are. Bill O'Brien kind of runs Bill O'Brien stuff. Like what he was running in Alabama was like, that's the mid-2000s Patriots right there. I know, like 2000s Patriots right there.

But with Reich, I want to see like, what does he think Bryce Young does well? Because I think he'll narrow down the playbook initially to do that early on. Even if we didn't know, even if they didn't know who they were trading up for, I commend the aggressiveness. And I think you understand it. When you think about the way that Frank Reich has lived over the past four years, you just talked about all those guys that he had to cycle through. And Scott Fitter had to do the exact same thing. You know, when you've gone through Sam Darnold and Teddy Bridgewater and Baker Mayfield and you're on this merry-go-round from hell, you want to get off that thing. That's a ride you want to get off of.

And I think that's the case for both Frank Reich and Scott Fetter, and I think explains a lot about the motivation that this franchise probably felt to say, is it a lot to give up? Do we know exactly who we're going to take? No. But we know we're going to come away from this prospect with a guy that we can build around because we're tired of this in-out, in-out every single year. Copy and paste that when we talk about Chris Ballard and the Colts here.

Same deal. And this is a quarterback rich draft. There are several quarterbacks in this draft that you feel genuinely good about as being NFL starters. and, you know, especially at the top of Bryce Young and C.J. Straff. And even Will Levis and Anthony Richardson, do they need a little more development? Yes. But I think we feel good about your chances because you're making bets on these guys. And I think with all four of these quarterbacks, that's what we're talking about them going possible top 10. You can feel good about what they offer and the possible bet that you're making.

And that's, I've kind of got ding a couple times people who are like, you're too easy on these guys. I kind of like all of them. They're not perfect. You don't always. Last year you were not optimistic about anybody. And I think that was the case with a lot of different people watching the draft. If I had to pick one, it was Desmond Ritter, kind of sort of, kind of sort of. And these are, it's like, I like, I like them all.

And so, like, I don't want to ding them too much. Yes, they all have a glaring weakness or two. But a lot of them, I'm like, they have ways to mitigate that or ways I can see a path out of that to improve it. And so that's why it's kind of hard to kind of go, who's your favorite? Because it changed for me weekly. I end up as Anthony Richardson because I'm just, again, a caricature of myself, big, fast, strong. Can throw over the mountains like Uncle Rico? Yeah, let's do that.

But I do think that's what's kind of cool about this is I can easily see all these guys succeeding. Right situation, of course, but it's not where I have to squint too hard with them. Dan, who of those guys do you feel like needs to be in the best situation? Who do you think the players around him, the coaching around him? If we think there's a path to all of them succeeding, who do you think has the muddiest path? That's a good question. I think you could make an argument for multiple guys here. I will say Will Levis.

I think that we saw what happened when he lost his offensive coordinator this past year. And it wasn't an ideal scenario. Things didn't go according to plan. And he still, I thought, kept his head above water. But it rarely looked pretty. And so, you know, giving him an opportune situation, whether it's Indianapolis, whether that's going to be Tennessee, who knows, Houston. Giving him, talent around him and a chance to succeed with an offensive plan is going to be so important for his success. And you could say that about all these quarterbacks.

But I think Will Lovis especially for him to, like you're talking about that path. For him to find that path to success, it's going to be really important for them to have that plan in place from the franchise that drafts. It's funny because he's in the most pro offense. I know I just talked about Bill O'Brien, but, you know, it had some college aspects RPO-wise. And then you watch Kentucky and you're like, that's the Rams. That's a lot of Shanhan right there about five years ago, what Sam Fran was running. And he watched that, and it's kind of, I agree with you,

because there's some situations like, I don't think he has that, I'm going to say he can create, but he's not creative. Like he can trick shot and everything, but that's not his game. He would rather operate perfectly on time with his exceptional arm talent and throw some trick shots, but he wants to stay in the pocket and do his damage in the pocket.

Yes, he's a pretty good athlete. He was used to like, Taseham Hill at Penn State, which is when people were starting to praise Will Levis, all Penn State fans are like, really? Really? That guy? But I agree with you that his path, I think in certain situations, I could see him excelling. In certain ones, I'll be like, man, I don't know if that's a right fit for him. It's why every time we brought up his name, you mentioned the possible connection to like a Ryan Tannahill type career, that idea of, I just want to be a tall, big guy, point

and shoot, show me where to throw the football. And that's where Ryan Tannohel was the best. There's some Carson Wenson there. Good and bad. I mean, yeah, there's... Totally great. Here we go. The pick is in. Let's do this. Get the ball rolling. Select, Bryce Young. Wouldn't have been hilarious if it wasn't Bryce Young after we'd have spent the last 20 minutes talking about Bryce Young? Dane, there it is. The guy who was your best player in this draft, the best quarterback in this draft, is headed to the Carolina Panthers. He is a quarterback prospect unlike anyone we have ever seen drafted this high.

And hopefully the Panthers are hoping he works out unlike a lot of the quarterback prospects we see drafted this high. Right. And, you know, this is a quarterback that obviously we've talked. We've put a lot of praise on him. the last 20 minutes here. But you know what? I understand. I do understand why some have been a little not ready to go on because of that size.

It's something that we've not seen really a quarterback this size in the modern era be able to lead an offense like this. And so can he be that outlier? I think he can, but can he do a better job protecting his body and not taking those hits? And, you know, he did weigh 204 at the Combine, but there's a reason he didn't weigh at the pro day. He's going to be around 190 at his playing weight, and that's okay. You have to be okay with that. He's just, he's a smaller framed player.

This isn't a guy who's going to put on the weight, be 215 in a couple of years, like a Kyler Murray, anything like that. But I keep coming back to, you ask Aaron Rogers, you ask Drew Brees, you ask any quarterback that has played at a high level in today's NFL, and they will tell you it's still an intangible position. And Bryce Young brings those intangibles that, you know, some of these other quarterbacks may be a little more of a question mark, but we know Bryce has those. And I keep coming back to you. You have to sacrifice something with the quarterback. Yes. And I'm okay sacrificing that size for a guy that is so good above the neck, the point guard aspect, creating for himself and doing it so just effortlessly. It's very natural to him. Everything is natural to him. And so making bets, I'm all in on Bryce Young. I think the Panthers made the right pick.

I think a lot of the consternation about his size has been about durability moving forward. Can he hold up? But I think there's some validity to that. Kyler Murray has been able to stay healthy. Lamar Jackson is a slighter player. We've seen him get hurt. Two is a smaller quarterback. He struggled to stay on the field.

My main concern, Nate, is does that size inhibit some of those creation qualities that he has? Because going back to Joe Burrow, one of the reasons that Joe Burroughs been able to do that in the NFL is, Joe Burrow is 2.30. Joe Burroughs running through arm tackles. If you're not catching Joe Burrow clean in the pocket, he's going to be able to escape and create in some of those ways. And that's my bigger question. Not is he going to be able to stay on the field, but can we see the same version of him if one arm tackle in the pocket is going to drag him down and he can't create the same way he could in college? And that's the biggest

concern. I mean, yeah, like you just mentioned, so durability is one. And then two, usually because this is the height is coming and is thrown over the middle of the field. That's where Kyler, Baker, I'll throw him in there, and Russell Wilson have all struggles throwing between the numbers because they just don't do it consistently. So you can look at their heat maps. It's kind of a joke. It's like a big ocean right there in the middle. And Bryce does that. So it's like, okay, all right, well, that's pretty cool. All right. So you have the middle side. Yeah, yeah. He does it. He does it. And so it's like, okay, so, okay, the usual concerns with your, your size, you kind of, all right, you have answers to like operate as a quarterback within the pocket. But that's exactly

it. Is those ones, there's a play against LSU. I'm sure it's been highlighted many of times where he is bouncing around in the pocket, running through five arm tackles. Okay, one of those guys might be an NFL player, you know, and, you know, how many NFL players are NFL players? All of them. They're all literally NFL players. So that is the one thing is that you, it's the question mark because you, he can probably, he can probably do it. And I've seen him do it in the SEC, but it's still going to be that question mark until otherwise. That's the key. If Brayshung played and, you know, at a group of five conference and he didn't face NFL players week and week out, I think there'd be, he might not be the number one pick. Right.

You know, because we'd have more questions, but playing at a big school like that, where he faced a tough opponent, weekend, week out, still having the success that he did. And like I mentioned earlier about the lack of talent around him, the way he had to create on his own, Jamaric Gibbs is an awesome player, but you're running back shouldn't lead your team in receptions. Right.

Like it happened this past year. Every third down should be going to him. Exactly. So, yeah, we've seen him do it at a high level and a big conference, and that matters. I think that's a reasonable point. But the first week that he plays the Falcons, not every team in the SEC has David Oenumata and Calaises Campbell

on their defensive line. It's a different sort of beast. And I think that's worth considering as we talk about this. Absolutely. And then that's, I know, because it's just one bad hit. It's that play I talked about in the Super Bowl with Mahomes with a high ankle spraying holding off Jordan Davis.

And it's, if that situation, yes, Bryce Young had great games against Georgia, but just that specific example, that happens all the time. These guys getting hit and they're getting whacked and doing all this. So the pick is in for the Texans. So that intrigue about the Texans

potentially trading that pick and whether or not that can mean something about C.J. Strauss odds have now gone out the window a little bit. So the Texans are making this pick at two, Dane, and we're about to see what it is here in a minute. This has been the biggest source of intrigue, I think, for months. Just because we have no idea what this team is thinking,

what they're trying to accomplish, what their timeline is. They are such a black box, even in this secretive kind of cloak and dagger world of the NFL draft. It's easy for those of us on the outside looking in to say, well, obviously, they need a quarterback. This is who you draft. But, you know, this is when you're, have a DiMico Ryan's coming over for San Francisco.

You know, who knows if that staff really loved one of these quarterbacks? And honestly, maybe they didn't all love one of these quarterbacks, but the owner put his foot down and said, listen, I'm here in the chatter. Our fans won a quarterback. So let's get together. Who's our best quarterback? Do we love them enough where we can take them? And who knows?

Maybe that is a situation here where the GM, Nick Ocerio, the owner stepped in and said, listen, let's get a quarterback here. As much as we do love Will Anderson, the quarterback's the right way to go. Or maybe they said trust your coaches, Will Anderson is the pick. So quarterback Will Anderson, two very different ways you can go here.

Yeah, and both we've kind of argued for or talked about over the past couple weeks. Here we go. Here we go. We finally get to see it. Here we go. With the second pick in the 2023 NFL draft,

the Houston Texans select, CJ Straff. Wow. That smells great. We go. After all that. After all that, we spent months and months and months talking about all these other guys, what the Texans could do, how crazy the top of the draft was going to be.

The two guys we thought would be the best quarterbacks in this draft that thought throughout the college football season, I think even dating back to last year are the first two picks in the draft day. I mean, I just keep, that's two testing with such a big topic. Oh, my God. And, you know, all of that, I mean, just unbelievable. I love the, I think this is the right pick. To me, C.J. Stroud was the second quarterback in the draft. The Texans obviously, you know, Davis Mills is a nice player.

He's not the answer. C.J. Stroud gives you that future. I love the pick for the Texans. I love for Houston fans. Yes. You know, they, the way everything happened with the Sean Watson, and you felt like they had their guy, everything happened and played out. Okay, he's in Cleveland now.

The last few years has been just not a good place quarterback-wise. Now C.J. Stroud's in the mix who, You know, if you had to put that safe label on one of these quarterbacks, I think he's the guy because of the way he operates from the pocket, how accurate he is, the way he can touch up every level of a field. So this is a great pick for Houston, and the fan's got to love it. Yeah, and he's improved both years starting. And that's another thing, all these guys outside Will Levis, but the other three Richardson Stroud and Young, they're so young. They're so young. Redshirt Software.

Yeah, Redshirt Software. They used to be such an outlier that someone would be that young coming into the NFL. Now it happens all the time. And we kind of forget that. But just how much he improved throughout these two years. And that accuracy at all three levels is his calling card. And throwing and putting the ball exactly where he wants it. He's a dart thrower.

But he also just, I would say the arm strength has actually been, like, it's good. Like, and that's something maybe because he's so accurate and throws with touch that you don't always see. But then you see certain games where, oh, he's launching a go ball. It helps throwing to Marvin Harrison Jr. Don't get me wrong. But there's also times where he has to drive on it. And he, the game, which is actually his worst passing game, was the one that I became more of a fan of Straub, was the Northwestern game because he was doing everything he could. The Northwestern DVs were

running routes for the Ohio State receivers. They were on all their plays. I don't know if they were stealing calls or signals, but they were on it. Well coached, whatever they want to say. And he was doing everything he could in a 60-mile-hour win game to make plays happen. So that playmaking ability was like, you saw it first there and of course you saw in the college football playoff, which is just what you want to see. I said, that's the game that sold me. And trust, I watched every single one of CJ Strauss game. And I liked him quite a bit, but my questions were, okay, when things break down, could he create off schedule? You know, it's nice when you have a first round left tackle, second round right tackle.

Last year having Garrett Wilson, Chris Olavai, Jackson Smith, and Jigua, I mean, that's as good of a three week. Exactly. All those NFL guys, this year with Marvin Harrison. So it doesn't stop there. The receivers go on and on. He was in a very comfortable situation. But when pressure got to him, when things really ramped up, could he answer the chaos?

And against Georgia, he did. He had never faced a defense like Georgia. He had never played on a stage quite like that semifinal game. And he played his best game when it mattered the most. And that counts for a lot. So again, be able to create, use his legs, those second chance plays. That's what you want to see because in the NFL, you have to make those plays if you're going to win in the NFL. You passed the best player on the field test.

That game, you watch that game with the Georgia defense, national champs, littered with Jalen Carter. right there and he's making him miss and a clean shot and it's just that's what you want to see he passed that test finally with all these great players it's like man the quarterback is just carrying this team with all those high draft picks that you're talking about and that's what's cool when the times that he needed to when it was things got tough the Michigan game as well right when they actually was doing something actually creating ad living or extending that play slightly where you see the polish in the pocket movement keeping his eyes downfield and then creating a throw right there it's that extra half seconds not the three seconds that Bryce Young maybe does

But the fact that he shows that, that's good. That's a really good sign for what he does in the NFL. And just a number that I love with C.J. Stroud, in his career, 85 to 12 touchdown interception ratio. I mean, that's accurate. He's a two-year-stations. 85 touchdowns in two years. Pretty good, Mark.

The Michigan game is the first one that I watched. And you have this kind of dialogue and this discourse about C.J. Stroud being somebody that does operate in the pocket. And you want to see a little bit more creation. And the Michigan game, it doesn't happen all the time. It doesn't happen as many times as it did in the Georgia game. But it was probably three or four plays where he's just doing it enough to know that you can do it. That's the most important thing. If you've seen it enough to think when the circumstances dictated, he can create, that makes me feel a little bit better about it day.

I don't think it was ever like he's not a good athlete. It's more of a comfort level. Because even going back to high school, he didn't scramble. He didn't have all these big rushing numbers. He wanted to win from the pocket. And you love that. You know, that's great. You know, you have a quarterback that wants to win with his arm and, you know,

sit back, even when everything's happening around him can make plays down the field. But sometimes you do need to use your legs. Sometimes you do need to find greener pastures, whether that's actually scrambling or just moving the pocket. And so that comfort level, what he did in the Georgia game especially, but also the Michigan game is a great point, showing glimpses of that. It's like, okay, he can do that. It's never that he can. It's just can he do it more.

And I think that he showed that as the season wound down and maybe here to hurt some of that criticism and said, you know what? I know what I can do from the pocket, but I know I can create as well. And let's show that a little more. It's like can or won't? It's like, can he not do it or are they won't let him or like he just won't do it? And that's the thing. It's like, oh, no, you can. The Northwestern, the design run, he's running a 60-yard zone read, his fastest player on the field.

And it's like, okay. And another thing was Stroud that I, he's about 2.15 right now. His bigger hands, you know, 32-inchish arms, he has a frame I think he can get bigger. And I do think he can get that 225, 230 size. I ended up comparing him with Dak Prescott because there's a lot of similarities. So Will Anderson. Yeah. We have a trade.

The Houston Texans are back on the clock at three. I think we thought this might be possible, Dane, then moving back up into the top 10 if they needed a quarterback. Yeah. But now they moved back up into the top 10 after getting their quarterback. So they were picking at 12. Now they just moved back up. and are picking at three.

We'll see what the compensation was, but you have to believe this is for the defensive player. And I mean, Will Anderson, best defensive player in this draft, in my opinion here. Houston's going for it. You love it. You love to see it. This is great.

You know what I love about this? We talked about them potentially picking Will Anderson at two. And the thought was, this is a pick for D'Amico Ryans. This is kind of a way to give your coach one. Give them one and you're one on the job. And I think there's a lot of danger in that. when you need a quarterback and you're playing with fire about where you would find that guy. But now you get the quarterback and you get to throw your coach a bone.

Yeah, both sides are happy now. It's great. I'm sure Bobby Sloan is great, happy right now the offense coordinator right there. And I just want to say this before we find out this pick with Stroud is that he does everything well. We already talked about the accuracy and everything. He does check a lot of boxes. So in that Shanahan-type offense where the movement ability, him throwing on the move, he's good at it. Ohio State ran a lot more sprintouts.

Maybe not, doesn't translate one-to-one. to what the offense he'll probably be in, but he can do it. Like those glimpses, again, there's certain aspects of his game. You're glimpsed at, you look through a frame, look at a snapshot,

and you extrapolate from there. And I think that's what's, while you're optimistic about Strouds. So I'm really curious who this guy is probably going to be interested, though. You want to know the trade details? Sure. Sure.

Okay. Cardinals get 12, 33, a first and a third next year. Oh, wow. Way to go, Cardinals. And the Texans get back, a third overall pick, and 105 this year.

Okay. That's a pretty good, He was the first pick in the fourth? For a team, for a trade that's not for a quarterback. It's just after the con-picture. Here we go. The Texans world at present. Second pick in the fourth.

The Arizona Cardinals have traded the third pick to the Houston Texans. With the third pick in the 2023 NFL draft, the Houston Texans select Will Anderson Jr. Linebacker, Alabama. I didn't remember. They have Cleveland. first-round pick next year. Yes.

They still have a ton of picks. And I have to assume that's part of the thinking here. Is that we have all of this capital. Eventually, it needs to become players. And this is the best defense player in the draft. There's danger in thinking that way. Yes, yes, there is. Because no player is a safe bet.

No player is a sure thing. But coming away with Dane, arguably, a guy who has the chance to be the best offensive player in this draft and now the best defensive player in this draft for a fan base, for just a franchise in general, that I think was easy to ignore for a pretty long.

time here, it is impossible to ignore what they've done in the last 20 minutes or so. And even the last few months, it hasn't been the most optimistic because they lost the number one overall pit. And it's okay. Now we're stuck at two. We're not going to get our first option. The ownership really stepped up and the front office to make this happen. You get maybe the top offensive player on your board, maybe the top defensive player in your board. Building blocks that you can really just build your franchise around. Guys that are cornerstones. And so this is obviously it's a big moment for this franchise. It is.

When I did the Bryce Young breakdown again, when I looked at Team Fits, I said the one that I said, the Texas is why? They need to sell tickets. This sells tickets. I mean that in a good way. It sounds stupid. It sounds major league from the 80s or everything, talking about the Cleveland team.

But here it's like, no, they really do. They need to build goodwill. D'Amico Ryan starts with that, the former rookie of the year for the Houston, Texas, now being their coach. But now getting like guys that actually people know to, the general fan. Will Anderson played some, probably Texas A&M over the years.

He also, I'm sure there's some fans that recognize him. But now you're getting true needle movers, and that's what you want to get. I figured that they might go with a guy from Alabama and they might go with a quarterback. I thought it would be one player originally. Bryce Young,

they had the number two pick. But now they ended up getting both in just different ways that I originally anticipated. But I love this because they need needle movers and this is a needle mover. It's also common sense, right? We talked about if they took Will Anderson

too, would they trade back up for a quarterback, they common sense ring. They went to the quarterback at two. They didn't mess around. They didn't get cute. Just in case. Yeah, you take your quarterback at two and then let's go try to make that trade.

They got it done. They get the defensive stud and Will Anderson who, you know, if he was able to come out last year, he would have been number one overall pick to the Jaguars. I think that would have happened. Now he's the number three overall pick here to the Texans. That's, if you're another team in the AFC South, you're looking at this saying,

you know, Texans got better today. They got a lot better today. Like that's, this, this is not ideal for, Texans aren't just that other team anymore. This is something they're building down there. We talk about the edge draft and really a lot of people that have watched Will Anderson, especially this year, was how he was used and maybe not a role that he'll be used at the NFL.

Inside Shade the tackle called a four-eye. And what does Demico Ryans and what does he do with defense alignment? They want them pin their ears back. Wide and go. And that's perfect. That's, I think that'll unlock him even more. And also what I think Will Anderson is best at, and this sounds very niche, but this is the show, this is why you guys tune in, is when they run games and twists, when he is the penetrator, he is exceptional. He's a true ace on those.

That's what they do. That is their best, so much. Just chaos creation. Because they only rush four, and that's their way to generate chaos, and he's amazing at that. I think that's just great. Did you know, Twitter told me Will Anderson had an off year this year. 17 tackles for loss, 10 sacks. And do you know why people are saying that?

as a sophomore, 34 and a half tackles for loss, 17 and a half sacks. So what he's done in the last two years as a disruptor is phenomenal. And again, as much as I like him as a pass rusher, I think he's a better run defender. I agree. I think the way that he can play the edge and the way he reads, breaks down blocks, makes plays. It's special. It's really, really, it's something that I don't think, Alabama hasn't had that, that edge rusher under Nick Sabin. This is that guy.

This is the difference maker. And obviously, the Texans agreed as much as they gave up. I mean, yeah, good for Arizona. That's what Arizona needed, right? I mean, the trade competition for Arizona is exactly what you want out of that. To move down for a team that isn't trading up for a quarterback and to get an extra first next year, essentially another first round pick and the 33rd overall pick, and then only move down nine spots to huge, huge win for where the Cardinals are right now.

They need it so badly. They don't need just one player. They need dozens of players. They need depth. They need needle mover. whatever term you want to use, every type of starter, every tier of starter, they need that. And they need it at every position outside of quarterback, which is the funny part about that team.

So I thought that was like, good for them. Like, honestly, good for them. Like, that's a good way to start. It's too much to give up for one defensive player. It's a lot to give up. When is the last time we saw something like this? Future first round picks. Teams are moving up in the draft for non-quarterbacks.

Sammy Watkins comes to mind. I believe that the bills went from like 11 to 4 or something like that. that maybe nine to four? It was like seven to four. Seven to four. But it included a future first round pick, didn't it? Yeah, when the Browns moved back and then they moved back again to Justin Gilbert, we won't talk about that. That's important.

But yeah, that's a good call. We don't see it often. It doesn't happen that often. Julio, obviously, is an extreme example, but the Falcons were coming from the 20s. That included a future first round pick, and I think a lot more. But this is a rarity. So even if we're excited, and this is the bet you're having to make if you're the Texans, right? You were about to win the post-draft press conference.

Oh, yeah. When you can trap both those guys out and they're going to hang up those jerseys next to each other, that is a big moment for your franchise if you are trying to just incite some excitement. But on a value level, it is a big, big swing for one non-quarterback in a single draft. The pick is in for the Colts. Who are we thinking here, guys? I mean, I hope it's Anthony Richardson. Anthony Richardson will love us.

Yeah. I mean, both have been connected to the Colts. You can make a case for either. I hope they go to Richardson. Not if we get a third quarterback in the first two picks of this draft. We could do with the play cornerwise. Here we go. With the four pick in the 2023 NFL draft,

the Indianapolis Colts select, Anthony Richardson. Good on that. This is awesome. This is exactly where I want to go. Good on them. We've talked about this all week in the potential quarter. It might have been when we were just doing the fake show last night that we were talking about this.

So let's rehash it here. The idea of Anthony Richardson landing in Indianapolis was so exciting. to me because in so many other circumstances, you would have to have a lot of imagination to think about what he could be. How are they going to tweak the scheme around him? Do they have the right coaching staff to be flexible enough and nimble enough to build an offense for him? We have to ask none of those questions about Shane Steichen.

The flexibility he showed in constructing the right offense around Jalen Hertz and making Jalen Hertz a lot of money over the last year, those are the exact same ideas that you can graft on to an even better athlete in Anthony Richardson. We talk all the time about Chris Ballard and what is he like. The biggest stats is out of the freakyest quarterback we've seen come along with his size, speed, arm combination. And this is, I mean, who's starting week one? Gardner Minchew, I guess, maybe. I think he's out there, man.

You think so? From day one? I think so. I mean, this team specifically, I thought it was in a spot where if they pick the right guy, you just throw him out there and see what happens. And Nate, you've said multiple times during this process that you thought Anthony at Richardson was less of a project than some people were making him out to be. What aspects to his game leads you to say that? Yes, there are things he has to work on, but there are mental side to him and as far as

progression and that pre-snap stuff that I talked about with Bryce Young. He was asked to handle protections, just like we talked about with Bryce Young. To the extent where Bryce Young was doing it every single play, no, but he was doing it certain games. He was asked to do a lot. And again, he got better as the season went along. Play that he would throw an interception on early in the year. They would run it again later in the year.

and he's moving the DBs with his eyes. So you already saw the growth there. And as far as progressing through a play, he was finding checkdowns and doing it all promptly. There's no guesswork here. And I think that's just what's so cool with him was that, yes, he's a freak. He's a true unicorn as an athlete.

But those quarterback things, the pre-snap and post-snap stuff, there's more polished there. He's always trying to do the right thing and you can see him speed up mentally every single week. And again, this is another guy that's coming out as a retro sophomore. He's 20 right now.

He's 20 years old. He came. have a celebratory drink. Not for another month. Yeah, for another month after he gets drafted right here. I don't know if the drinks. He might make it happen. Yeah, but also just going to the offense and it was stiking with his background,

we know the Jalen Hurts stuff and what they did there and kind of making them like a college-y type offense with a lot of vertical elements. His background is with Norv Turner, which is what, why I bring that up is the heavy play action stuff is what Anthony Richardson ran a ton at at Florida. A lot of play action, a lot of down-the-field stuff. So it's like, well, there's a dozen plays right there. I can tell you that they're going to run every week. then on top of all the creation, the design runs that you can do with him, it's, I just

think the package of him is just, it's exceptional. Like I, like, he has that top three quarterback upside, but I think this is a situation that's like, wow, again, we're talking about paths. He's that, this is a great path for him. There's no doubt. And again, I'll go back to it. As much as we talk about the, the ceiling and the upside, and I agree with that, I, I am more encouraged by the floor. Yeah. When you have a guy that is this big, that fast, with that type of arm, that really helps. The rushing buys you time. We talk about this all the time.

The rushing buys you so much time. It did it for Jalen Hertz. It did it for so many of these guys where it can buy you time. That raises the floor. Beyond the schematic similarities with Jalen Hertz and kind of the schematic overlap that we can potentially see,

I think that a lot of the things the Eagles did with sports science and throwing aspects and mechanics and ways that J1Hertz got to work on that within the building and some of the stuff that Philly believed in, I have to imagine some of that is going to rub off on Shane Steichen, because that's the aspect of Anthony Richardson's game that we think is the furthest away, right? It's actual mechanical aspects of throwing the football and playing the position,

stuff that I think we have examples of getting fixed over time. So if he can fix some of that and you have the tools and the feel that he seems to, it's truly unlimited what he can be as a quarterback in the NFL. The feel and the pocket movement, not because he's just such a good athlete, but he truly has that, his eyes never come down. And that's a warning sign. When you see a quarterback's eyes always come down, it's like, okay, they're looking at the pass rush. Yes, you're kind of looking out of the corner of your eye, but you have to feel the pass rush.

He already shows that he can do that. Week in, week out. So that's a good box to check. And even the accuracy stuff, because everything was so down the field, sometimes because he's such a good athlete and so bouncy, his feet would get out of whack. Like he would just kind of, his feet are in the air as he's throwing the ball. It's like, okay, let's not do that. So let's get you playing it. Let's get you a little more firmly balanced here.

But again, we're going with a guy that has shown that he can help improve a quarterback's play. So again, this is a situation. It's not where I'm just like being optimistic. I'm going to go, I'm going to like, oh, hopefully everything's going to work out for him. It's like, no, this is going to actually work here. This guy gets it. This guy's worked. Stuygens worked with Philip Rivers.

He's worked with Justin Herbert. Another guy that had a big arm in, quote unquote, accuracy issues. Yeah, it's a great point. And he helped him fix that in a big arm and honed it. So just because of his background and different offenses that he's shown out there, it's like he's going to make something work with Richardson to get him going. We haven't even talked about this. Just imagine Zohan Reed with Jonathan Taylor. or Anthony Richardson coming down at you.

That is going to be something to behold. Who cares if you spray footballs of all of your receivers are 6'5 and 6'4 and he's got receivers that work perfectly for him. Alec Pierce volleyball player is exactly what you need right now with Anthony Richardson. This is why I'm really happy. All the Alec Pierce stock I have. I'm great. Michael Pittman High pointing out there as well.

The big tight ends? Right. Oh, yeah. And with Anthony Richardson, I mean, this is a situation where I'm a big believer and you don't predetermine playing time. That's what training camps for. Exactly. But when you draft a quarterback like Anthony Richardson,

you have to talk about timeline. When do we think he's going to be able to get on the field and understand the playbook and all that? Because that's key with Richardson because we've talked about it before, he needs to get on the field. Yep. You want him getting those first,

with the first team reps, getting that consistency down. That's so big for him. And he's going to a team that there's not much standing in his way. No. So if he shows during training camp that he has, he grasped the play. And he gets it.

I agree. We could see him very early in September. We talked about how much optimism there was around Chain Steichen and the new coaching stuff because it's new. We just saw how much work Shane Seichen did and how much he succeeded in Philadelphia. The tone around the front office is a little bit different. I mean, it has been a rough year or so in Indianapolis. And this is the shot that Chris Ballard had to take.

We were always wondering, right, when is he going to pull the trigger? When are they actually going to make a big move for one of these quarterbacks? And now Dowlerglass turns over. Like, this is your big move at the position. And even if it's a new coaching regime, I still feel like there's a lot of urgency with the front office and how this could potentially work out. And there's still some question marks here. They didn't do anything to address the offensive.

I was just going to say. I mean, you just have it in our head. Oh, yeah, that's a strength. And it's like, well, last year, that was a little rough. You look at their additions, you know, there was a couple of nice defensive players. Isaiah McKenzie's, you know, work them into the mix. That is the move. That is the move they made on.

offense was Isaiah and McKenzie. So not only is this pick important, but what they do the rest of this draft. Yes. And it's important to point out, Colts didn't have to move. They didn't have to give up an extra draft capital, go up and get their guy. They stuck at number four, got their guy, and now it's time to keep building talent around him to give him the best chance to succeed. So this is where Chris Ballard goes from here will be really interesting.

And I give Chris credit for taking... even though there were question marks about, you know, how long before we see him, before we see Anthony Richardson, the version we think is going to help win divisions. You know, how long before we see that guy, Chris, no matter what, if it's hot seat, warm seat, whatever, he stuck to his guns and took who he thought was the best quarterback. That's great. How about the AFC South now? Like, just the quarterback got, right?

That division's gotten overnight. But that's the thing with Richardson, and this is where I keep going back and forth with, because I've been around experience where Dante Coppup are sat for a year. know, Carson Palmer sat for a year, different types of car, Mahomes sat for a year. But also, I have heard from quarterbacks, also, this might be a little bit of a survivor bias or the quarterbacks where WorkDucco, yeah, I needed those live reps, you know, I needed those bullets flying around me. But I do think with Richardson, he is the guy where it's like, okay, I think he is always

trying to do the right thing. So as long as we don't overwhelm him with a huge, huge playbook, I do think he'll be able to handle it down the road. But I do think he just needs those plays just to figure it out. And I think just talking, I think having a vets around them, having guys that been through those live reps, that's what's going to help him the most. That he can just go, would you do there? I think that's what he needs the most. Seahawks pick is in.

Here we go. And this player. With the fifth pick in the 2023 NFL draft, the Seattle Seahawks Select, Devin Wetherspoon, quarterback. Wow. No one saw that one coming. No. Nope. So when we were talking to Michael Sean D.

Dugar, our Seahawks writer at the Athletic, who hopefully will be joining us a little bit later tonight. I asked him, I said, where does corner fit on the Seahawks list of needs? Because we kept talking about J-1 Carter, talking about their needed edge. I think that's totally reasonable, interior offensive line a little bit later in the draft. But I was just looking at that other outside spot on the other side from Tariq Wollan and thought they could probably use an upgrade there. And, Dan, they took a big swing to try to find one here.

This is not a team that drafts corners in the first round. No. They rely on those. Day three picks to go find those guys. We saw it last year. The last time the Seahawks drafted a corner in the first round, any guesses? Sean Springs. Kelly Jennings, 2006.

So that is a long time ago. Pre-Pete. That's pre-Pete, pre-Sheniter. So this is the first time in 14 years that those two have been together leading the Seahawks, that they have drafted a corner in the first round. and wow we thought six that was going to be the first maybe

where we see this cornerback run Devin Witherspoon all 185 pounds of them going top five overall And his attitude and mindset is very legion of booing I guarantee you that's what they He was drew into it to him

Absolutely He plays with a chip on shoulder But his and not just his tenacity And his like willingness to tackle that Like yeah it's 181 pounds But he acts like he's 220 He is extremely intelligent and smart Very aware

He has great eyes when he's in zone. Like he reads the quarterback. That's why he's able to blow up plays because he breaks on it so quick on top of just, he just has great feel for the position. So I think that just that mindset makes a ton of sense. Like it just for what they want at that, that whole team, whole organization, they love being the island of misfit toys. They love that.

And he kind of matches that in a good way, I should say. But also, this is interesting because this might be a Jalen Carter landing spot. Yes. And this is that. Now we're on, now we're really starting. that Jalen Carter watch. Five to nine is Jalen Carter watch. And here's the first pick, no Jalen Carter,

with Detroit now on the clock. So what does that mean? That's another domino to this, no doubt. I mean, Devin Witherspoon, you want guys to get their hands on the football. 26 passes defended the last two years. The way he tackles, the way he loves to get involved. I mean, it's not something that a lot of corners. Yeah, some corners are a little more finessex.

You know, they don't have that toughness in him. He has it. He's a junkyard dog. The way Lovie Smith coached him back in Illinois and then Brett Bilema. I mean, it's, but it's also not something that a lot of guys can coach out of you. Either you have it, you don't. And Witherspoon has it. So now we have a defensive backfield potentially of Tariq Wollon, Devin Wetherspoon, Kobe Bryant, Julian, Julian, Julian, Julian Love, Quandre Diggs, and Jamal Adams.

They need two pieces in the front seven, but you can talk yourself into that on the back end. Watching that Seattle defense last year was, sometimes you just had a close your eyes. This helps, no doubt, from day one. Just very surprised that they did this in the first round over a Jalen Carter, over a Terry Wilson, over some of the defensive linemen that were available. I mean, don't hate it. I mean, this is, you know, Devon Witherspoon makes your football team better.

I'm all for that. I mean, they might just live in 6 dBs, but it makes sense. You know, especially where I think Jamal Adams now is going to truly be a queen on the chessboard, where they can have them more near the line of scrimmage. I know he's a safety, but now, and Julian loves very, versatility to play in the slot. They just have a lot of guys that are useful. They'll say that,

but guys that can line up in different spots. So really, there's some more imagination with their defense or creativity that they can have on the defensive end. So it is interesting, but it's, you know, I always love when you have a strength on your team

because I do think that's a strength of their defense because their front seven was so bad, especially last year. But now it's like, let's inject even more talent into the strength. That's a lot of fun. You would think if any team was going to pass on a corner, it would be the team that just hit on two day three corners

in last year's class. And they said, no, we like this guy that much. And so that says a lot about Devin Witherspoon that he enticed this group to go with Corner and we have a trade. Cardinals at 6. They move up from 12 to 6. So what do we think about this with Detroit? Do you think that maybe Devon Wetherspoon was their guy?

He goes off the board. Think, all right, we want to get out of here. Very possible. And now Arizona comes back. Who could Arizona possibly want here that's worth coming back with the state of their roster in the timeline that they're on right now? Do they think Paris Johnson? The tackle?

I'd be so sad. Oh, yeah. I'd be so sad. I haven't let my like real bear's emotion started to infiltrate my brain so far today. But we're getting there. They trade back to 12. Who's picking right in front of them?

9, 10, 11. Three teams that could very well pick offensive line with the bears, the Eagles, the Titans. This is a move to go up and get their, get up their tackle. If that, this is just, you know, we're spitballing here. We don't know what the pick is.

If you're going to make a move like this, I could understand why you, why you would move up to get, and even the Raiders, you know, they need everything. The Raiders took Paris Johnson or one of these offensive linemen. That's possible. So, okay. We have the terms here. So the Lions go from 12 to 6, and they give up pick 34 essentially to do it.

Excuse me, the Cardinals go from 12 to 6. They give up pick 34 to make that happen. They just got to make 33. Yes, their original second round pick. So, I mean, they're really not left with anything less than they started the day with, and they could come away with the best offensive tackle in the draft. So I can understand this. I mean, think about the hold they got for moving back and what they had to give up now to move back up.

It just feels like a trench pick. Like to me, you know, even if it's Tyree Wilson, you know, like if we're going defense aside. But I just feel like this team, you know, especially the GM's mindset, I feel like he's a big tough football guy, you know, with his background from the Titans, that they're just going to go, okay, we're going to get a trench pick. We're going to start inside out when we rebuilt this whole team. Monty Awesome for his first draft as a general manager. That's why we'd probably think and not Jalen Carter here? I mean, it's a big swing,

a big risk to take with your first pick ever as a general manager. What was the joke that we were saying coming into the draft? We're talking about Will I Anderson potentially going there. Just put one in the fairway. I'm not sure Jalen Carter's just put one in the fairway. That's trying to pump that thing 400 yards

and it's going to go wherever it's going to go. Driving the green out of par four, I will see it. There's nothing wrong with going safe. There's nothing wrong with going with a player that maybe doesn't have the upside of some other players, but you feel good about what he's going to bring to your team, whether that's offense or defense. So, yeah, offensive line makes the most sense here,

but I don't know, we'll see what they do. After this trade, the Lions now have the 12th pick, the 18th pick, the 34th pick, the 48th pick, and the 55th pick. That's not bad. Five picks in 55? I think we want to ascribe this urgency to the Lions because they were so close to making the playoffs. It's like, oh, man, the couple pieces they can get it.

They're not thinking that way. They're like, you know what? We know we're going to be good. We're going to build this thing over the next five years. We're going to do this thing the right way. That's why Brad Holmes is a better NFL general manager than I would be personally. Because you just feel so tempted. It's like, let's just do this.

They look happy. That Cardinals room is pumped. They look happy. I want to see the war room that's just desponded after making a pick. But they're just crestfallen. My favorite was when the corners got selected before the Cowboys, before they took Michael Parsons, and they showed their war room. And it went empty after Sir Tan got picked.

And so it was J.C. Horn's the did. C. Tan got picked. And so they show the war room and then the war room just dispersed. Once that pick happened because they're like, oh, shoot, oh, shoot. What's the backup plan? Michael Parsons turned out. It worked out okay.

They did all right there going back up to get Michael Parsons. Sometimes you fall into the right thing. Here we go. Cardinals pick is choosing with, by the way, the Rams pick. The Detroit Lions have traded the sixth pick to the Arizona Cardinals. With the sixth pick in the 2023 NFL draft, the Arizona Cardinals, the Arizona Cardinals select. Paris Johnson Jr.

Ohio State. Kyle Murray got his guy. He did. Offensive line guru. Kyler Murray. Mr. Murray. Assistant GM. Dan, Paris Johnson was your number one

offensive tackle in this class because you would characterize Peter Skoransky as a guard. What do you think about Paris Johnson landing in Arizona based on the structure, kind of the makeup of their offense right now? You know, 2021 tape, we saw him at right guard. And we were forecasting forward over the summer

thinking, okay, he's going to move the left tackle, is more natural position. This could be a big year for Paris Johnson. Spoiler, it was. He was outstanding all year. Really, just a few hiccups here and there. That was it. You want a guy with that size, over 36-inch arms,

but can still move with the quickness of a smaller player. Parris Johnson gives you that. He also, the intangibles are outstanding. This is putting one in the fair way. Maybe he's not. He's at a super high ceiling. But in terms of the type of guy you want to build this team out of, this is the type of bet.

want to make. This is probably not a player we're up we're talking about as a top five tackle in the league, but he will be a solid starter for a long time. That's how, I think that's how we project him. I think that the Cardinals see him. And again, we go back to a team that's rebuilding in a lot of ways. This is a good way to do that. A guy that probably has left tackle, right tackle versatility, but a guy that has a lot of things going for him that, you know, right away he's going to step in, win a starting job, and hopefully you don't have to worry about that position for a long time. He plays different than what his traits are in a way. Because, yes, he's tall and has long arms, but he has tenacity.

He finishes blocks. He has some of that effort and that toughness to him, even though he looks like a guy that sometimes you get some of these pretty tackles. And you're like, okay, can you grind that guy a little bit on the run block? But he has that too. And he played guard before. Especially in Ohio State's often, you know, that zone, a lot of movement. And that's what's great because of his athletic and his moving ability is that he's great

on that zone stuff. he has the athleticism to be the backside blocks. Like you can ask him to do really anything, double teams he's good at. And then he's improving as a pass protector. I would say he's good right now, but he has room for growth. It's kind of funny,

he's like the tackle version of Stroud a little bit. Like you feel fine, safe with him. It's like, okay, and a little bit of upside that you can tap into and he could be even better than that. So he was my tackle one as well, Dane. I really liked him. Darnall Wright would be the other guy.

Those were the two that kind of had a tier by themselves in different ways. But I really like this one for their, Cardinals for a team that needs so many players. What's get, like you said, hit the fairway, what's built through the trenches. This is a good way to kind of start this rebuild. This is a quote from the Beast and the draft guide from a scout on Paris Johnson. It's not just that he's coachable.

He's a real quick learner and handles playbook complexities really well for his age. So a guy that is, it's not going to be that big jump. No. You know, you feel good about mentally, physically what he's going to bring to your team. And that's exactly what you're looking for, especially in a trade-up where That's given with second round pick, an early second round pick. But you do it for a guy that you believe in, and it's easy to believe in Paris Johnson. If you look at it just in the aggregate, those multiple traits that the Cardinals made, you essentially move back from three to six, got Paris Johnson and got an extra first round pick.

So even if you're giving up something to move back up, it still is not a bad kind of outcome here in the aggregate. So DJ Humphrey is only 29 years old. He's a left tackle in Arizona and has been. Who knows with new regimes, guys on big second contracts, always uncertainty. But you can slide Paris Johnson in right now to be the right tackle on that team. Kelvin Beecham is still on the roster. Calvin Beecham, probably a guy that is worth replacing at the stage of his career, but notoriously good dude.

Like notoriously good. And we talk about this. Landing in the right room matters when you're a young player. And I think that the success DJ Humphreys has had, his own development as a player from where he was early, and somebody that can be a presence like Kelvin Beecham is, it's a not a bad spot for Paris Johnson to land as a rookie. Absolutely. And that pro mindset, like you said, he's a quick learner, and he works hard.

I know you can't, when he's talking about some of his teammates, maybe he asks for some more from some of his teammates sometimes. But that's good. That's a good thing. What has been some of the concerns with Kyler? Is that, you know, what was written in his contract, we don't, allegedly. And all that is that that is what is helpful to have, another pro. Even though he's a young guy, it's nice when coaches can just go, oh, we can rely on Paris. Our top 10 pick is going to act like the seventh round pick that's just trying to make.

make the roster. That's a good thing, especially again when you're really starting fresh. You're really at every position. So might as well get ones with a good mindset, has played in huge games, has developed. Like he's done, there's a lot of boxes that he checks. So that's, again, for a Cardinals team that they, they only just hit one on the fairway. They just need to make contact. This is it. This is a good way to do it. Sometimes the guys are left tackles and they play left tackle their entire career. You kind of worry about moving them around, moving, even the other side. He played right guard in, in 20. So we know he's functional on the right side.

It's a small thing, but I think it's something worth considering. Yeah, that matters. And, Dane, we were wondering, when is the tackle run going to start? Is it going to start at nine with Chicago? And then we're going to see them just kind of in succession come off, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, all that. It started a lot earlier. So now how is this going to shape when the tackles go, what the order of them is? It's a pretty big domino to follow this early in the draft.

Especially with Chicago coming up here in two picks. Thanks for reminding me. Yeah. Yeah, and so, but look, Peter Skoronsky, Broderick Jones, darn all right. You know, there's still some really good offensive linemen here. But first up, we have the Raiders. And, you know, we, there's a lot of different directions they could go. You feel like it's...

You're talking about the Cardinals needing a lot. Raiders is similar kind of depth chart on some areas. Especially on defense, where every level they need help. Christian Gonzalez makes a lot of sense here. I think he starts from day one. Could they, you know, they're showing Will Love us here in NFL Network. Could they pull us to surprise? Chat with Liam Cohen.

It's hanging out there. Talking about, this is a potential, is Jalen Carter the right answer here? Because they absolutely need a defensive line. Very Raiders of them. It would be very Raiders to take a guy with Jaylon Carter. But with the Cardinals and the Raiders, both of them, you look at the defensive Jeff Chart,

and you can just go, you can do anything. You can pencil in any guy. At least the Raiders have Max Crosby. I don't even think the Cardinals have anybody like that outside of Blue to Baker. So it's pretty much a blank slate for them on defense. They could vote a bunch of different directions. And like you said, if Will Elvis is that guy,

they need a quarterback in the future. And I actually like the Levis fit. Like this was actually one of the teams I really was like this one, from all the teams I looked at, yes, you wrote the Shanahan itself with the Texans and everything. But this was the one team was like, actually, I like this. What Josh McDaniels asked his quarterbacks to do, a lot of under center,

quick hitting play action stuff. That's stand strong in the pocket. That's Will Levis right then or there. So that was one I actually kind of liked. Even Skoransky. You look at the right side of their offensive line. I mean, really the guy they have that's a long-term player. There's Colton Miller.

I mean, there's so many pieces of turnover there that position group is in flux. So they could go a bunch of different directions here. If it was Skoroski, if it was Tyree Wilson, if it was Jalen Carter, if it was. Christian Gonzalez. All of those guys, I think, would make at least a little bit of sense with this pick. Right.

And it just, I don't know, there's a different vibe around the rate. Last year it just felt like there was excitement. They got Devonte Adams. They were going for it. They were going to compete. This year it feels like, okay, maybe we need a little more help. Throttle back. Maybe we need some more reinforcements here.

You know, Tyree Wilson's still out there. I mean, I was told Tyree Wilson, The medicals, some teams were, yeah, good, thumbs up. Other teams, I don't know, we can't do that in the top 10. So could we see a little bit of a slip for Tyree Wilson, maybe even out of the top 10? Yeah, that's super interesting with Tyree Wilson because his stock was getting so high that it was like, oh, he might be the first defensive player drafted. And his tape is fun, and we'll talk about him when he does go. But it is interesting now that it's like, yeah, there might be a little slide with him when you're talking about the medicals.

I really like when you were saying with the corners too, like Gonzalez is interesting because for a while he was looked at maybe as corner. Rebecca won for a lot of people. And I think because of his upside and outside ability, his athletic ability as well, that's what the guy looks like when you take him out of high. They need players. Here's the Raiders selection in Kansas City. Here we go. Raiders picketka number seven.

With the seven pick in the 2023 NFL draft, the Las Vegas Raiders select, Tyree Wilson, defensive end, Texas Tech. We just talked about how this is a player that's really, really fun because of the traits. You want a long player, powerful player, convert that speed to power. He has all of that. And, you know, he is a little bit of a late bloomer.

You know, he started at Texas A&M, goes to Texas Tech. Even at the Texas Tech take this year, you know, he had seven sacks. You know, the pressure rate would be really nice. Yeah, I think that. And the tape was good. But overall, still a player that came along a little bit later than, you know, Will Anderson for a comparison. but man, this is how you want a guy to look.

Talk about what Chris Gonzalez is a corner. This is what you want a defensive line in the look at that size, that length, that speed, that ability. He can play on his feet. He could play down. Raiders needed help on that defensive line. He's going to inside, outside versatility, maybe stand up a little bit. He gives you a lot of that. So this pick makes sense.

What's nice as he comes in, he doesn't have to be the ace either. We're not drafting this guy and going, oh, man, we need 10 sacks at you right away, buddy. Max Rosby's still there, right? Exactly. And they signed Chandler Jones last year. No one remembers that. You look at the succession of edge rusher moves the Raiders have made after missing on Klu and Farrell.

Every single year, they did something. Yonik and Gokwey one year. They signed Carl Nassab to a pretty big contract one year. They go sign Chandler Jones that massive deal. Kind of like the quarterback carousel that those other teams were on. I think they're just ready to get off. We're going to take the best pass rusher available and we're going to stop the bleeding here at this position.

And the way their defensive tackle depth chart looks like right now, I mean, get that NASCAR package on there. That's exactly what I was going to get 100%. Three defensive ends. I mean, yeah, we could really mix and match and get creative with how you do that. So, you know, you think about Patrick Graham and that defense, what he might do. You could be creative with a guy like this because, again, he could play on his feet. You want him to kick inside, play over the B gap?

He can do that, no problem. He has the power and the length to do it. So I understand why they'd go in this direction. Even if Chandler Jones is already on the roster, you theoretically have two starting edge players. I think what you're saying, Dan, this speaks to the timeline at the Raiders-Rock. This is a long-term thing. This is a multi-year project that they're about to work on. So even if Tyree Wilson isn't a starter from day one with the current makeup of the roster,

he's going to get enough work in those packages. And this is a 2024 move if it's anything. Yeah. And we're talking about traits and still the upside tap into. What are you saying, when you put on Texas Tech film, right away you go, oh, I know who the NFL player is just right then and there. But you watch him, his balance is something that always stands out. with his play, I mean, of course, his length and just how he uses those two kind of traits

over and over again, whether it's again, no tight end can block him. Like, anytime tight end had it going at some, he just bullied him. It was actually, it's good. That's what you want to see. It's the things that you just wanted, like left you wanting more with Wilson was sometimes his get off was a little slower. Sometimes his hand usage was kind of, I'm going to say lazy, but kind of just like laxadaisical. And so I think those are the things that you think that you can coach up because his traits are just so outstanding. Last year, the Raiders were 27th in the league in pressure rates. They were 32nd in sacks.

I mean, they were bottom of the barrels. Even though they do have Max Crosby and Chandler Jones, this is something they needed to do. This is the first Texas Tech defender drafted in the top 20 ever. Wow. Never had before. We've seen Patrick Mahal and Michael Crabtree.

Offensive players come from this program. We've never seen a defensive player from the Red Raiders go this high. You're talking about the get-off being one of those concerns, and the medicals is the other. We didn't see him test, and there are some questions because of that, foot injury. How does his medical, just situation and the status of his medicals compared to some of the other guys who came into this draft hurt? It's funny. I actually had an interview set up with Tyree Wilson back in November. And at the last minute, I got a call from someone close to

Tyrese hand, can't do it, broke his foot. There was something there had to, I was like, oh, no, this is this is not good. This is right before the draft season. This is something that, you know, really sideline. We thought maybe towards the end, a pro day, maybe, but no, we didn't get a chance. to see that, unfortunately. But it's, this is where you have to, you have to trust the medical staff, right? This is where I know as scouts, uh, you go into the room and you're just kind of hoping that you're going to see the little, uh, uh, a letter next to the tag, but one, sometimes you go into that room and it tags off the board. Yeah. Just cross your fingers that, uh, medical staff doesn't disqualify him. And obviously the Raiders were, we're comfortable with the foot and,

uh, you know, moving forward, what he, what he's going to be able to do? Shout to Chris Cortez. head trainer for the Raiders. So yeah, great guy. So he's going to have his, like, they're trusting him and his evaluation and the team doctors, like he said. But also just the other thing, remember we were doing our all pro show, Robert, and we talked about Max Crosby. Max Crosby had a phenomenal year if anyone didn't notice last year. But how many reps he played? Remember we're talking about how many played, like some of his rates were lower, not just his counting stats because he was on the field so much. Even, yes, Chandler Jones was a show of himself last year in his first year in Vegas, having three guys

that you can just rotate and just keep fresh for tighter games in the fourth quarter, that's another benefit to this. As he comes along, as we talk about his room to grow as a player, that helps where it's like, okay, we don't need you on the field for 60 snaps, but you better be on there for 40, at least. No time wasted. The Falcons

is getting this picking. We still don't know what it is yet, but it came in pretty darn fast. Is this Bijan watch? I was going to say, no. Did they run up there? It's only 8-10. We can't go with the puck. And they'll go back to their seat. Yeah.

I mean, Atlanta did a lot of work on the defensive line and free agency. They obviously went out and got Jesse Bates. They made the trade for Jeff Okuda. I think that they really tried to fill some of those glaring holes in some of those positions in March with veterans to kind of give themselves maybe a little bit more flexibility heading into the draft with a top 10 pick. They still need probably some help at one of the guards spots. Bejan Robinson could be an option. They still need more help on defense.

So again, when teams are picking on the top 10, usually a couple different. different directions that they could go, and Atlanta doesn't feel any different. Right. The Jeff Okuda trade, obviously, you hope he, you know, for a fifth round pick can come in, contribute, but that's not going to stop you from drafting a Christian Gonzalez here. No. Right. You know, they, obviously, they've drafted guards in the first round before.

They could do it again here with Peter Skoronsky. They also need juice coming off the edge. Is this where, you know, we start talking about Nolan Smith? I mocked him to the Falcons at one point. So this, yeah, this is a team, and we've seen. In the two years, Terry Fonton knows been the GM. We saw him go tight end with Kyle Pitts in the top five. And we saw Drake London, a big wide receiver in the top 10 last year.

This could be a little different this year. All right, we're going to take a quick break and be right back to break down the falcon selection here in a moment. Huge, huge bombshell in this draft, Dane. Bejohn Robinson goes eight to the Atlanta Falcons. We talked about this being a potential possibility. Now you drop Bejohn into an offense that already has Kyle Pitts. Drake in London. There's some weapons on this team.

Positional value be damned. I am excited to watch this group of players for Atlanta. When I was doing my final mock draft, I didn't know what to do with Bejohn. And so I took the easy way out, put them at eight to the Falcons because it could happen. I don't know what else the Falcons are going to do.

They took them. And you know what? On one level, I get it. When you look at Arthur Smith, head coach, what he wants that offense to be, you look at they did the last two first rounds. This is not a team that's afraid of going for it on offense. And whether or not those first two picks have worked out up to this point,

they obviously saw something on Bijon Robinson when you drop him into this offense and it doesn't matter if it's Desmond Ritter or who is that quarterback. This makes everyone better. I think that when you had the running back conversation in the first round, especially the top 10, you do have to talk about some guys are just a little different. Bejohn Robinson is a little different. His ability to make guys miss with quickness or power, helping the passing game.

Forget the running back route tree. He's running out there running wide receiver. You could throw on the Iowa State tape and see them running a post. These are things that make him an offensive weapon. They're just a little bit different than just being a running back. So I understand why this pick will be met with some doubt, some pushback. But I also understand the Falcons thinking when you add a presence like this to your offense, what that does to the way defenses have to defend you.

So I get it, but this is a big pick. It is. And yeah, I understand it, the runback value and everything. But Bejohn, like you said, is a lot of fun and doing all that. Just the past catching stuff, the past protecting stuff. He's a true three downback. Like, he can be on the field every single snap, and you're fine because he can do the assignment. And like you said, the Iowa State play, where the plays, I should say, where he's running a receiver route treat.

This is an offensive system that Arthur Smith has put together where it's kind of positionless in some ways. And he uses personnel better than anybody. We talked about how many varieties of tight ends that they used last year where they're splitting guys out. That's why the versatility call P. The Eagles have traded up tonight. Obviously, this is happening as we're talking about Vujan. The Chicago Bears have traded the ninth pick to the Philadelphia Eagles. With the ninth pick in the 2023 NFL draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select Jalen Carter, defensive tackle Georgia.

The buzz was that Jalen Carter would not get out of the top 10. That's what Drew Rosenhaus told us. He wasn't taking visits outside of the top 10. The Eagles were picking at 10. They decided they wanted to move one spot because they weren't going to let this go any further. I was told he wasn't getting past 9. He didn't get past 9.

Eagles move up and get him. And look, it's a big swing. And we know Howie Roseman loves his defensive lineman, especially in the first round. Jalen Carter, just talk about just on the field. for a minute here. His block destruction is special. It's power, it's quickness, and it's skill.

It's not just a big guy moving quicker than everybody else. It's someone that understands how to use his hands and that body control that he has. And you still feel like there's upside there. Like he's going to get better and better with pro coaching. So this is a big swing, but you understand why they did it. And you have to factor in. This is a guy going to a defense that Jordan Davis,

former teammate from Georgia. Our first round pick last year. Nicoby Dean, third round pick last year. So you have to believe that those two guys factored into this decision, the comfort level to go up and get a Jalen Carter. So Howie Rosen, I'm sure, talked to both those guys, asked honest opinions. What do you think about it? You know, we drop them into this franchise.

We think we get the most out of them. Obviously, they both signed off. And that's kind of Nikobe Dean's MO, right? Right. that the true leader, like true captain type of player, you know, classic linebacker. So I'm sure, you know, at the conversations, he's like, are you okay? Are you okay with Jayland? He's like probably sure, yeah.

But speaking on field ability, the fact that like my best comparison for him is Kevin Frickin Williams. It's like that's all you need to know. And I mean that realistically. I try to be pretty harsh with my comparisons. Like, oh, guys, this is kind of that type of player. Just disruptive and strong, you can ask him to play in any type of defense and it works, scheme proof. term for defense aligned. And also, like you said, the athletic ability, he also knows when

to crank it up. Like, yes, and there were some talks about his effort. I didn't really agree with that because I was like, look at this guy's 320 pounds. Look how he's moving. He's moving. But he would just, another guy in the brightest lights and the biggest moments, he would crank it up and just win instantly and disrupt a play. There's reason there's CJ Strout highlights against Georgia is because Joan Carter kept winning over and over and over against Ohio State. And that's why CJ Stroud had to make him miss so many times. But, God, just a guy that's a true, true difference maker. And this is pretty exciting probably for Eagles.

Fletcher Cox is still on this roster. So this is, you know, you're going to a locker room with a veteran defensive line. Yes. And, you know. Brandon Graham is still there. It's the same guys. Kelsey, Elaine Johnson, everybody there. We have a team that played in the Super Bowl.

It was the best team in the NFC, arguably the best team in the league last season. A couple of plays here and there from winning a championship. And they could have just gotten the best player in the draft. That's what just happened. Going into the combine, Jalen Carter was my number one. player in this draft. And then, you know, everything happened. You know, we have to talk about, obviously, with what transpired after the national championship game, the racing, which led the two deaths. It's something that obviously, as a franchise, you have to be comfortable with. You have to,

you know, you do your due diligence. You understand the person. Is this a pattern of bad decisions? Is this an isolated incident of immaturity? You have to be comfortable with your, when you come a conclusion about that. And obviously the Eagles felt like, okay, you know what, this is a player who is young, some immaturity, but we feel like with our structure, our franchise, that the reward is worth that risk. Yeah. And why we're bringing up all his former Georgia teammates and also the veteran leadership that the Eagles have, that makes it a sliding scale. When a person has, you know, quote-unquote character concerns, it's a little easier to tolerate when you're like, well, we got a strong locker room. So they'll fix it. You see that all the time. George Pickens went to

the Steelers last year and it's like, okay. You know, I mean, this is the type of team that could potentially absorb a guy like that. Yes. And on a football level, the Eagles lost Javon Hargrave this off season. And then they replace a guy who hopefully is going to give them a similar skill such Javard Hargrave. We have a three technique that was the most productive pass rusher in college football

at that position in 2021. It was a little bit banged up in 2022. Still finished 16th in pressures among interior defensive linemen, according to PFF, on the 108 most pass rush nests among interior defensive linemen. Even a little bit banged up was an absolute. Harror and a force in 2020. There's production with the trades. This is crazy.

And you mentioned the questions about effort. When you factor in, context is so important with this. When you factor in coming back from that MCL injury, you factor in against Ohio State, he had never played that many snaps ever in a game. So, you know, there were times where maybe he wasn't going full go. But this is a player with the talent. You can't coach that. You can't coach what he brings.

And so, yeah, you drop this in. And, you know, all of a sudden, it. And throughout the process, it was, okay, goes to the pro day and he's a little overweight. And, you know, talking to a scout that was there, it was like, okay, the first third of his workout, it's phenomenal. And that second, and then the rest of it was just his legs gave out. But when you factor in, again, context, what he was dealing with at the time. You know, he wasn't able to have a routine where he's working out and, you know, being at his best. This is a big swing if you were the Eagles.

But if anybody, if any franchise could do it, you think it would be the Eagles with, Their infrastructure on defense, the way that the makeup is, and it's also interesting the Bears. They traded away from Jalen Carter. Yeah. You know, is it a question of they just, they were not going to take them there, so they felt comfortable moving back.

They weren't all in. But now they're on the clock here at 10, and there's just some offensive linemen out there. That's always what I thought the pick would be. I just felt like they wanted to be able to come away from this off season saying we have no doubt about the players we've put around Justin Fields. D.J. Moranow, Chase Claypool, Darno Mooney,

We signed Nate Davis in a free agency. Now can we go get a tackle, presumably a right tackle to drop into this equation? And then even if they're not stars at every level, we have enough to judge him. And we'll see if they decided to be that. The Chicago Bears select Cornel Wright. Offensive tackle, Tennessee. I really like it. He's a guy that Dan, I think, made a lot of money for himself this season.

And then even in the draft process, it feels like people got more. and more excited about him as they started to dig into it. You watch that game that he had against Will Anderson, and what he looked like is a pure right tackle this year. Darnel Wright came a long way to being a top-time pick. Four and five-star guy who the first three years at Tennessee did not play like a five-star guy. Go back to his junior tape where he's playing left tackle,

and that's not a draft full player. You were not drafting Darnel Wright based off his 2021 tape, but this past year, I mean, you hit it on the nose, moves back to right tackle, looks like a different player. Yeah. You see a guy with movement skills. I see a guy with power, a nasty dude. He wants to bury you, wants to finish you.

We just got done talking about what exactly do the bears need a right tackle? Darn all right. You could make your argument that is the best right tackle in this draft. Yeah, I totally agree. A guy that going into my watch when I started watching the top tackles, I kind of had what you were just describing. I was like, okay, this guy's going to be a big sloppy, lazy guy. Big classic 330-pound right tackle.

It's huge. Yeah, and then you watch him, he carries his weight, easy, easy. And that's the thing, too, is Chris Morgan, the offensive line coach with the Bears, and they prefer his own scheme. He might not be best than that, but he's still athletic enough that you could do that. He's another guy that you can plop in and see realistically that he's going to be good in those situations, watching him against Pitt and he uses a snatch move. Like he just has, he has technique stuff already, like polish as a pass protector with his hand usage.

He's naturally strong, he's an easy mover. He's never on the ground. That's another thing. 330-something pounds, you never see him falling over his skis. You know, he's always just balanced and stays within it, good, strong hands. And, of course, the Will Anderson tape are against Alabama and Will Anderson. That was cool to see because you got to see him kick out of his stance against a guy with true, true, ace pass-rushing speed. And he handled it easily.

I mean, people have said, like, that's just the game that got him drafted. The whole tape this year was fantastic. That game, just different games, he just showed different aspects. And that's why, I mean, he had my offense tackle, too. I'm a big believer in him. I think he's going to be a damn good player. I'm just picturing the first time Ryan Poles sat down and watched Darnall Wright and just the smile. Like, this is an offensive line guy.

And to see Darnel Wright work. And again, speaking to that improvements that he made this year, double digit flags, he was penalized in 2021. This year, twice. Wow. Gave up a grand total of zero sacks this year. Yeah. I mean, it was dominant from start to finish. And so, you know, we think about that Tennessee offense.

We talk so much about Henan Hooker. Jalen Hyatt, we talked about Cedric Tillman. Darnow Wright was really a key cog of what made that offense go. Yep, that's absolutely it. It's awesome because even there's plays too where he's a puller. And, I mean, look what the Bears did as far as the quarterback run game last year. This guy actually, it's conducive to what he does well. If you have him pulling on those counterplays, the QV counterplays, it's great.

He's amazing at those because, again, his movement ability, his natural strength. My best comparison for him has been like 90% Tristan and Worf's. That's kind of how I picture. I'll take it. I know. I will take 90% Tristan and worse is the Bears right tackle. I'll tell you that right now. All right, guys, that's the top 10.

Please come back and check out 11 through 20, which should be in your feeds very shortly. Really appreciate it. Talk to you soon. This was the Athletic Football Show.