The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - 2025 NFL Draft first round recap + best day two picks

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

The first round of the 2025 NFL Draft is in the books. What were our favorite picks? What were the biggest surprises. Who do we feel different about because of his landing spot. Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen, Dane Brugler and Bruce Feldman answer those questions, and also take a look ahead to night two, on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.RundownFavorite picks of the nightBiggest surprisesBiggest head-scratchersBest fitsThe guys you see differently because of where he landedThe best players remaining going into night twoHost: Robert MaysCo-Host: Derrik KlassenWith: Dane Brugler and Bruce FeldmanExecutive 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 Bruce on Bluesky: @brucefeldmancfb.bsky.socilFollow Robert on X: @robertmaysFollow Derrik on X: @QBKlassFollow Dane on X: @dpbruglerFollow Bruce on X: @BruceFeldmanCFBTheme 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 to the Athletic Football Show. I'm Robert Mays. What you guys are about to hear is the final 45 or so minutes of our draft stream that we did live on the Athletic Football Show YouTube channel earlier tonight. What an awesome night. The first round did not disappoint. We had some really fun surprises. The Travis Hunter trade. The Browns being in the team that traded down as part of that.

There's some interesting picks in the top 10, Tedderoa McMillan going to the Panthers, etc. The draft stream was such a blast. It was me, Dane Bruegler, Bruce Feldman, and Derek Classen for every single pick of the first round. If you guys want to go check out the stream on YouTube, the whole thing, it's up. You can go watch our reactions to any single pick. You can watch it in its entirety if you want to on Friday morning. That is available to you right now. But the same thing we did last year, we kind of stopped down and then regrouped after the final pick was made to do our takeaways and big picture thoughts from the draft,

but also just so it could serve as a podcast that could live in the podcast feed rather than dropping the entire draft stream into the feed. So it's still available on YouTube if you want to check it out. But we felt like this was a nice, tight wrap-up of the best moments that happened over the course of the night. Our favorite fits, some head-scratching moments, some players that we're looking at a little bit differently now that we see where they landed. And according to Dane, the best players left on the board as we get tonight to tomorrow. Just a reminder, we will be live at 6.30 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night on our YouTube channel. Again, live from Big Shot Studios in Chicago. They were so welcoming that it's such a great job tonight and very excited to work with them again tomorrow.

For now, let's get to our conversation with Dane, Derek, and Bruce Feldman right now. We are back. Beautiful timing there as we all kind of got ourselves situated. We're just going to run through main takeaways, biggest moment. you know, the things that we're going to remember about the first round of this NFL draft day. And let's start with the best bet presented by a bet MGM. Just your favorite pick of the night, your favorite bet made by a team tonight.

I mean, I think I'm going with Derek Harmon. When we talked, he's going to steal it right away. I'm going to steal before you get going. We mentioned how a lot was made about, okay, Shador Sanders, and with the Steelers to go quarterback, they went with one of their top. needs with a player that should not have made it out of the top 20. And Derek Harmon from Oregon, who we all love up here. He's a guy that's going to come in from day one, be part of the rotation.

And if he ends up being the next Cam Hayward, nobody up here would be surprised. Yeah, that one's definitely up there for me. But Derek, where are you sitting here? Best bet of round one for you. I mean, we got it right there at the end, Jehad Campbell. I mean, to me, you know, Dane, you kind of said it, if he had been healthy. I were off the board, by the way. If, you know, you said it then, if he had been healthy, probably a top 15 player.

On what I put together for a board, he would have been closer to top seven, top eight. I really thought he could be, obviously there is a little bit of a projection with him, not playing the position very long. But again, we just athletically and physically don't make linebackers like this anymore. And I was super intrigued. So for a pretty ready-made defense and a smart defensive coordinator to take Jehad Campbell, I'm pretty in on that. I want to say trading up for Travis, because I,

I love that move and I think it's like a franchise changer. But I'm going to go actually with Walter Nolan going to the fit he had. I think he is such an explosive interior guy who I think can be a really disruptive force. And now you tell me he's going to be in a room with Colais Campbell and Tomlinson, who are like perfect to mentor him. I just think it's a great fit for him who's really, talented. I didn't get the most at them. I kind of love that fit. Travis Hunter, even if it's not my favorite pick of the day, because it's an obvious one,

it's my favorite moment of the draft. Like the idea that the Jags were going to do that in year one of a new regime. We always talk about this day. What will this draft be? How will we remember this draft? And it's often through the quarterbacks. This year, I don't think that's going to be the case. This will probably be the draft we remember for the Jags trading. I have to take Travis Hunter. Like we said, this has not happened since 1997 where a team traded in the top two for a non-quarterback. And so to go up and see Travis Hunter as a franchise changer, which is the only reason you trade up to do it.

And I don't think it was really, nobody up here said, well, that's the wrong move. You know, like nobody said, like, why are they doing this? You're mortgaging your future. It's expensive. It is expensive. It is expensive. It is expensive. A future first for any non-quarterback is a lot to give up.

Yes. But we've seen it work out in the past. Like I said the same thing when the Texans did it for Will Anderson. I was like, that's a lot to give up. But when you think the guy is rock solid, it's a little bit easier to do. And getting the best, like the Texans thought they were getting the best non-quarterback in the draft when they did that for Will Anderson. That's exactly what the Jaguars thought they're getting in this draft, the best, maybe even the best player overall, helping their cornerback depth chart, helping their wide receiver depth chart.

I love that, you know, just the dynamics of a 34-year-old first-year-old GM going and having the stones to do that. much respect. I love the boldness, but also love the fit. This man learned at the hip of less need. Less need. The apple does not fall far from the tree. Derek Harmon's probably my favorite one, but just a couple others. These were two guys that were mocked to these teams pretty often in the first round through the process. Armaghman going to the Jets and Gray's Abel going to the Seahawks. When I was thinking about just the fits with those two players, when we're looking at mocks for the last two months, it always made sense to me. Stylistically, in that scheme, I think Zabel was a great fit a guard for the Seahawks if they want to keep

a little to Timmie at center. And I love Mambu with the Jets. Like you drop him in at right tackle and what that offensive line could potentially be. The fact that the team's picking in that range, the Jets probably have the biggest of need at right tackle. He is at right tackle. We see this happen all the time where you

were swapping guys' sides and there's a little bit of a development curve. Nothing like that. You're putting him in his natural position when we've seen him thrive and I think, I talk about this all the time, Derek, when you have the last piece of a unit and all goes green, I love that. And that's kind of what the Membu thing feels to me.

You drop it in, it all goes green. And for a team, it's already wearing green. I think it's a really, really nice fit. If you had a bet on an offensive tackle tandem over the next four years, how many are taking over Fashanu and Membu? Like, it would all of a sudden the jets are turning a weakness into a strength with what they've done the last two years. I mean, the-chargers off my head. And I just can't think of any other.

Because even with the lines, like, Decker's not going to be there four years for them. going to be there with the Eagles. We'll see how long Lane Johnson's going to be there. With the Vikings, we'll see how long Brian O'Neill is going to be there. Pretty much all the other ones, at least one of those guys, is a little long in the tooth. And so if that works out, it could absolutely be a strength for them. Let's kind of widen it a little bit here. So not putting a value judgment on it, but your biggest surprise of the night, the moment that snuck up on you the most in the first round today.

I mean, obviously the Jaguars trading up was a surprise, but the Falcons trading back into round one for Pierce is, it feels like a really big gamble that could pay off in a big way for them or we could look back and say they gave up a first rounder for this. Like it is something that could blow back in their faces.

But it's aggressive and we saw them be aggressive in the first round last year and we saw them be aggressive in the first round this year. So in terms of just being you know, it was surprising to see the Falcons trade back into the first and it was also surprising to see the direction they went. It's

price for that one, right? Like, if you just said Falcons traded into the back and in the first, it'd be like, okay, I could see even though they don't have that many picks why they did that. But it's the price where it's like, oh, man, the extra first is a lot. One of the other categories we're going to do, just the biggest head scratcher that happened tonight. That's the biggest head scratcher to me. To give up a future first for James Pierce is a little bit surprising.

But I just did not expect that to happen. Bruce, your biggest surprise from tonight so far? I actually think it's dart going in the first round. again he might he might turn out to be a good starting quarterback i like i'm i'm still like a little puzzled by that fit for you know you have free agent quarterbacks you ride it out i don't know i just think there will be better quarterbacks for you to look at in the first round next year i think the james pierce move is a front office it's only year two of the coaching The front office has been there.

Terry Finno has been there. I think there's a little feet to the fire situation happening there where if I'm not here, who gives a shit about that other first round break, the Giants is a similar situation where I think there's just so much urgency for what this group needs to do this year that maybe you're pushing yourself

a little bit further than you want to and maybe you're stretching for certain people. But wouldn't you take another player who you thought could help you right now as opposed to what I would think is a developmental guy? But you need an answer at the position to justify your own existence beyond this season.

It feels like. They kicked the can last year because they couldn't get up to get Drake May. So I think they felt pressured like, and look, ownership, we don't talk enough about, plain and simple. And I think that the ownership of the Giants, they wanted to know the quarterback plan. And part of that was what they did in free agency, but they also probably said, we're going to draft a guy. And Dart is probably someone that separated himself from the pack for this group.

And so it really wasn't that expensive for them. Like they didn't trade next year's one. You know, like this is the opportunity cost of the player, or other play you could have gotten on 25. Right. That's what it is. Exactly.

So, you know, it's, yes, a gamble. And I think it's earlier than any of us here would have drafted Jackson Dart. But you know what? We'll,

Brian Dable knows a thing or two about quarterback. So we'll see how it works out. Let's play out two hypotheticals parallel. Let's say you go seven and 10 with Russell Wilson. he has the exact same season that he had for the Steelers last year. Let's say you go 7 and 10 and Jackson Dart has a middling rookie season, right? He doesn't look like a disaster. He looks like a rookie quarterback that has some flashes.

Which one of those timelines gets you another season? I don't, my gut is he's not going to get you to 7 and 10 in his first year there. Like, I think he gets you to, like if you told me, it's five and 12 versus seven and 10. I guess it would look like, did he win three of the last four? You know, like, where was the art? And my thought is he comes in a little bit later.

Let's say he starts in week five. That's sort of like unfolding that way. I just think that no matter what happens, they weren't going to be good enough with Russell Wilson for this regime to be back. And so I think you needed to do something to sell a little bit of a hope to ownership. I think I'm with Bruce.

I think this was crazy. Oh, I don't support it. I know. I don't support the player. I'm talking more about the motivation to the way that they did. I don't even love the rationale for it either. I think I'm kind of with Bruce where it's like, I'd rather just see if we can get a guy who can help us win now.

And Dard is, I think to me, obviously, not going to do that. Again, you're kind of picking it this range in the draft where not that many guys are going to help you do that. What do they have to do with Russell Wilson for you to be like, oh, yeah, this group should be back. But I guess I'm just like in my mind. They're fired and I don't care. Talk me through, talk me through the part where I get it. I like Malik neighbors. but talk me through the rest of the part that makes them feel like they are headed in the right directions piecewise on their team.

I don't believe that. But I think they would tell anybody who listened to soft season that they were a quarterback away. Yeah. Yeah, maybe if the quarterback is Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson. Right. Every team is a quarterback away if it's Lamar. You said something a bit ago, and I thought, you know, I was going to jump through the, you know, I was fair because I know you mentioned like, you know, a Drake May.

part. But I just, again, I don't want to bash DART. I think he, I think he'll probably be around in the NFL for 10 years. He'll be good in the room. I just, just, I just don't think he'll, I think he's a long way away from being a guy who's going to be a strong starter. I agree. I don't like him. I'll be clear about this. I'll be surprised if we see him as early as week five. I really will. I mean, because I just think that he's not going to be ready. I think it's. I think it's. is going to take time. Now, if we see him, you know, in November, okay, I could understand that. I just, it will take time. I guess I'm just not surprised because quarterback desperation is such a real thing in the NFL, especially for this regime. So I don't, like, would I have made this move?

Probably not. But I guess I'm not surprised that this, you know, Joe Shane had to do something. You know, he had to say, he couldn't tell ownership, hey, we're not going to be able to get our quarterback this year. We're going to wait until next year's draft. It just wasn't going to be an answer that was going to be acceptable. Let me just kind of play out the way that my life has gone for the last like decade. You have all these regimes that are on the hot seat and then you allow them to take a quarterback in a year where they desperately need a quarterback. And then they get fired and the next year your coaching staff comes in and they're like,

I don't really like Jackson Dart, right? I think that is more likely than anything. I think that's a problem. And that's why I think bringing back a. back a coach and a GM on the hot seat. This idea of maybe if we give him one more year, they'll turn it around, that leads to more draft disasters, especially a quarterback than pretty much any other set of circumstances. Most of the time, when a team drafts a quarterback in the first round, that guy either becomes

an all-pro or the next year, the regime is fired. Those are typically, that's typically what happens. And if I was a betting man, I would say it's going to be the latter of the chance. Biggest surprise for you, Derek, on night one of the general. draft. What was it? When you put the silver and blue logo next to it, it's not that surprising, but I really didn't think we would see Tylik Williams tonight. I just really was not prepared for that. And I like him as a player. He's a guy I would take in the top 40. And, you know, if he's there and you love him at the back end of the first, I would have done it. But I just, it wasn't on my radar

for him to go this early. But again, when it is the Lions, you're like, oh, well, maybe if it's them, it actually, it's not that crazy. I do like him a lot. It's just I really didn't expect that we'd see him tonight. I really didn't. Mine is a Mecca-A-A-Booker going to the bucks with all those needs. That was my going to be my other one. Again, I don't mind it. I think you talk about the timeline, the multi-year timeline with Mike Evans and just the way that that regime and the way that that franchise is sought out receiving options and

the benefits it's brought them. But the idea that they would draft another receiver that high after Panker's got in this off-season for what Mike Evans did last year. When you need an edge rusher, you need a corner. I think it's defensible. It's just surprising that they were then. that aggressive about it. Yeah, and we talked about, you know, helping rookie quarterback or still going into

second year quarterbacks. You know, we thought running back might have been direction that the Broncos would go or tight end if one of the two would fall. They go receiver. And so, you know, it's like you said, yeah, it's defensible. Maybe, you know, no one's saying bad pick. But I think, yeah, it is a little bit surprising with what we thought they would be considering. I'll be curious.

I'm looking at Denver's picks right now. So they don't really have any extras. They actually don't have their fifth round pick. But we talk about how deepest running back class was. And I think I would have been fine with Trayvion Henderson at 20. But do we see the Broncos maybe get a little bit aggressive in the second round to find their guy with a few of those options that are still left? They pick at 51.

So it's not a quick pick. Can you move up to? I don't think he's going to be there at 51 if he's straight. That's what I mean. Do they get aggressive and think that, all right, we got the corner that we wanted and we can get the running back we want, but it might require a little bit of a move. You can wait to the fourth round and get Devin Neal from Kansas.

You know, like I... Now you're talking my language. Yeah, this is the type of running back draft where you don't, I don't think you have to force it. But he's not the home run guy that trade the... No, if that's what they're looking for, the no, then you're going to go for, you know, the Jaden Blue or, you know... Tootin or something.

Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, my point just being, there's so many running backs in the class where I don't think you have to trade your second and third to go get a running back necessarily. I mean, you could. you like Henters enough much. If you love him. If you love it, yeah.

You probably have to get ahead of, what, 39 in the Bears, probably to see if you want to get. I'm, I'd be curious if that's the type of guy that bears want. I think for the Broncos, you want the juice, you want somebody who's going to be there in the passing game. The Bears, it feels like, I don't, listen, I don't love DeAndre Swift. And I think that Trayvian Henderson is a more dynamic player than DeAndre Swift. But the Bears need an innings that you're running back. They need somebody that can take a ball. So what a tail of Johnson in the third or fourth round.

Something like that. That would make sense. Again, I like Henderson way more as a player. I'd be more excited about Henderson. But when you think about the makeup of the room, it just seems like they need, even if it's Jordan James, you know,

somebody like that a little bit later in the draft. Like, it feels like that's the type of guy they need. I need a guy that can give me five yards of carry every single time. They don't have the David Montgomery and the David Montgomery, Jamir Gibbs parent. Quinton Judkins,

I mean, I was going to say. I'm really interested to see what the Browns do with picks 33 and 36, two picks early in that second. you know right now the running back depth chart is not impressive so we could see a running back pretty quickly another team needs the innings either the other thing that the browns could take maybe is like there's quarterbacks out there's the thing that i because obviously they got this

draft capital for next year assuming they're going to go address the position next year but do you use a second round pick on a quarterback i mean it's it's i don't know is it feels like kind of a throw how soon would chador realistically go here now he's out. I mean, if you're... It's fascinating with Shador, because, I mean, I don't think the Saints like them. And so I don't think they're an option of 40. It'll get interesting with Shador.

If the Browns don't go Shador, we could see him slip a little bit. I'd be surprised if they did. So would I? Based off of, you know, I think the only, one of the reasons you make that trade is because you want the draft capital for next year to go get a quarterback. And so to, now, maybe they draft a quarterback in the, even the third or the four. The Cowboys take them in like the third round. Gosh.

If I'm them, I'd rather trade one of those top 100 picks are they actually. Who's that? The Browns. It's hard to keep track at this point. 33, 36. All right. So they have an extra three and they have an extra three in the Amari Cooper trade. 67 and 94.

I'd rather throw 104 to the Falcons. and just play Kirk Cousins to quarterback this year. Yeah. I'd rather do that. I'd way rather do that as well. Yeah, absolutely. And have your, you know, you still have flacko, you still have picket. Like, you know, it's, they have to eat their vegetables this year.

And I think the Andrew Barry and Stefanski, they convinced ownership that, hey, you made us to get Deshaun Watson. Now you're going to have to suffer for a year as we try to figure this out and write the path. So, yeah, I, if, so if Shador doesn't go to Cleveland with one of those picks, it gets really interesting. Yeah. It really does. There's not a lot of obvious landing spots if the same. Do you see what's move up potentially? Yeah.

Would the Cowboys take them? Man, feels like a Jerry Jones kind of move. You're not wrong. You're not wrong. He wants to. Whether or not he will is a different question, but he wants to. Then you just start the rumors about when does Dion take over his head coach.

Well, he also wants that. Yeah. It'll start immediately if that happens. I mean, listen, I don't think Brian Schaunt, He's got the best job security. That's what I'm saying. Coach in the NFL. That's what I'm saying.

All right, guys, before we move on, we're going to take a quick break. Biggest head scratcher was going to be one of the categories. Mine was James Pierce and that trade. Is there anything else that comes to mind for you guys other than Jackson Dart? I'm a little surprised. Eamonwari is still on the board. It was funny. I was texting one of the coaches I know.

And it was like, the pick is in. And I was like, he was like, it's not my call, you know, whatever. It was one of the guys who liked him. But like, he's not for everybody in the way he plays. But I was surprised with him. I'm a little surprised that as a rock who is still on the board. It's just a really good football player. Productive, long.

He tested fairly well. We're going to get to the best guys left at the end of this conversation. But I think that those are probably the two biggest head scratchers to me where the two trades and involved the future first round pick. Let's talk about best fits. Just maybe not

the best move of the day, but now that you see the player in that spot, Dean, what was your favorite fit of the first round? I mean, we kind of mentioned a few of these

before, you know, Gray's able, love the fit. I mean, it's been mocked endlessly. I think with the Colts, it was often

Colston Loveland and not Tyler Warren, but I really like the Tyler Warren fit. I think Warren makes more sense. It does. me within that offense.

It always did. Yeah. Well, because I think most people thought Warren be gone. So we didn't really see that pairing initially. But I do really like that. And I think he's, I think Loveland's ready to play right now too. But Warren's a little more ready to play right now. And when you have a decision to make a quarterback, figuring things out, he's going to

help you figure things out and he's going to help you put points on the board. You mentioned Walter Nolan is one of your favorite Fitzbrose. any others that come to mind. Now that you see where the guys have landed. You know, I like where Matthew Golden ended up just because I think you have a super talented quarterback that you want to give him a chance. I don't think that's a great receiver room that he was going into. The only thing I worry about him a little bit with is he definitely felt like one-year

wonder. But, you know, he is, you know, from the guys I talked to at UT, they just talked about how much he's matured and the practice part and all the all those things i just i think that's a good addition for them because i just think you want to support your quarterback and give him because when you guys are rattling off who they have it was not like i go back to this a couple years ago i was talking to somebody and he was talking about the ohio state receiver room and i think this was in the context of cj stroud who's like there might have been three number ones in that room you know how hard that is to get you don't have that in the nfl even though it's the

NFL. Because you always think about this in the context of like, oh, there's no college team that would beat an NFL team, which is obviously the case. But that somebody in a quarterback could have a better receiver room. Like he probably did. Will Howard, I think absolutely did than some NFL teams because he had Jeremiah Smith who's going to, who would, I think it would be one of the top two picks in this draft. No doubt. And then you're talking about Emeka Buka, who's a really good player, Carnal Tate, Brent. Brandon, Ennis is really good. Tate will be a first rounder next year.

Yeah, and I think they had four guys. One guy who will be probably maybe the first pick on the draft when he comes out, another guy who went 20th or whatever, he went 18th. Tate, I think Ennis is really good. That doesn't include some of the other guys. I mean, that's better than what Jordan Love was throwing to by far. And Golden, I really enjoyed talking to him. He, growing up in the Houston area, they were homeless for.

a point he was living in and out of hotels. Like I think that he is, as he kind of realized what football could be for him, he really matured. And I think that's something we saw come to fruition on the field, you know, just with some of the motivations behind the scenes. And so I think the Packers are going to get everything that they are expecting out of Golden, I think. I think that, you know, Golden was going to be one of mine. that three-pick stretch there of Derek Harmon

into O'Mary and Hampton into Matthew Golden, all three of those players are like, that's exactly what those teams needed. It's the exact type of guys they should love. So I really loved all those. And Hampton in particular, I know we can quibble about how good the Chargers Interior Offensive line was last year

and that hurt their run game a little bit. But those backs just also weren't good and they weren't very explosive. They just don't bring what Omerian Hampton can bring. So I'm really excited to see what their run game can look like with him. I think all of those guys. The Harmon makes sense.

We talked about it. I think Golden is a great fit. And Hampton, not only that they needed a running back, but the stylistic fit of what that offense looks like, all the gap scheme stuff, and just the style of runner he is, all of those totally tracked to make. One more I want to mention for this is T-MAC going to the Panthers.

Like, it's, that is not something that was mocked very often by myself or really anybody that I saw. It's easy to see, though. But now that you see it, It's like, okay, yes, you get your young quarterback who you're still trying to figure out. Bryce Young has taken steps each of the last two years. You get him a weapon like this who is T. Higgins-ish, where you kind of, you don't have to be pinpoint. You just throw it in his area and he's going to come down with it.

So you think about, okay, you have Thielen, you have, like, get, you add a guy like this. And all of a sudden, you know, you're helping your quarterback take that another step this year. So I really like that fit. Derek mentioned it on the live show, and I'm totally, I think this is absolutely right. Bryce Young at the end of last year, he was letting it riffed. He was giving guys chances. And McMillan just feels like the exact type of guy that you want to give chances. He'll make you right.

Yeah. Yes. And the range is obvious when you watch him play, just a catch radius. But what kept coming up to me when I was watching him, when he's coming back off of like a vertical stem, when he came back to the ball, he was such a hands catcher, I think that his ceiling is probably, limited. I don't think he'll ever be like a top 12 receiver in the league, but I think he's going to be a good player. And I think

they needed somebody with that skill set of that offense. Because Legat is more of like he's more of an idea. Yes. Right. They're very different types of receivers. Yes. More one trick than complete receiver for Legate. Yeah, where yeah, I think with T-Mack, again, find me the tape where

he's letting the ball into his body. You know, he just doesn't exist. He catches the ball out here, off his shoe tops up here, bringing him down from the clouds. He does that consistently and naturally. It's not like he is stressed doing that. And while you mentioned playing with the quarterback that he was playing with and being best friends and all that plays, you know, that's a factor. But he didn't play with a very accurate quarterback.

No, he did not. And so he did not. And it was a guy who came to it, like just blind. It was tough. It really showcased the catch radius. It showcased how unique of a of a hand. catcher and hand-eye coordination and all of that. But you had a guy who's like, he's dropping back and he's like fading behind the tight end

because he's looking for any, you know, any area he can see over. You know, I think they were so hamstrung by that. And the whole thing was all off. It was a weird offense. You know, Dino Babers came in. They tried to keep some of the offense. It was just kind of a mess. They switched on by the coordinators, you know, midway through and yeah.

I think the other fit that I would throw out there just because I like it as a, obviously the front office is in a new regime. but new coaching staff and a team that is undeniably in transition. The Saints taking Kelvin Banks at 9. Just being like, you know what? This is who we're going to be. We're going to have whatever. However it shakes out, let's say Penning does kind of bounce back.

He's your right tackle. You keep flaga at left tackle and Banks is your left guard. That kind of becoming the identity of this team that really doesn't have one. Like they don't have one. If I asked you right now, Derek, like what is the thing the Saints can rely on right now, especially with Dennis Allen gone and that defense being so in flux, there isn't really an answer. And so them trying to build an identity for themselves up front,

I can get behind that. You would want to say downfield passing, but neither Shahid or Olavé are healthy consistently. You just don't know what you're going to get from those guys. And I think I love that fit because the most we've seen out of Kellynmore, whether it was earlier in his play calling career with the Cowboys when he started to get some steam or last year with the Eagles, he had some kick-ass offensive lines.

And so for them to immediately be like, you know what, let's try to get as close to that as possible. I kind of love that for more, having kind of the self-awareness to want something like that. I'll throw out two more that I think just, I think they make sense. Like, they're not, one I like, one player I like, one I like a little bit less.

When you think about the needs and just what these teams are going for and what they've typically drafted, Tyler Booker and one of the Cowboys to me, as soon as I saw it, I was like, yep, yep, right? That's that just makes sense. Their history, that's a just makes sense pick. and then right after that, it's a goddamn we needed this pick

is Kenneth Grant going through the Dolphins. Those scare me. Those picks scare me. But if I were a Dolphins fan and I was looking at that depth chart, a defensive tackle opposite Zach Seeler, I would be getting night terrors. I'd be waking up like in a cold sweat.

And so even if I don't love Kenneth Grant, I still think that you just sleep a little bit easier with that sort of presence in the middle of your defense, given what they had. And they almost had to do it because of the lack of depth And yeah, it's a move they needed to make.

All right, before we move on, we're going to take one more quick break. I was like doing this with the draft as an exercise where when we see guys in certain situations, does it reframe the way that you think about them? So, Derek, was there a pick tonight that maybe you didn't love the guy? Maybe you had some question marks. But now you see where he landed. And it's like, oh, I can see that. I can get there now.

I think the closest for that, you know, maybe when I sit on these a little bit more, I'll have a different one. but I think the one in the moment that I felt the most of that, like that was Gray's able going to Seattle. I just, he was the guy when I watched him. Like, obviously I knew he was never going to play tackling the league and all of his tape is that tackle. But I just saw a guy who could kind of give up the edge a lot.

I didn't love how much he was leaning and punching at stuff, all of his hands. But then I look at him going to Seattle where they obviously have a need. They're going to run a lot of more simple zone stuff for him. They have such a clear need at guard where I think could make sense. I was like, you know what? I kind of appreciate them just taking a player they obviously needed here. And I could start to get myself by.

I'm like, okay, Zabel in a scheme like that, it makes more sense to me. How about you, Bruce? Anybody that you see a little bit differently now, you see where they landed? You're obviously coming to this with a little bit of a different place. Yeah, I mean, just, you know, the Bill's pick I'm curious about, you know, just because, like, he was one I was least certain on. I'm not surprised he went in the first round. and when we were talking about it,

you know, there was a lot of directions they could have gone. I don't, that one I'm like, we'll see. You know, I'm like, that's the one, again, it's at the end of the first round almost. So, but I, when I saw what went after him, again, there were different needs,

but I was like, I really like what the chiefs got. You know, like, I don't know. The Bill's pick is a little one, is one that I'm not as fired up about. Maxwell Hirsten going in the first round, not necessarily a surprise. I will say the last time we saw the bills stretch for a corner in the back half of the first round, it did not go very well for them. So if I were a Bills fan, there would be a little bit of a repeating nightmare sort of deal.

So that's what I wanted to say about the Harrison pick. It seems like when the bills go up for corners, they don't understand what kind of corners are good for them. When you look at all the corners that are good in their scheme, it's guys who are long, 200 pounds, really smart zone players. There was a guy who liked with something like a man corner. Yes, he's a faster, smaller man corner. And there was a guy out there. And maybe he has injury concerns that you were alluded to,

but there's a really super smart, big corner who's played a lot of zone who's like 205 pounds. He was there and they let him stay. Well, let me do this. I think there's a chance based on some of the things they've done with their defensive staff and based on some of the whole. that we've seen in that Bill's team late in the year,

where we might see a little bit of a stylistic shift. And they were slow last year. Even if the corners played well, they could not run. I mean, obviously last year, it gets thrown into a mess because of what happens with Benford. But I think that them playing a little bit more man and having more juice at those cornerback spots, I would not be surprised.

They hired Ryan Nielsen this offseason. Like, there are guys on that staff now, based on some of the shuffling that's happened in the defensive backfield room specifically, where them playing a little bit more man wouldn't necessarily be surprising. I think them rolling with the status quo again after getting shish kebab the last couple januaries, I would be surprised if they were just like yeah we'll figure it out if we do the same

stuff over again and they you know they found benford in late in the what fifth round six round six yeah yeah they can do it again turon johnson was a later round pick they had levi wallis as a udFA for a while actually he was pretty decent but that's i'm if i were a bills fan i'd be so they don't want another one of those i'd be so tired of been like you're going to take Caleb Ransaw like tomorrow night or or I would just be like oh man maybe we'll get the most out of this guy and he'll be another B plus player just like it's the same old story with them I got three three guys it's just like all right now that I see it I got absolutely makes sense to me it's 1125 so this happened about four hours ago I'm in on the colson love him thing I'm in I'm talking about

myself again the fact that a player like that with Ben Johnson with after what we saw him do what he did with Sam LaPorta. I think that makes me feel a little bit better about Colson Loveland. Two more. Malachi starts going to the Ravens. That's like, all right, good, cool. I'm going to drop him in next to Kyle Hamilton, feel really good about it, and then Josh Simmons going to the Chiefs.

Those are probably the three that I would say where, you know, I liked all three of those guys, not Loveland as much, but I like Lovelland as a player. I thought top 10 was like, oh man, that's a lot, but we've talked so much in this draft, dot, dot, dot, dot. Yes. But the other two guys, Starks and Simmons, I like both of them. landing in Baltimore and Kansas City respectively makes me like them more. Yes, just natural fits.

Both have some question marks, concerns, but you like where they ended up that it's going to work out for both. So, yeah, that's, and when you're picking in the late first round, you don't know how those first 25 picks you're going to play out. So, you know, the guys that you draft at that point are going to have some type of question marks, but you like the bets that those teams are making.

And that's what we're doing. We're making bets on players. and more often than not, whoever the Chiefs and Ravens bet on, it works out. How about for you? Anybody that after you see where he landed, you see him a little bit differently than you might have a month ago?

I'll say Donovan Jackson. I've always liked Donovan Jackson. I just liked him more as the 40th pick in the draft, not the 24th pick in the draft. But when you think about the Vikings and the need at left guard, it just, and you see what they did this offseason. It's a completely remade unit. Ryan Kelly.

Yes, Will Fries. I mean, and you add in Donovan Jackson then. the entire interior is brand new. And so Donovan Jackson, who, and you think about that offense and the movement and what they want to be, I think that fits Donovan Jackson. It's a really good athlete, long. You have to work on some of the sustain issues with him, but movement length, the processings, I think, really impressive with him.

To me, that was the biggest jump I saw him make from 2023 to 2024 was the processing and how quickly he identified things. So that's progress that you want to see. And so even though I didn't to use a 24th best player in this draft, I understand why they went that direction. It fits the Vikings perfectly. We've talked about this a lot with Minnesota, Derek, where in 2021, the Rams win the Super Bowl, okay?

But the run game is garbage. Like garbage. And then in 2022, they were a really bad team. It was just things bottomed out. You know, we've heard the story a million times about what McVeigh was going through, et cetera. And I think the run game that year was, again, a huge issue. and then coming into 2023, they remate themselves.

And part of the reason they were able to do that is that the run game became an expression of the offensive line of talent they brought it. They draft Steve of Evil in the second round. They go get Kevin Dotson. Now you have some real heft on the interior and you can start pushing people around with a downhill run game.

Vikings last year, they get to the end of the season. Obviously, Derasa saw us hurt, but even beyond that, the guys they had on the interior, you're Garrett Bradberries, Ed Ingram, who's a mess, They didn't have the guys to be that downhill punch you in the mouth running game. And I think you saw the gaps because of it. And so them making a really conscious effort this offseason to get bigger and more physical up front feels like them trying to find the pivot point with their run game that the Rams found a couple years ago.

Yeah, I struggled with Jackson a little bit, kind of like Dana was saying, but I do love the idea of completely revamping the interior. It's the first thing when we did our post-mortem of the Vikings in the playoffs, after we did the whole Sam Darnal thing, of course, The first thing I said was they need to have a come to Jesus moment about what their run game is, what their offensive line is. And so for them to sign Fries and Free Agency, Kelly, and free agency, and then go try to address left guard in the draft, even if I didn't love this player, if he can at least just be better than what they had, you're going from one of the worst interiors to like something that's punching way above average. I mean, Fries was a fourth round pick, fifth round pick. Yeah.

I think he was a fifth round pick. But he got paid a lot of money. And so you look at where he tears out now. Other than that, you got a first round left tackle, a first round left guard, a first round center, a very highly paid right guard and a very highly paid right tackle that was picked in the second round round. Those are some investments up front for the Minnesota Vikings. And it's the same thing the Saints did. You look at the Saints offensive line. It's like first round pick, first round pick, second round pick, first round pick, first round.

So, you know, it's a position offensive line where it doesn't usually, there's not a lot of depth. You're not finding a lot of tackles in the third round or, you know, start. immediate starters I guard later in the draft. That's why we saw Booker go where he did. Zabel go where he did. Donovan Jackson go where he did. And the idea of that being a premium position is starting to shift. If you look at the way it's being paid,

I'm not surprised to see more interior offensive line and getting drafted that high. That's a great point. The Saints have four first rounders and a second rounder, right? McCoy is the only second rounder. McCoy is the second round. If we're going to say Banks is the first rounder, if we're going to say Banks is going to be the left guard to start,

they're all the, yeah, only McCoy would be the second rounder. The other guys are all first rounders. That's crazy. Before we get out of here, let's talk about the best players left on the board again presented to you by Bed MGM. Dan, your best players still available after the first round as we get to round two and three tomorrow. The best player available is Mike Green, obviously because of the off field. That's why he has fallen out of the first round. Will Johnson, Michigan corner, same type of deal in terms of why he fell, but different reasons.

The speed is a question mark, but it's more than medicals while Will Johnson. still available. Nick, him and Worry, not shocked that he didn't get picked because, you know, safety is a position that usually doesn't go in the first run anyways.

You know, it's one of those positions that teams rather wait on. So even though he did, test away, did, not a huge surprise. As a Rock him, a little bit surprised.

He's a pass rusher who had production and has a lot going for him. Luther Burden would be next five. Mason Taylor from LSU, the tight end, six, Shedra Sanders, quarterback, Colorado.

Look, hey. Just the context just baked into you delivering it that way. It's just beautiful. Look, Shador, he's a second round quarterback, and now it's official. It is official. He is a second round quarterback. Well, best case, he's a second round quarterback. We'll see where happens.

We're getting slap happy now. It's 1130. When we start to think about landing spots, it's tough to really, oh, yeah, that's where he's going to go. He won't fall past X, you know, wherever that is. It's going to be interesting with Shador because, you know, he's a player that I found it tough to find somebody that loved them in terms of just talking. I don't know all 32 teams, you know, we're not best friends. But the teams that I talk to regularly and know very well, they didn't love them. And they said other teams didn't love them.

And so just to find the landing spot is tough for him. We'll have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. Arionte Ursuli, the offensive tackle from Minnesota, Carson Swessinger, linebacker, UCLA and then Trey Amos, the corner from Ole Miss. Those would be the next 10 or 12 players available. Tomorrow is Derek's birthday. Oh, I didn't know that. The better moment tomorrow rather than it being his birthday is when Trey Amos gets picked.

Exactly. That's going to be the best moment of Derek's birthday. Where do you want to see them go? We'll see if we can make it happen for your birthday. We'll make some calls in the next late. I mean, I was itching when Baltimore was on the clock. I wanted it to be them. And now I think in the second round, it's a little bit more just.

You got a hot camel to the Eagles. That's true. You had a good day. That was like a premature birthday present. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bruce, you're not going to be with us tomorrow. You mentioned El Mnwari. Ed Minwari, anybody else that you were just surprised is still on the board after a

round. A little surprised Trayvion's still out there. I just knew there was some guys who really, really are excited about him. But again, I think it needs to be kind of the right spot of somebody to grab him. I don't think anybody was going to take him 12th. He was one that stuck out to me. Then there's like other guys where I didn't think they were going in the first. round but I was like oh I think this guy is actually a really good player we'll see you know if they

end up late second or something like that but um he's the one guy I think fits in the category of like he could be pretty special if he goes to the right place and he's what I think he he is because he's just so explosive and he's good at a lot of different things and I felt like he's different than the other backs that's again we'll see but That all makes sense to me. Like after watching him, I agree with all of that. And that was kind of throughout the week, I just kept talking about something. It was like, is he going to be the second running back taken because of all of those things?

And Hampton going into Chargers makes total sense. Yeah, especially what Jim Harbaugh wants. It makes total sense because that's a team where, again, even with Nage Harris, it's a one-year deal, you need that guy who can eat 25 touches a game. That's not what Trayvon Henderson is. No. I'm still like, Sean Payton, go get your guy. like him going to the Broncos that to me would be the most exciting landing

spot for him within the context of that office it would be yeah um Bruce not someone that maybe you're surprised but do you have a favorite day two guy like someone that was expected to go day two that maybe you can't wait to see where he goes you know I think we talked about this a little

bit and today's been so long but I was like one of the players I really like again I don't know if he's a second round pick he's probably a third is Kyle Williams was a receiver from Washington State. A lot of Kyle Williams stands on this table. The thing I loved most was the program had,

the whole university had basically been reeling from getting punted from the, from the PAC 12, and everything's falling apart. And the coach bails to go to Wake Forest. And they're playing in the bowl game in the holiday bowl. There's no reason, you know, John Mateer, who's a really good quarterback, who transfers with his offensive coordinator to Oklahoma. So, you know, yeah.

You know, they're reeling. And he decides, I'm playing in the bowl game. And then he gets hurt in the bowl game, and then he comes back and plays. You know, I was just, he's not the biggest receiver. He's pretty fast. He's not the fastest receiver. But there's something about him I really like. And I could see, you know, I think he's going to be a really good pick if somebody gets him after 50.

I love him. I'm very excited to see what his landing spot is because he's one of those guys where If he goes to the right spot, you can get really excited about it really quick, quick. Well, that's all we got, guys. That's fun. One of my favorite days of the entire year. Truly, one of my favorite things, my favorite days on the calendar, one of my favorite things we do with this company. Just incredibly excited to be able to continue to do this.

Bruce, sincerely appreciate you coming out of all this. Guys for having me. It was awesome. Early, happy birthday. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. It was awesome. We'll be back tomorrow.

I was going to say same time, same place. It's actually not the same time. We'll be back tomorrow. 6.30 p.m. Eastern. We will be right here. Another half hour before we get started. We'll chat a little bit about the guys still left. We'll have time to marinate on some of the pictures from today. I didn't get to talk about Shamar Stewart to the Bengals. We'll talk about that tomorrow because that was another one. I was just like, I don't know.

Yeah. I think that's, maybe we'll start that off tomorrow. Biggest variance with the guys that drafted and what that might mean for those teams. I think that'd be a fun way to kick off tomorrow. But we'll be reacting to every single pick of rounds two and three all of day two right here live on YouTube. Please come back and join us for now. Sincerely appreciate everybody spending the night with us. We'll talk to you soon.