The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Decoding messages that NFL Teams sent during the 2024 draft

Episode Date: May 1, 2024

What did NFL teams tell us about themselves following the draft? Robert Mays is joined by ESPN’s Field Yates to break down the messages we’ve learned from roster building this offseason.Follow Robert on Twitter: @robertmaysSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Football Show. Welcome to the Athletic Football Show. I'm Robert Mays. Joining me today. It is, I think, a first-time guest on the Athletic Football Show potentially, which is insane and there's 100% on me. But absolutely one of the people that I wanted to chat about this draft with,

one of the wonderful draft analysts at ESPN and really Jack of All Trade's doing a little bit of everything over there. It's my good friend, Field Yates. Feels how you doing, buddy? I'm doing great. We've done content. together in other places, probably other platforms as well. We've probably, I don't know, probably done live shows or, I don't know, collaborated on written pieces or something, but I'm glad to be

on the show, humbled and honored. You guys have been churning out content for the past. Lord knows how long, but especially during this pre-draft cycle, it's been awesome to see. And you guys crushed it over this past weekend. Obviously, I'm sure you didn't see a whole lot of my draft coverage live and vice versa, but I've been able to catch up on some clips And knowing the amount of effort that you and Nate, of course, Dane put into the NFL draft, I know it was absolutely spectacular work. How did your first draft go in this new role? Because this is, it's clicked up a little bit for you in a good way.

I'm not much of a self-scouter, I don't think, not a very good one at least. You know, I had probably a fear more than anything else of a player coming across the ticker or being announced in Detroit. And I just had, imagining to myself, I have. have no idea who this player is. Like, I haven't heard that name before. I didn't see his name mentioned anywhere once. That didn't happen. So that was good. You know, Dane and the Beast, that is like as comprehensive of a resource as there is during the pre-draft cycle. And I saw him say after the fact that all players picked were mentioned in the Beast. And I was like,

yeah, and water is wet and the sun rises again today. Like, of course, all players were mentioned in the Beast. I was mentioned in the Beast. And I, graduated from college 15 years ago and was a terrible Division 3 safety. And somehow, I made it into the Beast. So no surprise at all 257 also made it into this year's edition. It's fun because we record our round three or our day three recap as the draft is happening just to get a little bit ahead of it. I think we can start, we can get going a little bit before Mr. Relevant comes off the board. But we're always recording when the draft ends. And you just see a little sigh of relief from Dane when he realizes that all the players that were drafted ended up being

in the Beast. And I think there was, I can't remember which play. it was. But when we were recording, it was either the late sixth round or early seventh round, and this corner from some small school came off the board. And I was like, what do you think about this guy did? And he just gave me like 90 seconds on the guy off the dome, like right as we were recording. So the work that you guys put into this is phenomenal. And you guys should all be extremely proud of it. Today, we're going to take a little bit of a step back and do something that I've done in some capacity for years. Just because I think it's a fun way to think about the draft because it looks back a little bit but also looks forward.

And in the lead up to the draft, these teams can say whatever they want. The amount of smoke screens and the amount of mystery shrouding every single pick and what the plans are going to be, now there's nowhere to hide. The way that these teams drafted

always sends a message good, bad, confusing, clear about who they want to be and where they want to go. So today, I wanted to dig into and decode some of those messages that teams sent us with how they went about the drafts,

draft process and then cheating a little bit how they went about this off season because I think a lot of those things are often linked. So we're going to read on that one by the way. Yeah, I mean, it's impossible not to because I think with some of these, you know, we're going to talk about the Panthers. And when I look at some of the things the Panthers did in free agency, they have a similar kind of feel to some of the moves that they made in the draft process. And I think that's true with a lot of these teams that we're going to discuss. We've got 10 teams here. And I think we have a really good cross-section of teams that kind of hit people and organizations at different time periods and that sent a lot of different sorts of messages. So I'm excited to dig into this. I'm going to let you start and kick this

off as the guest of honor. Who is your first team and what do you think is the message they sent us on draft weekend? So I had a very precise way of ordering my teams alphabetically, very thoughtful there by me. So I will go in alphabetical order. There is no preference here. By the way, this is not a ranking of best or worst draft classes. It was simply five that as you said, something message, at least in my eyes. I'll start with the commanders who had a lot of picks going into the draft. They did manipulate the board a little bit, most notably in the second round when the Eagles and commanders executed the trade.

So apparently no intra-division ill will there. I thought the message from first-year GM Adam Peters and his staff and first-year head coach Dan Quinn, and I suppose their staff, whatever influence the coaching staff had on this draft was we won athletes. And that's not simply a reflection of drafting Jaden Daniels, who, of course, is the most athletic quarterback in the draft since either Justin Fields or maybe even a little bit further back, Lamar Jackson slash Josh Allen back in 2018, but extended well beyond that. Jaden, everybody who's listening to this show by now knows just how incredible of an athlete he is,

even though he can win from the pocket as well. He will dazzle you with his scrambling ability, design running ability, doing something ridiculous that you rarely see from a quarterback all too frequently. But let's talk about some of the other players that they drafted in this year's class that have different types of athleticism that they bring to the table because not all these guys are like four, three, five wide receivers. Johnny Newton, who was their second pick in the draft class, Illinois defensive tackle, may have had some limitations as it pertains to his size, but he is freaky explosive.

Guy was one of my favorite players to study during the pre-draft process, his seven and a half sacks last season were pretty much part for the course he was a play wrecker for illinois mikey sanders still from miche who ended up going 50th overall had an incredible final season this guy is and i'm going to use this term probably too many times during the show so apologies in advance he's a dog guy was a turnover forcing machine last year and also a premium athlete but then we get further down the board and it felt like as we continue to rip through the rest of the drafts i saw all kinds of versatility and athleticism come to the forefront for Washington. Benson, K-State, fullback, H-back, tight-end, whatever you want to call him.

Really, really good athlete. He had a 40-plus-inch vertical leap. Luke McCaffergan, that went to the third round, at the surprise of some, yes, younger brother of Christian, he is a ridiculous athlete. He's still figuring out how to play wide receiver, but had a 4-4-6-40, really good vertical jumping at the combine as well. You saw it on tape. Once he puts it all together, he's got a chance to be one of the more intriguing players

in the class. And then Dominique Hampton from Washington, who was a corner for a long time, ends up as a safety during his final couple of seasons with the Huskies, actually played more games of anybody else in the history of Washington football. So a lot of experience as well. And Jordan McGee, both in the fifth round, lineback from Temple, both guys who are plus plus athletes for their respective positions. In the case of McGee, undersized, but in Washington eyes, Washington's eyes,

that wasn't enough to deter them. It's interesting. I was a long rip, by the way, sorry. I had to get that out there. I think that's all, I was going to ask you which guy you think exemplifies that plan, and I think it's pretty much all of them, and that includes Jaden Daniels. I think back to last year with the Colts draft, and these teams that are in moments of transition,

but the Colts was a little bit subtler when you go from that Matt Ryan group where, you know, Stefan Gilmore, you have some of these aging players where you were trying to squeeze the last kind of drops you can out of that roster. And I think last year they kind of admitted that's not where we are anymore. we're going to get younger, we're drafting a quarterback, we're probably a couple years away. And those teams that are in that space where it's like,

we don't really have to worry about who's already on this roster. We just have to worry about what this thing is going to look like two, three years from now. It almost feels like you're unshackled and can just draft the best athletes possible. You're not worried about fitting guys into specific slots. And that's what this feels like for Washington. Adam Peters, I'm sure, walks into this situation. We're drafting second overall for a reason. I don't care that Jonathan Allen and Duran Painter on this team.

I don't care that, you know, Quan Martin was a guy we spent a second round pick on last year that played the nickel for us. Mikey San Francisco is the best player I can draft. Johnny Newton is the best player I can draft. I'm just going to draft the best athletes and the best possible pieces I can, and we'll figure out how things get slotted later. And I think when you're a team in Washington's position where you're really starting over to a certain extent, that's a completely acceptable way to handle this process. I would also add, and I agree with the athleticism. I mean, I guess I brought that point to the table. So, of course, I agree with it.

but I agree with what you're saying in terms of this being more blank canvas than it feels like to some. I think one of the theme that I noticed from this draft, and I'm imagining you spent some time around Dan Quinn or at least been in sort of the same environment as Dan Quinn before. Culture, and I know that's one of those words that sometimes fans absolutely loathe because they think it's just like a manufactured term we use when things are going well. and when we throw around when things aren't going well for a team, culture is going to matter to Dan Quinn. He wants high character football players who absolutely have an unbridled love for the game.

Maybe not, this is not Jim Harbaugh style where it's like, you eat, sleep, breathe football 24-7, 365. But it's pretty darn close there for Dan Quinn, right? Like this guy absolutely loves guys who care and bring energy and enthusiasm because he brings it every single day as well. He's like this incredibly optimistic, upbeat person. So the kind of people the commander is invested in as well don't surprise me. Very athletic guys, but also guys when you watch them play, it's clear how much the game needs to them. That sounded very cliche, but I actually think it's pertinent here in the case of the commanders specific to Dan Quinn.

We're going to talk about the Chargers a little bit later. And I think that some of the things that Joe Horrett said about the players that they drafted, similar sort of thought process. And again, I think it's when you're starting at day one. I go back last year and I think about the move that the Texans made for Will Anderson and how rich it seemed at the time. But when you are at the first or second stage of your team building process, guys who love playing football as the highest drafted, highest paid, biggest investments that you can have on your roster, that shit matters, man.

That's where you're starting. I remember a couple years ago when the Bears had, you know, it was the first draft that Ryan Poles had, George Pickens was on the board, when the Bears had the second round picks and they had no receivers. people were kind of hammering them for not taking them. There's a 0% chance the Bears are going to spend the first draft pick of this regime on George Pickens.

So teams in this space, it's not necessarily surprising to see them take that approach. I wanted to ask you about Jaden Daniels before we moved on, because on this show specifically in this space, it's been a pretty one-note chorus about how great Drake May is

and how concerned maybe we are about the ceiling that Jaden Daniels brings. Jaden Daniels was not only your number two quarterback. He was your number two overall player coming into this draft. So why do you think Jaden Daniels has separated himself

from the other quarterbacks outside of Caleb Williams? What do you think he's bringing that maybe me and Nate and even Dane to an extent

or overlooking a little bit? Yeah, so I definitely factor in position into my overall ranking. So, of course, quarterbacks are going to naturally rise closer to the top.

So if you really want me to make the case for Marvin Harrison, Jr. as the second best player in the class, I would have absolutely zero problem doing that. But I ended up

leaning forward Jaden Daniels for a lot of the reasons that I'm sure people have already heard. I mentioned him earlier, but, you know, the athletic ability is potentially rare. I thought as the season wore on, he got better at applying his functional athleticism as opposed to just relying on it. What I mean by that is sometimes you just got to sit back in the pocket, take an extra hitch, buy yourself an extra second, maybe a half second, and just let the ball rip. And then sometimes you got to find your way to evade danger in the

pocket and go on a run because when you run a probably 4-4-440 and have such a good vision and you have these gum, it's like a gumbie-like elasticity to his body. I know that he took a ton of hits. I've seen all the videos on Twitter, but he is incredibly, it's amazing how well he's held up for a player who's only 209 or 210 pounds. Fast eyes as a quarterback in terms of reading progressions, obviously has good enough arm strength. I don't think Jaden's arm strength. I don't think Jaden's arm strength is going to be confused for probably Josh Allen or Joe Milton in this year's class, maybe even Drake May for that matter. Probably the trait that I was gravitating towards though the most. And we were talking about the person, the circumstances, is that the clutch production for Jaden Daniels this past season was ridiculous.

People, I think, for the most part, assume that LSU is just chuck full of five stars. And there are plenty of five stars on this LSU roster. But the LSU defense this year was unrecognizable for anybody who has any reference points of LSU history. LSU was depleted defensively. They had some key injuries to some notable players, but also just bad execution just consistently. And they needed Jaden Daniels to be borderline perfect for them to win 10 games this past season. And there were a couple of games in which he put his team on his back or his shoulders. And it was like more so than any of those top quarterbacks in the class, maybe Michael Penix Jr. also was in this conversation because of the greatness

of that Washington season last year and JJ as well to a degree for Michigan. But I thought that Jaden was better at the biggest moments than any other quarterback in this past year's class. They did not make the college football playoff or playing the SEC championship game, but I think about some of the hostile environments

he traveled to Missouri, which was a great defense that had, what, five guys drafted this past year. Yeah, LSU stole Missouri's defensive coordinator because of how shitty their defense was and how good Mizzou's defense was, and a little better about it. But that was a game where it's

You know, got to have situations left and right, third and seven, third and 13 in your own territory. And he just consistently stays cool. So to me, like the steadiness. And when I was doing my initial run, not my initial run, but one of my initial like top one hundredths or something like that, it was coming right off of the NFL playoffs. And I remember thinking just how much that clutch production mattered to me, just how much your quarterback uses the moment as a way to grow as opposed to shrivel up. And I think Jada and Daniel really brings that to the table. It's a pretty good argument. It's hard to argue with any of that.

I mean, I had Drake, like one of my things that I said from, like I used this line more than any other during the pre-draft process was regardless of how the draft order shook out, knowing that it was Chicago, Washington, New England, one, two, three in some order based off what happened in week 18. I consistently said, hey, there's no consolation prize. Whoever picks third of those three, there's no consolation price. Just take whichever one of those three is still remaining. and you have a great, great foundation for the next decade.

That was my other stand. So I'm not in any way, shape, or form anti-Drake Mae. He was clear-cut quarterback three for me. But when you're trying to nitpick the guys at the top, you've got to find one or two things that differentiates them. We'll get into the Drake May drafting team a little bit later here. My team that I'm starting with here is the Philadelphia Eagles. And I think they sent this message both in free agency and the draft.

Whatever we invested in previously, we're, doesn't really matter. some costs be damned, we're going to be getting younger and potentially better at a lot of these positions on defense, even if that means having to eat a little cash along the way. And that started in free agency. And they had $21.5 million in dead money for Hassan Reddick after signing Bryce Huff to that huge deal. That's a lot to invest in one single position when you already have guys on the roster. It didn't deter them whatsoever.

And then you look at what they've done at Corner over the last, let's call it 14 months, going back to last spring, the spring of 2023. rather than moving on from Darius Slay and James Bradbury, which in the Bradbury sense, we projected that they might, and I think that was their original plan. In the Darius Slay sense, they did. The news had come out that they were cutting him,

they were moving on from him. They didn't end up doing that, and I think that there's probably a little bit of buyer's remorse from Howie Roseman's side of this because how old they got it corner and how expensive they got. And in order to overcorrect that, they just decided to spend multiple high draft picks

on defensive backs, and that's after bringing back guys. They brought back Seedger Gardner Johnson. They brought back Avante Maddox after cutting him. And if you look at it, it just doesn't seem like they're deterred from whatever down the line costs might have to happen. Darius Slay, if they move on from him next year, it'd be $22 million in dead money pre-June one, nine million post-June one.

So even if it's post, that's still $9 million in dead money they'd have to eat. I just don't think they care. With the way that a lot of these contracts are structured and if you look at what the Eagles have done, it's fascinating. I mean, the structure of these deals, you have these $1 million base salaries for essentially everyone. There's three or four void years for every single player that they're citing, and it allows them a level of financial flexibility that a lot of other teams don't have because their owners willing to eat the dead money and they're willing to spend this cash over cap every single year, essentially. So it allows them to make these decisions that

I think a lot of other organizations, it's like, well, didn't you just pay that guy? And I don't think the Eagles care whatsoever. And that's why you can have a team with. And that's why you can have a team with James Bradbury, Darius Slay, Avanty Maddox, C.J. Gardner Johnson, Quinyan Mitchell, to Cooper DeGine, and like two more defensive backs that theoretically would be somewhat playable. So what the Eagles have done, the defensive backfield specifically, but also up front, I think sends a clear message about how much they care about past decisions and the fact that they're not going to be weighed down by them. You know, it's funny is I got word of this this morning, and I was like, man, I don't know

where I could actually utilize this nugget that matters to, like, four people. people, but it's strictly for football nerds. And I think that I finally found the right platform. This is the spot, my friend. Let's go. The AJ Brown extension, which just hit the books Monday yesterday officially. When you factor in the void money, if I have the math correctly, is now, he is now under contract for the next, not under contract, he is under contract, including void years through 2034, so 11 more seasons for a total of $663 million. Obviously, I think of that 663, something like 500 of it is fake years and void money. That being said, it's so Philly, right? Like, they will do whatever it takes. They will find every rule available within the CBA

and turn over every single stone to gain a cap advantage. As you mentioned, all the things that were pertinent in the various deals they had to consider making or we'll have to consider making a year from right now. But I'm with you. Philly said, I think this offseason was we had a wake-up call in December and carried into January and let's not mess around anymore. The lack of speed and the secondary was so apparent down the stretch. And you turned that into two of the fastest corners. Maybe Cooper Eugen ended up being a safety, but I certainly would be leaning towards him as a cornerback, at least out of the gates. But you had two of the fastest corners in the entire draft class, two of the best corners in the entire draft class. I can imagine Vic Fangio felt really good about his decision to

go from Miami to Philadelphia based exclusively off of what happened during the draft weekend. It makes sense, though, right? Because they have this offense that's pretty much ready-made. You have those pieces in place. You should be a contender right now. I mean, they were in the Super Bowl two years ago, even as the wheels fell off late last season. So there's really no time to waste with getting this injection of youth all over the defense to kind of get yourself back to that place. So you shouldn't be weighed down by past decisions if you're willing to eat some of the tax again in a way that some of these other teams aren't. So, I have always applauded how proactive this organization has been.

They are not going to let past mistakes dictate how they're going to operate in the president into the future. And I think that this offseason may be the best example of that we've had in several years over there in Philly with Holly Roseman. People are going to get mad because the chiefs are back-to-back champs right now. So everybody besides the chief doesn't do things at a high level in some people's eyes. That being said, like the Eagles are consistently making good business decisions, one of which was getting the wider receiver contract run started with Devonte Smith and

AJ Brown both extended this off season. As you know, there was like crazy number of wide receivers who are currently extension eligible that are very much worth it, whether it's Justin Jefferson, Jamar Chase, T. Higgins currently on a franchise tag. Brandon Ayuk playing in the final fifth year of his initial rookie contract. There's a lot of guys that got to get paid. Philadelphia gets ahead of the market so frequently into so many smart things,

both around the margins and also substantial things like these massive extensions that I think really help them maintain this level of consistency, even if the way that last year concluded was terrible. But I'm a big fan of how they do their business. Philly certainly knows how to like consistently stay slightly ahead of the curve during the offseason and execute during the season. Landon Dickerson's another good example. He signs that extension right before free agency starts. And if I were Landon Dickerson's agent and I saw the money.

that was going to Robert Hunt. That number was probably going to be a little bit bigger for Landon Dickerson. I know it. Yeah, five for 100 versus four for 84. Yeah, totally. They've consistently done that, and the fact that they did the Devante Smith deal

way before they needed to, and you have teams like Dallas who are turning in their homework six minutes before it's due pretty much with all of these extensions. I think that there is a slight advantage to be found there. All right, what's your next one, field?

Well, nice segue right there. Let's go to the Cowboys. And to me, the Cowboys' takeaway was positional value does matter, but we're also going to trust the board. And that was, I think, and I'm not saying that the day three of the NFL draft does not matter. There's countless examples and one of the great examples maybe ever with Kuka Nakua last year of how important day three does matter. However, or how much it does matter, I tend to focus much of my attention in the first, I'd say three rounds of the draft. because if you look at like the number of heavy hitters that begin their NFL career as top 100 or so picks, it does tend to outweigh the players that are not taken in the first three rounds of the NFL draft.

But Dallas... Those are starters, right? You pick a guy in the top 100. That's the thought. That's going to be a starter. So I think focusing on that group makes a ton of sense. So the Cowboys went into the NFL draft with a couple of pressing needs. I thought the most obvious one was, of course, left tackle.

Well, the team moved down from 24 to 29. a deal that added a couple of extra picks along the way for Dallas, which was important given the fact that this team has such little flexibility with the salary cap right now, that they are not going to be active free agent spenders this off season. Of course, it may not be next year, even the year after, the reality is when you got a really great roster, even if you don't perform in the biggest moments, you get a lot of expensive guys that you have to pay for that are worth it. So Dallas moves down from 24 to 29. They end up taking Tyler Guyton.

Of course, that was Detroit going up to 24 to grab Ennis Ray. Excuse me, to grab Terran Arnold before they grabbed Ennis Rakeshaw Jr. In the second round, but Dallas ends up with Geith. So it was a good piece of business by them to still land that player. But there's no guarantee that Tyler Guyton is available at pick number 29 once they move back. And oh, by the way, they take Marshawn Nealon in the second round. A player I really like from Western Michigan, one of the strongest defensive players in the entire NFL draft is heavy hands.

just like completely overwhelmed the competition at the collegiate level. But in the second round, I think people were saying, okay, great, let's grab a running back right here, whether you believe in the fundamental value of a running back in the second round or not. Do we address defense at a spot that we don't already have potential like starters for this year and next of Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, right? No, they take Marshall Neal. Who, by the way, I like a lot as a prospect, but they were probably looking at that

pick as at some point, DeMarcus Lawrence is not going to be one of our most. dominant defensive players, so we're getting ahead of the curve. And of course, the Cowboys never drafted a running back. They ended up signing Zeke yesterday, or I guess it hasn't become official, but we'll be very, very soon. And while Zeke, I thought, was solid last year in the role he had for the Patriots, there was a chance to get younger and more explosive in the draft at some point during the middle round, and the Cowboys said, we're good.

Rico Dattle did fine last year when given opportunities. So piecing that room together, it's easier to piece together your running back room than it is to piece together your pass rush with guys you're getting off the street or drafting way late in the draft. And to Marcus Lawrence, that's as soon as next year. His contract is up after this season. And this is a team that lost Dante Fowler in free agency. They lost Orange Armstrong in free agency.

And those waves of pass rushes that they can throw at you, it's a calling card of who they've been over the last couple years. So I wasn't necessarily surprised because I feel like the N1-Pick aligns with their values from a team-building perspective in ways that makes sense to me. And then you get to what they did along the offensive line. And the way they handled the draft was very impressive. They're always very impressive in the draft. People just get mad because they're the Cowboys.

This is my problem with Dallas this offseason. What they have done up to this point before the draft started, to me, was unacceptable. If you look at DAC having a $55 million cap hit when you're supposed to be a contender, you can't do it. You cannot have your quarterback taking up that level of the cap if you're trying to win Super Bowls because the lack of flexibility it gives you. You have to get ahead of that problem. in some way, shape, or form, and they didn't.

So they have no flexibility. They lose all these guys in free agency, and they needed to come away from this draft with two starting offensive linemen in order for them to even probably approach the level of play they got up front that they had last year. Well, they trade down in the first round. They had an extra third-round pick. They still get Tyler Guyton, who theoretically can start for them at left tackle. And, oh, yeah, with that extra third-round pick, they get Cooper Beebebe, who probably should

have gone higher based on what sort of college player he was, what his tape looked like, but he's got shorter arms than most small children, and people weren't sure what position he was going to be able to play, but he profiles, I think, pretty well as a starting center in the league with what his skill set is, so you can potentially drop in a guy you drafted in the third round as your starting center, and Tyler Guyton is your starting left tackle, and those glaring, glaring needs you had coming into the draft no longer feel like glaring needs if this goes well. That's a small margin for error. but it makes sense.

Their track record is pretty darn good. I think the most important point, though, you made earlier sort of in passing is that the Cowboys have this tendency of being the team that, what was the exact line you used, turn their homework in six minutes before it's due, right? Like, that's been, unfortunately, Dallas's extension M.O.

Too frequently recently, and they end up having to pay hand over fist for a player who's worth it when you factor in what that player would make on the open market, whether it's eventually the CD Lamb deal or eventually the Micah Parsons do or eventually the Dak Prescott deal, but you juxtaposed that to Philadelphia, which you did, and their aggressiveness has probably ended up saving them money. The occasional regret, right, Carson Wentz, that did happen, right?

But the number of deals they got ahead of ended up being so resourceful to them that I think Dallas could have taken a lesson from them. Just as a quick aside, that Cowboys have maybe the least amount of leverage for any team negotiating with the quarterback that they do right now with Dak Prescott. I mean, it's just remarkable the number of different ways that Dak has substantial leverage over them or else he's going to the open market, which, as we know, that will be incredibly generous to DAC. It's great to be Dak Prescott in a lot of ways, especially right now as it pertain to this

upcoming negotiation. To me, it's one of the most fascinating questions the entire year, is whether he is going to be there next year, whether they want him to be there next year, is there going to be a DAC bidding war that happens this off season? Is there going to be a team out there? I was on Barnwell's pod yesterday, and it's like looking at where the Raiders are and the way that they've approached this,

like are the Raiders maybe a DACC Prescott team next year with some of the financial flexibility they have? Way too much sense to not think about Dak, Prescott, a Raider jersey in 2020, 2005. Way too much sense. The DAC Watch is going to be very fun. And this is, you know, obviously we can do this without really knowing

and not really having insight into the process. But the way that I would kind of frame this is, Will McLeigh handles the draft, and the other guys that are in charge of this organization handle the money. And the draft tends to go very well and the money stuff has not gone very well recently. And maybe that's too simplistic and reductive,

but that is kind of how it seems from the outside, at least to somebody without, you know, with somewhat novice. Yeah, I don't know Will personally, but he has outstanding respect around the league. Outstanding. It's hard to argue with what their draft results have looked like over the last five to seven years.

They've been a pretty damn good job. And that's why the other elements of this are so frustrating. often because they've consistently found good players at this stage of the process. All right, my other team, my second team here, let's stick in Pennsylvania. I really like the Steelers just not shying away whatsoever from letting everyone know that it is ass kicking time in Pittsburgh. And it's funny because the Steelers, even listening to Arthur Smith talk about the Zach Frazier pick, who they drafted in the second round out of West Virginia, presumably to be their

starting center. He was talking about, yeah, you know, when you play Steeler football, you want to be able to have this physical brand of how you approach offense. And that's all well and good. But if you look at the Steelers history, you know the last time the Steelers drafted an offensive lineman in the first or second round before last year when they drafted Broderick Jones? I'm going to guess at some point like the last four or five years?

No. 2012. Wow. Geez. It was the last time they drafted an offensive lineman in the first two rounds. That year, they drafted David DeCaster on the first round and Mike Adams in the second round. And so you have a team that has struggled on offense really for the last five.

years. Since 2020, they ranked 23rd in EPA per drive. And a lot of that has been tacked up to quarterback struggles, offensive coordinator issues. Totally fair. But this offensive line has been a weakness consistently for most of the last five, six, seven seasons. They've been grasping at straws. They've had to sign a bunch of guys in free agency. You've had a fourth round pick and Dan Moore and a third round pick and Chuck Sikora for locking down your tackle spots for a good long while now. and to see them pivot really hard away from that in the last two drafts and just say, you know what, we've struggled to find an identity on offense post-Benzhen Rathesberger. Let's make sure that that's no longer a problem.

We've got questions at quarterback, both now and in the future. Let's make those questions matter a little bit less and just define ourselves as a team that can run the ball and kind of live that way until we figure out what that quarterback position looks like. I think that's exactly what they did. There's a world where Roger Jones kicks out to left tackle this year. Zach Frazier drops in as your starting center and Troy Fountain is your starting right tackle. And we're cooking with gas a little bit. I mean, that is just a different feel to that position group in Pittsburgh than we've seen in recent years.

And I think it could give a different feel to their offense period. Yeah, they certainly have positional versatility along the offensive line. I'll be curious how this draft class ends up like two or three years right now because they did take some medical risks in the first three rounds, right? Zach Frazier, I don't know how much of a risk is fair to call him, given that he's recovering right now from major leg injury. That being said, you know, like that's just part of the calculation. That's part of the reason why he was taken at 44th overall as opposed to maybe 34th or somewhere a little bit earlier than that. And then Peyton Wilson is one of my favorite players in the class. And, you know, it's such an interesting process doing pre-draft rankings.

And I put a ton of stock into how Dane sizes these guys up. Dane was much more in the range of where Peyton Wilson would end up going as far as like when the draft actually took place. I think he had him like 88 or somewhere on the big board around there. He wasn't, a lot of people were framing Peyton Wilson as this guy. Well, if he was healthy, maybe he'd be a first round pick, an early second round pick. I think Dane was a little bit more skeptical of what the film looked like beyond some of the medical concerns. And I think that's why he pushed him down a little bit further. Yeah, so I had him higher on my board.

I was more impressed by the film, which is fine, by the way. It's good for have healthy debate within the draft discourse. But I think that one is like kind of a fulcrum player in this draft. I feel pretty good about the first three guys. Like I guess the other three guys. Well, yeah, Roman Wilson was that of Peyton Wilson. So Roman was the first of the two Wilson's taking very Wilson heavy offseason for the, for the Steelers, huh? Yeah, it really is.

But I feel really good about those first three guys being legitimate contributors, maybe all as rookies as well. Certainly, I thought with Tano because I absolutely love the player. He was 10th on the big board, my big board personally. So I thought that was a great value at number 20 overall. Peyton Wilson is a fascinating player to be the legitimate 4-4-3 speed. I like to say that 4-4-3speat. A good example when they don't in my mind is like I'm not totally convinced that the 4-6-1 for Kehan Coleman's going to define his career.

Good football player. Really good football player. I get it. Yeah, for the bill's sake, right? But he's, you know what? After that one quote, by the way, in the post-draft press conference, like he's too charismatic for me to not live in a world. he absolutely kicks ass.

Like, he needs to be great because I need to hear in front of a microphone for like the next 10 years. I, the bill's receiving group, if you look at it, again, small margin for error. Brandon Bean came out and said explicitly

in his post-draft press conference, we're going to need to rely on this guy early, and Josh Allen knows that. They need him to be a player from day one. But in the best case scenario, a receiving core of Kean Coleman is your like big X ball winner outside, Khalil Shakir and being able to do all,

I like Khalil Shakir. He's a really fun player. I think he can do a lot for you. And then Curtis Samuel, obviously, has a pretty unique skill set. That combined with Dalton Kincaid, I get it. It's kind of weird.

And, you know, it's not necessarily the most traditional group, especially if you're going to use Khalil Shakir outside in some of these looks, which you might have to if you don't feel like Curtis Samuel is that guy. So I'm very curious how that's going to turn out because I think, again, if it breaks right for them,

that group becomes more intriguing and interesting than it might seem like at first glance. I'm not trying to always make everything the comparison game to the Chiefs, but based off how the group played last season, the Chiefs skill group for like the first, I don't know, 12 weeks of last year was not that much deeper or more potent than what you just described in Buffalo on paper, right? I mean, like what that fully formed version of Buffalo can be can be on par, certainly ahead of where Kansas City was for like the first 12, 14 weeks of the season when they were just basically being dragged by their defense, who was obviously, obviously, brilliant last year, but Kansas City was like unrecognizable until about, I guess like January 1st, right? That that, that, that, that Raiders Christmas Day game was perhaps the idea of the chief season. It's amazing that's the last time that they lost a game, but it was a reminder of just how much that team had morphed into becoming a special teams and defense winning team

as opposed to a team that just, you know, blew you out, 28, nothing at halftime and just everything else was, was, was, uh, unimportant in the grand scheme. So, yes, but this bill team, I'm intrigued. It's a very, they made a bet this off season. They made a bet that they needed to potentially subtract to also somehow get better. By the way, I realized as I was going, I said I would do this alphabetically, I didn't even take my team that comes first in the alphabet with my first pick. I wasn't going to say anything.

I was going to see if you were going to circle back to them at some point. Yeah, yeah. Try to do it now. Might as well, right? Yeah, it's all you, buddy. My education is failing me right now. Cardinals were my first team. That is actually Cardinals, if you do it outlawfully, it comes before commanders.

So my apologies to my teachers in the past. You had a much better job of educating me than I just showed for the world right there. But the Cardinals, the strategy was we have a ton of picks. We're going to resist temptation to move off of our most premium picks, and we're going to check off needs and just continue to do it. My favorite draft class in the entire NFL was the Cardinals. I love it at the very top of the board. Marvin Harrison, Jr. is such a good example of how you can. can potentially

like there is a path that exists where the Cardinals turned pick four into I'm just imagining the Vikings trade up. Four turns into 11, 23 and a 2025 first round pick, right? And that could yield a

ton of excellence for your roster. It's possible. I also know that Marvin Harris Jr. is going to be an absolute stud at your most important position of need. I loved Arizona staying put in round one. and then just continuing to crush from start to finish there. Yeah, at a certain point, you need difference makers, especially at that spot.

And if you're at 11, maybe you try to maneuver back up the way that they did, but we didn't see any traits in the top 10. And if there's a chance that they had a package that was going to entice somebody in a way that they weren't on draft night, but you've accrued and acquired so many picks. Now it's time for those picks to turn into players. I'm looking, I'm doing the number right now. So let's see, one, two, three, four, five, six. 12 draft picks for Arizona.

And by the way, liked pretty much all of them. Like for football nerds out there that know players beyond like the first 30 or 40 in the draft. Like I absolutely loved in the second round. Max Melton, who was in my top 50 early, quarterback from Rutgers,

Liza Jones, B.C. quarterback, one of my favorite mid-round values as well. Isaiah Adams from Illinois, who I had higher than I think most, if not all of consensus rankers. I had him way high on my board. I thought he had a chance

to sneak into the back of, round two. He ends up going 71 overall. Trey Benz and loved him. And then Tip Ryman, one of my favorite guys in the entire draft class who killed the pre-draft process. The tight end from Illinois hit 19 catches last year. Can you imagine having 19 catches during their final season in which you were healthy in getting drafted 80 second overall? But when you're 6'4, 2703 pounds. I thought it was fewer than that because I, well, I kept making jokes because Dan loves him. So over the last three weeks, the number kept going.

down and down and down every time we would mention Tip Ryman. I was like, oh, man, you went 80 second overall, catching three passes last year. It's very impressive. So I had no idea what the actual number was by this point. 19, but he had two targets last year that were thrown over 10 yards down the field. Two. And he goes 80 second overall.

But again, 6-4, 273, 4-6-4-40, that gets drafted high. What I love about it is that you can just see how it all is supposed to unfold with the Cardinals. You look at what they were last year, and I thought that Drew Petting did a fantastic job. And Nick Rawls as well, I thought, did. He was creative in the ways of their weight on defense in a major way. Working with nothing. I mean, one of the least talent of the defenses you can imagine. But now you look at it, and it's like, okay, on offense, we have the quarterback.

We have a left tackle now in Paris Johnson. Now we have a number one receiver, hopefully, for the next decade. And that's what you can build the foundation of your offense on and everything else rotates around that. But even the way that Tip Ryman fits with Trey McBride. now you have a true, like, Y, tight end that goes, is a very nice compliment to the type of skill set that McBride brings to the process. At running back, Trey Benson and James Connor, it makes sense. You can just see the differentiation in their skill sets. And if you move on from Connor next year, Benson's role rises.

And then on defense, and then Isaiah Adams is the same way. Like, that team needed interior offensive line. And the fact that he could potentially be a plug-in-play starter in day one makes total sense. And then them trying to remake their cornerback room with multiple bites at the apple, outside of Sean Murphy Bunting, there's no one. They've absolutely nobody on that depth chart. So I get everything that they did. The only thing I thought,

wasn't curious because the way that the board fell, I understood why they went this direction versus something else. I thought that they might try to chase a bendy pass rusher somewhere along the way. Because if you look at what they did in free agency, Ballal Nichols, Justin Jones, they got big bodies along the defensive line.

And to me, Darius Robinson is just kind of additive to that type of body and skill set. But guys like Chop Robinson, they were off the board. So just adding the best defensive line piece they could at that point, I'm sure that was the thought process. But just how the synergy is

between Robinson and the other guys they have on the roster, that was the only thing where I'm like, I don't know how this ends up sorting out, but pretty much everything else they did, I think makes perfect sense. And if I was going to give them a slogan, don't get cute.

Then that's what they did. Okay, cute. Yeah, that's a good way of describing it. Not that edge rushers become available, frequently, but they do have so many resources still left over, that Arizona has the ability now to go big game hunting if that opportunity knocks, not to try to count out to your favorite team. But the month has sweat trade right now looks like a freaking masterstroke, by the way.

It did, by the, it did from pretty much the moment he stepped on the field. But that deal right now, man, is that one good? Based on how the draft unfolded and where these pass rush contracts are going to right now, pretty impressive. But I digress. Yeah, the hope is maybe B. Gio Jolari kind of takes his step forward because that's his skill set, and you don't necessarily want to block guys.

You drafted in the second round. But one of the teams I'm most intrigued by, just in terms of how their 2024 goes and how this all, you know, we like the plan. How does the plan actually get enacted? The Cardinals are a team I'm weirdly excited to watch this year. Yeah. I mean, we're far enough removed from the season where, like,

I could watch anybody right now and be thrilled. That's very true. All right. My next team here is the Carolina Panthers. And I think that the message... I almost picked him as well. What would your message from the Panthers have been? I'm curious.

My message from the Panthers is, I don't care if the quarterback's Patrick Mahomes or if the quarterback's the worst in the entire NFL. You must support that quarterback with every resource available to you. And if that means overspending or if that means pouring more resources into a position that people in the public

might think is set, I don't care. And so mine is adjacent to that because what I think they said is, the past is the past. Whatever that last group did, I'm not worried about that. Them using a first-round pick on Xavier Leggett a year after drafting Jonathan Mingo. That's them not being tied up or concerned with maybe, again, a redundancy of skill sets. And then using a second-round pick on Jonathan Brooks a year after giving Miles Sanders that deal.

And you look at some of the other, this regime was willing to trade Brian Burns. The last regime wasn't. Even something like the Yash Nyman signing. I don't know how you didn't get more money. He's played good snacks. for Green Bay at multiple spots. That's, we've talked about that a bunch, just like how maybe the more tepid interest in him when he was a restricted free agent and then even this off season.

But maybe I'm reading a little bit too much into this, but that signing specifically, I'm looking at that as, hey, Icky, if things go south, we don't have any issues putting this guy in. And to me, that's just another example of we are not going to be tied down by what this previous regime did. We are going to take this in a brand new direction that we're going to. we think gives us the best shot. And I think that their draft spoke volumes in that regard specifically.

And even if, like, we'll see what the results end up being of all the investments they made this off season. But I truly believe they have an opportunity to credibly evaluate Bryce Young this year that they did not last year, right? I am not trying to forecast that Bryce Young will no longer be a Carolina Panther after one more year or two more years. But to play out another example or to reference another example, right, like part of the reason why the bears made the investment that ended up being ill-fated for in Chase Claypool, and I'm not trying to bring something up that I know is probably a sensitive subject, is we have to find a way to get a better evaluation of Justin Field. So that was not the only step they took. Fortunately, they took several other steps, including the trade that landed them DJ Moore, and darn all right in the first round and paying, you know, guys like, you know, trying to sign.

Ryan Bates last off season and eventually trading for him this off season is you have to find a way to see what your quarterback looks like with competent structure around him and Bryce Young obviously did not have that so I think they spent $152 million combined this off season on Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis neither of those players is you know prime Quentin Nelson right or you know however you want to describe you know the very top of the guard market right now but both of those players are very, very capable starting guards that allow that team to maybe run a functioning offense. So adding Xavier Leggett, adding Jonathan Brooks, even if Jonathan Brooks needs a bit of a runway given the fact that he tore his ACL November 11th, at least you're given Bryce a chance to be

a little bit more confident. I think that it's a right way to approach having a young quarterback. And I think the bears are a very good example. Let's say that guy that you're trying to get information about doesn't end up being the guy. you're set up for the next guy. Now Caleb Williams has dropped into a much better situation than most young quarterbacks get to enjoy because the bears were trying to get answers on Justin Fields.

And some of the things the Panthers did, I just find so interesting from a, just a, the philosophy of team building around that sort of thing. So the fact that you're willing to trade Dante Jackson for Deontay Johnson, and then you sign Dane Jackson to be his replacement. So Dane Jackson is, we know what Dane Jackson is. He is, you know, marginally starting a level of cornerback play. So I'm willing to live with a downgrade in theory at that spot in order to get a past catching option for my young running back.

I think you should be willing to make sacrifices and concessions on defense when you're at this stage with a young quarterback because all that matters is him succeeding and you getting information on him. And I think that's exactly what they did. Even if he becomes the best quarterback in the NFL, this is what team should be doing, right? Kansas City, their draft starts with a wide receiver and an offensive tackle, right? And they end up drafting a fourth round tight-ed and Jared Wiley as well. So in the first four rounds of the draft, the chiefs go wide receiver, tackle, tight end. Like, just keep doing it because ultimately a quarterback with capable pieces around him will influence winning more than any other position or positions on the roster by far.

I want to ask you about Leggett because you had him as the 28th player on your board. I think you liked him a lot more than other. people did. That was a big gap too. I think was, was Dane was like in this, was he at 70 or something like that? It's very far down and Nate didn't like him either. So I haven't talked to many people who are big Xavier Leggett fans. You are. What do you think about, what

is it about Leggett that makes you feel comfortable with him in this range over some of the other receivers who were available? He was Michael Waveable offense, right? Like you get the football in his hands and it just like basically good things are bound to happen. I thought that his athleticism was in line with what you saw on tape

as well. So he's six foot one 221 pounds. We're in a 43940. 439 is not something you don't see anymore. You do see it a lot. But you don't see a lot of guys at 221 pounds. He's powerful with the football in his hands. Running through tackles.

And I thought that like the size showed up in the red zone as well, some contested catch situations. And again, you're investing in the person, not just a player. I think the journey is kind of emblematic of what you're getting out of Xavier Leggett. It was a one-year-one, right?

71 catches. in 2023. He had 42 in the four years prior to that. Better known for his special teams contributions and his offensive contributions prior to last season, but broke out in a major, major way. I think the explosiveness, the instincts with the football in his hand,

the open field vision, all of that is good enough for me to believe that one-year breakout might be more of a breakout than it was a one-year wonder. And you can explain the way some of the lack of production, right?

He had a lot of issues in his personal life, And it was kind of a winding road for him. So the fact that he did only have one year, it makes sense when you're considering some of the other stuff that he was dealing with in the past. Ag, one of the themes, and not to throw cold water

on this Gamecock program right now, but like a handful of guys were there and either left or stayed and had less production until a certain juncture of their college career than you might expect. Right, Marshawn Lloyd has this great season with USC this past year.

Jahe Bell had a really good year with Florida State. He was coming on during his final season at South Carolina, but you saw some guys to part the program and find better success. So I think Lazavia Leggett, like, it might be more circumstances explained the first four years than it was, you know, the real like version of who that player was during those four seasons. Let's get to your next one here, a team that I'm tired of talking about the good things that they do, both in the draft and their team building process, but I will cede the floor to you.

Yeah, it's the Packers. And if you have a need, just keep swinging, right? So they had two needs defensively that I thought were particularly obvious going into the draft, linebacker and safety. They took two linebackers, both of them in the first 91 ticks, Edger and Cooper and Tyron Hopper from Texas A&M and Missouri, respectively. And then they took three safeties, three safeties, which, of course, they signed Xavier McKinney to one of the biggest deals in free agency this past off season four for $68 million. Evan Williams in the fourth, Keaton-Olladopo, in the fifth, Jamon Bullard in the second. So I should have probably listed Bullard first. Bullard, I thought, case to be the number one safety in the class.

That number one's, that top safety group, it was really just how you saw the players. It wasn't like there was a clear cut number one versus number two versus number three. Everyone's was different. Everyone's. Every single person had a different way of stacking those guys because their skill sets were so specific.

Yeah, I was very surprised by Jaden Hicks' fall to the fourth round. Very surprised by that, but I thought that it was kind of four or five guys that were all competing from that top safety spot, six guys actually. And you could have told me that any of them went first, and I wouldn't have been, like, completely floored. Tyler Nubin, Cole Bishop, and Javambo, are probably the three that I thought had the best

chance of being taken first, but also Jaden Hicks, Kaelin Blocke, and then maybe even Cam Kinchins, who I thought had maybe the best hate out of all six of them. He just ran a four, six, five, 40, so that changes things. He ends up going end of the third round to the Rand. But, yeah, the idea that you're just going to like double, triple down on positions of need in Grieve A, not a major surprise to me. seen this from Goody in recent drafts, double dips at wide receiver. I thought there was a chance they would double dip at offensive tackle early. They end up just taking one early in Jordan Morgan

and Travis Glover from Georgia State at 202 overall. So they ended up getting a pair of offensive tackles. I just didn't suspect that it would be the range would be so far apart. But the double dip is kind of a Goody special here. And he's shown that time and again during his, what, four or five drafts now doing this? Yeah, the wide receiver one. I mean, you go back a year. And that worked out very well for them. Yeah, tight end last year as well, by the way. Tight end, too. Yeah, they dropped to two tight ends in the first couple rounds.

I have this weird feeling that a year from now, Dantavian Wicks, is going to be the best of that entire group. I just think that he is, I really like what he brings to the table. And the fact that you get him in the fifth round after spending a second round pick on Jayon Reed, they've really set themselves up well. I thought they were like a sneaky, like you could take a wide receiver in round one team for this reason. They may have like three or four stars in that wide receiver group. room, but I'm also not certain that any of them are guaranteed to become, like, number one

dominant alphas. Does that make sense? Like, they could all become, or they could also not become. None of them could become one. It makes total sense, but I really respect. I remember talking to Brian last summer, where it was discussing the approach they took at certain positions and the fact that they didn't end up signing a wide receiver and free agency, and they really just let the kids go at it to build that entire room. And I think they were really conscious of not wanting to block opportunities for those young players. We're going to let these guys, we're going to give them every chance to develop into starting caliber players.

And listen, it was ugly at times last year as they were trying to get to that point. But I love that. I love that approach. And we've seen that with other teams, too. The example that I come back to is a couple of years ago when the Bears drafted Braxton Jones in the fifth round, they signed Riley Reef in free agency. And the thought was, well, he could be our stopgaff left tackle as Jones comes along. But it was close enough where it's like, why don't we just see what this guy can do?

because if he develops into a starting caliber player as a fifth round pick, the savings from that and the value in that are insane. So I appreciate the fact that they haven't gotten impatient with some of these groups, and they've let those guys work through some of those issues. And I think that is the same approach they're going to take with the receivers this year.

What they did at safety and linebacker, it makes total sense, giving yourself every chance to just find answers there. And the linebacker thing specifically, I think, is I'm curious about it because now you're moving from an odd front defense to an even front defense. And if in base packages, you need three linebackers on the field, they didn't have three linebackers on the roster. Yeah, it was a Quay Walker show by himself.

He was the Will Smith meme, Fresh Prince of Allaire. You got to be O.J. McDuffie and, you know, guys that you don't want to be playing significant snaps for you. So the fact that they hit it as hard as they did, I think it makes perfect sense. And for the second straight year, they're going to be relying on a lot of youth. at some of these positions, but they have shown that it's worked out

okay for them in the past. So them hammering these positions of need with multiple options, again, I think makes total sense considering what they've done over the last couple seasons. It was funny today.

I was reading the post-draft coverage if the athletic is so good because you have these team-specific looks at every single class and they're doing a great job of bringing the context to some of these post-draft press conferences and what each of these GMs

and head coaches have to say about these picks. And Daniel Popper was talking about the Chargers draft class at large, and he said, it was the most surprising pick. He said, there wasn't one. There wasn't a pick from the Chargers that was surprising because everything that they did aligned with what we thought they might do. So many people thought they might go offensive tackle in the top five because of Jim Harbaugh's history, and they weren't trying to hide it. I was standing there at owners meetings when Jim Harbaugh was given that soliloquy about offensive line is the group that doesn't rely on anybody else. and they're the ones that can exist on their own, and then they drafted a tackle at five.

Everyone thought that Junior Colson was a potential fit for this team because of his connection with Jesse Minter, because of their need to find a tone setter and kind of a foundational piece defensively, guess what? Junior Colson is now on the Los Angeles Chargers. And so everything they did,

I think align with what we thought they might do. And you mentioned before talking about high character guys, and Joe Horowitz in his post-draft press conference said, were multi-year starters, and I think three of the guys they drafted, the Charters called them blue stars. Every scout gets one blue star

that signifies high character player. And I think three of the guys they drafted were those blue star players, and you only get a dozen of them in a single draft class. So I think it really speaks to what they want to be, how they want to build this thing,

and it is not out of character whatsoever from what we might have expected. So earlier when I was talking about the commanders and how, like, culture does matter. A reminder, like, you know, like scouts in that blue star. I mean, it's not exactly the same thing. But, you know, character tends to lead to culture. A quick aside about the Chargers and the idea of them going any direction

besides offensive tackle at number five. The 70 enter with Adam Schefter at the Super Bowl during the week of the Super Bowl. And my first mock draft was coming out, I think, Wednesday after the Super Bowl. And he was asking me kind of how it was taking shape at the top. And I mentioned, I think I had, you know, Malik neighbors going five. This was right on the heels, or at least the possibility of both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, no longer being Chargers was certainly in play. And he was like, no, no, no, he's kidding me. He's like, Jim Harbaugh taking a wide receiver at number five.

He goes, I don't know the draft class, but if there's an offensive lineman is any good, Jim Harbaugh is taking an offensive lineman. And I remember thinking at that time, like, you know, Schepty's the kind of guy who knows so much, obviously, and is so well. connected, that anything he says could be interpreted as somebody has told this to me specifically. But also, there are times where his football instincts are just really, really good. I think it was too early on in the draft process for me to think that Shephti had it on tremendous authority that the charges were definitely taking an offensive tackle. But his instincts were right on the mark. And yes, the chargers are exactly who we thought they were.

And again, they're not scared off from, this is what the current depth chart looks like. Who cares? Perry Pitkins is a fine player, but he is not, in their mind, I'm thinking, they're probably thinking he's fine. We don't want fine. We want elite at both offensive tackle spots. And now we have that with Joe Alt and Rashon Slater. Yeah.

And this team is not competing in 2024. They're probably not competing in 2025. So all that matters is what the 2026 roster looks like for the Chargers. And Joe, Dray Pipkins wasn't even going to be on the team in 2026 based on that deal. So I think it makes a lot of sense. The one thing I wanted to ask you about the Chargers, what do you think about? what do you think about the Ladd-McConkie Justin Herbert connection? Because I know you thought pretty highly of McConkey in the process.

I did love Ladd from the start. It's such an interesting exercise building your top 100. And I've heard from people that have been doing the draft stuff for a long time. And I think it's a good lesson going forward is that there were times where I became a little beholden to how I thought the league would view the player when I was doing my own rankings. You might slide a guy down a few spots. You might slide a guy up a few spots. Even if in your own evaluation of that player, you're not as convicted on that player. being as high or as low as where he ends up.

I was higher on Ladd earlier in the process, but I realized that like the reality of Ladd cracking the first round was not a certainty. I thought there was a time where it was like he's going somewhere in the top 25. But the route running is just remarkable. He is incredibly fast. He's got so much toughness to his game. He needed to be a more consistent catcher in 2023 after too many drops in 2022. He did exactly that.

And I know the size is just average, probably below average, to be honest with you. But I think in the right offense, and this is the right offense, I think Ladd is a chance to become a star. And we have to do a bold prediction for an ESPN roundtable that I think posts on Thursday of this week. And my bold prediction, again, bold is the important word here, is that Laddman Conkie leads all rookies in receptions this season, just because there's a pathway for him to be playing a lot for a Chargers team that had had one of the weakest depth charts in the entire league going into the NFL draft. I could see an outcome where he's just always open. I mean, just you think about the type of player he was in college, and I'm excited to see what that connection looks like. All right, speaking of Ladd-McConkie, your last team here is the team that

passed on Ladd-McConkey and traded out of that pick. Where are you going with your last message that you saw from a team in the draft? Yeah, the Patriots, their message was, we're not messing around, we're investing in the quarterback. And Drake May, of course, going third overall was no surprise, but if you look at the rest of their draft, I think they had 10 total selections. I'm sorry, they had I was wrong, they had eight. But seven of those eight were offensive

players. Now, one of them was also a quarterback, but the only player they took on the defensive side of the ball was a pick 180, Marcellus Dyle, a corner from South Carolina. Good player, but defense was not the focus here for the Patriots in this draft. They took a pair of

offensive linemen, a pair of wide receivers, and a tight end. Jehine Bell, who might be a fullback or an H-back, super unique player. We talked about him a bit earlier on in the show. And the Patriots had Mack Jones, obviously, three years ago, which they took 15th overall in the 2021 NFL draft, and it seemed to go very well as a rookie. And then things deteriorated for a lot of different reasons.

There was coaching changes. There was lack of personnel. There was Mack's own struggles on the field that contributed to that, of course. But the Patriots this time around know that Drake May is 21 years. old as of January of this year. Everybody talked about the developmental upside of Drake May, but it might take some time. Well, the Patriots helped support that cause by going big during the draft to surround him with better pieces after a quiet offseason that saw them retain Kendrick Bourne, add KJ Osborne,

keep Hunter Henry and Mike Unwenu, but not do a lot of splashy things across the offense to give you confidence that whoever was the picket number three was going to come out and have like immediate massive success. I thought it was a smart sort of meat and potatoes offensive approach to the Patriots after taking Drake Verde. Yeah, and what they did moving down from that spot where McConkey went,

you had McConkey ranked higher than Jaylen Polk, but you really liked Jaylen Polk, and what this allows, that pick that they got in that trade, they got a fourth round pick they gave away a fifth round pick. The fourth round pick they got in that deal with the Chargers, they used that to draft John Baker. So, and when you're where the Patriots are, where you have a bunch of number threes,

most of whom probably won't be on the roster in 2025. Kaj Osborne's on a one-year deal. They can move on from Kendrick-Born after this year. They can move on from Ju-Ju after this year. You need to do everything you can to take multiple bites at the apple to find past catchers. So even if Makaki was higher for you and he's a good player, Jalen Polk and Javon Baker,

I think you can make an argument is more valuable to this team right now than Alad McCawke would be. I think that's a fair argument. And during the pre-draft process, you try to have your handful of guys that you are just very, very passionate about. And Jalen Polk was probably the player. He was the captain of that team for me.

And I'm not talking about guys like Malik Neighbors or somebody like that, right? Like he's an awesome player. Everybody knows it. So Malik Neighbors or Joe Alt is not the kind of player that I am talking about here. It's a guy who probably won't go in the first round, but you think has a really good chance to exceed wherever it is that he ends up. And for me, it was Jalen Polk, one of the most enjoyable players from me to watch. watch during the fall, I thought that he is, he just like a top, here's the analogy that I've used consistently with Jalen Polk. He is like an old school NBA, like low post player. Lack of sizzle, lack

of, like, razzle, but just a lot of substance to him, right? He just gets buckets, right? Not the fastest guy ran a 4-5-240, which actually was like maybe not a bad time for him relative to what I think some may have anticipated for Jalen Polk, but super tough, good off a line of scrimmage, crazy good body control, vice grip hands, super strong, great ability to kind of torque down the field as well. I don't know exactly how the Patriots offense will look. It's the first time that Alex Van Pelt has been a play caller. There is some mystery whenever you have that dynamic in play.

But I think that Jalen Pol is going to play a lot early for this team. Jalen Polk the pole milsap of second round receivers. There we go, baby. I actually like that one right there. Yes, I might start using that. You're going to try them out there. He's going to give you a bunch of good minutes. He's going to give you everything you need him to do,

even when you consider some of the limitations. So I totally get that. I have two questions for you about the Patriots, because you know this team really well. One, who's playing left tackle for this team? They drafted Cade Wallace in the third round, but that's more of a developmental piece. What do you think their left tackle week one plan looks like?

Man, it might be Chooks of Kor for, who mentioned earlier, signed to a one-year deal this past off-season, a guy who probably is a little bit over-man. man being a full-time starter, but right now seems like maybe the best bet. Now, they believe internally that Caden Wallis can become a left tackle. 40 starts in college at Penn State, all at right tackle. So whether he can become a left tackle or not remains to be seen. That seemed to be part of their calculus, though, because they have gone,

they've had a quiet off-season addressing that position. So I don't, I would not be surprised if Caden Wallace at some point during the season becomes their starting left. Interesting. I think that's probably their best hope for the best outcome. And the other part of this is... He's a great athlete, right? It's just... I mean, and obviously, when you have a guy who, oh, why wasn't he left tackle in college? Well, the left tackle in his team, you know, got drafted 14th overall. So the other one...

So who's going to be the left tackle in week one is a question. Who's going to be the quarterback in week one? I think it's 50%. I really believe that. And that was my... Because you and I have been talking about this for the last few weeks because I in a vacuum was kind of team trade down because I was... was worried about the spot you would put this quarterback in.

With May being available at three, I have no issues with them drafting Drake Mae. I think pathways to a quarterback like Drake May are very limited, and I think that they made the right decision. But I am personally worried about Drake May getting too many snaps in this situation with this supporting cast, because we've seen guys dropped into spots like this where there isn't a lot of help, and it can be a negative as much as it's a positive. So you think we're going to see Jacoby Percette for probably an extended period of time this season? Yes, and I guess I suppose extended period of time is a subjective way of describing it, but it wouldn't blow my mind at all.

If Tukkah Bressat starts more than half the season this year for the Patriots. Now, if this team is two and six halfway through the year, then sure, there will be calls for Drake May, especially if Drake has some moments during the preseason and anybody that watched Drake in college knows there's going to be some moments, right? I mean, that pin and of an arm is a sight to be seen. so the Patriots are going to have to resist that urge to play him right away. But I do believe Jacoby Brissette starts out of the gates. My own evaluation of the Patriots, and I don't know if they feel the same way internally or not, but it seems to align with where you are at, is that there is potentially something special there with Drake May.

It's going to take some time to get there. And I think they have not finished the job of getting the pieces around him to the point where you can expect this team to be playing really. good football this season. So why rush it would be my thing. It's like just allow this thing to take its time and run its course organically. And the chances of you being, I just don't think that if you play Drake week one, you're going to be content.

I don't personally believe they will be contending for the division this year based off of the pieces currently in place around him. I would much rather focus on the long-term outcome of Drake May than the short-term satisfaction that could come from him starting early and maybe having some flash moments that give you a glimpse into what will eventually become the norm. We've had these experiences kind of all over the board. The guy I've kept coming back to when we've had this discussion is if you look at what Josh Allen was dropped into as a rookie, it was horrendous.

I mean, it was absolutely horrendous. And they were bad on offense. They were one of the worst offenses of the last decade that season in 2018 in Buffalo. But it didn't end up matter. You know, him getting those reps, I think ultimately became a positive for. him. And that's been true for a lot of guys that have been in, not a lot of guys. That's been true for several examples of highly drafted players dropped into shitty situations. But I do think that there's a little bit of a worry that that experience becomes a negative more than a

positive if you're not surrounded by the right pieces, if the ecosystem is that bad. So you're always weighing it on both sides. Is the experience in him getting those reps ultimately good for his development, or is the quality of those reps so bad that we're concerned about bad habits developing and what sort of scar tissue can kind of creep in? And I think that's what the Patriots are going to have to be weighing. It's a fine line to navigate for sure. Your point about the coaching staff is so interesting because it, this is, it's a weird group. Alex Van Pelt has never been a play caller. He was an offensive coordinator in Cleveland with a play calling head coach. He was a quarterback coach in Green Bay. Their offensive line coach, Scott Peters, is the assistant

offensive line coach for the browse for the last few years. Somebody, the offensive line community, which I feel like I'm sort of a part. The offensive wide community, I think, is excited for him to have his own room. And I think that he's somebody that there's excitement about, but that's an unknown. Ben McAdoo is on this staff. I mean, there's just a lot of question marks about how this is going to look. So I'm very curious how it shakes out. First time head coach, first time offensive coordinator is a play caller, first time defensive coordinator, first time special teams coordinator,

first time, you know, whatever you want to call Elliott Wolf, de facto GM. I'm first time, full-time offensive line coach or head offensive line coach. It's a very, very green organization right now. It's not a negative. It's a matter of fact. It's just a statement of fact that the Patriots might be as sort of the beginning of what could be, you know, a very, very exciting developmental stage. Because Drake May, like, even if I had Jayden Daniels ranked ahead of Drake May, it does not cloud the fact that I think that Drake May has the chance to reach as much upside as any quarterback in the entire class. My last team here is a team that I think was interested in Drake May in this process,

but couldn't crack that top three because no one could. And that is the Minnesota Vikings. And to me, the Vikings message and what they told us in the draft process is, just because I know the rules doesn't mean I have to follow them. And the fact that Quesiodofo Menza is somebody that spent a lot of time, and one of his roles, previous stops in the NFL was figuring out how draft charts work, figuring out how draft trades should work, all of the value propositions in that process.

and he decided to ignore a bunch of that in the way that they approached this draft I think is so interesting. They only drafted three players in the first four rounds. And if you look at it, in the end, with the series of trades that they made from the second round up to 23

and then from 23 up to 17, this team traded away their second, third, and fourth round picks in 2025 to move up and draft Dallas Turner. And the fact that they did that, I don't know, I'm so curious, why. Like what is the, what is the reasoning for this? Is this a, you know, we know what we're doing? Is this, we thought Dallas Turner was such a rare piece. We had to do this. Are you feeling like your feet are to the fire a little bit with the way that last year went, even though year one was great?

So why the Vikings ultimately landed on such an aggressive strategy and being willing to trade away as many future picks as they did when you consider the background of their general manager, it's sort of incongruous to me. So why we landed in this spot, I think that that's something I'll have questions about until we get solid answers. Yeah, it's a great point. And I do think so. It's interesting because this year is kind of the year where they even things out, right? They'll take on all the dead cap for Kirk Cousins and a couple other deals like DeNeil Hunter. Like all that money will be cleared from the books in 2025.

But as you noted, as of right now, and they will, they project to lands potentially, two very, very valuable compensatory picks next year. As of right now, they have a one and two-fifths next year, and that's in the draft. That's it. And this is a team with a bunch of holes still. A bunch of holes. And they should have some financial flexibility, even after signing Justin Jefferson, even after giving out some of those deals.

But they need a guard. They need some corners. I mean, it's not like this team was a quarterback away and everything else was set. There are a lot more question marks than I think people from the outside might think. Totally. Yeah. is a fascinating upcoming season for Minnesota because if JJ doesn't hit, like some are currently projecting it'll hit because of the great infrastructure around him, there will be some serious

like what now feelings within that building in Minnesota. I mean, this was the bet. And this was the bet. And if it doesn't go well, then there are going to be a lot of people who have to answer some very tough questions. And then beyond the Kirk Cousins compensatory pick, which should be in the third round, there's a chance that we're going to have some tampering allegations. come to light with the Falcons.

And so what other picks are they going to be working with? That being said, just because you're going to get more picks somewhere down the line doesn't mean trading away a bunch of valuable picks is the right move. You can have all of them. That that still is an option. And the fact that they didn't want that and they thought Dallas Turner was so valuable, I find that so telling maybe about what they think of him and what they think about their current timeline.

Yeah. And people, and not to think too far ahead right now, but the current forecast for the 2025 NFL draft is a much deeper class than 2024, in part because anybody that was a true freshman that did not redshirt because of like, you know, people in front of him on the debt chart in 2020 or 2021 will be in next year's draft, right? Like this year, a lot of guys return with an extra year of eligibility. That's why we've had so many older prospects over the past couple of years because guys were in school for five or six seasons when you factor in the COVID year. So it should be a deeper draft class next year than it was.

this year, and some teams like Philadelphia as an example, were motivated to acquire extra 2025 capital, maybe in part because of that reason. And the Vikings, you know, they, again, have the benefit now being on that rookie quarterback timeline. So if you look at, oh, we have a whole lot of card, we have a whole lot corner. Well, guess what? This team currently is slated to have $86 million in salary caps space next year. A good chunk of that's going to go to Justin Jefferson.

But even after Justin Jefferson, Christian Derisaw's fifth-year option is $16 million. That's accounted for in that 80 million. $85 million number. So this is the benefit of doing what they did. And moving on from a guy like cousins and going to that cheaper option, now we have the ability to kind of fill out this roster in ways we might not have if we had gone the other direction. So we'll see how this unfolds.

But a, you know, a curious set of decisions from that team specifically in this year's draft. Yeah, a big year of safety stay in Minnesota. Field Yeats, sincerely appreciate the time, my friend, especially coming off of an insane weekend for you and the amount of time that you were on and having to produce things. So it means a lot that you'd be willing to take the time out so close to the draft.

So we really appreciate it. I appreciate you having me on. Always fun to talk ball. Let's do it again sometime soon. Maybe some fantasy football talk. Way too long. So we'll make it happen very, very soon. All right, guys, that's all we got.

I sincerely appreciate you all listening. I will be back with Nate's on Thursday. So please come back and check that out. we're going to chat about some of the biggest questions that are still remaining this offseason after the draft, whether it be team building, which veterans might be on the move, just the things that we're thinking about now that the draft is over. So please come back and check that out. For now, that is all we've got. Sincerely appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you soon.

This was the Athletic Football Show.