The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - 2024 NFL Draft First Round Recap: The Bears get a makeover, the Falcons shock the world (in a bad way), and offense reigns supreme

Episode Date: April 26, 2024

Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye. The 2024 NFL Draft got off to a predictable start. That, of course, did not last. Robert Mays, Nate Tice and Dane Brugler recap the first round on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Which was the best pick? Which was the most surprising? What should we be watching for on day two? The guys answer all those questions, and a whole lot more.Watch the first round livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oksLVc7HXw0Follow 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 back to the Athletics live coverage of the 2024 NFL draft coming to you from Detroit. I am Robert Mays. Joining me tonight, the athletics draft expert, Dane Bruegler, and one of our wonderful to find out of us here at The Athletic, Nate Tice. Boys, it was a hell of a night. It was fun. A lot of intriguing stuff went down.

We're going to run through some categories here, kind of wrap up the evening that was. Let's start on a positive note. Dane, your favorite pick from the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, what do you got for me? I mean, should I save room with Dunesay for you? I mean, I was going to, so you can do it. You can take that if you want to. I'm going to, I'll go with Terry and Arnold to Detroit. I just, I love the fit when we talk about who the player is, what the team is looking for,

maybe a guy they didn't see falling that far, and once he was within striking distance, All right, let's go get our guy. Because Taryn Arnold has the compete skills. He has the athleticism. He is just a perfect fit. And for this draft to be in Detroit and to work out that way, I just, I love that fit. For me, it's pick a lineman. I loved all the landing spots, not love, but I really liked a lot of these lanes.

It made sense, right? Yeah. And Latham to Tennessee makes a ton of sense. Alt to Chargers makes a ton of sense. Really like that. Foshanoo going to the Jets. And like their succession. plan and everything. That makes a ton of sense. Fuaga and what the Saints need. Really like that.

Mims to the Bengals. Truly, that might be my answer. That one was one that was like, yeah, yeah, like really like that with the Bengals. And then Foughton at 20. And then Barden, all these guys, I thought, ended up in good spots for them and the teams that made sense. The Morgan to the Cowboys one that's like, okay, okay. You're trying to go for this. I'm curious of how they're going to manage the Packers. And the Peckers as well, with Jordan Morgan. That's another one I really like. So all those spots because maybe I was so bullish on all the town of all that, then you're going to be optimistic about where they land. But all these spots, I was like, oh, yeah, yep, yep, that totally understand, like, especially with the sealers and Fanoon and stuff, all these guys, I really liked.

I think it's hard to argue with what Romadunz 8 and 9 does for the Bears. Independent of how I felt about it and the fact that I was trying to manifest for the last two months, being able to drop him in there, having maybe a future number one receiver that from day one is going to be your number three receiver with, Your number one pick that you just used on a quarterback, it is hard not to be excited about that outcome. And they all have synergy. Yes. It just makes sense.

We've been talking about this, the whole process. You can see it in your mind. It was easy. Those three guys together with Caleb Williams, you can see it in your mind. And that's why it's so excited. You had that first question about a Dune's A couple months ago. You're like, what do you think about him? I was like, oh, I love and all.

I was trying to tam-dime. Yeah, I know. You're like, I know, I do too. I know I do too. But they might trade out. One more. I don't mean to just pile on the receivers and like, oh, yeah, it's great to get past catchers because that's the easy answer. I love Brian Thomas going to Jacksonville.

As soon as they missed out on Calvin Ridley, I was so worried about what they were going to do to bring that group of pass catchers together. They need to maximize that group this year. This is a huge year for that team. And for them to spend that resource on a pass catcher instead of a defensive back, even if it's still a glaring need, I actually love the fact that that's the direction that they went. And they did it by trading down. That's it. won't go in there expected to be the one right away. I mean, they can bring them along and Brian Thomas we see in week one would be very different than Brian Thomas we see at Thanksgiving.

And then that passcation group, it's, I think Doug Pearson likes this anyways to some of their parts. Like he likes everyone. One guy is the number one of this game based on the game playing, which is good for Thomas in his rookie year as he emerges. And then down the road, as he gets comfortable with Trevor Lawrence, maybe he hits this upside. Okay, now we got our number one. But at first it's just, you know, it's the posse that can just build all this production with Trevor Lawrence and then down the road, you get what you hope you can get with him. The interior offensive line and where they all went, Graham Barton, Fattano, I think it could be a tackle or an interior piece, and then Jordan Morgan, if he starts a guard and moves to tackle. Those three teams,

they had pieces along the offensive line. I like the fact that if those picks hit, the offensive line then becomes a strength. Yeah. The buck specifically, you're looking at what they did this offseason. All they really did was bring back their guys and lose Carlton Davis. It's like, what is your path to going from a mid-500 winner of the NFC South to a contender in the NFC? You need to have position groups become true strengths. Now, Tristan Wirfs, Kadecky played so much better last year. Cody Mock in year two, you bring in a Graham Barton. Can the offensive line become a hallmark of who that team is?

Steelers are the same way. The Steelers are trying to piece together their offensive line for so long over the last few years it felt. You drop Fattano in there with what Broderick Jones was late in that season as a rookie. the physicality they can play with them on offense, does that become the identity that they can bring on that side of the ball? And the same thing goes to the Packers. They've had intriguing pieces. We like Zach Tom, Walker did fine.

Elton Jenkins is a nice piece. But can that be the identity of who they are offensively along with Jordan Luff? It gives them options. It gives them flexibility to be a chameleon offense where they, you know, for the Steelers, one week you're going to rely on the run game, the next, you know, you're doing something different. And same thing with the Bucks. And I think when you are able to,

add offensive linemen like this that are versatile guys that you can mix and match and just help stabilize things, yeah, that is a, that's a big part of what you want to achieve in the draft. And two-way guys too, where it's not like, yeah, this guy's really good in pass pro. Guy, he's bad, run

or he's a great run blocker. We have to hide him in a pass pro. No, the Steelers added another guy who could play a guard or tackle potentially that you don't have to help. He's going to win in the run or the pass and win those one-on-ones. And like you said, the physicality, Arthur Smith that OC in their run game.

Their run game is going to be a part. We saw glimpses of it, right? And to accentuate that and make it more of a strength, I love that. And then we don't have to talk about all the picks is good picks, but that stretch of defensive players from 15 to 17. Latsu going to the Colts, Byroner

going to the Seahawks, Dallas Turner going to the Vikings. It all just makes sense. Like the Colts need a double-digit sack guy. They've got a lot of nice pieces. They need that double-digit-sat-guy. So seeking the pass rush upside of somebody like Latu, I understand that thought process. Byron Murphy now being the center

piece of that Seahawks front as they reset. I understand that thought process. And I think Dallas Turner, I'd never made this connection in my mind because I just thought they used both first round picks on a quarterback. Going to Minnesota, you can see it. It's just so easy to imagine that. So those three guys and those three spots specifically, there's just not a lot of imagination necessary. I don't think I did a single mock draft for the Vikings picked twice in the first round. Yeah. Because every single time, it was like, well, obviously they're packaging these two picks to move up. And so, yeah, and Alec made a great point about this team does not draft defense events, past rushers in the first round. They don't do it. And...

Arrasmus James thrown at me. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So like under the old regime, led by Rick Spielman, it was like, okay, you knew not to mock a pass rusher. Well, yeah, because you had to fill a corner in there every single year. Exactly. So, but now, you know, new sheriff in town, no, this, like Alex said, I don't think they thought that Dallas Turner would be an option for them. And once he was, they went and got him. But it was costly. So we'll see how it works out. Let's go maybe to the flip side here. The most surprising pick of the first round for you, Dan Brugler. I mean, I think we're all in agreement here. We were going to do most surprising and most confusing. And I think it might be the same answer for

all of us. We'll have to find some other things to talk about. You might have to qualify it. Besides Michael Pennix going eight to the Falcons, it was funny, when I got here earlier, I walked in and we were talking and I looked at Robert and I said, is Pennix at 8 the weirdest smokescreen you've ever heard? Like, it just doesn't make any sense. Why would that even be a thing? Why are we even discussing this as a smokescreen when obviously it's not going to happen? Well, it happened. And it's just, it's still hard to wrap your mind around the thinking. And I can't wait to hear from Kirk Cousins on the issue. I can't wait for a lot of press conferences.

Right. Yeah, I'm with you. Well, I was going to say the picks, the Pennix, Knicks tier guys going in the first round. I mean, I think we've stopped talking about Bo Nix being the 12th overall pick in this draft because we're shocked by Pennix. The Pennix one is just, I'm trying to, you always try to find the angle. Okay, why did they take this guy even if I don't like him? Like, even like Xavier Worthy going to the Chiefs. So I'm like, okay, you're attracted to the speed, juice, juice, juice.

That's what they're going for. I don't like it. but it's not surprising. You know, same, I guess even with Knicks, it was like, okay, they need a quarterback. I don't see him as a first rounder, but I don't know if that's surprising. It was, but Nuh.

Panics to Ed 8 is surprising, confusing. I'm disappointed. For where they're at, it's just Pennings, and even with McCarthy on the board, Panics is so different to me from also what that offense prefers. He's another guy that doesn't really work over the middle. He likes to push over the top into the outside.

do that well, but accuracy and anticipation aren't his forte. What is that offense thrive on? Play action, timing, boom, work over the middle. Okay. And then we have injury history. We have age. He's going to be sitting potentially two years. So now you're saying that when this guy gets off his rookie contract, he's 29.

It's just, it's confusing. It's really confusing for the number eight pick. If they did this in a second round, I go, okay, I get it. You're trying to get a succession plan, all these things. The head and hooker last year with the Lions. but top 10 in a loaded draft, my estimation. Third round pick is much different than a top 10 pick. Correct.

And it's also, Jared Goff, the Lions traded for Jared Goff. He was under contract, but it was a secondary plan, right? Like, they didn't commit to him. Like, this is, we're starting with this. They didn't give Jared Goff a contract and then draft headed hooker. The fact that the Falcons gave Kirk Cousins this deal a month ago and then ultimately did this. I was looking at it up what you guys were talking.

The eighth overall pick last year was Bison Robinson. Year 3 of Bison's Rookie Deal, he's going to have a $6 million cap it. Kirk Cousins has $25 million of dead money into the third year of his deal. So let's say they move on after two years. You still have 20, it's going to be $30 million worth of quarterback play in the first cheap year you have with Michael Pettix. So you're not going to have a cheap rookie contract quarterback or the ability to wield that contract until year four when he is 27 years old.

And you potentially pay Drake London. and pay those guys as well. AJ Terrell. I just don't understand it. Even if you think that he's the best player on the board, even if you want a potential succession plan, I just don't get how it all fits with the other things that they've done. That's it.

And if you're like, no, we want that fifth year with him because you need it. Trade back. It's like, I know you need two to tango and all those things, but yeah, I don't know. That one is just very confusing to me, especially where they're at where I feel like they're pushing. it this year. I mean, obviously, they want to in that division in the NFC. That's why you sign Kirk Cousins. Right. And another thing, it's like, oh, his medical, if Cousins, the argument is,

well, we're not sure if Cousins is ready to play. Didn't you guys do medicals? Yeah. Like the process, no answer to the process has made sense for me as I've sat here for over an hour, two hours, and just kind of marinating it. So again, trying to figure out what their thought process is. Diana just tweeted that their spin is going to be, they didn't think they'd be picking this high again for a long time. So this was their chance to find a quarterback when they may not be able to over the next couple of drafts. I get that to a certain extent, but it's like it's about opportunity cost. It's about what you can do with that eighth overall pick and what your window currently looks like.

When the Packers drafted Jordan Love, they didn't know how much longer Aaron Rogers would be there, and it was in the 20s. Completely different. Yes, absolutely. It is someone in that front office just fell in love with the player. I think it comes down to that. When's the last time the Falcons had a winning record? 2016? 2016.

Then they're talking about, oh, we don't know the next one. We're picking the top 10? Well, ambitious. Okay. I've been picking them. I'm an optimist. I already thought they were picking eight next year, right? They picked their every year.

So that's, it's tough. And then Bownex goes 12. Yeah. And this is, you're picking a quarterback in the top half of the first round. Ideally, that quarterback is going to have, like you said, said, top 12 quarterback upside if that's the draft capital that you're using. You can maybe talk yourself into not needing that if it's a cheap option with a crazy supporting cast. That's the argument for JJ McCarthy. Even if JJ McCarthy's upside is middle of the road

starting quarterback. You have Justin Jefferson, you have Kevin O'Connell, all that. The Broncos are a rebuilding team. This isn't a final flourish of anything that they've done. This is step one. And to use step one, they use the 12th overall point. pick on a guy with Bo Nix's profile, that's just tough for me to stomach in the same way that the Panics plan is tough for me to stomach. It feels more like they settled than they, you know, they're coming away from this draft thinking they hit a home run. You know, like it's, that's, that's, that's, all right. I mean, that's, that one's tough. Although I understand that one more than I understand the Pennix. That's it. I do too. Well, yeah, because they didn't

have a quarterback on the roster. That's it. Yeah. Zach Wilson. And, and, and, uh, I was like to say Brett Rippin. It might as well be Brett Rippin. Yeah. Jared Stitton. They're all in the same room. He gave a decent contract, by the way, as a high-end backup kind of type. Yeah, that was, they kind of got their hand force just in their situation.

But again, it's like, are you guys, you're not winning now, you know, with that roster and everything. And also you're drafting an older quarterback. Again, he's the second oldest for a strong quarterback besides Breano-Weed, who was 29. Is that your plan? I don't know. Hang on the Russell Wilson one more year, though. know, like,

right. They were going to have some more production. Right. Like Russell was like, paying them that money already, you know, so. Yeah, they're paying $50 million this year to not be on the team. Exactly. So might as well just.

Why not just keep them for another year and, you know, figure out your quarterback situation next year? At least they didn't trade up. There you go. So we're relying on this. Yeah, I know. I'm just like, I'm still stunned by these.

It'll be, it'll be fascinating as we look back at this draft three years from now, two years from now, a year from now. Yeah. You know, just to see. how everything plays out. Six quarterbacks drafted in the top 12. History tells us that

at least three, if not four, will be bus. So, you know, it'll be really fascinating to track all these guys. I'm going to ask you guys about the moment that you'll remember from this draft, but I guess a better way to frame that question is, how will we think back on this draft? And I think it'll be the

quarterbacks. I think that'll obviously be the way that we remember. Six quarterbacks going in the top 12 picks. It's never happened. Unprecedented. It has never happened before. The first three, we can all see it playing out this way. Right? Caleb, Jaden Daniels, Drake May, and no drama there, no surprise there. I think we all understand those picks. We all can get behind those picks. It's everything that happened after that I think was the intrigue and is going to be

kind of the question marks moving forward. But I think the team in that group that has to be pretty satisfied with how this played out is Minnesota. And not have to give up the farm and still come away with the guy, even if he's firmly in tier two of this group. I still think that's a decent outcome for the Vikings. There's no doubt. For me, I think the lasting thought is going to be just the offensive players, 23 offensive players. So single-digit defensive players. We've never seen single-digit defensive players drafted in the first round before. That's what we got this year. And so the offensive linemen, the quarterbacks. And then we had that run on receivers towards the end,

especially with Ricky Piersol and Leggett, guys that I don't think we anticipated going in the first round. So really fascinating to see. And I think the other, one of the other surprises I would throw out there two, Brock Bowers going to the Raiders. Yeah. Yes. That definitely qualifies as a, didn't mock that, never saw that mocked. It didn't really line up exactly with what we thought would happen. But I do like that pick. I think it makes sense for them. I think, you know, he's, whether he is strictly a tight end or a slot. I mean, everything we've said about Brock Bowers, the different ways you can use them. All right, Luke gets it. See what you got. You know, if it's going to be a little bit of Col Commet, it's going to be a little bit, it'll be interesting to see just how they see that

skill set working. Cole Commet is a very solid player. He's been fine for the Bears. If Brock Bowers is Cole Commet, this is a huge disappointment. Oh, sure. Huge disappointment. Yeah, and that's the thing, too, is Michael Meher is like a better receiver than people realized to. It's, it's a fun pair. There is a synergy there. It's great. It's great. If you look at DeVant's, Jacobi Myers, Michael Mayors, your Y tight end, like prototypical tight end,

and Brock Bowers is that move guy who's essentially just a slot, you see those pieces fitting together. My only concern here is that there are holes all over the ranch monster. They need offensive linemen, they need a corner. So many different things they passed on to go with what I think what a lot of people are going to categorize is a luxury sort of selection. Yeah, it was they probably went best player available. They probably went, wow, we have so many needs. All right, we'll just go to the top of our board. I don't hate that thinking sometimes. Yeah, again, best player available.

That type of player too. Like a what we think is a true needle-moving, true blue-chip type of player who knows what that wide receiver depth chart is going to look like a year from now. Right. You know, I'm like, go on. Like, yeah. So, yeah. Yeah.

I applaud what the Raiders did. Let's move on to a guy that you're surprised fell as far as he did here, Dane. As you're looking at the board in the way that it unfolded, who went a little bit later than you probably could have anticipated? I think the corners. I mean, I already talked about Arnold, but Quignon Mitchell, not coming off the board until 22. I mean, it's worked out perfectly for the Eagles. They didn't have to trade up for them.

So that makes a ton of sense. Besides the corners, you know, Fattanoo falling to 20, that seemed like maybe the ideal situation for the Steelers, for him to fall as far as he did. really I think those are only obviously we have a few that have fallen out of the first run completely with Cooper Dejean and Johnny Newton and not huge surprise necessarily but still a little surprising that those guys didn't sneak in there

which team heard Nader you surprised Pashton dejean and went with the pick that they ended up making I was going to see the Cardinals I was going to see the Cardinals yeah I was going to say Eagles and Cardinals but the Eagles makes sense like you said Winchell's on the board that makes total sense that's a number one corner potentially yeah Carnals is interesting. But yeah, that was his range.

I thought the 20s was, even if I'm high on them, it's that the 20s was kind of going to be his range. You know, like, that's the thing. The Lions, no, they took Terry and Arnold. They move up for that. Okay, that was another team that could maybe go after a guy like this. So we were getting to this point of the draft, like maybe the Ravens take him,

but then they have a Kyle Hamilton. You know, like if we're saying DeGene is going to be this mover, well, we already have that. Yeah. So let's get a real outside corner that we know is going to be an outside corner. So I can see how the arguments went. that's how corner position kind of goes. It's what the flavor you want, what type of guy you like,

what type of kind of mentality you like, what specialization you like. So Dijin being just good at multiple things, maybe didn't tip the scales for him. How the receivers ended up going off the board, the fact that we didn't get Eddie Mitchell, we didn't get Ladd-McConkie, but we did get Ricky Piersall and Xavier Leggett. Is that surprising to you, or maybe we could have anticipated it unfolding this way, maybe in a slightly unconventional way than people might have anticipated? It speaks to every board's different. Every wider seat, because, again, we list receivers altogether in the same bucket when they're completely different with what they offer, their skill sets. And so what the Panthers are looking for is different than the 49ers are looking for, different than what the chiefs are looking for.

And so I think it speaks more to that than anything else. And it'll be interesting as this continues tomorrow night, who's the next receiver off the board? Is it, especially with Buffalo picking 33? Yeah. Is it Keon Coleman? Is it Adonite Mitchell? Is it Lab McConkey? Maybe they go to Johnny Newton. Look, the bulk up the defensive line. Who knows?

But I think the receiver, just the diversity of all these different skill sets will continue to make the order these guys come off the board just so unpredictable. You have Buffalo that needs a receiver 33. You have New England who still needs a receiver 34. I was a little bit surprised that with Tower Guyton still on the board, Washington didn't try to make him move up and grab one. Maybe they did. But the fact that he fell and was available at 28 and they have all that draft capital and that left tackle was still the biggest thing that they needed. I thought that might have been something we saw and ultimately it didn't end up happening.

And then even how I looked at those tackles, and again, this is my perspective of it. I had guys like Guyton, Kingsley Sua and Mattaille, and I nailed that, so I'm really proud of myself. And then Patrick Paul. Yeah. These projecty tackles that was like I can make an argument for each of them in different ways. Kingsley ended up being the one that I kind of preferred of those three. There might be teams like Washington that I go, okay, we can get one of these project types. Anyways, well, I reach up for a project type.

Sure. And I can just maybe have one of them fall. Maybe that's some of their thinking, too. Maybe there wasn't that tackle run in the 20, or the teams to 20s that maybe they thought would happen or something like that. Yeah, I wonder what the, how the receivers are going to go off the board. Who is seeing out of the time? And so the chargers also. So I think the chargers bet going with Alt at 5 and saying, maybe we'll just catch whatever.

Maybe we'll grab whatever pass catcher is still available for us at 37. I can understand that. It's a good bet. You love that bet. I think that's what you wanted them to do from the beginning. But it's not surprising that that's how it ended up playing out for them specifically. Yeah. So they're going to take over Wilson.

Former tight ends playing off at the tackle where the Chargers can drift? I know. They're going to take a guard now. No, it's, no, yeah, but I'm sure Roman Wilson wound up being the pick. So the first game where I noticed Keon Coleman was, when I studied him last summer, was the Michigan State game against Michigan. So I bet Jim remembers that game.

Just throwing that out there. Yeah, that's actually a good one. Yeah, and I'm sure Joe Alde, he has plenty of experience around. Probably try to recruit him there, all those types of things. So I remember those. A little better than Urban. When Urban Meyer was doing that, I wasn't liking as much going off his old recruiting rankings. But, you know, Harbaugh, I think, is a little better eye for it.

Best players still on the board for you, Nate? Or Dan is Cooper Jean? I actually have Jackson Powers Johnson. Okay. The Oregon Center. I knew he was going to fall. Some of the character reviews were not as favorable for him, and so I knew he was probably not going to go tonight.

Cooper DeGine would be next. Johnny Newton would be third. Kooliid McKinstree, 4th, Ladman-McConkie 5th. Yeah. So those are the top five available going into tomorrow night. But you know what? I think at this time last year, I think Brian Branch is my top available player. Yeah, he was.

I know he was my top available player. And he fell, you know, to the, what was like the mid-second when the Lions finally drafted him. And obviously that worked out well. So it's not about where you're drafted. It's about a situation you go to. And so, you know, these guys, even though I'm sure some of them are pretty disappointed, they didn't hear their names called tonight, could go to a better situation tomorrow. Nate, whose landing spot are you kind of most intrigued by heading into day two,

the guy that you kind of have circled right now? You just mentioned him, Keel and Coleman. I'm really interested in who falls for him, like in a good way. Like, I want to see who ignores the 40-time entrust the tape or likes the things that they see on tape, the ball-winning skills. Maybe, you know, the upside they might have is a more potential to tap into as a route runner and all those types of things. Maybe that's what they go for. But that's just, that's why I'm just curious about. Because I can never, Keanu and I had a lot of issues, not issues, trouble with slotting.

It's like, I really like this profile, but then there's so many red alerts that I also have with them. So I want to know who kind of swallows those red alerts and decides to pull a trigger on him. I'm really interested to see if Buffalo pulls the trigger on AD Mitchell. Yeah. Right? After dealing with, dealing with, it was the Stefan Diggs era in Buffalo, I think people are going to remember how it ended and completely mischaracterized what it was like for most of it. It is a screaming success what the Buffalo bills got out of Stefan Diggs. But obviously there was a decent amount of tension at the end.

They wanted him out of town. would they be willing to take a guy who, you know, has some questions about his personal makeup? But again, a guy in this range of the draft that truly does have the skill set to potentially turn into a high-level option at receiver. And it's interesting, too, because they traded back, what, twice? And so it's like, you know, hedging a little bit. Yeah. And so that'll be interesting. I'm really interested, too, when we see the first running back drafted.

When will that happen? it's probably sometime late second round will it be 56 in the Cowboys will it be someone else sooner than that that that'll be I think because once we see that running back run start I think those guys have come off the board pretty quickly and it dovetail off that's all those other positions

safety linebacker who's the second tight end off the board that's also really interesting big boards are all over the place on the tight end class so that's something I'm curious in round two who's going to pull a trigger on a tight end I'm wondering these teams that are trying to have their cake and eat it to. No one going to taking a quarterback and then maybe double dipping with the receiver in the second round.

Washington taking a quarterback, potentially getting a tackle. New England potentially getting a tackle. Can the Titans draft J.C. Latham and then also get a pass catcher in the second round? So how are these teams now that have these young quarterbacks, they either draft the quarterbacks in the first round or still need to surround them with more pieces, where does that come from early in the second round? I think I'll be very curious about that. And also which quarterback the Falcons are going to draft at 43?

They need some of the peace squad. I mean, I know. We're just both speeches. I still am. I have nothing left to offer because it's just bizarre. I mean, I don't know. Who knows?

Maybe when we hit record tomorrow, we'll have more because a full night to really think about it. But that's, I can't remember a more shocking first round pick in my lifetime. Or, you know, since I've really been following the draft, that one. It's not even like it was the back half of the first round. They treated back into the first round. He was the eighth overall pick in the draft.

Top 10. Who's the defense alignment that Jaggs took at 10? Tyson-Holulu. Yeah, that was pretty shocking. That was definitely. Again, it's defense alignment. It's not QB. I even said the day and after, I was like,

it was like, Daniel Jones may be surprised. But you're like, I understood why they needed a quarterback, though. Yeah. And there was at least buzz about that. There was a senior ball. All those things. Yeah. Yeah.

Actually, yeah, that was the thing. Pennix actually didn't have a good senior bowl either. It wasn't like it was, yeah, I don't know. I think, I would go on this. A few other picks that may seem obvious, and it's not screaming value because they were top 10 picks, but make a lot of sense and almost felt necessary, even if we did a lot of fan fiction before we got here. Marvin Harrison, Jr. going to the Cardinals at four, it's just like, okay. Yeah.

Now it begins. And now, like, this era of Cardinals football begins. You have Kyle Murray, you have Marvin Harrison Jr., you have Tray McBride, like, let's see where we can take this. The same goes with the league neighbors and the Giants. Yeah. I mean, it made all the sense in the world if they weren't going to chase a quarterback to go get that number one receiving option that they've been desperate for. Essentially since O'Dow Beckham left town. I mean, it has been a while that they've needed that guy.

And the last one I would also throw in there, ones that made sense, if you thought about it for more than 10 seconds with critical thinking, Jared Verst going to the ramps. Those three, and like what they needed and the best case scenario, what they wanted to come away from with this draft, I think all three of those pick makes so much sense. No doubt. And yeah, these receivers were certainly, I think, one of the bullet points of this first round is where these receivers were going to go, how early, and then ultimately where they end up, and it fits. The Cardinals, they get their lead guy, the Giants get their explosive player, and the Bears with Rome. I mean, it just, it worked out really well with both the landing spot and the style and the type of receiver that these guys are. So, yeah, that makes a ton of sense. No big surprises there.

In terms of how a guy's career is going to shake out, not necessarily the best pick, but the ones like, ooh, I love that. I feel like that's J.C. Latham going to the Titans for you. That was one. So, again, it was the Mims going to the Bengals. Yeah. But both of those guys. Yeah, it was like their landing spots was like, oh, yeah, you're, I'm hoping that their potential can fully be unlocked, and I'm optimistic that it will. And also, you know, again, Mims going to the Bengals stuff.

I just like that because that's an idea. ideal landing spot for him, just for what the path he has to take at the next level. And then Latham again, I thought it kind of got slightly underrated in the process a little bit. But, like, you know, there's more concerns than I thought that I thought that were brought up than I thought he had. But it's really cool that he's going to, like, one of the maestroes to kind of clean up whatever concerns there were that people might have. And then Olu, the Jets going Olu over ours.

Yeah. That was definitely kind of a turning point of this first round it felt like because, yeah, they could have easily went with the past catcher. And I mean, I could understand that thinking. But they went with the left tackle of the future and a guy that I'm sure we'll see plenty of this year when ultimately Tyrone goes out. Yeah, it was always the sound decision for them to make.

It was. A couple more that I'll throw out that I just think were mildly surprising based on what we thought their needs were coming in and what they came away with, Chopper Robinson going 21 to the Dolphins. I get it, you know, Jalen Phillips being hurt and them needing another guy there. They shot Shaq Barrett and Free Agency,

but they could use another presence. I still felt like interior or just offensive line in general. There's such a screaming need for them that that one was a little bit surprising. And then I'm wondering, I'm doing the Windhorst, like, Pierceall going to the Niners,

are all those guys going to be on the roster? Are we going to have a week one Niners lineup where we have Debo, Brandon Ayuk, and Ricky Pearsall, or is the Pearsall pick a signal that I think if Iyuk was going to get traded, he would have been gone, because it would have required

a first round pick. I think that's the floor for what they should have taken for him. Debo could move on day two for less than that. And I wonder if the Pearsall move is an indication that that might be on the horizon.

That's a great point. It won't be surprising at all if we're talking about Debo watch tomorrow. Yeah. Where is he headed? Where is that? That wouldn't be surprising. But it wouldn't be surprising

if they kept them too. You know, and they decided to kind of punt on this situation for a little bit longer. Yeah, that's an interesting fit. If his Pierce Hall can play inside, can play outside, you can do all these different things for that offense. He's so different to those guys. It's not like a D-Ball replacement.

It's like, no, it can be more different. And that's the argument for if they wanted to keep all three of them, there's enough, the roles are specific enough where you could have them all. How are you going to do what you want? He's really good. Guess what I would be doing if I were a team. Oh, yeah. If they kept them all, maybe Joanne Jennings is the one that ends up beyond the move.

You want a useful piece for a team that has a gluttoned receiver? Joanne looked like when he had more extended playing time last year, he looked like at number two. Not just like a role playing gritty number three. It's like, no, this guy actually looks like a solid. He's a useful. He's a useful. He's a useful. He's a useful player.

The other trades, I was looking at the contract information for the Eagles corners. Bradbury is $15 million in dead money if they were to trade him away. So it does feel like that glut of guys in the defensive backfield, they're just going to have all those bodies to make sure that they have some answers no matter how it plays out. Yeah. And let the best man play. Simple as that. And with Vic Fangio taking over his defensive coordinator, I don't think he will have any allegiance to any of these guys. Even the guy they just drafted, it's just going to make the best players will play.

Maybe they hot-handed at corner. They're just like, who's got the hot hand this week? All right, you're starting this week. And matchups? Yeah, or they use Slayer or Bribery as like an opener in baseball. All right. You take the first quarter. All right. Well, Mitchell gets in the last three quarters because he has fresh legs.

All right, we've been going for five hours. I think that's all we got for tonight. I am going to go back to my hotel room and just sit there and dream of what it's going to be like watching Caleb Slate Rowe's throw to Rome and Dunezai. That's what I got on tap. I was doing the second round. I was doing the third round. I'm going to do third round mock?

Yeah. Is that right? Yeah, let me. You got to wait until I finish the second round so you know who's there. Go mainline like six coffees before I end up doing that. Bowers is on the Rams, right? Yeah, Bowers is on the Rams. That works out great.

Yeah, there's a fleeting hope there. I was like, no way this is actually going to happen. oh my god, this is what I actually have been picturing. Nah, nah. I'm the only one that comes away from this draft in a good mood. And I will be for quite a while until they all get on the field. That goes horribly wrong. All right, guys, that is all we got.

For everyone that stuck around with us at any point during the live stream, I sincerely appreciated it. I mean, we talked about it and joked about it a little bit earlier today. But we started doing this show the first time we did it with me and Nate and two iPhones in a hotel room in Chicago. And for us to be doing it in this sort of setting is a product of you guys tuning in and of you guys supporting us and can't even tell you how much we appreciate that and how much that means to us that you would spend your valuable time with us tonight in a moment

like this. So sincerely appreciate everyone who stuck around and guess what? We're doing it again tomorrow. 6 p.m. Eastern. We're going to get going tomorrow. So please come back and join us. Until then, that is all we've got from the first round. For Nate, for Dane, for me. Appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you soon. Athletic Football Show.