The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Most valuable non-QB draft 2022 with Lindsay Jones & Nate Tice

Episode Date: May 26, 2022

Following the 2nd annual Most Valuable QB Draft, Robert Mays, Nate Tice and Lindsay Jones are back to draft the best non-QBs in the NFL. Will Aaron Donald remain at the top of the list? Who from last year falls off? Which position group will have the most players selected? Tune in to find out.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, this is Lindsay Jones from The Athletic Football Show. Before we get in today's episode, I wanted to just make a quick note that we recorded this last week. And the tone doesn't maybe feel quite right for what our country is experiencing right now. But we wanted to go ahead and let you guys enjoy this really fun episode. But also wanted to know that we understand what's going on in the country right now. And now on to the episode. This is the Athletic Football Show. Welcome. The Athletic Football Show. Today's Thursday, May 26th. I'm Robert Mays. Great show for you guys today. We did this last year.

We did a draft of non-quarterbacks. We will lay out what the rules are for this draft here in second. Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I want to introduce people who will be doing this with me for the second year in a row, starting off with the Athletic Zone, Lindsey Jones. How are you doing? I'm great.

I'm ready to own this draft. So let's bring it off. It's going to be a beautiful disaster. As you said before, it's going to be a beautiful disaster. Your board is all over the place. I'm sure it's going to be great. And here, to help us finish this thing off, my good buddy, Nate Tyson, Nate, how you doing? Doing great, ready to recreate the Galacticos that I did last year.

But what did you call yourself in the Slack, the Mickey Loomis of? Yeah, so we've been trying to set the parameters here because, look, we're a little, we're a little loosey-goosey on what this exercise is. Is it like, you know, we're not building a complete. roster. We're not doing 11 players, you know, exactly how you would line up up the field. We're going to pick five guys, right? We're going five guys or seven? Seven. Okay. Excuse me. We're doing seven rounds. Hopefully your big board's more than 15. Yeah. So we're going to get up. We'll have seven guys. So it's not a full roster, right? And like, you know, it's like kind of how are we fitting into the salary

cap? Like, do I want to pick guys that are at the top of their position, top of the market? Maybe. Maybe I'll go the Mickey Loomis route. Maybe I'll, uh, F them picks and just, for all these guys. I don't know. I think Robert is a much more responsible GM than I am. But it's fine. Yolo, let's go. So here are the rules as I'm going to lay them out.

We're going to do seven rounds. The NFL draft is seven rounds. It allows us to hit about 20 players, which I think is a good number for the quarterback draft that we did last week. We did five rounds, obviously. It's a little bit of a different thing. But similar to that exercise contracts, I am taking them into account here.

I believe that we should take them into account. So what these guys are going to make over the next four years, same rules as we laid out on the course. quarterback draft. So those are the parameters. As we did last week, we're also going to do a snake draft this time, like we didn't do last year just because we think it's a little bit more fair. And you learn.

You learn. You learn. As you do this more often, you do it a couple times. You figure out what works, what doesn't. We're going to go through as we make some of these picks, talk about where some of these players went last year, why that might have changed, kind of dig into what we've learned over the last year. So I did a random order, Generizer, Generizer, a

Random order generator. Starting off great here. Random order generator as part of that random order. Nate has the first overall pick. That means I am second. Lindsay gets the turn at 3, 4, back to me, so on, and so forth. So let's do this. This is your second year in a row with the first overall pick, isn't it, Nate?

Tanking. It's just bullshit. Yeah. The process has been working great. Trust in the process. I traded for this. And I, I'm going chalk again. I'm not even going to change my number one pick.

I'm going with Aaron Donald. And I think it's just Aaron Donald is going to be done. I'm so glad you did because this really makes things easier on me because I didn't know what I was going to do if he was still on the board at number two. I was saying I have in bold letters at the top of my draft board, where does Aaron Donald go? One one. One one. And I think this is Aaron Donald for this should be this spot until Aaron Donald doesn't look like Aaron Donald.

Now we're going to year two. I actually kind of know what they'll kind of look at, maybe get a little tidbits on some of these guys. But the only guy could ever like, you know, age is what. And also Aaron Donald had a couple like, oh, the Super Bowl might be my last game, but who cares it's Aaron Donald. But he's a good athlete. I think he's going to age well, even if he is undersized. The only guy you can compare to him is really, as far as size and skill set, is John Randall to me.

John Randall was a pro bowler at 11 sacks at each 34. So I, Aaron Donald is about to turn 31, I believe. And so I think I think he's going to age gracefully. And I think he's still going to be the most dominant player in the league when, I mean, he really is. and nothing has changed my opinion on that. So he is set to make 26.7 this year and then 23 and a half for the next two years. We'll see what happens with an extent.

We'll see what happens with an extension for him. I doubt he ends up playing at that salary. Yeah. Let's say it's 20. Let's say it's 30. Okay. Let's say he plays at 26.7 this year and then they rip it up. And the years three through four in this exercise are 30 million.

So average out 28. That's what the best edge defenders in the league are making right now, right? So that's what your Joey Bosa's are at. Right. Exactly. So your Watt, T.J. Waw, Bosa, some of these other guys are right at that 28 number. Even if Aaron Donald gets a raise after this year to about 30 and he becomes the first $30 million year defender, then he's right in the range with those guys. Even ages 31 through 34 at that price tag, it's still probably worth it.

He's still that different from everybody else, Nate. Yep. Still some surplus value there. I mean, it all comes down to, okay, there might be a week of 10. 10, a week 13 game where I would say he's quote unquote quiet. Like, you know, oh, just a TFL and a half sack or something of that sort. Watch the playoffs and watch where these, a guy like Aaron Donald can actually where his value comes in. Because when it comes to the crunch time, just like we say getting a bucket for a quarterback,

this is getting a bucket from a rusher getting after the quarterback. You know, asked Joe Burrow on that last play in the Super Bowl. Like that's what a guy like him can do at any moment in the game. I think, yeah, like 15 or 20 more pressures than any other interior defender in the league last year. And obviously he played more snaps than anybody. But if you look at it on a rate basis, he's still one of the most impactful players in the league as a pass rusher on a per play basis, even though he's playing like a thousand snaps over the course of the year.

And my favorite is when you look at the graph, Seth Walder do these every once in a while from ESPN, where it's the pass rush winning rate and the double team rate. And Aaron Donaldson is in his own corner of the graph. He's just so far away. It's like step for anybody else. The like the double team graph isn't even fair for him because like we need to quantify all the other ways that teams try to depend him. Triples, other chips, everything else.

My only question here, and you kind of mentioned it, Nate, where, you know, there was that after the Super Bowl. Is this going to be his last game? My only hesitation potentially taking him in the first round is that he could walk away. I mean, I think that I think ultimately the Rams will probably make. this worth it for him. But, you know, he very seriously considered retiring. This wasn't like a, you know, a splashy TV soundbite. Like this was a very real thing that was kind of percolating within the Rams throughout the postseason. It was something that they were talking about in the locker room. It kind of led to a lot of the von Miller fiery speeches, do this for Aaron type of stuff,

because I think they all thought that he could walk away. So that would be my only concern. Like last year I took Tom Brady the last pick, I think, at our quarterback drafting, like, fine, I'll take one year out of Tom Brady with my last pick. You might get one year of Aaron Donald. I just, I hope we get 18 more years of Aaron Donald that we figure out some sort of technology right away that we can just like freeze him in time because we're so lucky to get to watch it. But look, from what we see on film of him or in person when we're lucky enough to do it, there's

no better player in the NFL at any position than Aaron Donald. I'm going to give him the messy deal and give them like 30% stake in my team. You might as well. And I talk about that graph. Can we give a mistake in the, oh, is like, can we give a mistake and like, man, you and like all the other teams that the Kronky zone at this point? Yeah, right. Arsenal. All right.

Yeah, Arsenal, excuse me. That's the Glazers. I have the number two pick here. Yeah. So I was trying to game this out. And we'll talk about it as it as it continues to go. I also. I also, you have a great spot.

You have a great spot. You guys get to make a lot of soft ones. I also had the number two pick last year. I picked Chase Young. I regret that. And the development that you'd hope to see from him in year two when you're making a bet on, all right, does he put the past rush plan together?

Does he take a step forward in that direction? He didn't. So now I've learned some lessons from that. We're betting solely on potential in that spot or one year. It can get a little bit dicey. So I wanted something that was a tiny bit more of a shirt. thing, but also I'm getting some value. I'm getting a guy that's really young.

I picked Justin Jefferson. Oh, I thought you were going on a different direction with that. I picked Justin Jefferson. So you get two years. He's been amazing for two years. He's one of the best players. So yeah. Justin Jefferson is an unbelievable player.

I was talking to a member of the Vikings coaching staff recently, the new staff, and they said some things about him that were wild in terms of where he fits in not only, players in the league now, but just as a receiver over the last 10, 20 years. That's how good they think he is and how good of a season he could possibly have this year. All right. Justin Jefferson is 22 years old. Mm-hmm.

22. The next two years, he's slated to make $3.6 million and $4.1 million. Even with the fifth year option, let's say he gets $25 million in year four on whatever extension he ends up signing. That's still $12 million per year over the next four years. That's half of what... the highest paid receivers in the league are getting right now, and he's 22. He can play inside.

He can play outside. I think he was sixth in the NFL last year and yards per route run from the slot. Like what you can do with him as the centerpiece of your passing offense as a 22-year-old guy making that amount of money over the next couple years. I could have him. For the price that you're paying the best receivers in the league, okay, I could have Justin Jefferson and Javon Hargrave for the next four years. Yeah. Like that's what I'm thinking here with. I was taking him at the turn.

And Donald. So that's what I'm going with. And there are other guys in consideration. We'll talk about all of them. But I just think what you're paying him over those times and the two years of production, in fact that it wasn't a one year wonder, all the things he can do for your offense. And what receivers are getting paid right now in the discount you're getting for him. That was my thought.

Totally get it. And I wrote about this. I had an article on questions for first year play callers. And with the Vikings one, I'm so curious how much they, you mentioned it in the slot because of how the ranch. have utilized Cooper Cup. And that's what Justin Jefferson coming out of LSU was so good at was that he was a power slot. That's why I loved him.

And I thought he would be more like a Godwin type. And the fact he's become so he's even more dynamic on the outside than Godwin is. He is a true upper elite type of receiver. Top five. That's how I mean easy. Yes. Top five and 22. Yes.

And now he's, yes, you're getting him on the rookie deal. And I think he's going to be unlocked even further because he's been used more traditionally under the Kubiax. And now with Kevin O'Connell, I think now getting to move him around on a down-to-down basis, I think he's going to explode even more than he has. And he's already set crazy numbers in the first two years. So I totally get it. I would have taken them at six, I believe I'm at.

So I would take him one of my next two picks easily. He's going to play all over the place this year. Yeah. I'm sure. I'm confident in that that he'll be playing all over the place. Yeah. So it was there's so many directs you can go. Last year.

And I think right from our article. and I think that'll bump up to 50. Nate, I don't know if I've run this by you. I've been talking to, like, in conversations with coaches and stuff recently, I brought this up, and I'm curious what you think. I feel like a really good development plan for receivers is if the guy played in the slot in college, but has the body to play outside in the NFL, like those are the guys I'd chase. Because the refinement in their game, just the IQ and awareness of coverage structures

and everything else you have to worry about when you're playing in the slot. And Justin Jefferson even said that to me and how important it was all the option routes he ran inside, just his understanding of the mechanics of defense. I would love to, if I was scouting receivers, like that path of where they've lined up and who they've been, that's what I would bet on. If I could have fine a guy who played the slot in college but could play outside in the NFL based on body type, those are the guys I would chase. AJ Brown's another good example.

Or Drake London or. or Alec Peter, Alec Pierce, like, no wonder those are a certain type of guy I like in every draft class. So Linda, what do you think about Jefferson in a two? I like it. It's making me rethink a few things with my picks coming up. You know, he's going to be, well, maybe not the exact next guy to get a huge contract, but he's going to benefit hugely from what's happened this offseason. And the Vikings in a couple of years are going to, you know, they're either going to benefit by keeping one of the best young receivers in the game for a very long time and paying a premium to do so.

Or they're going to get like a shit ton of first round picks to trade him away. It's going to be a really interesting exercise in wide receiver value. But I love him. He was obviously very high up on my wide receiver board as well. He went last year at number 13. That's where Nate took him. So big jump. Shouldn't have set that.

Reflective of the wide supermarket. There's got out of the NFL this year. There are some guys where I would consider taking them a little bit higher. And I'm just trying to play this a little bit. So it's not necessarily that I think Justin Jefferson. I love it. The snake draft changes things. So this is about strategy as much as it's about how much I love Justin Jefferson,

even though I'm totally comfortable taking him here at number two. I'll talk about some of the other considerations as I get to my next pick. I don't want to give too much away. I don't want to lay too much on that table here. So you're up, Lindsay. Okay. So, yeah, like we did not do a snake draft last year, which changed things a little bit. And look, we're not building. Like, I don't need to trot these guys out to play an actual football game. But I do want to have some diversity of position. I've tried to get different positions. I have tried to mix it up a little bit and what I've done with this. Yes. So I get two guys here. So like Nate, I'm going to stay with the number three pick from last year. I was very happy with it last year, although I think you guys were a little bit surprised with where I took him. But I'm taking T.J. Watt once again. staying the same at number three because I love him. He's so versatile.

He's so dominant. He's coming up of a defensive player of the year award this year where, you know, there was some discussion about whether he was the guy who deserved it or not. I voted for him. I think he absolutely deserved it. And there isn't really anybody else I want outside of Aaron Donald on the field every single defensive down than T.J. Watt. I rewatched some games against the Steelers defense. and I wasn't even watching him, but it's so fun.

He's just so disruptive. Every play. Every play. Run place. He knifes inside. And this is my, I still think Miles Garrett's a hell of a player, but I do prefer T.J. a little bit because he plays the run better. And it's the freaky stuff.

He wins with his hands. Then he bends. He does exactly how it's so funny how he's like kind of like a smaller version of JJ because just they can go rogue sometimes, the better be plays. But he's right because he's so smart with it. And he's so athletic to take advantage of it. And I mean, he's just so productive. He's going to be 28.

You're getting him in his prime. So I totally get this. I mean, he's expensive. When we did this draft last year, he hadn't gotten his contract yet. But we kind of all knew it was coming. And he now has gotten his, you know, his massive deal. And I'm okay with that. I will spend.

Look, I'm a little yolo. I'm a YOLO GM here, but I will spend at the premium positions. And Eddresher is absolutely a premium position. Lindsay Loomis. All right. You get your next one here too. Okay. You get two here at the turn.

All right. So I'm going to go value pick then at number four to balance us out a little bit. And I'm going to take Jamar Chase at number four because he is young. So I consider taking him at two. I mean, to me it was between Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase. I think the two years that I've seen from Justin Jefferson, that was the only reason. Yeah. So when you say you regret taking Chase Young because, you know, he didn't have that jump after year one.

I do think Jamar Chase, Jamar Chase's rookie year in terms of like, where he's already at his development, I think, was maybe already accelerated above where Chase Young was in his development. He was an old pro. You're not betting on potential with Jamar Chase. He's already one of the best players in the league in his position. The last game that we watched, the last game that any of us saw, he was roasting Jalen Ramsey. So give me Jamar Chase. I'm pretty happy with Jamar Chase. He might not have quite as much of the positional flexibility as Justin Jefferson is, is like he can be as dominant in the slot, just line them up everywhere.

But in terms of like a guy who can go out and win one-on-ones against every single cornerback in the NFL and already has that elite level chemistry with his quarterback, I'm very happy to have tomorrow chase here, especially as cheap as he's going to be for the next three seasons. And he's young as hell too. I mean, he came out super young as well. Yeah, he'll be 20. I think he's still 21.

He'll be 22 this upcoming season. Yeah. So he, if you look at the money, it's actually very similar for Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase just because Chase was the top five pick. So over the next three years, he's making like seven, eight, nine, and then whatever this fifth year option is going to be, it's going to be about 11 a year,

and Justin Jefferson's about 12 a year. So even with that one more year that Jefferson had, that was part of my thinking as well, but I easily could have gone Jamar Chase because he may not line up in as many places, but the ways he can affect the game are just as varied. And the idea that he's one of the best deep threats in the league already and also one of the best yet guys in the league already,

that just doesn't happen. You don't have guys that do both of those things. Nate, in this exercise, if those guys were both available for you at the turn, and you could only pick one, who would you have taken? I was taking Jefferson at the turn. Okay. He would have been one of mine. I figured one of them would have been gone by the time I picked.

So I kind of anticipated that, but I would have gotten Jefferson. I slightly leaned to Jefferson, just some points you've already made. And that's just personal preference for players, too. But Chase is, it's incredible what he does, especially for his build and just be able to play bully ball but this hand eye coordination is just exceptional like it's incredible what he can do and and contort his body control yeah body control and all that and again these guys were college teammates and we've taken them into insane that these two played together so yeah no but i totally get it but jefferson would have been picked at the term by me all right so i'm at five here

i waited out i knew i could get this guy at five because lindsay was doing the turn and not you because if you had had two picks before I was about to pick here at five, I wouldn't have felt good about waiting on this. But now I did, I did feel, feel okay. He's taking your crush. Who's it going to be? I'm picking AJ Terrell.

Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. That's high is AJ Terrell. I don't know. I mean, I love him. So, so here's the reason.

Okay. He's 23 years old. And if you look at it, there are no other corner. I think you can make it maybe, be an argument for Patrick Surtain. Okay. Hold on.

Don't shakes his name already. Don't give him out there already. You can make an argument for Patrick Surtan, and that's fine. But most of the top corners in the league right now are sitting there making, you know, $18, $20 million over the next four years. AJ Terrell is going to make 11. And what he did last year and how he played last year, it was insane, like some of the numbers. Do you know what AJ Terrell's quarterback, the passerating against him when he was playing

zone coverage last year when he was the closest defender when targeted. Do you know what it was? It's like it's about under 50, right? It's something. It was seven. Seven. Seven. Seven. Seven. He's saying 7.7, according to PFF. Some of those plays where he's playing cover 2 and sinking underneath routes, the awareness to do that, and then also play the run. I mean, he's physical enough to come up and play that when they're playing all that cover 2, which it landed at a ton of last year. But he can just play man. He's really, really good when you allow him to do that. Falcons played about 30% man coverage last season, which is the 13th highest rate in the league.

And he was fantastic in those situations. And big body, 6-1, about 200 pounds, there just aren't that many great and potentially great young corners in the league right now. And I think that's why I was tempted to take him as high as I did here just because of scarcity. And it was the idea maybe Sartan at 8, which I'm maybe giving some stuff away, but that was the only other consideration as to why I would. I would wait on him. But that's why I was comfortable doing this.

I know you loved him. So I didn't want to wait for another turn in case you took him. Oh, yeah. No, I love him. I watch him against a jacks because I was watching Trevor Lawrence. And they started sprinkle him in a slot a little bit and just big guys, guys, that size shouldn't be that quick and fluid. And it's just, it's really cool to watch because his awareness is his best trait. And on top of that, he's a good athlete and with good size.

And my favorite thing to look at was the next gen stats did, they do the spray. chart where everyone throws all the targets and all that him against the bucks in the home game at Atlanta and there's three balls completed on to the right side tom brady just aimed from like the right hash to the left the entire game and two of those balls completed weren't terrell wasn't in there they're like goal line plays and the third one was that deep whole shot he hit to mike evans where terrell is sinking sinking sinking it was one of the best throws all of last year but it was so broke up two whole shots when they played in Tampa early in the year yes year and they finally and you could tell brady was like all right i'm going to try this it was like a 40-yard

hole shot it was the deepest thing i've ever seen and it was it was beautiful like everybody it was just a good football play but it like just brady knows brady there's a reason he just aimed left the entire game and yeah that just speaks to a j torrell i and it's aggressive and i know it's a little bit high but i just again positional scarcity and price and age and where you the fact that you have like two more three more picks between when i'm going to pick again i just i feel like i had to do it now if i was going to get him. He's super cheap right now. His cap hit is less than $4 million this year. We'll see. I mean, the Falcons are going to have to make a lot of decision. I mean, they're going to complete rebuild mode, right? I mean, he's one of the last guys left there that

they're going to want to actually keep the build around. So it'll be interesting to see when, ultimately, he gets paid and where that's going to go. But for right now, super cheap. I mean, let's say if it's, let's say his extension is $20 million in the fourth year of this exercise, because two more cheap years, fifth year option, and then fourth year. That's still 11 million averaged out over the next four years, which is about half of what Marshawn Latimore costs over that same stretch at time. And that was my thought is if you can get that for half, there just aren't that many young corners with proof and track records.

That's like the easy. It's summer. So that's why I did. It's team versatility, a lot of different things I was taking into account there. All right. Nate, you're up. You got two here at the turn. And I'm going to get my top three players on my board here.

So I'm going to get players too and play. Player three player right now racing to get this card in. Micah Parsons. Fricking first team all pro, 23 years old, insane player. Can't block them, love them three years on the cheap. I'm like popping everything I can right now. You were the lions right now racing with a game. I was hoping I could get him at eight.

I was hoping that you might be there. But I had other plans here. So that's, I'll get into it. But I got Aaron Donald and Michael Parsons. I am a static. But yeah, Parsons is insane. I mean, he's, it's one of the most fun players to watch in the league, just period, any position, just plays with his hair on fire. And on top of that, he's like a 0.000 1% athlete.

Love him. He had 12 sacks since 13 games. Only other guys to do that, Julius Pepper's Reggie White and Leslie only also. Yeah, that's pretty good historical precedent that he's setting there. He's a perfect modern player. Yeah. He's a perfect modern player. player because he's somebody that I feel like in a previous world where and I don't know what this

comes from I think maybe it's just years and years and years of watching those Lovie Smith teams and I really enjoyed like some of those Jim Schwartz teams back when they were playing really well just that we're rushing for these are where we're coming from we have a single gap like these are traditional pass rush roles and I love those types of players and I think for a lot of different reasons. That's why pocket pushers and more non-traditional pass rush guys, there was just a barrier for me for a while. There's a cognitive distance of understanding how valuable they could be. But now as the world has shifted, and we've talked about that a lot, if you can create matchups defensively, having a guy that can win any matchup that you create for him every single time lining up

all over the defensive line, the value in that is insane. And that's what he is. You can just pick the guy you want him to exploit. And that's where you can line him up in any defined passing situation. And the fact that he russed the passer 50% of the time, it's exactly half the time he was unleashed that way. The other half of the time is just allowed to be an athlete back there. He's unlike any other player. Allowed to be an athlete.

Completely understanding. He's still figuring out how to cover and work in space. But going forward is incredible. I'm slightly regretful now. But I'll see you'll see why I didn't take him at five. You'll see why I didn't. All right. Who's your next guy?

Oh, and this is number three on my big board. And this just speaks to how insane last year's draft class was. And that's for Sean Slater. An all pro rookie left tackle, didn't go into top 10. So his contract's going to be cheaper. He's a technician on top of being an like he plays like a pro already as far as body positioning. And on top of that, he's a great athlete. Yeah, he's got shorter arms, but he's great.

He's 23 years old. age great. I mean, we're hitting him in his prime. As it stands right now, he doesn't even have a top 20 cap hit for his position until 2024. So he is going to be $4 million on average over the next four years. Eight point four million. And in 2024, his cap hit will be 5.2 and that'll be 14th among left tackle. So barely in the top 50 or top 50 percent. So yeah, I mean, you're getting all pro left tackle. That's what I think the chargers, it's hilarious that they nail the two hardest spots on offense and they have them on rookie deals at quarterback and left tackle. But yeah, Rashon Slater. So I got those that was my top three of my board was Aaron Donald,

Michael Parsons, Rashon, was, was my top three. I thought one of them would be gone. So I'm pretty ecstatic right now. Robert is devastated. I wish you guys could see Robert's face right now. I have some regrets. I don't really though. I, so, okay, so I have the next pick, right? I have the next pick. Okay. I'm taking Miles Garrett. And the reason I didn't take Parsons at five. was because I figured I could potentially get Garrett at 8. And everything you said about Michael Parsons is correct. And the fact that he is kind of one-of-one player, I totally understand that, and that's why I consider him at 5.

But you look at Garrett, okay, 26 years old was the most effective pass-rusher in the league on a per snap basis last year. It led the league in pass-rush win rate, double-teamed about as much as any other edge defender in the league, I think was second in the NFL and total pressures among edge players. Only making $25 million over the next four years. His contract is not as crazy as you think it is. When I was doing the study for this, that actually surprised me.

It was looking at that deal. Only has a $12 million cap hit this year. Yep. It's pretty. So you average that out. It's only $25 million over the next four years. He's only 26. So you get 26, 27, 28, 29.

26, 27, 28, 29. Where T.J. Watts is two years older than that. And that's why I just was comfortable betting on that, even with the contract extension. I just think the age, what he is down to down. That's why I was okay passing on Parsons there. If I can get Garrett at 8, then I think I'll be all right. I understand the logic. Team building.

Lindsay, what do you think? I mean, I'm still happy with my T.J. Watt pick, so that's fine. But I do love Miles Garrett. And at some point, he's got a breakthrough and win this defensive player of the year award. It feels like every year in October, like, this is going to be the year. And then just something happens where he'll disappear for a few games. And just waiting to see that really complete season. And, you know, for a number of reasons, it hasn't come together for the Browns.

I wonder if there are a more complete team this year, if the quarterback play is elevated in the second half of the season, if they have a complete roster. They could be winning a lot of games. Yeah. And if he has those moments, you know, where he has a three-sat game on Sunday night football. against the Steelers in December, you know, those type of performances that'll kind of put him over, get him over that hump. Oh, totally makes sense. He's a freak. Do you see he just switched agents too?

So he's, he's a, I mean, he's been paid, but he's kind of lining himself up now. He switched to a clutch. Oh. So he's really angling to get paid. Yeah. Yeah, he is. So I'm sure he's saying what's going on in the market and, you know, setting up for the next couple of seasons. Smart.

I mean. All right. Lindsay, you got two, right? So, yes. So now are my next two picks. And I'm going to have a little bit of reaction to what's already happened above me. And the panic of knowing I'm not going to get to pick again for a while. So at number nine, I'm going to go Tristan Worf's.

Yep. I'm getting my. I'm so sad to miss out on both the tackles. Number four on my board. So when I'm like, like Nate, I'm hustling on this pick. I'm going to be really happy with it. I think he's going to be a, you know, a cornerstone tackle for a really long time, a guy that we're just not, you're just not going to have to worry about.

And certainly it helps that he's had Tom Brady to be his quarterback for the first two, now going to be three seasons. But I think no matter who he's protecting, I think he'll look, he would look good if he was protecting Blaine Gabbard, is all I'm saying. He's not good of a player. They put him in such tough spots because they don't chip help for him. And they throw the ball deeper than anyone's true long dropbacks. And he holds up against, no, it doesn't matter who he's playing against, which is, I mean, right tackle is just as important now because of everybody. cash rushers going on to the right side. And you see the price is converging now.

If you look at the market for right tackles, that contracts are guys like Brian O'Neill even, those numbers are starting to get a little bit closer together, which makes worse on the deal he's on right now, even more of a value. So over the next four years, you play it out where he's getting a market extension in that fourth year of this exercise,

still $12 million on average over the next four years, which that's a huge discount when you compare that to where left tackle contracts are going. going. I mean, that's half of what Trent Williams will average on the deal he's currently applying on. That's an unbelievable value. It was hard for me to miss out on both of the tackles. It was difficult. It's fine. You're just going to have to spend for that position. A lot of those guys hit for agency. So this is, well, here, so this is a conversation about, and it's something that I think

we've, I've come back to now a little bit as we talk about these positions. I do think that it's harder to find an elite tackle than it is to find an elite receiver. which is more valuable to your team, having an elite receiver or having an elite tackle. I think I'd rather have the superstar receiver and go get like the 15th best left tackle in the league. It depends. I mean, again,

it's always going to be the teammate because that's just, it's hard for me to say. Of course, but this is all happening in a vacuum, right? Yes, in a vacuum. This is a contextless exercise. Yeah.

So that's, that was my thought. That's why I went the receiver. And it's what. So that's, again, it's hard for me to watch the tackles go, and I really wish I had one of them. But yeah, I made my decisions. Last year, Worf's went 10. So he's kind of in the same.

We're kind of in the same zone here as we were last year. But if Rayshan Slater's not on the board, then I think Nate takes Worf's. So I think the fact that Slater is make one year cheaper on the contract and all that stuff, that's the reason that I think Worf's doesn't go in that Slater spot. Yeah, I mean, Slater obviously going to his rookie year last year, none of us were drafting him here. I mean, I think there were some rookie. Actually, no rookies in our non-Cuby draft last season.

Did you take Kyle Pitts? I thought you took Kyle Pitts. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I took Kyle Pitts with the last pick. I take that back. The first tackle taken last year, I took David Vaktiari, which I regret. I love him, but I regretted it for 2020. I should have taken Wharfs where I took AJ Brown last year.

That was a mistake, even though I do love AJ Brown. What, look, and that's just, it's cool that we could just even tackles. Like for me, because Slater and Worst are right next to each other, and that goes back to like just preferring like pitchers. Like, yeah, you prefer a lefty over a righty, but who cares? You get, you get just get the ace, you know? And I think that's the same way to look at tackles now. Always I do anyways.

And the tiebreaker, I think, one cheaper year. I mean, the fact that it's $8.4 million over the next four years, if you're just looking at him and everything else is equal, I might as well take the guy who has one more cheap year on the contract. Worse might even be like younger than Slater too, which is actually kind of crazy. Yeah, it's wild. All right? So you got one more, right?

Okay, I do have one more pick here, and I've been struggling a little bit. I know which position I wanted to go here, and I was having a hard time deciding which guy. And I'm going to go for the younger player, although they basically cost the exact same amount of money. And I'm going to take Jaiyre Alexander. Oh. Over Jalen Ramsey. We're just going to change the board up a little bit. Oh, yeah.

The corners are fascinating. So I'm curious why you took Jairox's. So let's just go through the options. I really want to take Patrick Sartan. And I don't, I kind of just panicked about the, having too many banking off of a rookie year into the next year because I fucking love Patrick Sartan. And he is so cheap. But I think J. Alexander is just a different tier. Like there's just like this very, very small tier of the premium of the premium cornerbacks.

And I'm going to take him because he's two and a half year, a year and a half, almost two years younger than Jalen Ramsey. You're just rebuilding your team from last year. Almost, not quite. Victim six last year. I know, I know. So I waited a little bit longer this year. Well, he got paid. And so a lot of these corners have gotten paid.

So there aren't that many cheap, younger corners that you would feel good taking high in this draft. I took one of them, and I think that you mentioned the other one, Lindsay. I won't say his name again for your sake. Because Nate's just going to get. The guy who plays with Broncos. You're not going to take.

Well, Nate's going to get him. It's fine. I'm just resigned. I might have two sitting there. Do I just. I'm going through the defense. So now you have Ramsey, who is older than a lot of these other guys, right? So the group that I'm talking about here, Bajaelle Alexander, Marshaun Latimore, Denzo Ward,

and those are the guys that just got paid, all of them. So you look at those averages, Lattimore a little bit earlier. So he's 20 million over the next four years. Alexander's 18 million over the next four years. And then Ramsey's even significantly higher than. I think it's 24.5 million over the next four years because of the way they structured some stuff and he's a little bit older. So I can totally understand saying, all right, I get one more cheap year with

Alexander, then the extension kicks in and he's a couple of years younger. So those are the conversations I think you have to have with yourself when you're kind of parsing between the corners that are available in this. Yeah, he's my favorite of that group of the guys who just got paid. And, you know, I think there's things to like about Denzel Ward. I would have Latimore kind of a group down from him. Also, he might be facing a suspension this year, which is something to consider. He had that weapons arrest, I believe, last year.

So, Jaya Alexander, he's just my favorite of that group, given age, and production and the way that they like to use him in Green Bay. And they're going to be a very defensive heavy team this year, despite having the two-time raider MVP of the league at quarterback. I mean, Stokes, him, and then Amos, Savage, Douglas. The Packers' defense might just be ridiculous. That's one of my favorite DV groups in the league. It's awesome.

It's just saying that you have the MVP of the league. You have Aaron freaking Rogers, and they're just building their team to win games like 13 to 10. Love it. Just keep it tied for two minutes. And then just as Robert knows what happens when there's 90 seconds left and you give Aaron Rogers the ball. I think that's just what they're building to do. Just don't let it come down to field goals. Yeah.

Fucking Chris Conti. Oh, God. This is the last thing I want to think about right now. All right. It's my pick, right? Yes. Yep. So this is what the 11th pick?

Number 11. Number 11. I am more than comfortable taking Nick Bosa here. Yeah. Which gives me Nick Bosa, Miles Garrett, and AJ Terrell as the kind of baseline of my defense as I'm putting this together. You can even play him on the left side. He played 500 and about 75 snaps as the left defensive end in that defense last year. So you get him on the left side, Miles Garrett on the right side.

I'm good with that. That I'm totally fine with. He's really good. 24 years old still about to get very expensive and you can talk about him still being on his rookie deal potentially as a bonus which it theoretically is but now as we've seen some of these extension gets handed out and where the markets are going at certain positions even though he is right now on the second to last year of his rookie deal he's at 10.8 this year because he was a second overall pick 17.9 next year on the fifth year option so two years not on rookie deals in this

exercise, he can be making 30. He's probably going to make $30 million a year on his next extension and jump over Watt, his brother, everybody else at that spot. So he averaged that out. It's probably about 22 a year, but he's still only 24 years old. And the other top edge rushers in the league are making 28 now. So it's still a value. He's still one of the best players in the league at his position.

I am more than happy to do this at this spot. He's a force, man. He's unbelievable. Yeah. Like the year he got hurt, like whatever game one or game two, like he was still dominant. And the last year you still dominant, especially in the second half of the year. He had 21 TFLs, 32 hits, quarterback hits, four force fumbles. And it's like on top of that 15 sacks. Yeah, casual. And yeah, he's absolute force. He was the fourth player on my board.

Was he? He was number four. Yep. He was the fourth player on my board. So I feel okay about this. I had him at nine. All right. So Nate, you got two, right? Yeah. This is, this is terrible because I thought one of these guys would be gone. So I'll just be an open book because I'm only going to take one of them. But I'll be choosing between Jayonne Ramsey and Patrick Straitain. And, okay. Walk through your thought process here. Yeah, I am.

So walk me through this. With Ramsey, yes, we talked about he's hitting the almost about to hit the dreaded 30 year mark, even though he's 28 this year. We'll cross that bridge when he has to. But he's just so, he's big, he's smart, plays inside and outside. And even if you're worried about him losing Twitch, because he's such a good tackle and physical. he can move to safety. There's guys when he came into the league thought he should have been a safety. So it's like I think he's going to age very gracefully.

And if you play him inside full time. Even if he plays corner, but he's an inside corner now. I think that would allow him to kind of transition to a new stage of his career. It's however you want to use him. It's, I mean, he's freaking Charles Woodson, but he's insane. And Patrick Sturtain, it's Sertain, right?

It is certain. That has so much training for me to say Sertain. He's 22. He's going to announce himself as an elite corner. this year. The second last six games, second half of the year last year, he was incredible. Watch him against the Bengals. And just a special blend of size, athleticism, smarts. He has feel, obviously from his dad. He was also played in Alabama. I don't know if you know about the head coach there, but he knows how to coach DBEs. And he just kind of gets it. Like, it's just body

positioning and all that. And I mean, he's a steal. And it's a rookie deal. And I'm almost like, want to talk myself into it. But I'm going to stick with my board. And we go with Joan Ramsey. and this is just really, really hard. But I'm going with Jay and Ramsey here because I'm only going to get a pick one corner. And so one of you guys gets my new baby and Sertane. And so I have to let him go. But I'm going to go to Jay on Ramsey just because of that because I just think he's an absolutely incredible player. And actually a game changer.

I picked him at four last year. So, yeah, pretty excited about that. So that is pick, what, 12? Yep. Yeah. 13. What do you got? So I had Sertan and Ramsey were 10 and 11 on my board.

We're 10 and 11. I had them six and seven. I had the, I had the tackles a little bit further up, and I had the pass rush. I had Parsons and Garrett in there, too. Jefferson was five, I think,

for me. I don't know. I stopped numbering him after three. I just started putting notes. I'm fascinated about who you're going to take over Patrick Sertan now, the fact that you did want to diversify your positions. One of the most dominant players, any position in the league,

and he's also, I think, going to be 21 this year, and that's Kyle Pitts. This dude is on guardable. He was 12th on my board. He's on guardable. Right there in the same range.

He's insane. He's unguarded. He's already like, you took the only two valuable Atlanta Falcons. Oh, no, the only two. They're off the word.

You may be doing. I only wanted to take one, you know, you left all these guys there. Pitts was ninth on my board, I believe. And oh my God. He's absolutely insane watching,

because, you know, a lot of people were watching Falcons much last year. So as I've been doing some studying of the second year quarterbacks, I watched some falcon stuff and other other, other stuff going on or second year players, I should say.

And Kyle Pitts is, ridiculous. Splitting him outside. I know I've made the argument that, yes, you want him to work more in line and everything, but he's a true ex-receiver and he's a baby. And, I mean, he already broke a thousand yards. He's going to be a bona fide all pro year and year out for the next decade. He's unguaritable.

He's faster in everyone. He's bigger than everyone. He's insane catching. And he's still figuring out how to play football. I think, yeah, Pitts is insane. Elite, elite player and he's only entering a second year. So, go with Kyle Pitts. His snap distributions are wild.

So in line. 248, slot 286, out wide 237. Exact distributions between the three spots. And what they can do with him as a result of that, he is a better outside vertical threat than the receiver they just drafted eighth overall, which I think could be an indictment or the receiver depending on how you look at it, but they don't see it that way and I don't really see it that way either. It's just these blurred lines between how they can use them both and

And, you know, the size is obviously what jumps out. But the versatility is what sticks with me. It's like you have no idea in any given snap where they're going to be and how they're going to want to create matchups for both of them. And I think that's fun as shit. Because they had to because it's just who they had on personnel. But watching Arthur Smith late in the year, it's actually a lot more fun watching that offense than you would think.

And it's hilarious. They put Kyle Pitts as the slot guy on third down. Cordero Patterson was the de facto tight end, chipping and protecting because they wanted to split Kyle Pitts out to run the deeper out. And it's like, it's just weird. It breaks the brain a little bit. And that's what he does. He breaks the game because he's that talented. It's going to be so fascinating when he comes up for a contract. Oh. I mean, do you remember the Jimmy Graham position? I remember the Jimmy Graham thing very well. And I think Kyle Pitts is going to have an even stronger case. Yeah. To get paid like a receiver. It's going to be wild. I mean, we're still

a few years down the road from that, but I'm sure the NFL PA guys are watching this very closely, David Moguleta, his agent is probably already plotting how this is all going to play out. But it is going to be really fascinating. And I'm freaking pissed at you, Nate. Because he was my steal last year at the very end of the draft in fifth round. So I'm I'm picking now. This is the 14th. Yeah.

I am very happy to get Patrick Stratan. I, the fact that I've gone all defense in this thing is not what I expected to do when we started this exercise. But the way that it's broken, I'm totally fine doing this. This is the Chicago Bears. you're just deciding not to help your quarterbacks. It's right. Apparently not.

They trained you. That's funny. I'm thrilled here. He just turned 22. And he's going to be cheap for the next several years. And I mean, the conversation we just had about the number of young corners beyond relatively inexpensive contracts, the list is so short. There just aren't that many guys.

Like, I think these could be building blocks players of this position. and they haven't already gotten paid and they're a certain age. It's really just him and Terrell, and now I have them both. So I have AJ Terrell, Patrick Stertain, Nick Bosa, and Miles Garrett, which I'm okay with that. I feel okay with that. Three of those guys are still on rookie deals. Yeah, I'm pretty annoyed. Like, I wanted him bad.

Like, that was the guy I was getting ready for one of you guys to snipe up a little earlier. And the fact that I've been, I've passed on twice just right now. You know what I love is that? that the Broncos were so different schematically last year than you might have thought coming into the season because we spent so much time and energy talking about the move to just more shell zone coverage in the league and how Vic Fangio was the person who kind of started that entire movement

and then Brant Staley jumps on it. And then Vic gets all these corners and he's like, fuck it, I'm playing man, every snap. Every snap. I don't care anymore. Robber, robber, robber, robber. A plan, I mean, like 45% of the time, So it was really like a baptism by fire for a guy who didn't necessarily, when you look at their depth chart coming into the season, you thought would play a ton because they had Kyle Fuller.

It was like a next year thing. And Ford didn't play very well. So now he gets thrown out there. And he got forced in by somebody got hurt. Was it Darby who got hurt? Bryce Callahan. Bryce Callahan got hurt. So they had to bump forward inside a decent amount.

He's like, all right, you're out on the outside. You're playing man coverage and 45% of your snaps go. And he was fine. I mean, there are growing pains as there's going to be at that position really, really, really hard to dominate at that position. a rookie. You just didn't see the, you just didn't see the mental breakdowns. Nope.

At all, like, you know, his film is really, really, really, really clean. Yeah. And that's why he was in college.

He was so clean. And on top of it, he's big and fast. It's like crazy athlete. I mean, it's the jump he's probably going to take this year. And I think next year we'll be talking about him as a top five

solidified player at the position most likely. And again, he's 22 with three cheap years left on that contract. So getting him at 14th in this exercise, I feel fine about that. I know not a lot of people are grinding corner film, but it's, it's,

when why I just want to kind of put in perspective it's it's hard to just be a tangible above average corner as a rookie like joh one was above average as a rookie and that was like notable it was like oh wow wow more charon laddrell same deal same kind of pathway where it's like above average and then that year to leap astronomical jump is what you can take and I think he's going to do that this year but what i was going to say is certane was good as a rookie corner even better like so that's why I'm even excited to see the next year yeah But he's he's an outstanding player. There were a lot of people in Denver upset that he didn't get more serious consideration for defensive rookie of the year. And I think it was just a factor.

It was because the Broncos just weren't good. And they weren't playing in games that people were watching. Yeah. And Parsons was pretty good too. I mean, last year's draft class is going to be a historical one. Like it's insane the amount of talent, a blue chip talent from that draft class. And that's like these are non-quarterbacks too. All right.

Lindsay, you get two here? I get two here, and I'm not taking anybody from last year's draft class, although now I feel like I'm going to regret that. But I'm going to go the opposite of Roberts tacked here, and I'm going to load up on offense. Love it. So I'm going to AJ Brown. Fuck. God damn it. I really wanted him at 17.

I was really, really, really hoping that he would be there. I thought you guys would get scared off because the contract. Look, I already took Jamar Chase. I'm balancing out my team. I took Jamar Chase already. So now I'm going to spend a receiver. He's 25 years old. Oh, crestfallen.

I wanted him so bad to pair with Justin Jefferson. I already got the best pair. Best receiver, Pitts. So here's where I'm looking at that with AJ Brown. Because now we're kind of getting into that group of the rest of these guys have been paid mostly. The rest of the receivers on my board. Yes.

The 28-year-old guys and up. Cooper Cup going to about to turn 29 Devante Adams going to turn 30 midway through this season. Tyree Kill is 28. It's kind of that next group of guys. AJ Brown is making in the same range, but he's a full three years younger than that group. And it's not the same range over the next four years. You look at it over the next four years. He's 5.6 this year, 8.5 next year, and then 27.7 and 22.7.

You average that out. It's only 16 million over the next four years. And he's only 25 years old. So that's significant. less than all of those guys are making because he's coming off of a rookie contract. So you're getting a discount and he's younger and he's really good. These were all the points I was going to make when I took him with my next pick. Which it makes it kind of wild that the Eagles were able to get him kind of for what they gave up and when they got him,

considering what other teams were doing to acquire wide receivers and then ultimately having to pay them. You don't want to pay first for Hollywood Brown? Yeah. Yeah, this was a sub-tweet about there. This reminds, and even if you look at the price paid for some of those other guys, even if we love Devante Adams and Tyree Kill as players, you think about, and it reminds me of what the Colts did with the Forrest Buckner. Remember when all these teams are trading two first-round picks for impact defensive players,

Kaleo Mack, Jaylon Ramsey, Jamal Adams, and then the Colts just swoop in like, we'll give you one for Buckner. And they got it. And that's what this reminds me of, Lindsay, is that you have a, another trade in the same vein the way it looks, but the price tag is a first and a third for a players who's three years younger and the cash flow and the actual contract is significantly cheaper. The Eagles did pretty fucking well here.

You know, I am really interested to see like what he's going to look like functioning in the Eagles offense with Jalen Hertz. Spoiler alert, I'm not going to be taking Jalen Hertz. Very high. If you listen to our quarterback draft. So I have some questions about. exactly how that's going to function. But if he, if he's a guy that you could just drop him into any roster,

I'm super happy to have him. And pairing him with Devante Smith, it's sweet. Like just. Yeah, it's gross. It's great. It's great. Mishing those skill sets. Yeah.

Love it. Love it. Because I love Devon. It makes tons of sense. You have one more, onesie, right? I do. So I love my top two receivers. And now I'm going to really love my top two tackles,

even though I'm taking an old guy and I'm going to take Trent Williams. I don't care that he's 33. Give me Trent Williams. Totally. Every day. Line him up. Trent Williams, Tristan, Worf, It's awesome.

I'm protecting all of my quarterbacks. Sorry, Robert. Your quarterbacks are going to get destroyed. But I like my tackles lining up against your edge rushers. And again, it's the argument. It's so scary because of the age. But then it's like when you watch them, it's like, well, there hasn't been a drop off yet. And so it's kind of like the Aaron Donald, even though Aaron Donald's a couple years younger, it's the, he's still Trent Williams.

He's gotten older. He does have a couple seasons that he didn't play. He's been banged up throughout the year. Oh, yeah. Oh, you mean? out the year as well. Yeah. So, I mean, in terms of just like,

getting the boosted, total number of snaps and stuff. Yeah, I mean, he hasn't been completely healthy. So it is a little bit of a risk there. But look, we're in the middle of the draft. I'm not going to get to pick again for a long time.

So I'm going to take the best player at his position in Trent, uh, in, in, in Trent Williams, excuse me, my TWs at both tackle, both tackle positions here.

Robert looks like you're having a hog. I'm so screwed because I, my plan hinged on, taking AJ Brown because I was originally going to take him at 14. And then when Sir Tan was there, I was like, I can't pass on that. It's just the value of it.

And we kept talking about it. I mean, if you want to talk about trading. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Next year's next year's second rounder. So I am,

I'm pivoting. I feel fine. Pivoting. It's okay. I didn't think I'd get him just based on my original plan. I have a lot of other considerations. I'm going to take Cooper Cup. Oh, no.

Okay. No. No. No. You guys haven't mentioned them once. I was like, oh, this is easy. I'm getting it. Oh, I'll be the guy who had the receiving triple crown last year, that guy?

The only reason that I was not running to get him is that I think if he plays in the slot mostly and I already have Jefferson and it's fine. I'll figure it out having both of them on the field at the same time. So I was talking to a member of the Rams coaching staff, an assistant from the Rams staff from last year. He was telling me about two plays from the Bucks game in the play. And we were talking about him. And one of them is, it's down near the goal line. And wouldn't you probably notice it if you didn't watch the end zone clip. And it's a player where they're lining cup up in the slot.

And they're having him combo block with the tackle as a receiver. As the most productive receiver in the NFL last year, they're having him combo block with the tackle. He's supposed to combo to the nickel. The nickel, the way the nickel moves and the way the linebacker scrapes, the linebacker comes into his vision. He comes off of the nickel at the right time and decletes Devin White for a run that goes down inside the five. In real time, he feels this out and not only makes the block, but elevates a defensive player who weighs 240 pounds and is a top five pick off of the ground. Later in the game, the long touchdown he scored, the play that he scored on is supposed to be

a play where he curls deep. It's a deep curl as part of that concept. But he reads it out based on what the safety is doing because they were pinning down the safeties with that route in other parts of the game and other parts of the season. And he reads it midplay to take it deep for like a 75-yard touchdown. No other player in the NFL can do those two things. No. And even if you're worried about him being 28, you get 28, 29, 30, 31, it's fine. You know, that doesn't worry me whatsoever.

He's, even if he gets a $25 million extension in years three and four, he's got two years left on his deal, that's $22 million. that's cheaper than the other receivers we're going to talk about here. So money, roll. He's unlike any other player in the league. Nate, we talk about power slots. He is the power slot. He's the guy that is, I think, the blueprint in a lot of ways,

for what teams want out of that position. And I'm fine doing this. I have him and Justin Jefferson now, and I'm rolling with that, and I feel pretty good about it. He had a similar sequence against the Seahawks at Seattle. I want to say it was a Thursday night game this year. And he caught two balls on this drive. And one of them, one of them was like first down, boom, okay, explosive gain.

And the next one I want to say it was like a second in 20 or like a second in 15, something like that. And he settles to catch his dick and they end up being third down. I think they get stuffed on third down and it's a fourth down. And so, okay, he's already contributed two explosive plays on one drive. And on the third or fourth down that they run the ball, they run like a zone play. He's on the back side. And they asked him to cut off Carlos Dunlap. And he does it.

Like he cuts them off. like a tight end. And it's like, this guy is creating an explosive place from you from the slot. I think one was the slot, one was the outside. And then he cuts off Carlos Dunlap. And it's just like, yeah, like you said, no, he's such a unique player because he can do all that. It's not just like drawing up an X. And it's like, okay, lose with grace.

It's like, no, he's actually doing it. Like you're saying, he's adjusting. He's making the play better. And that's what he does. He just makes every play better. There's a reason he's almost on this field every single snap. Some receivers, hey, we're in heavy personnel. We're going to spell them off and get them off.

It's like, nope, we want Cooper on the field because he's going to help out this play. A lot of other receivers you could theoretically take here if your help on taking a receiver, which I was based on how the rest of this went. Debo, D.K. and Matt Caff, some of these other guys. And it's just, even if I'm paying a little bit more, even if he's a little bit older, I just think what I want receivers to do and just, my imagination isn't good enough to make the most out of Debo Samuel. I'm not Kyle Shanahan. So I'm going to take Cooper Cup here and the proof is in the pudding and what he was last year.

And I'm going to feel okay about that. We did not draft Cooper Cup last year. I know. Bad job by all of us. I know. It's a bad job by us. I mean, it's a bad job by us. It's a lesson about how much quarterback play matters when you're a skill position player

and how you can just have this guy hiding in plain sight who was arguably the best non-off. He was the best non-quarterback offensive player in the NFL last season. And the fact that he could be that not really be that much different than the guy he was in previous years. based on the way the offense spread out, what he was asked to do, all of that stuff. It's a good lesson for all of us. Although I would say we only went five rounds last year. Maybe if we had gone seven, we would have snuck in there. You drip in there?

Maybe. I'm like. All right. Lindsay, you got two, right? No, I got two. Nate, Nate, you got two. And I'm, yeah, not grasping, not grassmen at straws, but kind of like I can go in a lot of directions here. And this is very hard because now, okay, okay.

And this is, this is, I'm building this, making this pick because of just what modern defenses are, especially on passing down. So I already have Aaron Donald. I already got Michael Parsons. I'm going to go with DeForest Buckner. And I think DeForest Buckner is a game wrecking force that we just kind of glanced by. You mentioned them earlier about the trade. Why Buckner over Chris Jones if you're looking for that type of player? Oh, just usefulness.

Okay. I'm curious. I'm curious. Size. And I thought Chris Jones, even though they try to bump him on the outside. outside last year and it was kind of like a failed experiment for kind of moving back in and bouncing him around. I think Buckner down to down is more disruptive. Jones is a home run here in the sense that it's a big place. It's TFL's and Sacks, which is good. Don't give me around.

I love Chris Jones. Buckner is that he has that weight to him as a gravity, as a pass rusher, as a disruptive force and they can move them all around the D line. Like, you know, you don't really want on the outside. You can put this dude at nose and he's just manhandling guys. requires a double team. I also think that his contract is going to age okay. 2023, it'll be the seventh biggest cap hit for D-tackles, 24th and six highs. So you're getting them at a little bit of discount with that cap going up as well. And I just think he's barely missed any time. I think Chris Jones has a little bit inconsistency to his game, that it happens. But I think DeForest Buckner just play in, week in, week out. You can count on him. And I really like

where my defense is going. He's just a unique player as well, just size and range and his athleticism. But yeah, hell of a player. Not just because it's a really good one. It's, I mean, I, he wouldn't have, I wouldn't have taken him. And is there a lot of other directions that would have gone, but I completely understand that. I mean, he was definitely like one of the last few guys, not on my list. Oh, no, I got, you got one more?

And this is my last pick. Man. God. Okay. Tomente Am, I'm not going to go with him, but he's on the list. Mark Andrews was on the list because I thought somebody would take Kyle Pitts. Mark Andrews. Interesting.

He's a good. They've already paid him. He's 26. I mean, okay, real quick, Mark Andrews stat. He was third in a league and first downs of target, which is one of my favorite stats to look at. And behind the other two with players with over 100 targets. Top two were Devonte Adams and Mike Evans. My question of Mark Andrews, how much of that was by design and by like this is because it was the Ravens?

Also some of that. He's, I think he's really taking a leap forward as a player. He's worked on his drops a little bit. He's better blocker, more consistent blocker. Just, I think he's just a really, really good player. But I'm not taking him. That's why I'm not taking him. God.

All right. Well, screw it. But I already got the left tackle of the future. I'm going to go with the right tackle here. And this might be just like my DeForest Buckner pick. This is my offensive line version. This is Ryan Ramcheck. And just because I want a right tackle, he's an all pro right tackle.

He had a banged up knee last year. He got the surgery. It's a minor surgery. It's cleaned up now. He already got paid. It's going to age well. He's 28 this year. I think he's a good enough athlete where you're getting them right in the prime.

And when he hits 30, you know, you tackles age fairly well. Once 32 is when you start kind of going, but I think Ryan Ramcheck, you know, just a really, really, he's a true elite right tackle. Or if you even want to go a half step below that. But love him. I think that's, I got my two book in tackles with him and Slater on either side. And just an athletic player, good in pass protection, good as a run blocker, smart player, not just because he's a badger. but really, really, really good player. And I feel very good about my team.

I would have considered him with my last pick here because I need it. I need an offensive lineman. I'm taking an offensive lineman here. I got two passers already. I got two corners already. I could theoretically take a third corner. Denzo Ward is somebody that I had circled for later in this draft by not taking two corners early.

Over the next four years, average 15.5. Two more cheap years left on that deal just turned 25 years old. to Marciaan Lattimore. It's $5 million a year, four and a half million a year or less, still less than Jaira Alexander. So Denzo Ward is somebody I considered here. Roshan Gary is somebody I considered here.

So you think about the guys I took a little bit earlier, but Roshan Gary, 87 pressures last year, tied for third in the NFL on a per SNAP basis. According to PFF was the most disruptive pass rusher in the league. Go back and watch that San Francisco game. I know he's not planning against the best right tackle in the world. That long arm move is disgusting. Yeah.

And he's so smooth. of the year. Yeah. He's going to have a big year. But also powerful. I think so too. I think he's headed in a really good direction. I agree.

And there aren't that many of those guys that are younger, kind of getting to be super, super impactful edge rushers. Brian Burns is in that conversation. I was going to say there's one more in there. So Brian Burns is somebody I would have thought about if I didn't take the pass rushers already. I think Max Crosby is also should be mentioned here. He's still 24 years old.

Yeah. 24 years old will average 18.4 over the next four years. So you compare that with. the guys at the top of the market pass rushing wise. I mean, he's somebody I would have considered if I hadn't taken those pass rushers already. So a lot of different things. I already have two receivers.

I think C.D. Lam is probably in this conversation, like down in this range of things. I'm going to go with Penny Sewell. It just, if I'm taking an offensive lineman, there aren't that many guys who are still relatively cheap. I think he really had a nice second half of the season, super, super young.

If you want to build in some projection, going to be making no more than I think seven. million dollars for each of the next three years. So a third of what top end of players in the market get at that position. So that's where I'm going to go. I do not expect to take him there, but that's the direction I'm headed here. The other tackle I would have considered, just as a wild card. Somebody's name I wanted to mention is part of this is Jordan Milata.

Because over the next four years, 13.8 over the next four years, he just turned 25 years old. So the player he is right now, I don't think he's in this conversation necessarily. But if you want to build in where things can go over the next few years with his age and the trajectory of development that he's on, I just want to mention him. I love it. Just throw him in there. When he signed the extension last year, I saw a lot of people are like, really? You're paying him. It's like, just wait.

Just wait as soon as you can. You might as well get him on that cheap deal. It's like a huge last year. Yeah. And again, let's say he becomes the fifth best left tackle in the league. If you're locked in at that price, it's a huge discount. Yeah. So I wouldn't, I'd still rather bet on Sewell and just the traits and the pedigree and all that stuff.

But I felt like Malada was worth mentioning. Those were pretty much all the players I had in my top 20. Yeah. Empty the clip here. So people like, why didn't you talk about so and so? Yeah, yeah. Brian Burns was another one. Like, that one was, that one was hard for me to not taking this draft.

And Brian Burns was high in our draft last year. He still had a good year. Similar to Chase Young for me, though, is that I think that he did not take the step forward that you might have wanted to. he's still a really good player but that like I want to see the speed to power I want to see that one notch of strength and him being able to play with that physicality I don't think he turned that year as much as I wanted it was a step not a leap yes I think that's totally fair yeah I know it's funny he got the pro bowl nod and everything and it's like more like I still want more I think there still is more he's still very young he's still like 24 years old I know so I bet worth making

if if I had not take let's say I I take, uh, Worf's instead of one of the past rushers, then I probably do take Brian Burns in that. I, I mentioned all my D-Lyme and stuff and that, that's the thing.

I already had three of them. So Burns would have been another one, but I was like, yeah, okay, four. I would have been a pretty sick though. Lindsay,

do you have two more? I have one. I have one. Just one. One pick, I believe, was my last guy. And you guys were just about to talk me into Brian Burns.

I had made up my mind, which edge rush are I was going to take here. Then you guys are trying to talk me into, uh, Brian Burns, but I'm going to stick with Max Crosby. Nice. Okay. I like it. Robert, you already mentioned him. Age, huge factor. Yes, he did get a contract, but I still think compared to some of the very top guys there. I mean, Joey Bosa didn't get drafted here, but I, you know, when we're talking contract,

age, how consistently disruptive these players are, I'll take Max Crosby. And I also just really like him and I like his story and he's been through so much and has just really kind of like emerged as like the guy for the Raiders. So I'm going to go with. There are some moments where you watch a guy kind of come on like that and you think, ah, is this real like why wasn't he that player before? Well, he got sober. Like you can track easily like why he had that huge leap because I mean, he's just on such a different playing field as a person now. And I think it's really easy to understand that. And it is a great story and it's very, very cool. And I totally understand. He was 100% in the conversation for me if I hadn't taken those other past rushers. He made my short list. And what's so cool with him is you can see

his confidence building throughout this year. 100%. You could see him kind of go, oh, I'm like, I'm, like, unblockable. I'm good. And like realizing that he deserves to be there. Yep. Yep. And that like he's really cool. He's like not just like a competent NFL player, but he's like an unblockable at times, NFL player. I'm really excited to see him in Chandler Jones together. It's true. pretty terrified. He's also, he's a crazy athlete. Yes. If you go back and you look at Max Crosby's testing numbers, they're insane. He passed the threshold. 99th percentile 60 yards short shuttle, 96 percentile 20 yard shuttle, 96 percentile three cone. Yes. 90 percentile broad jump. 89 percentile vert. He had a 36 inch vertical at 255 pounds and 65, and he ran a four six,

six 40. He's a wild athlete, just a small school guy. Every time. He has. He had a six, that nice reach here. The 9-9 broad jump threshold and the 7-2 or less three cone for pass rushers. And he exploded by both of those numbers. Oh, yeah. I was like, this guy went the fourth round, huh? Okay. And that was when he got drafted a couple years ago.

So it was kind of cool to see him use those gifts. Eastern Michigan. And then obviously had been through a lot. So to watch it all come together, I mean, the Raiders got him, even with the extension, I think at a pretty good price tag for the player that he is right now. I mean, I think he could easily live up to that deal as we see more and more. considering what Bose is going to get when he gets his extension and some of these other young guys, I think the Raiders could be pretty happy about that for a while.

So good for him. Good for you, Lindsay, for getting him. That was fun as hell. So who else that's still on their board? Is there anybody else that's like left on your board that you're like, God damn, and he didn't get drafted? I had a couple corners, but I wasn't. Who else?

You know, I had Marlon Humphrey, Tray and Wade, Zavian Howard. But I wasn't like, that's more like every, the bottom fell out kind of draft. And I was like, okay, I need to get a corner. I think those guys are in the conversation again. I had Roshan Gary. Stefan Diggs is still in there for me. Diggs is only 28. It's 21 million over the next four years.

You compare that to Adams. It's less. And I love Stefan Diggs. Marcus Williams was a name I wrote down. It's 12.3 million over the next four years. He's only 25. I think he's a perfect modern defensive player. Yeah.

In the ways that you can use him. Derwin was somebody that I had written down. I was kind of screened here. Mika written down as my CD, but same kind of argument. Yeah, I had Dibo still left high on my board, but I had already taken a couple receivers. He's going to be interesting because we don't know exactly what he's going to look like if he's at a new team and what his contract's going to look like. But it just in terms of impactful players from snap to snap that are still pretty young. And then I had a couple of the interior guys, Chris Jones, Kenny Clark, potentially on there.

I think Chris Jones was the guy didn't take last year. And it was okay with that. But the Debo's injuries is always what scares me because he's just college and then now pros. He's kind of just always been banged up. So that's always just like my concern with him. Because receiver wise, really I had the guys you took. Like that was my list as well.

And then like my fun one would have been like Devante Smith because that's just a personal preference. Ha, ha, ha. Nate Ticks his guy. That's why Dix is on my list. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That's kind of like my guy. And then Devante Adams is the other one. But it's like, dude, now you understand why these traits happen. because you're just like in the age and how much frickin money that is. And it's like, okay. Like it's fun doing these exercises just because of stuff like that. But he's still. Can't believe none of us drafted Christian Kirk.

I've got it enough Jaguars fund this off season. Trump bulky didn't hack our Zoom. It's such a telling exercise when you wind them up next to each other. Yeah. AJ Brown and Devante Adams, right? So because AJ Brown is coming off of a rookie deal and you have that one cheap year left, that changes the money in how. it's going to come out what the averages are.

AJ Brown has a year at the end of his contract. I want to say it's like 37 million, 35 million. It's super high. It's astronomical. He's never going to get there. He'll never play on that number. He'll either get cut or he'll get an extension that he'll do something.

Devante has like a $40 million hit that it seems like he could actually play on it. Like that's, they'll probably do something with it. But that number, that crazy number, is coming much faster for, him than it is for A.J. Brown, and he's four years older. So those are just the things I think you have to take into account when you're doing this. You kind of know what these guys are paid, but then when you see it, I'm telling you, that's why I had that tweet this morning, but it was just, you see the number on a paper and you see what the cap hit is and the dead cap and

stuff. It's like, God, that's a lot of money. That's a lot of money to be paying these guys. And so that sinks in. And then that's the arguments for these rookie deals kind of comes into fruition as well, but it's, it's cool, again, to do this exercise. Well, we'll tweet all of these. To Michael Parsons, Rayshan Slater, 6, 7 is, I, I feel okay about it. I feel, I feel okay about it just because I got Garrett at 8 when I did, and the fact that I got Sewell at 19, it makes me feel a little bit better about the Sewell Slater gap. It's tough, though.

That's a really good run. And I, I'm going to be fine having Cooper Cup where I have him, but. I'm a little bit sad about missing out on Ager Brown when I did. It's okay. I didn't get either. Yeah. I'm shocked. I didn't get Torell or Sertane.

Like I was coming into this draft going, I'm getting one of those guys. And then I end up going with Ramsey. That's why I took Torel at five. Just because at that six, seven turn, I was confident that you would end up taking it. One of them. Yeah. I mean, that's where they had them ranked. So it would have made sense.

Well, then, yeah, then you guys took the receivers as well. So, no, that's why the draft's fun because now it's like. it makes you kind of go for these positions that maybe you wouldn't have gone for originally. I feel okay about my team. I did not expect to go so defense, but I feel okay about my team. I'm proud to listen to this one. We will tweet these. We will tweet our full things.

So reply with your rosters, who we got right, who we got wrong, who won. Obviously, it's me. I'm already regretting my J.A. Alexander River Patrick's Sertain. But make sure you say who's wrong because I know you guys always hesitate when you do that. So I really want to hear what you guys have to say about that. All right. Tomorrow I'm on vacation. So Lindsay will be hosting.

Lindsay, I trust you. I know I'm putting the show in good hands. It's going to be really fun. I've got some really big plans. I have no doubt that that is true. So please come back tomorrow and check in with Lindsay and our friends. In the meantime, please, we'd love to hear. from you about how you think we did, maybe.

I don't know if I'd actually like that, but we're going to do it anyway. Please subscribe, excuse me, please rate and review the podcast on your podcast platform of choice. Sincerely appreciate that. Please subscribe to The Athletic. Theathletic.com slash football show. That's where you can read.

Nate, what did you write this week? I wrote about the second year QVs. Wonderful. All six of them. All six of those guys. But yes, second year QB is out on the athletic. So please go check out that and all the other great NFL coverage we have the athletic.com slash football show.

If you do not have a subscription, please go do that. We'll be back tomorrow with Lindsay and then I will be back from Mexico next week. I cannot wait. Talk to you guys again. Enjoy your weekend. Talk to you later. This was The Athletic Football Show.