The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - On the Clock, 2026 NFL Draft picks one through six: Certainty at the very top, and then...

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

Welcome to the 2026 debut of On the Clock, The Athletic Football Show's annual draft exercise. Every week, a draft analyst will join Robert Mays to cover six or seven picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, considering a trio of potential decisions for each of the teams in question. By time we get to the end of it, we'll have built an entire first round mock and had some interesting discussions along the way. Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus joins Robert to make the first six picks on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Connect with The Athletic Football ShowYT: https://www.youtube.com/@TAFootballShowPodcasts: https://podfollow.com/the-athletic-football-show/viewX: https://x.com/TA_FootballShowIG: https://www.instagram.com/tafootballshowTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tafootballshowDiscord: http://discord.gg/theathleticfootballshowBuy our merch! http://theathletic.lnk.to/tafsmerchCall us: 847-448-0701Email us: [e-mail]: Robert MaysWith: Trevor SikkemaCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerVideo Producer: Katy DuffyAudio Producer: Michael BellerSocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @robertmaysFollow Derrik on X: @QBKlassTheme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Athletic Football Show. I'm Robert Mays. Very excited to be bringing back our On the Clock series this year. We did this last year, broke it up into five different shows. I had five different draft analysts on over the course of the month leading up to the draft. And I presented them with three different options for every pick in the first round. And they got to pick what they would do if they were on the clock. So this isn't necessarily what they think these teams will do or what they think these teams should do.

It's if they were on in the seat, if you're Trevor Sykima, who is our guest today from the NFL Stock Exchange and PFF, and you are John SpyTech with the number one overall pick if you're the Raiders, who are you picking when you were on the clock in that scenario? So that's going to lead to some surprises here and maybe some wrinkles thrown into what a traditional mock draft white look like. But the entire point here is to talk about what these teams should be looking for and the thought process they might be going through when it is their time to pick in the first round. So very excited to have Trevor joining us to kick off this series yet again this year.

Let's get to it right now. Kicking off our on the clock series for the 2026 NFL draft. I had a blast doing these last year. I think it's just a really fun exercise that helps us both talk about the prospects in the draft and the teams in the draft in a slightly different way. And because we had such a good time, we are running it. back this year. Trev's moving up in the world. I want to say last year you were like picks 19 through 26 or something like that. So this year you graduated to the top five. Congratulations,

my friend. I'm batting lead off, baby. We're getting bass hits. We're getting on base. We're stealing bases, runs batted in. Every word you can think of for a baseball analogy here on a football show. But dude, I appreciate you having me back. I had a lot of fun with this last year. So I appreciate it, man. It's exciting. I talked about it in the intro, but just kind of laying it out one more time for people watching and maybe on the YouTube version of this. Here's how the exercise works. I'm going to give our guests, all draft analysts that think about this stuff all the time, three different options while this NFL team is on the clock, and then they will make the

decision based on what they would do. This isn't necessarily what they think the NFL team should do, what they think the NFL team will do. This is if you had these options presented to you while you were on the clock, who is the player or choice that you would make. obviously the top of the draft is very easy because everyone is available to everyone. And so we're not going to be pigeonholed here into, well, you know, the guy I would have taken isn't left on the board here. This is one of those moments where this might be the purest expression of what these teams might be able to do because every single player is going to be available to you to, even like when the Jets are on the clock here or two.

And it's fun, right? Because it's after free agency. So, you know, look, I love covering the draft year round. but I get really sick of saying the phrase, well, you know, they need this guy right now, but maybe free agency. Like I just, I hate the, you know, the phrase of just throwing that in there is the ultimate caveat every single time. So it's really great that we're doing this after free agency.

We have a much more solidified view of what the team needs are, where this team can get better. And a lot of times it's not just about the additions of certain players. The way the teams go about free agency sort of tells you where they think they are in their winning window. So are they more aggressive? Do they want to take a player who can hit right away for them? Are they in more of a long-term plan? So all that leads to this exercise being at the right time,

and I'm excited to do it with you. There are a couple teams in here where I think the answers would have been completely different if we had done this before, free agency, just based on the holes that were there, you know, kind of what we had heard, whispers about what positions they might be interested in. You know, we'll get to a couple of those. But the Titans and the Giants, I mean, the Giants are one of those teams that, are they a Kenneth Walker team? The fact that they're not, I think, changes the discussion a little bit.

And so a lot of different elements to weigh here. But let's get into the teams. And let's start with the team picking number one overall, the Las Vegas Raiders. Here are your three options with the Raiders, even though I think this one is a slightly different kind of consideration than the other ones are going to be. Option number one is draft Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback from Indiana. Option number two, trade that pick to the Jets for number two, number 44, and a 2027 second round pick. Okay.

Okay. No, option three is draft Rvel Reese. So that's really just I had to pick a player. Okay. Right. Number two on Dane's board. I'm pretty sure he's number two on the PFF draft big board. And so that was the next guy in line if it was not going to be Fernando Mendoza.

I'm actually surprised that the three options here weren't Fernando Mendoza, Mendoza comma, Fernando, and then also the Indiana Heisman Trophy winning quarterback. I'm surprised that those weren't the three options. The trade scenario is obviously. interesting, right, because it kind of depends on how you view this quarterback class overall. But everything that I feel like the Raiders have done this off season, with all of the resources that they have thrown into the defensive side of the ball, not even kind of taking into sort of what was and then what wasn't the Max Crosby trade, but specifically signing a veteran center,

one of the best in the NFL in Tyler Linderbaum, it all sets them up perfectly to draft Fernando Mendoza at number one. That's going to be the choice I'm going to make. I'm not going to overthink this one here because it's not like, oh, let me trade with the Jets and then maybe we'll get Fernando a two. You're not getting Fernando with two if the Jets are trading up to number one. They're taking him. So then you'd just be in a situation where especially after the Gino-Smith trade, they just have Aiden O'Connell right now. I mean, they have no quarterback options to be seen. And so I just think every move that they have made, and I agree with the moves as Spitech has made, has led them to this point to take Mendoza at number one overall. And that's

what I would do as well. And even on the other side of that deal, if you're the Raiders, do you think, okay, you know, we're probably going to be bad again next year if Aidan O'Connell and Kirk Cousins is our quarterback room? Right. If we have a couple more extra picks, are we far enough away? I've gotten to a point now where it'll depend on the quality of the quarterback prospect. But if you're in a position to draft a guy that you think clears a certain bar in this

specific draft, it's a burden of hand thing. I don't want to say, oh, I can accumulate picks. And next year, maybe I'll be in a position to draft a guy at a better quarterback class. I'm already so excited that we're having the, it's such a great quarterback class in 2027, then there's going to be one guy again. Like, I can't wait until that happens. And because there's always that cloud of uncertainty,

if you're in a position like the Raiders, and you're talking about a quarterback prospect in Fernando, and we'll talk more about this, that is worth taking number one overall. I think you just do it, you don't even think about it, and you just start whatever the next chapter of your franchise looks like. On top of what you were saying,

like, I'd take Mendoza over Cam War, I was going to ask you, like, what level of quarterback prospect in a vacuum do you think Mendoza is? And in your mind, he is worthy of the number one pick in most drafts, not just one that we think is a little bit watered down at both quarterback and overall. Right. I feel as though, and this always happens, this always happens with every draft. There's a guy that you know is going to go number one overall, like even Burrow a little bit, right? Remember the combine was like, oh, Burroughs got small hands. It's like, okay, brother, watch just, do not talk to me again until the end of April, please.

and it's sort of, I'm not saying that Fernando Mendoza is Joe Burrell. I'm not quite saying that. But I do believe that what was asked of Fernando Mendoza, the way that he got better from what he was at Cal to this year at Indiana. I mean, he had more turnover-worthy plays than big-time throws last year at Cal. Not this past year, obviously the year before. At Cal, this year it was so different. And the ratio of big-time throws to turnover-worthy plays was so different this year.

And what I noticed, though, is that a lot of times that can happen when quarterback to dial it back. When they go, okay, okay, I don't want to push the ball deep down the field. Let me make my numbers good. Let's increase the completion percentage. Let's limit the turnover worthy plays. But they're not pushing the ball. That was not Fernando Mendoza. Fernando Mendoza still looked at every game and said there are a number of difficult throws that I have to make in order for us to win this game. And I think that's the important part of evaluating guys who have high completion percentages and low average depth of targets. you could still be a West Coast-style efficient quarterback

if you are willing to throw it down the field when the opportunity presents itself. It's those quarterbacks that aren't willing to do so that you get really worried about. So for Mendoza, I like him more than I like Cam Ward. I have less worries about Mendoza than I did Ward. They're similar when it comes to, you know, the armed talent, obviously Ward's a little bit more of a magician

who can make crazy stuff happen outside of structure. Like, Ward obviously clears him in that department, but playing from the pocket, the arm strength, really being able to unlock the entire field with the arm strength that you have, I think all of that is there for them. And I just think that Mendoza has been more consistent throughout his career specifically this past season. And Ward, the turnover-worthy plays were something that was an issue for him throughout his college career.

Miami a little bit less. He was certainly more comfortable in Miami and there were more good than there was bad. But man, you think about the fumble problems that he had at Miami? Those followed him immediately to the NFL. Turnovers aren't just about bad throws. It's truly putting the ball in harm's way. Mendoza just doesn't do that a lot. And instead, this past year, we saw so much of the good from him.

He attacks the middle of the field. He attacks deep down the field. He has more, I know this is circulated around social media a lot. He has more opposite hash sideline throws than any quarterback in this class. That's NFL level stuff. And I just don't see that a lot of times with a lot of quarterbacks that are coming out. because college coaches normally just don't ask him to do it. Mendoza's coach and Kurt Signetti did,

and I think he is a worthwhile investment to make at number one overall. So you would take him ahead of Cam Ward, which I think is totally reasonable based on everything I've looked at so far, and I've yet to really study him and plan on doing that in the next week or so, but I don't think that's completely out of line based on everything I understand about this. The draft before that, we have those three guys go at the top. I assume you have him, Fernando Mendoza, like a step down as a prospect compared to like what Drake May would have been. in your eyes.

Yes. So I feel as though it would have been like Caleb and Drake were right there in my top three last year. I'm trying to think of who would have been next for me. And Jaden Daniels. Jaden Daniels was in that class as well. But like, yeah, I mean, I was worried about, like, I had my worries about Jaden. But when you think about the overall talent ceiling, yeah, I think that Jaden would have been

ahead of Fernando Mendoza. And then you sort of get into the conversation of like Pennix and Bonax and J.J. McCarthy and like I think he's he's much more in that tier than he was the the tier of guys of Drake May and Caleb Williams and Jaden Daniels even as somebody who is a little bit lower on Jaden Daniels I can totally see that from him being a in that first tier instead of being where Mendoza would be with that next crop of guys what about the 2023 draft like how would you compare Mendoza as a prospect to somebody like C.J. Stroud so I would have had Stroud ahead of Mendoza okay I would I can't I can't go to revisionist history on the

one. I had Bryce Young is my number one overall player. So as prospects, I would have had Bryce Young above Fernando Mendoza as well. And then who, 2020, wasn't there somebody, there was somebody else, right? It was those two. And Andrew. Oh, that was Will Leveson, Anthony Richardson. I would have, I would have very clearly had Fernando Mendoza above Will Levis and Anthony Richardson in that draft. Yeah. So, but I wouldn't have had him above Young and draft. This is mostly just for context. And again, I think that it's important when we have drafts like this where Mendoza, I think in a lot of ways, has been painted kind of as a by default number one pick

and a by default number one quarterback. And so using previous drafts to actually measure him as a prospect because we can't really measure him as a prospect in this draft specifically, I think is a useful exercise. And so I think that's context that people would appreciate when it comes to actually figuring out, okay, what is Fernando Mendoza as a prospect?

How should I view him? Yep. Let's get to the New York Jets at number two overall. So we got everybody else on the board right now. I didn't really know which way to go with this. I think a lot of people have mocked a lot of the edge rushers and defensive players to the Jets simply because those are the next best prospects in the draft.

And so I pigeonhole these choices on one side of the ball specifically, but that has more to do with the way a lot of big boards look. So your three options for the New York Jets currently on the clock. Option one, draft Arval Reese from Ohio State. Option two, draft Rubin Bain from Miami. Option three, draft Sunny Stiles from Ohio State. I'll say with Bain, that could include, if you prefer David Bailey in that spot, draft your favorite pure edge rusher in the draft could be that second option.

I don't want to kind of box you in too much there. But Reese, your favorite edge rusher or Sunny Stiles are probably the three names that I would throw out to you. Yeah, I think when it comes to what I feel like will happen, feels as though the Ohio State boys have a little bit more momentum, just feels as though the NFL looks at Arville Reese sort of as this apex predator. ball of clay can kind of just this elite athlete at the second level but I'm going to be honest, you know,

when I watch him, I like Arville Reese a lot more as an off ball linebacker than I do a true edge rusher. He said at the combine he wants to play as an edge rusher, which well done by his agent doing that because edge rusher is get paid a lot more money. But when it comes to what he is kind of going into the NFL, he didn't have a lot of true experience as an edge rusher. But I think his offball linebacker stuff is really good.

Sonny Stiles, I think his resume speaks for itself and how great of an off ball linebacker he is. I think he is a do-it-all change the math type of a player for your defense. All of that to say, I would go Ruben Bain Jr. here. Wow. All right. That would pick here at number two overall. And the reason why is because what's not to like about him other than the arms are a little short,

which, hey, at this point, I think big combine measurement might be a conspiracy theory. I don't know what this. You know, like, hey, we're getting different measurements of the All-Star games, a little different at the pro day. So look, I'm not too worried about it because I've seen the tape of him be able to dominate with the arm like that he has. And here's the thing that I would say about Rubin Bain, who, by the way, elite pass rush grade, above 23% pass rush win percentage, an absolute monster when it comes to strength,

built the way that you want somebody who is truly versatile on the defensive line to be built, elite run defender as well. He has been coached by Jason Taylor, the Hall of Famer, down in Miami for the last three seasons. And because of that, there's no fat on his pass rush. to trim. I mean, the first step explosiveness, the way he uses his hands, the timing, the plan, the counters, the effort, it's all there for him. The thing with Rubin Bain is the arm length, right? Where people go, ah, he's got shorter arms. What I would say is this. If Bain used arm length as a main weapon of choice, then I'd be concerned because I go, okay, well, you're not

going to be able to do this as well at the NFL level. He doesn't. That's not what. I'm I mean, he'll give you a long arm if you're not protecting the chest. He'll throw his hand into your chest and he'll give you a one-arm bull rush or whatever it is. Like he'll do that, no question about it. But it's much less of a this is how this guy wins. And instead, I look at him being a little bit shorter, a little bit stockier, so much weight and strength in the lower half that when a lot of times, when a lot of these longer offensive tackles actually get their hands on him early,

he'll give you a little bit of that like Reggie White hump move to get you off of him. And honestly, having shorter arms and lower leverage helps to be able to do that. So when we talk about measurables and sort of disadvantages when you go to the pro, obviously being bigger is better when it comes to dominating at the pro level. However, when you really watch a guy and how he wins and where he might be strong or deficient, I'm not really worried about Ruben Bain Jr. And instead, I just think he's one of the best players overall in this class. So in your mind, it's the quality of the player, but it's also,

So if you have questions about R.V.L. Reese as an actual pass rusher, then we're talking about positional value to an extent here too, right? Like even if Rvel Reese and Sunny Stiles are really good prospects, if you consider both of them off ball linebackers, then drafting them at two, not only are we talking about the gap between the value of an edge rush or an offball linebacker, drafting an offball linebacker second overall, if that's what you think Ravelle Reese is. Devin White is the most highly drafted offball linebacker in the last however long. He was the fourth overall pick, correct? Fifth. Right. Right. Fourth, yeah.

Fourth, yeah. It's the fourth overall pick. And so the idea of drafting an off-ball linebacker second, I can't even remember the last time that would have happened. When was that? By the way, it was fifth. I said fourth out of my mouth and I was like, wait a second, I should know this. No, no, no, this is fifth.

That didn't sound right. So you're right. You were right. It was fifth overall. When was the last time? I actually went back and I looked at it of who was the highest drafted off-ball linebacker. And I believe there were two that were drafted at number two overall. but you got to go back to like when football was a different game.

Exactly. Yes. It was different when that happened. Like turn of the century, like around the year 2000, I think we might have had one. I think Lavaar Arrington, I believe, went number two overall in his draft. And even he was kind of a hybrid pass rusher. A little bit. Yeah.

And then the other one, I cannot remember his name. It was somebody in the 90s. But again, that's a different game. Like that is a different game of football for guys to be drafted that high. Now, I'll be honest with you. Sonny Stiles would have. been my number two choice here. Like if I wasn't going Ruben Bain,

I would have actually gone Sunny Stiles because I think that what he does as an off-ball linebacker gives you more of that home base and plus versatility. The issue that I have with R. Vell-Reece is not that he's not an incredible football player. It's not that he's not athletic. It's not that the potential isn't all there for him.

It's sometimes we have these situations where you look at guys who are praised for being so versatile and you go, okay, are you versatile? or are you homeless? Do you have a home-based position that when things start to struggle for you as a rookie, can we lean back on putting you in this spot

to give you confidence, to make you better? And with Reese, that is, I'm not saying that it's impossible. I'm not saying that at all. It's more cloudy than it is for a guy like Stiles who I go, okay, I know you're a damn good Mike linebacker, and now sometimes I can rush you off the edge. I can drop you back into coverage.

He played a pseudo-nickel defender. sometimes with how athletic you are. So I just like that scenario with him as a prospect a little bit more than Reese. I think the development curve at off-ball linebacker also plays into that line of thinking, right? Because very few guys are comfortable playing off-ball linebacker's rookies, period.

Even if that's where they come from. And so the fact that even if you like him more as an off-ball linebacker, that's not a place where the water would be warm for him as a young player, I think that only adds to the discussion. The only thing I'd push back on just a tiny bit And more so just, I'm curious if this clouds your thinking at all is what the Jets did in free agency. So they go give Joseph Osai $11 million a year.

They bring in Kingsley-Nacbarre on a one-year deal. And so now you look at the depth chart as it currently stands. You have Joseph Osai. You still have one McDonald there and you have Anac-Barre. But in your mind, that collection of signings just the way they approach free agency. That wouldn't push you off someone you like as much as Rubin Bay. No, it wouldn't. And I think that what you're saying leans more toward if I were doing to a

a predictive mock draft, I think Arvel Reese might have been the selection here because it makes the most sense of sort of where and how they're building, especially in an odd front front defense. But Ruman Bain Jr., to me, is the most talented front seven player on the Jets when he gets drafted. And anytime you have the ability to say that about someone, I don't really let how the rest of the roster is currently in the short term constructed get in the way of me taking a player who I think could be a long-term major difference maker for you. I think that Ruben Mayan is shown throughout the last three years of his career.

He can line up as a three technique. He can line up as a four-eye, a five-tech. He can even stand up as a wide six or seven outside linebacker type. He truly does it all. And I think he's very much a change-the-math type of a player. I mean, I watched Miami do this. I've talked about this on our show a little bit, where Miami would align itself in an underfront

where you've got three defensive linemen to the left of the center. And then Ruben Bain's the only one on the right side of the center, sort of in that four-eye five technique, wherever you want to necessarily put him. They'd put Keonti Scott, the slot defender, who was also an incredible run defender on Rubin Bain's side as well, and they'd essentially dare offenses to go,

hey, you got numbers to the right. Go ahead, see what happens. And a lot of times it wouldn't go very well for them. I think Ohio State learned that the hard way in the college football playoff. And so, no, to answer your question, a long way around your question, I wouldn't let some shorter-term free agency moves get in the way of me drafting the player who I think is the most talented. And just if you look at, I mean, I don't want to be too

reactionary to what the Seahawks were this year, but if you just look at the construction of that room, DeMarcus Lawrence last year in Free Agency, $10.8 million a year, it was the 35th highest A.A.V. among all edge rushers to be, I say their fourth edge rusher, one of four, right? Let's say it that way, one of four guys on the edge. The contract that Joseph Osai just signed is $11.5 million.

That's 30th. And that's three spots behind Ochena Nowsu. And so they had two guys, the Seahawks stayed on top of the two guys they drafted in the second round in that edge room. And so I don't think paying Joseph Osai $11 million a year and having Kingslanding Barre on a one-year deal should prevent you from drafting Rubin Bain for a four-man rotation on your 2026 team, let alone what this looks like moving forward for a team that is as close to square one as the Jets happened to be. Yep, I agree. All right. Before we get to the Cardinals at three, let's take our first quick break.

Let's get to the Arizona Cardinals here, picking third overall. we have Ruben Bain off the board here, so I was going to say draft, he was going to be one of the options along with a couple of the other edge rushers. He's gone now. So let's say option one. You're picking between Arvel Reese and David Bailey.

I wanted to give you just another edge guy in particular, especially if you think their Reese is not necessarily an edge rusher. Right. Number two, draft Francis Moinea, the offensive tackle from a Miami. Number three is draft off ball linebacker, sunny styles from a line. Oh, yeah. Which one are you doing if you're there?

The reason why I have that reaction is because I think the Cardinals would love to go offensive tackle, right? When you look at the way that their offensive line is currently constructed, you have Paris Johnson Jr. at the left tackle spot. You signed Isaac Suomelo to play that left guard. You're okay with Y'all de Froldt-Hold at center. Isaiah Adams was the better of him and Evan Brown at that right guard spot. So at least you've got him. You signed Matt Pryor as well.

Right tackle is. completely open. Like right tackle, you need somebody in there. And I've said before, as a team building strategy type of approach, if you can tell me that I've got Paris Johnson Jr. on one side and I've got Francis Maui Noah at right. It's a lot easier to upgrade the interior offensive line. You could do that every single off season, whether drafted one or sign a one in free agents. But you've got to be able to get the tackles that you want. So I think that, oh my gosh, the general manager of the Arizona Carlin. Monty Austin Ford. Yes. He's already done this wheeling and deal. that's how they got Paris Johnson, right? They were at number three, and then they moved to outside of the top 10, and they popped back up. Ideally, I think he'd love to run that back and get an offensive tackle.

However, you putting Sunny Stiles on the board, me picking here at number three, I'm going to take Sunny Stiles. Wow. All right. I'm going to take Sunny Stiles here because I think he's going to be one of my top three players when it's all sudden done.

Funny enough, I think there's a good chance that the top three players on my big board are all players of non-premian positions in Caleb Downs, Jeremiah Love and Sonny Stiles. But I already talked a little bit about Stiles and how I feel like he changes things. You watched how Caleb Downs was able to play

free safety and strong safety and nickel defender and sometimes a pseudo linebacker. Yes, it's his own talent that gives him the ability to do that. But I also think that you have that sort of freedom because you have number zero in the middle of your defense to be able to clean it up if something doesn't work. And if he's freelancing it away where he sees something, all of a sudden this gap, it gets vacated

or this coverage spot gets vacated. Sonny Stiles is right there. I think the same thing with Arville Reese. Arville Reese gets to be this on-off ball type of hybrid player. And the reason why you're able to do that is because you know that number zero is in the middle. And he's going to fit the gap the way that he needs to. It means his instincts in the run game are unbelievable. And I think that when you look at the Cardinals, yes, they've devoted a lot of draft picks

and a lot of salary cap on the defensive side of the ball. And of course, they would love to get better at quarterback long term and offensive line. But if you are sticking at number three and you can't find a dance partner to trade out, him in the middle of this defense to me truly unlocks the potential of what the Cardinals can be moving forward and if you're going to talk about hey we're going to get our franchise quarterback eventually you know you already have Marvin Harrison Jr. Tray McBride and Michael Wilson for him to be able to throw the ball to give him an elite defense as well. Make him think that he doesn't have to score you know 40 points a game 30 points a game whatever it is to win. Let him know that he might have one of the most talented defenses in the NFL which Cardinals have a potential to be in a couple of years and the way that you do that

is you get better at inside linebacker with Sony Stiles. Counterpoint. I understand where having an elite defense might be a calming presence for a quarterback who's not trying to do too much. I think a better calming presence might be having a right tackle that he doesn't think is going to get him killed. That's just my view on it. For sure. It's a good view. It's a good view to have.

But I will say this as well. The reason why I have so much confidence in being able to draft Sonny Stiles in number three, if I can't trade down is because I like the idea of still being able to get an offensive tackle in this class at 34 at the top of the second round where they pick or even getting aggressive to trade back up into the first round, right? Because you've got guys like Maxionature from Arizona State, the offensive tackle there. Blake Miller, the right tackle who started 54 games at right tackle for Clemson, who you could probably put in right away and feel pretty decent about, right?

Caleb Lomu as well, the offensive tackle from Utah. There are more offensive tackle options that I like to, when I think, about overall draft strategies, get the elite defensive player at three, whether it's Reese, whether it's Sunny Stiles, or whoever it is, David Bailey, and then you can still have the flexibility to either wait at 34 or get aggressive from 34 and still get a right tackle that, in my opinion, you're going to feel pretty good about. So that would sort of be my counter to the counter, if you will, is when you look at draft strategies, I think that it behooves them to go the elite defensive player at three and wait a little bit on offensive line,

which I almost never say just out of principle. But I think Arizona's got that situation for them. What do you think of Maui Noah is a prospect? I mean, do you think that he is somebody that would be typically worth the third overall pick? Do you feel like that's more about the options available at offensive tackle in this class? Like, if they were to do that, if they were to walk away from the top five with Maui Noah, the Cardinals, how would you feel about that just in terms of optimization?

I get it. I get it in this class specifically, but, you know, I gave Maui Noah a second round grade, right? I think it was sort of teetering close to like a late first, early second, or just a solidified second round grade. I think he's a really solid offensive tackle prospect. And I want to be clear, that's also sort of a film grade and offensive tackles, not quite as much as quarterbacks, but they play a premium position. So you pay a little bit of attacks. You're going to, okay, if this guy's got a second round grade, you're probably going to have to take him at the back end of the first round, right?

If he's got a late first round grade, you're probably going to have to take him low closer to the top 10. That's just how the league operates when it comes to the scarcities of offensive tackles. But now we know he's battle tested. He started at right tackle for the last three years, which would be a really good fit, obviously, in Arizona with them needing a right tackle. He's more of that powerful, sort of like man in gap scheme, run blocking concept type of a player.

So if you want to lean a little bit more into that, he's definitely your guy to be able to do that. The foot speed forums, a little bit slower, and he doesn't have the longest arms in the world, but he makes it work. I think this is a second contract type of an offensive tackle. And with that, again, if Arizona can trade a little bit down from three, I'd be okay with it. If they take him at number three, I'd understand, especially in this class, wanting to get better on the offensive line. But independently, I would be much more comfortable drafting Francis Maui, you know, just out around or outside of the top 10 than I would at number three overall in a vacuum. Well, now I regret not giving you a trade option for the Cardinals of three, but that ship is sailed and we've

already moved on. We might have been here for three hours if that's the case. That's the problem. If we stuck to with the trades, then it's like things just get completely off the rails. I understand there are trades and drafts, but like this can't be like a 12 hour process. It's like the, it's always sunny meme where I'm just, I start just like drawing on a whiteboard behind me of like, you know, value, this chart, you know, so. I'm curious though. Let's just play this out, the hypothetical, just briefly here. If there was a team and a player that you think, let's say we're watching the draft on night one, Cardinals are on the clock,

trade is in, we're waiting for that logo to pop up at number three. Who do you think is the team that you'd have your eye on to trade up to number three and why might they be doing that? Yeah, I feel like Washington is the easy answer here when it comes to being able to trade up and get Jeremiah love if that's what they really want

because they're jumping the Titans and the Giants who have both, you know, it's been rumored that they're kind of in on in there. But the problem with Washington is they don't have any picks. They pick it seven, then they pick it 71 in the third round and then they pick it 147 in the fifth. So they're sort of maybe my answer there. You know, would the Rams get insanely aggressive as well to move up all the way up there?

But obviously, you know, you're trading in division as well. It's kind of murky in that regard. But to me it'd be Washington. But that's why I think we'd see so many more trade scenarios for the Cardinals at three if there was an obvious team for them to be able to move up and go get this player. Maybe the chiefs think packaging 9 and 29

and getting three and maybe something back, I don't know the value off the top of my head. Like maybe something crazy like that happens, but there's just, there's not an easy fit for that, but Washington's obviously where my mind goes first if they want Jeremiah Love, because that's the player I think

has the highest risk of going over the next couple of picks. All right, let me lay something out for you that maybe it was a little bit less likely, a couple weeks ago before they got a little bit more ammunition, the Cowboys now have the 90-second pick because of the Oso Dugis-Uuit trade. It's true. They were a team that I was like, I don't know about them trading up. There's light on draft capital in the middle rounds,

but they have a pick in every round now. They have an extra fifth-round pick, and it would obviously take more than that. But if we think that there is like a real drop-off between guys like Sonny Stiles, Ruben Bain at the top, Caleb Downs, if he's not going to be there at 12. And the Cowboys are sitting there looking at what they did in free agency and thinking, man, if we can get one like true defensive difference maker out of this group and we don't

think Sunny Stiles is going to get to us, are they a team that actually might benefit from thinking about a move like this? I think so, yeah. I think that that's a really good call out with them getting that extra third round pick for OSA because I think you look at this team, they desperately need safety, they desperately need linebacker. And you look at having the opportunity to go up and get Caleb. or Sunny Stiles, if they were to make this move,

I feel like it would be for Sunny Stiles. Because I think if they're honing it on safety, Dylan Thineman is also somebody who I think is so talented that you probably sit here and you go, okay, we're going to wait until one of them goes off the board. And then we'll start calling teams to trade up to make sure that, you know, maybe we can get one of the, because the Dallas picks at 12. you know, Kansas City could use a safety.

Cincinnati could use a safety, right? Miami, depending on how they want to build. I think they're going to go trenches. But like those teams all- They can do anything. Miami-in-law do anything. They have no players on the roster. That is, boy, that's the worst roster on paper going into next year.

That is the worst roster on paper going into next season. And I think that they'll have the opportunity, obviously, to reset their franchise in a big way in the 2027 draft. but that might be ugly for him and Jeff Hathley's first year. Yeah, that's the team, and I'm sure we'll talk a lot more about this as we get a little bit closer, but Dallas being a little bit of a wild card now with having that full cash of picks when they just have that clear blinking needle, linebacker. That's the one that I'd be thinking about.

All right, let's get to the Jeremiah Love corridor here. The Tennessee Titans picking fourth overall. Here are your three options for the Tennessee Titans. Okay. Option one, draft Arvel Reese, who is still on the board. Titans still need defensive help even with some of the things they do. did in free agency. Two, draft Jeremiah Love, running back from Notre Dame.

Three, I didn't really know where to go with this. Like, the Titans did so much work in free agency. Calvin Redley just took a pay cut. I don't know how much longer he'll be there. Wando Robinson is a very specific type of receiver. Like, did Iommanor do enough to where you want to see more from him, or do we still think receiver is a need? And so I had draft Carnell Tate as my third option here,

because I didn't really, couldn't really think of a better one. If Arval Reese is an option number one, Jeremiah Love is option number two. Is there a player you want as option number three to really make this a difficult choice? I'll give that to you. I mean, I think about Caleb Downs because, I mean, he might be my number one overall player,

but I just... I don't think the Titans are going to do it, but he probably would be the third player option just from a talent perspective. This is tough. This is really tough because Jeremiah Love's to be higher on my board and I think it's a really good fit but from a positional value standpoint do you pass up on Reese I'll have I'll have Reese go here at four I'll take Arville Reese for I'll take

Arville Reese for I think the positional value sake of conversation because they do have family Femiola dejo who you know you could slot into maybe one of these spots, but this is also not the coaching staff that drafted Femmy. It's the front office that drafted him, but it's not the coaching staff. And I think the way that they want to run things is a little different. And even when you take a further step back, if Rville Reese is sort of this on-ball, off-ball hybrid defender, he has so much more juice in athleticism than both Cedric Gray and Cody Barton, even if you feel okay about those guys at the inside linebacker

spots, Reese gives you more juice than either of those guys. and you're not even really having the same conversation. So I'll go with Reese, who is going to be lower on my board just because of what we talked about, some sort of some of the clouded uncertainty with exactly where his home-based position is. He's going to be lower on my board than Jeremiah Love is. But I just, I love Jeremiah Love.

I really do. There's so many years where you can get a good running back prospect. There really is. And next year's running back class, I hate being the guy to do this, but next year's running back class also looks sick and it looks deep and there's a chance that you could get a really good starter

even if you're not picking you know in the top eight which I'm sure the Titans don't want to be I'm going to go with Arvill Reese here at number four for the Titans. I think there's so many different considerations with this. One, the guys you just talked about on defense, I think Femio O'Dazio absolutely

was driven by what that staff in particular was looking forward defensively and even talk about hybrid players. He was a hybrid player in college and could play a little bit off ball. And so there is like a little bit of redundancy there, but I do think that is again driven by what the previous staff wanted. I think you say the same thing about Cody Burton.

I think both Oladajou and Cody Barton are moves that were made with the previous staff's interests in mind. And so I wouldn't necessarily be overly attached to those players just because they were drafted by the previous, drafted by this front office. So I think that's a good way of thinking about it. The running back part of this, and we'll have this discussion a million different times between now and the draft. And we've talked about the positional value aspects of this a lot over the last several years. The contract part of this I think is absolutely worth mentioning over and over and over again. Like this, obviously, we're not picking between running backs and receivers. But when you think about premium positions versus non-premium positions and you look at Kenneth Walker getting $14 million a year in free agency and JSN just getting $42 million a year, that's why you want to draft premium positions high in the draft.

Like there is so much value that can come along with that. And I know we beat that to death, but it's worth bringing up consistently because it is a very real thing. I haven't done the deep dive on the actual historical data on this yet, but I will start shipping away at it as we, again, we're going to zero in on this in a couple specific shows that we're doing. I would love to look back at the last 10 years. So let's just say, let's say 15 years. Let's say since the modern CBA was kind of put into place and look at how quickly and how efficiently. drafting a running back in the top 10 or top 15 in the draft dramatically changed the quality of the offense

that he was being dropped into. And part of why I keep coming back to this is that if you're drafting in the top 10 and especially if you're drafting in the top five, it is almost a guarantee that your team is shitty, that you don't have a lot of other things where you're dropping that guy into a really good situation. And I just think that running backs are such,

an accelerant for good situations but often can't overcome bad situations that if you're putting a good running back onto a bad team how often is that going to move the needle in making you a significantly better team i mean ashton dentee got drafted in the top 10 last year and his team is picking number one overall there's nothing to do with the quality of prospect that ashen genti or jeremiah love are i just think it speaks to the sequencing of how that position should fit into your team building plan and what history, especially a recent history would tell us. And I assume that it's not that good of a recent history. Yeah, no, I think that you're totally right because in order to have a running back that can

really hit the ground running, and I love the way that you said that, running backs can be an accelerator for teams that are already going in the right direction. But they're not really a team, they're not really a position to like stop the skid or to take teams that would be a net negative below average of what the league is and really bring them up and be able to carry the anchor. That just doesn't really happen. And I can't remember who first said this phrase to me, but they're like, you know what?

NFL teams, because I heard this when it was around this time of year and they're like, oh, you know, they're thinking about picking this guy or this guy or whatever, and they'll go, NFL teams will lie with their words all the time. They will not lie with their money, right? Like, that's, they won't, they're not going to sign somebody to a big deal to get you off the trail, right? Like, that's not what they're doing. So when you look at the gap of how much these,

these guys are getting paid per year at the top of both markets running back in edge rusher. It tells you exactly what these teams think of these positions. And if all things are equal, if you're really having a debate between one of these two guys, it's probably going to be the premium position and the edge rusher that wins out. And for this specific situation, you know, it's interesting because I think the main driver of Jeremiah Love to the Tennessee Titans comes from the fact that they want to give Cam Ward as much help as possible, right? They want to try to make sure that their investment in the franchise quarterback.

They are building upon that. But the counterpoint that I would have is you still don't have a good offensive line. That's the other issue here is that there are two spots on the interior that they just haven't. I mean, they've addressed them. They've signed guys, but they're not guys that you want as starters right now. And even beyond that, what's the answer to the J.C. Latham conversation? Is he a tackle or is he a guard? The only position, the only player right now on the.

Titans roster at offensive line that I can guarantee you as playing that spot three years from now is Peter Skorosky. That's it. You don't have a long-term answer at left tackle. You have JC Latham, but is he your long-term answer at right tackle? I think Latham's a starting caliber guard, if not a tackle. So it's not like I'm saying he won't be on the team, but you got to answer that conversation. And I didn't think, I did not think that we were talking about the Titans' offensive line situation enough. And I guess still, I don't think that we're talking about the Titans' offensive line situation enough going into next season. It's much more of an issue than people are given a credit for.

And to be honest with you, I like the idea of them drafting, you know, depending on, you know, what style of offense they want to run, like Spencer Fano or Francis Maui Noa at 4 over some of these other choices that I think, you know, people, of course, sort of talked about as mock draft options for them. So, yeah, that's kind of where I'm at with the Titans. I was going to ask you, if you were going to slot J.C. Latham inside, is there a world where they draft Maui Noah at 4? or if you think Spencer Fano is a guard,

is there a war where they draft him it for? It doesn't feel like they would do it. But again, like, I think it's a conversation that is so much more worth having than we are having right now for the tights. It just feels like it's this foregone conclusion that everybody goes, nope, not taking off and not thinking about offensive line,

not talking about offensive line at all whatsoever. When throughout the course of this off season, since the non-playoff draft order has been solidified, we've talked about offensive line for the Cardinals of three. We've talked about offensive line for the New York Giants of five. We talk about offensive lines still for the Cleveland Browns at six. But for some reason, the Titans at four completely avoid that conversation when their offensive lines really much more skeptical than I think that conversation gives

it credit for. All right. Before we get to the Giants pick at five, let's take another quick break. All right, let's move on to the New York Giants at number five. Your three options for the New York Giants. Option one, draft Jeremiah Love. Option two, draft Carnell Tate. Okay, Ardano Mooney's on a one-year deal,

$3 million in dead money on Darius Slayton's deal if they moved on after this year. And so I don't think their wide receiver is, even with the Mooney contract and Mooney Edition, solved for the Giants by any stretch. Option three, draft Spencer Fano or Francis Maui, no, one of the two. You could put them at guard for one year with Germain Aluminor.

You could keep them at guard, but I still think offensive line, especially interior offensive line is a need for this team still. They brought an Aaron Stiny on like a one year $1.5 million deal. So those are your three options. Draft Jeremiah Love,

draft Carnell Tate, draft an offensive lineman, and I think we could probably have a Caleb Downes conversation here as well if you wanted to at least consider him because I know you love him. I do love him. I wonder if they would go that direction at five.

I think he'd be a great man. It kind of depends on what this staff thinks to Tyler Nubin and Javon. Holland overall. Like if they think that they're right and they can win with them, I don't think they'd think about Caleb Downs here. The O-line proposition is the one that's giving me the most hang-up right now because I really do wonder if that's the best situation for them

because, again, this is another team where the offensive line has areas where it can absolutely address even right now. I mean, they brought Evan Neal back. who Evan Neal was a failure for them, and they still brought him back. I think that that goes to show you sort of what they think about the offensive line and the depth as is.

They needed bodies still on that offensive line. So I do think the O line is a little bit more of an issue than people are willing to admit. I will go Maui Noah. Let's get Maui Noah off the board. Let me take him here at number five. It was between him and Tate, because I think that Tate is the perfect player for the Giants,

because he wins consistently vertically. He's great in contest to catch situations. He's got the nuance of being able to get open deep. He's exactly what Jackson Dart wants. And he's such an ideal one-two combination with Malik neighbors who. Malik can do it all, but he can do a lot of the intermediate and short stuff where, you know, Carnal Tate can be a vertical threat at all times for you. And that's exactly what Jackson Dart wants.

When he was at his best, when he was at Ole Miss, he always had those vertical threats. That's a Lane Kiffin offense type of a staple of being able to stretch the ball deep down the field. and he just doesn't have those options at a high level right now in New York. But all of that to say, yeah, I mean, there's this situation where I don't think that we're talking about offensive line enough. And sure, we could sit here in free agency and say, oh, they brought back Germina Luminor. Oh, they signed Aaron Stinney.

Like, they made moves there. But just to make moves in a certain spot doesn't mean that you can't get better at a really premium position like offensive line. And I think for Francis Maui Noah, you start him a right guard immediately. And then Germain Olinor signed a two-year deal with them. It's a three-year deal. It's a three-year deal, but I think, I believe this is his age 32 season.

Okay, okay. So, yes. I bet if we pull up the contract details, it's essentially like almost even like a one and a half, I would think, for a guy who's 32 years old. It's $26 million guaranteed. So it's, he has guarantees. Yeah. So if you look at it right now, $12 million of his $12.4 million base salary in 2027 is guaranteed. So the first two years are pretty much guaranteed on the aluminum ordeal.

Right. So that's pretty much like what I figured it would be is like, hey, this is effectively. a two-year deal where you're starting Maui Noah at Guard next season and then there's a good chance you're starting him at right tackle the following year and you've got a guy who's already, you know, experienced NFL life, he gets it, he's played on the line before, now you're just kicking him back out to tackle. And like I said, once you have tackles figured out, the way that we talked about this with Arizona, it's so much easier to upgrade the interior offensive line. So to me, I do think the offensive line long term and short term even is more of an issue for the Giants. And, you know,

when you have that young quarterback sort of like what we talked about with previous teams, it's pretty good when you can keep them up right. And I do think that Francis Maui Noah is a good, I think he's a good player, but he'll probably be around the same area on the big board that Carnell Tate. And again, anytime it's like a trench need or this, I just lean much more towards the trench need. So I'll go Maui Noah here. Any thought about Jeremiah Love or in your mind,

is it just the gap, the position of value gap is enough? where you'd rather pick the trench player, even if you love love as a prospect. Yeah, I love love as a prospect, but like I'm the wrong got to ask because I had Scatibu RB3 last year. Like, I fully believed that Scataboo was going to be starting running back in the NFL.

Like, when I watched him in Arizona State, again, people were like, oh, you know, he's too slow, he's not going to break off the big runs for you. How off do you have to break a 40, 50, 60-yard run in the NFL anyways? Like, four times a season? Like, it just, it never happens. I'd much rather have the player. that's turned a two and a half yard run into a four-yard run,

a four-and-a-half-yard run into a six-yard run, a six-yard run into a nine, ten-yard run because of what they can do, making you miss in a phone booth, and specifically yards after contact per attempt averages, things that Camp Scadaboo was both really good at when he was at Arizona State, and obviously we saw that from him at the NFL level as well. So, yeah, of course, like his injury last year,

sort of goes into play here, but I'd much rather figure out what I have in Scataboo and then address running back heavily next year if I need to than over, like, over drafting Jeremiah Love for my situation is probably the way that I would say it. That's the other thing I'd mention about the Titans. Like, Tony Pollard's not a great player and he's definitely getting older, but like Tony Pollard's still on their roster. Like, it's not like they don't have somebody they can turn around and hand the ball to this year if they need to. And so I think that's the other thing I throw out about Tennessee when you think about them being a love destination.

Like, if they had caught Pollard and you're sitting there and it's Tajay Spears and nothing, maybe it's a little bit clearer of a marriage. but Pollard is still there and he did fine last year in a pretty horrific situation. All right. Cleveland Browns at six. Okay, this is interesting because Francis Maui Noah,

if available, was one of my notes and the answer is he's not. So, okay. Are three options for the Cleveland Browns. One, draft Carnell Tate. Two, draft Monroe Freeling. Three,

draft Caleb Downs. Freeling, obviously, you know, that's, he accelerates here because left tackle is such a need as you're sitting here and looking at this Cleveland situation and really as they, even as they've added to their offensive line, picking as high as they are, finding a left tackle or a receiver

feels like a priority for them. And this is one of those weird teams where a lot of the other teams picking in the top 10, edge rusher is going to be at or near the top of their needs other than the Giants. The Browns, that's one spot where they do have a lot of bodies on the roster. So Tate, Freeling Downs are the three guys

that I would throw out between those three, which direction are you going? So with the offensive line thought there, I think a lot of people are looking at Pencil and Monroe Freeling here at number six. I'm a little bit lower on Freeling. I think his tape is more inconsistent than people are willing to admit with it. Now, I see the athleticism, right? I mean, like I see the great stuff from him.

I mean, this guy can really get out of his stance and run. Great athlete, younger player as well, still growing into his body. Sometimes I feel like, you know, he doesn't handle power and anchor as well as I would like for him too. Again, I think he plays off balance a lot more than I want my offensive tack on an island to play. But there's reason to believe that, you know, he is absolutely not a finished product and that he's going to get better. Francis Maui Noah would have been a really, really strong candidate here for me, specifically because Todd Munkin, he's been all over the spectrum when it comes to zone blocking versus like power scheme blocking, right? Because three years ago when he was the offensive coordinator for his first year with the Ravens,

they were 27th in the NFL, an outside zone run percentage. The next year, they were 17th. And in this past year, they were seventh. So he just fully formed into an outside zone type of rushing team. But the offensive tackles that they've acquired, Zion Johnson, Elect and Jenkins, Titus Howard, that tells me they're going much more towards a power run scheme. So Maui Noah would have fit that better than Fano,

who I would have thought about here. Freeling to me is maybe a little bit more of that. Okay, he could play a little bit more power as well. Well, let's throw a final out as well. If you feel is not your guy and you think the final is, it can play tackle, or you think Titus Howard might play guard for them. Let's throw final out just as an option as well. We could skip Freeling and if that's, if you think that's fair.

All that to say, I'm going to take Carnal Tate. Okay. I am going to take Carnell Tate here at number six, a little bit towards the conversation of kind of what we had for the Cardinals when we talked about taking the top defensive player three and then waiting to 34 for offensive line. It's even easier for Cleveland, right? you get to address offensive playmaker and really just take the best player available at six, the guy that you think really is a difference maker for you there.

And you can basically get offensive linemen at 24 where they're picking. You know, again, like some of the guys that I talked about, you know, Caleb Lomu, Maxi Anature, Caden Proctor, Blake Miller, like these guys, you're going to have options at 24 that I think that you'll be decently happy with. So if Maui knows here, I really would have thought about him because I think he fits that power run game where Cleveland seems to be going. but instead they need a wide receiver one and Carnell Tate I think is immediately

the most talented wide receiver on this team and probably the most reliable receiver on this team so quarterback obviously is still a massive question mark for them in the short term but they have to have to have to have to get better at wide receiver this draft and I think the Carnell Tate's a good way to do that. Let's play the same game we did with Carnal Tate that we did with Fernando Mendoza a little bit earlier

so if you're looking at last year's draft class for example and you're stacking up Carnell Tate to Tateau and McMillan, and then one step down from that, the guys, Matthew Golden, the other one's kind of bunched in the back half of the first round. Where would you slot in, Cornell Tate, and between those two guys, would you say he's close, if it's behind McMillan, would you say he's closer to McMillan or closer to Golden just in terms of the quality of prospect that we're talking about? He would be behind McMillan. McMillan would be my wide receiver one. McMillan was my wide receiver one last year, and he would have been this year over all of these

guys. Travis Hunter's sort of the wild card there because I was just so enamored with who he was as a football player. I probably would have had Travis Hunter over Carnell Tate, to be honest with you, even at wide receiver. But then, yeah, I think Tate, Tyson, Lemon, like those guys are next in sort of that next tier that Matthew Golden would have been in. So I think I would have had, yeah, well, no, actually, I definitely would have had Carnell Tate above Matthew Golden. I think I would have had Tyson above Golden as well. And I think I would have had Lemon above Golden too. So to me, of those big three that we talk about at the receiver spots this year,

Tet would have been the only one that I would have for sure had above those three that we have this year. It's funny. I was trying to think back on this just like the last five, six drafts and where the receivers have typically gone because there haven't been that many receivers taken. I think Brian Thomas Jr. was really the only one

that was taken in the teens. Because for the most part, guys are either pushed up toward the top 10 or they're going in the 20s. Like that's been the two clusters that we've seen because two years ago you had the Oduenzay, Malik neighbors, Marvin Harrison draft, or all three of those guys going to top 10. Before that, the last really receiver heavy top half of the first round that we saw, I think Olaave went 11, right?

It was London, Wilson, and then Olave. And they were all gone by the 11th or 12th pick. And then the draft before that, that's when all those guys went in the 20s. And so for the most part, there just haven't been a ton of receivers in the first round drafted between like pick 10 and pick 20 in the last five or so years. And it feels like this year there might be several of those guys drafted in that range. Yeah, to your point, that draft in 2022 was really the big draft where that was the case because London goes eight. And Berks. Berks was in the teens.

Garry Wilson goes 10. Olavet goes 11. Jameson Williams went 12 that year. That's right. And then John Dotson went 16 and Trailerbergs then went 18 after that. You think it's telling that I forgot about Jahan Dotson and Trailerburtt? Yeah, yeah. How these guys ended up playing out?

Yeah, yes. I forgot that those guys went to the team. So that was really the last time that happened. Right. And I do agree with sort of the sentiment of what you're saying here. When you're a wide receiver, if a team believes that you are no question about it, like a wide receiver one, they have no reservations about taking you in the top 10. But after that, like if it sort of becomes this, you're like, yeah, I mean, maybe he's a one,

yeah, maybe he's two kind of a guy. You see teams wait or they're less compelled to make those selection for sure. It might just be at this point. I'm not sure we have enough data to make any like sweeping generalizations about it. But I do think it's interesting that there's having that many over the last five years guys drafted in the teens at that position specifically. But Carnal Tate for you is the sixth overall pick going to the Cleveland Browns. So, just to quickly recap here, Las Vegas Raiders, in your mind,

for you drafting Fernando Mendoza number one overall. New York Jets taking Ruben Baines second in a little bit of a surprise. And an even bigger surprise, Sonny Stiles going to the Arizona Cardinals with a third overall pick. Tennessee Titans drafting Arvel Reese fourth overall. The Giants drafting Francis Maui, Noah, fifth overall, moving him to guard for our purposes here, at least in the short term. and then Carnell Tate going to the Cleveland Brown's sixth overall.

Let me ask you this for all these six teams. Do you think, so I think we can start even this at two, but I think three and five are probably the ones are most interested in here. We assume that if you're Moniausin for it, you're drafting Francis Maui No with a third overall pick. So your prediction for what is going to happen is not what you would have done at three.

Yeah, correct. And at five, would you say the same thing when it comes to Jeremiah Love versus a guy like Francis Maui Noah? Or are you less confident in what the Giants might do? No, well, obviously a lot of changes in New York, right? So, Joe Shane remains as the general manager. But, I mean, let's face it, you know, John Harbaugh is calling the shots there. And so you don't really have a great beat on exactly what's going to happen there because Harbaugh has been so much as a win now, win now, win now with Lamar and the Ravens for so many years.

it's a little bit different for him. But much like the Titans conversation, I don't think people are talking about the offensive line situation with the Giants enough. And so, yes, I feel less confident that what I would do at 3 and then at 5 is actually going to happen. I haven't heard a lot of that. Not that those would be bad selections.

Obviously, I don't think that they would because I made them. But it's one of those where I just haven't heard a lot of buzz for specifically the Giants one. Sunny Style is a 3 a little bit more just because of how good he was in the crazy combine performance that he had. But yeah, for the Giants, I just don't hear a lot about offensive line at number five still. And I think that it should be on the table for them. All right.

Who do you feel best about here? Like, which pick is your, if you're making it in the moment for one of these teams, do you feel the best about walking away from the draft? Yeah, I think the answer to that is Ruben Bain. I think that I know that that was sort of a shocker at this point because nobody really talks about him going number two overall. But to be honest with you, man, like, since the national championship ended

and since that run that Miami had and just watching him just continue to dominate as well as he had at the beginning of the year throughout the entire long college football season. I mean, I just think this guy's an absolute stud. The Jets draft him. He's the most talented player on their defense. That's what I believe about that.

And I love that he's joining a room that's got more veterans involved, right? Like for the Jets, very clearly last year, like they didn't even have the veteran leadership that they needed to. Now they've got Mika Fitzpatrick. They've got to Mario Davis, right? They've got these guys that have been around and had success in this league and have played at a really high level.

And I just love the idea of adding a player as talented as Rubin Bain to a roster like that with guys like that in his locker room. And I think this dude's destined to be an all pro. I really do. All right. Those are our first six picks of our 2026 version of on the clock. Trevor Secondama, please tell the people where they can check out all of the wonderful work that you were doing when you're not donating your time to this podcast. Yes, covering the draft 365 with my good friend Connor Rogers over at the NFL Stock Exchange YouTube channel

doing all the player rankings, the mock drafts, the big boards, all that good stuff. And of course, all my big board, the MDS, everything over at pff.com as well. Awesome. Appreciate the time, sir. Always great to chat with you. We'll do it again very soon.

Appreciate it, brother. Anytime. All right, guys, that's all we got for today. Thank you so much to Trevor. If it wasn't clear, we're going to be doing one of these a week all the way through the draft. We're going to be doing them in five different chunks.

We're in five different shows. So I think it's 66677. That's what we did last year. Really enjoyed the exercise. Excited to be bringing it back again. Got some fun guests on tap for our on the clock series. We will be back tomorrow with another edition of Building the Beast with Dave and Dane. Please be on the lookout for that.

For now, that's all we got. Appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you very soon.