The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Building the Beast: Dane Brugler's end-of-season mock draft

Episode Date: December 3, 2025

It's December. The college football regular season is over. It's Mock Draft Season. Dane Brugler's end-of-season mock draft is now live at The Athletic, and he and Dave Helman dig into it on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Connect with The Athletic Football ShowYT: https://www.youtube.com/@TAFootballShowPodcasts: https://podfollow.com/the-athletic-football-show/viewX: https://x.com/TA_FootballShowIG: https://www.instagram.com/tafootballshowTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tafootballshowDiscord: http://discord.gg/theathleticfootballshowCall us: 847-448-0701Email us: [e-mail]: Dave HelmanCo-Host: Dane BruglerExecutive Producer: Michael BellerVideo Producer: Katy DuffyAudio Producer: Michael BellerSocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Dave on X: @davehelman_Follow 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 to an all new episode of Building the Beast. I am Dave Helman. And if draft season wasn't starting to feel real yet, it will now. Because Dane Brugler's first mock draft of the 2026 draft cycle has hit the internet. It's available on the athletic.com on the athletic app wherever you prefer to read it. You can go take a look at what Dane sees shaking out in a very, let me stress, very preliminary. first round mock draft for 2026. That was the meat of today's episode. Dana and I working through the top of the draft, the top 10, what might happen with the quarterbacks. We included some

trades just for the intrigue of it all, as well as looking at what prospects might be available later in the first round for the playoff and championship caliber teams as they turn their focus to the draft. On top of that, took a look at championship weekend in college football. Ohio state's playing in Indiana. Alabama's playing Georgia. Don't need more of a primer than that. Loaded episode. Let's get to it. All right, Dan, well, as we are recording this, it hasn't, this mock draft, which we're about to preview, has not hit the inner webs yet. It's not available for public consumption. So I don't know. A, how did you sleep putting this together? Because we've been joking for two months about what a pain in the ass the top of this draft is.

and how are you going to sleep tonight knowing that you're going to wake up to people's opinions about it? Which is worse, I guess. I think it's in a spot where I feel good about it, comfortable. I think as long as I can defend every pick, which that's what it comes down to, as long as there's logic and thought out reasoning behind

every single pairing in this mock, I feel 100% comfortable with it because it's obviously been doing this a long time. People will disagree no matter what just because they maybe don't like the player, maybe they want to go in a different direction in terms of the position that their team drafts. I just, you know, I think a few ground rules

we need to remember with this is the first round is not reserved for your team's biggest need. That's not how this works. That's not how it ever plays out. And then obviously things are going to change here over the next month as the draft order comes into picture. and we get the underclassmen deciding whether to come out, go back, quarterbacks, a couple of important dominoes there.

But no, overall, I feel good about how this mock draft played out. And maybe you can say I cheated a little bit, but trades were part of this. And I, because look, you want to do mock drafts as realistic as possible. And the way the current draft order is, you have two teams picking one and two who are not going to be drafting a quarterback. and so it is unrealistic to think that they're going to stick and pick, especially in this draft where there's no Miles Garrett.

There's no Bosa. There's no clear cut. This guy has to be the number one pick, even if there are quarterbacks on the board. So in this scenario, I did go ahead and do trades at the top. And just because, again, I think the point of this is to make it as realistic as possible

with what we know right now. Buddy, please cheat as much as you want. do anything to give yourself a little bit of a leg up because trying to do a mock draft on December 3rd is like trying to find a needle in a haystack that is on the back of a moving semi truck that's going down the highway at 75 miles an hour and just stuff's flying everywhere. You're trying to keep your balance. I mean, the season's not over. So we don't even know the draft order as of yet. We're just working off of current standings. We don't know who's going to declare for the draft so you don't know the talent pool obviously free agency hasn't happened we have no

idea so please bear in mind this is a thought exercise more than anything but i am excited to do it because we did we talked about the same thing with your top 50 we've been talking about these prospects we've been trying to get an eye and an angle an idea of what the top of this class looks like and if you're in a position to do a mock draft we can kind of sort out the pecking order and and how things might fall. So yeah, so that is the point more so than to predict who's going to wind up on your team at the end of April, which feels like a lifetime from now. Okay. So it's worth repeating. If you're listening to this, that means it's Wednesday. Dane's mock will have hit the athletic. You can go find it on the website, on the app. Please go take a

look. Tell us what you think. But let's start it out, Dane, as you alluded to, if the season ended today, the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants would hold the first two picks in the draft. And those teams don't need quarterbacks. So at the top of your mock draft, you've got a double trade situation, which we have seen before, the Tennessee Titans trading down with the Cleveland Browns to get the number one overall pick, as well as the Las Vegas Raiders trading up with the New York Giants, with Fernando Mendoza and Dante Moore being the one, two. at the top of this draft as it stands.

You are an expert on all things Cleveland and Ohio. So let's start there. You alluded to this when we talked about the top of the draft a couple weeks ago. This feels like a year where Cleveland could go for broke in the draft trying to solve this quarterback issue. And trading up for Fernando Mendoza would be doing just that. I mean, with two first round picks in this draft and the state of the quarterback, playing Cleveland, they're going to be aggressive in this offseason in terms of finding an upgrade at quarterback. They traded back in last year's first round so they could be in position

this year to go get their guy. Dylan Gabriel, Shador Sanders, neither stop, please, neither have done anything to make you believe that maybe we'll give this, let's play out, give it a chance, not happening. Okay. Like this is, they are going to. going to be aggressive going to get a quarterback. And in this scenario, the Browns are currently picking fifth. They could be on the outside looking in. They have every reason to be aggressive,

go get their guy. Last year, they saw it as a one quarterback draft. They had the number two pick. Team at number one, needed a quarterback. Nothing they could do. This year, they're probably not going to have the number one pick, but the team likely to have number one pick, doesn't need a quarterback, so they will be willing to

deal. And I did go with Fernando Mendoza because I think it's a very logical fit when you think about this coaching staff. Maybe this coaching staff won't be here. So again, another domino that could change things. But, you know, when I talk to scouts about Frano Mendoza, the two comps that come up the most are Jared Goff and Kurt Cousins. And, you know, guys that aren't going to wow with their velocity, you know, they're good

athletes, but not great athletes. What separates them is the football intelligence, pre-snap, post-snap, the way they can layer throws. they can, especially with Mendoza, like he's not an amazing athlete, but he has just enough mobility where he avoids sacks at a very encouraging rate. And so I think for a lot of the, if this coaching staff,

mainly Stefansky, if he's still back with the Browns, they're really going to like Mendoza for a lot of the same reasons. They like Dylan Gabriel, except Mendoza has better physical traits and higher upside. So I do like the fit here with Mendoza. to Cleveland now I'm eager to see, and we'll talk about the conference championships later,

eager to see how he holds up against that Ohio State defense. That'll be very telling. But right now with where we stand, he is the clear favorite to be that first quarterback draft. And it's rare that we see the number one pick dealt. Like it just rarely happens. It's even more rare we see the first two picks dealt. But it happened not that long ago, 2016.

Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, both were drafted by teams that went up to go. get their quarterbacks. I think we could see history repeat itself, especially if Dante Moore declares. And that's going to be a big domino here because he's 20 years old. We know NIL will be there if he wants to go back to school, especially at Oregon.

So, you know, there are reasons for him to go back. But now, especially with Will Stein, his offensive coordinator, leaving to take the head coaching job at Kentucky, that could be a needle mover for him in his decision-making process. How far Oregon goes into playoffs, maybe that's a decision-making or something that will affect his decision-making

as he decides what to do. But if he does come out, I think he's going to go in the top five picks and I have the Raiders trading up to number two, go get their guy. I mean, I don't think anybody disagreed with what the Raiders did last off-season, trading for Gino-Smith.

It sounded like a sound thought-out decision at the time. It just hasn't worked out. And it's not just Gino-Smith to blame for that, but the Raiders need to find a long-term solution here. And if that means trading up two spots by jumping over the Saints to go do it, I think that they could potentially be in play for them. One thing I forgot to mention among the 10 million variables that make it hard to do an exercise like this is coaching and front office changes.

I mean, we don't know right now who's even going to be making these calls, which I thought about that when we got to the number two pick. I mean, number one overall, if it is the Titans, and we talked about this before, I just can't imagine a world where Tennessee makes that pick, where even if you're not impressed with Cam Ward, it would be hard to imagine pulling the plug on that after one year when the general manager looks like it's going to be the same guy

and you have so many other needs. Cleveland has the two first round picks, so that makes a ton of sense. In your mock, you have Tennessee picking 5th and 20, sixth overall. So I think if you're a Titans fan, desperately trying to upgrade the talent around Cam Ward, that sounds incredibly enticing. Interesting to think about it for the Giants where if you are a new general manager, if Joe Shane is out in New York when all of this is over and you have the confidence that you're going to have a couple years to pull this off, trading out of that

spot sounds amazing. I wonder if it's Joe Shane if you're a little more desperate to add a top tier talent to your roster. Now, the other component of that is just, is there a guy like that worth taking? Maybe it's Arvel Reese, but that unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for the Giants is the one position where you probably don't need to stand in there and make a pick. So I am intrigued by the options there that are available to the Giants. And if a quarterback needy team wanted to come up, I think it makes a ton of sense. And I love where they wound up in your mock at four overall. Maybe Carnell Tate doesn't seem like a top five type of receiver,

but with the talent in this class and knowing that Malik Neighbors is coming back to that Giants offense, that got me pretty excited. That's a heck of a duo for Jackson Dart to move forward with, if that's the way it played out. Well, and I struggled with the Giants more than probably any other team. When they were picking at two, if they're not taking Roval Reese, who I've been saying for a long time is the best player in this draft. If they're not going R. Valerries,

which I agree with you, I don't think they would. Who else are they taking that too? It's probably either receiver or maybe the top tackle on their board, Spencer Fano, possibly. We'll see what they do at right tackle in the off season.

So it's the Giants are in a weird place where there's not a clear cut corner or offensive tackle where it's a no-brainer, stick and pick it to. So they're a little bit tough where moving back to four, you know, you're not moving back very far, but it's a little more tenable to take a Cornell Tate at that point where, and again, we've talked about this all season.

The top ten of this draft is just not very top heavy. It's not, you know, the difference between pick at five and 25 is not, the gap isn't as big as it has been in past years in most years. So in this draft, I think we're going to hear the words trade back from every single fan base. Every single fan base is going to just trade back, trade back. Nobody is going to want to trade up except for maybe one or two of these teams who are looking after the quarterback. So I think if the Giants have a chance to move back two spots still get probably the player they would have taken it too, I think that would be a no-brainer situation for them, pick up another pick in the process. But yeah, I think this is going to be one of those drafts where quarterbacks are going to go early if Mendoza comes out, if Dante Moore comes out.

And then after that, it's going to be an unpredictable top 10 for a lot of reasons. I think there's, you know, for example, Caleb Downs, Jeremiah Love, you can make the argument are two of the three best players in this draft, just full stop, two of the three best prospects. But running backs and safeties don't go top five in most years. and for a lot of teams. And so the situation for each one of these teams has to play out where they're going to feel comfortable taking that position this early. In this draft, neither of those two players went in the top nine, which, you know, a small part of me died because I hate dropping those guys

because they're such good players, you know, but when you look at the commanders at six, I would love to give Jeremiah love to the commanders at six. can they with so many needs on defense and you know could they really do that i mean i i think jeremiah love is worth it i think if you come away from this draft with the most explosive player sign me up put him the same backfield as jaden daniels i i mean that's something i can sell to ownership in my fan base now would they do it i'm not i'm not as sold i think there's a better chance they would go with a defensive player um you know a lot of these teams the jets the cardinals

like they have so many other needs and other spots that it's hard to make the argument to go with a running back or a safety that early. But again, these are two of the three best players in the entire draft. And it wouldn't surprise me if they went fourth or if they maybe fell out of the top 10, top 12. Based on everything we've said, your top 10 kind of follows the logic. Obviously, quarterbacks are going to go high. and then four of your top eight are edge rushers, which is like the one thing where if you need a guy at the top of this draft, you probably feel good about your options.

Arvel Reese, Arvel Reese falling to the Saints outside of needing probably a quarterback for the future. If they were the third overall pick, I mean, if Arvel Reese falls to the third team, no matter who it is, that's going to feel like a coup for whoever's sitting in that three spot. But Keldrick Falk going five. In this case, it would be to the Tennessee Titans,

Ruben Bain going to the commanders, and David Bailey climbing up into the top 10 after the season that he's had at Texas Tech. That does feel like for all we've said about the premium positions lacking those sorts of players, I don't feel that way about edge rusher. And I'm not trying to compare them to other years or say they're on par with Miles Garrett or Aidan Hutchinson or some of those guys that have been at the top. of other drafts, but if you root for a bad team and need defense, you're going to have a chance to get some quality edge rushers it looks like.

Guys with promise, you know, Keldrick Falk, he's not had maybe the season. A lot of us expected him to have. He's 6-6-270 and the way that he was used. I mean, he's a four-eye lined up inside the tackle quite a bit. Like he wasn't asked to just be as strictly a lineup on the edge, go get the quarterback type a guy. He's one of the youngest players in the draft. It's very similar to Michael Williams in last year's class. And Michael went, I think, 11th. And so Keldrick Falk is going to be somewhere in that top 10 conversation. Ruben Bain, we've talked about how he's not universally loved

just because he has got a little bit of a unique body type, shorter arms. But you know, Dan Quinn's going to love this player, the get off, the power that he plays with, the fact that he's just as good against a run as he is getting after the quarterback. He had a really good game against Pitt in the regular season finale. I don't, is that the last time we're going to see Rubin Bain in a Hurricanes uniform? Maybe. If it is, he went out in a big way. And then David Bailey, who I think he's beat up on some pretty bad tackle play this

year in the Big 12. He's also had good games against, you know, Utah who has good tackles. Arizona State's got good tackles. So, you know, he led all of FBS in the regular season in pressures and sacks. And so he's going to have. have that juice off the edge that I think is going to speak to a lot of defensive coaches. Jonathan Gannon being one of them in Arizona, you add him to that front seven. And to see how they've tried to build that front seven, I think that'd go a long way.

Jordan Tyson going number seven overall to the New York Jets in this mock, which puts two receivers in the top 10 of this draft. Tyson gave it a go in the rivalry game against Arizona. he ultimately, it looked like he aggravated the hamstring issue that's been plaguing him for the second half of this season. He wasn't able to finish the game. Is it mainly injury concern with Carnell Tate being the first guy off the board over Tyson? Is it just because Tate's been that awesome, which for the record, I think that he has? But I was curious there with Tate going four and Tyson going seven, both to the New York teams, fittingly. But I was curious about how that stacked up what you thought about that.

I think that's a big factor here with Jordan Tyson. And the fact that he's missed, it's like, what, 38% of his team's games the last four years because of injuries. It's something that has to factor in. And I think when he's healthy, when he's on the field, it reminds me so much as Stefan Diggs. His ability to create space and then be a ball winner at the catch point. A lot of teams could use that, including the Jets. You put him opposite Garrett Wilson. And I understand, like, the quarterback position is very much in flux for 2026.

And the Jets have the ammo to go get a quarterback in this draft that they want to. But there's also a scenario, and we talked about it before, there's a scenario where they look to build up the roster and then target a quarterback in 2027 in that class. So, you know, I think there will be, whether it's the Raiders, the Saints, the Jets, there will be teams in the top 10 this year that realize, you know what, we're just not going to get our quarterback this year. We're okay waiting and, you know, 2027 is supposed to be much better.

Time will tell if that plays out. But teams are always scouting ahead. And the Jets could be one of those teams that are maybe forward scouting to 2027 when it comes to the quarterback. One more fun thing I wanted. We'll say two more fun things before we take our first break. A, the L.A. Rams. I like that you're on board with me.

Zigan when everybody thinks they're going to zag and taking Spencer Fano. I mean, if you get the first offensive tackle in the class at nine overall, yeah, the long-term outlook at quarterback doesn't get any clearer, but we don't know Matthew Stafford's future as of right now. If you were able to add a talent like that, outside of getting your quarterback of the future, I love that call, the Rams offensive tackles, both getting a little long in the tooth,

particularly Rob Havenstein. So I think that makes a ton of sense. And then finally, okay, 10, 10 is not too far of a fall for Caleb Downs, especially if he gets to go play in Ohio for a team that desperately needs any sort of help whatsoever on defense. With the Rams, I will say, I was pretty impressed with Warren McClendon filling in right tackle. That's fair.

He's played well over the course of three or four games this year. That's definitely fair. Anthers and so I think the competition has helped. If he finishes in a strong way, then maybe the Rams aren't looking at a right tackle in the draft. But what we know right now, yeah, I think Fano makes a ton of sense for the Rams.

And then, yeah, I think really 10 and 11, Caleb Downs to the Bengals and then Jeremiah loved to the Vikings. Again, these are two of the best players in the entire draft. Just we're talking position value as the reasons why they could still be available here. You know, teams in front of them.

them not wanting to invest top 10 capital or top eight capital into into those positions. I don't agree with it with these two players, but it's at least a realistic scenario. And even with Caleb Downs, like the Bengals, they're one of those teams that I think could look at a safety and be like, safety in the top 10. I don't know. Like I just, I wouldn't surprise me at all. But he instantly upgrades the talent in the back end of this defense. and then just the disciplined culture that he would bring to that unit.

To me, this is a don't overthink it, Cincinnati. Like if he falls to you at 10, don't overthink it. And then with Minnesota, they need, I don't know, we'll see what happens with the quarterback situation. Like I don't see them just punting on J.J. McCarthy after this season. They need to do something, whether that's, you know, doing something even more on the offensive line. I don't know what that would be.

But adding a Jeremiah love, adding a weapon like that, that to that backfield. Man, I mean, that would be, that would be something that helps the quarterback that helps everybody else in that offense. And I think would be tremendous value if you're getting Jeremiah Love outside the top 10. All right. I was going to do this on the other side of the break, but you played my hand by taking

my talking point right off of my notes as you so often do. But it's very similar to what we talked about with Jeremiah Love to the Giants a couple weeks ago. I get it. Jeremiah Love's incredible. It can be hard to justify what most people view as a luxury pick when you have such other big problems. And let's let's just be brutal with it. J.J. McCarthy has struggled enough that I think it's at least a fair question. And I hear you, like, you don't have to cut him or send him out of town. He's, you drafted him. He's on your team for two more years at the minimum. Not saying you have to do anything. rash but if you're picking 11th and spoiler alert tie simpson also goes in your first round at

14 overall to the pittsburgh steelers which that makes a ton of sense if you're the vikings and you have a shot at a tie simpson a i think that's really interesting and b if you're not interested in drafting him what else have you done at quarterback let's take it back to the raiders trading up for Dante Moore. If they were to do that, does Gino Smith become available in a trade? And is that something a team like the Minnesota Vikings should be interested in? Could getting Mack Jones out of San Francisco be something that you try to do? It's hard for me to believe, even if you don't want to give up on J.J. McCarthy, it's hard for me to believe that you could pass up on a guy like Ty Simpson unless you have done something else during the pre-draft

process to cover yourself. That's all I would say. And I mean, based off of how J.G. McCarthy has played, it's absolutely fair to just bring up the conversation about what are the Vikings going to do in the offseason to be better at quarterback in 2026. It can't be as simple as, well,

let's just, we'll stand pat and hope that the quarterback gets better. But I don't think it's as rash as we're moving on from McCarthy. And it's just there's so few options. I mean, are you really going to trade a, what is that, probably a third round pick to go get Mac Jones? You know, like, Gino is, if I'm the Raiders, I'm not trading Gino because Dante Moore is 20 years old, and I'd love to have a veteran ready to go and then you mix Dante Moore in when he's ready to go. So I don't know that there's a clear-cut answer with what for them to do.

That's why I think Jeremiah I love, he helps your quarterback. He helps everybody else on that offense by both with what he does catching the football at the backfield, and then what he does obviously as a runner. So I think that would be part of my answer to help the quarterback is adding a dynamic weapon like that. You are leaving the draft with the most explosive playmaker in this draft class. A guy who has higher draft grades than Ash and Genti did last year. And he went fifth overall.

So I think with love, you know, we can talk about obviously the positional value and all that, especially for this team. I think that my, they're in a tough place at the quarterback position. and so love to me would be part of my answer to hopefully the picture looking a little bit more clear in next year. I hear you. And it's not a knock on love. I think we haven't played the conference title games, but I think I would vote for Jeremiah Love for Heisman. If I had a vote, which to be clear, don't yell at me. I don't even have one. So don't worry about it. But I love Jeremiah Love. Pardon the pun. I just, we did this thing with the Vikings having the best supporting cast in football. this year. And I know the offensive line was banged up for a lot of the year, but

they've had enough that we should have seen more from the quarterback position. And I'll just, I'll say this, it can't be what it was this year where you're basically handing the reins to J.J. McCarthy. And there's not a ton in the way of competition for him in training camp. Like, you got to do something to foster that. And yeah, I mean, that's a good point about Gino, potentially being a mentor for a young quarterback, so maybe he's not available. I don't know. I don't know the answer. That's for the Vikings decision makers to figure out.

But if you're not going to draft a guy in the first round this year, you got to do more to bring in somebody who can push J.J. McCarthy or potentially start if this doesn't get any better. All right. We, well, we were going to do that on the other side of the break anyway. So we just got that out of the way now. We will take a quick break. We will be back with the bottom half of day. his first round mock right after this. All right, Dan, just looking, once you start with like picks 12 and down in this first

round mock, I'm not going to go through every single selection. And I would encourage you to go look at it if you want to go see every selection. But my main takeaway here, just looking at the names that are available to the teams in these positions is if the top 10 is kind of a pain to figure out because it's just not that sexy type of year where Jemar Chase and Penae Sewell and Devante Smith and Micah Parsons are all going to get drafted highly. That might be a little disappointing for the teams at the top of the draft, but the fun thing for us is a lot of good teams are going to have a shot to draft guys that are not substantially

worse than the top of this draft, I would guess. Like just looking at this, the Carolina Panthers taking Peter Woods at 15th overall. The Kansas City Chiefs, picking 13th, by the way, which is just weird to see. Obviously, it can still change, but that is very strange. The Kansas City Chiefs getting Kenyon Sadiq as a Travis Kelsey era parent at 13th overall. The Detroit Lions, we've talked a lot this year about Caden Proctor not really living up to the hype as the potential OT1 in this draft. And that's totally fair. And clearly, I don't know that people would be excited to draft him in the top five of this class.

the Detroit Lions getting Caden Proctor at 17 on a team that already has good offensive tackles and he can join that program with their offensive line coach and develop there. I'm a hell of a lot more excited about that than I would be about Caden Proctor as a top 10 pick. So it feels like there's some really good value in the back half of this first round. Well, the Lions aren't drafting a tackle. They're drafting tight end. So, I mean, that's, he showed Dan Campbell the, the clips of Caden Proctor catching a swing pass or. That's a great point. Yeah, it's going to be an easy.

Brad Holmes is, he's not even going to show him any offense of line clips. Just show him the clips of him in the backfield or him. I mean, that's all he has to show Dan Campbell. What are they called that package, Duncan? Yeah, they're just going to show him the Duncan package. There you go. Like, all right, we got our new goal line plays. Let's go.

Yeah. Be the heir apparent to Taylor Decker eventually while also helping out. giving you guard depth in the meantime. And then also, you know, some of those goal line packages. I mean, that's, I don't know. To me, I think I really like that fit with Detroit. Yeah, but your overall point, though, I think is spot on. Like, you're look, I'm looking at some of these names in the back half of round one.

And it's like, okay, Sunny Stiles and Caden McDonald and, uh, McCoy Lemon, like, there are a lot of players that won't go in the top 15 that are still really good. And so if I'm a playoff team, I'm feeling pretty. pretty confident about how this first round could play out. And there's not that huge gap between the top 10 to 12 players and then who you're getting later on. I think one of my favorite fits, really it's two of these receivers where they're going in the back half of round one, the playoff teams.

The Buffalo Bills at 21. I know you'll like, you love this one, right? Denzel Boston, I mean, I think if the bills could, like, use him now for this playoff run, it would just be a perfect fit. Whether he's an X, whether he's that big slot for Buffalo, using that frame, tracking the football, winning the way he can win outside of his frame with his hands. Denzel Boston, I love that fit in Buffalo. And then with the 49ers, if Mackay Lemon makes it to the 49ers, Kyle Shanahan, he wouldn't

be able to help himself. He would run that pick in so fast. And, you know, he's 5-11, 195 pounds, not the biggest guy, but he's so manipulative. as a route runner and strong at the catch point after the catch, you know, the Alman Ross, St. Brown comparisons.

We're going to hear those quite a bit. I think the 49ers would run to the podium in that situation. Going back to Boston, I was curious about this and I like him a lot as a player. If you're a Bill's fan listening to this, I got to imagine you're thinking, okay, well,

we just drafted the big contested catch receiver in Keon Coleman. How's that going? He did have a touchdown against Pittsburgh. the other day, but it's safe to say that it's not going the way that you would prefer. So is this just replacing that decision saying like, all right, let's just try it again? Or I mean, I guess maybe compare those two guys as prospects a little bit. Like what would Boston bring to an offense like that that's tried this before? I mean, I think you're just, you're bringing competition into a wide receiver room that needs help.

And you have a specific window right now. win with one of the best quarterbacks on the planet. Maximize it. Do everything you can to put the best offensive product out there. You know, maybe that's drafting an offensive tackle here and making sure you have depth at those positions that have been

banged up this season. You know, there's a lot of different ways they could do it, but adding a Denzel Boston who, yeah, even though he is the size of a protisible X, he could be your big slot. I mean, you can move him around a little bit and, you know, I think be

creative with how you're going to have him impact this offense. So to me, I mean, whether they're ready to move on from Keon Coleman or not, I think Denzel Boston is still a fit with what they want to be and how they could really maximize this window with this quarterback. It's just, like I said, there's so many names here where they get a lot more exciting when you're talking about them as mid-round picks to teams that have infrastructure and and aren't trying to start a rebuild or retooling a roster. I mean, Francis Maui Noah to the Houston Texans,

obviously a team that should be seeking to upgrade its offensive line. The Philadelphia Eagles, getting your guy Vega Eone out of Penn State, yeah, like with the struggles they've had on the offensive line this year, knowing that Lane Johnson is in the twilight of his career, knowing that you've kind of struggled replacing Mackay Beckett in this season, It's a lot of resources to spend on your offensive line,

but the Eagles are proof positive of how good that can look when you hit on those sorts of picks. So I love that decision. I just think I think the Cowboys, Cowboys fans would probably throw a parade if C.J. Allen out of Georgia was available for them to pick at 27. There's, there is value all over the place here starting. Yeah, I would say starting around pick 12. I just start to get a lot more excited than I thought I would based on how. how we've talked about the top of this draft. One draft pick's not going to rectify all of the Eagles run game woes,

but you add an athletic mauler like Yawane. That's going to help. I mean, Tyler Steen's been up and down. They have to be concerned about Landon Dickerson's long-term durability. As much as I love Landon Dickerson as a player, they have to be concerned. So, yeah, and you're right, our first round pick is a lot to spend, but this team has never been shy about spending early pick. on offensive linemen.

So that's something that we could see play out. Yeah, I think that C.J. Allen, if you're the Cowboys, and you can come away from the first round with Sunny Stiles or a C.J. Allen, you feel good about that. The linebacker playing in Dallas has been pretty abysmal this year. And you have to get better with two first round picks. You have a chance. I mean, there's a very high chance to go defense with both picks.

And so whether that's corner and linebacker or edge rusher, and linebacker. I think there's a, the common theme, I think will be linebacker if one of those guys is available to them. Casey Concepcion to the Titans. So part of that tradeback from one is getting Cleveland's pick at 26,

which originally belonged to the Jaguars. And to get a guy that Concepcion who, so Titans go, they could go receiver at five. And, you know, Cardinal Tate was off the board in this scenario. They could go Jordan Tyson,

but they wait, take the edge rusher at five, get the receiver here at 26, and I think this helps your quarterback get better. Casey Concepciona guy who is so good with the catch and run. He's top 10 nationally and yards after catch per reception. They don't really need special teams, but he can give you that as well. So I think that's a good fit.

The Ravens, a little bit earlier at 19, they go Caden McDonald. The five Ohio State players in the top 20, by the way, which would tie the record for most pitch. from a single program in a top 20 of a draft. And the way Caden McDonald played all season, but then especially against Michigan, I mean, he was, you can't move them.

And if you give them, if you just a single block, he will shed the block, discard guys, make plays against the run, very, very dominant up front. And that's exactly what the Ravens could use. I was going to point that out if you didn't,

going through your mock. I write things out for my own notes to help me remember them better. And I was like, damn, over and over and over again, which if you've watched him play, particularly on defense this year, I don't think that's terribly surprising.

One more, one big thing I wanted to hit, I did, I mentioned him, but I guess he deserves a little bit more shine on his own. Ty Simpson, we gave him the kiss of death ever, ever since we just heaped praise on him. It just hasn't been as pretty as we would prefer. And it's not over yet.

it looks like Alabama's going to make the playoff after surviving the Iron Bowl. So he will have at least one more big opportunity to show his stuff. But you've got him going 14 to Pittsburgh. Makes a ton of sense for a variety of reasons. I am curious, though, A, how much does this downturn since, you know, early November way for you? And B, what type of feedback do you think he's going to get? Again, we've done this 100 times. He hasn't started very many games in college.

There's not a long list of players that have come out with so few college starts and gone on to really successful NFL careers. Let's just say hypothetically that it doesn't look better when Alabama gets to the playoff. Could this be a situation where he returns to school to get that stuff under his belt? Or would you imagine like the mid first round is his floor as a prospect? How are we feeling about that right now? I think it's fair to call him a wildcard because he's, you know, we've laid it out before. He graduated from college before he ever threw a touchdown pass. You know, he turns 23 years old this month.

He's just a very, it's a very unique case. And so how will, I really thought the Iron Bowl and how it played out against Auburn would give us an indication maybe of, all right, he's going to go back or, okay, he's ready to go pro. And it was really a mixed back. I mean, I think if you watch, if you just watch the three touchdown passes that he had, especially that first one where he's falling backwards and the beautiful touch pass in the back of the end zone. I mean, you watch and then the third touchdown, which was on fourth down late in the game to kind of seal it, you watch those three touchdowns and you're like, all right, sign me up for Ty Simpson, but then you watch the body of work throughout the game.

And it's like, okay, well, you know, and part of that was the pass rush. He had a tough time negotiating that. But Ty Simpson will have a big decision, just like Dante Moore. after this year and the way the SEC title game plays out, the way the playoff plays out. I'm sure that'll go a long way to help determine what he does. But, you know, if you were the Steelers, this might be best case scenario because once again,

they're going to find themselves at a quarterback crossroads in the offseason with, okay, what is our best option here? Is it trying to go, you know, the free agency route again, the veteran route? Or do we go the Kenny Pickett route where we have a pick somewhere in that mid-first. And, you know, this is where Mac Jones went. And like I said, Kenny Pickett, Bo Nix, you know, guys that have obvious warts,

but you could probably still win with them in the right situation. And so I think Ty Simpson could fall in that category as well. And so if you're the Steelers picking somewhere in that mid-first, Simpson falling to you might be best-case scenario. It's a weird spot to be as an LSU grad to now be very invested. in the success of the Alabama quarterback. And I find myself, I'm not, I am not selling my stock, by the way. I still love the guy.

I'm curious to see, I'm curious to see how this plays out. And maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to return to school and have a shot to be the slam dunk. Like, no question about it, contender for, for number one overall pick. Or maybe, maybe there's enough here that it's worth going now. kudos to you for yeah my apologies for forgetting Alabama's going to play Georgia so he's actually going to get at least two more opportunities to show his stuff go figure with with all the upheaval in the SEC this year and all the out of nowhere success stories like Texas A&M and old miss of course we get Alabama Georgia one more time for the SEC championship so big opportunities

for Ty Simpson to show exactly what his ceiling might look like if as a prospect, if he does in fact come out this year. Speaking of, that is a fantastic tease for our next segment. We're done with the mock draft. If you want to go look at the rest of Dane's first round mock, you can go find it on Theathletic.com. When we come back from this break, we're going to preview conference championship weekend. All right, Dane, just a handful more very big games before we get the college playoff

format announced on Sunday. Where else do you start? It's weird, though, man. Like for us as draft evaluation. is this is this not a perfect situation number one ohio state number two indiana saturday night fernando mendoza going against the ohio state defense but as a college football fan it is kind of weird to just be like yeah but what are what are the stakes here like what exactly what comes out of this because i just i don't believe that either one of these teams is even going to fall out of

the top four like i think indiana and ohio state are both going to get buys in the playoffs. So we're really, we're playing for maybe the Heisman trophy for Fernando Mendoza, chance to stay unbeaten. And don't get me wrong, it would be great for Ohio State to continue this repeat bid without a loss on their, on their resume. But in terms of actual stakes, it feels a little bit lacking. But, hey, for those of us that care about this from the NFL draft prism,

watching Mendoza go against this defense, I mean, that's where the price of admission alone, honestly. There are so many NFL draft storylines in this one. I mean, so many guys worth watching. You know, what do we talk about last week would be the key from Michigan to upset Ohio State? It was the pass rush from Derek Moore,

J. Sean, Barham. They combine for zero pressures. And so testament to Ohio State's offensive line, give them credit. I think it's going to be similar in this game where Indiana has to put pressure on the quarterback. Julian's saying, he's going to find success through the air. If you

give him even a little bit of time. So can Indiana get pressure? And I think that on offense, I think when we think about the Indiana offense, we immediately think of Fernando Mendoza. And obviously, good reason for that. But there's only one big 10 team that ranks top 10 nationally in rushing. That's the Hoosiers. Roman Hemby, borderline draft pick, Kaelin Black.

Michigan was able to find some success against the Buckeyes on the ground, especially early in that game, really not in the second half at all. But early in that game, they did find some success. Ohio State, I mean, you expect them to get that buttoned up. But Indiana's offense, so much of the success they have through the air comes through that RPO's, all the runs. It's all paired together. And so having success on first and 10, so it's second and five, that's a big part of the formula for the Hoosiers to win this one and win the Big Ten title. But, yeah, and there's so many individual matchups.

Arvill Reese, Sunny Styles. Caleb Downs, working downhill to limit the run. On the outside, Igbenosin versus Eliza Serrat. I mean, talk about two competitors who win with physicality. This one, that will be a dogfight. That will be a lot of fun. Omar Cooper Jr., Jermaine Matthews, that'll be a good one on the inside. In the trenches, Kenyatta Jackson.

He had his way with Michigan's left tackle. How will Carter Smith hold up? The Hoosiers left tackle? That'll be a fun one. We mentioned Caden McDonald earlier at the nose and how important he's been to Ohio State's run defense. Pat Coogan, he's a veteran center. He's faced this Ohio State team before. He was with Notre Dame last year.

And so Coogan's a guy trying to get the draftable territory. Big test for him in this one. Indiana's DeAngelo Ponds is one of the best cover corners in college football. Probably going to sneak into that day two range as a prospect. But he's 5'9, 170 pounds. How will that size show? up against Carnell Tate, Jeremiah Smith on the outside. But like you said at the top, ultimately, I cannot wait for this matchup to see Mendoza,

how he does against easily the best defense he'll see this season. The closest thing he'll see to an NFL defense. We saw it earlier in the year against Penn State, against Oregon. Probably the two best defenses he faced this year, he was a little bit up and down for most of that game. Now, at the end, he just called game and put it away. but it wasn't all just clean for him the entire way. So how he does against this Ohio State defense will be a lot of fun to watch.

And you know it's anybody, any team that's considering Fernando Medoza, you know this will be an automatic watch when teams are in the war room. They're watching tape. This will be a must see for any team considering this quarterback. I mean, and you could say the same thing about Ohio State, right? We talked about it heading into the Michigan game outside of Texas. the schedule kind of leaves you wanting if you want to see them going up against the best of the best. You can say the same type of stuff about Indiana.

Obviously, the road win against Oregon looms very, very large. Mendoza was not fantastic in that game, though. And other than that, you're probably talking about the comeback against Penn State, the game against Iowa. This is a huge opportunity for him. I mean, you just said Ohio State might tie or set the record for first round picks in a draft. they're going to have my God, how many guys total are going to get drafted off this Ohio State team. This is going to be the go-to tape when you want to see what Fernando Mendoza is all about. And like I said, I think that is an easy headliner, even if there are 15 other things worth watching.

I do just want to point out, though, I think it's easy to lean toward all of this NFL talent on Ohio State's roster. And I know the transfer portal means that teams are vastly different from year to year. year. But Indiana was hanging with these guys until a Carnel Tate punt return last year and the score around. I'm sorry, Caleb Downs, excuse me, wound up looking a lot more lopsided than it did through like half of that game. So I think Indiana can hang with these guys, even if I would pick Ohio State to win. Yeah. I think Aiden Fisher, I saw some of his comments during the week. and he said how like they're going into this, not feeling like an underdog.

They're feeling like, oh, this is like two big 10 powers clashing. And I think it does feel like that. Indiana has earned that respect where they are, they're not just a fun story anymore. They have the talent to go up against anybody in the country, including Ohio State.

And this will be a fun one because, you know, if you look at tickets for this game, it's cheapest tickets like 400 bucks because the game's in Indianapolis. Very close. You know, there's a lot of Indiana fans that are going to see their team in a Big Ten championship game for the first time ever. And it's going to be, in Ohio State, their fans travel really well, obviously. And so they often will, you know, show up and command most of the attendance in these conference championship games and bowl games, playoff games.

Not in this one. Indiana is going to be well represented by their fans. and this is a team that definitely deserves our respect. I don't think either way, whoever wins this game, I do not expect this to be a blowout. It should be a close one all the way through. That's the nightcap. In the middle of the day,

we get another version of Georgia, Alabama, which narratively, from a college football perspective, maybe you're getting tired of it. But again, this is a game full of NFL prospects. I think it's very fitting beating Georgia early in, the year was one of the games that kind of put Ty Simpson on the map. You watch him in that game against a defense loaded with NFL prospects and think, oh, there's something to this guy. Now you get a chance to do it again in a marquee matchup with playoff seating on the line. We've talked about the

NFL prospects on, on Georgia's side of the football before. Do think it's worth shouting out. You, you mentioned your guy Monroe Freeling out of Georgia on last week's episode. You snuck him into your mock draft as the number 32 over. all picks. So something worth watching as well going against Alabama's front. I just this doesn't need to be sold as anything other than you can count on each side

of the ball having a handful of NFL players. Yeah, no doubt. And I mean, I did sneak him into freeling into the mock to the Patriots at 32. I mean, the Patriots new motto, it should be just all over the building is just protect Drake at all costs.

All right. And so drafting an offensive linemen, whatever, sign on. Do it. you know, Eugene Monroe actually played pretty well this year, but, you know, just add a young understudy into that mix who can potentially take over in the future.

But yeah, I mean, okay, over the last 11 games, what do you think Alabama's record is against Georgia? The last 11 times you guys have matched up. What would you guess? Oh my God.

It's probably, Mr. SEC. It's like, you said 11 games. It's probably like, it's probably eight and three or nine and two. close 10 and 1 I mean it's they spend that lopsided for Alabama it's the one thing Kirby can't do except ironically they they beat him in a national title game yeah that's the one exactly so if you're gonna have to if you're gonna do it if you're gonna do it do it when the stakes are highest but yeah I mean this is this is the matchup that Kirby smart can't quite get a handle on and and this one's important because if you if Georgia loses this game maybe they probably don't have a first round by and

Like I think I think you're absolutely right. Ohio State, Indiana, the loser of that game is still going to get a buy. So it doesn't feel like you are, you know, obviously you want to win the Big Ten championship, but it doesn't feel like that much of a, it's not much of a penalty to lose that game. Whereas with this one, if you're Georgia and you lose, you lose that first round by and you have to play in the first round. And, you know, it does feel a little bit more of a penalty where you have to play an extra game on your, you know, hopeful journey to the championship game. And obviously, if Alabama were to lose,

they're definitely not getting a first round by. So, yeah, the stakes do feel a little bit higher for this one, the latest edition of Tide Dogs. Anything else? Strike your fancy from championship Saturday. Obviously, Texas Tech is playing BYU in the morning game. We've talked plenty about the hosses on the Red Raiders roster. I think for right or for wrong, and I'm willing to have my mind changed,

but I just know the Red Raiders handled BYU you like two weeks ago. Like we didn't, it wasn't that long ago that we played this matchup. Am I not giving this enough credit? No, I mean, obviously, like you said, we saw it play out in the field.

I mean, this is another opportunity to watch David Bailey, Ramallah, Ohio, it's, you know, that defensive line. Yeah, Jacob Rodriguez at line. backer. For BYU,

the guy that I'm most interested in is the running back, L.J. Martin, and Texas Tech just shut him down. And he had like 35. chance to L.J. Martin, he's been a really good back this year. It just didn't happen against Red Raiders. The chance to maybe get some payback, that's BYU's best chance to Texas Tech. Not sure it's going to happen. But, you know, Martin's probably one of the few prospects on

BYU that I think is worth getting excited about. I'm going to do my favorite thing in the world and put you on the spot because you are the draft guru. What should I be watching if I want to tune into Duke, Virginia, or at least have it on another quad box during the Ohio State Indiana game? So, I mean, two players for Duke who I really like as prospects, Chandler Rivers, the corner. And a common theme with both these guys is they're very much undersized. Chandler Rivers is 5-9-185 pounds.

But he is really competitive. He's sticky in coverage. Think like a Meek Robertson, like that style of corner who, you know, he's undersized. There's no way around that. But exactly, a guy that you really appreciate the player because the way he played. Yeah, the size of the fight in the dog, not the size of the dog in the fight, you know? Of course. And Rivers is one of those guys where you're going to DeAngela Pons for,

Indiana, another one of those guys where he's not going to hit the thresholds that a lot of teams have at corner. But the way he plays, the competitive fire, the tape, it's all just checkmarks in the right in the right boxes. So Rivers is a good player. And then on the offensive line, I tackle Brian Parker, who, again, undersized, he's not going to be a tackle in the NFL, probably a center only. But if he declares, I think he has a chance to be one of the first safety or safeties. first centers drafted. A guy that doesn't have the position flex as like Graham Barton did coming out of Duke,

but I think that you feel good about him having starter potential at the center position in a center class that doesn't really get you too excited. Always something to watch, and there will be plenty of it on a loaded championship Saturday. We'll be back next week to recap it, talk over those games, look at the college football playoff bracket,

see what's ahead for. whichever prospects are still playing when all of this shakes out. Until then, we really appreciate it. Make sure you go check out Dane's mock draft, please over at theathletic.com, and we will chat with y'all real soon.