The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - 2023 NFL Draft, Round 2 pick-by-pick analysis

Episode Date: April 29, 2023

Robert Mays, Nate Tice and Dane Brugler break down every pick in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft live from Kansas City. The guys dig into Will Levis, Michael Mayer, new pass-catchers in Green Bay, and a whole lot 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.

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 Bruegler. And of course, the one and only Nate Tice. Plus, special guests along the way. The NFL draft is now officially open. Night two of the Athletic Football Show's 2023 live draft coverage.

I am Robert Mays. Joining me tonight once again, the athletics draft guru himself. It is Dave Brueblo. Dan, how are you feeling, buddy? Feel good. This is day two and three are for the scouts, right? This is for you.

This is for you put in all those hours and figure out who are the gems in this draft. We're going to find some starters today. It'll be fun. People should know that if it were up to you, we would do this again tomorrow. The draft would be 12 rounds long and you would do live coverage of the draft

for as long as the draft. draft word on. There's 259 picks. I mean, let's keep it going. Keep it rolling. Also joining us tonight, my good friend, it's Nate Tyson. How do, buddy? It's Friday night. I'm feeling just right. This is, this is great. No, I love this. Dana and I were talking how it used to be just a Saturday, Sunday affair and marathon. We were trying to figure out the start time. We'd go noon to 9 p.m. And at the end, you just see that confetti falling, like from behind everybody with Chris Berman and stuff. And no, it's nice. We're Friday night, we're primetime, rounds two and three.

And like Dane said, this is fun. Now you get to see kind of like some movement with some guys, some guys that might be surprised picks, some guys that fell, that we've talked about last night, nauseam, and now we get to actually see them maybe get selected today. And that's a lot of fun. You got two rounds today, but let's talk about last night a little bit before we look forward to what's going to happen tonight. Now that you've had some time to sleep on it and have some thoughts in the cold light of day

after what happened yesterday evening. Your first thought when you woke up this morning is you looked to. back on last night's events. It's got to be the Eagles for me, just what Howie Roseman did, to come out of this draft, this first round, with both Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, the two Georgia defenders. After last year, what they did in the first round with Jordan Davis, then you get in the Kobe Dean, just to collect all these Georgia defenders. It's not a bad strategy, not at all.

And so just the fact that they were able to get arguably the number one player in this draft, they were making calls trying to get up maybe to five, six. And once he started falling a little bit, they thought, okay, this is realistic. We can go get Jalen Carter. And then I don't think they ever thought Nolan Smith was going to last until pick 30 like he did. It's such an ideal landing spot for both these guys with the infrastructure of the locker room and where they are with that defensive line. And then also with the expectations and managing that.

And then also for the Eagles to add these type of talents. It's just an awesome fit for both the player and for the team. I think twofold. They're both players that fit with the Eagles maybe better than they would fit with another team. We talked about this a little bit last night. For Jaywin Carter, it's just believing in your infrastructure, believing in your veterans, believing in your culture. For Nolan Smith, I'd have to assume that one of the reasons Nolan Smith fell

is that there are some teams in the teens and the 20s are like, well, how are we going to use them? If we're going to draft him this high, what's his role going to be? On the Eagles, he can be a role player to start. It doesn't really matter kind of that murkiness about what his role is because his role can be so specific in Philadelphia compared to what it might be with another team where he would need a little bit of an outsized presence

on that defense. Yeah, and that's, you know, Will McDonald, we'll talk about him another time, but with the Jets, didn't love the pick, but I understand what the Jets are doing because with what they do in that defense, Will McDonald's not to come in and be the guy, the number one pass rusher,

they can work him in and sub, and he can just, he's going to have a ton of flash plays this year, even though we probably won't be a starter, And with Nolan Smith, it'll be the same thing where he's not going to be expected to be the guy from day one, but you can use them in different ways. They'll be creative with them. And you can just do so much with a guy that has that type of ability, that type of speed, that type of character. So it's really a home run pick for the Eagles.

They both were top 12 picks in my personal draft board. So no surprise, I love what they did. How about you, Nate? What was your draft hangover like this morning? Just waking up and, yeah, feeling a little bejean with the Falcons. I just like that. We'll talk about that in a sec. But really where the quarterbacks all ended up, of course, with Bryce Young.

But then Stroud emerging through smokescreen and silly season, ending up being the number two pick, which is just, again, hilarious that we spent a calendar year, and they ended up going one, two, just like we thought, a year ago. So it's kind of interesting. And also just we're Richardson going to the Colts. Just love that fit. I'm really excited just to see that whole, that thing unfold for the next five, six, seven years.

Hopefully the last five, six, seven years. And that's just the two years. And we're all going like, That's why he was a project, Nate. You got to look at that completion percentage. And then also just where quarterbacks didn't end up. And I know we'll talk about Levist in a second and Hector and Hennon Hooker as well. But those guys, that kind of landing spots for everybody is fun now without.

We have some, like, concrete evidence of what's about to happen. And what's becoming kind of an annual tradition you and I went out last night after we're just kind of decompressed. You're so wired after a crazy night with all that stuff happening. We were sitting there talking. And we're almost happy that C.J. Stroud went to and Anthony Richardson went forward because it valid. validates what we saw. Yes. If one of those guys had fallen, let's say Stroud falls out of the top 10 and maybe Richardson

goes in the back half of the first round, I think we were both so excited about both of them. It was a little bit of validation that we saw the prospects and the way that the team saw the prospects this time. Oh, and when the odds were starting to break out and break down the last couple of days, and of course, Vegas is right in the way with that and the information just like we are. And so you always have to remember that. But then there's also times going like, okay, where they know? And I'm seeing Richardson's odds dropping that he's not making it a top.

five picks, six picks. And those are those moments, like you just said, where I'm just going, oh boy, oh boy. Do I do I know nothing? If I ever watched a quarterback before? It was the Pristful Skinner meme. It was, am I out of touch? No, the league's out of touch. You know, that's exactly how I felt. And then, yes, like you said, it was validation. And but also the flip side is that like, like, I did like Levis. And I do, I legitimately had a first round grade on him. And, you know, he was the fourth guy in my top four. But it's still surprising that he'd go in the first round. But again, but those other guys, especially Strah gone to, Richardson go for, top five was like, okay, yes, a little bit of validation there. So what do we think the Levis

fall is a product of? Because I understand if you still like him and maybe it doesn't happen, my first thought there is, well, there aren't that many teams where it seemed like a soft landing spot. You know, if Tampa didn't like him, is there another team that's super motivated to trade back into the first round and get him? And if that's not the case, maybe it's just a fit thing more than it is about a commentary about him as a prospect. Yeah, and I think that teams did make some calls but the Eagles once Nolan Smith was there they weren't moving out you look at the chiefs they couldn't move out they're picking at 31 they wanted their moment they the chiefs could not move so you know there were some interesting

spots where maybe it could have happened but they didn't and you know with Lovis we've talked about it so much how easy guy to like maybe a hard guy to love that just you see the tape you see the traits you see the tools it's easy to be optimistic but they're just something missing yes and when they're there's something missing, it's hard to, you know, you can get close, but you can't get quite there in terms of turning in that pick, writing his name down, and really saying this is the face of our franchise moving forward. So I get it, I understand. It's still a surprise that he's still on the board here as we start the second round. I have to imagine he's going to come off the board

pretty quickly here. Now, that's the question. To who? Does Hendon Hooker go first? How does that work? Do we see a trade-up for one of these quarterbacks? So that's an interesting point here. We talked about the Titans maybe moving up in the top 10 for Will Levis. Obviously, that didn't happen. But they have a pick here in the second round. They could go up and go get him. The Rams, welcome to the draft. Are you going to make a big flash here?

Don't mistake it. There's a lot of Rams fans here, surprising amount in Kansas City. They have a second round pick. This is like the biggest draft. It's a decade. We actually can celebrate it. I would say just anecdotally, like, again, watching Levis and I came around on him. But that's also the thing with.

with a first round quarterback, you shouldn't have to squint. And so that's why I always come back to. It's like you shouldn't truly have to go, I really want, okay, yeah, that's good, that's good. And the term I've always come back to at Levis, and as we talk about it more, but is that he's robotic. And I don't mean that robotic like a stiff athlete. He's a good athlete, it's just robotic in his movements

that everything feels predetermined. There's a drill that they didn't practice on Wednesday. He is doing it in the game and it's like, is that feel or is that just like you learn to dance move? And how I've referred to a, is that it's like a father or a husband practicing the first dance at the wedding. And then they just went through it. I don't know if you've got through this.

Speaking of my personal experience right now. And then all of a sudden he's like, he has to do it. He gets through it. It's like, wow, that's pretty good. And it's like, okay, what else he got? That's all I got. He's using the dice. He's using the dice.

But that's how Levice feels when you watch him. A scout put it to me like this. He follows the quarterback playbook perfectly. You know, the size, the toughness, the smarts, the toughness. All that there, but there's just something missing from that. he's following the playbook right but is it natural is it innate I don't it's hard a commentary on where the position is yeah because that little magic fairy dust that Bryce Young has that Anthony Richardson certainly has and what we were

wondering if CJ Stroud had it yeah that was the biggest commentary and the biggest kind of conversation around CJ Stroud does he have that creation ability so I think being a little bit more robotic being a little bit more statuess not having that feel it feels more pronounced than ever when we're judging quarterbacks and it feels more pronounced in this class because you're contrasting it to a group of guys that absolutely have it. It's kind of the best thing they have going for them. Yeah. And sometimes even some of the simple plays look a little forced or a little harder than they should. So, and, you know, it's tough with the situation he was in. You know, we've,

some will say we've made excuses for him. I look at him as reasons why he struggled at times because of the supporting cast and the offense just did not look right. Especially compared to 2021 when everything was going right and he played at a high level won 10 games for that Kentucky offense so it we don't kill the kid but I you know when you start to talk about it you understand why he's still here in the second round and he'll get snatched up here pretty quickly and it'll love to see how it plays out you once you get into the into the league it's all about how you play doesn't really matter where you're drafted that's exactly where do you want to see him went I really do like the ramps landing spot I really generally do and not because of just the background

and everything, but it just makes sense to me. It's like if someone's going to unlock him, but not the guy that did unlock him his junior year at Kentucky and Liam Cohn. And I also just think that's a good transition plan for Matthew Stafford. It's kind of funny that there has been some comparisons between the two players. Don't exactly see it, but they're tough and they can do some trick shots and that's about it. Two guys that he's been compared to are the two teams you've already mentioned. Tennessee and the Rams, Matthew Stafford and Ryan Tannahoe,

is kind of an amalgam of those two guys in the best case scenario. And both of those teams could be arranged to draft him. Exactly. Yeah, the Titans would be interesting too. And for after, you know, taking a nice safe offense alignment in the first round, I really, I was like, okay, you guys are listening, you guys are doing the safe stuff, getting on the, well, we keep saying yesterday,

hit it in the fairway. Yeah, that's it. And that's what they did. There's nothing wrong with that. This would make a lot more sense to maybe, okay, we did get a guy and maybe we did really like him originally. So why not? Okay, here we go.

Let's just, what's roll with it. We were waiting for next year possibly to start our clock, you know, and the Ray Ball, I don't think has a clock. I think he makes his own time, whatever he wants, to see you right now. But I think that would maybe, you know, set it forward. And it's like, okay, this is a guy we did generally like and we got him at a nice safe spot. Trust your grades. It's fair to say that teams did not have a first round grade and will love us, or else, I think he'd be off the board at this point. He had to have had

second round grades around the league. And so, you know, where is that sweet spot where a team's going to swoop in and get him? Does it take a trade? Do they feel comfortable waiting to see if he falls? And then where does Hen and Hooker fall into this equation? Could there be a situation where a team believes in Hooker more than Levis, it's possible. Talk about Levis and the Rams being a potential fit. Talk about the Titans. What do you think is a reasonable fit for him here early midway through the second round? I mean, I think the Rams again. The Rams, I know. That's another one. It really does. I mean, I would say, I would say Minnesota. They have a second round pick. So, you know, I don't think that's probably not realistic, but Henan Hooker,

Minnesota I like that idea of made a natural succession plan to Kirk Cousins down the road so that that one's a little interesting um I know right any other ones I know like lions maybe like you know like yeah they would quarterback the future but they have two second round pitch exactly and that that that kind of goes with their plan they're kind of doing their own thing anyways so that would make sense speaking of the lions kind of a surprising night and a loosey night for them here to talk us through that is our lion's writer at the athletic It's Colton Pouncy. Colton, thank you very much for joining us, man.

Yeah, thanks for having me on, guys. How you doing? Hey, Cole. We're doing okay. We've had an eventful 24 hours, but I would say not as eventful as yours have probably been. Your reaction when Jemir Gibbs is the guy that comes off the board at 12 after that trade down from the Lions.

Yeah, it was a big shock. I think all of us in the Lions media were kind of checking Twitter, you know, had our notifications on, waiting for the pick. I think I was probably the first one to see it because my reaction was, whoa, Oh, dear Gibbs? I got to like break it to the room. So certainly a shock, but when you hear like Brad Holmes talk about the running back position, you know, he said in his pre-draft meeting with us that he's not afraid to take a running back that early.

You know, he's part of a draft team that took Todd Gurley 10th overall with the Rams. To him, they're football players. So, hey, he got a football player that he liked number 12 overall. So obviously they're picking at six. They trade down. Did they give you any insight into the thought process between essentially how the dominoes fell last night to get to that moment. You know, Holmes said that

he had a handful of players that were kind of his favorites in that range, and some of them were taken. So, if I had to guess, I would say Devin Witherspoon, going to the Seahawks, kind of a with a curb off for them, maybe they didn't expect it. So they decided to pivot there. Traded back to number 12.

They ended up picking up a 34 overall pick as well. So I think they're happy about the hall. They like Gibbs as a player. We'll see who they get in the second round here at 34th overall. But I would say Witherspoon was probably the player they had their eye on. You know, in terms of fit, he fits a lot of what they try to do in terms of the man heavy corner. Has that dog mentality that Aaron Glenn looks for.

So when he was off the board, it seems like, look, we're not taking Jalen Carter. Maybe they had issues with whatever during that process. Tyree Wilson wasn't really a fit for them, I guess. So they traded back to 12th and ended up getting Jemir Gibbs. And Brad Holmes was, you know, slam the table happy. So I guess they got their guy. It seems like, you know, Jemir Gibbs, be a little bit higher than people expected. Jack Hamill may be a little bit higher than people

expected. Would it be reasonable to guess that after they moved back to 12, maybe they had their eye on Gibbs at 18, and because of the sequence of events, everything got pushed up a little bit? Yeah, you know, Holmes did say that he looked at Gibbs at 18, but I guess he heard some rumors that maybe the Jets at 15 were looking to take Jemir Gibbs, and that was probably, I think that's been later confirmed by some other people. So he mentioned like 15 as a spot. He started getting some Texas as soon as he took jimir gibbs saying hey like there were some teams that were looking at him the teens a little bit after you so probably good call for him to take him at 12 so that was kind of the feedback he was getting again you can question running back positional positional position

value and everything like that but at the end of the day they got a player that they like a lot you know homes was at the alabama texas game early in the season when jimir gives was basically like their best receiver Bryce young and jimir basically won that game to Alabama offense So I'm guessing that that had a lot to do with, you know, why they went up in and made that move and why they ended up taking him at 12th overall. Beyond positional value, I'm curious about just the allocation of resources of this position for the Lions this off season because they gave $11 million guaranteed to David Montgomery and then they drafted running back at 12. They give Alex Anzolone a pretty decent-sized contract to come back to Detroit. They already have Malcolm and Regas on the roster. How do you envision those two positions shaking out after they've already spent a little bit on that?

a month and a half ago. Yeah, you know, their whole thing this offseason was just to get better, get better players on the roster, build out the roster as much as they can. And I guess they feel like they did that. Bringing back Anzolone, that's a guy they like a lot, probably more so than the rest of us, but they love that too. He's been their guy since, you know, AD was in New Orleans with him as well and brought him over to Detroit.

So that's their guy a lot. They like him a lot. You know, getting Dave Montgomery, he's a player that's basically considered an upgrade over Jamal Williams, gives you a little bit more. the passing game, the Williams. They like him to be that kind of a, you know, the tough runner inside that Jamal kind of played that role for them. So I think that's the fit there.

But also they've said they're not afraid to upgrade. And when you look at, you know, Jemir Gibbs and Diyadh, Steve, they kind of play like a similar style in this offense, I think. So I almost wonder, and I kind of threw this out on our podcast the other day, like if they take a running back early, what does that mean for Dianneux? Holmes was asked about that yesterday, and he did not really give, you know, a resounding answer. DeAndre's on the roster.

Yeah. He's saying like, it hasn't changed anything yet. He mentioned the word yet. And I was like, all right, so he might be here even tomorrow. So we'll see if they end up making a move there. But, you know, in terms of what they added, I think they feel like they upgraded some positions. And this is a year that they expect to be competitive.

You know, Lions have not want to playoff games since 1991. They have a roster that they feel is getting there. So if you have a chance to add some impact players, which they feel they did, And you can kind of load up the roster and try to make a move and make a run here. Like, it's hard to fault that. But, you know, some people will anyway. So a lot of ammo here in the second round for Detroit.

What's the priority list look like for Brad Holmes as we head in tonight to the draft here? I'm looking at defensive tackle. You know, I was wondering, okay, you pass on Jaylon Carter. Maybe you take Clashicancy a little later. They passed on him too. So I wonder if they have a guy, have their eye on a guy like Keanu Benton from Wisconsin. they have that 34th pick now. I was kind of unsure if he would make it to 48,

so now you have the extra pick. Maybe you kind of just take them there and say, we're getting a really good player, a starting caliber player. And that's three, your first three picks are dudes that can basically start for you. So it seems like they're loading up. It seems like they want to win now. That would be another pick in that direction versus maybe, you know, I know some people have tossed out quarterback.

I'm not sure if that's a position they'll look at in the second round just because their moves have kind of indicated they're trying to win now and just, you know, add potential starters. So I think in the second round, that's kind of what I'm looking at, like defensive tackle, maybe tight end like Darnell, Washington, falls them at 48, then maybe you take a cornerback. That's a position that they kind of address some pre-dency, but they still have some long-term needs there.

So maybe that's a spot for a corner at 55. So those are kind of three positions I'm looking at. And if I had to add one more, I probably say guard. You know, Bai Tai is a free agent. He's got, or the pre-jent next year, he's got one year left. You know, Jonah Jackson is a free agent next year. I'm guessing they're going to try to bring them back. but you never know with the market.

So getting a young guard in there right now is probably doing so good. A lot of work ahead of Brad Holmes tonight. A lot of work ahead for you as well, my friends. We'll let you get to it. Really appreciate the time. We'll talk to you soon. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me on.

Thanks, Colvin. Thank. What do you think of that explanation for the Jemir Gibbs, David Montgomery, Dandre Swift Backfield, combined with the Alex Anzolone, Jack Campbell, Malcolm Rodriguez, lineback in court? Well, Dan Campbell was in New Orleans when they drafted, Alva Kamara. He saw that. And in my report on Jemir Gibbs, I compared him to a combination of Kamara and Chris Johnson. If you take those two guys, kind of put them together. And so, you know,

a little bit of a mixture of the two. Gibbs is what I think what you're left with. And I think this is their version of Kamara. And I think people lose their minds when you hear first round and running back together like that. I think we have to look at, especially the Gibbs pick, as a first round weapon, offensive skill weapon. Because that's what he is more so than strictly just a running back. He's going to line up in a slot. He's going to be a big presence in the passing game. So that value is different than what they thought they were getting with the Andre Swift. And so we can talk about the value of drafting him with 12th overall. I'm excited about the player. And I trust your offensive coordinator. Trust Ben Johnson to Leo. Know what to do with this new

shiny toy that he has. So I'm excited for what Gibbs is going to look like in that offense. Yeah, and like Ben Johnson in the line situation, it's actually one situation where I'm like, okay. Like, you know, like he's probably going to get the most of this. He at least has shown creativity of how to use guys. Like, even a guy like

Amon Rae St. Brown, who is a very effective player. He's like just brutally efficient as a receiver. Like, that's the best way I can describe him. He never asked him to go like, you're never running a route past 12 yards. But he knows what he is. He knows his personnel. That is a true strength that you can say it's a compliment I could give to to Ben Johnson and I

thought it was interesting with Colton well first off he said yeah Bryce Young and Javier Gibbs you know they let him to victory it was like they let them to a lot of a lot of points that was basically the whole offense from Alabama this past year yeah but he's saying hey that they're they're trying to win now like the trademarked wide open NFC like they're looking at it this way and they're going like what's crank this window open the rest of our divisions reconfiguring like so okay maybe that's what how they view it like even with Jack Campbell, I've talked myself

way more into it because, yes, this linebacker class is not deep at all. Like, I mean, you know better than anybody. So they had a need there, even though they paid Anzolone. And like Colton said, yeah, not too high on Anzoloni. So it's like they needed a guy that can probably play here and play actually

legitimate snaps if they want to compete like they think they are. I understand that. I know. No, I get it. Your window is now. I get that. There are a lot of teams whose window is now, and you still offset that by drafting high value. positions in the first round. The Eagles window is now. The Eagles are still drafted edges in defensive linemen no matter what. Even if the Eagles have a needed safety,

which they have right now. You have the Eagles had a needed lineback, which they did last year. They're not drafting those guys in the first round. So I still think there's a way to balance wanting to make your team as good as possible in the short term with understanding that the draft is for one, two, three, four year considerations at high value positions when you're talking about top 20 picks. That's just, that's just, that's me. No, no, I thought the van, like, even Vandesko on a pick later in 12, like, It was, I do like, offset those two plans, right? And that's what I always go back and forth to sometimes when it's like, okay, the other team wanted that guy too.

It's like, well, you have guys in tiers, so you know, at different positions. And you're like, well, if that guy's not there, we go with this. And that is what it is. So I think like being like scared of he's not going to be there. It's like, it happens. That's how the draft unfolds. So we shouldn't maybe, you know, this is where reaching happens and all that, those types of things. So I did, I agree with you.

I thought first and foremost to reinforce the trenches, at least defensively. That's where I thought the plan should go. but I understand trying to add some explosive to an offense. So it's like you're trying to straddle both but it's hard. And you have to look at they probably thought Devin Witherspoon was going to be there at six. It seems like a short circuit. Right.

Once that was off the table, once Seattle took him at five, which props to Seattle for keeping that one close to the vest. No one saw that one coming. Once that happened, that's where Detroit, yeah, they I don't want to say they panicked, but they kind of

they weren't sure, they weren't as confident in plan B maybe. Right. And plan B was the tradeback. And then at 12, it's like, well, we do really like Gibbs. We're going to try and take them at 18. Maybe just take them here. It's just, you know, and let's take them here. And then at 18, their first round grades or their, their board must have been pretty small for Jack Campbell, be that next guy. Yes. Over a can see who went a couple picks later to the bucks or, you know. Some of the corners who were available. Right. Uh, Christian Gonzalez had just went. So, and they could have had Christian Gonzalez at 12 they wanted to do that route but Deontay Banks was there yeah a few of the

corners were still there so it could have gone a lot of different directions and for Jack Campbell I had him going in my mock draft it's just in the second round you know it just seemed like could Buffalo have taken him at 27 yeah that maybe maybe but to think that we had to take them in the top 20 it's a big surprise the idea the Alvin Kumar idea I totally understand that logic and we we do this all the time it's like okay if this running backs past catching value is this high does he transcend that positional value discussion and we bring up one or two guys every time that happens usually alman cameron christian mccarthy right are there any

other examples or is this and maybe ecler but eclor is wasn't undrafted free agent exactly yeah so this idea of well he's such a good pass catcher that he's more than just a running back so we can have a different value discussion about him very rarely does that actually work out in practice so i think the idea of that always sounds nice. But then when we get down to it, it's like, I'm spending a lot of money on a guy that's now our fourth pass catching option, even if he's a good pass catcher. This is what Urban said about Travis Etyen. He was like, we're going to use him like a slot receiver. It's like, well, his ball skills aren't great, Urban. He's probably not better than the slot receiver you're going to use or you're going to have. Or the one that they're going to sign the next offseason.

For $18 million a year. And Amon Ross St. Brown is already on the lines. And that hat on the hat stuff is, and even stuff with Gibbs and what I think he had, prove on his past protection. Like that would be a lot of college running backs. You can say this about most of them. At 200 pounds, how much better can he? And so that's, it's all about snaps play and how many touches you can feasibly get. That's why CMC, when we talked about him and saying like his contract is actually pretty

fair because he's basically a slot receiver and your number one rushing option. So it's like, that's value right there. But I totally understand that there's not enough guys that actually, it's a lot, it's a theory thing. It's like, no, that's great. Everybody loves their scatbacks. I thought James Cook was going to catch a thousand yards last year. That's exactly the guy I was thinking about.

If we dropped this skill set in, that is the exact thing I was talking or thinking about. Because the Buffalo logic, with James Cook is, we already have so many other weapons. Why wouldn't we just drop in a pass catching back to give us this one element we don't have? Then six months go by, eight months go by until the end of the season. You look at the Buffalo offense, it's like, oh, man, maybe we weren't as loaded as we thought we were. And I think with Detroit's offense, there's a chance we get to the end of the season. And we have all of this hope about what the lion's offense can be. And then we get to December, and it's like,

they got Jameson Williams, who hasn't really developed as much as we thought he was going to, and Amont-Ross St. Brown, and they don't really have a third receiver, and they're piecing together, their tight-out position. And maybe this kind of cherry on top running back who is a pass-catcher isn't as good of as an idea as we thought he was. And just to be fair to him, he is much more than just a pass-catcher, obviously. I think he is an offensive lineman's best friend as a runner, Because he's so good press, sort, get north.

Exactly. His timing is impeccable. He is a real feel for it. So I think with that offense, I do think that he will be a really nice change up to David Montgomery and the way they run the football. So now, again, get back to the value part of it, taking that the 12th pick. Honestly, I wasn't sure we would ever see two running backs going to the top 12. Again. Again, really.

We saw it with Christian McCaffrey-Lennor for a net that year. And then when did Melvin, Gordon, Todd Gurley go, 10 and 15? Yeah, Gordon was not quite top 12, right? 18, 20 or something. Yeah, I did not think we would see it anytime soon where we'd see these running backs go top 12, but here we are. I think just, I want to be clear about this, so I get ahead of the blowback one, Jemir Gibbs is incredible.

Brad Holmes and this lion's regime deserve the benefit of doubt. Based on what they've done so far. I mean, I was little, you know, they're going to stay put and pick Penny Sewell at seven when you can move back and some teams need quarterbacks You're so far away. They've sequenced this in a way that makes total sense of them, has worked out well for them.

So they deserve the benefit of the doubt. But I think that there's reason to be a little bit skeptical about what the strategy looked like last night. You're bringing up that he's an offensive line and his best friend. I think specifically he's going to be the Detroit Lions' offensive lines. It's best friend because if DeAndreau-Swift and Swift has his positives and just like every runnerback, but vision and getting his foot in the ground is not his strength.

But what Jermere gives, it is. Yes. His vision and feel and if they have these open running lanes, he's going to be able to rip off 10-yard gains where Swift was running right into the back of the guard or bouncing a run to where he shouldn't be bouncing it. That's where if Swift can average over eight yards of carry while he's healthy before he got hurt this year,

it's like imagine the guy with better vision and just better feel as a running back. That's where he's going to be some really fun explosive gains that he's going to create. Let's chat into the tone of this a little bit. What was your favorite just fit last night? Player with teams. So I know you love the Eagles plan overall,

but one singular player you're like, I like that. That makes a lot of sense to me. Maybe Buffalo? I mean, I know we talked about that a lot, but man, I love that. Let's talk about it some more because I haven't changed my feelings. Yeah, no, I, you know, with dropping Dalton Kincaid, whether he's your slot receiver, whether he's, you know, however you're going to use him as a tight end, adding a pass catcher that caliber, maybe the best pass catcher in this draft, adding him to the mix now,

I just, I can't wait to see what that looks like. I think it could pay immediate dividends this year. rookie season. It's going to make that entire offense better. Stefan Diggs is going to be better. Dosson Knox is going to be better. The run game should be better. Josh Allen should be better. For an offense that at times last year just did not always look like on the same page, Dalton Kincaid's, I think, going to help put them in the right direction. Right. I, I, we said it last night, but I wholeheartedly love that fit. Like, I really do. Like, I had some issues where Kincaid maybe would end up and what he would

be asked to do. But with the bills, it's like, this was so needed. It's perfect. personnel-wise, everything. I totally agree with that one. I really like, of course, Anthony Richardson and Nicole. It's Bejohn Robinson to the Falcons, and these are just like, this is just pure, schematic, fun. Like, this is just whatever. We don't have to talk about anything else, but I just really like those fits. I really do. It's Bejohn with the Falcons offense is, I'm giddy. I'm giddy. Just a bizarre, bizarre football team. But in the best possible way. You know, when we watched them last year, it was almost listening to like a post-rock band. We're like, this doesn't sound like it's supposed to sound, but just washing over me and

way that makes me happy people are going to tune in they're gonna see how his words out no doubt about it's it's a great concept album like it absolutely is and really I liked a Maisie Smith with the Cowboys and I thought that was it was one I didn't know I wanted and now that I saw it happen I'm like yeah that makes sense like what it really does okay it's what they needed peanut butter on our burger yeah actually I didn't know I wanted that but now it's great yeah but that's how that felt about that fit and I just think it's man that Cowboys defense got really better with young, talented guy that just fit perfectly for them.

The other one I wanted to mention, too, Christian Gonzalez going to New England. I mean, I hated to see him fall like that, but man, he had a nice landing, a nice landing even though he was falling a little bit. So to go to New England where they had smaller corners right now. He's a big winner. Like that, he won even though he fell in the draft, which is good. Talk about how the Lions deserved the benefit out. I think the Patriots that trust has eroded a little bit over the last couple years, but

every time they draft a corner or they make a move in the defensive backfield, I think it's worth a light bulb going off in your head. It's like, ooh, they like that guy? I wonder what that says. Why are you taking the safety from Lenore Ryan in the second round? It's like, oh, Kyle Dugger, yeah, there is. For all the swings and misses on wide receivers in some other positions, when they make a move in the defense of backfield, Belichick specifically, I think a little extra attention goes there. The one I kept coming back to you from last night, now that Lamara signed the deal, I've started to allow myself to go down the road of what the Todd Monk and Ravens offense will look like. And now you drop Zayflowers into that equation.

And I like Zayflowers. It's just the explosive element that he brings. And I know there's some questions size-wise and what his role might be. But the best version of Zayflowers, a healthy Rashad Bateman, Odo Beckham, Nelson Agua, taking the top off, the offensive line they already have. And Todd Munkin calling plays. There's a chance that this thing is just fireworks. And it may take a little while. I'm assuming that so there are going to be some kinks because.

It is going to be a departure from what they've been in years past. But if they're trying to pivot hard and kind of step into the next phase of what they need to be on offense, I understand the steps they're trying to take to get there. No doubt. And even with that Beckham signing, we knew wide receiver is still going to be an option for them because they want to be more explosive. And, I mean, such a narrative change, the way we were talking about this Baltimore offense a month ago compared to now with Beckham in the fold, Zay Flowers in the fold,

and Lamar signed that five-year contract. Yeah, if you're the Brown Steelers, Bengals, yesterday wasn't a great day for you. Yeah, he wasn't. No, not at all. So, but yeah, I think if you're a Ravens fan, you're obviously pretty giddy about it. There's no more Patrick Ricard third downscreens. Like that's, that's the thing. If this were, Greg Roman did do, Greg Roman did do some nice things, but it's just,

if Safe Flowers was going with a Greg Roman offense, I'd be like, really? Like another hitcher out, like, where he's the only route? But like now we got Todd Monkin, who is really a mad scientist. And anyone that's watched his Georgia offenses, his offenses when he was calling plays with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they're explosive. Like he finds his best ways. There's not just one Todd Munkin play. He runs everything. So, but now you're getting all these yak guys with Scott Bateman as well, Mark Andrews on overroutes.

It just, it's really fun. Like, it's another, we were talking about last night. And it's like, it felt all the receivers felt samey, but I didn't hate that. But for once, I would kind of really like that. It's like, let's just get a whole bunch of guys that can just create on slant routes and take the ball to the house. Watch George's offense last year and watch the tight end get sweeps and, you know, I mean, just he knows the strength of the team and how to maximize what he has. So that, yeah, that's a good one. Two, three weeks ago, I don't think there was a lot of underlying excitement about me watching the Baltimore Ravens offense in 2023. Now, it's probably on a short list of the units I'm most excited to watch this year. No doubt. So it's been a hard change. But they call that basketball the week pass teams. Yeah, that's it. But that's seriously, that's what the Falcons were.

for me last year and it was kind of, I compared it to the Northman, and I'm blanking on the director's name, but I know you know it, but it was like a popular, it was like, that was my little art house, art house flick. Eggers, Robert Eggers. Thank you. Thank you. I knew you know it. But they were, that was kind of my like little, yeah, high Rotten Tomato score, you know,

from the critics, but then the audience score was a little lower. That was the Falcons offense for me last year. But now it's like, yeah, now we're going to get that kind of Marvel movie. We're going to get that, you know, 98% on both accounts. So I'm really excited for the Falcons offense. Northman starring the fullback from the Rams. There you go. He was great.

He's a grand succession right now. Steelers officially on the clock, so hopefully we'll get the pick here very soon. You see a trade? Yeah. Someone going to trade up for that first pick? And that's my big question here. Steelers are on the clock. Do we expect this pick to get moved?

And if this pick gets moved, who do we think lands in the spot? Every year we talk about it, and it doesn't get ever get moved. And part of that is, I think the team picking first, go home, you reset the board, you sleep on it, and you get excited about who's left. Yeah? And doing my mock draft last night and thinking about, okay, you know, Joey Porter Jr., yeah, it'd be a great story. But you know what? Brian Branch is still out there.

I saw you did that. I love that. Maybe not the DB. Everyone was expecting, but it's the DB you need. So, no, I'd love to see that fit. I imagine they getting a lot of calls, though. And so you listen to that. A chance to pick up some more draft capital, some more picks maybe for a team looking to get Will Levis.

I think we're going to see these tight ends start to go. Michael Mayer's still out there. Yes. The Lions have the third pick here in the second round. Michael Mayer, that'd be a great fit. I'd love to see that there. So we've got a lot of good players still available and some intriguing fits here at the top of the second.

Isn't it funny, like, and especially we were talking about the Saturday, Sunday drafts, and it used to be first pick of the fourth round. Yes. That was, oh, my God, everybody was calling it. It was so kind of. It's kind of lost a little edge, you know, a little bit, but that used to be like the most popular pick that everybody was moving up for it right then and there.

But that's what's funny when now it's, broken up into two nights or really three, three days, is that it used to blend from that first or second round. And so when inevitably the Patriots traded back, you still got to see their picks that day. Now it's like anyone that trades out of the first round, it's like, oh, we got to wait. You know, we got to wait a whole other night. So it's kind of just a different flow now. And I'm still getting used to it, which is kind of funny. Brian Branch, I think we'd make a little bit of sense with the makeup of the Steelers secondary.

They could use somebody to play in the slot. But outside corner is still a pretty big need for them. Even after going to get Patrick Peterson in free agency, not a pretty modest deal. McKell Weatherspoon has heard for a good chunk of last year. They still have Levi-Wallis. It's safety to get some options. Monta-Kazy's still on the roster. They brought him back,

making Fitzpatrick, obviously. But if they drop another outside corner into this equation with the guys they have in the front seven, going to get Broderick Jones in the draft last night, making the move up for him, we talked about this. The offense pretty intact, you know, around Kenny Pickett. You put one more corner into the mix here

with the guys they have on the second and third level, second and first level is that defense. Steelers suddenly become like kind of an intriguing. team if this falls the right way. Yeah. If everything goes the way they should, you know, George Pickens continues to ascend as a receiver and that offensive line gels together with some new additions on there, which should be a better unit for that team. In Keely Ringo, that's an option here if they want to go outside corner, the big physical corner from Georgia's outstanding speed. Not many guys walking around look like Keely Ringo. But, you know, it's,

And I think there's a lot of different targets for teams making the calls up here. Yeah. Whether that's one of these quarterbacks, like we mentioned, Michael Mayer, possibility, defensive tackles. We saw a run on those in the late first with Brian Brazi, Mazi Smith. Could we see Atabawaray, the Northwestern defense attack, would come off the board here pretty quickly. So I think a lot of potential targets from teams looking to move up.

And that's, again, this is the draft of the eye of the beholder of more than anything. So that's what, I'm glad you're breaking. I'm glad you're breaking it down because it used to be sometimes where it's like, oh, well, this guy's remaining. So we got to go here. I'm glad you threw in Branch as the mocked pick for there, though, because it was just like, oh, yeah, he's still around. Yeah. He was, a lot of people had him going top 20 for weeks and weeks and weeks and then kind of like fell off

after testing, but he's just a football player. That's it. He really is, and it's kind of like a very steward type of guy. Oh, yeah. Like, just as far as football IQ and just kind of more than what he says. He played the star position at Alabama that Mika Fitzpatrick popularized. So to pair those, or to get those guys together. Oh, no.

Just two geniuses, actually. Like, football geniuses. Like, I love that. They love those guys. They do. I mean, just think about all the defensive players that kind of fit that mold over the years. Try Paul, Mali, O. Fitt. McHitts Patrick there now.

Just guys who have that sense. Even T.J. Watt up front. Like, because then they run, like, defense where under Keith Butler, where they're just like, yeah, just freelance. Do what you want. You see it go. It's like, oh, God, I can't believe they let them do it. But, okay. Go for it.

That's a Steeler way, apparently. That plan that they had a couple years ago, this is way off topic. but when they had T.J. Watt, Cameron Hayward, the defensive lineman from Notre Dame that they had there for a little while, who's now that. Stefan Tewitt. So when they had Tewitt and K.M. Hayward there together, because Hayward was such a rock,

they could let Tewit do whatever he wanted. So that kind of combination of those dudes who are uber reliable, dudes who are just playmakers outside of structure, and one kind of rotating around the other, like a symbiotic relationship. It's very cool to see happen. Yeah. And now with Alex Highsmith emerging as being a legitimate pass rusher in this league,

and Larry Ogunjobe is there. And so, you know, they've got some things to work with in that Front Seven. And it's just about building the secondary. And, you know, so bring in Patrick Peterson. What's that going to look like? So if they did go outside corner here, it's no mystery why they would. That seems like the one area, they definitely need to get better. They wouldn't, I like that they want Broderick Jones, too.

And this is, yeah, this is just going to be hanging kind of over my head until I actually do is studying the Steelers' offense. Because I just, I really want to know what happened. I stopped paying attention to the offense because like, oh, they were on the no-fly list for a while, man. They were on a fly-list for a long time. And now it's like, oh, okay, come on. Yeah, okay, you're back in coach. You're in row 32C. So I'll be, now I can actually watch these guys again.

So I am just interested just like, because they probably don't need another pass catcher, right? With pickings, getting rid of Claypool and all that. But it's. And they've traded for. Allen Robinson. Yes, exactly. Draft of Calvin Austin last year. And Deonti Johnson.

So it's like that, and now you can kind of limit it. That's what's fun is that they now have this kind of very young offense. It's kind of how the Bengals have been kind of put together the last couple years. I've talked about this last night. A young offense, we can pay our defensive players. So it's interesting now to maybe drop in another little youth injection potentially right now. Pick is in, so they're not trading it. There we go.

It's never good. They're going to stick and pick. for other potential trade options. The Cardinals are now owners of that 33rd pick after the trade with the Texans. I assume that they're still very open for business at the stage of things. Oh, yeah.

The way they set themselves up for next year with adding a first and third from Houston, they may have two top five, two top ten picks next year. So they're looking pretty, but they've got some work to do still here on day two. It wouldn't be surprised if they had they made a move back. Detroit's the third pick after the next pick after Arizona.

what are they looking at? Are they looking again, stick with the theme we talk about with Colton, just adding starters, guys that are coming in and help this team better right now. That was really the only other moves from yesterday that have shaken up the second round. Obviously, the Packers now own the Jets. 42nd pick, which is their first of two second round picks, and then a few more trades from earlier. The T.J. Hawkinson's trade coming into play here,

the Rochuan Smith trade with the Bears. But the top of the second round is what we saw gets shaken up yesterday. Right, exactly. And so we'll see if we see, I'm sure we'll see some more trades here as teams move around, the quarterbacks especially. Yeah. Seems like that's going to be, we talk about in the first round. There's certain points of the first round where trades could really make the drafts go this way or that way. And I think we'll see that here in the second round pretty quickly.

I mean, just every position here, even the receiver position, because we've talked about how there's a lot more role players on day two. It's like now we actually get to see where these guys end up because there can be some really fun kind of receiver two, receiver three, even super receiver four is that can go. on day two. We talked about how, you know, there's only so many first round grades. There's only so many second round grades. And so at some point, that's going to fall off a little bit, and teams want those top 40, 50 picks. I'm pretty sure it's a lot of former players in the second and the third round today.

Even like current players, like Toronto. Wow. Alan Fanico looks. He looks phenomenal. He does. He looks like he should be like it. You see it in the face, but not, oh, that. Wow.

He looks like he'd be sure like the. a third lead like a Western right now. I think you just want to Augusta. Okay. There we go. The best possible story, I think, for who they could have taken the Steelers with this pick. It's Joey Porter Jr. from Penn State, the corner. Talk about outside corner.

They go with the position of need and to a very familiar place to find that position of need. And what a great story. The one where his dad was, you know, a Pro Bowl player. He grew up in that locker room. Very familiar with that franchise and that organization. and the opportunity that he has to go and play for Mike Tomlin and that franchise, that's awesome. He's obviously big corner, physical, 34-inch arms. I mean, basically his same arm length is Roderick Jones.

And so get him, park him in press, let him get physical, let him disrupt the timing of routes. You know, decent speed. He's not a burner, but he's not speed deficient. A little stiff, worry about that a little bit. That's why he's still here with the first pick in the second round. And I wish he made more plays on the football. But with all that said, you just don't see guys with that size, that length, that ability. So we talked about outside corner being a big need.

It fits. It's funny because usually the children, the ones that have pedigree from NFL players, kind of usually go similar positions, like the BOSAs and their dad, Bosa. Brian Cox, Brian Cox Jr. My dad was a tight-in. And, of course, I was an idiot and decided, no, I'm a quarterback. So I didn't listen to that, even though I was 6'5. But no, it's he plays it like an edge player.

He plays corner like an edge player, good and bad. Very handsy. And this is why, and he loves to be physical, like Dane said, it's that if he loses right off the press, it's, ooh, you're scared. His ability to recover where you're speaking about stiff, if the guy breaks on him, if he loses right off the press, and that guy breaks on him, you're a little antsy with it. But you do love the physicality.

You love that he's just going to bring it every time he is competitive, just like his dad was. He first flashed to me last year when he played against Ohio State. And because he was giving Garrett Wilson some issues because he was mugging him up. And he was like, okay, I'm going to bring it to you. But then you saw Garrett Wilson get him a couple times. You're like, oh, okay. I can see maybe while you're kind of like slotted where you're at.

But even speaking of a slot, like that's the thing he's outside only. I don't see him ever making that transition. He doesn't have that agility, that foot quickness, that kind of ability to change direction where he like him in a slot, even though he is a physical and a willing tackler and all that. He did not do the three cone that short shot away. He opted out of those events. He's the D.K. Metcalf, of course. Yeah, right.

That's kind of what he is. You know what? That's okay. The last two years, 11 coverage penalties, nine pass interference, two hold, defensive holdings. He will get physical. It's a double-edged sword. You have to be okay with that. Live with the good.

It's just, it's part of him. And that's okay. I think that he's going to come in pretty quickly and compete for a starting job. Absolutely. It's been a while since the Steelers have taken this sort of swing at the position. Think about how they've tried to fill it over. over the last three or four years. A lot of low risk signings, you know, guys like Levi Wallace,

those middle of the pack kind of guys. Already burns in 2016 is really. And then Senquez Golds was the year before, or Goldsend the year before, did not work out. Justin was a third rounder. Like, yeah. Camp Sut was a third rounder, but it's been a lot of those mid-tier kind of acquisitions both in the draft and free agency.

So it's a little bit richer than we've seen them go at the spot in a little while. Yeah, no doubt. They've missed on some corners. Corner has been maybe a little bit of a blind spot. for them. You know, they went in Cleveland cut Joe Hayden. That was a good fit for Pittsburgh for a couple of years. But for the most part, yeah, they've they've struggled to draft and develop that position. We'll see if Joey Porter Jr. can change that narrative a little bit.

That's what's just so funny is because they're so good at drafting receivers and developing receivers. It's like some teams are just like this where it's like they just nail one position other teams or other positions. It's not so great. But it's kind of funny how they've had some accomplished defenses, some really good defenses, despite truly not having corners. And they built through the spine and it's working for them. It's interesting. There you go. So we were wondering what the trade was going to look like.

The Titans go to 33, trade with the Cardinals, and the pick is in immediately. My question about the Titans and quarterback was, did they like one of the quarterbacks in this draft? And is that the reason that we heard all the chatter about them moving up? Or were they motivated to find a quarterback full stop? And I think we're about to get our answer here. This is interesting. Yeah. So the Cardinals, we talked about maybe they're not done moving, trading.

Okay, they pick up a third round pick. They kind of flop. Oh, yeah, they switched. They basically, yeah, switch. That's not a lot to give up of your Tennessee. That's not a lot to give up at all, especially if this is for a quarterback. Cardinals were more than willing to get out of there, move back a little bit. And for Tennessee, yeah.

That's essentially like a seventh round pick, mid-end of a second. It's almost nothing to move back eight spots. They move back eight spots here and then move up nine spots with their thirds. Yeah, that's actually a pretty damn good trade for this. tights right there yeah yeah that's not too much to give up for i mean you would think this is for the quarterback you would think this is for will levis who they did a lot of work on okay uh they we thought maybe at 11 that was a possibility uh rancarthon oh we have the looks like there's a 2024 3rd there that makes a lot more sense okay the math isn't working out 20 24 3rd is in the

okay for the cardinals you're adding another 20 so they now have another 24 3rd they just This is great. This is exactly how they should be operating. It makes sense that these two teams traded with where he came from being a Titans guy. Some teams need bodies, other need playmakers. Cardinals are in that bodies category, no doubt about it. So, yeah, I mean, Will Levis. He was a 30 visit for the Titans, you know, Rand Carthon, first year as the GM, as a GM.

But with Tennessee, would he go get the quarterback? Is this the right time to do that? They drafted Malik Willis in the third round last year, right? Obviously, John Robinson did that, but how did that factor it into their decision-making here? So at this point, 33rd pick, didn't have to give up too much. It would make sense for the quarterback. Will Levis. It would be really funny if he goes with Ryan Tanna Hill here, because that's the comparison for it.

My question was the sequencing. Dane talked about the timing of it. This is a team I think we all believe is not going to be very good this year. The X-Jure's quarterback class is very good. Did you feel an urgency to go get your guy? And clearly they did. Because the pick is in and it's Will Levis from Kentucky, the 33rd pick here, Dane. What do you think about the fit with Will Levis in Tennessee?

Really like the fit. And it's 20 picks later we thought might have happened if he was going to end up in Tennessee. It's funny how Will Levis will go down as a second round pick when no one would have been surprised if the Titans moved up to six and drafted him there. That is a perfectly logical outcome that could have happened. and nobody would have batted an eye. But here he is. They're getting him with a second round value.

I love that play right there where he saw it quickly. Boom, it's out, that release. He just does a really nice job using the tools that he has to go make something happen. And again, it's not always pretty. It's not always on time. Sometimes you need to see things quicker. But when you're 6'4, 235 pounds, you're a good athlete, you're smart, you're tough, you have an outstanding arm, you can just do a lot of things.

And I think just like we talked about with Richardson, obviously the tools and the upside, I want to talk about the floor. How that raises your floor as a quarterback. I think the same thing with Will Levis. I think that raises his floor with all the tools that he has where he can at least make something happen. And even in the games where there's some low lights

and he's making mistakes, he can still make something happen because of those tools. Talk about some of those tools. What kind of player, why don't you show us what kind of player the Titans are getting and Will Levis here, Nate? First and foremost, the offense that he played in, of course, This is what's been a big talking point, some of the appeal with Levice, was that he played in a pro-style offense.

And so what that means with pro-style is a lot is under center here. And this is what some of the appeal was. This is why we've made jokes that it's like, oh, yeah, Shan guys are going to love this guy. It's right here is not all these guys, all these top quarterbacks, did stuff under center. So I don't want to say that they didn't. But they weren't doing stuff like this,

which is a quick-hitting play-action play. And this is something a lot of guys have to learn at the NFL level. If you see this, he's taking one, two, three, three, four, five, planning the foot and the balls out. And that is a very, very, like, not an easy throw to make and not something hard. It's very hard to get used to. It really is. As someone that had to do it.

And watching Russell Wilson do it really easily, it was really frustrating for me. But also when you're watching Will Levis, is arm talent. Right here is him resetting in the red zone. We talk about room for error. Is right here is two of his guys kind of run into each other. If you watch this receivers right here, is they kind of run and there's not a lot of great spacing there. This is supposed to be a little move. This is very popular play in the red zone.

But you see Levitt's reset. I'm going to show the end zone view here. But watch him reset and that ball just comes out. Like that is blurred because that ball is whipped in there. That's the release you were talking about yesterday. And we were talking about Whoa, Levis. Lightning Fast. This room for error that he has.

And how quickly he can reset there, just one, and that ball's out. He's able to pump and do that. Some of these guys have elongated motions. It's what the Stafford comparisons come from. Yes. And that's exactly it. It's just that quick release. And if you notice on a lot of his highlights is that,

His teammates don't do a lot of favors. It's either throwing trick shots. He's under pressure, but that actually lets it translate because you have bad offense lines. He's going to have a bad offense align in Tennessee. So he's able to do this in these trick shots, but then you see this a lot. Teammate dropping the ball. So you see that pressure coming in right around here, and he's still able to get this throw

off, change his arm ankle. That is very real. That is very translatable. That is why Will Levis people like him. It's just that he's tough. He's athletic. He can change arm angles. He can make all.

the throws. It's just that he's a little bit of robotic when he does so. But he does have that element of trick shot into him. Lions pick is in at 34. You go with Sam Leporta, tight end from Iowa. I love this. I wanted them to find this sort of player. When I was thinking about the lions and again, those kind of secondary pass catchers that they needed to add to the mix, running back isn't the first place I went. It was pass catching tight end. And they find one here in Sam Leporta name. I mean, a little surprise he went ahead of Michael Mayer. Yes. Obviously, and not just mayor, but Musgrave. Yes.

Darnall Washington. Even Tucker Kraft. So a little surprise, he went ahead with all those guys. But this is just a good football player. They get both Iowa players, Jack Campbell, and now Sam LaPoor. I mean, he is not a high ceiling, but just a solid. I mean, it's no mystery what the lions are doing here. No, absolutely.

They're going for, give us the solid starters. You know, we can forget traits and like, you know, upside. and let's go with the solid football players that we know what they can do. And Laporte is that guy. He was the guy in that offense, the receiving target, and still defenses couldn't stop him. Really, he's a dependable receiver.

He, nobody had more mistackles at tight end than he did at the FBS level last year so he can do something after the catch. That Kentucky game in the bowl game. But he had, he suffered a meniscus injury, came back just for the bowl game. A lot of kids. guys they're packing it in that start our draft prep. He came back just for the bowl game when

most guys are opting out. So this is a guy that loves football, uh, talking to scouts about him. They say how does he have the athleticism as a Noah fan or a T.J. Hawkinson? No, not necessarily, but he has the toughness of, uh, George Kittle. Yeah. The other eye with tight end that, you know, we've talked about so much. So have that competitiveness, that toughness, that you know that matters to the lions. I made a joke throughout the kind of process that Sam Leport is everybody's second favorite tight end. And he ended up being the second tight end that went, which is kind of, I had him slotted exactly the same way you did when we broke down the tight ends. There was a couple little changes that we had or differences.

He was tied in six for me because, but there is a lot to like because he's smart, tough, dependable, but there's a pretty good athlete as well. They would split him out. I have clips. I can show you guys, don't you worry. But it's they split him out. They can isolate him. He blocks. He's a willing blocker. I said as he, maybe I thought, maybe projected him more like an early third type,

that if he was transitioning to the league, his first role could be an ace special teamer. I thought because he just has that athletic ability, that toughness, that smartness. Smartness. But he just does a lot. He can be a little bit of Swiss Army knife. You can split him out. You can run screens for him. He'd create after the catch.

He does a lot of things well. He's very, very useful. He's a smaller player. He's a three, two, 45. For a tight end, that's a little bit smaller than you usually see. But something that you know mattered to this team. He told Scouts, you know, when they asked them, hey, why did you come back for your senior year?

You would have been a day two pick last year. He told Scouts, I wanted to come back to be a captain. That mattered to me. That was really important. I wanted to be a captain for the Hawkeyes. And you know that's catnit for the lions. That's exactly what they wanted. I was talking to an offensive coordinator a couple weeks ago.

I'm talking about tightouts. Huge fan of Dalton King. He had an elite trick because he was a great pass catcher. second favorite tight end because in my mind, in his mind, this is the next guy's a pass catcher. We thought that if I couldn't get Kincave, maybe this would be our second option. What else did Ben Johnson have to say? With Sam Laporte. And I think that this kind of signals the shift that we were talking about last night and even over the last week or so,

this idea of secondary pass catchers, position agnostic. Who are your secondary pass catchers? And the shift to these sorts of tight ends, these guys who weigh 240, 245 pounds, because we just need other playmakers with the football. I think Dalton Kincaid and Sam Lipport being the first two guys off the board is a signal of that shift. It really is. It's something I've really come around on and we talked about on the tight end show again. It's past catchers. It's not just receivers and everything. Yes, you want guys kind of locked into kind of more permanent roles. This is our wide tight end that is in line. This is our

outside receiver. Okay, you have one of each and it's like everybody else interchange them. The F tight end, the F receiver, the slot receiver, the running back. I mean this is they have another weapon there. With Gibbs there. It's like they just want a second day. They have Amon and Ross St. Brown. Okay, let's build this triangle. Now we got LaPorta Gibbs

and Amon-Rat St. Brown work in the middle. That's pretty fun. And can anybody tell me who the top tight end on the lion's depth chart is before this same Laporta pick? Oh my God.

I mean. Brock Wright. That's the name I keep coming back to you. Speaking of tight ends. There's a tight end bar. The Raiders trade up from 38 to 35 give up a mid-round pick in the process.

And here it is. Michael Mayor from Notre Dame coming off the board to the radar. What do we think here, Dave? 6-4-250, a guy that's going to help them, especially in the red zone. One of the better contested catch receiving tight ends that I've ever evaluated. I mean, it does not matter what's going on around them.

The hand-eye coordination, the hand strength, is really impressive. Is he a big-time athlete? No, but he's a more than functional athlete for the position. He can create little pockets of separation. He is a workable blocker. He can line up in line. he can work out of the slot. He can do everything that you want.

He's just a rock solid player. A lot of the things we talk about with Sam Leporta. Also qualify for mayor. And the day he showed up in South Bend, he was the guy. And he immediately was productive, dependable. And especially this past year, just like we talked about with Leporta. He was the number one receiving option. Not many people can tell you a Notre Dame receiver from last year

because it was not what they used to make that offense go. they leaned a lot on Michael Mayer. He answered and was able to be productive. Just to line it up. He's underrated as a receiver and overrated as a blocker. That's kind of the line I've used throughout the spring, is that they split him out just like these other guys we talk about. And he was winning, man, zone, whatever you want,

different route types. They designed shot plays for him off like play action, and he's more than fluid to be down the field adjusting for the ball. He's an athlete. He's just a functional athlete. That's the best way to put it. It's so easy to look at him and be like, that's an NFL tight end.

His blocking is he's naturally strong. He's like strong as an ox. Like he really is. He just says that. It's very natural. Yeah. It's like it's weird. It's because his blocking technique isn't good, but he still moves guys.

And so it's okay, that's, that's a good thing. You're still getting movement and your technique is shit. Oh, I'm sorry. But it is that we're on the podcast right now is that it's not good. And so it's that way we can work on that. We coach him up. Like this is good. And especially for the Raiders now,

not I'm Darren Waller. Foster Moreau is no longer there. They have Austin Hooper now. Austin Hooper is kind of the rental. And perfect. They had a perfect need for this. This really makes sense for what the Raiders want to do on offense.

We talked about this heading into the draft because they didn't have a first or second round pick last year because they traded for Devonze Adams. We hadn't really seen this Dave Zieg or Josh McDaniels regime draft. Doesn't this feel like a Patriots pick? Michael Mayer going into the second round of the Raiders, it feels like something the Patriots would have done. So kind of now grafting ideas

onto this regime in with Las Vegas, it's starting to make a little bit more sense now. Even in the first round, with Tyree Wilson, you know, right? Seems like that type of pick. And then here with Michael Mayer and... Think about the last time the Patriots drafted an edge in the first round. What was his biggest trait? Lengths Chandler Jones.

Right. Yeah, that's it. Push that pocket. That's what they like. Just read the power. Everybody's condense the pocket. This is going to help Jimmy Garoppolo, that offense, helped Monti Adams and the rest of those receivers. So, you know, with... You're right. with Foster Maroon not there,

Darren Waller not there. This is a little bit of a shift with what they're doing at tight end, but with Austin Hooper in the mix, now Mayor. Jacoby Myers. Yes, right. Bring them in, working on him out of the slot. It's an interesting collection of receivers.

It's a lot of guys I like, yeah. I'm still terrified of the offensive line, the state of the offensive line with the Raiders. But this group of past catchers, I wish the quarterback was more exciting, but I do like the guys catching the football here. I do, too. I really like Mayor. I mean, he was my tight end one as well.

And it's just like, don't overthink him. That's why he just kept telling people. It's like, just don't overthink him. Is he going to be just crazy? He's not going to be kiddle 30 yards down the field, hoot and hollering, as he's catching a seam route, like ad-libbing that. No, but he's going to be that steady eddy for you. That's why Jason Witten heard those comparisons a lot.

It makes so much sense. Like, yeah, he might sneak in a thousand-yard season, but you can see him year after year again, that 800 yards, you know, that 70 catches, like just churning that over year after year, a few touchdowns. He's just useful. He's going to play so many snaps for you because you can split them out. You can use them in-line.

You can use them as a wing. You can write in screens for him. That's what Notre Dame did at times with him, and he was good on it. He created yards after the catch. So like I've said before, that strength comes through as explosiveness, and that comes through with his route running sometimes because he'll run out of stuff and his ball skills as well. Like Dan said the contest to catch stuff.

He's just a good football player. I have to assume that one of the reasons he lasted a little bit longer and ends up being the third tight end up in the foreign day is that the ceiling is just a little bit lower. You mentioned George Kittle. George Kittle is an otherworldly athlete. When you're betting on traits at the position, I think that's when the ceiling starts to come at the play.

And for a solid of a player, as Michael Mayer is, he doesn't have an elite trait in any one area as an athlete. And it'd be interesting if he were in last year's draft, which was not viewed as a tight end. There's some nice tight ends last year, but it wasn't viewed as a tight end-rich draft. Right. where this pick, or this draft, it is.

It's a very deep position. So a lot of teams probably said, hey, you know what, we can wait a little bit. And, you know, we don't have to force the issue. Again, still surprised LaPorteur went ahead of them. And, you know, Luke Musgrave is still out there, darn old Washington. So we'll see the tight end run continue here. But, yeah, it's surprising to see he felt where he did.

Torrey Holt, announcing the pick for the Rams here, 36 overall. Steve Avila from TCU going to Los Angeles. Angeles Dane. This is a team that needed a lot of work in a lot of areas. They go interior offensive line. Bit of a surprise. You know, I think as you're building, you want versatility in that offensive line. Steve Avila gives you that he started at center, started at guard. He's that wide-bodied blocker, 330 plus pounds, but he does have quickness. And he's really smart. I think that's what stood out to NFL teams. Quite center. Right. I mean, he understood

where he needed to be, what his angles needed to be. He's a very smart player, and that matters to a lot, especially when offensive line coaches get involved. You know, I mean, they meet with these guys, they learn more about them. I promise you, Steve Avila was someone that really impressed throughout the process with his ability, his knowledge. And the tape is really good too.

You know, it's, again, if you want to play them at center, you want to play him at guard, that interior offensive line versatility matters in a big way to several teams, especially a team like the Rams. That matters so much. I love your talking about the versatility because injuries happen.

What happened to that? Yeah, just asking the Rams. What happened to Rams offense line last year? Yeah, some injuries cropped up and you want as many guys that you can that can snap the ball, much less play center feasibly. That's why when you see maybe a guy like

John Michael Schuster and Joe Tipman in the top centers of this draft, they're kind of center only. I mean, Tipman might be able to bounce the guard, but it's like they're kind of center only. So that's why you see this and it's like his upside as all three of those positions that gives guys a lot of bump.

That's a lot more value with his position. But speaking of the angles and everything, that's what it, when you watch him, you're like, okay, at first I was going to picture like Gabe Jackson. Like just blind, but I'm knocking this guy out when I pull. He does have a little more, because he's smart, knows how to be fluid. It lets him be a more athletic about it. Body control.

Body control, yes, that's a good way. He knows how to play within himself, which is really fun to watch. He was a fun watch, actually. He was, and I think this is where that interior offensive line was going to ask you if it was going to start now. We're kicking something off here with that pick. Right.

And, you know, Osirce is still out there. A few others, but none of the Seattle. 37th pick. Seahawks go with Derek Hall from Auburn. We knew that Edge and Front 7 was going to be a need for Seattle. A little bit higher than some of the other guys, I think, that you had on your edge rankings, though, dang correct? Yeah, you know, with the, we've got, we've still got a few of those guys out there with Keon White is still out there, Georgia Tech.

But, I mean, Derek Hall, he was, I think, that next guy, be Georgia Larry still out there. But Derek Hall, talk about those fairway shots. That's what he is. He is going to be a solid starter in this league. Not going to give you the most creative counters, secondary moves.

He's a hard charger who is just going to go, go, go. And just a fascinating story. I mean, he was born four months premature. Doctors told his mom, hey, there's no quality of life here. You know, it's just, it's, they wanted her to sign a, do not resuscitate, you know,

and just kind of move on. And his mom didn't give up on him. And here he is, 6-4-25-pound defensive end now in the NFL for the Seahawks. This is exactly what Seattle needed as they continued to build on that defense. We were so surprised that they took Witherspoon yesterday because we're like, well, that was kind of your strength anyways. But all right, cool. You're adding another kind of what they think is a star quality player up there. But they needed to address the front.

They needed to address that front seven in some way, shape, or form. this makes a ton of sense, adding just, you know, they needed this. Like they don't have that many players that can play those spots tangibly. And this, like you said, he's going to give it as a whole. He's going to just go, go, go, go. Okay, that matters with the Seahawks. They also like to have their guys go, go, go, so it makes sense as far as stylistic. And he has a unanimous approval rating.

You could argue that some teams. You could argue maybe the value is different from team to team, but I didn't talk to anybody that just disliked Derek Hall as a player. You know, he is useful. No matter the scheme you're running, no matter... Just add him to the mix. It's part of your edge rush rotation. Whether he starts or he doesn't,

he's going to be an important part of what you're doing off the edge. Falcons move up to 38 here. Colts moved down to 44. The Colts moved back twice. Chris Bauer got a little anxious yesterday after having a draft quarterback in the top five. Now he's back in his comfort. I stand pat.

Just picking out fourth round picks along the way here as often as possible. Colts, with one of those teams that need some box. So those fourth round picks are valuable. Oh man, and Bauer, I'm playing blackjack. He never stands back. It's 17 hit. Just more, more, I want more cards. More cards is better, right?

It's more chances at it. But no, it's kind of interesting that the Falcons are moving up here because I'm like, well, they don't need a running back. I can tell you that, but they're also another team that probably needs maybe some defensive help here. Brian Branch is still out there. Brian Branch is still out there. They cut Casey Hayward in that secondary.

secondary could that be a fit here and we're talking about that into your offensive line run they still need another starting guard probably yeah Osiris Torrance plug him in the guard from Florida that that makes a ton of sense actually I would absolutely love with the Falcons picked a running back in a guard in the first 38 picks again actually yeah yeah actually this is I would actually really like that with that zone heavy scheme they're probably just got like some random position now John Abraham making the pick for the Falcons John Abraham the last great edge rusher for the Atlanta Falcons they would chase one ever since 15 years they've been

chase the one I ever said. Yeah, very, yeah. Good call. So Matthew Bergeron goes to Atlanta from Syracuse, 38th overall pick. Dane, they just re-signed Caleb McGarry. Jake Matthews is there as their left tackle. They have a need at guard.

What do you think the fit is from where he'll play early on? Guard. I think that a lot of teams had him on the board as a zone guard, someone that could play tackle. And maybe he is the eventual left tackle for this team. It's a really good plan. You drop him as a starting guard now, and maybe that's the succession plan for Jake Matthews,

who's pretty deep into his 30s, I'd have to assume. And you have high hopes for Caleb McGarry, obviously, but his career's been a little rocky, you never know. And so adding a player with that flexibility to kick out and play tackle, there's so much value to that. Outstanding run blocker. If you like Matthew Bergeron, it's because you saw it as run block. Now the past protection stuff, you know,

you could throw on tape against Miles Murphy and Clemson or all the pass rushers in the ACC. He had some ups and downs versus those guys. Not the longest player needs to do a better job in terms of answering those counters and being in a better position, especially on an island in space. But as a guard, I really think that he'll be able to minimize that, be able to anchor, reset, love this fit. I mean, this makes a ton of sense. And yeah, you talked about that running back in the first round, you come back with this guard here,

that really the final piece of that offensive line, they hope, makes a ton of sense. It does. Nate, let's show us a little bit more about what type of player the Falcons are getting with Matthew Bergeron. I did not wait. I'm so glad it goes with the Falcons too because this is actually one I had, it was fan fiction in my brain even this morning. I was like, it actually would make a lot of sense for Dane said here is Bergeron is a left tackle for Syracuse. And even though he is a left tackle, you see the traits of why it would make him a good card. And that's first, this first play.

So again, left tackle right there is this first play against Notre Dame. Watch him fire out of his stance. Staying low. is like drill work. That is running under the bars. I don't know how many times you had to do that in high school. It's my head all the time. Yes. I might imagine your teammates. I'm with you all like six, seven. But yeah, so Burj around right here. See you

a little bit of outside hand so you don't want that, but that bend to be able to, that strain. Going against Foski. Yes. He just drives him out. And that's what he does in the run game time and again. Now, and what Dan was talking about with the past game and his past protection. And this is why I compared his footwork almost to Peyton

in the pocket. It's very chattery, but he He's light on his feet. A little clunky. It's weird. I don't know how to describe it. It's like he can get them up and down, but it's not like smooth. So just like Peyton Manning in the pocket. It's like, yeah, that's good technique and everything.

So Virgeron as a pass protector, yes, it's a work in progress. I think this plan for the Falcons makes a ton of sense just for everything that Dane said. You see that like him firing out a stance, he's balanced. His hands are pretty good. He was a four-year start. He played at both tackle spots, I believe. He has that versatility that we talked about. That's a premium.

with Lyman. And this is the last play I wanted to show. And this is where he kind of popped for me, because this is early in the game. So again, this is zone. Look at that movement. Yes. Staying low, that zone movement. Feet aren't under themselves. Look, he's, I mean, that's just coming out of stance. But watch him keep his balance here. A little jump block. Watch 60 right here. You don't see this, see this very often. See a little jump block there. So that's, that's, that's up, up, down punch if you're playing any video games. So it's all the street fire games right there. But that's really just what Burgeron is. And I like this plane with the Falcons. This is for him. I would, I said this actually even on Twitter this morning. I would give him a shot at

tackle, but they don't need to. It's great. He can go with the ones as a guard and with the two's, hey, you're the back up right and left tackle, you're our swing guy. The versatility is already a great thing, but the fact that he has length, he's got enough athleticism, he's got tenacity, he seems smart, he's always on his feet. It's a really intriguing package. I really like this for the Falcons. And a great story, too. He's born in Montreal. You know, football was not as big as it is here. And he didn't have much recruiting interest at all. Got on a bus, went to a camp at Syracuse,

and based just on that camp, he got an offer from Buffalo and then Syracuse. Nobody else knew about him. That's the only camp that he really showed out at. And, I mean, he, from day one, he was a starter. He was. He was. He earned a starting job right away.

And a little bit of right tackle, but mostly left tackle. The last four years, he has really gotten better every single. year. You see that progression, which is so important for an offensive line. Jake Matthews, only 31. I apologize to Jake Matthews. It's been a long. It feels like he's been there for 20 years. I was with the team.

I was with the team. You can forgive me if it feels like he's a little bit older, but they're financially really tied into him for the next two years. So you assume Matthew Bergeron now fits in as your right guard on that, excuse me, your left guard, Chris Lindstrom is the highest pay guard in the league now right guard. But you have Jake Matthews, Matthew Bergeron, Drew Dalman, Chris Lindstrom, Caleb McGary, You have Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Scottie Miller is now there as a speed threat. Matt Collins is another big body receiver, and this guy named Bijan Robinson is playing running back for them. We'll see what happens with Desmond Ritter?

And then Johnny Smith is also there right now. That offense last year, it was almost like an oddity. It was like a, it was a curiosity because it was so good but peculiar. Now it might just be good. We'll see what happens with Desmond Ritter, but the infrastructure and the support system, they put around him, know-wise, Dane. It's hard not to get a little bit excited about that. Oh, yeah. It'll be really interesting to see how Desmond Ritter can he take that next step. And, you know, I think they trust him in that offense. But can he be someone that you're winning because of and not just

winning with? You know, that'll be a key for him. And we'll see if he's able to step up and do it. Absolutely. I still have plenty of Ritter's stock. So this, he has no excuses. I know, that there's not going to be any of that Trevor Lawrence talk that I had last year where it's like, hey, the situation sucks, guys. He's better than it seems. Ritter's got none of those excuses. At 39, we assume the Panthers might be hunting for another pass catcher. They had to trade DJ more of the Bears as part of that deal to move up to number one,

go get Adam Theonan and free agency. But one more kind of bit of youth, a little bit of an injection of talent at that position. And we get Jonathan Mingo from Old Miss, number 39 to Carolina Day. 6-1-2-20 operated a lot of the slot in that offense. did a lot of catch and go on film. And you felt like there is a, you know, the stats don't blow you away. You felt like there's more there based off of just,

you know, what he was able to do when he did have the ball in his hands. The most impressive 40 yards you'll ever see. Right. You'll finish again with three catches for 40 yards. Man, that's right. Really? I think we went for like 130 there. And it's funny.

You look at the Panthers. Obviously, they draft Bryce Young in the first. And so you need to get him some help. You look at the depth chart. And it's like, there's plenty of bodies there. I mean, Leviska-Shanolt still there. Terris Marshall. still there, but, you know, this is a guy that maybe gives them something a little bit different

in that mix, and it'll be interesting to see how they use him now. You know, do they operate them out of the slot? Do they keep him on the outside? Not many exes, guys this side, when we talk about Ced Tillman being one of those guys. Mingo's another one that you can, you know, big-bodied, athletic receivers, you know, they put a premium on those players if your NFL teams, so not a surprise that he went this early. Yeah, he, it's someone asked me, they cannot turn it. I'm not Twitter. Referencing my Twitter bunch here, but it's someone asked like who would be the best power slot option for Jonathan Mingo was it. He's a, he's a willing blocker. He has strength and he wants to block. So it's like, all right, there's something there. Tested like a freak. He is

very athletic. He's big and everything. Best on the move. Best on like overs and crossers. And maybe that's just how, yeah, you use that Ole Miss. But I do think, you know, he needs some work with route running. But it's kind of, again, this is a great synergy fit as far as Adam Thielen, DJ Trark, or kind of the one and two, as far as the Panthers receivers, he can go in there, he can literally slot in there, and it makes sense. He gives him that yak ability with upside. Like you said, he is one of the few guys that's a bigger receiver, but he does move. He's more of a movement guy, yak guy, but he has that upside to be a ball winner down the field.

Some of the receiver-specific things, the details, that's where he needs to get better to be a better separator. He's not a polished player necessarily. I've seen the ladder. The ladder sucks with him now. Exactly. It's running. He's a guy that with that size, the physicality, the toughness.

I mean, I know it's Vanderbilt, but watch the Vanderbilt tape. I mean, he broke Elijah Moore's school record in that game for receiving yards. That was definitely a highlight game where it showed everything you wanted to see from a receiver. Do you have any insight into what they feed the receivers at Old Miss? Oh, goodness. Just the amount of like yoked up dudes that have come out of there over the last five years. D.K. Mecalf is what, 225, 230, AJ Brown? like 220.

And Jonathan Mingo's pushing the scale here at 220. It's ridiculous. How many monsters they're churning out. To have that size but also have the speed, you know, really impressive. 39.5 inch vert. I mean, he is a freaky, freaky dude. What do you think is the ceiling? Like, why do you think it took him this long if we're talking about a 220-pound guy with

some of these explosion characteristics? Yeah, I mean, I do think his, he probably thrives so much because of those, you know, the size of speed. He never really had to be a detailed receiver. detailed receiver and that will be the key to him unlocking everything in the NFL becoming more savvy with his routes it's all about playing the cat and mouse game with corners you have to have a level of deception to what you're doing you can't just run by everybody like you did in college so can he develop that as part of his game and I understand why you take that bet that he can do it not a

nuance it's like he was just a bigger better athlete and it's it's fine you there's times you can use that and how Lane Kiffin used him was people were going oh they you lined them up as a tight end it's like well this because Lane Kiffman was downing up a play for Mingo to get into the flat. It was all stuff, like you said, there wasn't, there's not that detail, and that's why I made the joke about the ladder step. When he would run a ladder step on an overrout, the guy goes, straight over, up, and then back over, he just runs.

He's just running away. And that can work sometimes, but there's not a lot of nuance. Four years at Ole Miss, he never led the team in receiving once. Right, it was all like 600 yards maybe. Right. He was, top season. Yeah. And he had, his career highs came as a senior, but he never led the team in receiving.

And I liked him way more than I thought originally, like that I thought I would. Yeah, I still had a third round grade on him. Yep, the same. So, I mean, this is earlier than I would take them, but I get what they're doing. That's exactly how I deal. We talk about guys landing in the right situations with the right veterans. Talk about nuanced receivers. Adam Theon is there now.

Right now he's going to a spot where Adam Thielen is going to be able to show him how to work every day. There's little tiny details while playing the position. Don't think you can overstayed how important that stuff is. And even charts pretty good, like releasing off the line, working outside. Like that, yeah, he's going to a good spot. 40th pick here, these Saints back on the clock take Isaiah Foskey from Notre We know they needed more bodies along the defensive line after that Exodus and free agency They go get Brian Bressay in the first round come back with Foskey in the second round. What do you think about it?

You think about Cameron Jordan on one side and then okay who's who's the speed guy? You know Marcus Davenport's no longer there. They needed that extra fastball that's gonna give him some pass rush and with Foskey That's exactly what he is he's speed length and motor that's what he does best now that after you get past that that's where you worry about him because you He's very predictable as a past rusher. You know what he's going to try and do. It's a lot of long arms. There's a lot of just, I'm going to try and win that corner with my speed.

But, you know, after you get done beating him up for the lack of diversity in his rush, you start to really appreciate what he does really well. And that's just, he's going to go, go, go. Kind of like we talk about Derek Hall. You know, there's not a lot of counters and secondary moves and creativeness. But in order to win consistently in the NFL, you need to develop some of that. but there is value in what he offers and that non-stop hustle,

the speed, you had the Syracuse tape on, watch the Syracuse tape, you watch a match Sean Tucker on a wheel route down the field. He has that speed to do it. You want him to play on his feet? He can do that. You want to put his hand on the ground. Play wide nine, just go, go, go, he can do that as well. So with Foski,

another player that maybe didn't think he'd go this early, top 40, but I understand for this team, the Saints, what they needed at that position, I understand want to make sense. Yep, they needed help up front. I mean, all the guys say it was the mass exodus this off season, just by design.

And so they need bodies. Like, they really do. They need guys that can play reps for them. You know, Cam Jordan can only play for so long. Cam Jordan's, yeah, Cam Jordan's only going to play in the league for so long. Yeah, yeah, he can only do that for so long. And he carries a lot of weight for them, both as a leader and both on the field. So they just need guys like this that can play tangible reps.

You're saying he'll probably transition pretty easily to the next level. I mean, I had more technique, but he's going to be the capital of you were useful early on, but they need that. They need guys that can play right away. Yeah. After Jordan, it's like, okay, who's our guy out front? Yeah, the drafts of Peyton Turner in the first round. I think this tells you a little bit about what they envision is his future.

Fetrech. There's a chance that they're still like him enough or optimistic about him enough because, again, Cam Jordan is in his mid-30s, how long as he's going to be there. But this is another high pick that they've spent on a Nedgehresher in pretty short order here. Yeah, exactly. So, and again, I think with Foski, because he started popping up in first round mocks, and it's like, I'm watching like, he's just not that type of player. And like I feel like I'm beating him up too much.

And then, okay, when you're done getting through that, you really focus on what he does good, really does well. And then you, okay, you know, I can see why you want to add this to your mix, you know, preferably as a third rusher that you're bringing in and sub and kind of getting those matchup opportunities. but you know for the Saints they're gonna want him to step in from day one and really make an impact and they need those guys like how they play up front too is that they won't blitz a lot to run simulated pressures a little bit but they're you gotta go like and you gotta bring it you gotta do a lot of physical things

we're not helping you we're not slanting you it's up and at them and that's kind of how they go about it so they like I said before is that they need these guys to eat these reps early even if that it's like yes like you said preferably he'd be a rotational guy third guy okay subpatch package guy, but I think they look at them as like, no, you're going, like get ready to play those 50 stats. And he was one of those guys, just like Leporta, where the grades were all over the place for scouts. I mean, some thought second round, others thought fourth round. Okay. You know, it's, and I think it comes down to what you really value at the position and some are really looking for those

traits, the upside, while others are focused more on, okay, what do you do really well? Okay, we can really key in on that and that's going to provide value that we need on our team. Just think about the types of guys that Saints have drafted on the edge. Big, long guys. 65, 2.65's got 34-inch arms. That is their profile player at that position. B.J. Ojalari is, what, 30 spots higher on your big board than somebody like Foski is, but it's just a different type of player.

Exactly. And we talked about it with Nolan Smith and the way he fell and where does he fit. And it just, that is such an important part of, especially when you're doing a mock draft and you're trying to place these guys. It's not just, oh, well, who's my next. Redrush are okay well yeah put him there it's just not it's not that simple you know that's not how teams look at it You know Foskey is a guy that is probably off some boards because of he's not quite what teams are looking for But he was exactly what a team like the Saints are looking for yeah especially the dirt of talent They're right up there Cardinals pick is in at 41 and Nias Williams looking incredible yeah as always

Arizona not moving down anymore It's time to make some pick here Dane you only get so many only accrue so many I said they went with the left tackle Paris Johnson in the first round. I wouldn't be surprised if it was offensive line again. Or trench player in general. And also Brian Branch is somebody that they need help in the defensive backfield. They need guys that just can be players. There we go.

And of all the needs, defensive line and edge rushers specifically, I think might have been the biggest one on the Cardinals list. They go with BJ O'Diolari from LSU with the 41st pick here, Dane. One of the highest graded players left on your board, I think. Yeah, I really like this player. Because he knows what he's doing out there. He's kind of the opposite of Foski in some ways. It's funny because you just used them as the antithesis. Exactly, exactly.

He set it up nicely, Robert. With Odulari, you see the way he's using his hands, the way he's setting up blockers. And especially he'll set up a move for later in the game. And he understands how to do that at a young age. The character's off the charts. That's the one thing. You talk to any southeast.

scout that tell you Nolan Smith, B.J. Igelieri, those two guys, character off the charge. It's number 18. That's a big deal at LSU. That matters. Yeah, they don't just give that number to anybody. So for the Cardinals that need a lot of help on the defensive line, need a lot of help in general, this is a nice building block. You go Paris Johnson high character in the first round, B. G. Adjolari is in a lot of ways the defensive version of that here in the second. I really like this. He was, he was when we did our show with Deonté, you know, I think he was our last guy that we kind of talked about. I kind of just when talking about it's like he's just solid.

Like he's good in coverage. He is young, which is very appealing. But like just good in coverage, he's like not overly strong, but he is strong. He uses his hands pretty well, but he'll disengage well. He's got enough pass rushing juice. But you can see the intelligence all the time because there, even when he would get asked to rush, and I remember against Bryce Young was that they were using him to loop around because they knew he'd be sound and just knew he would do the right thing.

And that's kind of what he is. It's another sound play. for the Cardinals. Eddressers on the Cardinals here. We got one right in my mock draft. You know this one? Nice. Cam Thomas, Mazzai Sanders,

both of whom were third round picks last year, from a different regime. So not a lot of guys blocking B.J.O. O'Jolari's path to playing time here. 42nd pick of this year's draft. The Green Bay Packers take tight end Luke Musgrave from Oregon State. Nate, somebody that you said it on our show and we were talking about him, and we were talking about a little bit last night,

just moves different. And now the Packers get one more guy with a little bit of pop in their office. is like good for them. Like I, as much as I would like mayor with going to them in the first round, I mocked it when we did it. But this is actually, I kind of like like this better in the second round. He has that star quality. He is as a blocker. They used him more offline and everything, but he has the upside, the length, the athleticism, the tenacity, the competitiveness to be a good inline blocker. That's where you're projecting. But as far as a receiver, again, he just moves different. He has loose hips. He's tall. He's long. He has four.

Former skier. Former skier, yeah, the body control. He has explosive ability. There's clips of him. It was only these two games that he played this year. They were a fantastic film. Just some of the best film you could watch. Throw on the Boise State tape and easy sell.

Everything. Everything he does. And like some of the clips that they have, they're isolating him as a lone receiver and he's beating corners on dick routes. And that's in college. You don't really see that with tight ends in college, truly doing that.

I love this. They needed this type of guy. But him and it's kind of funny. Him and Lucas Van Ness are kind of the tight end. edge versions of each other, and I love both the players. If Luke Musgrave turns out to be the best tight end from this draft class, I'm going to be surprised. I mean, it makes sense.

He was my tight end, too. I'm very bullish on him. He was my tight end three, but I'm right there with you. I mean, he, as a combo tight end, he might have the best upside of this group because of the athleticism, because he is a functional blocker. He gives you something there. And so if he were to play more than two games this year, he's probably not here at 42 for the Packers to take.

But because of the knee injury, he only had to play two games this year, that allows him to fall a little bit, and it's a steal, I think, for this team. 36% of Oregon states receiving yards in the two games that he played in. And if you look at the athletic testing, 93% percentile broad jump,

82nd percentile vertical, 88 percentile 40, 87 percentile 10 yards split. We said last night, the way he moves just a little bit different because he's so explosive and so athletic, it's a little bit like Mike is sickie, but he could block.

Yeah. So you had kind of the best of both worlds. And if he had played 11 games, probably going a lot higher than this based on that combination of tools. 255 pounds. He ran a 4-6-140 and I was kind of disappointed. I was kind of disappointed. I was expected to 4-5. Right, yeah.

I thought he'd run a little faster than that because, you know, you watch him on seam routes. And he's, he also has a blocked punt last year. I mean, like he can. He just scored it. Yeah, exactly. picked up in one motion and scores. He's just a big athlete. Yeah, big fan.

And I really just love the potential there. I love that he's going to Green Bay. I think it's a great fit for him what they do. Yeah, really, really like this. All right. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to be right back. We are back when we were off the clock here.

The New York Jets go with Joe Titman, Center from Wisconsin. Even with McGovern coming back, still felt like it was a position of need for them. What do you think about Tipman going to the Jets? Yeah, an offensive line. I think they're offensive line options in the first round. They got shut out. And so they come back here in the second round and get, A versatile player. Yes, he was a center only in college, but I do think he's 6-6-315.

I think he does have that experience because you know better than anybody. Wisconsin, they cross-trained those guys. He was a tackle in high school, goes to Wisconsin. They play him at guard, play him at center. And in order to get the best five on the field, they put him at center, where he started the last two years. But this is a player that I think if you want to play him a guard, he can do that. I think he gives you some of that interior versatility. He's really good on the move.

I mean, I think you think about what that offense wants to be. I think he's a natural fit. He's my top center. I think with Joe Tipman, you have a young player who has a high ceiling. He's not just a, no offense to John Michael Schmitz, who will be off the board here pretty quickly, I'm sure, but he gives you a little more upside. You like where he is now, but also what he could be because of the package of skills. He needs to stay off the ground, but you love the movement.

You love when he gets his hands on you, he knows what to do. So big fan of Joe Tipman. And they put everything on him. He handled an NFL center load. And I mean, that Paul Chris offense, that's what it's a pro offense. I mean, as far as what they asked, especially from the offense the line. And I know this because as a quarterback, it was great. We didn't have to do anything, any points or anything.

You just killed the play when it was a single high or done. But he really did. He had to handle everything with the load. So that mental transition is going to be way easier than, I think, a lot of college centers. But also everything you're saying right there, Dane, is that he still has plenty of upside to tap into. Kind of, yeah, late bloomer to the position, maybe not as an athlete or anything. But you could see him figuring it out, like, oh, okay, this is how I angle on this double team. This is how I climb.

And it got better and better and better, even through a tumultuous year in Wisconsin this past year. But I like this a lot because of the versatility. And I also just think he could more easily be a day one starter and hit the ground running. We're going to govern only a one year, $1.9 million deal. So, I mean, he came back, I assume just to kind of shore this up in case the draft didn't fall their way. But not a lot preventing Joe Tittman from winning that job. They're their best. Bear a Tuckerback healthy.

That's a nice interior for the Jets. Just wonder what's happening at red tackle? Is Max Mitchell going to be that guy? Do they try to upgrade there? What happens between Brown and McCaibectin? Some questions along the offensive line, but adding one more body to the mix, still feel like it makes a lot of sense.

Yes. I like this for them. Speaking of Chris Ballard and what he likes to do, Julius Brent's here, the pick. Oh, God. The biggest corner in the draft, you talk about size and athletic ability. You knew Chris Ballard would be all over this guy.

They needed it. Oh, yeah. They needed some corners to play for. I mean, if you look at their adept chart, I can even tell you without even looking up with my laptop right now. It's a whole bunch of undrafted free agents, the seventh rounders. Their outside corners are, I mean, you know what Kenny Moore is, but they're outside corners. I don't know. I mean.

Insert name here. You ready? Oh, yeah. Of course, Dane's going to know. Yeah, this is... Dallas Flowers and Isaiah Rogers, who Isaiah Rogers has had some moments. Yes, he did. But Dallas Flowers on our lads right now currently slotted as the starting left cornerback for the Indianapolis Colts post-Svangel.

post-Savaggio war trade. It's traits. This is what he goes after. It's always going to be size and length for Chris Bauer and makes total sense to go for the biggest corner. 6-3, 198 pounds, 34-inch arms. Ran the four-fives, but his short shuttle and three cone were unreal. Which is huge.

Yeah. He has that ability to mirror and match. He can still run. He has those long strides and so he can run with receivers down the field. My issue with Brent, watch the Big 12 championship game. Watch them against T-C-Cube. and he struggles to find the football. He has a tough time, especially when he was with Quentin Johnston.

He had a tough time finding the football, going to make a play. That's what soured me a little bit on Brent's, but again, you're banking on those traits that you just don't find guys walking down the street looking like him playing corner. And it makes sense. Gus Bradley's still there. These are the corners. Gus Bradley is always going to have that Seahawks defense in on the Legion of Boom. It's funny, I was thinking about that last night with when the Cowboys drafted Mazzie Smith. I come Monzi Smith of Brandon Mebane.

You think about Dan Quinn. Yeah, yeah, okay. And he's like, it all comes back around. They have a type. We all have types of stuff. Yeah, but it makes sense. Gus Bradley, that's their MO. They like the long corners and fluid movers,

the triangle testing, you know, height, weight speed, and this is what it is. And that type of defense, it's like, oh, yeah. If the Seahawks took him, everyone would go, oh, yeah, like, this is more Seahawks than Witherspoon. It's kind of funny. Gus Bradley's kind of carrying that on, and I'm sure Chris Bauer's like, yeah, I'm all about that, too.

Packers moved down here. I don't think we mentioned that I believe that Luke Musgrave pick is the pick they got from the Jets. Correct. Yep, 42. So now we... They're showing Jets fans, and Jets fans were like, yeah!

No, they're talking about you guys got rid of those pick guys. And whenever we talk about the Aaron Rogers trade, forever now, Luke Musgrave's name will be involved in it in some way. It was part of the package that they got for Aaron Rogers. And good or bad, that will always follow him around. Right. And we'll see how, obviously, that conditional pick next year

we're factoring to. And, you know, it's one of those things where you can't really judge a trade in the moment, like any trade. You got to wait, especially when draft picks are involved, see how these guys develop and, you know, if they turn out to live up to the hype where they were drafted. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's always the pick became and then parentheses, the name and stuff. It's the Ryan Tannenhill trade with the pick that they got. Also, it was David Long was the other guy that they ended up getting. So it's like, oh yeah, that was a two-for right there. So that was that

parentheses right there. But that's again, yeah, it's like Luke Musgrave, if he does turn out what we hope that high upside is. It's like, yeah, that's what we're always going to remember. The Packers' original pick, they're traded to the Lions. Lions are on the clock here at 45. Inter-Division trade. Yeah, the Lions don't do that, though. Minnesota.

There's more to three other teams, Detroit. You can call it in L.A., in the Rams. Those are only teams they hit up for trades. What do we think here for Detroit, Day? Artie Sam Laporta, Jamir Gibbs, Jack Campbell. It seems like they've got 40 picks. Let me search the Beast for Team Captain. Yeah, right.

Solid, not spectacular. Ready to start. Tough. Yeah, control. Yeah. And it seems like that's what they've been targeting, at least with these first three picks. And the Lions also have another pick here coming up like 55.

So three picks here in the second round, this is a chance to really get better on both sides of the ball. And so far they went running back, linebacker, and then the tight end. You could argue three not, in terms of non-premial. in positions. You know, so what do they do with this pick? Are they going to go with? Oh, it's going to be a guard. Well, Colton talked about they could use, it's a death with Jonah Jackson, maybe being a free. Finty's probably going to be gone. Right. Exactly. I mean, but also,

you got some corners on the board. We've talked about them going corner early in the draft with Devin Witherspoon. Is Akely Ringo or DJ Turner, one of these other corners that hasn't been drafted yet? Is that on their radar after missing out on one in the first round? Is Osiris a captain? No, but I love the fit. He's going there a year. It would be impressive if he was. He's the one. Oh, yeah, true, right.

But, yeah, he's the one guy that's like, okay, this actually kind of makes sense as far of positional fit and also, like, his type. Like, he's a very physical guy. He didn't test well, no. The lions don't care. I mean, you know, it's not going to, it's not going to factor. You're not good? The lions don't care. Yeah, exactly.

20. 48 hours does. Like this. Again, they deserve the benefit of doubt. The way the last couple years have gone. A lot of goodwill has been built up. But they're really testing it right now. They are.

They are. And, you know, it's... I like Samaport. I'm mostly kidding here, but it has been a curious draft for the Lions thus far. When you offset it with what they thought they needed. Right. We're thinking about edge rusher and corner and all these high-end positions.

Quarterback of the future. It's just been a little bit different than we might have expected. Yeah, it was... They have their own premium in Detroit. Brian Branch is still out there? I mean, I think he would definitely fit. He would be their seventh slot defender that they've acquired so far in the soft season.

Right, right. Yeah, like all that. I know, this is, I'm actually really anticipating this one. I forget that we're not getting the Goodell Audio's a little bit different than last night. But the Lions, obviously, just a stockpiling picks. They have so many here in the first two rounds. And their team's going to look a lot different after this draft. I think we knew that coming in.

No doubt. There it is. Nice. Awesome. I mean, Brian Branch is just one of those players that you watch and you're like, okay, I'm in. I like this guy. Yeah, exactly. Some people maybe scared off by that 190, the 458,

not great numbers for a DB. That's not what you want. But trust the tape, okay? And you see a darn good football player. And it doesn't matter if he's playing safety, if he's playing nickel, he's smart. He's a really good tackler. For a guy that's a little bit smaller for a safety, a DB,

especially he's playing in a nickel like that. He doesn't miss tackles. He really understands. you know how to come to balance, stay under control, wrap, finish. And then in coverage, I can go back to that old miss tape, the final play of the game where he is, he understands where he needs to be position-wise, he understands how to leverage the route, because he understands what route is coming, what the offense wants to do,

so he knows how to leverage that, and then go make a play on the football. So this, I mean, I like, I like what they've done so far, but is this their best pick? I don't know. You might be. Well, we talked last night when we're kind of like guessing what the eagles could possibly do with the 30th pick. And we're like, oh, well, okay, well, they can maybe go Brian Branch, you know, with Avanti Max. And CJ Gardner Johnson.

As a replacement for CJ Gardner Johnson's. Now with the line, it's only a one-year deal. It's only a one-year deal. So that, okay, that makes us. I am fascinated by how the roles are going to shake out. Because you still have Tracy Walker there. They went out and they got Kirby Joseph in the third round last year at a really nice rookie year. Now you go get Brian Branch.

C.J. Gardner Johnson's there. You have Manuel Mosley on a one-year. deal. You have Cam Sutton there. When they have six defensive backs on the field, who are the defensive backs and where are they playing? I can't wait to find out because they have so many different problems that they could potentially address.

He legit had one of my favorite plays I watched in this whole draft process and it was the one you replied on. I tweeted it and he breaks on the ball. He's running the route. It's a sail route, which is just an inside corner route. He is running the route before the receiver isn't even closer to break. There's stories about like Chris Paul in basketball, like when someone's running out of balance play and he aligns the opposing team goes no you're doing it wrong you're supposed to go here

to free that's how brian branch plays on defense like he knows what the route combinations are going to be i've compared him to jimmy ward more of how jimmy ward was used last year as that slot a good tackler smart a great blitzer as well he is a fantastic blitzer he knows how to like turn the corner and get around blocks so again we talk about useful but i i think he's even more than useful i I think in his role, he can be a star. Like, he is, no pun intended. Right. But, like, when I did that all pro, and all pro teams for defense, and I had slot defender

as one of them, like, he's going to be a candidate for that, I think, for years to come. I really like his tape. There's a lot of fun. You're talking about guys, don't overthink it. It's one of the categories we kind of addressed kind of heading into the draft. And, Dan, this seems like one of those just don't overthink kind of guys. Exactly. And more so than you want the 4-3 and you want the 6-2-2-15.

you want quick reaction players at DB, safety corner, guys that are smart, but also have the quickness to go do something. There are quicker players in this draft, but they don't have the knowledge that Brian Branch has. They don't have the recognition skills to understand what is coming. So it doesn't matter that they're quicker because they can't make a play on the ball like Brian Branch does. And that matters so much in the NFL where everything's boom, boom, boom.

He's able to process all of that. And he was that start for the, for the, that Alabama defense and the Sabin, that Mika Fitzpatrick popularized, they just trusted them with everything. And you mentioned everything that he was doing from blitzing, playing in a slot, playing more of a post position, he can do all of that. And so, yeah, to your point, it would be really interesting to how they, how they distribute all these DBs and what they're asking them to do and where they all fit.

I usually talk, I say zero fat in their movement, and usually I refer to quarterbacks with that. And sometimes receivers, sometimes offensive line. Usually with offense alignments because they're such good athletes and they can move. well, you just watched that Bergeron clip where he's firing out of the stands. I say that with quarterbacks, and usually that comes with their footwork starts tying into their brains because they know where they're going so they don't need any waste of movement. That's how Brian Branch plays safety.

Or Nicola, I should say, too, is that he maximizes it because he has no waste of movement because he knows exactly where he's going and he knows before it's going to happen. It's like Bryce Young at quarterback. It's body rhythm. It's a feel. It's something that, you know. You can't teach. You can't.

And that's what, Will Levis is kind of the opposite of that in terms of. of that body rhythm. You know, and Branch has that on defense, like Bryce Young has it on offense. Lack of explosive traits. But name me a star safety in the NFL that his success

is rooted in explosive traits and speed. Name one. Yeah. I mean, Buda Baker maybe. I mean, like James. Minka Fitzpatrick ran a 4-6.

Mika Fitzpatrick had a 47th percentile broad jump at the combine, 15 percentile vertical. So many of the guys that are successful, at that position. And Darwin's kind of his own beast. It's so much faster on the field.

It's so much faster on the field. It's all reaction time and just recognition. And think about your Justin Simmons of the world and the guys that are going in the third round. Safeties aren't built out of traits, the guys that we see be really successful in the league. It's about more than that. And Brian Branch seems to kind of embody a lot of that idea.

And this is the first safety off the board, right? We haven't had. And so it's... And he's more of a slide. Right. Middle of the field defensive back, let's call it. Spine of the defense defender. Spina of the defense.

Right. And ironic that he is my, this is the fourth pick, the Lions have made. He's my highest rated player. I was my highest. Was Lepardo number the second highest? Oh, no, Gibbs. Yeah, Gibbs. Yeah, and then, but we have another pick here.

46 pick, the New England Patriots take Keon White, edge defender from Georgia Tech. I think he was probably the highest rated edge left for you, right, Day? Yeah, once B.J.R. Jolary went, then next up was going to be, it was Keon White, who, you know, love. I love Daniel Jeremiah. He wanted somebody I should respect more than anybody. He was super high. He had him as a top 10 player at one point in the process.

I couldn't get quite there. And DJ backed off a little bit. I think he ended in the 20 somewhere. But you understand why you would think that because of that size and that quickness that he has, I just wish it led to more production, more impact on a snap-to-snap basis. But again, you understand what the trick.

that he offers. Why, especially here in the middle of the second round, Patriots, you know, they're having quietly a nice, nice little draft with Gonzalez, now Keon White, really finding some nice players on defense. And the two numbers you can look out, some, you look at sometimes with trades with edge rushers. It's kind of funny with Patriots ones because they like to push the pocket, arm length and bench press. You can kind of just look at that, 34 inch arms and 30 on the bench press. Yeah, okay. I don't really need to look at triangle numbers or anything. As far as how Patriots view these guys. And also, like, this is a guy, he was a late, late watch for me, was that also he was an old Dominion Titan, right?

That was super, I think that's so fascinating when a guy switches spots. Like, I really do, when they actually played there for multiple years and switched spots, because you're hoping for there's even that little bit more room for growth at a new position. Washington's pick is in at 47 here, Jartavius Martin, cornerback from Illinois, Dan, Devon Wetherspun's teammate, what do you think about Martin going to Washington? And this is a guy I mentioned, that if there was a big surprise in the first round, who could it be? And Quentin Martin Martin was the name I mentioned on the pod

as, because he's just so well-lite because of what he does. He was a superstar. You talk about, you know, with Brian Branch and maybe not being that explosive athlete. Juan Martin is that explosive athlete. 44-inch vert at the combine. Ran really well, as broad was over 11 feet.

But he rotated between single high and nickel. They played him a lot of different areas. To me, he was more of a 90-10 player where 90% of the time, 90% of the play, the first 90%, he was in position, he knew what going on, just at last 10% finish. But, you know, a guy that can play nickel, play safety, big fan of Juan Martin. Yeah, I mean, this makes sense, we've gone over the Washington roster a few times this offseason and I'm like, they actually got some stuff to him.

Like, I mean, a lot of these spots, especially defense line, of course, but just the offensive weapons, okay, you know, even at running back, they have just nice pieces all around, but you kind of look at the DB room, they're like, okay, I like Forrest, Corner, like, yeah, you can look at that, but it's just another kind of IQ player. I would say, like Forbes has a great feel for the game. We talked about yesterday. Getting these guys that are kind of more football players, too. It doesn't even matter what the testing is.

Yeah, he did well, but it's just that they know how to play the game. Also shout out to a couple of Illinois coaches that I played with. They coached these guys, him in Witherspoon, was Aaron Henry and Antonio Pinellas. Great guys and, like, doing a great job coaching these guys up. I'm really happy for them. They got two guys going within the top 50. That's awesome. Now you get Forbes, likely on the outside.

Kendall Flora is already there. You add Juan Martin to the mix who could play a little nickel, play a little safety. I believe that Cam Curl is a free agent after this year. So in 2023, it's going to be a pretty crowded room. There's a chance that similar to Detroit, when they're in Nickel and they're looking at some of those 60 V looks,

get a lot of those bodies out there together. And then maybe is this a plan for if they have to move on from Camcourle after the year, they've spent a lot of on the defensive line. So just makes sense, I think, with Washington's timeline. The defense is going to be smart and feisty. I mean, you move with the first. forest back there at safety. It's like that's another guy with an IQ. So it's just it's an

that's an interesting room. It's kind of cool. Like they all kind of cut from the same cloth in their own ways. And Colin Martin fits because he has the he's a tough tackler. The character's terrific. So that's a that's a great fit. And speaking of great fits here with the bucks straight up to 48 and they get your boy. Cody Mock, North Dakota State. What a beautiful man. Just a just a picturesque human being. Every interview is amazing with him. Oh yeah. He's like the most likable. Yeah. Oh, no, absolutely. But he, very, very likable. He knows what he's doing.

I haven't even considered the redhead offensive line potential now with Ryan Jensen and Cody Mock playing next to each other. Well, and this is, the Bucks are a team that they love those small school interior offensive line. They sure do. They love those guys. And Cody Mock is the next one up here. A ton of good job with it. Oh, heck, yeah. Six, five, 300 pounds.

He's a walk on tight end. Yeah. Walk on tight end and put on 75 pounds, turns into this tackle. But didn't lose that. The way he moved, the best three cone I've ever really heard of for an offensive lineman, 712, unreal. It's like edge rusher. Yeah, some wide receivers in this class, no doubt. But, you know, the attitude, you know, it's, and he's, you know, the term country strong, you hear that a lot.

He grew up on a farm, you know, he has it. He's got like eight brothers and sisters, you know, he comes from a big family, comes from a farm, and he goes to North Dakota State where, you know, this was not. the path where he thought he thought he was going to go and he just kept getting better and better and better you love the personality that he has uh you know some one of my other favorite things when watching the north Dakota state tape was just watching him after the whistle he always had something to do whether it was a little bump whether it was a really emphatic first down he's going to get along the best brothers real well and the position flex then now he gives this scene I was going to ask you where

you think he lands because now they move on from shack Mason obviously They cut Donovan Smith, so Tristan Werf's moved to the left side. Matt Fyler's on this team. They still have a needed guard. So in all the kind of iterations of this offensive line, where do you think he fits best? That's a really good question because I said it before with him. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being the best center from this class. He has that type of ability.

It was primarily a tackle in college, but I think he's going to be best at guard. And that's what I love that with that senior bowl. He was like, where do you want me? Want to play guard? All right. Like he didn't care. He just, you want me to play tackle? All right, great.

Center. All right, never snapped before. I've practiced it a little bit, playing out in the farm there. But let's go try it, yeah. He was up for anything. And, you know, I thought he did a nice job. And that willingness to wherever you want me, I'll go. And the adaptability.

You know, it's part of his intelligence, part of that toughness that we talked about. You know, no real wonder why the bucks traded up for a player like this. I can't get over the aesthetic of him. If he does play guard, just him and Ryan Jens, staying next to each other in the huddle. It's going to be fantastic. He was practicing snapping with a bell of hay. That's how he got it.

And it's like putting the donut on the bat and made firing back there. But it's interesting because who is there a left tackle right now? I mean, it might be Tristan worse. Right, okay. And so then who's the right tackle? You know, is it? So they do have some work to do here to figure out

how is this all going to fit? Because the interior, you think, like Gideki, who's a day two pick last year. Obviously, Ryan Jensen at center and then, you know, right guard Nick Lavert, I guess. So offensive line is a work of progress. Yeah. We'll see how it all shakes out. But Mock and his position flex is the type of guy you target when you are a team that is trying to figure things out on offensive line.

Yeah, they needed bodies there. It was funny because it was such a strength, just such a short time ago. And just on purpose, it feels like they're like, okay, we're resetting this. And, yeah, this is continuous. Like you guys mentioned before, they've nailed these type of guys before. Ali Marpet, I know he was D3, Division 3. No. Hobart.

Yeah, Hobart, yes. But even Gidecki being a central Michigan guy. You know, that's not. Yeah, I mean, a couple of these, Alex Kappa. Kappa was another one, yes. These smaller school guys and maybe they think, too, is that like, okay, there's traits there, there's a mentality there, okay, we'll just coach them up and work it out here. And then we'll find their best spot for them.

It's not a bad plan. they keep hitting on these guys too, so why not? Oh, yeah. Mock was my 45th player in the draft. They get him here with 48, so yeah, love the value there. It makes sense. A couple pass catchers still waiting to come off the board. Darno, Washington's name we haven't heard yet. Jalen Hyatt now.

We're getting to the middle of the second round, have not seen him come off. Again, somebody that we talked about in our receiver show, Nate, obviously the explosiveness is off the charts, the ball tracking. He can give you kind of a specific skill set, but a tough evaluation coming from that offense. to see. And speaking of that, Dane, Hennon Hucker, still available halfway through the second round. Which, you know what, as much as I do like Henned Hooker,

this is where he should go. When I started seeing him in top tens of Mock Dross, I'm like, what are we doing, guys? I know. I get it. I mean, I understand why you like Henn and Hooker, but the value is just not there. And so this makes a lot more sense. It does. Yeah, now we're getting to the range. I have third-ish round grade on him, give or take, you know, like whatever 5-9 would be. Alan Fannica, the way that Alphanica looks announcing these picks, I'm like really rethinking some of my life choices and taking care of myself.

It just looks incredible. It's unbelievable. 49th pick, the Pittsburgh Steelers go with Keanu Benton from Wisconsin Dane. What do we think? Yeah, this is defensive tackles. We're going to come off the board here pretty quick. Keanu Benton, easy player to like. Nate, I know he's one of your guys too.

6-3-3-10. Played a nose in that three-man front that they ran, but you think that he's an interchangeable guy. You want him to play over the B-gap. You can do that. you some patch rush potential, something we really saw the senior bowl when he got those one-on-ones and, you know, give him a chance, give an opportunity, and he took advantage of that. So a young player, he's just 21 years old for a fourth year senior, a high school wrestler. That's a big

part of his game and what he does. So you know he understands leverage, you know, he understands just how to use his body and be in position. And so not every team saw the pass rush potential, but I think if he did, he's a top 50 pick. Yeah, I'm a big, big fan. and honestly my favorite badger from the last few years. Like really was at any position, I enjoyed watching him. He always stood out. And the kind of side story I know about him was that he was the last offer of his class. Wisconsin had an open offer.

He was a local kid. They're like, all right, day before signing it. Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever. And he signed, okay, cool. You know, not an early enrollee. Hey, he's going to come in camp. Okay, yeah, sure. Good for you.

Started as a true freshman. Like right away, they're like, oh, shh. We just fell under this guy. And the wrestling shows up all the time. time and that's really when he watches game that's what shows up all times to wrestle let's watch this game a little bit yeah show us what kind of player the ceilers are getting here in kiana button it's I love damage just even mentioning too it's just that some of that versatility with all the stuff like he I really do

think that is yes he's playing nose here he's 95 here by the way I should should talk about that as him being then my fault here maybe that will help out everybody with getting this up on the screen but with countenbent is just that like I think he's a mauler and that's the best where you see that wrestling background come into play all the time because of just his ability to use his hands and use it, be physical all the time and be violent. And that balance shows up as well. It's almost like a judo guy. But right here, going against Michigan State, you see just firing off the ball, even when he's two-gapping, getting his head across, and just powerful and explosive and

working through. So right there in the middle, again, and just firing, staying low. And he just does this consistently. And this next wrap, this is where the flash is abandoned. This is what you saw at the senior bowl is just this instant win. See that hand usage and balance. He's a mauler. This is, you know, he's not to that tier, but the shades of Jeffrey Simmons, but just that type of play style, I should say, but I'm not going to say, I'm not comparing him. He's not that tier, but just that type of play style of that big malling interior defense alignment. And this is going to be the last snap where I show a little bit of that pass rush right here, 95 again, but a little bit of that pass rush and winning instantly, staying balanced even through the side block and just overwhelming

to center and getting through. Now you just want to, you always wanted to close that one step closer, but when you saw at the Senior Bowl, you saw more of those flashes of him as a pass rusher. And that's why I think I really like him more as a pro, even more than I liked him as a college player. Yeah, love it. I agree with all that. That makes a ton of sense. I'm pretty sure the guy that Michigan State receiver that caught the ball on that clip that you just showed, was Jade Reed, who just went one pick after Keanu Ben. Let's get the clip back up. To the Packers with a 50th pick, they do pick a receiver, their second pass catcher under They're a hundred ninety five pounds.

Wow. They broke it. Everyone's going to yell on me on Twitter because I tweeted that this morning. What 87. Yeah. And he's, but what you love about Jaden Reed is he plays bigger than he, that he just looks on paper. He is a guy that you can throw up clips where he's catching the ball off the helmet of D.Bs, making plays. Jane Reed, if you watch the senior bowl at all and you saw him during practices, he was beating everybody.

Speed. There was nuance to it. he's doing he can inside outside versatility love jaden reed surprised he went this early but at the same time don't hate it at all i i think he's you know to see him go ahead of some of the other receivers still on the board is surprising but love jaden reid's game and you know i think it's it's an interesting fit with the packers and we know what they like you mentioned it uh he's kind of one of your guys you said like some of they're a little higher on and i agreed with you completely i he is just a useful receiver i could see him lining up anywhere and just being good at what he does

He has the deep speed. He has a little returnability, I believe, too. And that kind of speaks to his do it all of this. And yeah, his film was a little better last year, but it was still pretty dang good this year. And he's just like he's just a football player. I like him as kind of that number three for them. And they went below their size threshold.

The Packers really look at only 195 pound or above receivers. I tweeted this this morning. Of course, it's wrong the first time I tweeted. But it is that they must really like him. And he's a football player playing receiver, but he has some juice. Think about it all. You have Romeo Dobbs, you have Christian Watson,

playing on the outside, Jaden Reed potentially playing in a slot, and Luke Musgrave. We're remaking this past catching core on the fly very quickly. Speaking to be on the fly, the picks are rolling in right now. 51st pick, the Miami Dolphins take Cam Smith Corner from South Carolina. Welcome to the draft Miami Dolphins. They are here. Obviously, we know that they made the Jalen Ramsey trade,

but Zambian Howard, who knows how much longer, he's going to be on this roster. This just kind of feels like a for right now and then also for the future pick for Miami. But doesn't it seem like that's maybe the corners the strength of their team on defense? I mean, they've got a lot of decent players there. So it's an interesting pick here with Cam Smith. He is two hands-on. That's my problem with Cam Smith. But he is a fluid guy. You know, he has decent size. It's just, can he be more disciplined? That's the question with Cam Smith. If he can become more disciplined, he will be a long-term starter in this league. if he can't, he might be on a new team in three years.

And so there's some intrigue there. But Cam Smith is a player that some teams were high on, some teams a little bit lower on. Okay. And that's not a guy I watched. I'll just be completely honest with him. I watched the glimpses of him, but it wasn't the guy I truly studied.

But as far as makeup with the dolphins, that is kind of interesting because that is when I look at their defense. That is kind of their strength. Maybe you look at other positions. I do like the defensive front. Of course, like the offense. I thought maybe they'd go old line. Right.

And kind of help that out. But yeah, it's not bad to just inject even youth when you're trying to transition some of these positions and a premium position, of course, being corner. And again, you got Vic Fangio. He might want to just like, hey, no, I want some youth there, want some guys that I can coach up and figure out at that position. And I want kind of one of my guys. Next pick, 52nd overall, the Seattle Seahawks. Boy, do they love their running backs. Take Zach Charbonnet from UCLA in the middle of the second round.

babe. I mean, this is around the range where'd they take Kenny Walker last year? About right here, yeah. About 10 picks earlier. That's the same thing. Had an outstanding rookie year. You think, okay, we're good at running back. Nope. Let's keep batting to the mix with Charbonnet, who is an outstanding player. I mean, he is, he might not be as

explosive as some of these other backs that we're going to be talking about being drafted today. But, man, the vision, the contact balance, it's just outstanding. And he's a really nice pass catcher. He can do a lot of things without the ball. As a Walker and just knowing he's out there, the defense has to account for him.

So he just, he does a lot of the running back specific things really, really well at a high level. I really like his vision. I almost preferred him in like a zone type scheme because I like him to just get north. He reads so well. He does. And UCLA, depending on the week, would use so many different run schemes under Chip Kelly. And he was good at all of them. Pinpool.

And they're doing, yeah. Had enough juice to get to the outside and all that. Let's see. Let's see it. What kind of what are we talking about was actually. Charber Ney going to Seattle here, Dave. Na, you go. And was Sharpern-N-N-A,

honestly, him and Kenneth Walker couldn't really be any more different as running backs. Like, Kenneth Walker is kind of a ball of chaos. He's Sonic. This is, I don't know, knuckles. His tails? Yeah, I'm gonna go with knuckles here.

But again, he's a bigger back, but he's light on his feet, and he tempos his runs. And we usually have sometimes for a receiver, but here is just that he knows how to press the line, get north, and run vertical. And that's the thing, is that he's not that big bruiser, like downhill type,

but he always falls forward. And I looked up a stat, and Charbonnet had the highest success rate of all FBS backs on first and second down last year. He was just an efficient, I was about to say bruiser, but efficient balance back. And I really like this clip, because this shows off kind of more athleticism

than you think that he originally has. Making the guy miss in the hole, you see that just balance right here, and just that suddenness to run through it and that contact balance. So what should be blocked for one or two, yards, he's getting five. What's blocked for eight yards, he's getting 12. He's just an efficient runner that's always getting north and falling forward. So again, right there, he's dragging defenders.

And I was going to show one more where, oh yeah, I love this one. All right here, where he's getting to the outside here. You can run outside zone with him. You can run split zone with them. You can run pin pole with them. All the runs are on the table for Charbonnet. He's just a balanced back, just a do-it-all, well-rounded running back. I'm very, very high on him. He was my running back three. Yep. So I feel like for a lot of people, but just a good player that, yeah, will literally hit the ground running for Seattle. He's going to hit you a lot of doubles.

He's not a ton of home runs, but that's why you have Walker. That's why I have Walker. And so, of all of his runs last year, 22% of them went for at least 10 yards. I mean, he is a guy that will give you those chunks. He forces tacklers, you better be on your A game to get him on the ground because he's not going to make it easy for you. He's going to make it a chore.

Because, yeah, he's not a true bruiser, but his contact balance is well above average. Side tackles, he's dragging you. Like, it's like, he's just a big, sturdy back. And, and really, it's just, even when I was, like, talking about him and saying how efficient he was, people got, oh, that's because their old line's so good. And there's guys running free all the time.

And he's running right through him. It was a little bit of scheme and a lot of bit of Charbonnet. He averaged 4.2 yards after contact. Okay? The offensive line is not responsible for that. No. That is the running back. So there's some running backs out there that wish they had 4.2 yards per carry.

Yes. He's 4.2 yards after the contact. And that says all you need to know about is contact balance. Seattle, over the last day or so, really rounding out those complementary pieces of the offense. JSN there now and they're in the slot. Zach Charbonated compliment Kenneth Walker. I mean, they've got some guys on that offense now. They've invested in those secondary tertiary pieces.

The workload and how they distribute the carries, that's going to be really interesting to see, try to get them on the field at the same time. Or is it just a work share type of situation? I'm really interested to see how this is all going to work. And with Kenneth Walker's kind of more physical run style, not physical, I don't know, he's a ball of chaos. Like he just, yeah, he's just explosive in which way got hurt last year. Right.

And that's, hey, we, we, we, we're shot, Penny's gone. You know, he was always getting hurt as well. So now we, this is our 1A, 1B or our 1 and 2 here. I'm shocked. I shouldn't be shocked, but that Ciox went with him. Because with Kenneth Walker, maybe they'll get someone a little bit later. I was kind of curious. I thought somebody that needed a lead back.

Yeah. Because that's what I think Sharbonnet is. Like he's, yeah, it's going to be great in a committee, but I thought he could be your innings eater. He's the guy that can get you 15 touches a game or 15 carries a game and it's fine to run any type of run scheme. So it's interesting if Seahawks went there, I think they're going to have a really good offense this year,

and this is just another piece for it. Bears on the clock now, waiting for their pick to roll in. This is the pick that they got in the Roquan Smith trade. It looks like it's Gravon Dexter Senior, A defensive tackle from Florida game. This is a defensive tackle you're betting on the upside. 6, 5, 310, 4-840. I mean, he's got speeds.

This is a former basketball player. He was all... He was all-tackle. You don't usually, yeah. Right. He was all basketball. All basketball. And his junior year in high school,

the coach just kind of coaxed him out. Come on, get out here. And he really, all right, I'm not going to go to the NBA. This is my future. He's a five-star guy. He goes to Florida. And, man, he played a lot of snaps in that defense. And the one thing that worries me with him is the snap anticipation.

It's very inconsistent. Some snaps, when he times it upright, I mean, that natural leverage to get going, that forward lean, he can swim around the center. But when he's not right with the timing and that snap anticipation is a little bit off, that's where he can be neutralized pretty easily, especially by NFL center. But you just feel like, okay, this is a 21-year-old player. There's more to what we've seen than what he's. put out there. And so I think it's easy to be optimistic about what he's going to grow into.

Not just what he, this is a pick for the future. You're not expecting him to win a starting job from day one. This is a pick that hopefully two, three years from now, you're looking back and saying, hey, we got to steal with Dexter at this point in the draft. And that's where they are on defense. I was going to say, that's what they need. That is what they are. They just need bodies up front. And it is not going to be a microwave one year solution on the defense on the defensive line or elsewhere. So betting on traits, that's what we've seen Ryan Poles do. I mean, this is somebody that we're talking about 95th percentile testing in some of these speed stuff. And the vert was good, the broad was good.

Ryan Poles has consistently bet on traits since he got this job, even in the trenches. You're great to the flash, right? Right. Yeah. And I mean they're complimentary. The one player that, like, when I first watched him last summer, he had some flashes where I was like, this kind of looks like Chris Jones. Like, okay, and where was Ryan Poles and Chris Jones was drafted?

I will show you clips where you're like, okay. I don't want to see him. Okay, I can see where, when things all fall right, he's got it in him. There's flashes of violence. Yes. Can he be more consistent when we see it? No, trust me. There's going to be plays where he's, like, it looks like he's the best player on the field.

Like, he has that ability. It's just not always there. Nick Hardwick announcing the Chargers pick again, just another offensive lineman looking fantastic. Nate, I'm going to let you do this with the 54th pick. I thought you're going to go to NAC for them. USC Trojans, take an edge rusher, why don't you tell us all about him? Know your personnel.

Tully, Tully, Tulli, close enough. Like, this guy led. Tilly Tully. He led the FBS and pressures in Saks. I mean, he was just a hard guy to keep out of the back fielded. But another guy where you know what's coming, it's power. He wants to use both hands and go right through the blocker. I mean, he was an unstoppable force.

Now, if you force him to go to that secondary move, you shut down what he's trying to do with that first move with that power it starts to unravel a little bit for him but you know what again we talked about with Isaiah Foskey even though it is predictable even though we know what your fastball is

if you do it really well throughout the course of a game he's going to get his pressures he's going to get home he's going to give you something and there's value in that when we were talking about that heat check draft the Chargers could have if they went on a little run and it all came together pass catcher was number one let's get that other

just bid a juice on the offense, and then we need another edge guy. I mean, there is nothing beyond Joey Bosa and Kahlil Max, and now they go and get that third guy. Also, a little wrinkle here, staying in the AFC West, the Chiefs have traded up to 55. Wide receiver. Okay? So which wide receiver is it?

You drop Jalen Hyatt into this situation, and now we're cooking with gas. We thought maybe at 31, Jalen Hyatt could be the pick. I've heard Risholice connected with the Chiefs. Oh, interesting. SMU receiver. It's kind of a more complimentary piece to what they have. Bigger body guy.

Possession, ball winner. Ball winning is like, like, craziest catches. Like, that's his real. Right. But work in progress for all the techniques. I love to see Tyler Scott in that offense. I mean, I think we're to the point now where we can see Tyler Scott's name come off the board.

Even Tillman. That makes sense. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Give him a big body traditional outside guy as well. We thought Cedric Tillman somewhere in that 50 to 75 range is where he's going to go. so this is, that would make some sense as well.

They wouldn't be tight end here, would they? Like, as far as, like, just adding, like, having a succession play and how much are you using tight ends? Is that what you thinking? Yeah, like someone, like, Tucker Kraft. Tucker Kraft would be fantastic there. I love that. Like, because, you know, they use Noah Gray a lot. I like Noah Gray, but Noah Gray is Noah Gray is Noah Gray. Yeah. He's, you know,

his over under at the Super Bowl was eight and a half receiving guards. That's Noah Gray right there. He's a Swiss Army notch. So maybe because they found that path of using these tight ends last year and using them so much, maybe they're like, oh, what's upgrade these guys? and really put some rims on those tires. But it's, I mean, there's so many receivers that I would just love like there. It's nice when you have an all, you know, a Hall of Fame quarter.

Yeah. You can drop any receiver in. You can feel pretty good about it. There was talk that the chiefs were trying to maybe move up last night for a receiver. They didn't get it done. Mingo was the guy I wanted for them because that all those movement routes and over is and stuff. Just get the ball in his hands. You create those yak opportunities.

That kind of works for what they have. They do it better than pretty much anybody that's not San Francisco. Yep. That makes sense. It does. And so just to kind of reset where my best available is, Drew Sanders, the Arkansas linebacker, Darnell Washington, Georgia tight end, Jalen Hyatt, Tennessee receiver, Keeley Ringo, the corner from Georgia, Osiris Torrance from Florida still out there. The guard, Trenton Simpson, Clemson linebacker, Josh Downs, the slot receiver from North Carolina, and then DJ Turner, Michigan, corner,

best as a nickel. So kind of resetting things, yeah, there's some really good players still out there. A couple players we thought could have gone last night in first round. and they're falling a little bit here. Yeah, this is, I know, this is, like, even like, when some of the names came up, like, even when Brian Branch might go here, it's like, oh, yeah, he's still available. Like, you see some of these guys. Like, I mean, all these, Darnow, Washington

was 20th picked of the chargers. You know, or the early 20th state of chargers. Like, that's where some, after, especially after he tested. So you're seeing. But he was one of those guys, Dane. We were talking about it before the draft. If there's somebody that's going to go a little bit later than we're anticipating is Darnall Washington one of them

because is the idea of Darno, pretend a little bit better than what he is in practice right now. Exactly. Exactly. Or, you know, and what's the, because you make bets on these guys and what are the chances he's going to end up being the guy that you hope he could be, the reason you're drafted in the second round. You know, I can understand why some teams are a little skittish of that.

And even like Hyatt, like, okay, what's the reservations that we have? Okay, he did a lot of work from the slot. You got free releases. He saw some work on the route running. But then there's the traits that you're like, well, it's great ball skills. He can take the top off. So somebody's going to fall in level. with that. So it's kind of interesting that maybe

that some of these teams kind of like, you know, slow themselves down. Maybe I'm taking him maybe early on. Right. Detroit moving down again. Stockpiling a couple more picks here. Interesting. The spots I thought they would go, tight end, defensive back. They've drafted a lot of those guys. Right.

Because they've had 17 picks, it feels like, the first two rounds. So not a surprise. They're like, you know what? We've shorted up the positions we feel good about. Let's just keep amassing more picks here. Right. What are many people there are? God dang. Another big moment for the chiefs.

See a red. This event's so great. And good for the NFL that the weather's been nice. Not worry about rain. I mean, that's... We wouldn't know, but... I'm sure the weather's been great. Yeah.

But also, like, this is what happens, like, last year. Initially, any time you talk chiefs, you're like, oh, yeah, draft defense. Draft defense. Okay, they need help. Offense is fine. They crushed the draft last year. They crushed the draft. The last two years, they've got a lot.

lot of starters. So it's like, there's not that. They went out, the edge was the once spot. It's like they needed another body there. They went out and got that in the first round. A real juicy pass rusher. It feels like things are a lot of different directions that they could go here because a lot of things are on the table. It's nice to be a Super Bowl champs. It is. It's nice when you have that quarterback and you know you have to worry about it. All things are good. I wouldn't be surprised they draft a quarterback today. Really? I wouldn't be surprised. Not this pick, but later third round? I wouldn't be surprised. Like a Jake Hainer?

I was thinking Jaron Hall maybe. Oh, wow. I kind of like that fit. I know they like them. You know, Andy Reed knows. Yeah. Oh, yeah. They're running the same offense.

It's the flavor that he loves. Yeah, it is. It is. Oh, man. And even if it doesn't happen today, even tomorrow, fourth round, it's possible. So, yeah, I think, even though they did sign Blaine Gabbard to be that quarterback, too.

It's like, we know. Yeah, right. I mean. I think he's coming in to compete. Yes, sorry, John. 100%. Because they took, what's his face, the Houston Corvette, Kevin Cole, the second round, even when they had McNabb back in the day.

So here you go. We were wondering which receiver it was going to be. They do go with Rishi Rice. I received a few texts this morning that said, hey, Chiefs and Rice, keep that on the radar. Why do you think that is? He's a ball winner. I mean, he is a guy that will go up and come down with the football.

Strong hands, you know, kind of a basketball player out there with the way he plays. So he was my number one senior receiver. in the summer. In my rankings, I came out back in July. Love what he did last year. I'm watching that Danny Gray and Rishi race offense in 2021. He did not test well. You can tell there's just,

especially at the Senior Bowl, too. There's just a little bit of juice missing, you know, from that speed. But when the ball was in the air, he went and got it. And he was productive. He was reliable. Everyone knew the ball was going to number 11, and he was still able to make plays. So a little bit of yak, but not

that's not his bread and butter. He is, guy that it doesn't matter if you press him. If you give him a little bit of space, he's going to track the ball, go up and make plays. And you're saying that, like, track the ball and you said a little bit of basketball on him. And usually we say that with rebounding. Him is Ali Ups.

Like, that's how he plays. Like, his ball skills are really good. He's a willing blocker. Great blocker. Yes. And a little bit, which is now what the chiefs are kind of like leaning into. They went, okay, we're crank it down to RPO. So you guys need to do that.

As a route runner, he's a little raw. I called him like, it was fitting that he's a Mustang. He's kind of a wild horse. He has a bit of over there He wavers and everything But just the ball skills He comes down with every ball that's near him He's coming down with it

He plays bigger, he's big But he plays even bigger than he is And like you said, like he didn't test I thought he was gonna kind of like You thought there's gonna be a little bit more juice to him With the ball in his hands But as far as like you're just pinning it on him On the outside

And some stuff in the middle Because I do think he has that movement ability At least till the ball gets there I like him There's a lot to like with him And it makes sense for what the chiefs need as far as they're going more physical style at the receiver position. Bears trade up to 56.

The fact that Devin Hester isn't giving this, and I was in this pick in a gold jacket is upsetting me. But that's a conversation for another day. Bears go with Tyreek Stevenson Corner from Miami, Dane. What do you think? Former Georgia player. It transferred to Miami back home. Played a little safety, played a little star at Georgia.

Kind of where the animosity was. He wanted to be a corner. He transfers back home to Miami. Six foot, 200 pounds, big physical player, and he's a good athlete. So, you know, there are some questions about consistency and, you know, just, you know, why aren't you making more plays on the ball? But we talk about with Ryan Poles and the traits, this guy has those traits, you know, the triangle numbers, the speed for a bigger corner.

You know, he has some inside, outside versatility. So I thought somewhere, second round is where he's going to end up, makes sense that this is where the bears would go. Yep, long. and especially what Iberflus likes to run, especially on the outside. Well, I know he's not calling plays, but it's his defense. But as far as what he likes to run,

that kind of helps as far as defense. Like being physical and being more near the ball and all those types of things and being along and long and long. You're going to be on the island. So, hey, we got to make plays on the ball. We've got to be jamming these guys on the outside, or at least physical and getting up with their face or near them. So there is a little bit of that to his game.

You said that he does have some kind of like positional versatility as well, Like, did you think he bumps inside at all or anything like that? Well, that's where Georgia played him. They played him that star position. And so, but he wanted to be an outside guy. So, but I think he has it. It's interesting that with the bears, they went with maybe the fairway shot in the first round with that right tackle with darnel right. These two, Geron Dexter and Tyrick Stevens are more swings where, you know, Dexter's young.

You're betting on the upside with a guy like Tyrax Stevenson. He is a little undisciplined, you know? So you have to kind of cross your fingers, then he's going to figure things out here now in the NFL. The Bears, I mean, we'll see what happens with Kyle Gordon. And Jaywin Johnson is going to be a free agent after the year? So does Gordon stay inside? Do they play Stevenson on the outside?

Does he move inside and Gordon moves outside? So how the cornerback position shakes out for them is a question, but it certainly was a need. They needed one more corner however you wanted to cut it. So interior out defensive line corner, both pretty huge needs for them. if you looked at that bear's depth chart. Giants with the 57th pick go with John Michael Schmitz,

the center for Minnesota. Interior offensive line, I think, was a spot where the Giants could go. Ben Bredesen is a short-term answer there at center. Mark Lewinsky, probably one more year there at guard. So, again, a team that at least over the next couple of years, as you project forward, was absolutely going to need more bodies. Nick Gates moved on this offseason.

Just a lot of guys, a lot of moving pieces there. Every single second round mock that I did, John Michael Schmidt to the Giants every time because it fits exactly what they need and exactly the type of player they want and I heard from a lot of the Giants fans he's not going to get there he's not going to get there

I think he was a little overrated through the process when he showed up in first round mocks he's not that type of player but he's still a really good player rock solid what do you think keeps him from being that type of player that belong in the first round not an elite athlete needs to keep his hands and feet on the same page you know throw on the Illinois

one of the first plays, he's on the ground because he wasn't able to react to the blitzer. So, you know, he's not that top-tier athlete that you want from the center position, but he's really smart. He's strong once he gets his hands on you. He's six-year senior. You know, he could have came out last year, I think it would have been a top 100 pick. He went back six-year senior, so this is an experienced guy ready to step in and be a starter for this team.

Oh, yeah. He easily could beat that day one-star because, what you said, the mental side, and they're going to put it on them. And this just makes sense. I'm glad, like you said, they mocked there. It's like, yeah, they needed a center, a guy to snap the ball, a guy that can handle that stuff. There was some issues with them last year,

especially, you know, John Feliciano being in and out, center and guard for him. And when he was not in, it was kind of, things kind of fell apart about where the protection was going, where everything was going. So this is a guy they build around. They invest in their offensive line. The Giants, even this is a new regime, but they're going to put some, you know, pedigree into that offensive line.

They've done it again. And like you said, I was with you. When he was starting to get mocked in the first, I was like, oh, really? Yeah. Okay, but his... I like him. Yeah, exactly.

This is exactly where he should go, right at the way, end second, early third. He's that type of player, but he can be a day one starter. He's going to be a more than fine one. Brits has made about a million dollars against the cap this year. So if they think John Michael Spitz is there starting set or I think that probably something is. He started nine games in three years. I think that's all you need to know about what that, what his capabilities are.

Tight end run. Here we are. We thought that the Cowboys might go tight end in the first round. Instead, they come back with a tight end in the second round. with the 58th pick, Luke Schoonmaker from Michigan. It's really interesting when you have a Michael Mayer staring you in the face in the first round, but you know the defensive tackles are not going to fall to you in the second, so you make a decision.

We'll go with the Michigan player in the first round. We'll come back and get the Michigan player in the second round with Luke Schoonmaker. Taco didn't scare him off. No, apparently not. I think you and I would both agree we would have taken Tucker Kraft here. Yes, I would. But Luke Schoonmaker still is a day two player. 6-5-255.

He is an athlete, can make plays as a route runner, but he's also a pretty good blocker. I mean, he is just another one of these combo guys that you want to play him in line, he can do it, you want to detach him, he can give you something? My biggest thing with him is, can he stay healthy? Shoulder injury this year, couldn't even finish his pro day before he got hurt. Then practice at the Shrine Week because he was hurt, too. Exactly. So I'm a big Luke Schoonmaker fan. I just, I hope he's able to stay healthy because if he can, he has a chance to be a really solid starter in this.

If you were looking at the Cowboys' Deft Chart coming into this weekend and you were circle on the needs in red pen, I think the first one might have been tight end. The second one might have been into your defensive line. Now in the first two rounds, that's what we get. Makes sense. And again, no offense, Jake Ferguson. No, no, no.

It's just another big sense. Don'ton Ferguson. That's Henders shot the third. There you go. They're all the same person. Actually, if you probably looked at the measurables, they're probably all going to be the exact same size. Scoot makers are pretty good athlete, though.

He tested pretty well. 6-8-1-3 cone. Yeah. That's pretty good for a guy that's, that size, 250 pounds. He's not built like you, like, he's kind of square body where you're not expecting that kind of movement out of them, you know. You don't think SpongeBob's going to move that. No.

Yeah, Tucker Craft is the ultimate square body. But he, like, he is, he's a, I've looked at him as the tight end consolation prize. Okay, you miss down the big, you know, the big time guys. I kind of looked at him as the Michael Mayer consolation prize. Does everything well. He's a good blocker. That's why I first liked him. But then the game early on in the season,

I'm trying to remember what it was, but who cares? He ran like a little stick route where he's coming out of the route. It was like, oh. Maryland? That would make sense. Yes. Okay, yes. It was early in the year.

And I was like, oh, okay, you have that. You have that. Like, yeah, and then he tested and I was like, oh, okay. I don't think it would be like that. Yeah, but it was like it was more to him than I thought. But he is a balanced Y can play in line. Enough receiver for him. He's an auxiliary target.

It's perfect. When you see a tight end at the top of the route, you know, a lot of these guys, they're big, they're lumbering. They're, it's a little rigid as they drop their. their weight, get out of the break. He was smooth, yeah. He was really able to do it in a fluid motion, really impressed. I was like, I didn't know he could do that. That's how I went into him.

Okay, Luke Schoonmaker, you have my attention. He's Luke Schoonemaker. He's from Michigan. He's a tight end. I was like, I had, I know you're supposed to scout the helmet. I was scouting the last name. He's going to be a blocker and probably a little stiff. No, he can move. It was going to be Peyton Hender Shot.

Yeah, yes. Yeah. But they love their balanced tight ends. And like what I mean by that, a three-down tight end, that you can ask them to do everything. They do everything. They do everything well. is like him, Jake Ferguson and Hendershot, like, that's kind of fun.

He grew up in the Northeast. Funny thing with him is he was a quarterback. And then this little, this more unknown guy came to school named Will Levis. Scootemaker changed positions, changed schools, and went to Michigan and on a different path. But, you know, he's not a big play threat, but he's, again, other guy's going to get you those doubles. I think of his career receptions, I'm only four, over 25 yards. So, again, not going to give you those home runs, those big plays. Which is interesting with the testing.

The fact that he tested as such an explosive athlete, but you've never got those is... In the offense, I think, too, that Michigan offense, they don't ask that of their tight ends. True ball control offense. That ball's on the ground. We've had five tight ends go, I believe, in the top 60 picks, correct?

Yeah, that sounds right. And we have two more that will be surprised if Tucker Kraft went in the second round. Maybe not. You know, the Bengals need a tight end. No, six tight ends, yeah. Six. Five, no.

Five are gone. Darno Washington and Tucker Kraft potentially could go. What's the record for tight ends in the first two rounds? Oh, good. question. I mean, it feels like we're absolutely approaching it if we haven't broken it yet. Yeah. I have one for the first three rounds. I want to say eight is the record for the first three rounds. It might

been seven. So now we're already at five. We could get six in the first two rounds. It would not be surprising at all. Eighth. Eight's the record for the first three rounds and seven twice. So that, yeah, and there are going to be plenty of these guys going. I mean, that was always the and the Cowboys are a perfect example. We knew they needed a tight end. And instead of taking

Michael Mayer, they take the harder to find position and they're okay. And they're sacrificing a little bit to get Schoonmaker. It's really interesting. I think there's so many different factors in play. That one, we've seen a play out multiple different times, and just this idea of they're getting pushed up because teams just need more receiving options.

I think so many different factors are kind of contributing to what this draft has looked like at that position specifically. I think it's fascinating. And we were talking about the explosive playability or lack thereof because of the offense and everything. But Dak and tight ends, Dak Prescott and the tight ends, he's going to pepper him underneath. He loves having that kind of auxiliary option,

that number three in his progression, where you just, okay, six-yard gain, I'm good. That's what he's going to be, and the Schoonemaker's going to be perfect for that role. Just think about this Dallas offense if it all clicks into place. Brandon Cooks is there now, that offensive line in place, and then here with the 59th pick, the bills get an offensive line in Osiris Torrance from Florida that we thought they might be looking at the back half of the first round. So the first article I do after the draft is over, I rank my favorite draft classes.

I can tell you right now, Buffalo is going to be in the top 10. We talked about the fit with Dalton Kincaid in the first. If they drafted Osiris Torrance in the first round at that pick, everyone would have been like, okay, yeah, get offensive line, like it. Osiris Torrance is, you start him at guard right away, and he's going to help that offense. So to get him here at 59, like, I get it. He's not a great athlete.

You know, he's not this superb mover, but once he gets his hands on you, it's over. And again, I'll say it with him. He could have stayed at Louisiana. he would have been a, you know, a top 100 pick, no matter what. But he decided to go to Florida, follow his coach, and he played at a high level this year in the SEC against SEC competition. So surprise he fell this far again.

Again, I think it was the athletic testing, maybe soured some, they have certain thresholds, what they want a position, certain movement abilities. He's more of this lineup. I'm going to dominate the man across from me. And he did it consistently on tape. This is another and this why I think. thought he would maybe go to them in the first round was that reconfiguration of their offensive philosophy.

He's an at-you blocker. And I think they're going to be more downhill with everything. This makes sense of for another downhill-type blocker and reconfiguring the offense completely. I just really like this alternate image that the bills are kind of creating, kind of a yank to what they've shown before, more spread finesse. It's like now they have this kind of angle where it's like, hey, we'll just go at you. And I think he's been well-coached.

I really liked with the Florida's offensive line and how they coached their guys. I thought they were really mentally astute, and they asked them to do a lot with good eyes. So I think mentally his transition should be okay as well. I wonder how those spots shake out. They gave Ryan Bates that contract last year. They matched with the Bears gave him. They signed Connor McGovern and Free Agency. Mitch Morse is still there.

So they've committed to a couple different guards already in their roster. So how they see the interior of their offensive line, I think will be a question for them heading into the year. And this might have been a case where, hey, we can't pass on this guy. Yeah, I totally understand that. They brought him in for a 30 visit. So when I saw that, I was like, what are they trying to do here? Because tackle seemed like it might be the move for them on the offensive line. But when they wanted to meet with them, kind of alarm bells going off the back of your head.

It's like, how do they see this position group? And are they trying to undergo this attitude change and have the shift happen? And that's the thing when I've been mentioning this for the bills is that it's not like, oh, tomorrow they're going to be in heavy personnel over time. I think it's just, do you have that ability to pivot to that type of mindset in that game and ask for? I think they pivoted it. And now we get 12 personnel, we get an offensive guard in the second round here. Damien Harris is like a big winner of this. Like, you really is.

because that's the type of blocker he thrives behind. And I thought I forgot Damien Harris is even there. Think about the way the Patriots built over the last couple years. So at you blockers. I think they understand something needed to change it. They needed to go in a slightly different direction, one way or the other, and this is it. We've done so much side to side. Let's get vertical.

60th pick, Dane. The Cincinnati Bengals go with DJ Turner, cornerback from Michigan. We thought that defensive back might be on the table for them. They signed all those guys a couple years ago, but some attrition has started, and they go corner with their second round pick. And it's interesting. You know, they went Dax Hill out of Michigan the first round last year. Come back here with DJ Turner, who I think he's going to be best than a nickel.

I think it's where he fits the best. I mean, you look at their depth chart right now with, you know, Woosier and Mike Hilton and Cam Taylor Britt, I thought, did a nice job last year. He was a second round pick in last year's draft. But DJ Turner, and you want guys that are smart, explosive, and competitive, boom, DJ Turner's a guy. Little undersized. The lack of length will show at times. The lack of play strength will show when he's going up against bigger receivers. but he has,

he ran the fastest 40 at the combine. You know he has a speed, no question about that. He is a really competitive player. I mean, he is locked in from the start. And I think he's really smart with the way he plays.

So I like him best in the nickel because of some of those size concerns. But, you know, if you need to play them outside, I think he could do that as well. Well, that's, and Dax Hill, they drafted, too.

It's like that was kind of, you know, he did some nickel stuff as well, right? Right. So it's nice, I mean, now they have Hilton as well.

So it's kind of, it's not a bad thing to have guys that can do that. The speed, though, is a little different what they had at corner really before, right? They kind of had more crafty guys by, maybe not always by choice, but just who they had to throw out there. So maybe now getting a guy with kind of plus athletic traits is kind of nice. And again, this is another defensive pick. This is the reconfiguration of the Bengals.

The offense is about to get expensive. Let's get the defense cheap. And speaking of that, one of those guys that they signed in frequency a couple years ago is they remade that team. Well, two guys. Mike Hilton won Chidobie Wuzier, too. Hilton, two more years left on his deal. One more after 2023. But Woosie is a free agent after this season.

So we saw them do this exact thing with Daxhill last year, where they sprinkle him in slowly as a rookie. They have those starting safeties. Von Bell and Jesse Bates hit free agency. Daxhill steps in as a starter. So that same sort of succession plan feels like we might be looking at that with D.J. And there's been a lot of, yeah, that secondary looks a lot different than it did last year. No more Jesse Bates, no more Von Bell, no more Eli Apple, trade flowers.

So there's a lot of turnover here, but they've been preparing for them. this. That's why Dax Hill was the first round pick last year. And they're continuing to do that with the DJ Turner who, again, it's just a really solid player that I think you checks a lot of boxes. And you know, you feel good about a guy first name's Wondrago. You know?

I mean, that's awesome. How we got DJ out of that? I mean, it's because of his dad, his dad had the same name. That's such a disappointment. I'd be so bummed if my name was Wondrago and I went by DJ. Right, right. I'm really neutering the name. Maybe he'll change it when he gets the NFL. They'll look pretty cool in a football card.

They really would. No, this is, with the Bengals, too, is even with the Miles Murphy pick and everything, where it's, again, they haven't plans for these positions. That's exactly what it is. Just building contingencies. Like, we put depth, we get an injury here, injury there. You're protecting yourself. And I think that when you feel like you're a real contender,

planning for the worst case scenario is not the worst way to think about your roster building. Right, right. And that's why we've got to talk to the lines a little bit, too. That is what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Contingency plans are very good. I mean, even the Seahy heart. one with another running back.

Like I know, well, that's more of, yeah, they're not going against type there. But no, but just having those plans that especially even if positions that you think are restraint, not that I'm saying that DB is for them right now, but just sometimes it's nice to just keep the, keep it turn it. Just like with the Eagles you know, just keep another guy down the assembly line, always have a plan. I think the only real need, if you're looking at the roster that still kind of looms large for them would be tight end. You know, they didn't address those first two rounds. I think pass catching running back, but that's something they could do in the third and fourth round.

Right tackle, right? We don't know what's going to happen there. Joe Williams is under contract. He is. I mean, that's another succession plan. For right now, I mean, that's one of those things where he can complain all he wants. He's still on the team. He is, he is.

Jack's picking at 61 here, another team that, you know, right in the mix in the AFC, one of those teams that try to kind of finish off this roster to kind of push them into real contender status. This is the Darnel Washington was a popular pick here for them. Again, another team. Their own version of a tight end. Tucker Kraft was another guy that would be matched. potentially going there. Because, you know, they're, obviously Evan Ingram is there,

but their second tight end in the last season. Chris Mannhurts, you're not giving you much as a pass catcher. But he had a role. Doug Peterson, he likes those South Dakota State tight ends. That's right. That's right. Oh, okay. They do go tight end.

Yeah, that's strange. With the 61st pick, the Jags go with Breton Strange from Penn State, Dane. It's so funny how the draft works. I mean, a month ago, if I told you, Brent and Strange is going to go ahead of Darnow, Washington. Like, people call you crazy, but that's how it works. Brent Strange, maybe the best true H-back in this draft. I mean, he's the way he was used, a lot of some catch-and-go routes,

he'd play them, you know, he'd be in line, he'd be in the wing, he'd be detached, line a ball all over the place, a functional blocker. I mean, he will finish. He loves the finish. But he's also a really good pass catcher, and he's got some juice after the catch. He will make something happen. He was really an underrated part of that Penn State offense. first downs.

He's not maybe the most explosive player, but teams loved him because of that versatility in different ways he can help your offense. Walk me through why Brent and Strange over a Tucker Crafter, over Adorno, Washington, if you wanted to go with that position. I'll let you take this one. I wouldn't, though,

because I think Tucker Craft is even a better mover and everything and has more upside the other spots. So that's kind of interesting to me. I really, when I watched him, he reminded me of Tommy Trembal. from Notre Dame a few years ago is with the Panthers now where it's like, are you an F,

like kind of like quasi fullback, quasi H? I like how you say kind of that H role, like that true move tight end role, but a good blocker, even if it's like he is the move guy, but he can kind of do all those things. So if you want to get a little creative with it, kind of interesting to me because it's like,

he's a better blocker in Evan Ingram, but he's not an inline guy. So it's kind of, I don't know, you different, they're both Fs as far as move tight ends, but they're way different a type of play style. So what's our tight end watch now? We have to seven tight ends off the board now.

And we're still waiting on our numbers here and Tucker Kraft. Hey, we're just talking about him. We were. We were. Second round, a little earlier than we thought maybe. With the 60 second pack here, Juice Scruggs, guard from Penn State, second Penn State guy in a row here.

Going to the Texans. What do we think, Day? Guard center versatility. Can play both spots. And he's a guy that realized at a young age football was for him, and he really leaned into it. I mean, he really, he gets the most out of his ability. He has quickness to him.

And I love the way he uses his hands because he wants to control you. He wants to use his hands. Keep that distance between himself and the defender. And surprising he's off the board here in the second round. But again, I think that position flex is a big part of why he's the pick. Luke Whippler from Ohio State doesn't give you that. Some of these other interior offensive linemen, just they don't give you that versatility.

some teams really place the value on. One of my favorite players the entire Shrine week was Drew Scruggs. One of my highlighted guys I wrote about when I did write for the athletic. But now he is like as a center. He'll be a center, I believe, for the Texans. I mean, there's a hole. I mean, there's clearly a whole. I mean, there's a lot of them.

He was a massive spot. Yes. And I really liked him. He had just a good mindset about him. I thought he was, I liked his moving ability. He had a lot of the stuff I like in a center. Everything was just sound with him. he was great in pass pro.

Like, I know one-on-ones is not, you kind of want to just see more movement and everything. You don't want to take to my, but he dominated in pass-pro. He was doing really, really well in the one-on-ones in practice, and I watched him more on film, but really liked the player way earlier than I thought. I thought maybe he was a round later, maybe at the highest. He was my number 186 player.

So this is my first player outside the top 100 to be drafted. I had more as like an early fourth guy. That's kind of, yeah. So, like, that's how I looked him, because I didn't think he was an overwhelming athlete. Do you feel like there just weren't that many? other centers available at this stage of the draft? Centers with position flex.

I think that's the key distinction. Okay. So, yeah, and welcome Denver to the draft as well. They moved up, right, to get... Denver moves up to draft Marvin Mims Jr. from Oklahoma with the 63rd pick. Sean Payton team those ways. Interesting in particular because a lot of receivers on the Denver Broncos right now. So what does this mean for a Jerry Judy?

What does this mean for a court one Sutton? Sean Payton putting his stamp on things here very quickly. with this free agent class, plus making a receiver the first pick of that new era in Denver. Jayland Hyatt's still out there, right? Yeah, that's interesting. Same kind of type of players, or I'm sorry,

type of players, I should say. Mims is a fun player. He wins down the field, speed, really good athlete. He's just, he's a smaller player, and you wonder, can he be more of a complete guy? Can you give you more underneath, or is he strictly a vertical player that you want down the field?

because ideally you want your downfield threats to be a little bit bigger than he is. But not surprises off the board in the top 75, that's probably where we thought he would go. Just interested that it's to Denver. Yeah, yeah. I can understand how it fits their offense, but there's a lot of bodies there at that position.

Yeah, I was going to say, maybe one fewer after this is over. Yeah, it really seems that way. It might be. Especially, like, he would be more of how, even though how Judy was used, Jerry Judy was used Alabama, how he's been using the pros.

It's not that shifty route running type. It's a vertical threat. And I think Mims is a little better at that as far as like tracking and everything. So it's kind of maybe, if I were to guess, I'd say, that's a guy that's probably going to be on the way out as opposed to Cortland Sutton. And Sutton is more, to me, a Sean Payton receiver. And they kind of have a nice more, again, this is the word I'm just going to always use it. But the synergy of that room makes a little more sense.

Tim Patrick coming back. But there's a lot of bodies. He's a little bit of different type. but if Judy's still there, it would be like, okay, that's a little iffy, but if he's on the way out, that makes a lot more sense. But you have a good vertical threat. Last Jew's Scrugg's point, not a sentence I thought I would say. The Ballad of Jew Scruggs?

The Ballad of Juice Scruggs. I knew I could get you with that. The Ballad of Juice Scruggs, Scott Quisandberry being the starting center right now, obviously they had a need there. Not no stars on this Texan's offense outside of really Laramie Tunsel. But you look at the offseason that they had, I think it really was about just making sure that we had a functional body in every spot on the offense because we want to drop CJ's drought into a really nice situation.

You go get Shaq Mason. Now you have a starting center, presumably. You draft in the second round. Dalton Schultz is there in a one-year deal. Robert Woods is there. Noah Brown is a useful player. And a much quieter move, they signed Case Keenham to be their backup quarterback. So I think trying to do everything they can to make sure we're putting this guy into a set of circumstances where we feel good about his development.

And skirts is sturdy. Is that a good way to put it? Yeah, definitely. Their interior is very sturdy. A lot of big asses. Shack face is a wide. And I think you go back to their draft last year. They're expecting big things from Kenyon Green in year two.

And John Metchie hopefully be able to come back on the field. And what that means for that offense. And Green really came along in the last monthish of the season, six weeks. I thought he started well. Yes. Oh, middle. I was like, oh, boy. Oh, boy.

Rookie offensive line. It's tough. It is. It's such a crapsheet all the time. Always. We've seen guys struggle and then it doesn't always matter. Don't really quarterback moving too much for you back there. That kind of hurt you of you.

You're a little edgy on your block as well. But no, I'm glad you brought that up because they're making it a nice landing spot. I just think teams are being really conscious. They are. Even like the Carolina, after losing DJ Moore, going to get Mingo and they have the offensive line in place. I think it's just teams understanding. We need to, this guy, it's not about him succeeding or failing. It's about us failing or succeeding him.

Or helping him succeed. It's a great way to put it. And I just think that a lot of teams are really cognizant of that now. And I like that. If you're going to draft a quarterback in the top five, like you need to do everything you can to make sure that the bottom doesn't fall out because of your own doing outside of what he can control. Understanding it's a plan for all these players.

And yeah, we're talking about quarterbacks, but every position and having that plan to, hey, yes, we want you all to start day one. That's ideal, but not all of you guys can. And if we do force you to start day one, let's at least not throwing the deep end. Like, what's throwing you water that's like knee high, you know, like where it's like, yeah, you're going to get your feet wet. We're throwing some water wings on dudes.

Yeah, yeah. By drafting all these complimentary pieces about your offense and making sure your support system is in place, it's a life raft. We're mixing a lot of nautical. I love it. I love it. It's because the bears are on the clock and you feel like you're sinking. All right, guys, that's it for round two. Round three's podcast should be available in your guys's feeds very shortly.

So highly encourage you guys to go check out our coverage of the third round. That's all we got. Sincerely appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you soon. This was the Athletic Football Show.