The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - 2025 NFL Draft day three recap and overall takeaways

Episode Date: April 27, 2025

And that's a wrap on the 2025 NFL Draft. Who did good work on day three? Who did good work the entire weekend? Why did the Browns go back to the quarterback well to grab Shedeur Sanders? Which teams had good plans, and which ones surprised us? Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and Dane Brugler answer those questions, and a whole lot more, on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Host: Robert MaysCo-Host: Derrik KlassenWith: Dane BruglerExecutive Producer: Michael BellerProducer: Michael BellerSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dane on Bluesky: @danebrugler.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @robertmaysFollow Derrik on X: @QBKlassFollow Dane on X: @dpbruglerTheme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome. The Athletic Football Show. I'm Robert Mays. We are on day three of the 2025 NFL draft. We have about 25 or so picks left, but we decided it was, we were safe to get rolling. The only thing that Dame Bruegler, who's currently sitting next to me in my kitchen right now,

is worried about, is somebody that is not in the beast potentially getting drafted in these final 25 picks. You're sweating a tiny bit. You've been okay for the last, like, how many years? I don't understand why you're so worried. There's so many players, and you just never know. One could sneak in there.

The last time it happened was Jeff Swain. We're going on 10 years basically since the last time a player was drafted who was not in the beast. Jeff Swain was the answer? Yes. Wow, that's a fantastic trivia question. He's like a real NFL player. He stuck around for a while. That's a pretty big indictment of you.

I think less of you now. I know. It haunts me. And this is why I'm sweating right now, just to make sure because you never know that someone could sneak in there, a late workout, all those types of things factor in. But yeah, we got about 25 picks to find out. Derek, we're deep into this now. After about 12 hours of live content,

we're finally finishing up draft weekend. But we had some fun moments today. I'm excited to break down day three. And then we're going to finish this out, just getting a little bit wider, zooming out, talking about some of our favorite, least favorite classes, and just the overall classes, you know, on a bunch of different levels of categories that we're going to chat about

as we get a little bit deeper into this. Stuff is a marathon, man. You know, we did a lot of work this weekend. And then, you know, I was kind of joking as we were sitting in it. And I've always felt this way about day three. Once you get into like the middle. middle of the sixth round. You feel that you have the same feeling of like when you wake up from a bad nap where you're like a little bit disoriented.

You don't really realize what time it is. What's really happened for the past two hours? Like you kind of just lose track of all that and you have to reset yourself a little bit. It's almost like a golf tournament on Sunday. Like as you get a little bit later in the afternoon. That's how the draft feels. You're like, how many holes did I miss? Like what?

The other draft experience and just like kind of the emotional experience of watching the draft, sitting next to Dane on day three of the draft when your team is on the clock and you don't know who the players are, all you have to go off of is his response. And so the Bears drafted a guard in the sixth round. Who was it? Luke Newman. Luke Newman. And Dane's like, ooh, Luke Newman got drafted.

And that's as mean as he's going to get. And in that moment, I'm just like, oh, God damn it. This is clearly not a good thing. And then the linebacker that they took earlier on day three, that was another one where that was the first player outside of your top 50 that was drafted. And so your response to that, I'm just like, it's all I have to go of is what Dane thinks and how high he had them rated. He's like the angel of death on day three of the draft. Like, he holds your fate in his hands as a fan if you're sitting there next to him. Well, it's always interesting because all these boards are so different and you just never

know. And Hippolyte's a great example of a player who two months ago, I don't think he gets drafted. I'd be fascinated to hear what the bear's grade was on him before the pro day. But he blew everyone away at the pro day. Four, four, two in the 40. at 240 pounds. That helped him get drafted, but fourth round felt a little rich for that. Bears had drafted a lot of fast guys today. It seemed like that was their strategy,

but we're not going to worry with too much about that. We'll talk about the Bears a little bit later and we're talking about classes overall. Let's stick on day three. I want to ask you guys both about your favorite day three picks over the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds. Dan, why don't we start with you? So a couple running backs I really liked where they ended up.

Jordan James, fifth round, 147th pick overall, of the 49ers. We knew Kyle Shanahan was going to draft a running back, right? Just when was it going to be? Who is it going to be? What kind of running back was it going to be? It was the bigger question as well. And Jordan James is a player I graded as a third round pick.

One of my favorite players in this draft. I just love where he ended up and, you know, what that's going to look like in San Francisco. Baron Sorrell, the defensive event from Texas, goes to the Packers at 124. We still need to figure out why he was in Green Bay. And he wasn't one of the original, because he wasn't going to be a first round pick.

He wasn't even considered a, a likely day two pick. He was kind of on the fringe. He was my number 100 player in the draft. So kind of right on the border of third round, fourth round. But he was in Green Bay. He's drafted by the Packers,

which is really cool. He's going to be a perfect depth piece for that defense. The intangibles off the charts, the makeup's off the charts. That's my answer. Why was he in Green Bay? The entire weekend, you were talking about how much the guys

at Texas loved Barrens, my guess is somebody knew that and it was just for the vibes. He was just in the green room. for the vibes for the entire draft. I wouldn't be surprised at all. Yeah. I mean, that, that fits.

Because, yeah, there was, as one team put it to me, when they interviewed Texas players and they asked them, you know, if you could bring one Texas team with you, if we drafted you, who are you bringing with us? Or who bring them with you. A lot of them, all of them mentioned Sorrel. And that's a pretty ringing endorsement for a player. And that's what happened.

Packers drafted Matthew Golden. And then here comes to. Maybe that was that. Matthew Golden's like, you have to go. Yes, it's a packaged deal. If I'm going to go to the green room, he gets to go to the green room. Jordan James and the Niners is interesting, Derek, because when they've, every year they're going to draft a running back in the third. Kyle can't help it.

Somebody's got to take the clicker out of his hand in those moments. But a lot of the guys that they've drafted, Grendo last year, some of those players in previous years. Joe Williams, like four years ago. Even going back a little bit further, like when they signed Jerich McKinnon, a lot of these backs that they go get, even Kevin Coleman was like this where he was like a speed demon in. Atlanta, Jordan James is kind of on the other side of the spectrum where they typically take these dice rolls on traitsy guys at this range of the draft. Jordan James is not that. He's just a guy you can set your watch to. And so the fact that they went with that sort of back stylistically, given their history, is actually sort of interesting. And it's kind of interesting too, because I think

in theory they wanted Jordan Mason to be that the last couple of years. But he really wasn't. Like he's actually, he's a rugged runner, but he's not very consistent. And I think he struggled a little bit as a pass catcher. Jordan James, I think, was them realizing like, okay, we have some of the flashy self with Grendo, obviously CMC, if he's healthy, can live in both worlds. Let's just get a guy who can, if we block four, he'll get us four and a half five. And I think James, I really liked him like you did, Dan. I think he's a really good player. So I think Kyle finally, you know, taking a little bit of a safer bet at the running back position is actually kind of refreshing. We also knew that Kyle's going to draft a quarterback. Curtis Rourke, the Indiana quarterback in the seventh round just now.

of Quinn yours who is still available. This is if they choose not to play Brock Purdy. We just know that if they draft a guy in the seventh round, that's probably going to work out. Exactly. The Brock Purdy contingency plan. Yeah. Pick what?

227. Coming off an ACL injury. This is the range for the Niners in the drafts. If they picked a quarterback in the top five, I would have no faith. Then they pick a guy here. There's a chance to just turns into a $16 million year player. That's a funny way to put it.

You like to Devin Neal to the Saints, Derek. We're talking about just kind of consistent running backs picked on day three. That was a fit that you appreciated. I loved it. I mean, Neil was a guy. really liked in this process to begin with. Yeah, out of Kansas. Just a really consistent player.

He's a rugged runner. He's actually a pretty good pass catcher for a guy who's a little bit of a bigger back. I think he actually has pretty decent hands down the field. And then he just, when I watched him at Kansas, what I appreciated was he was kind of just a problem solver behind the line of scrimmage. And I always appreciate those guys. And so to pair him with a guy like Camara, who's obviously, you know, he's getting older, but still pretty explosive, still a really good space and past catching player.

I just think it makes sense for the kind of pairing you want in the backfield. I feel like we all felt that way about Camp Scadaboo going to the Giants. At this range of the draft with Tyrone Chery, it's like, all right, you know, the top 100 juice for him and people trying to push him up that high, you were never a believer in that. But in the fourth round, that's easy for you to get behind. And especially with that fit with the Giants and that offense, you think about, because they, you talk to Giants people. They didn't really call running back a top need. But if you followed the 30 visits and all the work the Giants were doing on running backs, you knew they were going to draft one. probably and it could have happened in the third round.

The fact that they used one of those third round picks to go up in part of the Jackson Dark trade, so that pushed it down a little bit. So in the fourth round to come away with Cam Scadaboo, who is he going to break his many tackles against NFL competition as he did against Big 12 competition? No, but he is a functional back, a good athlete, not a great athlete, a good athlete, helps out in the passing game. I think it complements what they already have really well. C.J. West, the defense tackle from Indiana going to the Niners was one that I appreciate. just because it feels like, and I don't want to take this too wide because later this week, early this week, me and Fate Field Yates are going to talk about the messages that teams set in the draft,

which is always one of my favorite kind of post-draft shows that we do. I always appreciate, all right, what is the draft telling us? Because before the draft starts, teams can lie and they like to lie. After the draft is over, the lying is over. We know what they think about themselves, certain positions, the plan that they want to have over the next couple years. And the Niners with a guy like CJ West and really everything else, that they did in this draft. We're bringing physicality back in San Francisco.

That's what we're doing this year. And we said that coming in, again, on our lingering question show, it was like, all right, what do the Niners really want to be on defense? Because they could go any direction. And so for them to, one, bring back Sala, and then get a bunch of these guys who are just punch you in the face players, the Mikel Williams, getting Alfred Collins, who's a huge guy, adding another defensive tackle in CJ West.

They even drafted a linebacker in Nick Martin, who, like, you know, they've obviously lost a lot of linebacker debt over the last couple of years. So they very obviously realized, okay, when we were a top three to five defense for that little stretch a few years ago, it's because our front seven was the best in the league. And so let's try to throw as many darts at that as possible to try to get there again. It was funny because there was a mailbag question we got two or three weeks ago, Derek. You remember this.

A listener asked, what are the best double ups for a certain position over the last like five to ten years where a team double dipped at a spot and it ended up remaking more than half of their room in a single, off season, and it was a Niners-centric question, and the Niners drafted three defensive linemen in the first four rounds to try to do that. So that Niners fan accurately predicted what this Niners draft might look like. And I think it was, you could see it coming, but now to kind of see come to fruition, it tracks based on where the Niners were and how many needs they had at those spots. Quinn Ewers, just drafted by Miami Dolphins, 2.31 overall. So interesting fit there. Good to see him. Just get drafted. Get off the board.

And then maybe one of my favorite picks of day three, Dan Jackson, going to Detroit at 230 overall. We mentioned it with Tate Rattlidge. And this is the other extension of Dan Campbell. Dan Jackson, his nickname, Dirty Dan. So we got a dirtbag in Tate Rallash and Dirty Dan on the other side of the ball. He is a speedy safety who flies downhill, blows guys up, loves physicality. Sometimes he sacrifices balance and finishing just to try for the big hit. But it just so much reflects the coaching staff and what they want to be on defense and just a culture in Detroit.

It's just a perfect fit. He was, if I had ranked my top three or four non-combine snubs, Jackson would have been in there. The last pick you wanted to talk about, Derek, for day three, just your favorite ones, was Jalen Royals going. to the Chiefs. That was one that you appreciated in the moment. It's just such a good pick. And Royals, to me, was probably a guy who was like fringe-ish top 100 player, probably just inside of it. By the way, as we get into date three, I feel like it's important to just keep re-refreshing.

That's a great point. The top 50 guys is like most people probably already know them by now. There's no graphics flashing behind us. I think we need to get back to podcast etiquette here. Yeah. So Jalen Royals, again, Utah State. He was a guy who was a little bit banged up with a foot thing this last year. And so that's probably why he slipped as far as he did.

but he's just a guy who's probably a little bit limited in terms of his route tree and stuff, but he's really good speed, vertical down the field. And then he's a really good catch and run guy. Like, I don't know if this is, this is, I think, a little bit of Rishi Rice insurance because that's obviously what Rice does best is just get on the ball and he can go. But it's also like they just needed to add to this room. And so for them to try to regain some of the explosiveness that really captured what the chiefs were three years ago at their peak, that type of deal, I really like Royals here.

I think it's a good fit and good value. I talked about this earlier today when we saw that. pick. I almost conceived of the chief's receiver need the same way I conceived of their corner need. They just need to restock the depth at that position. Justin Watson moves on in free agency this year. Sky Moore is going to be free agent after the year. Obviously he hasn't done much, but even just the bodies on the depth chart, they're losing some of the depth they've had at that position. And the same thing goes for corner. You know, they drafted a corner earlier in this draft. They're going to lose all of their corner depth and free agency next year. So just finding guys in the

middle rounds to be your fourth receiver, your fourth corner. That was an area of the roster that needed to be addressed over this weekend. DeAndre Hopkins, gone. Justin Watson, gone. Howard Brown on a one-year deal, I believe. Exactly. So, and, you know, Sky Moore has not lived up to being someone that you trust as a functional part of your offense. Justin Ross is still more of an idea than a true impact type of player.

Gidu Smith-Huster still there, I believe. But, you know, still adding to that room is the smart play. And again, I think Juju is also under one-year deal. So pretty much everybody that they have on that roster outside of Xavier worthy and Rishi Rice is going to be off that roster by next year. Well, and the value is tremendous at that point. I mean, to me, Jalen Royals should have been a top 75 pick, in my opinion. So to get him where they did was just tremendous value. Let's move beyond the bics we like from day three and just the biggest surprises that we saw today.

I think we have to start this conversation with Schroederer Sanders, lasting to the fifth round. And not only only lasting to the fifth round, but the Brown's taking him after taking Dillard. and Gabriel in the third round. That was such a good moment because we were all sitting on the couch together watching this draft and I think right before they went up to the podium, Rich Eisen said is this the moment? We should have known at that point

that it was. Right, that it was because you probably had Intel and it was like, they already took Dylan Gabriel. Of course this isn't the moment. And then you hear Shedars Sanders and it's like, oh my God, they're really double-dipped at the position, which usually when you see that, it's because they draft you know, Washington is the car Gershry and Kirk Cove. And like that

makes sense to me, right? You're drafting a clear starter and then a clear guy who's backup developmental stuff. This one, they just drafted two like, we'll see. We're going to throw it out there and see what happens. I don't know if we have to rehash the conversation that we've had over the last career is about why he lasted this long. But I do think it's worth bringing up why it makes sense for Cleveland in that range of the draft compared to some other teams.

You mentioned this while we were watching live. Cleveland did the work on the quarterbacks. Cleveland had guys on their board. So Cleveland was one of those teams where when you get this deep into the draft, he's on the board somewhere, and he was very likely the top players still available for them. And I think we also have to factor in that there were a lot of teams that didn't have Shador Sanders on the board because it just, yes, they didn't do Philadelphia Eagles. They didn't do the work on Shador Sanders to have him on the board because they weren't

going to draft quarterback early. So they didn't even factor him being available in the fifth round. But they still traded ahead of Philly, by the way, the Browns did, to draft Shadur Sanders. So I wouldn't be surprised if they thought the Eagles were a potential landing spot for him at that point just based on how the Eagles have approached that room essentially over the last decade. There's never enough of. They drafted a quarterback.

Yes. But to the overall point, it's something that why we saw him fall out of the fourth round and into the fifth is just there was a limited pool of possible landing spots. And the Browns were one of the teams that did all the work, interviewed him, had workouts, were at the pro day. And they obviously the quarterback position is very unsettled. And so why not throw resources at it? And that's what you have training camp for.

Let's figure it out. And so right now, let's just exclude Deshaun Watson from this equation. With Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco currently there, you add Dylan Gabriel, you add Shador Sanders. It's a really interesting quarterback battle in training camp. And this all might be moot at this time next year when they address the quarterback position at five overall, or top five overall in the draft. But for right now, why not spend a resource on? a player you didn't anticipate

being available in the fifth round. There are probably three different levels I want to talk about this on. The first is this is free. Yes, right? It's free. At the exact same reason you traded for Kenny Pickett, it's free.

So when your quarterback position is unsettled, again, Andrew Barley has spent one year in Philadelphia, but Philly has been a franchise that even if we feel like we might have a guy, we should still draft more of them. If you don't have a guy, why not give yourself as many free roles to find one as possible?

So I think that's an argument for doing Shadur Sanders. in the fifth after drafting Dylan Gary Brib on the third. The flip side of that is one of the reasons other teams weren't conceiving it that way is, is this worth it? Is it worth it to bring in whatever this is going to be like for a guy who is a backup at best and maybe fighting to be a backup?

The Browns, I think, are positioned to handle some of that because I think Kevin Stefansky is correctly wired for that. But again, on the flip side, you just got out of an era where you were plagued by quarterback questions and quarterback distractions. and now you're inviting that again. So even if he's capable in the moment of putting on a face and being able to answer and deflect some questions about it,

he still has to endure those questions. He's still going to get more interest and more inquiries about his fourth quarterback on the roster than anybody else over the next six months. And that's something that they invited by doing this. It is. And there's definitely risk involved. But, you know, he's a fifth round pick.

If it becomes too much, you can move on if you wanted to. And it's just, it's low risk. I don't think it'll become too much. I think it'll be fine. But again, it's just a building that if I were somebody in their PR department or somebody on the team, part of me would just be like, I just want a normal off season and a normal season of quarterback for the first time in a long time. I'm going to say, when is they're not getting that anymore?

The Browns don't know what that is. I guess it was never going to be that as you kind of dismounted from the Watson thing. That's kind of what I was going to say is, you know, they're not in a position to ask, is it worth it? Because like, Shrader Sanders, he's not a bad person. It was just like this is such a complicated situation. There's baggage. There's just baggage.

It doesn't make him a bad person in the same way that I think, you know, we would conceive of Deshaun Watson. It's a very, very different thing. So I just think they were in a position where they don't get to ask, is it worth it? It's just we should throw young quarterback to the position and see who's going to go win the job. I'm looking at the quarterback room now. I'm very curious to see like how many games the rookies start.

And I don't want to do like, is it going to be Shadur for eight and Dylan Gabriel for five, like whatever it is. But I'm trying to. I feel like the deeper we get into it, we're going to look at this three months from now and be like, Joe Flacco's not starting football games. Like, I just don't think that's going to happen.

And I don't think they want him to. No, I don't think they want him to. They're going to give every opportunity for the young guys. That's right. But when I was thinking about the Browns quarterback battle, it was always going to be Kenny Pickett, veteran, whatever quarterback we drafted, snap the pool of a half.

We're having trios during training camp. Now there's two guys to that. So it's the same process. It's just more of a complicated, crowded process that I anticipated. To that point, this is really interesting from the Dylan Gabriel perspective. When you last night was, okay, you got drafted this big moment. I got a real shot.

I got a real shot. Absolutely. He might lead the Browns and games started this year at the quarterback position. Now you add in Shador to the mix. But I will say if there's anybody that's equipped to handle this, it's Dylan Gabriel. In terms of the way he's wired, the intangible factor. you know, it's not going to be distracting to him or something that will, you know,

maybe hold him back from giving everything that he has to, you know, win a potential playing time. With the Browns drafting those two quarterbacks, it feels to me like the Kirk Cousins things might be off the table for that. Kirk Cousins might be on the table. You don't want a six quarterback? This feels like a little much, right?

Do we really need one more? The Steelers, it does feel like the Kirk Cousins thing is still potential. in the mix, but they also drafted a quarterback in this draft. And so you wanted to talk about just the quarterbacks in general on day three, Dane, and where they all fell, and the order they came off the board, because it was a little

bit surprising to you. Yeah, I mean, because we saw Dylan Gabriel's a bit of a surprise last night, and then we go into today wondering, okay, and what's the order that you come off the board? Shador goes off in the fifth. Kyle McCord was in the six of the Eagles. Shortly after that, Will Howard comes off the board to the Steelers, which is an interesting fit there. The Steelers,

dealers. I mean, we'll talk about them more, but just a great big 10, tough physical draft. I love it. And then in the seventh, they come back with the dolphins with queen ewers, with the 49ers we mentioned with Rourke. There's some interesting, just to, you know, we feel like we have an idea of how the quarterback should come off the board. And then the team's like, nope, this is, you know, we have it very differently than this team. And this team who views it differently than this team. And so to see this order is fascinating. Which element of it is most surprising to you. But whether it's a guy lasting way longer than you expected or that order, which is the most,

caught you the most by surprise as you actually sit back and look at the entire class now. Probably the fact that you were as fell as far as he did. That's like, was he a first round pick? No. Second round pick, no. But there were teams that liked him, you know? And so, but it's not the right team at the right time. Then obviously it's a moot point.

And he was able to fall through the cracks. he wasn't a for everybody type of quarterback. Graham Mertz from Florida went ahead of him. Wisconsin transfer who tore his ACL this year. You know, we don't know when we're going to see Graham Mertz. He went ahead of Quinn Ewers. And then it's interesting with the Raiders to draft in a matter of, or a span of three picks.

They took Montana State's quarterback and North Dakota State's quarterback. Two FCS quarterbacks. Now, Tommy Mellat will be a wide receiver, Hback type of weapon for them instead of a quarterback. State quarterback. Yes. But Cam Miller, the North Dakota State quarterback is he's a quarterback. And I like him. I think he's, you know, he'd had a really good shrine week. It should have been at the combine. He was a snub that shouldn't have been. But again, all these quarterbacks coming off the board before you were was certainly a surprise. Cam Miller is a like just does stuff kind of quarterback. Like if he if he has like what Tyson Bejant has been for the Bears like that little arc where it's just like he's never going to be a starting quarterback. But he's not a bad career for a six round pick though.

Yeah, absolutely. That's what I'm saying. Like, that's a very competent, like, I think the Bears are very happy they have a Tyson agent around. And so I think that that would be, like, if he could be that for them, that wouldn't be that surprising. Like, would it surprise you if I told you he, you know, is the son of a long time high school coach and, you know, like it, it fits exactly what you would expect from a guy like that. And, yeah, that's, he won a lot of games North Dakota State, won a couple national championships.

You know, he definitely had some fans throughout the league. We were going to talk about the Bears linebacker as part of the, our day three surprises, but we mentioned that at the top. Derek, not a surprise, but one of your favorite day three moments is just how he continuing his Georgia defensive players bit over there in Philadelphia. He just keeps doing the bit, man.

He drafted Smale Mundin, one of the other Georgia, Georgia backers there. Obviously, when you watch that defense, you attach to C.J. Allen, who's going to be in next year's class, but Mundin was playing next to him. And Mundin's a really good athlete. And I think at this point in the draft,

it was maybe, what was it, the fifth or sixth round? Like, that is the range where you kind of just take the hyper athletes at that position who are playing at some of these top. five programs. So he's a little bit of, you're going to need to set him next to a linebacker who a little bit already knows what he's doing. It can kind of set the bumper lanes for him and get him running in the right direction, kind of like we've talked about what the dynamic was a little bit between Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen there for a little bit, something like that. But I just love that he keeps acquiring these guys. It's just kind of funny that he keeps doing it. I just wonder how

much runway he has left with it. Kirby's smart called Smile Mundin, the one of the best athletes he ever seen, which says a lot. Georgia's got a lot of them. Yes. Kirby Smart seen a lot of good athletes over his career. Former five-star guy, like highly recruited, banged up. So maybe he didn't really have the career at Georgia that they expected when he signed. But yeah, he's a good player who could have easily gone on, you know, round three. And it wouldn't have been a surprise.

My favorite moment of day three is the continuation of the Bears Bills swap of their fourth and fifth round picks. So I want to talk people through this who maybe don't care or unaware of it. Last year in the fifth round, the Bears had traded their fifth round pick to the bills for Ryan Bates. It was the 144th pick in the draft. The Bears got that pick back, traded back into the fourth round or fifth round to get Austin Booker. As part of that trade, they traded away their 2025 fourth round pick. That was the 109th overall pick.

So the bills had that as we walked into today. The bills traded that back to the Bears as part of a deal in the second round. The Bears then traded that pick back to the Bills today, and they took Dionne Walker from Kentucky. So over two different drafts in the fourth round, the Bears traded, the Bears and Bills traded a draft pick back five times, including for two different veteran players that are now on those teams. I know we've seen those, you know, posts and graphics and stuff of like one pick moving around, you know, seven different times. I don't think it's ever happened this many times between the same two teams. Yes, it involves more teams than this. It's absurd.

At what point, at what point did they, like, realize they were maybe doing a bit? Because, like, probably by like, okay, the second time you bring up the pit, it's like, okay, maybe that's just coincidence. It was the right thing. The third or fourth time you're moving the same pick, you're like, okay, one of us is pulling each other's chains. And this is getting a little ridiculous.

Well, it's funny last night in real time, because I'm trying to piece it all together without all the information as we're five hours into our live stream. And I was like, the Ryan Bates trade is involved here somehow. But I couldn't remember how, but I was like, wait, there's no way. That was last year's draft. And then when you actually trace it all the way back, it does involve the Ryan Bates trade from a year and a half ago. I mean, it's just good journalism right there.

Just the investigation, peeling back the curtain. Yeah, I love it. All right. Let's take this a little bit wider and we'll just talk about the draft in general. Any other day three? Okay. Any other day three moments that we wanted to mention? Anything that sticks out to you?

We got to talk about the Texans trading a future third for, Woody Marks. Yeah, we can do that now. There's a couple of those trades today. Okay. Well, it's biggest surprise is day three. That was a big surprise for me. Yeah.

To trade future third to get back into this year's draft day three. And I like Woody Marks. I like him a lot. I just, that's a hefty price to pay. Woody Marks is a very good pass catcher. You know, he transferred to USC this past year as kind of be their guy. And he was great. You watch the Michigan tape.

You see he's a really productive player. What do you, what do you? does as a pass catcher is really why you do make a move like this. And just it's a little surprising to see him do it. But it's also interesting when we look at the Texans offense and say, okay, is this what they thought they needed? They needed that pass catcher out of the backfield. Just think about how different the entire pass catching room looks like now compared to what it

looked like on Thursday at 10 a.m. Right. I mean, now you have both Iowa State receivers. You have a pass catching back. We don't know what's going to happen with Tank Dell. So that's going to look like a very different room this season and next season than it did at the end of last year. It's such a funny trade.

I just, I don't know if there's any fourth-round prospect that is worth trading a future third-round prospect to go and get. And like, strip the names from it. I know March might be a decent player, but as a process, it's very interesting to me. It feels like something you would do as a desperate front office and head coaching regime, but they're not.

Like, it's just a weird. I just thought like it was kind of a bizarre thing. The Texans are a tough team to pin down because they traded back in this year's draft. They traded a hundred times. They just trade a ton. And so it's actually kind of like a game of three-card Monty, when you're trying to figure out where all the picks are going.

So I don't, we always do this. And I think fans do this a lot where it's like, well, they had the extra pick because of the trade. Why does it matter they traded away? That's not how this works. Like it's having more picks is typically a good thing. But the Texans are such an active team that's actually kind of hard to keep track of all of their draft capital as it moves across years.

Let's use this as a chance to talk about some of the other traits because I do think there are a few others, even over the last couple days that are notable. It's hard to pin down in real time because it, we're looking at. at the draft picks as they happen, where the trades happen and what teams gave up. Sometimes when we're doing the live streams, we can lose it a little bit. So some today that jumped out to me. The Rams move up 10 spots to get up to 117. They give up a future fourth in 2026 to do that.

They give that pick to the Bears. The Bears had traded their 2026 to the Chiefs for Joe Tuny. So now they have a fourth round pick next year that they didn't have. The Patriots yesterday got a 2026th fort to move down 10. spots and take Jared Wilson. So we liked that pick in real time. Yes. And they got a fourth round pick next year to move down 10 spots to do that.

That's how you do it. And then the one that we talked about in the moment, we're talking about again, the Lions going up 32 spots from 102 to 70 to take Tesla yesterday. To do that, they gave up two 2026 third round picks. And those picks were from... They have theirs. Right. And then the other one.

And then Aaron Glenn getting. hired by the Jets. They had the compensatory pick to do that. So those to me are like the big swings that we saw. And then there's one more. Actually, one more. The Dolphins moving up for Jonas Savinea. To do that in the second round yesterday, we didn't really notice this in real time. They gave up a third round pick to do that. They also gave up a fourth, but it really, they were just moving down 10 spots from the fourth round to the fifth round. But that third round pick, that's a lot to give up for a team that I think is missing some of the connective tissue in their roster. They need a lot of players. So to give up a third round pick to move up and get him,

sitting back and marinating on that for a day or so, that's a lot to give up. That one to me is so interesting compared to the Patriots trade, where it's like, okay, the Patriots are very comfortable with how the board is falling. They trade back 10 picks, acquire a fourth round pick and take Jared Wilson, who I think is really good. I think we all think is a really good player, super good athlete. He can probably start sooner rather than later for them, whereas you have the dolphins who are very obviously desperate to go up and get a player and get like, they, they, they needed a new starting guard and so they're willing to throw whatever they need to go up and get that. And probably reach on guard where we talked about this in the moment, there was kind of a run on a lot of the offensive linemen and interior guys.

And I think they felt like, oh, he might be the last one. Like, we're kind of panicking and need to get a guy. It just kind of speaks to maybe the timeline that both of these teams are on a little bit. Well, and I guess playing devil's advocate, that third round pick was 98, which one of the last picks in the third. So it's almost a fourth really. For a team that hasn't made a lot of picks. It's still a top 100 pick. The Miami Dolphins, if you look at the current makeup of their roster,

have fewer rookie contracts on their books than any team in the NFL. And as a team that feels like they're in a little bit of a transition moment, giving away any top 100 picks for one single player, that's pretty rich given the current state of the Dolphins in the hierarchy of the NFL and the AFC. At least it was an offensive lineman and they'd do it for a running back. That's fair. That makes me feel a little bit better, given, like, what the makeup of this team looks like. The fact that they took Kenneth Grant and then an offensive lineman in the second round.

We like that in the moment. I just don't think I realized how much they had given up to go up and do that. Fair. Before we move on, let's take a quick break. All right. Let's talk about just our favorite moments from the draft period. Obviously, a shitload of stuff happened over the last 72 hours. Let's start at the top.

You know, when we talk about the 2025 draft, 5, 10 years from now, the Travis Hunter trade is probably going to be one of the first things we mentioned. It'll be interesting the tone that we'll take with that. And whether it will be a good thing for the Jags and a bad thing for the Browns or vice versa or how history will look back at this. But either way, it'll be one of the first talking points every single time we discuss this draft. It seems like over the years the Browns have been involved in a lot of these. Julio Jones is the one that really stands out as they wanted to get the picks.

They just didn't do anything with them when they did. and the Falcons, even though they gave a lot, they won that trade with Julio Jones. This time, especially after they drafted two quarterbacks this year, we're anticipating the extra pick they got from Jacksonville to be ammo to go get a quarterback in next year's draft. But who knows? That pick from Jacksonville could be the 23rd pick overall.

You know, it might not be a top 15 pick. It could also be the eighth pick, though. It could. Very well could. We've said this probably. Maybe, oh, maybe it can't get worse for the Jaguars. It can always get worse. I think we like a lot of what they've done, but it can always get worse.

The Hunter trade is fascinating because for the Browns, I think it was a good idea. You weren't going to take a quarterback here. And Travis Hunter is a fantastic player, but it's probably not transformative for like the things that you need as a team right now, like where you're at in your build with all your coaching staff in front office and all that stuff. So I kind of like them going and getting ammo. If they can get a quarterback next year, that makes sense. I also kind of like support it for the Jaguars. It's like it's incredibly aggressive, right? But I supported the Will Anderson trade that the Texans did where it's like, okay,

you believe you need to have a cornerstone piece for the way that you are trying to move into a new regime. And it's aggressive. It could go wrong. But I think you need tone setters. You need building block pieces. And Hunter was one of three of those in this class. If you were the brown, GM of the Browns, would you have accepted that trade? I mean, again, it depends on how desperate I am.

I probably would have accepted. accepted it. And then my caveat is I don't think I would have taken Mason Graham at five. But I probably would have accepted that. Who would you have taken? That's an interesting. Offensive line. It probably would have been like Mbbu. I think I really liked him there.

You? I absolutely do. Yeah. To me it doesn't matter. I think Will Anderson is even a pass rusher to me is different than whatever Travis Hunter is. A mildly undersized corner. Not undersized, but just like a normal size. And even though we talked about him as a receiver prospect.

He's a special player. But I think Will Anderson is a better edge prospect. than Travis Hunter is a receiver prospect. Would you say that's fair? Say that again. Will Anderson is a better edge prospect than Travis Hunter is a receiver prospect. That's interesting.

I think he was, but I don't know. I would not. You don't disagree. You don't agree with that. I don't disagree. I think that's interesting. I think it's interesting. Yes.

That would make me think. Because he's not better than Miles Garrett was as a patch rusher coming out. No. He's not, he's not, Travis Hunter's not on that level. Will Anderson, I think that I think they're comparable tiers. That's fair. Okay, so even still, I think if you're a team like the brands,

similar conversation to the Dolphins, you have an entire era of mistraft picks. You are resetting. You need to restock most of your roster. I don't think any non-quarterback, to me, is worth three top 40 picks, including a future first rounder that might end up anywhere, anywhere. It's a first-year regime.

We have absolutely no idea what's going to happen there. So getting a second round pick, the fifth overall pick, and a future first for any non-quarterback, I'm going to do that. especially when I'm in the spot the Browns are in. That being said, I don't mind the Jags doing it. It's just one of those trades where I'm like,

I'm not going to shit on either side here because I completely understand how they arrive at those decisions independently. I'm sure Browns fans are sweating with this, but I think that sometimes, like, especially for a team in this situation, the pills don't always go down easy, but you've got to take them.

And that's just where they are right now. Browns fans have been, you know, they've done this in the past where they have gotten extra picks to go get a quarterback and they end up with Johnny Mansell and Brandon Weed in. And it just doesn't work out in their favor. So I certainly understand from the Browns fans' perspective, for weeks they were thinking they're getting an impact player and Travis Hunter.

And instead, they're getting more the idea of more hope. They feel like they're being sold hope, which they've seen this show before and they're just not buying it. And so I get it from the Brown's perspective. I think I stick and pick. I think I take Travis Hunter. I know you do because you love Travis Hunter. I do.

I think he's a true impact player. And, you know, I normally would take the picks, but I'm, and I think something, part of it is, and I like Mason Graham. I do. But I just think there's a drop off and talent between that level of player and Mason Graham's level of player. I just, I get that. But you got more swings. You got Mason Graham, Quinn shot Jenkins, and a first round pick next year.

Yes. That might end up anywhere. It could be anywhere from, yeah, probably five. to 25 anywhere in there. And when I look at a team and I just think about the Brown's Depp chart specifically and how many red missing players there are on that thing right now, the fact that you could fill three of those guys,

that's just worth it to me over the next two years. I mean, and the quarterback position is still a question mark for this team. And until they figure that out, not a whole lot else matters. Get to some of other favorite moments from this weekend. Dan, you wanted to talk about both Iowa State receivers landing with the Texans, just the moment that J-Lan-Nole was drafted. And one of those, same kind of was

Shradur Sanders, we're just like, we just didn't assume it was going to happen after they took the quarterback. I did not assume that Joe and Noel, who we thought might be drafted in the second round by the Texans, was going to be their pick a little bit later

because they had just drafted a receiver and then it happened. And Noel is a top five receiver in this class for me. And Higgins was right after him. So I like both these players. Not surprised Higgins went first. We kind of expected that. The 6-4, 215-pound receiver

who runs in the 4-4s, I understand why he went first. But then the drop happened for Noel, which was a little bit surprising if you even fall to the 70s. And then for the Texans to go make that move, pair of these guys back up. And it's just such an interesting test case of watching these guys side by side playing for the next four or five years and get a chance to see how they both would impact this roster with a darn good quarterback. That's always the fun thing about like, there's always debates when it's like, oh, two good corners on the same team, two good receivers, two good tackles. It's always the debate of like, okay, which one do you actually like more? Well, now, because they get to play same coaching staff, same environment, it's all the same timeline.

Like, we're going to find out which one is better. And we tried to get Jalen Null drafted for 30 picks, like 35 picks. We were sitting there. It felt like for the first 10 picks of the second round, we were trying to get him drafted. And so for him to end up there again, it's great Tankdale insurance. But it's also a good insurance for like, we don't know what we want to do with Christian Kirk. How long is he going to be here? They're very similar players.

And then again, I mentioned this on the day two show. Nick Cayley is kind of coming from that Rams world, kind of coming from even some of the old Patriots worlds, hey man, you got a block on those teams. And Jalennell isn't the biggest guy, so he can't always move people, but he does like to get in the way. And I think that's an admirable trait to have.

Very rarely do we have definitive answers to who is better, who is coming out with the Iowa State guys? Because again, situation is so important. One guy lands in a great situation, one guy lands in a terrible situation. Are you going to have a definitive answer in four years about who was the better prospect

and who is the better pick. No, there's always going to be some caveats. Now, situation's the same. So we're going to have a very good understanding of who won the Iowa State receiver battle by the time they get to the end of their rookie contracts. These aren't maybe necessarily our favorite moments of the draft, but some of the more memorable moments

that I think we absolutely have to talk about, the trades back into the first round for both the Giants and the Falcons, right? So the Jackson Dard trade-up is going to determine how we talk about this regime in New York when it's all said and done, whether that's at the end of this season when the organization has moved on

or if Jackson Dart becomes one of the pieces that ends up helping these guys save their jobs. Sorry, I got distracted there for a second. The Broncos drafted Caleb Loner, the tight end from Utah, who, my 57th tight end, so he's in there. But that's cutting it close to me. That was cutting it close.

Yeah. 57th tight end. Uh-huh. We'll see how... He doesn't have an avatar on the NFL website. That's how you know. Yeah. But yeah, look, we knew the Giants were going to make a play for a quarterback.

We weren't sure could it be Shador, could it be Jalen Milro. Once we got close to the draft night, draft weekend, I think it became pretty clear. It was going to be Jackson Dart. Okay, where were they going to trade up into the first round? The cost wasn't prohibitive to do it. So that. Yeah. And so to do that and be able to feel like they get their guy,

we know, we talked about it on the show, the Josh Allen comparisons, loose comparisons, really being only made because of the connection with Brian Davel. But that's the type of player that has worked before

and that's the type of player they're going to go with here. Intangible-wise is all there. It's just how long, because again, it's not that he can't do some of the things you're going to ask him to do, it's he's unproven doing them.

He didn't put it on tape. So who are we to say that he can't get that figured out, at least on a functional level by Halloween. You know, like we just don't know. It is a little bit of a, not a little bit, it's very much a gamble.

And one that the Giants felt like they're in position where they have to do it. And so it's just going to be interesting to watch that the giant step chart at quarterback throughout the year. As the wins and losses come and go, how's the picture of quarterback change? I am really trying to be a better and more optimistic person.

These two trades were. kind of offensive to me. For different reasons. Okay, let's just say this, though. I get it. You don't like Jackson Dart as a player. Yeah. The Giants came up a third this year and a third next year to go get a quarterback.

The process is good. Like if you stripped it is not the problem. If you stripped the name off of it and said team went to get quarterback for this price in the back half of the second round, I'd be like, oh, that's awesome. Like that that's the good bet to make. They just took a quarterback that I probably wouldn't have taken in the top 100, which is like I know I understand that he was going to go top 50 almost no matter what. but he to me is I just really struggle with guys who come from those offenses for one. And then I really struggle with those older prospects who you watch them. And it's like, I don't know if I can give you the full playbook right away where like the sell for an older guy should be, okay, he's played a lot of games.

He's going to be able to walk in. Like I feel that way about Tyler Shuck. He has some other issues that I probably wouldn't have taken him in the first round either. But at least I feel like we can give him a pretty open playbook immediately. Dart, I really struggled with that. And then that really pairs with this regime where I just don't think. they're going to get the two, three-year runway to get the most out of him. And like, if this was a fresh regime, I might feel a little bit differently, but that one I

struggle with. And then James Pierce, I don't think a useless player by any means, but he's like the Josh Uche, Bryce Huff, like that style of player. I just don't trade a future first for like that kind of player. They obviously loved James Fierce. They wanted to take him earlier. I was going to say, it's they were going to take it to 15. Jalen Walker was there. All right, let's take the higher player on our board. But let's not give up on going to get the player that we kind of convinced ourselves we were going to take. And look, I give them credit for being aggressive and bold at a position where they needed to be.

Now, the player is, was it worth it? That's, that's going to be the kind of the big question mark. There's a lot of red flags with the player. So it's a big bet that, you know, is the odds of it working out. I don't, I don't love those odds. This is a terrible thing to do as we're like 20 hours into draft coverage here. just because we're having to do it on the spot. Who is the last guy like that?

Tall, bendy, a little bit undersized that truly turned into like a star player. Brian Burns is the first name that comes to mind, right? Brian Burns is a good player, was traded for a second round pick and got a new contract, and we went hated, right? Like, he's a very good player.

Other than Brian Burns, in the NFL right now, who is a guy that is worth a first round pick that plays like that? The closest thing that you could get is maybe like Nick, Benito. And he's not even that tall. He's a little bit shorter, but he's a lighter, like, only speed guy. That's, I guess, what you're hoping for. But again, that's a good one, though. That's a good one. That's the closest you can get, but that's also not a player I take a first round

bet on, especially not to have multiple first round picks for. So, and even with Brian Burns, I feel like in Dayton, you can probably speak to this as well, probably a more universally liked prospect coming out. Like, I think he was just a little bit more put together, better run defender than Pierce's. So I just, it's a good question though, Robert. Like, who is the last guy like this that was a star. And you want your first round picks to be a star. And there's just not that many of them. They're easy to love in the process.

Sure. Because the production is very good in college. And if you look at the rate stats, James Pierce was an absolute monster on like a pass rush win rate perspective, all of that stuff. And for coaches that look at some of the traits he's bringing into the position, I can understand it and be like, man, he's explosive and he's bendy. It's just the hit rate on these guys isn't very good.

And it's been part of my journey with players like this because a historical I really liked these kind of bendy, flexible pass rushers. And then you just look at how limited they become. And it's like, ah, and that's what's pushed me more to the power pocket pusher types. Because I just think that the floor and ceiling with those guys, I'm more comfortable with that range than with guys that are built and play like James Pierce does. So to give up an extra first round pick beyond even taking him in the first round, I think that's when it becomes sort of a dicey proposition.

It's just, yeah, the asking price to go make that. type of move is and clearly they felt like they had to get probably in front of the commanders to make that move um now but there's no guarantee who would have went in the first so it was a very aggressive move for a player you better be right on you better be right if you make that type of move and it's a gamble i give him credit for being bold like i'm we don't know like we can criticize it or we can love it we don't know time will tell that which is eventually going to give us an answer about whether or not it was the right move. So I give him credit for being bold.

I just, I don't love it. A couple others for me. We talked about this so much last night, and I feel like it's worth bringing up again. People did not listen to the Night 2 recap or watch the live stream. Jack Besch going to the Raiders after they drafted Ashton Jentee is just like such a weird combination of players skill set-wise. When you combine that with Brock Bowers and Jacoby Myers and Michael Mayer is still there,

it's a very strange but fun and interesting collection of skill position talent. And then for me, there's like a stretch. of the first round in the top 10 where it's just like, oh yeah. Like I just get it. The players, the fits, why those teams would do it. And that was Arma Membo going to the Jets, Jalen or Tedroa McMillan going to the Panthers at number eight and then Kelvin Banks going to the Saints at number nine. Based on where those teams are, what those prospects are and how they fit into their plans,

I thought that was just the most pleasing and logical stretch of the first round of the draft in my mind. And I think all, every one of those picks really addressed, you could. could make an argument they were the best players available on their on their on their on their board at that point but they also addressed huge needs for every single one of those teams the with the jets what do we say but they needed right tackle okay arm on membu could he play a left tackle i don't know doesn't matter he's gonna be a right tackle for us uh then with with the teamac it was all about it's helped the quarterback this is a brice young pick and some of they we don't really have a guy like this on the roster right now and so you we went in with receiver last year and the first round was davy leggett and he was davy legett Adam Thielen's still there. You know, we like what we got from Coker, the undrafted free agent, but still, you add someone like this who's going to help the quarterback, and we're feeling a lot better about our offense.

And then with Kelvin Banks, this is a team, this is an organization, never been afraid to throw first round picks on the offensive line. And this is just talking to people close to that organization, I think it's all about just getting the best five out there. And Kelvin Banks can play tackle. We think you can play guard as well. you know, Fawaga from last year, they drafted in the top half of round one.

Same type of deal where some teams graded him as a guard, but he showed he could play tackle like he did in college. So it's all about getting the best five on the field at the same time. Who knows if, you know, this is Penning's final year in New Orleans. It doesn't matter. They'll figure out the best five on the field to help whoever's that quarterback and then figure it out as they go.

Yeah, this is kind of where it felt like the draft found its groove a little bit. Because we obviously, up until the fifth pick, you have the Browns trade kind of getting weird with stuff. And then Gentie was like, obviously the Raiders needed a running back, but they needed so many other things. That was like, okay, I don't know if this necessarily fills their biggest hole, their biggest need. But then the Jets getting Mambu, Panthers getting Tedderoy and McMillan and the Saints getting banks. It's like, okay, that was all probably their biggest needs and probably the best players all left on the board for them. And kind of the rest of the range, about the next eight to nine picks kind of fell into that thing. like, okay, the bear's going after a playmaker like Loveland.

Okay, they just got Ben Johnson. They probably wanted that. You know, the Niners Michael Williams. Cowboys doing the Booker thing. The dolphins absolutely needed defensive interior linemen more than anybody in the entire NFL. And so they get one. Like the starting with the Membu pick, the draft kind of just made sense for like a dozen picks, which I thought was fun. And, you know, we kept hearing up until the draft how, you know, T-Mack was going to fall.

He might slip to the 20s. I just never bought it. it just didn't make any sense. There were so many landmines, whether it was Carolina, it could have been the Jets, could have been the Saints. He was not getting past 12 in the Cowboys.

It was not happening. And so there, I wish we could have seen the war room in Dallas in Frisco when that was the McMillan was the pick at number eight overall. Two years in a row with the Panthers, by the way. Jonathan Brooks got. You're right. You got snife for Jonathan Brooks last year.

So I think this is, I would have liked to see what the vibe in the war room was because they were kind of one, would they go, would he go ahead of them? I think they felt like it was kind of like 50-50 and ended up, that's what happened. Dane, tomorrow for the athletic, you'll have your favorite draft classes ranked one for 32. We're going to get going on that a little bit here.

We're going to help you start your prep. Your favorite draft classes of the 2025 draft. You've got a few of them that you want to mention here. But let's start with the New England Patriots, which I think is a universally celebrated draft among the three of us here. But you specifically really liked what New England. one did this year. Love this class and what they did, but in really all three days. It starts with

Will Campbell, obviously, a pick that we talked at length about the last few months. Talked about the length concerns, talked about what he did at LSU, his pedigree, and how he would fit in what we thought was the biggest need on this roster going to the draft. He's going to do whatever it takes to protect Drake May. He basically said that on the stage after he was drafted. So I think they feel really good about the person and the player they're getting. Trayvon Henderson in the second round, just bring in some juice to that backfield, another playmaker who can impact the game in some different ways. Again, this helps your quarterback.

Speaking of helping your quarterback, come back in the third round, getting Kyle Williams from Washington State, smaller player, but speed and a guy that just is a tough cover. That's what you want. I go back to what he had at North Carolina and Josh Downs. Kyle Williams can be his job. Josh Downs in New England. That's a lot of fun. And then Jared Wilson at that center, you mentioned they traded back, still able to get Jared Wilson a premier athlete.

Decent size, probably a center only, though. The football IQs off the charts, the intangibles off the charts. Really like Wilson's ability to come in and compete from day one to make that a battle with Garrett Bradbury at center. And then going to day three, what they did today with Craig Woodson, Joshua Farmer, Braden Swinson. They did a really good job, a drive, dressing needs on defense. It was all offense on the first two days and the top 100. And then on day three, it's like, all right, Mike Vrable's defense, what do we want? Let's get a safety.

Craig Woodson, a big defensive tackle, be part of a rotation, Joshua Farmer, then an edge rusher with Braden Swinson. They also threw a kicker in there, too. But, you know, there's really those first six or seven picks that stood out. Derek, you also love the Patriots Hall over the last few days. But the chiefs were the first team that you wanted to mention. What about the chiefs draft over this weekend stood out to you? Yeah, I mean, they still obviously needed a left tackle.

Like they go out and sign a guy like Jalen Moore. And I think that was just insurance of like if we can't get our tackle in the draft. And now they've gotten. 31. Right. You assume you just don't know who's going to be there. And Simmons falls a little bit because some of the health stuff. But if he can be healthy, Simmons was, I think you could make a case, probably a top 15 talent in this draft.

Like, I think he would have been really good, incredibly strong, really good mover already probably needs a little bit of work still, but I think you saw him get better the more he played at Ohio State. So he's a guy that I think could be, they're starting left tackle pretty much as soon as he's fully ready to go health-wise. And then I just liked a lot of the other stuff

that they did. Like Ashton Jolati in the third round, we joked earlier, at least on the live show, he's like a slightly worse Carloptus, which is the player that they like, and it's obviously a scheme fit for them. Noel Williams,

the corner out of California, I think he's done really well. Jalen Royals, we actually already talked about it a little bit, the wide receiver from Utah State. Jeffrey Bossa, the linebacker out of Oregon. I like him. He was top 100 for me.

Yeah, not the greatest mover, right? But you just see the way that he'll take on on blocks, the way that he's able to put his nose in there and get dirty. I just think in the fifth round, that's the exact type of player that you want. And then Breschard Smith in the seventh round is like an interesting former receiver convert. He's going to play running back for them.

So for them to add a guy who can, you know, that was a very plotting running back room recently. And so for them to get a guy who's, a little bit more explosive, I think is nice. I really liked what the Cardinals did. We talked about that at length last night. I just feel like the entire approach they've had this offseason based on what that defense looks like last year

and what they needed to add to that defense. Getting Walter Nolan in the first round, I think makes total sense. A high upside guy. We could talk about him in the top 10 or at the back hat right after the top 10 with maybe 11 to the Niners. That would have surprised no one.

He's a guy with real flashes. They get Will Johnson in the second round. And even if there are reasons why Will Johnson fell, I don't want to fall victim to the thing we always do where a guy that we had seen as a top 15, top 20 prospect falling, that's automatically a good pick. But for Arizona specifically, and what they need and what type of defense they run,

they need another outside corner. So I think that makes a ton of sense. Jordan Birch is an explosive piece to add to that rotation. They're just adding a lot of potential difference makers on their defensive line. And then Cody Simon, the linebacker from Ohio State, is an offball guy who had seven sacks last year. Just think about how the Cardinal, play. I mean, they love to blitz. They love using their off-ball linebackers as past rushers.

So I think everything they did in those first four rounds combined with how they approached free agency, I can understand the path that the Cardinals are trying to cut with that defense. You just see a defense that last year just didn't have any explosive potential. And so for them to clearly hunt players who might give them that, you know what they, they know what they were missing. And for them to be aggressive at it was, I think, pretty encouraging. You alluded to this a little bit earlier today, Dane, but the Steelers and just the Big Ten Hall and just what they were trying to seek out

in terms of the makeup of this class. What stood out to you about the Steelers draft? And for not having a second round pick, it could be tough to really have a draft you feel great about, but I think they just, every pick they really maximize. To get Dario Carmen in the first round at Pick 21, I mean, I think we have to mention just everything with his mom,

passing away that night being able to be with her and explain to say that you know he was drafted fulfilled his dreams of being in the NFL just a touching moment for that family you know our sympathies and hearts are out with him um but just a great moment to be drafted and for the Steelers to get a player like this that's going to come in and make their defensive line upgrade their defensive line from day one five technique you want to play them inside he can do that too no second round pick like I said and then the third round to come back and that's where the Shadur talk was. Okay, third round. That's where Shador is coming off the board. No, they go

Caleb Johnson, the zone runner from Iowa who fits that scheme. You think about it with Arthur Smith and the way he will use Caleb Johnson's pretty exciting. And then on day three, they continued the Big Ten theme. Jack Sawyer in the round four came back and got his teammate, Will Howard.

Two picks later in the sixth. Also added Yawai Black, the defensive tackle, big defensive tackle from Iowa. So two hot guys, two buck guys. And then gave him a shout out in the seventh round. Carson Bruner, lineback from Washington, his dad, Mark Bruner, long-time area scout for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Long-time tight end in the league and then became a scout and just a really cool moment for that family.

We saw that, what, two years ago when Deuce Vaughn was drafted by the Cowboys, his dad being an assistant on that coaching staff. Now we see it in Pittsburgh. And honestly, it's a cool story, but Bruner's a good player as well. He should have been drafted. And so to get him here in the seventh round makes sense. And again, another big 10 player. The Jets draft is one that jumped out to you, Derek.

Should not be surprising, considering your affinity for Aaron Glenn and just his overall football sensibilities. What about the Jets approach to this weekend? Do you think suits them well and kind of sets them up well when you're one of this new regime? I mean, their first three picks were some of my favorite first three picks of any team. Like getting Armand Membu, who I think to me was actually probably my favorite tackle in the class. And then again, you don't have to have to have the debil. debate of like, man, can he really play left tackle for us? Well, he's going to play right tackle for you no matter what, because obviously you have Olufashano playing left.

Mason Taylor to me is, again, I just think if he gets anywhere from 450 to 600 receiving yards for the next like eight years, I don't think I'll be surprised. Just a very consistent style of tight end that I like great hands. Azaria Thomas is, you know, Dane, you put in your in your draft guide, his comp was kind of Carlton Davis. And Carlton Davis obviously played last year for for the Lions and Aaron Glenn. And he was one of those pieces. is that really elevated them to being a really, really good defense. And I'm assuming Glenn saw some of that in them. And then the last guy, they drafted a few more guys. But the last one I found really interesting was Malachi Moore, the safety out of Alabama. He was a guy who when you watched him early at his career in Alabama, it was like, oh, man,

he looks like the next one, like the next Alabama DB who's going to be a problem. And kind of tapered off a little bit later in his career, obviously the coaching change, his final year there. But with Glenn's ability to so consistently get the most out of his defensive backs, I wonder if he can start to again look like the player he looked like early in his Alabama career where he looked like a pretty difference-making player. Quick update on who's being drafted. We have our first long snapper off the board. Oh, man. My heart stopped for a second there. Listen, that is... He is in the beast, my number five long snapper from Vanderbilt. How many did you have? Ten. My top 10 long

snappers. So he was my number five long snapper in there. Just talk me through this for a second. What is the scenario in which you're grinding the long snapper tape? Like, When does that happen in the process? Like, is that something you early? Is it something you do last? Yes, last. Specialists, I do last. And I rely on like input from specialist coaches in the NFL.

They have a specialized combine just for the specialist where a lot of these guys go to and do workouts and stuff. So you don't go to that. Well, it's going on simultaneously as the combine's going on. It's kind of like a- You just don't want it bad enough. We're going to have to clone you. No, no, but it's in Indianapolis. Like it's going on, it's kind of in conjunction with it, but it's separate.

It's kind of a weird thing. It's kind of new there, something new they're experimenting with. But yeah, I'm just happy he was in there. So. That makes as a former long sapper. Yeah, Longsapper getting drafted in the NFL drafted. That warms my heart. Bill Belichick is smiling as well.

It's the New England Patriots that made the pick. So they have a lot of picks in this draft. They actually, they have Mr. Obrellivan to coming up in three picks. Fidel Diggs, the defensive end from Syracuse, who I know you, I like Fidel Diggs. I think Fadiel Diggs has got a little bit of something to him. He tested pretty well. Which tape was it that I was watching where he really jumped out?

Probably Cam Ward against Cam Ward. Yes, it was against Miami. That's right. He had a really big game against that Miami left tackle where just trying to watch Cam Ward. And I was like, who is this edge player for Syracuse? That's, was a guy worth drafting? That's the best time to find a player is when you're watching somebody else, but it's this other guy that keeps flashing and said,

all right, there's something there. I was really impressed with him. He got explosion bursts. He's somebody that I think could have a role in the NFL. Yeah, former Texas A&M, a pass rush or transferred to Syracuse this past year and had a pretty good year. My next one here, I really like with the buck.

Oh, excuse me, one more thing. Safety-wise, Malachi Moore. Safety quietly in need for the Jets. Even after signing Andre Sisko. It was not good last year. Tony Adams and Andre Sisko will be free agents after this year. So depth for now and maybe a starter a little bit deeper into the future.

And he can kind of play the nickel a little bit if he needs to. He did that a little bit in college. So that's, again, not surprised to see the Jets address safety and pretty good track record with Aaron Glein and mid-round safeties with what he did with Kirby Joseph over there in Detroit. My other one that I wanted to talk about, I really like what the Bucks did.

This is just a consistent theme. Eric, Derek, we answered a question in their day about the teams we felt the best about when they were on the board and just front offices that I think, I believe in their approach over the last three, four, five years. We don't talk about the Bucks in that enough. They've done such a good job

of constructing that roster, remaking that roster, these little subtle pivots and evolutions. I really trust their process when it comes to how they want to build this thing. And you look at what they did. We thought that they would address defense, edge and corner.

They did that. They got Benjamin Morrison and Jacob Parrish in the second and third round. You said it last night, Dane. You thought they could have taken Jacob Parrish to corner from Kansas State in the second round. And they took Benjamin Morrison. To get him in the third,

you like that. David Walker, the edge from Central Arkansas is such an interesting prospect, right? Yeah. was absolutely dominant at his level of football. His build is... He's six foot, 240, but really he's explosive. He's a good athlete.

So he's an intriguing guy. Like, they needed to get edge somewhere along the way. I think like Elvis Dumerville. And so, yeah. We were talking yesterday, me and Derek, about player archetypes that we have a soft spot for, like, sought off Ed Rushers are my guys. Like, as somebody who Dwight Freeney, Elvis Dumerville was the name I actually said, like, I like players like that.

And so they did it at some point. They got David Walker in the fourth round. And then them pairing that with just taking a good player in a Meccaaubuka in the first round. This is a very buck's draft to me. And I say that in a good way. I also want to shout out Elijah Roberts. They drafted in the fifth who's just a really good defensive lineman out of SMU. And then Tess Johnson in the seventh round, who their second receiver in this draft, only 150 pounds.

Like he is a small player, but he plays big. and we don't have many guys in the NFL that look like this. And I think that's scared off a lot of teams. But just watching him play, I mean, he catches. He's a natural catcher of the football. He's hard to cover. So, yeah, he's small, but guys have a hard time getting hands on him. So I'm just interested to see Tess Johnson get more of a chance in the NFL.

Two more that you wanted to mention here, Dan. You also really liked with the Browns and the Seahawks did this weekend. Yeah, I mean, we have to mention the Browns, right? Especially for the Shador stuff, as much as, as I was not a believer in Shador Sanders when we talked about him as a top five pick and all of that. They got him in the fifth round.

And we kind of, we dress it at the top. It's a free pick, as you said. You know, it makes sense for this team. Even if they already did draft a quarterback, why not throw as many resources as you can and see what happens? I really like what they did on day two.

Coming with Carson Schresinger at 33, this is a linebacker. It's just easy to appreciate. He's fast. The Reed reacts. exceptional. So it's just easy player to like, Quinchon Judkins fits that backfield perfectly pairing him with Ford. But they also came back

on day three and took Dylan Samson in the fourth round out of Tennessee who is that Jerome Ford type of running back. So they're adding some more firepower to that offensive backfield. And it was just a for a team that we thought was going to go offense heavy early, their first two picks were defense. But then after that, it was a lot of offense with Judkins and then coming back to Harold Fanon and the third. Dylan Samson and then the two quarterbacks.

So it's just a really interesting class that, like, if you were, last week, if you would have told me these are the players they ended up with, I would have been just, Mason Graham and Shadour Sanders and like, and Dylan Gabriel, he just would not really have made sense unless it played out the way it did.

The Browns made five picks in the top 100 in this draft. They had four picks and the top 100 combined in the last two drafts. It explains a lot where the roster is the way it is. And that brings me back to what I was saying earlier. Sure. Like it just, they made four picks in the top 100 combined in the two previous drafts. And they had five today and they have an extra first round pick next year.

It's a good process. Between that and some of the players they took with Judkins, Fanon, Samson, at least taking dice rolls at quarterback. This very much felt like a, we're sorry, Kevin. Here's some fun stuff, draft class. I think if this team is going to be good and turn it around, it's because you're going to enable Kevin Stefansky to be a good and smart head coach,

which I believe he is. He just hasn't had the pieces to really show it as a plate. The Seahawks were the LD team I want to talk about as just my favorite in this group. Gray's able, it felt like chalk, but that's exactly what they needed. Put him in at one of the guard spots. Maybe he's the long-term center. We'll see how that plays out,

but he upgrades your interior offensive line. Come back in the second round with Nickyman Worry and Elijah Royo two guys that are maybe you're betting a little more on the upside and the athletic potential, but that's okay. And I think in the second round, two guys that have shown they can be productive on the field. I mean, Nick and I'm worried.

As a freshman, he had over 80 tackles. And so he was a guy that was impacting the game in a big way the last three years, going to give them that Cam Chancellor vibe back in Seattle and bring some. You guys didn't hear this because did you guys hear Michael Sean talking about this yesterday? he said that Cam Chancer reached out to Evan Marx. They had the same before coach. I absolutely love that.

That is phenomenal. And then to come back here on day three, well, I mentioned Jalen Millerow 2 in the third. Like that's take a chance on a guy like this. And then on, they didn't have a fourth round pick, but then in the fifth, they had three fives. Riley Mills and then Tori Horton, like to get those two guys in the fifth round, love that fit. You upgrade your defensive line. Mills coming off an injury. If the knee was healthy, he would have gone maybe top 100.

Tori Horton, same thing. If the knee's healthy, he goes top 100. And so you're getting a little bit of a discount on two medical guys. But if they end up being healthy and full recovery, rehab, they're going to look like steals when we look back at this class. The two-year timeline for the receiver specifically is interesting to me for them. Because right now, you have JSN, you have Cooper Cup, you have MVS. MVS plays a very specific role within the overall complexion of your past catching group.

But there's a chance that Cooper Cup and MVS aren't on this. team next year. This is just that he knows the offense for year one. Yes. And so you're just trying to get by this year. They pay Cooper a couple out of money when you look at the AAV, but there's not a ton of guarantees. So the fact that maybe you have,

let's call it a redshirt year for Horton and then he steps in into the role you hope he can have next year, that makes a ton of sense to me for where the Seahawks are at that position. They also drafted Bryce Cable do from Kansas, who we talked about with DJ on our favorite prospects podcast. So yeah, I thought the Seahawks really did. a nice job. Damien Martinez in the seventh round. I like that one.

Yeah. So I think they had a lot of picks, but I thought they maximized them pretty well. Jalen Melro, worthwhile, worthwhile swing. Yes. It would have been a worthwhile swing the round before. Truthfully, so for them to get them at 93, I think is absolutely worth it. You know what? Before we move on, we're going to take one more quick break. All right, let's talk about some classes that we're not all the way in on. We like some of it, but maybe one or two picks gave us a little bit of pause.

the Lions Day and were the team that jumped out to you here. Just the mixed emotion classes that we have from this year's group. Yeah, and I think some fans were a little on edge about the Tyleek Williams pick in the first round. I really liked it. I'm a big Ty Leak Williams fan. And it fits the Lions perfectly. And Dan Campbell and what they want to be. Loved what they did in round two with Tate Ratledge.

It fits, again, fits exactly what the Lions are. And it's an upgrade on the offensive line. But in the third round, what they gave up to go up and get, more of an idea, more of a traits player, Isaac Tesla, someone that you thought you could probably wait and get? I mean, obviously, they thought they couldn't. They had to go get him there. But still, that felt like a reach, in my opinion. But then you come back on day three and get Miles Frazier, one of the most competitive dudes in this class, another guard to add to the mix. And then Dirty Dan Jackson out of Georgia. Just another perfect fit for what this team wants to be. So

I think they identified a lot of Lions players and they went after him and got them. Tesla is really the only one that's kind of like, huh. It's the one question mark. It's just why the category exists. Exactly. It's like you did so many good things. And it's like, you traded extra third round picks for that guy? For the guy who's like, wasn't all that productive, you know, probably wasn't going to go this high on a lot of other boards.

So it's just, again, a very good class. But you have that one thing that gives you the hang up of this is why it wasn't in our favorite classes. Who is your answer to that? the one class where there's a couple hangups for you, the yeah, butts. I mean, there were a few. I think the one that I kept pointing to was the Bengals. Like, I love the idea of going and getting defensive, a bunch of defensive players, right?

But for one, I wasn't as high on Shamar Stewart. Obviously, the physical tools are incredible, but I just saw a player who I think is going to struggle to bend and kind of decelerate the way that he needs to be a top end pass rusher. Demetrius Knight in the second round as a linebacker, that was probably aggressive in terms of compared to where he was on the consensus board. And I understand he's a good athlete.

And this wasn't a linebacker class that had a lot of those. So maybe they just thought they needed to go get one really early in the draft. So that one gave me some iffy stuff. But then right after that, you draft Dylan Fairchild, who was like, this offensive line, one, needed interior players very badly. But also they needed kick ass interior players very badly. And that's all Dylan Fairchild is. And so he's the player who you could see him kind of revamping what they are a little bit

along the offensive line. so I love that. But then it's just again, Barrett Carter is kind of iffy for me. I love that in the fifth round they're going in this hacking guard again with Jalen Rivers out of Miami. They doubled up at linebacker and guard.

And they only have... They have six picks though in this draft, only six. Yeah. So for four of them to be used at only two positions, it's fascinating. Mm-hmm. Now, maybe they see Jalen Rivers,

he's better at guard, in my opinion. He did play some tackle. Maybe they see... Flexibility. Yeah, maybe they think he can play a little bit outside, but it is just fascinating that they went in those two positions, left guard, right guard, I think of both needs for this Bengals team.

They are. They absolutely are. The Bears is one for me. I think it's two guys that really stick out to me. Colson Lovin, like, I get it. Not strong feelings out of the way. You talked yourself into that one. Yeah, that one I talk myself into.

To me, the Bears draft, as I sit there and do like the Larry David meme, it's Luther Burden on one side and Shamar Turner on the other side. We talked about this. We're kind of three different flavors of the Luther Burden pick. Yeah. Derrick hates it. Yeah. Dane likes Luther Burton.

Yeah. Especially at that point. I just don't know what to make of it. And when we were talking it out today, I got it. Where it was just like, there's so much turnover in the league and just, all right, maybe it doesn't fit receiver wise. Maybe it doesn't, we didn't totally track this. And immediately it's hard to understand how it's all going to fit together.

But maybe they thought he was such a good player that it's like, ah, it doesn't matter. If he's like a top 20, 15 player on our board, we have to do this even if we have a couple of receivers. That part is fine. But so that one just, like, is a little bit murkier. The Shamar Turner thing, those are the types of players that they needed. And then you got Trapio in the second round. It's like, I guess I kind of get that as insurance,

but I was hoping they had enough offense to tackle insurance. So that one's a mixed bag for me. The Packers, again, it's just kind of two players. Matthew Golden, totally get it. Love what Matthew Golden brings to that offense. Him wearing 22, I have real doubts. That's pretty offensive. Like that, that to me is,

Rashid Shaheed is a nice player. It's really hard. Rashid's Jihad has succeeded as an NFL player in spite of him wearing number 22. It's cool because he's a guy who comes out of nowhere. he's a clear like role player, all this stuff. You don't get to where 22 when you're the first round pick when they drafted you in your city. And 12 is available. He could have had 12 if he wanted it.

And to go with 22, that's like a character concern for me. Like that's a situation where that would be a red flag if I were scouting players. So that one, I love Matthew Golden as a player. Then I do think they need the skill set. And then they draft Savianne Williams. And it's just like, I just don't know what to do with this. Like there's just, there's a lot of mixed things happening in terms of how I'm reading all of this. So that was one.

and then the Giants are another one. I loved pretty much everything the Giants did, and then the move up for Jackson Dart, it's like, I don't know if I love that. I just don't know if I love Jackson Dart enough to justify this, even if the price was right. All the other picks make so much sense. Like, obviously, you know, Abdul Carter is Abdul Carter.

Darius Alexander at the top of the third round. Like, okay, not the sexiest prospect, but he makes sense. Camp Scataboo in the fourth round. Marcus Boe, taking him in the fifth round. This is a team that needs to continually throw stuff at the offensive line. Great Van Roten is a stopgap at right guard. Exactly.

They needed a dice roll there. Scataboo, I think fits well with Tyrone and Tracy. We talked about that. And Darius Alexander, they needed a defense. They needed somebody next to DECD. Both next to them and behind. Like, they just needed bodies and the other place.

And yeah, no doubt. And I mean, I kind of like what they did in the seventh with Kobe Black. 4-3 speed, non-combine guy. But, yeah, there's a lot to like about him. And then the Falcons are another one. Getting J-1 Walker at 15. It's just like, great.

Love that. Totally makes sense. And then they go do what they did with James Pierce. So it's like, we're having to hold two things simultaneously with a lot of these, with a lot of these teams and a lot of these drafts. So Mr. Irrelevant was just made my 127th corner. Wow. Kobe Minor from Memphis. How many corners did you have?

200 some. Oh, okay. So you were pretty safe. Yeah. Congratulations. Yeah. You did it again. The fact that it's Jeff Swame is just, if it were some guy who would never stuck in the league, that would probably be easy.

easier than a guy like Jeff Swame who how many years did Jeff Swain play in the league? I mean, he was a third tight end for a decade. Yeah. But he was never more than probably a third. Oh, yeah. He was always just a guy. Enough to float around for a lot of years. Because it was in the Cowboys.

He played 10 years in the NFL. Yeah. It was Cowboys in Jacksonville, right? Yeah. And in Tennessee. He was in Tennessee. Like he bounced around a lot. So that's, that is a tough one.

I feel you on that one. But yeah, that was a decade ago. So we're, we're on a hot streak. We're on a heater. Another year. We're good. That was close. One other category I wanted to throw out,

just because I felt like it was a fun way to talk about some of these teams. There are some drafts where they happen, and it's like if a draft falls in the forest that it actually happened. Like there's something, it's not good, it's not bad. It's kind of unremarkable. A draft that there was a moment from Parks and Rec, there's a, they're doing a debate episode, and it's the guy who played Buddy Garrity.

He's one of the candidates. And it's just a, it cuts to him and he says, I don't care about that issue. As somebody else. There are some drafts where that's kind of my feel. It's like, I don't care about that. Let's just move on. My answer to this is,

is the Indianapolis cults. And I think part of that is because we just expected them to draft a tight end in the first round. And so when you see Tyler Warren going 14 to the Colts, it's almost like you're just looking at a mock draft. Like it doesn't feel like real life. There's not new information. Nothing changes. Like there's nothing firing in my brain when I see that. And then even like JT. Tuolamo in the second round, solid player, get it.

Their other edge players are potentially going to be free. He'll just replace Tycoon Lewis, another former Ohio State defense events. They have five perfectly fine defense events, and he's another one. Okay. Jaddy Gidens in the fifth round. It's like all of this stuff where it's, again, it's not a criticism. It's just kind of like I'm on the move. Riley Leonard, who is kind of Daniel Jones.

That's exactly right. So that's kind of how I feel about this cult draft. Were there any of those for you guys where, again, it's not good, it's not bad. It's just kind of like, it exists and that's how I process this. I kind of along those same lines, I went with the Vikings because, and now they only had five picks to work with. So that plays into it. But, you know, we, Donovan Jackson, he's going to get plugged in at the guard spot. Donovan Jackson is a perfect player for this kind of exercise.

He's fine. Exactly. And so, but that was their only pick in the top 100 this year. So, and then they get Ty Felton at 102. He's a speedster. We'll see how that fits in the offense. I like some of the things they did on day three. Tyrone Ingham Dawkins is a really good defensive alignment out of Georgia.

Can play inside outside. can give them depth. Kobe King is a fine linebacker at a Penn State. And then Gavin Bartholomew, a tight end, you kind of, you like the skills. You just wish it came out more on the field and on tape. So it's just one of those classes that, yeah, like you said, it happened. And I don't know that we're going to look back at this as a transformative group for Minnesota, but it was solid at best.

Mine for me, it was looking at Denver's class where it's like, Jadai Barron, you know, I didn't love them the way other people did. it was just like, okay, that's a fine corner. Maybe you can play nickel for you. That's okay. RJ Harvey was, I don't love the small, speedy guys. So it's just like, I throw the, you know, X guy in there. They all do the same thing.

And then they kind of reach on Pat Bryan at receiver where I felt there were some better guys on the board. A little bit the same thing with Savion Jones off the edge of LSU. Just a lot of like, I just don't know if I would have drafted any of these players this high. And I just don't know how many memorable pieces I have here. This is probably the mixed emotions one for me. Because should I bear in? I get. Harvey. Harvey's the one that, yeah.

So that's the difference. But even Barron, I get it. McMillan's going to be a free agent. I don't hate it. It's just like it doesn't move me. And there's a chance Barron's better than Riley Moss immediately. So you're just adding some potential options for you at corner. Is he though like outside? Like that's the question.

I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. Right. But I just think that them giving themselves some different pads in that position, given the strength of that defense and the strength of that front, I don't mind it. Yes. And then getting our, especially because when we were talking about their needs. needs in the first round. You know, let's say they go Derek Harmon instead at that spot. Maybe I feel better about that than Jada Baron.

But that's neither here nor there. The RJ Harvey one to me is the one that kind of puts them out of this category just because I like it so much. Yes. If you're going to pass on Trayvian Henderson and you're not going to get him and then the Patriots kind of prevent you from trading up and getting him. RJ Harvey as Travion Henderson contingency based on the skill set that the Broncos needed, that to me is one of my favorite picks in the whole draft.

Plan B trivia on, yeah, that makes sense. But all the other ones, I get that tracks to me. All right, a couple, one last category here before we get out of here. This one we're just calling, yeah, I get it, right? Like, I get it. Based on what they needed and the plan that they executed, I get what they were trying to do this week. I'm not over the moon about it, but I get the process and the thoughts behind it.

Let's start with you, Derek. Who is your team that fits this for you? I actually had a couple. I'll start with the bills. Like I, for a number of reasons, great answer. Yeah, for a number of reasons, I didn't love the Maxwell Harrison pick.

Just like body type. He obviously has some off-field stuff, so I didn't love that. But their next three picks were all front four players. They took T.J. Sanders, South Carolina defensive tackle, Landon Jackson, the edge out of Arkansas. And then Dion Walker,

defensive tackle out of Kentucky. And Sanders and Walker are very different defensive tackles. Like Walker is to, like, just put him there and hope that he takes up enough space. Sanders is more of a guy who like, he's a little bit more disruptive. He can really get on guys and kind of be more of a pass rusher. And then Jackson is the type of guy they like. They like the long explosive, just get on guys, have the huge wingspan.

So I just thought their approach to fixing the front that lacked a little bit of something last year, a little bit of depth. I thought it was the perfect approach. History tells us that in three years, Dorian Strong, who they drafted in the six, will be better than Maxwell Harrison. It's inevitable at this point. I think the bills is a really good one. I felt the exact same way about them.

mine here too that I would throw out the Chargers I just think Omerian Hampton going to get a defensive tackle later in the draft and then Trey Harris. Those spots, it just felt that's exactly what they needed. The guy that got, the defensive tackle they got was Jamari Caldwell from Oregon. It totally tracks to me for what the Chargers needed. And the Panthers, them get McMillan in the first round and then coming back with Scowarton and Prince William May Allen from Ole Miss. that's what they needed. Like those two different skill sets. So I get that draft class.

The last one we wanted to talk about here, Dane, was the Tennessee Titans. Yeah. We have not talked about them. They had the first pick in the draft, but I do think. And so we're kind of bringing it all back around here.

Yeah. They feel like a good answer to this. Where after Cam Ward, everything else they did based on the rest of the roster, yeah, I get it. And I think it fits too because they had offers to trade out of that spot and get some big draft capital. But they say put,

bet on the quarterback. in the second round come back and get a promising edge rusher who's still figuring things out in Femiolodejo. They need upside of that position. Yes. I get it. In third round, Kevin Winston, a safety who is coming off a major injury, but you like when he was healthy. You like what he put on film in terms of speed and size. And then on day three, coming back with D.K. and I.O. Menor two different, very different receivers.

D-K is his acceleration, deceleration is phenomenal, catches the ball well. Aomenor is that Chase Claypool type of can get vertical, has some speed to him, not the most natural ball skills, but he's late to the game and you feel like there's something there. We can coach a little more out of him. He's a young, young player, but they needed some more help at wide receiver, and they found it in the fourth round with those two guys. And even Gunner Help.

He made sense for them. He made sense for them. very different sorts of past catchers and they need to just, let's take chances on different sorts of guys to build out this room because it's a very thin group of pass catchers. And just the tight end room, like they have Chicka Conquil,

but he is more of a like, almost an H move like tight end. He's just a pass catcher where his helm is a little bit more of like your security blanket under the 10 yard area. So even that just makes sense. The last thing I'll run about the Titans, they got a third back trading down from the Emin Wari pick. So they get the third back that they had lost in the Legerius Sneet trade. That again, again, makes sense.

We're a team that needs picks. They needed that pick and went based on their current situation. The Logerisitre was a mistake. And so them kind of making up for that a little bit with Mike Borganzi, who was part of the group that took away in that pick. Exactly. Very good way for the Titans draft to come full circle. Yeah, there was a gap.

They were supposed to pick 35 and then like 104. You know, so there was a huge gap they needed to fill and they were able to do that. So that's it. We're coming full circle with the Titans draft and we're coming full circle with our draft coverage. That is all we have for today. sincerely appreciate everyone who turned into the live draft shows. I forgot to thank Bruce Feldman when I was doing wrap-ups last night because he wasn't sitting next to me. He wasn't in the room.

Sincerely appreciate Bruce joining us on Thursday night show. Sincerely appreciate all of the support staff from the athletic and our production crew, everyone who helped us out and everyone who's listened both this weekend and over the last couple months as we have broken down this draft. We'll have a couple more draft shows this week on the athletic football show. But for now, that is all we got. Appreciate you listening. We'll talk to you very soon.