The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - 2024 NFL Draft Day Three Recap: RB and TE runs, breaking down overall hauls, plans that made us go 'Hmmmm,' and more

Episode Date: April 28, 2024

The Athletic Football Show wraps up its stint in Detroit with an in-depth look at day three of the 2024 NFL Draft. Robert Mays, Nate Tice and Dane Brugler highlight the notable moments of the final four rounds of the draft, including runs at running back and tight end, why teams made the trades they did on day three, and some of their favorite picks. The guys also consider the draft as a whole, discussing their favorite overall hauls, plans that made them scratch their heads, and 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. Welcome to the Athletic Football Show. I'm Robert Mays. Fun show for you guys today. We're going to do our day three recap of the NFL draft here to help me do that. First off, it is the draft expert at the athletic. Dane Bruegler. Dan, how are you doing, buddy?

I'm good. This is Day of the Scouts. This is where all that hard word. Yeah, you know, your personal favorites, your pet cats, all those guys, this is where we can talk about them, debate them. And it's interesting to see different teams going different directions. And so, yeah, we'll have plenty to talk about. I was joining me today.

It's my good friend, Nate Tyson. How you doing, bud? We're there. We're there. We're almost there. But yes, like Dane said, this is, we talk about day two. I mean, always I did. It's like, oh, this is our guys.

This is the people who are like, and then we're getting the day three. It's like, you see in that movie? Really? You watched that one? Like, that's kind of how I feel. I was like, oh, Dane, you watched that guy. But it's kind of cool for even for me to see some of these players that come up that, of course Dane has in the Beast, but, man, day three is a lot of fun too because you could just

see it fill out. See, maybe that little dart throw that might work out that's always fun to talk about. Day three is when I stop being useful. So when we were sitting here watching the draft today, I was definitely taking a backseat. We are still in Detroit. We are not doing it live show for rounds four through seven because it's a long day. We got six hours of just picks and the draft is still not finished. We were doing this as pick 229 is coming.

M.J. Devonshire from Pitt going to the Raiders. Give me something on MJ Devonshire. This is just a party trick. I want to see you do it. Speed. Ball skills, he's got both of those things. And so I, surprised he actually fell this far to the seventh round.

Raiders, and they went Trey Taylor a couple of picks ago in the seventh round. So D.B.'s back to back here. Trey Taylor, cousin of Ed Reed. Air Force. Yeah.

One of the... Maybe we should have done live stream for the rounds four through seven just to watch him cook the entire time. He learns about oyster doctors. Or oyster. That, if we're going to talk about,

our favorite moments, our favorite picks of day three as we keep going today. My favorite moment of day three was, who was it? Who was it? I don't know. It didn't happen.

No. The Patriots stack. Who's the Patriots? Caden Wallace. So Caden Wallace was doing his Zoom with the Patriots, and we learned that his brother was an oyster doctor. Oyster scientist. It doesn't sound real.

And Dane didn't know. It didn't know. That his brother was an oyster scientist, which I think that means any time you read any information in the beast. A couple grains of salt. It never came up in talks. I tell you what.

I will do better next time. I will do better. I know. It's like, hey, any of your siblings play sports? Okay. Okay. Anything with oysters? Anything oysters.

What are the gooey ducks? Goody ducks or anything involved with that? You've eaten gooey duck before? Yeah. We actually, my parents, the house that they had in Belfare, Washington, they actually grew,

farmed, would come up and dig him up and yeah they pay the companies pay you to farm them on your beach i'm not gonna ask him because i know he hasn't is a man who doesn't like seafood period i'm i'm i'm sure he hasn't even weird shellfish you guys are playing with me and making up words oh it's a real thank gudek and you know what it looks like gigantic clam basically and you'll see and you'll see them spout up yeah yeah it looks like some it does it looks like something out of star wars it's exactly what it looks like yeah it might look like something else too. All right, let's dig into our favorite moments and our favorite picks of day three.

Your guys is, by the way, just to make that clear. We're going to talk about some of the picks from day three, some of the things that we thought were most notable, and then kind of take a step back and discuss some draft halls overall. So, Dana, as guys were flying off the board here in the fourth, fifth round, where would you start just kind of the most notable moments from earlier today? You know, with some of these running backs coming off the board, where they went, the order they came off the board. I thought was really interesting.

We talked about it the entire process. Going back to the fall, we weren't going to have running backs go early, but once they came off the board, they're going to fly off. And the different fits, because all these running backs are different, like a Jalen Wright going to Miami and in dolphins. It's like they're not even pretending to fool us here. It's speed, speed, speed. So that's an interesting fit.

Tanner Borderlini going to the Colts. Again, Chris Ballard has a type. Absolutely. When you do a mock draft with the Colts, you know exactly what to look for. This isn't hard. And Bordellini fits, he had almost one of the best combines we've ever seen from an interior offensive lineman. 7-16-3-cone, 4-2-A short shuttle, and that's at 6-4 over 300 pounds.

So you think of the interior offensive line situation. He's the perfect type of guy you bring in, develop, and he's going to start games for them at some point. Ryan Kelly getting a little bit older. I think next year, I want to say, is the flag. last year of Ryan Kelly's deal. And they've got some guys that they've extended. You think about the Michael Pittman contract now,

they already paid Jonathan Taylor as a team that I think the most expensive offensive line in the league two years ago. That's no longer possible with some of the ways they've distributed their money. They paid to Forrest Bruckner. They gave Gervisd another extension. So eventually they're going to have to skimp somewhere, even on a rookie quarterback contract. So kind of chipping away at the interior offensive lined up makes a lot of sense for them.

Typical badger athlete. Rare Wisconsin athlete. Bauer is a badger. That makes a little sense. Yeah, yeah. So there's a little tie there. That's probably why you like Jonathan Taylor a little bit too. So obviously, you know, we know the dolphins love speed.

We know what they did last year, you know, going and getting Devon A.C., which is one of your favorite picks of, just stylistically, that happened in last year's draft. They still have Rahim mostered there in his 30s, somebody who's had a lot of injury issues going forward. How do you see Wright and A. Chan fitting together? Is that a situation where Wright can maybe handle a little bit more of the load, maybe into next season, 2025, and H.N. becomes a compliment.

Are they too little too samey? Like, what does the synergy look like between those two guys? Yeah, and I think that's what defensive coordinators are going to be asking. And when they prepare for Miami's offense, like, okay, how are they going to, is it just going to be, you know, ones off the field, one's on the field, and trying to get both these guys on the field at the same time. How are they, because they do a lot of things that are the same. And that's pure speed out of the back field.

It's sometimes too much speed at times, and you want to, a little bit more patience, a dash more of decision-making. You know, and that's part of playing running back at a high level. But this is a player that doesn't have a ton of wear and tear. Under 400 carries or 400 offensive touches in his career at Tennessee. But he can fly. I like the similar to Jerome Ford a little bit when he was coming out of Cincinnati. He went to the Browns stylistically.

And Jerome Ford had a lot of issues with vision and pacing and just playing running back this year. So boom-buss. So I think that makes a lot of sense. And it's all about tempo. It's all about that feel for working in concert with the blocking. And this is why he was a fourth-round pick. But when you get those lanes for him where he can just show off that speed,

it can be special. And that's what they do. They want you to take one wrong step. And then rather than just, oh, yeah, it's the speed takes full advantage. It's the entire office. It's out to gain. So why not have the whole plane built out of speed?

Okay. So, but let me spin this another way. Oh, yeah. We've seen the plane crash each of the last two seasons. Eventually, it's like one of those Boeing planes. The nuts and the bolts are all over the place. We got doors flying off. I mean, that's what the Dolphins' offense has looked like

by the time we get to December and January. So let's look at what they didn't address. We still thought they would get an offensive lineman somewhere along the way, an interior offensive lineman. They drafted Patrick Paul in the second round. We're in round six right now. I'm still waiting for that interior offensive line for the Dolphins. maybe as a means to have a slightly different identities we get later into the year and age.

Well, that's what keeps crashing. How excited we get nickname offense level with this offense in September and October. And the same thing. Andrews add up. And we've seen other teams good or bad addressing like kind of what cracked their seasons. So, hey, the bills with their stuff and like on their defense aside, teams like that. So with the dolphins, though, it's like, this is two years running.

The same kind of thing kept happening. Maybe their defense fell off a lot last year. But it was like, you know, when they had to drop back, they couldn't even protect. tech because they're playing four new linemen at times. They have so many guys that go in and out and they're running back a few of those same guys who still have all those injury concerns. So I thought that's what they address it, but they kind of went meme team style a little bit. The dolphins are so funny because, okay, they draft Malik Washington the 6th, which two rounds later than he should have gone. But it is some Jalen Waddle there, you know, you know what they're looking for. And then they take

Chop Robinson in the first, we know. And then in the fifth, take Moe Kamara from Colorado State, another designated pass rusher. You don't want him setting an edge and playing the run. He's undersized. So they are doubling up on some of their types of what they want for this team. Let's look at some of the other running back fits. Somebody's got a couple mid-round picks

in a rookie dynasty draft coming up here in a few months. This is where I want to be shopping. So I need a little bit of insight from you guys. Nate, as you're looking at these running backs and where they landed, whether it's a Trey Benson, a Marshaun Lloyd going to the Packers, or Becky Irving going to the Bucks, anything that you think makes sense,

and maybe lends to a pretty big role, whether this year or next. The two, rough, the bat, are two third rounders. I was wishing, or two of the third rounders, which I was hoping to find maybe a day three guy on there, but it's Trey Benson, the Cardinals, and then Blake Corum to the ramps. Both of their run styles make a lot of sense what the Cardinals have right now with James Connor, but also their emphasis on the run game that they really were kind of showing on day two, especially was, yeah, Benson makes sense. He is that he's not boom-bust, like we just talked about with Wright, but he's, you know,

Vision is not his overall strength, but I think what the thing is that they're saying, well, we need a guy that can take in the house when we have these lanes, if we get these soft coverages with Marvin Harrison Jr. I really like that. He was my running back one, and I thought that was a perfect spot for him the draft. Corm still, or Corm as well, because of what the Rams do on offense now, more of a power downhill duo scheme, which is power without the polar. Corum did that all the time at Michigan, and he has great vision, great tempoing of his run. So those two guys back to back, I said, yeah, yeah, that makes total sense, and it's also insurance for the Rams that case

Cowan Williams does get banged up a lot. All right, he took the Cowards way out. I need you to give me a couple day three guys just in terms of their landing spot that you find intriguing day. Ray Davis going to Buffalo, you know, you think about what they want to be with that running game, and this is an opportunity. I think there's a chance here for Ray Davis

to really step up and play a meaningful part of that offense. He is a guy tremendous backstory, obviously, we've talked about it coming up through the foster care system, the fact that he was able to make it to the NFL's doorstep like this. And you look at some of his tapes last year, you could argue maybe some of the, what he did against Florida, maybe the best running back tape in this draft. He did some great things against Georgia.

Every single game, he's doing something that you can, okay, I can work with that. And it's part urgency. It's part just control, quickness. There's a lot of things that it's quick reads, lateral agility, and I'm going to go gravitate towards daylight. And he does that consistently. He caught the ball while at the back. backfield. So with what the bills want to be and can be on offense, I thought Ray Davis was a perfect

fit, getting him in the fourth round as well. So I love both for the player and for the team, I love this marriage. The compliment James Cook, yeah. It works. The one I want to steal, too, is like, I know this, Dane, you mentioned him on the pre-show, was Tyrone Tracy that went to the Giants, too. I mean, we both liked him, Dane. I think we're both kind of like, oh, yeah, he's this interesting profile.

You know, the former receiver turning running backs, got some interesting things to him. Look at that Giants' depth chart. Got Devin Singletary. Eric Gray didn't do much last year in his rookie year. All right. Well, maybe he's got a chance here to contribute in some way, shape, or form. One more I wanted to mention to... Now we're rolling.

The Chargers. This is what I want. Yeah, yeah. This is what I'm after. In the six round. Oh, yeah. Kamani Vidal from Troy. And, you know, we know the Chargers, they added Gus Edwards.

They went out and added... Who else they had? From Baltimore. Dobbins. Dobbins. J.K. Dobbins. Like, you know, they are kind of patching this together. We thought, you know, maybe Jim would want to get Blake Corum.

And, you know, they didn't draft a running back on the first three days or first two days. But here on day three, Vidal, this is going to be another guy, I think, with an opportunity. He's 5'8, 215 pounds. His ability to stay on the field no matter the situation. You know, if it's third down, first down, he can block, he can catch. Not a ton of home runs on his film, but it's just consistency with. him. And I think that's something that's going to speak really well to Harbaugh and being able to trust him. For Harbaugh, in his relationship with his running backs, it's a lot of trust.

Yeah. And I think with Vidal, it's going, there's going to be a trust factor there that is going to be developed pretty quickly. He, he, I like some guys that could take it to the house with my backs, but Harbaal likes the singles and double sitters. And that's what he is. He's an efficient runner. So that one, yeah, that's a great call at home with those other guys. Then I said words everybody else in that backfield. Exactly. But no, that's a great call then. that's a really good fit and kind of a little later than I expected him to go. You like Bucky Irving from Oregon who went to the bucks. So now you've got two of your dudes with Rashad White and Bucky Irving in that Tampa Bay backfield.

How do you think those two guys fit together potentially? Pretty well, but Bucky Irving runs how Rashad White should run and Roshad White runs how Bucky Irving should run based on their size and all those types of things. Because Bucky Irving did not test well. He is not the biggest guy in the world, but he is going to the Kiron Williams category in that I'm trusting the tape with him with his vision. he's another singles and doubles hitter. So when you have now two backs that can catch the ball pretty well, I think,

and Rashad White and Irving. But it's a nice complimentary guy for Rashad White. I really do think so. Bucking Irving's never going to be that number one guy. He was always going to be part of a committee. I think he's going to be an efficient toucher. So if it's eight touches he's getting, that's pretty good for him. Talk about the order of those guys went off the board.

Audrake Estime from Notre Dame goes pretty late in the fifth round to the Broncos after a bunch of these other backs. When you look at that Broncos' depth chart and just what he provides, How do you think it's see that potentially sorting out? Yeah, maybe some similarities with Javante Williams, you know, but he's a bruiser. Didn't test great, and that was kind of the thing with him, but still surprised he lasted as long as he did.

But he will wear down to defense because he wants to run physically, he wants to run hard, wants to run fast. If you block for him, he will get there and he will run through to the second level with a ton of urgency and decisiveness. So even though it is a little maybe similarities, I think it fits what they want to be on offense. And if they want to go next step with it, I don't know if Sean Payton ever thinks about tomorrow,

but it's that if you look at their running backs right now, I got Red Bull and me guys. So you've got Giovante Williams, who's last year of his contract, I believe, 21, 22. Yep, last year was contract. P. Ryan, okay, he's, you know, he's a mercenary protection back. We know it's a Maja Pee Ryan.

Yes, yes. But you got their undrafted free agent last year, Julele McLaughlin, who was like, that is Sean Payton's designated choice runner. Right. Okay, so now we got our scatback type. all right, let's get our first and second down guy. And I actually like Braylon Allen a lot, or Bramountianne out,

Jarkestimated a lot as kind of the first second down guy. He can also catch the ball a little bit, but he is going to be the guy that's going to be more of the bruiser, and then McLaughlin can get in there maybe on the passing down. So I actually like that for next year, that little pairing to move on from. One pick that we stick with running back just because, again, names of people know and names of people who can be looking at in fantasy, those sorts of things.

We talked about this when the pick happened in the moment. The Eagles kind of transitioning to this collection of running backs where past catching becomes a strength. What do you make of a Will Shipley Saquan-Barkley backfield in Philadelphia potentially? I like those two backs together, but Jayland Hertz doesn't use the run back to throw. Kellan Moore does. So that's going to be, that's one of those things. Are we going to be trending a little bit further in this direction with this new version of the Eagles offense? He's, he, and I bet you in Kellan Moore's mine, that's his Pollard. That's his Tony Pollard and their offense.

You know, what we had the Cowboys, he's going to be that guy that we do some, I'm a gadgetty touches, but design touches for in the passing game especially. I like Shipley, especially as a complimentary piece. I think there's a lot of qualities to his game, especially like this, but he's got a really nice role, and you've got to bring up the returning ability, too. That's also

special teams in general. Hugely important. So I was about to bring this up because there are some picks that kind of raised some eyebrows that we saw today. I was maybe going a little bit earlier than you might have expected, Dane. One guy specifically, Kewan Robinson from Texas, who had 12 carries last year. He was outside of your top 300. He goes,

167. And the thought here is, is this because of returnability? And as we see the kickoff rule change this year, it's becoming more important to have one or two of those guys on your roster. Him, Tyrone Tracy, Ania Smith, a few guys that that is the main appeal that they're bringing into the league. And with Robinson, he was a highly recruited kid and, okay, he's stuck behind Rocheon Johnson and Bejan Robinson.

And so, okay, once this, Jonathan Brooks went down with that injury, you thought, okay, this is his chance to step up, and he still didn't get much of an opportunity. And I think that that says volumes, but it also says volumes that how he was used as a kick returner, 95-yard kick-return touchdown touchdown last year on a blocked punt. So what he can do on special teams? And now with the kick-return rules being a little bit different, a player like this has more value. You go back to the combine, 4-4-2 speed. I mean, he has a chance to, you know, just explosiveness.

It's pure speed, pure explosiveness. It chanced to really make a... carve out a role for himself on special teams, and then if he gives you anything on offense, this is kind of a bonus. The other position that we were curious about how the guys would come off the board and really anybody's guess,

I mean, some people had their tight end two that went tight end eight. Some people's tight end eight went tight end two. Yesterday was Ben Sinit, being the second tight end drafted by Washington. Tip Ryman, one of your guys, goes to Arizona's the third tight end drafted after he caught, I think, a pass last year at Illinois.

And then this year, we have a run on tight ends in the fourth round, but it was kind of anybody's guess about which order they would come off the board. As you look at that tight end order, who's the most surprising name or the most surprising aspect of how they came off? Tanner McLaughlin, Arizona tight end, as far, he fell to the sixth, I believe. So him falling as far as he did, that was a little surprising. Cade Stover having to wait as long as he did,

but I thought he went to a great spot. reunite him with C.J. Stroud down there in Houston. Good old farmer gronk. I'm so in on Cade Stover. This is where I'm at with the draft process. I saw the video of Cade Stover massaging the bull. I'm in.

I want my tight ends to be really familiar and comfortable with livestock. I think that should be just a box you have to check in the process. There you go. I think that's, if you are interviewing tight ends, that's something you need to ask. This is just a note for you later. Of course.

It's part of my process. Oyster scientists and how familiar are you with livestock? Trust me. He's an Ohio kid. Okay. We grew up in similar places. He knows farming and he knows family and knows football. He doesn't know anything else. And that's okay. I don't need him to know anything else.

But he is a guy that's just, he's solid across the board, all phases. As a blocker, he's fine, past catcher he's fine. He was a big-time basketball player on the AAU circuit. And you see that with the way he can frame the football, play through contact, and finish. So I just, he's going to be someone that's never going to compete for Pro Bowls, but he will be a solid contributor for this offense. How about you on the tight-end side here, Nate? Anybody that kind of, all right, that's where that guy ended up?

This guy went ahead of that guy. Yeah. What do you think of the tight end order in the way it ended up unfolding? Yeah, the Ben's not one I could understand because some of the usefulness. It was a little higher than I expected, but he tested really well. Even Tip Ryman, I was like, okay, yeah, I can understand that even if I'm a little lower. The ones that I actually really liked where they ended up is Asian. Barner, who I like anyways, but he like AJ Barner.

But he goes to the Seahawks, and I understand why he, the Seahawks wanted him. Oh, we just lost Kobe Parkinson. Oh, let's get a guy that fills that kind of same role as a Y as a blocker who's an underneath target. And on top of it is another guy that was one of my pre-show guys. And that's Jared Wiley from TCU going to the Chiefs as a receiving only tight end. It's like, oh, yeah, that one's pretty easy to picture. He does have some Y ability to him.

He's, right. I know the Gisiki comparisons I hated because he. They don't match at all. Gassigee was a ball winner, dunker, you know, former volleyball player, of course, never blocked a soul in his entire life, and Jared Wiley will scrap. Like, yeah, he's not the greatest blocker,

but he's willing to do it. So it's way different comparison. He's 6-6-250. He has the body to do it and get better. And he can roll. He can't. Absolutely. He can run the scene.

There's no doubt about it. And he wasn't asked to do that a ton in that offense at TCU, but he being a former quarterback, still transitioning to tight end, he's, I think he's an easy guy to bet on on day three and say, yeah, I think we have something here. And so for the Chiefs, I love the value. The other 10-end I want to bring up, Theo Johnson goes in the fourth round to the Giants. If you look at the consistent theme of the offensive players of the Giants have drafted in this year,

we need a little bit of juice. We need a little explosion. We need something that we can drop into this thing. I don't think Joe Shane, Brian Daibel, Mike Kafka, anybody involved with that experience over the last couple years, they want things to feel a little bit different over there. I think that's the message that they're sending with this group. And also to Darren Waller stuff. You know,

they're in likely retirement, I'll put it at. But that's an interesting tight end room now. You got some, like, you got Chris Mannhirts there as well. So, yeah,

I didn't know that. That's great. I did not know that till right now. And then Daniel Bellinger, who had a nice, who's been a nice player. Like, you can stay healthy.

That's it. Yes. He's, I know. He can, yeah, he can do some stuff. He's can do,

but that's interesting. Yeah, he is useful. Yeah, he is useful. But Theo Johnson, I like his upside. He has more chops to him. Like, I really do think he has Y upside.

He tested great. It doesn't always play to that, but he still is a good athlete on film. And there's just, you're tapping in, you're hoping there's more to him. But the thing is, he's good in line already. There's plenty of clips of him blocking pass protection or set in the edge. It's just, it's projection with him. But that's the, this is the big athlete, take a bet on. And I like that for the Giants.

You want to take bets? Because, okay, why didn't you have more than 350 yards receiving in any of your seasons in college? What was, you know, what is going on there? And how do we bridge that gap? How do we get you there? So there's plenty of unknown variables that we kind of have to work through with Yo Johnson, but guys that are that size running in four, five, sevens just aren't walking down the street. With natural hands and natural strength.

It's like, yeah, it's like, okay, okay, I'm willing to do this. Running back in tight eye, we saw runs on both of those positions. We got into day three, there was no quarterback run anywhere in this draft because we had the longest gap between quarterback selections, I believe in NFL draft history, Dane. You'd be the one to tell me if I'm right about that. Twelve to one fifty between Bo Nix and Spencer Rattler. But Spencer Rattler ends up

landing with the Saints, maybe a little bit later than people might have expected. What do you think about Rattler's fall and maybe what do you think is fueling something of that? Just not for everybody. And so, yeah, we had the six quarterbacks off the board, the first 12 picks and then the huge gap.

With Rattler, we thought, maybe round three, you think maybe the Rams. So that's where a lot of those guys went. You think back to that's where Desmond Ritter went. I mean, guys, that guy is that guy a starter? Is he a little bit of a project? We've seen guys drafted in that range with that sort of like the range of outcomes that you could describe

through a Spencer Rattler potentially. And I think it's fascinating. Like Michael Pratt still available as we're doing this in the mid-seventh round. But we did see Jordan Travis come off the board. Joe Milton from Tennessee, Devin Leary. But yeah, back to Rattler. If you're the Saints, at a certain point, fifth round, it's like, okay, let's roll the dice on this.

Yeah. You know, why not? Very repeatable with his mechanics, very clean, good arm. He's size is, he's not small, but he's short. There's the stuff from the background from high school about entitled, immature, all that kind of stuff. Does that play a part here a little bit? And I'm sure it's different from team to team. for some teams he probably wasn't even in consideration, wasn't even on the board.

So it's not like they're passing on him. He was in consideration to begin with. So it's a little bit different. But for the Saints, pick 150 here. Yeah, why not roll the dice on this player? Derek Carr, $51 million cap hit in 2025, $50 million in dead cap. He is likely going to be the Saints quarterback in 2025 pending some strangeness. 2026.

What do you think Derek Carr's base salaries in 2026? You had to guess. Jeez. It's 50 million. It's $50 million. $50? Yeah, say, okay. I was going to say $28.

And his cap hit is $61 million. So in theory, they could restructure that. But there is likely an off-ramp after 2025. So this is a team that's not surprising to see them look at dice rolls because there's going to be a moment where going from $50 million of Derikara to dirt cheap, Spence Rela, if it works out, that's what you want. That's the ideal outcome, even if, and it's low-risk, high reward. Yes.

That's what it feels like. And even just, and you have to be honest with all the character of your concerns. and usually when I'm doing my big board, I try to as much as possible. I'm like, hey, this is more of a film, straight film evaluation. Yeah, some other stuff I'll consider with this big board. But with Rattler, if you're just looking at film, the stuff he can do, he has as many NFL throws as some of the top guys do. Throws guys open in a terrible situation.

It's just that the red flags for me are more the size. He's not a great athlete. He has some of that Baker-Mayfield where he thinks he's a better athlete than he is. But the guy moves in the pocket real well, throws consistent spiral all the time with some different arm-slax. also creativity. I had him as my 50th overall player, but my quarterback five.

He was like kind of the next tier of that kind of the picks tier and then Rattler. Like I preferred him over the two guys that went in the first round. Just because of those throws and what he had to work with, the offense line was terrible. I believe he got, was pressure on 40% of his dropbacks, which is absurd. So that's, yeah.

So working through that usable film, the tough pockets, this is a total bet. I would have done it in the third round. Like you just said, fifth total makes sense. Character concerns or personality concerns, however you want to frame them.

Fifth round, who gives a shit? That's what day three is. That's what day three is. We're looking at like situational running backs in that range. I think the lottery ticket, I'm surprised some other team wasn't willing to do it a little bit earlier for that exact reason. You mentioned having him over Bonex. Bonix goes 12 to the Broncos and then they reunite him, Dane,

with his Oregon teammate Troy Franklin, which I think was one of the guys we were most interested to see where he went on day three, somebody that fell a little bit. what do you make of Troy Franklin heading back to play with Bo Nix in Denver? Yeah, it's a little bit similar to what they have already with Marvin Mims, but hey, there's no such thing as too much speed on your offense. And Franklin is obviously familiar with Bo Nix as they kind of figure out what this offense is going to be.

You know, what is their calling card? And with Franklin, we know how he is as a vertical threat. How can they expand that for him? I always compared him to kind of Troy Franklin compared him to like a D.J. J. Chark. And I mean that in a great way and not so great way, both ways. But he just needs to be more

consistent as an all-around receiver. And I'm just not sure he can get there. That was kind of the big disconnect. A lot of people on Twitter, a lot of people, you know, Troy Franklin fans thought he maybe even go first round and, you know, the reason he fell to the fourth round. It's a disdain in his voice with the draft Twitter. A lot of people on

Twitter liked Troy Franklin. And hey, he might turn out to be a very lovely player. there's a lot of things you like about him, but the play strength stands out as not great and the route running. And you watch him run the gauntlet at the combine, and you're like, ah, this is rough.

This is going to be tough. And so just not a natural pass catcher of the football. But there's a lot of things he does well. And that's where, okay, here in the fourth round, that's, you know, you take a bet on that, especially when your quarterback is the guy that helped him be the most productive player, that one of the most productive players, Oregon's ever seen.

I may pretend I just only watch the U.S. USC game with Troy Franklin. And it's like, yeah, I love them. Kaelin Bullock wishes you did it. There's a chance that that's the only game, Sean Payton watched. It might have. I bet you that the only receivers that you watched were from Washington and Oregon this year.

So it's not a bad group if you're watching the Washington group, but Troy Franklin is the other guy. So, but shoot, I mean, when we were doing the show last year when Michigan, or Michigan, when Oregon and Washington were playing each other, it was just like, let's talk about the receivers because it was just like, that was the focus. Yeah, Franklin, for me, I struggle with them. There's so much, I do like, like, there is some flat. is in the red zone.

There is some stuff. It's all flashes, though. And then if he were 198, oh, way willing more to bet on those flashes, he is an outlier size, especially for his height. He has one of the lowest kind of body mass indexes because he's tall and skinny.

Small hands, too. It's just, yeah, so those are a lot of red alerts. How are you going to catch through contact at the NFL level? How are you going to win against press at the NFL level? Couldn't do it against PAC 12 defenders. Correct. And that's not,

Pac-12 defenders are not the NFL, even if they go out to the NFL. it fell. So there are concerns. I liked him. He ended up being in the top 50 for me because just some of the Twitch stuff, some X upside, but still it's like I had to be realistic about him. The Bonix pick, I think, sucked up a lot of oxygen as we think about the Broncos draft overall. But as we move past that, what do you think of what the Broncos have done over the last couple days? Jonah Ellis from Utah in the third round, Troy Franklin, Chris Abrams Drain. Yes. It's a real name.

Listen, I like it. You watched a member zoo last year. He went to a wonderful school in the University of Missouri. They get him in the fifth round. Audric Estime in the fifth round. What do you make of the Broncos Hall overall? I don't think we've really talked much about it. Yeah, because obviously, like you said, yeah, Bo Nix, that dominates the conversation. Jonah Ellis being more of a designated pass rusher,

and then you kind of see if he could be more. What they've done here on day three, Chris Abrams drain, I thought, had a good chance to go on day two. He is kind of like the Troy Franklin conversation. He's smaller, he's leaner. There's only so much muscle mass he can carry on that frame, but he finds ways to get his hands on the football.

I know some scouts that even liked him better than his college teammate, Rake Straw, who went on Friday night. So, you know, I get that here in the fourth round. We talk about Estimate a little bit. Velae later on, again, kind of seems he a little bit. Like, he's vertical speed. So that's an interesting pick. I think, you know, he can help out as a return man.

And so that's maybe where the value comes in with Vailay. But, yeah, this has been an interesting draft for the Broncos. Yeah, they also traded for John Franklin Myers. Yeah, they did. They also trade for John Franklin Myers. But yeah, the Ellis one's interesting. That makes sense, right? Because they get all these bendy kind of speed guys

and the other size DPR types. John Franklin Myers is the opposite of that. So I think that that's a decent compliment. I understand how that works together. Base downs, this can be him and Browning, and then you get into passing downs. Those guys will be out there. You have to pass her.

So that makes a lot of sense. The pick, I think, that got the most reaction out of you, potentially all day today, Dane, was the Lions trading back into the fourth round, trading away a future third round pick to go get a guy from Canada, Giovanni Manu. What do you make of this and what do you make of a pretty aggressive move from Detroit to make this happen? Trading is a third next year, right?

That's 2025 third round pick to come up and make this move. And that's part of the conversation here because that's obviously a hefty price to pay. Even if you are drafting at the end of the third round, especially for a player that is, you're going to have to redshirt him. I mean, this is going to be someone in, it's not someone you're going to feel comfortable putting on the practice squad and someone's stealing them away. I mean, you're going to have to keep on the active roster. But when realistically do they think he's going to get out there and play for him? Because he is, he's a basketball player growing up.

That was his forte. And then he kind of made that switch over to football. And at playing for British Columbia, the university, not CFL or anything like that, the University of the University of British Columbia, he was a left tackle. and we're talking 6-8, 350 pounds. He was on the radar, and then the pro-day is what really made him blow up. Because his pro-day, he was 506-40-yard dash, 4-8-1 short shuttle, 3.3-5-Virt, almost 35-inch arms, 10-5-inch hands. So there's a lot to like about just the tools and the traits,

but realistically, when is he going to get on the field for you? Talking to teams before the draft about him, it was like, yeah, he's a PFA, but watch, he'll get drafted at 6, 7, 3. round just to avoid the bidding process. And here he goes in the fourth round a lot earlier. Not just the fourth round, but giving up a third to do it. It's a lot earlier than most people in the NFL thought he would go. He's a year away from being a year away kind of thing.

Pretty much. Yeah. I mean, crazy athlete and everything. It's the lines, thankfully, are a situation where if he's going to work, if he's going to work in the NFL, it's there. That's one of the landing spots. Maybe, you know, Eagles is another one. So I think the natural connection would be that Jordan Mila-a-ta type situation.

That's very helpful. A huge body. obviously a great athlete. My lot of probably less experience than even Manu does coming into this process. But Hank Freely being there and the development that can happen, Taylor Decker is a free agent at the end of this season. So, I mean, we look at

the Lions, line, just seems rock solid in the moment, but they've paid Penny Sewell. They've paid Amon Ross St. Brown. There's a chance they have to pay Jared Gough this off season. So, again, some of a lottery ticket and just betting on your in-house development. That's it. That's what they keep doing. They keep going after the guys that they like, no matter,

it doesn't care what the board says, but also just betting on their own development, like a really good program tries to do. Luckily, yeah, I think Hank Frailey is one of those guys to actually get it out of them. And, yeah, we'll see. We'll see if he actually end up using all those gifts. There's a chance. Of course there's a chance. But again, this is going to give him one of the best chances possible.

Another move that the Lions made, they traded up for Sione Vaki in the fourth round. And the team that they did that with was the Philadelphia Eagles. As part of that deal, the Lions give up a 2025 fourth round pick. I don't care about the Lions side of this as much as I care about the Eagles side of it. The Eagles have made, I think, at least nine trades. this drafting. They broke the record, the modern record for trades in the draft. They're picking up extra mid-round picks going into 2025. One of the reasons that's particularly notable, Dan, is that the talent pool in next year's draft is going to look a lot different than this one.

For people who are maybe unfamiliar with why that might be the case and why the Eagles be stockpiling these sorts of picks, what do you think the thinking might be there? Theoretically, next year should be much deeper once we get to, you know, rounds three, rounds four, rounds five, because this year we had the leanest talent pool among the draft prospects because of underclassmen staying put, having that extra COVID year, NIL factor in all of this, the transfer portal. And obviously, NIL transfer portal, that'll still be a thing a year from now, but the COVID year won't. And so we'll see a lot more players in next year's draft.

And it's, you know, we saw last year at this time, the Eagles do the opposite, right? Where they traded a future third round pick to go back in, take Keely Ringo in the early fourth. This time around, they go the other way, and they pick up, load up picks for next year. Well, still having, I think, a pretty good class this year as well. All right. Let's zoom out a little bit from just what happened today to these overall halls. And you're going to be ranking all 32 draft classes for the athletics. So I'm going to get, have you get a little bit ahead on your homework here. Let's talk about your favorite halls from all three days of the draft.

Where would you start? We're just talking about the Lions. You know, Terry and Arnold in the first round to come away with. with one of the most, my top-ranked corner, a guy that I had ranked as a top, I think it was a 10th or 11th overall on my board. Competitive athletic, you know, everything we said, fits Coach Campbell and what they like to be,

Enis Rake Straw in the second round. And then what they've done, we talked about Giovanni Manu and the fourth, Sionovaki, who they announced him as a running back. Where is he going to be? That'll be interesting. But then their last two picks in the sixth round, Mikai Wingo and Christian Mahalo. Literally, they took the last two players from my top 100.

It's almost like they were drafting out of the beast because in a way it worked out. Mackay Wingo was kind of the discount version of a Byron Murphy where he's undersized. It's more flashes than consistency, but you like those flashes and you're going to bet on those. So like that pick for them. And then with Mahogany, there's some medical stuff going on with Mahogany. That was the main reason he fell. But he is a big man. He is a bouncer who wants to kick you out of the club.

but he's not a bad athlete either. I mean, he has some movement skills to him. So if the medicals were obviously good enough for the Lions to draft him here, and time will tell if he's able to hold up, because if he can, this might be a future starter and everything we said about Hank Fraley and, you know, you think about that lion's interior offensive line situation, he might have a shot to see some playing time and, you know,

eventually maybe be a starter. I mean, there's not a lot blocking him. They brought Graham Glasgow back, but Graham Glasgow was guard depth for them last year. So you got the guard situation for the Lions. And Graham Glasgow, position to be the starting left guard. They brought in Kevin Zitler and Free Agency. Both those guys getting up there.

So as soon as 2025, they're likely going to have a hole. Interior offensive line is a position. I thought the Lions might draft early in this draft, even with both of those guys in place. So the fact that they could potentially get a future starter in the sixth round and they do end up chipping away at that, it feels pretty good for Detroit. Not that they're the exact same one-to-one players,

but it kind of is the same kind of trajectory as Trey Smith for the Chiefs. Yeah. It's like talent to share, probably a day two guy, a ton of medical stuff. So maybe we're going to wait until day three. Round six, same exact round that Tray Smith went. Offense wine coach worth betting on. I think that's a great comparison. It makes a lot of sense.

Mahogany, yeah, Mahogany is a power player. It makes a ton of sense that he ended up with the lines. Like, it really does. Let's talk about Nate, a couple of your favorite halls. You look at a couple teams in the totality of their drafts. Give me a couple that stand out to you. The beef that Steelers added is that. That is, because not only the philosophy behind it, the players they took,

these are all guys I like, so that's easy for me to praise. They need a line help. We all knew this and was like, okay, maybe they had one guy in the first round. They did, Troy Foughton, do. And we're like, hell yeah, what spot do you line up? Doesn't matter, you're going to be a good player. Then they double down. It could Zach Frazier.

Okay, cool. Maybe that Fottonu Center experiment that me and Michael Jr. want to see. Okay, maybe we'll never see that. But now they got probably the best center-only guy, as I put. but, you know, maybe not the anterior swing guy, but Frasier is a good one. He's going to be a leader of the room type of guy. And then they had Mason McCormick in the fourth round.

And then he was one of your guys as well. Another interesting body. Like this is a guy that has starter qualities. So we're betting on him. And then the receiver, Roman Wilson, useful, slot guy. Does dirty work too. He playing that Michigan offense, that pound of the rock all the time, but he's going to block.

So Arthur Smith's going to like him, but it's not the typical kind of guy you picture in that type of offense where it's another George Pickens type. So you get kind of a complimentary skills. set but can still do some of those dirty work, useful things for him. So those are just it's a lot of guys. I get the swing on Peyton Wilson, and I know that.

There's speed with him. There are traits with him. They're fine with the medicals, apparently. I don't know if they're fine, but they're going to tolerate him. He has a lot of qualities, too. So they had some needs to address, and I thought they addressed them pretty damn well. You look at just the contract situation, the players they currently have in place. James Daniels is the final year of his deal, so he'd look at Mason McCormick,

maybe as a future starter that you can get in the fourth round. McCormick was somebody from South Dakota State Dayne who you had some issues with just because he tested really well you weren't sure what to make of his tape How do you feel about him landing at 120 in this draft of Pittsburgh? It's maybe a little bit earlier than I would have gone, but I still understand it because the tape is up and down He's stiff and it just doesn't always look great and if you're watching FCS Division 2 Division 3 you want to see a guy just dominate and sometimes he did but not always but he's a six-year guy. I mean, he played literally 70 games in his college career.

He's played a lot of college football. But then he goes to Shrine Bowl and was dominant. And seeing him up close and personal moved the way he did was awesome. And then Combine tested really well. Just kind of check the box over and over again. And I think he's a type of guy offensive line coaches are really going to like. And so offensive line coaches are going to be pounding on the table for guys like that. Hey, if he follows those in the fourth round, hey, we can't pass on them.

That type of thing. exactly what happened with McCormick and the Steelers. So, and I wanted to pivot to the Chargers. I thought the Chargers were another team really like what they did, especially, you know, all three, three days, starting with Joe Walt Thursday night. You know, we all agree kind of a home run pick, pairing him with Rashon Slater. I mean, you've got your, your tackles for the foreseeable future. Ladd McConkey in the second round, going to get your quarterback-friendly target,

junior Colson and the third. So right there, your first three picks, knock it out of the park. And then what they've done today, really like what they've done. Justin, you always be from Alabama, a really strong depth piece on the defensive line. Tar Heap still is more of that nickel. Cam Hart, another Norderdam player, size, speed, a little bit of project. You like the tools more so than the tape with him. But a guy you want to see, you know, here in the fifth round, see what you got.

Kamani Vidal, who we just talked about. And then they come back in the seventh. round, they get, you know, Jerry Rice's kid and Brendan Rice. And so not bad. Rice, he wasn't a top 100 player for me, but I thought he, fourth round. I thought that's probably where he would have came off the board. You know, a guy that has, you know, size speed, he has hand-eye coordination, not always consistent playing through contact, but you can see a path where maybe he could be an X for you. You know, he has some X skills. So I thought here in the seventh round, love that fit. They just need a dice roll as a receiver.

I mean, you need to fill out that room somehow along the way. Nate, how about you? Anybody else that you wanted to mention that just halls that you particularly liked? Yeah, maybe just because it's quantity, but the Cardinals, just because... So I wanted to ask about a few different teams there. Arizona, Washington, New England, these teams that really have needs for foundational draft. So let's start with the Cardinals. Yeah, I'm glad you brought up the Patriots too.

I do want to talk about them. Not because they just drafted from my board. But they, no, but really what the Cardinals did on day two. Like we talked about it. I know during the live show, make sure everyone check it out. It's on YouTube.com. You can do that. You go watch both of our live draft stream or both of our draft streams from night one and night two on the athletic NFL YouTube channel. Yes, it's great. So with, but on day two, they're going to get Tray Benson. That's going to get a little bit more speed at the back position. They went Isaiah Adams. We had a nice discussion about him. Just look at his guard tape for 2022. Ignore the tackle tape from 2022. Something I had to learn. A guy they got 71st overall and you think just can be a plug and play guard. Yep. Yep. And with a good. coach too. And so, yeah, I like that. Tip Raymond, we already talked about him. The Y tight end, compliments Trey McBride. Then you just keep going on. And then day three, they're like, all right, let's get some defensive bodies. And we'll just keep adding to that. They had so many

picks, but they also just took guys that made sense for them. They took a kind of a nice mix of really good athletes and then maybe some just good football player types. Actually, really we look at it. Like, you know, Darius Robbins Moore, you watch his film as opposed to his testing, but then you get other guys that are freaky athletes. So I just like that mix of positions, need stuff we just want to compliment, maybe add cherries on top, so I really liked what the Cardinals did. Another team that had a bunch of picks, and obviously the quarterback is going to steal a lot of the headlines, but this is a draft where they needed to come away with some pieces, was Washington.

Dan, what do you make of what Washington has done over these three days? I'm a fan. I like what they've done, and obviously it starts with getting the quarterback, but then you come back with Johnny Newton in the second round. It's one of those is the top need on your board? No, but he's a top player, and so let's just add good players. Mikey Senor still, same thing. Ben Sinit.

Would he have been my tight-end pick there? No, but I get it. I understand the versatility he brings as kind of an h-back. And then Brandon Coleman, love that pick for him as well in the third round. Same thing with Luke McCaffrey. But then to come back on day three, you get Jordan McGee, the lineback from Temple,

who has speed. I think he has a chance to start down the road. Dominic Hampton from Washington, a little bit of a safety linebacker tweener. He's going to be... But Dan Quinn loves those. He does. He does.

And you look at the... physical profile and it's like, okay, I can work with this. And he's got an interesting background because he was a corner. They moved in the safety. He was in the doghouse for a while because he had a big mistake in the Michigan game a couple years ago. So he was kind of like always just trying to break through, trying to break through. He finally did it this past year for Washington in his final year. And he was able to translate that into a draft pick.

And then with their final pick, Javante Jean-Baptiste, who was at Ohio State and obviously He was blocked on the defensive end up chart with JT, Tuamalu and Sawyer. And so he transfers to Notre Dame for his final year, and he was able to, it wasn't a breakout year necessarily, but show a little bit more what he could do. And here he is getting drafted, and I think he was absolutely a draftable player. So I like with the commanders, volume, yes, and so it's a collection of players, but I can understand kind of every step of the way why they made the decisions they did. Let's go and talk about the Patriots because it's a similar situation, and the Patriots traded down a couple times. They end up with plenty more picks than they had coming into this draft,

an extra fourth round pick. They have an extra sixth round pick. What do you make of what New England has done besides just taking players that you like me? They drafted a quarterback that they hope to be the franchise quarterback, and then they went, let's help them out. Let's get them past catchers and Lyman, which is what you hopefully do. You take a note, Stram Balke. So when you get not only just the receiver,

that I think is going to be that steady Eddie for Drake, Mangelo and Polk, Yeah, Cain Wallace, it's potential, you know, maybe tackle, maybe guard, but actually, whatever, get him out there. Got more guards. Get Robinson. Then you get Javon Baker, another receiver. I thought this was a perfect range for Baker. But some people are way higher on him as well. He's got explosive playability.

We just talked about Polk being steady eddy underneath intermediate. The offense needs speed. All right, that's where Baker is. He's a little raw. Interesting that they picked him over Tess Walker, and we were talking about that in person. Drake made his former teammate in North Carolina. I like Baker a little bit better. They're kind of saying me a little bit to me.

But I just like that. And then they, Dane wanted me to make this joke on Twitter. But they drafted Joe Milton. And they wanted me to say, hey, are we excited that, you know,

or keep adding weapons for Drake made a throw to. Because I think we both have, are the opinion that Milton might need a position change. NFL teams have that opinion too. Yeah. And I'm pretty sell. The Logan Thomas plan. Yes.

Yeah. And so, that it's exact. I mean, And oh yeah, we got an emergency guy if we need it. But I like all that. And even get Jaheim Bell in the seventh round that would just happen right there. It's like another tight end, another possible weapon, another depth on offense because they needed so much on offense.

The defenses didn't need these huge pieces, but they over-emphasized the moves. You talked about AJ Barner before. I was going to give you an opportunity to talk about the Seahawks draft because they got Christian Haynes in the third round. And they also drafted your guy, AJ Barner. So another hall that I assume you like. Yeah. And DJ James, no Dane, I had him in his top of. 100. He was just outside for me.

Just snuck in there. A corner from Auburn. He went the sixth round, and I view that he should probably at least go around higher at the very least. But yeah, I did like that because Haynes is instant star, Byron Murphy, instant starter, probably impact player at the very least. Barner is a very useful player. Already, that's a good draft for me. I wanted to mention chiefs with what they've done today. We know Xavier worthy, Kingsley-Suea and what they did the first two nights.

But then they come back today, their first. three picks. Jared Wiley, a guy we both really liked Nate. Jayden Hicks, a guy who is the last remaining player from my top 50 to be chosen. He falls all the way to 133, which is criminal. And texting around seeing, okay, is there a medical here? It's just, it's a fit thing. But at a certain point, it's like, all right, let's take this guy and figure it out. And then Hunter Norzad to get him to center out of Penn State, getting him in the fifth round.

Really smart. he was one of my favorite conversations at the combine. Just talking to him about scheme, talking him about, okay, what was the bread and butter? What did you like to do the most? And, okay, if we're doing this on defense, how does that change your thinking? And I mean, he's just a really smart player. And so I really enjoyed that. I think, you know, obviously going to, you know, he's blocked by Creed Humphrey, obviously.

But to have a guy like that as depth, I think is going to make everybody in that offensive line better for Kansas City. I saw they lost some death pieces. Nick Algrady leaves him free. agency, so they're restocking that a little bit. And even get Jaden Hicks, they lose Mike Edwards. He goes to Buffalo. So this team building up depth of positions where I think they're really

thoughtful about how they do that. And Norsad was, he was a right tackle at Cornell before he transferred over and then he played guard in 2022 and then this past year moved to center. So not a center only, a guy that can give you a little bit of help, not outside of tackle, but at the guard spot as well. And Hicks and O'Donan and I've talked, we talked about our safeties and stuff. The thing with Hicks for me

is like, is he a box player only and everything? I actually love him with Spax. Like, this is great. Spags loves being, I remember, I feel like I ever once a month to bring him up. Dan Sorensen, but just that dime backer role. Is that time I read? Yeah, yeah. But that dime backer role, like Hicks could be easy, like easily

easily transitioned. I think that's a great role for him. And then the blitzing, you know, playing the run. He can just do a lot of the things, the Swiss Army things that he likes from his DBs. You look at what Kansas City was doing at the end of last year. If you look at the percentages, their nickel package last year, their five D. D.B. package was big nickel for

the most part. I mean, that's how they were living. So they're very comfortable playing with three safeties in the field, and you need a bunch of safeties on the roster in order to play that way. I mean, just think of the funky looks because, you know, Willie Gay is gone. So Willie Gay's gone. And then Drew Tranquil, they brought back. And he's more of the Blitz type. You can tell Spags loves him. I would too how he played this year. Okay, he has his role. You got a nice little payday. So, okay, and we have Nick Bolton there as well. So this is just another, yeah, piece that he can use to kind of get some of these looks that. And it makes sense, really, is I've thought about more and more.

I've really liked that landing spot for him just because how Spags uses DBs and these hybrid types. I don't want to trend to the negative here, but let's talk about a couple halls, Dane, that made you say, hmm, things that may be a little bit confusing, maybe a little hard to understand at first glance. Where would you start?

Sorry, I'm just looking at Michigan. We have four picks left, and they're currently at 13 draft picks. How many of Chargers? I think only one. Oh, it's disappointing. Just Junior Colson. but they're two away from tying the record.

So they got a chance, but they're running out of picks here. So looking at, you know, I mentioned the Jaguars as a team that, you know, we talked about with Keelan Robinson. Like what they did in round one, obviously with Brian Thomas being able to move down,

get picks, and still, you know, get the player that we presumably they wanted. But I don't, some of the picks after that, you know, Mason Smith, Round 2, Jerry and Jones, round three. Didn't love either of those.

I think Javon Foster in the fourth round is fine. Jordan Jefferson in the fourth round. A little bit higher than I thought he was going to go. I did not see him going that high. Deonté Prince, same thing. I think Deonti Prince is still having Ladd-McConkie nightmares after that matchup. Keelan Robinson was also a fifth round pick. He went to a kicker in the six round,

and then Miles Cole, a developmental defensive lineman, really long, just a project in round seven. I didn't love what the Jeffers did. A long defensive line in going to Jacksonville? It's crazy. You add him with Mason Smith, Eric Armstead. Like, it's, they are hunting those guys. Trevor Walker.

Yeah. Right. Exactly. Not Buckner. Armstead. Yeah. The, uh, no,

but, Buckner still counts. Yeah, he does. Yeah. The, uh, no, but I know, looking at this, looking at this, looking at this class too and just looking at the schools.

It's like, it's like SEC, SEC, SEC. It's, they're going to go power five all the way. Uh, so, yeah, they had kind of a hit and miss for me. I was liking the Tom stuff. I like to move back to originally do that with Thomas, and then what they did with it was kind of all over the place from there.

The one I don't know if it's like, hmm, like a bad way, it's like, hmm, the good way too is the Niners a little bit. I like some of their picks more than others, and it's kind of like, I don't know, but I don't want to ding them too much for some of the stuff I didn't like. It's hard to shit on full draft classes because there's going to be a couple moments you like, a couple moments you don't, but there are moments of confusion with San Francisco for you.

Yeah, you know, Pierceaw was a little rich for me, but he's a good player. But I really like the Poonie pick, Dominic Poonie, who's going to be a guard interior player. They needed that. I like Mulek Mastafa. My number one safety, he went the fourth round from Wake Forest. It's a great fit for what they had and everything they need.

Then it's just other spots. You know, it's kind of, okay, Jacob Cowing, fun, but smaller player. Renardo Green, you know, nice, fine player as well. I thought that maybe that was a little rich for him as well. In the second round corner from Florida State. Thank you. And then Garendo, from Isaac Garendo, the running back from Louisville. kind of interesting to me because

Bobby Turner and Shanahan, Bobby Turner, the runback coach for the 4-9ers and Kyle Shanahan, they would, they kind of prefer guys with my,

maybe vision and then speed and everything. Grendo's like, he's truly boom-bust. He's as boom-bust as it gets. And that was just interesting to me. It was like, if he went to the dolphins,

I would be like, yeah, yeah, because that's what McDaniel's going for. Grendo just seemed a little different than maybe like a Bobby Turner pick that we've seen over the years. But that was interesting to me. Is he a Tevin-Colman?

I don't think he had the vision of Granda, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, , uh, grando has the vision of Tevin Coleman in the feel and zone. And Grendel's a lot bigger. Um, so yeah, that, that one was just kind of a little curious for me. I think the Browns were interesting too. Um, round two with a Mike Hall. This is going to be, it almost feels like a boom bus pick. Um, you know, there's,

he was off a lot of boards, playing simple. Um, and we'll have to see how him going back to to his hometown, uh, in Cleveland, Ohio, how that works out. And off boards, personality concerns. Character. Just, you know, there's a lot of, things. Yeah. It doesn't matter. But it's not medical. It's just in the personality and character.

And he's 20 years old. He's a young player. And so, you know, there's... I have some character concerns of 20 years old as well. I think, yeah, most of us did. Round three was Zach Zinter. That's interesting because I don't...

The medical stuff, you feel like you got a little bit of a discount, but not much. You know, I think maybe if you got Zach Zenter a round later in round four, that's when you're really feeling like, okay, we got a steal here. But, you know, both their guards are under contract this year and next year, right? I think we looked that up yesterday.

So it's like, okay, where's the fit here? Because Inter is a guard only. I like some of the things they did today, though. Jamari Thrash, Louisville receiver in the fifth round. Nate Watson from Mississippi State. Miles Harden, the corner from South Dakota is a good player. And then Joanne Briggs, defense tackle from Cincinnati. So I actually really like what the Browns did on day three.

Those day two picks, though, it just feels a little risky with the direction they went. win if maybe they had bigger needs to address. Any other teams for you, they just kind of a little bit puzzled with the way that they approached today and maybe their draft hall overall? Well, at the Falcons, I don't want to keep piling on it, but I'm going to go positive here. A little bit. I mean, to give them, yeah,

all the Pennock stuff. You guys want to hear some Michael Pennock's conversations to go back and listen to everything we've talked about over the last 72 hours. I ding the Rook Aurora pick a little bit last night. The trade-up. The trade-up was more the thing than anything. But as this kind of the picture has been a little bit completed and who else they added.

They added Brandon Doris on a round four. Braylona trice or round three. Yeah, they needed a lot of defensive line. They're like, yeah, okay, we're going to load up. That, it's intrigued me a little bit more as I, like, sit here and look at the full picture with Rahim Morris as their defense coordinator or defense coordinator, or defense coordinator, head coach, probably defense play caller. They're front and everything.

He likes to let move around guys. A lot of guys are tweener types. That's what, at least in the ramps. He's a hybrid kind of scheme guy. All right, Brandon Doris is, I put him as defense alignment because I was like, I think I think he can play inside. He might be best than the 3-4DN. I'm not sure exactly what you are.

And then same with the row-a-row. Is that my ding on him was my negative on him was, what are you? You move around. Are you two-gapper, one-gapper? Okay, we're going to the place that moves the guys around. Okay, maybe this is a good place that can unlock them. So there's some misses and some maybe,

not I'm not going to say misses, but some questionable things and why did you do that? But it's like, okay, all right, I'm kind of squint and seeing what you're getting away with. The Bears picked a punter in the fourth round, Dane. This is where we talk about them. Explain this to me. I was wondering who were squeezing to say. I mean, if you're going to draft a punter, you know,

draft a badass punter. They did that. All the records he set at Iowa. But what else do they do on day three? They trade back in for Austin Booker. So that maybe offsets it a little bit where, you know, you treat a future pick. They came up a 2025 fourth round pick to move back into round five and draft Austin Booker. But you're okay with that.

Absolutely. Because it's a – but it's a player that will need time. He is a young player. Had one start last year. He was coming off the bench. He was a sub-packaged player, but he shows surprising savviness for a player with his inexperience.

Not a super athlete has a size that you can develop. About 250 pounds, but you can add muscle mass to him. He's got decent length. But he has a feel for how to rush a passer. You don't lead the team in sacks and tackles for loss without some type of feel, and he has that. So it became a thing for them where, okay, he's still around.

All right, we need to jump back in here and go get him. And so I do like what the Bears did. Drafting a punter in the fourth, you know, it's, it is what it is. If you're going to draft the punter, you might as well draft the best one, and that's what they did. Yeah. Just follow. Who won the Ray guy?

Okay. Sure. The only reason I'm not more upset about it is that I'm still drunk from Thursday night on what happened Thursday night. And the fact that the first note after the Bears drafting the punter was a tweet about Caleb Williams texting the punter and says you're not going to have to punt very much. That's why I'm fine with this. Right.

Overall, I can process it just fine. And he has, I mean, you watch the punting film, which I'm sure you'll do tonight. Yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, between Romo Dunes. Yeah, exactly. He has leg strength. I'm being serious right now, guys. Stop, stop.

All right. He has leg strength. He has accuracy. And literally, he finished his career with more, or he finished this season with more punting guards than anybody else in NCAA history. So, you know, that legs a little. Is that an Iowa offense stat or is that a punting stat? His leg is tired stat.

But I don't think he's going to have to worry about that as much coming up this season. I know a lot of specialists in college now in NFL is that they don't kick two days in a row, keeping the legs fresh. That's kind of going. He's one of the guys that only got the vet rest for a punter in college. Because he does the game, eight to ten punts, warm it up. And then they're like, hey, you're good the rest of the week, man. You just go on there.

Is there like a Tommy John for a leg? Like, how does that, I don't know. There better not be after spending a fourth round pick on this guy. He was a weapon for them. He's used to cold weather as well, coming from Iowa and everything. He's a damn good punter, but I get it. It's going to the fourth round. The other reason I'm supporting this is because bringing an Austin into the locker room just based on vibes, I support that.

I think that most locker rooms could use an Australian just dropped in for just general jovialness. Just good hangs. Yes, that's exactly right. That matters. We had our Mr. Irrelevant go right now, too. Jayland Key. Mr. Irrelevant, Dane, going 257, safety from El Alabama to the Jets?

Very, I can take a sigh of relief. No player was drafted. It was not in the beast. So we're good. Another year. Another year. Yeah, Jay Key was a UAB player, transferred. A lot of the teams wanted him this fast offseason.

Florida State wanted him. Alabama went out, and he kind of helped replace the Jordan battles, the Brian branches, the Marco Hellums, as they turned over that secondary. And he played well. It wasn't a playmaker, necessarily. he wasn't a guy that was making a lot of plays in coverage, but he was well-rounded, and a guy that sized,

okay, fine, speed, okay, fine, a lot of C-pluses more so than any A's to his game. All right, I'm going to give you the final word, sir. Anything else that you want to say about the 2024 NFL draft? I mean, like what a lot of these teams did. I really do. I mean, and part of that is you watch these guys for so long, And so you have this relationship with them as prospects.

And, you know, you like what they do here. You like what you do there. And now it's just all about how, what's the development? How is that going to translate to the next level? And it's going to be a lot of fun to see rookie year who stands out. You know, how these, some of these battles play out. I can't wait to see it. So, yeah, this is, this was a fun draft.

And I had a lot of fun doing it with you guys. I did too. Yeah, I actually was like when you gave me like that. things I go, I was actually like, I don't like hate anyone. I was like, ah, like even the Falcons one, we've had our fun. I was like, they did fine things too. But really the thing that's to me was the Air National players now. This is becoming a thing.

Like it's not going away. And I think it's going to, that seventh, sixth round now is going to be what the second round the NBA was for a little bit, you know, the draft and stash of our own version where it's like, all right, we got to get this guy. So it doesn't hit the UDFA market and we don't get them with, like, which makes sure we get them. So that's becoming curious to me because Travis Clayton going to the bills in the seventh around coming from England. Yeah, just, I'm curious where that goes, because we're starting to see

some fruit coming from the labor of the NFL. Every year, there's a pro day where it's the international pro day. And this year is at South Florida. And there was more interest out of that pro day than we've ever seen from international players, guys that were really showing out. And it's like, these guys are different. So, yeah, this was a different type of year for those guys. And we'll have to see if it becomes a trend. If it's, you know, more, as the game grows and we have more interest overseas and different parts of different countries, we'll have to see if that becomes, you know, guys grow up wanting to play football and wanting to, you know, play this great, great game. And so if it becomes more of a, you know,

inviting these international guys of the combine or, you know, the way we scout for, for players like that, it'll be interesting. I was going to say one last thing is that with this is that basketball without borders was a thing for the NBA that really took off now in Africa, especially in Europe. up in other places. And again, we're seeing a different thing where maybe these guys are going to introduce this sport at 12, 14, as opposed to, you're a failed soccer player, your field of rugby player at 19, 20, 21, get them before they get into college.

Just like the Australian ponderers that's happened, it's like, now we maybe get this with other positions. There's now an international pathway program in Australia that they announced this week. So, yeah, that's just very interesting to me because I just want to see where it goes. When a lot of those guys are looking at that, Jordan might a lot of contract. Yeah, absolutely. That's only a good thing. That is only a fun thing to throw it.

Because he's not just an interesting player. It's like, no, this guy is a really good left tackle who got paid a lot of money. It's like, yeah, you can do this. We'll see what happens as we look back on this draft five, ten years from now. The quarterbacks will define it, obviously. You know, six guys go in the top 12. And selfishly, I hope that we remember this as the Caleb Williams draft. And there are a lot of teams that are hoping for transformational classes.

The Bears are one of those teams at the top of it, Washington, New England, teams in transition that are looking for those answers. And eventually down the road, we're going to figure that out. This will be a Caleb Williams, no matter what. If you're the number one overall pick, it's boom or bust. Of course, I'm like reading into everything that's happening. I love how he's handled everything that's happening over the last two days. He clearly is just so comfortable with this role, the spotlight, everything else.

And, you know, that doesn't really matter, but you'd rather have him handle it wealth and poorly if that's going to be the data point. So it's been fun to kind of see that unfold and the chemistry with him in Rome-Madunes-A. and I'm sure I'll be obsessed with every single bit of it as we move forward here. You allude to this and you're having fun doing it with us. I can't even describe to you guys how much I love doing these shows with both of you because the amount of work and knowledge that you guys are able to flex in this space specifically kind of lets me just sit back and play point guard and have fun

and really let the work that you do shine. And it obviously you do so much in that space. But, Dan, what you do coming into this every single year and the work that you put into it, It's not an exaggeration. It's unparalleled. There are so few people who are willing to do and go to the links that you are to just allow everyone to understand this better. And I just have so much respect for the way that you approach it, for the way that you

approach the work, for the way that, how gracious you are with your time and sharing that with all of us. So thank you so, so much for being willing to do this as often as you have been in the process. I know how incredibly busy you are. And it has truly been a pleasure to watch you shine over. the last three days. No, I appreciate that. That's,

this is so much fun. This is why you put all the work in to be able to, now it's draft time, we can talk about these guys. And to do it with you two guys, I seriously, I'd not, you know,

just trying to match what you're saying, but it's no other place I'd rather be than talking with you two guys as we break it all down, figure it all out. It was a blast. I loved doing it. It really was.

No one can make six hours fly by. No kidding. You guys. Maybe, you know, maybe Christopher Nolan. Martin Scorsese or something like that. But, no, Dan, you're a great representation of what scouting is actually about and the depth that you go into. Hey, you make me better, man.

It's a hos pleasure. All of our prospects of pros and all of our talks offline, whether it's text or whatever, you know, my process, you have now become part of my process because of my respect for your eye for talent and the way you go about things. And so, yeah, it's, it is really fun going through this process a little bit differently because of Prospects of Pros and because of the way, you know, we've kind of attacked it. And so that was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. It's getting a little bit too chummy.

I know. Guys, I sincerely appreciate all of you tuning into not only the work that we've done over this weekend, but the work that we've been doing on this draft going back to August with Prospects to Proz. So sincerely appreciate everyone for spending the time with us. Hope you enjoyed it. I know we had a blast. Hope you did as well. So we'll be back a little bit later this weekend and a couple.

Zoom out, wrap-up draft podcast sort of things as we finish this out, but that won't be coming a little bit later a couple days from now. So please enjoy this on Monday and Tuesday. And if you have not, go check out the live draft streams. Is that something you're interested in? You can hear us talk about literally every single pick from the first two nights of the draft. That is available on the Athletic NFL YouTube channel. If you have not subscribed to the Athletic NFL YouTube page, now is your opportunity to do that. So please go check that out.

now, that is all we've got. Sincerely appreciate you guys listening. We will talk to you soon. This was the Athletic Football Show.