The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - On the Clock, picks 26-32: The top-tier Super Bowl contenders make their moves

Episode Date: April 22, 2025

We're back On the Clock on this episode of The Athletic Football Show. Mike Renner from CBS Sports joins Robert Mays to wrap up the first round and make picks 26 through 32 in the 2025 NFL Draft. That covers first round picks for the Rams, Ravens, Lions, Commanders, Bills, Chiefs and Eagles. The Ravens go for traits at pass rusher! The Lions get some oomph in the middle of their defensive line! The Eagles replace Josh Sweat! Come and join the draft fun.Host: Robert MaysCo-Host: Derrik KlassenWith: Mike RennerExecutive Producer: Michael BellerProducer: Michael BellerSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTubeFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Trevor on Bluesky: @tampabaytre.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @robertmaysFollow Derrik on X: @QBKlassFollow Trevor on X: @TampaBayTreTheme 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. The fifth and final installment of our on-the-clock series is happening today. Mike Renner from CBS here to help us with picks 26 through 32. If you guys are unfamiliar with this exercise, this is our fifth version of this show. We've done every single pick of the first round, which each of the guests, when a team is on the clock, I've given them three-ish options that they can pick from for that specific team. and it's what they would do if they were on the clock, not what they think that team would do.

In the end, and this is rounding it out today, we will have one first round mock draft from one to 32. If you guys want to go back and listen to the other iterations of this show, please do. I talked about who's been off the board early on in this show, so you'll get some context with that, but have enjoyed doing these, have had such a great time doing them. We've had some great guests. And again, it's been a good way to just talk about the makeup of all of these teams, what their needs are, where they could potentially be looking given this pool of players in the 2025 draft. Before we dig into it with Mike, quick reminder, Thursday night, 7.30 p.m. Eastern on our YouTube

channel, me, Dane Bruegler, Bruce Feldman, Derek Klessen, breaking down every single pick from the first round of the draft. And then me, Derek, and Dane, we'll be back on Friday night, 6.30 p.m. Eastern reacting to every pick of the second and third round. We do not tip the picks. We are watching the draft live with you. you guys. So we think it's a great watch-long experience. You can have NFL network out in the background, and you can be listening to Dane, Bruce, and Derek break down every single pick as it happens during the first round. We've been doing this for since I've been here. A 2021 draft was our first one that we did. If you guys remember that show, it was me and Nate with like three iPhones

in a courtyard by Marriott room in downtown Chicago. Things have changed since then. We've got some bells and whistles. We've got some fun wrinkles coming to you guys this year. It's one of my favorite things that we do, it's really a chance to watch Dane just cook over a four-hour period and just show off everything he knows about these guys as prospects and having Bruce here to kind of give some context about what they were as college players this year. Very much looking forward to that and would love if you guys could join us. So be on the lookout for that. 7.30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, we will be live on YouTube breaking down all of round one. Right now, let's get to Mike Renner and the fifth installment of our on the clock series hitting picks 26 through 32 in the first round.

Joining us now for the final installments, the finishing out of the first round here in our on the clock series. It's our friend from CBS. Mike, how you doing, man? I'm doing great, Robert. Thanks for having me, man. Appreciate you doing this. We've had some good guests. Trevor was on. Ben Solac was on. We had a couple other draft folks on to do, you know, their second. of the first round. Very excited to have you here to round things out. I'm going to do this very quickly. I'm going to go back and first explain the exercise and then list off the players who've been drafted so far before getting into the final picks of the final seven picks of the first round.

So what we've done so far here is that I've had three different guests on and we've done six to seven picks per show. And what we've done, I've given three options per team. And then the guest has done what they would do if they were on the clock with the. these picks. We've had the first 25 picks of the first round. I'm going to go through them very quickly so people listening know who is on or off the board and might help explain why certain guys aren't being mentioned as options. So here we go. One to 25 speed run. Cam Ward, Chaturdawer Sanders, Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter, Mason Graham, Will Johnson, Armand Memboo, Will Campbell, Tetero McMillan, Ash and Gentie, Tyler Warren, Jalen Walker, Kelvin, Colson Loveland,

Mike Green, Jehad Campbell, Donovan Jackson, Matthew Golden, Donovan Azaraku, Walter Nolan, Luther Burden, Emekaabuka, Jadae Barrett, Malachi Stark, Josh Simmons. Those are our first 25 picks. I sent you these yesterday. Before we dig into yours, any big surprises for you with the first 25 picks and where some of those picks might have landed? I think the biggest one was Donovan Jackson to the Bengals. That's one I haven't seen yet. I believe right Tyler Booker is still on the board here Tyler Booker's still on the board here Gray Zabel still on the board here to have him go above

I just not something that's just like that to me was the biggest surprise by far who made that pick I've got very curious he was Ben Zollack you could take that up with Ben Zalachshund. Stan so he is a Diamond Jackson guy I think he's good I'm not like I think he has a really high floor for the NFL I just think like Booker

and Zabel for like really respective teams I think Booker specifically for the Bengals. It's like your dream guard candidate for that gap scheme, those two big monsters they got at OT. I think he's your perfect guard for that team. We went through that the idea that the last guy, who I think would have been like a first round selection, who tested so horribly that it sent him kind of spiraling down the board,

was probably Orlando Brown Jr. Who is the left tackle for the Bengals? Yes. Yes. And no, my gosh. I mean, he was first rounder until the Combine. And then now I think his testing was even worse than Booker's, right? Like his was like, oh, it's all time bad. Yeah.

But I mean, they had to change their scheme up because of those guys. Because like Orlando Brown, they don't run outside zone anymore, right? They had to do completely different stuff. But if you're not run outside zone, Dalai Book is your man, dude. He is your man at the guard position. Any pairings that you liked that you hadn't necessarily thought of before? You're like, ooh, I hadn't really considered that as a fit. But now that I see it, I actually do kind of like.

it. I think Jalen Walker to the Cowboys was one where I was like, that never even, you know, in a mock or whatever, seen that thought of that. But then I was thinking about like, man, just like, imagine just another, like when Micah Parsons was off ball there for the whatever three weeks that he did it. I was super intrigued by what that could have been. It was against the Packers. So I'm sure you were very happy that they decided to do it over those three weeks. Right. So whatever that was, I was like still very curious about what that could look like to have a really high-end off-ball blitzer in that defense, why not add one on Jalen Walker? Like, he could be that guy now. He could play off ball there or on ball or shoot, like these hybrid

guys that were seeing proliferate around the NFL. He'd be perfect in that role. Danny Kelly did some weird stuff from whatever it was, six through 12, but we embrace that here. And hopefully we'll have some weird ones with the last seven in this entire exercise they were doing. So let's dig into it. The Los Angeles Rams are picking 26th overall. all, your three options for the Los Angeles Rams. Option one, draft Josh Connerly from Oregon as your right tackle of the future in the last year of Rob Havenstein's deal. Option two, draft any cornerback of your choosing.

This is one of the only positions we're going to do this with in this run of seven picks because there are so many corners, it feels like, that are late, first, early second round picks. I didn't want to box you in with which of those guys you could take here. So whatever corner you prefer is available to you here. option three is take jackson dart or jelan milrow so those are your three options josh connerly cornerback of your choosing jackson dart or jelan milrow is the quarterback of the future in oi what are you doing if you were on the clock i'm just gonna say i don't like this quarterback class i just don't

i like cam ward i don't have when i'm going to drop my next board i don't have another guy in the top 50 it's just i see like 2022 where after cam war and there's not even wasn't even cam war in 22 but like the next guy is just at best a low-end starter. I just don't see high-end starter traits from the rest of this draft class. I'm sorry? So I'm not going to go. My quarterback of the future, it's not like a Jordan Love pick where Jordan Love had high-end traits at Utah State, right?

And then you're kind of banking on that developing. I don't feel like these are developmental guys. They're almost more like kind of somewhat NFL-Ridish, not Jackson Dart, but some of these other guys where, you know, maybe they could fill a role, but it's just like super low-end starter. So I'm not going. I'm not excited about that in the first round. What about Milro, though?

Milro is definitely like, he is the traits guy high in. Yeah, okay, sorry. But I almost look at him and I'm just like, dude, he is so far behind the eight ball developmentally. How long does it take? Like, how much leash do you give these guys? And now that's why, like, a Rams would be a great situation for him, someone who's got a starter that realistically three years is the timeline where you're not even year two turning

the key's over to him. But the timeline, like, timelines such that you got Matt Stafford, you want to win a Super Bowl, right? I think you're adding players that can do that. And where the Rams missed out having that eight year drought, right, of, was it eight years? But they didn't have first rounder was the trenches. They addressed it when they finally got a first rounder last year with a chair adverse. I think they're going to go back to the trenches again. I don't buy the cornerback hype that defense doesn't set up to feature number one corners at this point in time. It's just so much zone, so much off coverage that I think they would much more rather, or much more

highly benefit from adding a tackle of the future who can maybe even play guard for you right away. So I'm going Josh Conner way there. I understand the argument for that. Part of the reason I dropped the cornerback thing in is I wish they were more aggressive about adding a high end cornerback. The idea of you want to win a Super Bowl and you're going to walk into training camp with Akella Wetherspoon being one of your outside starters makes me physically uncomfortable. And so even in free agency, I was just like, can this be whatever guy, whether it was DJ Reed or Carlton Davis, whoever, was this going to be the team that decided to spend on one outside corner?

Because traditionally, even if they haven't done a lot of that, where they've had multiple highly paid pieces in the secondary, they've had one every once in a while. And right now, they barely even have one. So the thought of just one swing at corner, I kind of want it for this team, but I do think that you're right and that they're not conceiving of it that way. Yes. And I think, honestly, I think Jill and Ramsey is going to be a ram when it's all said done. I think like they flip a fourth all of a sudden,

Ramsey's back in a Rams jersey. That feels like more of the move they would make rather than spending a first round pick on a corner because that's just never how they've really thought about this other than the Ramsey swing that they've taken. So I totally understand that. And again, Habinsstein's going to be in the final year of his deal. He's getting a little bit older.

So even if Connerley isn't going to be a day one player for you, there's a chance he's starting right tackle as soon as 2026. And when you're a team in the Rams situation, I don't mind kind of having red shirt type approaches for these guys at this range of the draft. I think that's okay. Yeah, I'm right there with you. Let's get to the Ravens at 27.

Here are your three options for, actually, excuse me, you have four options for Baltimore because the guys on the board, I just didn't want to tighten it up because I think that you could make a justifiable argument for any of these four directions, okay? Option one is draft any of the pass rushers

that are like top 10 talents according to some people. So you could take Shamar Stewart who are here, who's still on the board. You can take Michael Williams here who's still on the board, or you can take James Pierce, who I'm not sure what your current board looks like. But I think you had him had both of those guys on your initial big board. I did way back in going into the season.

But I do worry about the off-field stuff. And I worry that he's just a little bit stiffer. So my board, how I have him ranked right now, my final board, it is Mikel, then Pierce, then Stewart. And I'm right there with you that I could see any team buying into either of them as top 10 talents. They are truly all physically gifted in some way, shape, or form. I just lean Williams because I think he shows the closest thing to an NFL skill set right now. I would agree with that. And it's not as if he doesn't have tools that could reach a high end at the NFL level.

I can confirm is like Carlos Dunlap. He's just a real good power end. And for Baltimore, like the interior flexibility is nice for that. defense as well. So that's where I'm going to go. Oh, well, no, that was just that was option. That's where I would go of those three. Those are the, that was just option one was either of those three pass rushers. So let's keep going. Option two, you draft Tyler Booker, Gray is able. They step in as your left guard from day one. Obviously, Vorhe started the season there last year. He gets hurt. McCarrie steps in. Now McCarrey's gone. You don't really have the interior depth that the

Ravens typically do if you look at the roster right now. So guard is an option for there if you want it. Option three, cornerback of your choosing, once again, they bring in Chedobie Ousier, but, you know, how good do you feel about that? If that's a day one outside corner for you. So cornerback is available to you here. And option four, you draft Derek Harmon or Kenneth Grant because it kind of is a similar thought process to the interior of the offensive line. If you look at it right now, they don't really have a lot of bodies behind those

starters with Travis Jones, Adam Adabike. So if you wanted to draft a guy to be a rotational piece now, he kind of steps into a bigger role next year. Travis Jones is in the final year of his contract. That's available to you. So you got four different routes you could go for the Ravens. Pass rusher of your choosing, Tyler Booker or Gray is able, cornerback of your choosing, or Derek Harmon or Kenneth Grant.

What are you doing if you're Baltimore? This one's tough. I think corner is my least favorite of those. I'm going to keep poo-poo and corner for a lot of these teams. And it's because one, you drafted one in the first round last year. And I think back-to-back years using a first round-round corner. even a few years ago, used one on a safety. That's just a lot of resources into a position that's ROI,

generally not as much as like edge in the first round, right? It's just you can find corners later, hard to find high on edges later. And so I'm kind of thinking at this. Now, the highest guy in my board is Derek Harmon. Obviously, I've heard that he might fall from due to medical concerns, whatever. But I think the fact that Harmon would be third fiddle right out the gate versus Michael Williams being able to. to conceivably be a starter from day one, at least an early down starter.

I think probably pushes that for me a little bit towards Michael Williams and the fact that you know, Nomad Mabuque is not going anywhere anytime soon. Harmon, as much as I think he can play like a little nose and like play some of that, he's not replacing Travis Jones a skill set in the nose full time. Sure. I'll go Michael Williams. I think that's the pick. I think that makes total sense.

And this would just be a classic Ravens thing where a guy who is 12 fun, everybody's boards is sitting there at 27. You and I were talking about this a little bit yesterday. You weren't necessarily surprised that these guys who are pumped up as maybe top 12 prospects have fallen in an exercise like this because no one's had the stomach to be the one to make the swing on them. Yes. It's a unique class because such high-end athletes with such little production.

And you usually get like one or two of these guys, you know, your Tyree Wilson's, your Trayvon Walker's. This year it's four or five. you know, it's a handful. There's so few guys who have both in this draft class, you know, Sabo Carter, and then that's kind of it for like who has the traits and the production. And Mike Green even,

maybe you can make it argue from Mike Green, but there are a ton of concerns there and the competition level. So there's a question mark with everybody on some front. And that's why I have Mike Green. Mike Green, Jalen Walker is my next two edges after, just because like you want both at the end of the day. So, and again, when I'm stacking up, Michael versus the other two,

he's just closer, in my opinion, to an impact at the NFL level. And I could see it with him very easily, whereas the other two, you're really squinting for reps where you're like, that'll work against NFL tackles consistently. I think that's fair.

And I think against the run specifically, you see the length show up where you know from day one he's going to be able to chip in there. And even, they don't show up a ton, like these kind of advanced pass rush moves, I would say. But every once in a while, he'll throw in like a little bit of a cross choppy like double hand swipe thing. And you're like, okay, he's a young player.

He was banged up last year. At least I see the flashes from an past rushing arsenal perspective with him. With the other guys, especially with Shamar Stewart, you don't even see that. Like you're really just betting on the physical traits. And so that's why I can talk myself into Williams a little bit more easily than I can with Stewart, even if I have some concerns about the ceiling with a guy like that. And Williams of the three. is also then the youngest.

I think he's like a half year younger than the other two, one of the youngest in the draft class. Yeah, I think that's totally fine. I think the Ravens would be pretty happy if this is how it all ended up shaking out. We get to the Detroit Lions at number 28. Similar kind of arsenal or array of needs here for Detroit as it is for Baltimore.

So we're going to have a lot of the same guys as part of this conversation. With Detroit at 28, your first option, pass pressure. You drop Shamar Stewart or James Pierce, those are the two guys that are left here. Option two. draft Tyler Booker, if he is still available, he is in this exercise, or if you like Gray's Abel better, you can draft Gray's Abel. I'm giving you that option.

Option number three, do you draft Kenneth Grant or Derek Carmen? Of those three, what are you doing if you are the Detroit Lions? This one's tough. Because I love, I love Tyler Booker there because you get just an utterly dominant unit. I'm obsessed with in the NFL building units that are so far and away. the best that like you can hang your hat on it. Just like I want to build elite, whatever. And then once you have that, then everything kind of can waterfall off of that. Just makes your life easier knowing you're going to win one matchup every single time you hit

the football field. So I love the idea of just building this offensive line that's just unstoppable. And with Tyler Broker, I think you would be. But also like your D line could be unstoppable if you want Derek Harmon and he hits. Like you have a defensive line that we just didn't get to see last year at full strength. And when it did, it was like, it was not. nuts that early season lions when aton hutchinson was cooking they were i mean legitimately one of the best defenses in the NFL at full strength we never got to really see it so man this is a tough one i think i'm just going to lean harmon just because i do have a much higher grade on him than i do um tally booker you can maybe get a guard i'm not saying you're going to get tally booker

later on this draft but you're definitely not getting a derrick harmon in my opinion later on this draft the guy who's like a real three-down defensive tackle after this. I love Derek Carmen. Derek Carmen is one of my favorite guys I've watched in this entire process. The idea of dropping him in to that defense is very much exciting to me. And what I think the Lions need is just pass-rushing juice from somewhere, whatever that position may be. And if you look at defensive tackle specifically, I think some people are going to see the makeup of that room. And they're going to be like, ah, do we have enough guys there?

You already have a Lee McNeil. You already have DJ Reader. You already have Lee Yonser. who you brought back. Mackay Wingo had some flashes for you as a rookie. But if you look at it, Wingo and McNeil are coming off of pretty big knee injuries. So they may not even be ready for the beginning of this season. And DJ Reader's contract is up after this year.

So there's a chance by the start of the 2026 season, you need another bigger body player that you could potentially play next to McNeil. And I do think even if Harmon is probably best suited as a three technique pass rusher type, he could get by there in a pinch. Like you could play those two guys together. So that thought of him being like your other defensive tackle of the future with Aleem McNeil, I actually like that a lot for Detroit. Yeah, that's where I, the more you discuss there, more I'm just like, yeah, that's,

because again, you have a defensive line unit that, I set up chasing an elite unit, that's an elite unit in my opinion. And the bigger need is probably on the edge because after you get past Aiden Hutchinson, we're talking about Marcus Davenport again. And I do think that if you took a pass rusher in the first, round like an edge rusher. He'd probably be a bigger contributor for you in a more important piece in 2025 than whatever defensive tackle you were going to take. But that's the conversation. I think a lot of teams are going to be having between like 10 and 30 is do we want to take one of

these edge rushers who's an idea or do we want to take one of these defensive tackles who's more of a proven commodity right now? And I think pretty often I'm going to lean with the interior players among this group over the edge guys. 100%. I'm the exact same boat. It's on my board. Harmon's nine, Walter Nolan's 12. Those guys are closer to hitting the NFL ready than any of the edges we talked about. Why do you like Harmon more than Nolan? Because I think that's an interesting discussion. And I feel like whatever one of those guys you prefer, I think it says a lot about what you're

looking for in players. I think it's versatility for with Harmon is that pretty much any scheme in the NFL you could run, he's a fit for. Nolan, I think it's much more of a three tech only. it's much more of a one gap scheme only. That's fine. That's a lot of people are doing a little bit of both. It's not like that's going to take them off a ton of boards.

But I think it's just more Harmon, if you want to put him in any scheme, I don't see limitations that are going to be like, oh, I don't like that fit, right? I tend to agree with you on that. And I think that's one of the other reasons I feel like Harmon's upside as a pass rusher is so intriguing. Imagine if you just let him go in the way that they just let Walter, no one, go this entire. season and how productive he could be in that sort of role because that's not what Oregon's defense was. Like he had to eat up blocks. They just asked him to do different things. And he was still arguably more productive as a pass rusher than Nolan was. Yes. And I like, and I think people talk about

him as if he's just like this man athlete or he doesn't get, you know, Nolan, you like mentioned the athleticism first, the explosiveness. And then with Harmon, it's kind of like an afterthought. You mentioned like the size and the frame. But it's like, dude, no, he's a high end athlete. if you go historically defensive tackles going round one. He's very much up there. I feel like part of the reason they're framed that way is that no one's kind of like a wild horse. And you notice the explosiveness where Harmon plays in such control that maybe it's a little bit less evident on tape. But I don't think that there's that big of a gap with them in like in practice athletically.

Yes, 100%. And I just to not to catch it throw astray at Kenneth Grant here, but like I think that they have a different level of athleticism in terms of making an impact as past rushers than Grant does, where I just, you know, it's awesome for a nose tackle to be a little explosive, but I just don't see him as like a guy who can be a consistent pass rusher. I tend to agree with that. And the other thing when I'm watching them, I actually thought Harmon was a sturdy-year run defender than Kenneth Grant was even in a smaller frame.

Like, I feel like Grant was getting moved off his spot more often than Derek Harmon was, even as Grant is kind of framed and talked about as this massive run-stopping presence. Yeah, height's not. Heights not a good skill for a Nostack collection. Yeah. It's it's counterintuitive. They look awesome, right? It looks scarier.

But like Jordan Davis coming out, why isn't he just been this monstrous presence that he was built as? It gets moved off the ball and get out leveraged. The trenches is a low man wins sort of game. And those guys just struggle to get low. Yeah. And Derek Carmen, even if he, that's the fun part about Derek Carmen is even though he's 6.5,

when you look at him, he doesn't look that tall because the frame is so filled out. He doesn't come across as like a tall player when you're watching him on tape, which is actually really interesting. All right, we're going to take a quick break, and then we're going to come back with Washington's pick at 29. All right, the Washington football franchise. Here are your, we have four options with this team as well. I just couldn't stop myself.

Because there are a bunch of different directions you could go here. All right, option one, this is going to be the same for all these teams. Draft Shemar, Stuart, James Pierce, if you want to. They need an edge rusher. You look at the depth chart. You can make an argument that it might be the biggest need that they have right now. So that's your first option for Washington. option two draft omari and hampton or a running back of your choosing if you want to go a different

direction brian robinson's contract is up after this year austin ecclor is your other option who is 38 years old at this point we're the same age option three draft your best available cornerback they went out and got i believe jonathan jones in free agency i'm not sure that's stopping you from drafting guy high if you want to obviously they've pumped a lot of resources into that position with the Marsha on Lattimore trade and using a second round pick on Mikey Sainer still, but I think you can make a really strong argument that they still have a need at outside corner.

Option four, draft Nick Almanwari to be your other safety after moving on from Jeremy Chin. All they did was sign Will Harris to play next to Kwan Martin. So I think both spots where they had a stopgap in free agency, you can make a strong argument, might deserve this sort of investment in the first round. So your four options. Draft Shemar Stewart or James Pierce?

Draft to Marion Hampton or a running back of your choice. Draft your best available cornerback. Draft Nick Almanwari, the safety from South Carolina. What are you doing if you were on the clock for Washington? See, I'm a little interested in running back highly for the commanders. There are a team where I wouldn't push back too much because of how much is predicated on the running game there. But I still think in this class, it's just so deep. If it were last year's class and you just dropped to Marian Hampton in there, I would probably make that pick here.

but it's not last year's class. There's so many good backs. I'm just going to wait on it. So I like a man, Warre. I love him for the commander specifically as well. But I think James Pierce, Jr., here in Dan Quinn's defense,

with how much he's been able to just take advantage of speed rushers like him, guys who have high-end juice. He did it with Dallas, you know, guys like Sam Williams there. You could just want stunts, on slants, just using that speed threat, I think, for that defense.

And as you said, it might arguably be their biggest need, just getting an edge presence outside of Doran's Armstrong. That's where I'm going for this one. I like this. And one of the reasons I like it is because you have a guy like Doran's Armstrong and another guy they signed Dietrich Wise and Free Agency too. Like your other edge rushers on this roster right now are big bodied guys where theoretically Pierce is complimentary to that.

And so I think for them specifically, his warts might not be quite as important as it might be for another team that needed a more well-rounded edge player. No, I like that take. And it's, yes, I mean, they just need some juice. It just, and he's obviously 447, that's juice. After Genti, where do you kind of stack the running backs and how? Because as I've gotten further into this process, and I can't remember who I was watching the other day when I came to this conclusion.

It might have been a Buka. And then I was watching Josh Simmons later. And so every time I've watched an Ohio State guy, my conclusion is part of that processes, I think Trayvion and Henderson's going to go way higher than we think he is. Like, I just don't think he lasts until the second round because of what he's bringing to the table. And that's kind of where I sit right now, is that I think Gentie's a top 10 guy. And I think deservedly he's a top 10 guy.

And after that, I honestly kind of think that Henderson might be the guy that teams talk themselves into quicker than anybody else because of what specifically he brings to the table. So I have it as Genties kind of his own tier. And then I think, so I love Dylan's answer for. Tennessee. I think him and Amaran Hampton, similar grades for me, they are do it all backs. I think those are two guys who can be a bell cow. And then I have kind of then this next tier, and I struggle to even call it tier, it's, I think Trayvon Henderson is elite for what he is,

but he's not a full, well-rounded running back, right? He's not a bell cow running back. He is. Do you think that matters less now than it did five years ago in how teams are conceiving of the position? Because that's the reason I think it might happen. Because we don't, really have that many well-rounded guys anymore. And if you're if you're thinking about running back as a multi-player room rather than I think this is the best all-around player, I think that gets you to a different place with Henderson than it might have been where you wanted your running back to play 45 snaps a game. Yeah, I mean, that's, but it's still not everyone is on that boat, right? Like it's certain teams, certain schemes will be on that boat. And so if you want, you know,

pass game back, pass down back, space back. you're just not going to find a lot better than Trayvon Henderson. And there's obviously like, everyone loves this guy. He's a locker room leader. Just like you're not going to find a red flag in his profile. And that's obviously going to sell a bad way, too. So I see him in that. And then I would also put Cam Scadabo in that category is like an elite short yardage goal line-ish back.

And so that's kind of how I have the top five whatever order you want to put them in. It's just like you have these two bell cows, one just absurd prospect, Nestle Genti. and then two guys who are so good at one skill set that if you want to draft them, you know, second round, top of the second round. Because of that, I'm not going to complain. They are just in what they do. They do it so well.

Yeah, I've come around more and more as I've thought about it to the if Ashton Gentians on the board at 10. I think that's what I want the bears to do. Initially was, I don't know. And now as I've thought more about it, if it's like him or one of the pass rushers, I think I'd probably won Gentie in that situation. It took me a while to get there, but I think that's where I've arrived.

And there's something to that where, I mean, just look at the Eagles. You had this awesome offensive line, you know, so dominant. What changed last year? Just the back. You know, like the back can take you to a different level. When you have the elite offensive line and the Bears, I wouldn't call it elite, but it should be very good this year. If you have a very good offensive line, the back can put you over the edge.

If you don't have it, back's obviously not going to get you to that point. But you can't get to where the Eagles got this year if you just had, DeAndre Swift, Rocheon Johnson. That ain't getting you there. You need both. Let's get to the Buffalo Bills at 30 after James Pierce goes to Washington of 29.

Option one for Buffalo. Draft your best available cornerback. I think that was kind of a secondary option for most of the teams we talked about to this point. For Buffalo, it feels like more of a glaring need. I mean, they do not bring back Rasul Douglas. They need another outside corner. I think Dane Jackson right now would be slotted in there right now.

Wouldn't love that. if that's what I was walking into a training camp. So the bills need a cornerback somewhere. I feel like this is a decent spot for one. Option two, draft Shamar Stewart. Even with Joey Bosa, still think they could probably use a little bit of edge rush juice as like a multi-year option. So somebody with, again, super intriguing tools,

wouldn't have to necessarily start for you in year one, would have a little bit of a long runway that you could talk yourself into that if you were Buffalo. Option three was going to be draft Kenneth Grant or Derek Harmon. Now it's just draft Kenneth Grant. You look at their interior players, Dayquan Jones is getting a little bit older. They took the guy last year whose name I cannot remember. I'm going to look it up right now.

Yes, Dwayne Carter. Still feel like you could use at least one more piece. I think for Buffalo specifically, even if you look at the depth chart, nose is a more glaring need because you have at Oliver. I still think I'd want more of a pass rushing potential option there if I were Buffalo, just based on the rest of the makeup of the unit, which is why Harmon I think would be a little bit more attracted to me than Kenneth Grant would be. but I still feel like we can throw defensive tackle out as an option.

So those are your three options here. Option one, best available corner. Option two, Shamar Stewart. Option three, Kenneth Grant. What are you doing if you were the bills? See, the thing about Shamar Stewart is you got to go chase down Patrick Mahomes. And he was abysmal in chasing down quarterbacks. I mean, that's how he ends up with never more than a sack and a half in a single season.

It's just like he can't finish in space. And so you're just going to be left with a guy. I just nipping at Mahomes heels in the playoffs. And every Bill's fan is going to be crying. So I think the corner need is so great that here's where I'm willing to go corner. Just based off of tape, Benjamin Morrison's my top available corner, I don't know enough medically. And I don't think a hip injury is a good thing for a cornerback. So I'll be willing to throw that.

Multiple hip injuries, right? Yeah, right. I think it's the same one. Not good. So I'll probably go down to my next, I believe Maxwell Harris. is still on the board, Kentucky Corner. Yes. He is my next guy.

And some speed, too, right? You're going to have to go through Xavier Worthy, Zay Flowers, to get through the AFC, you know, Jamar Chase. 4-8 speed to guard those guys is going to help. So I'll go with Maxwell Harrison. Makes total sense to me. Again, I think Corner is the one that I would probably keep coming back to for Buffalo based on what they did in free agency.

Is there a position or a player that I did not mention for Buffalo that would come to mind for Buffalo that would come to mind for you that you wish I did. I was intrigued by Nickyman Warrior here, too. The South Carolina safety. I just hate. Now, they drafted Cole Bishop in the second last year. They did.

And obviously, he's bigger. They're hoping he develops into a starting rule. I just hate how small their safeties are. Taylor Rap, DeMarer Hamlin, when again, you've got to tackle Derek Henry. You know, like those guys were Derek Edwards. Not good. I want some size to come downhill and to make more plays around the last scrimmage in the running game because their front seven is not a good run defending front seven.

undersized. They play super aggressively up the football field. I want someone who can clean that up. And I do not see that from what they have in there right now. I totally agree with that. I actually think when you conceive of safety groups in the NFL, past defense is the first thing that you're going to

think about. But when I was watching that team last year, the run defense is what really scared me. The game that really keeps coming back and kept coming back as we talked about the bills last year was that game against the Colts where they just could not tackle on the or third level. And I was really worried about that into the playoffs. And they haven't really

done anything to alleviate that. And if you look at the makeup of the room, they signed Taylor Rapp to a three-year contract. He has a $3.6 million cap hit this year. Like, they did not invest a ton into Taylor Rapp. And I kind of think he's best used as a third safety within that defense anyway. So the argument for Emanuari, I actually think is a pretty good one. Let's say we open this back up. And let's say I give you that as an option with Maxwell Hirston, which one would you do. I think I like it. A man, Worry, because they are, I mean, they have to be the lightest team up the middle in the entire NFL. When you go from DTs to linebackers to safeties, maybe just added all that

weight up, they have to be the lightest. I don't even think it's like close. Their linebackers are 220 and under. Their DTs at Oliver's like 280. Daekwans up there. But like their safeties then are both sub 200 pounds. There's just no size up that middle of the football field. and the manned where, obviously, one of the biggest safeties in the NFL from day one. They have two second round picks. Do you feel like the depth and makeup of the corner group would allow them to have a guy in the second round that they might be able to pick there and drop in as a starter? And the gap between that and a Maxwell-Harriston would be enough for you to pass on corner in the first round? I think so.

I just, at the back end here, it's just, now I do actually like Maxwell-Harrison a good amount. But after that, I feel like everyone else, whether it's Trey Amos or anyone else getting, you know, Savon Reville, I don't see them as first round corners. Reville might even be on the board at like 56 when the bills are drafting. 56 and 62 because they have that pick from the digs trade that actually belongs to the Vikings. Okay. So I think there's a good chance that corner value will be there. Whereas if you want that safety in round two, who can be kind of what we just said, Xavier Watts or Kevin Winston Jr. the Penn State, Notre Dame Penn State safety

respectively or probably the only two that fit that bill, I think both might be gone too. Like they might not be there just because it's a thin, thin safety class. Interesting makeup of the bill's draft picks. They have 30 which is theirs. They have 56 which belonged to the Texans from the Vikings.

They have an extra fourth round pick from the Austin Booker Bears trade last year. Remember the Bears traded back into the draft to get Austin Booker and gave away a fourth in that. And then they have a couple extra fifth round cup picks. So quietly like a decent amount of draft capital for the bills this year, especially when you consider the fact that they traded away a third round pick in the Amari Cooper trade. Yeah, they have to be trading up, right?

There's no, there might not be more than like two starting spots available on this roster. I don't see them making all those picks. I bet they're moving up with either in round one or round two to go get a guy. That's the team I'd probably have an eye on. But I will say, I think that Bean's history is interesting here because every time he's done something overly aggressive, it has come back to bite him. And I do think it might make them a little bit gun-shy. Because look at the things they've done where they stepped outside of themselves a little bit.

Trading out for Kaii or Elon, the Von Miller trade. Even the Amari Cooper deal, I think you could throw into this bucket where when they've tried to get a little bit ahead of themselves, those are some of the worst moves that they've made. And so I'm not sure how much that's going to affect the way that they approach this draft because it did affect the way they approached free agency a little bit. They did not do anything crazy. Like the Joey Bosa thing, I think, is a worthwhile swing.

Other than that, we're talking about like very modest approaches for doubles, potentially in free agency for a team you could say is right on the cusp. So they're just mindset overall this offseason, I think, has been interesting to say the least. Yeah, they are an interesting team because they, I mean, they're, they were built for a while there via free agency, right? It was a team that was a lot of free agents. and then they kind of had to make this transition to, you know, that can only last for so long. So we had to go to cheap homegrown guys. And they've hit on a few, right? But I think they haven't really hit enough big swings to keep up with the chiefs who have hit on a bunch of those when they made that transition transition.

I 100% agree with that. And I think that is the best argument for why they should wield some of that draft capital to move up. Because when you're picking 28 through 30 to every single year, you're probably going to come away with some underwhelming guys. Right? Like you're Greg Rousseau's are the players you're going to be picking at the end of the first round. He's a nice piece. He was worth extending, but he's not a blue chip guy. So that's to me the best argument in the draft for them being a little bit aggressive is they're coming away with way too many Bs and B pluses. And I think that's what's kind of limiting their ceiling as a team. Is this the year because you've got some extra picks to try to move up for one of these guys,

especially in a draft where it might cost a little bit less to move up because of how people are conceiving. of the class overall. Well, and just how many GMs now are analytically driven who are like, oh, I can get any draft capital back, you know, even if it's a tie on the value board or whatever, we'll do it. So, yeah. Is there a guy, like, in the top 15 that you would like for them? Like, if they were going to make a big move up the board, is there somebody you think would make sense?

That's good. I would love, I mean, if they could get within striking distance of, I mean, I was going to say Derek Harmon. But if Will Johnson falls down the board a little bit, I think Will Johnson and Christian Bedford is one where, now he doesn't necessarily need to be top 15, but I think he's definitely not falling to them at 30. So that's one where if he fell to within striking distance,

I think, you know, 20 is a fair striking distance for them. You're jumping Pittsburgh, you're jumping Green Bay, who would be in the market. That's a player. I'd be interested in. That's, I like that a lot, actually. I think that makes a lot of sense. All right, we're going to come back with last year's Super Bowl teams,

But before that, we're going to take one more quick break. All right, the Kansas City Chiefs at 31. Option 1 for Kansas City. Draft your best available offensive linemen. Josh Connerley was going to be involved in this. The Rams took him at 26. Urstery from Minnesota, I assume is one of your best available tackles. But if you'd rather prefer somebody else to tackle, that's available to you.

I'd also listen to a guard here, because I think you could honestly make an argument that guard could be a bigger need for them than tackle after signing Jalen Moore and free agency. So Tyler Booker or Gray's able, do you want to draft either of those guys? That's fine here. So your best available offensive lineman. Option two, draft Kenneth Grant. It was going to be Kenneth Grant or Derek Carmen. I think defensive tackle is a huge need for this team.

So Kenneth Grant is your second option. Option three, draft your best available running back. I think I'm leaning. I just don't have a high grade on Kenneth Grant, unfortunately. He is. And I think that's okay. Mid to late second round for me. just too much of a stretch.

Is there another defensive tackle that would intrigue you here? No, truthfully. I think he is the next defensive tackle my board, but it's still like 20 places away from where I would take one. Actually, no, Tilek Williams is next to my board. Sorry, excuse me. But still, like, I'd say it's just a little bit of a reach. I just never see Tilek being, you know,

first round, I would want some pass rushing juice from a DT. I just think historically where you've been able to find good run-defending DTs, you don't have to use a first round pick on them. You can find them third, fourth. It's not, I'd say that's easy to do it, but like there's one or two every single class. You can wait. So I'm looking offensive line. I just think the one thing standing between you and a couple Super Bowls right now is any

semblance of pass protection. A couple more Super Bowls, excuse me. They have three. Is any semblance of pass pro, right? The two Super Bowls where it just fell apart completely, that's when it, that's when you lost. So I want to get to the point where I'm never worried. You know, like I'm never having that conversation of how do we get this bad? So, gosh, for them, I probably lean Gray's able for them just with what they already have there,

his versatility, and just, that's just close. I don't know, Booker's Abel. Which would you go between those two? I'm curious for the chiefs. That's a great question. I feel like the versatility with Zabel matters less for a team with the highest paid center in the league. Right. That's why.

His interior versatility, you're not playing him at center right guard though. Exactly. And so I think that the fact that those are the two spots that are really a lockdown for the next several years for you, I assume they get something done with Trace Smith. And Tray Smith and Creed Humphrey are going to be pillars of that team for a very long time. That's why Zabel, I think the selling point or one of the selling points is a little less important here. schematically, they do a little bit of everything. So I think that having Booker, if you're going to be a gap scheme team, is okay in a way that it might not be for some other teams.

I guess my question's going to be, who do you think is the better pass protector? And is that the thing that you are weighing over the other variables here if you're the chiefs? Yeah, it probably is. And I think Booker is just going to give you firmer pockets. You know, past protections, it's like a few different things that, always it's like how often do you lose cleanly how often do you but then also like are you consistently getting walked back a little into the pocket and i think zabel you worry a little bit more about the firmness you would hold up against bull rushes compared to booker who's just like stout as

come back that guy is brick wall imagine creed humphrey trcemith and booker as your three interior players there'd be a lot of room a lot of room for activities in in the pocket right there's patrick bombs Yeah, he could figure it out with some less than stellar OTs. Yeah, we've convinced each other, I think. I'm going Tyler Booker. Because even if you think we're going to move some Sumaeia inside, it's still a question. You've still never seen him do it before. And so the idea of rolling into the season with him having to develop again at a different position,

it would make me just a little bit itchy if I were a Chiefs fan and if I were that front office. I would want a little bit more certainty there. And especially because there aren't guys, there isn't that past rushing defensive tackle on the board where you're going to drop him next to Chris Jones it's going to be the last thing we need for the defense i think that's how you can arrive at guard here if you're bred featured those guys yeah and and like sumadia in juan morris are tackles right there's no reason to be guards other than that they stunk at tackles right it's not like oh there's this big issue you know it's not like will campbell's wingspan or like other issues that arise at tackle it's just

like no they just weren't good so like let's kick him inside so like that doesn't get exposed as often, but you're still going to get exposed if you're that in ennapped with your hand usage. Yeah, I like Booker there because, again, Jalen Moore, even if it's somewhat of a question mark, you have committed there. And guard to me right now as of April 21st is still a bigger question on that roster right now

than tackle even with some of the questions about Jalen Moore. So I totally am fine with that. The Philadelphia Eagles, to round this out at 32, option one. draft your cornerback of choice. Move on from Darius Slay. Probably a need for that team right now. Option two, draft Gray's able.

One of your guard spots, again, a need after letting Mackaybackton go in free agency. They traded for Kenyon Green and that CJ Gardner-Johnson deal, but that's kind of a low-risk bet. Are you comfortable with that heading into the year? Would you rather spend a little bit more on interior offensive line? Option three was going to be Nick Amanwari. He is off the board. So with him off the board, your favorite defensive front player, edge rusher, defensive tackle. They lost Josh Sweat and Milton Williams in free agency.

So I think you could justify either one of those positions. So your three options for Philly, your cornerback of choice, Gray's Able, or your defensive front player of choice with Emin Wari off the board. What are you doing if you're on the clock for Philadelphia? I'm a cope keep going defensive front. You didn't get to that Super Bowl last year by ignoring it. for a year. You just keep going back to the well. Keep hitting it with top draft capital. And the cop guy in my board action right now is Nick Scorton, Texas A&M defense event.

And I think this is, I don't think he falls too far from, you know, he was the top 10 guy preseason in pretty much every mock. He's still, I believe he's the second youngest guy in the entire draft class, still super young. That talent didn't go away. And if anyone can get a guy with talent to get to his top level. Like it's the Philadelphia Eagles. So their track record. So I'm going to go Nick Scorton. I like Nick Scorton.

I watched him for the first time last week when I was studying some of the defensive tackles. I watched that Missou game. He got Membou multiple different times for like TFL's as a run defender. He plays hard. He's built the right way. But him going over Shamar Stewart, that would be a fun bet.

If you could get that in Vegas right now, Nick Scorden goes over Shamar Stewart. That might be a pretty fun one on draft night. You get long odds, but I just, again, I don't see a guy who's necessarily limited by his athleticism. It's kind of how I like to talk about edge rushers. There are some that are definitely, you know, like some guys in this track class, Jack Sawyer, Jared Ibe, where it's like they're limited by their athleticism.

Nick Scorton can be a high end guy. He's got good burst at his size. He was just heavy last year, heavier than you should be for a four three defensive end, right? I think if he gets into the 260s with how, you know, strong his upper body is, with how just kind of fluid he is as an athlete, that that guy can reach a pretty darn high ceiling that, you know, Stewart's got a high ceiling, but I think we just always equate pure combine numbers with ceiling when that's not always the case. Yeah, they signed Aziz O'Jolari and Free Agency.

I believe that was a one-year deal. So that one year, $3 million for Ojoari. And then your other outside linebacker, pass rusher in the mix right now is Jaylux. Hunt, who, you know, showed some flashes last year, but it was still a third round pick. So I'm not sure the makeup of the current Eagles roster would dissuade you from taking an edge rusher here if that was the guy that you thought was the best player available. And you're real small. You are real small right now in defense event.

Nolan, Huff, O'Jolari, Hunt, all undersized guys. So now that's the worst thing in the world, like Smith has never played undersized, but just adding some size there will help. Yeah. And again, I think if you're worried about size and run defense, scourer. is bringing it at to the table. It's maybe his biggest selling point at this right now. All right.

That's it. Those are our 32 first round picks. Again, I read most of them off at the top. I'm not doing that again. But I'm sure we'll put this out after this exercise is over. But that is our fifth and final installment of the on the clock series that we have done. Very much of enjoyed doing this. Anybody you would have drafted that I did not mention for these seven picks,

that you were surprised did not come off. the board in the first round here. Oh, gosh. Honestly, we got to, I'm looking at my board right now. I think we hit Emeka Buka. Did he come off the board? Yes. He went to the charges of 22.

So then we got my top 25 guys. That's pretty good. So that is pretty good. Yeah. My next one, the first guy that was on my board that didn't come off, Kyle Williams, the Washington statewide receiver. So big fan of his. We'll see where he ends up going.

Not as big of fan as Chris. Where do you have him? 26th. He's great. I also think he's great. We talked about the receivers last week, and it's always funny for me because I come to it so late that I have no real preconceived notions of these guys.

And so for me, it's just what is he when I watch him? Because I don't, I didn't have an opinion of him before the season. It's just whatever the tape from 2020-4 tells me. And when I watched Kyle Williams, I was just like, first of all, my Kyle Williams thing is, again, the way that I've like, the whispers that I've heard, it was the senior bowl stuff. he was a separator, it's all these releases. And you see that when you watch him on tape.

But you combine that with what he does with the ball in his hands. And he was just a different sort of player that I expected him to be based on how I had heard other people talk about him in the process. I guess that's what I would say. Yeah, he's, I mean, he is great with the rock. He breaks tackles. He plays strong. I mean, he's kind of like a poor man's-ish.

You know, he's in that Dolphins wide receiver mold, like your Tyree Kill, jail and Waddle, where just because they're, you know, 180s. something pounds doesn't mean they're necessarily weak the way you'd think like 180 pounds speed receivers are they got a little bit more to their gain in that i guess that the guy i would compare that too and he's bigger than this player but like with zay flowers was a very good with the ball in his hands at boston college but you still saw the route running stuff and the combination of those two things kyle williams in like the best case scenario feels like a slightly bigger version of what zay flowers brings to the table yeah just like a little bigger catch rate

versus Sayflowers. I like that. And I like Sayflowers. So I would not mind Kyle Williams being a little bit overdrafted at all if that's what ends up happening. Mike Renner, sincerely appreciated it, my friend. Please tell people where they could check out the draft stuff you're doing and just everything that you're doing over there at CBS. If I'm at X at Mike Renner underscore, you can listen to the pod, pushing the pile podcast, wherever you get your podcast.

You can check me out night one. I'm on the Bleacher Report draft show with Darius Slay, who we mentioned a little bit earlier, New Pittsburgh Steeler and Michael Parsons, who's going to be in media for like the next 30 years. That guy, he already is in media. Dude, right? He's already one of the best posters on the football internet. He'll start talking about cap space on the draft show. And I'm like, who are you? Like, why do you know the cap situation of the Arizona Cardinals? But he does. Michael Parsons, instant cat. So go ahead and check that out. And then I'll be on CBS.

We have just, we can't actually live stream stuff as a NFL. which I didn't know until I as a rights holder as a rights holder that broadcast games can't actually do any live streams but we'll be doing videos on the YouTube channel after the fact awesome please go check that out just as a reminder this is coming out on Tuesday two days from now Thursday night live on YouTube 730 p.m. Eastern me Dane Bruegler Bruce Feldman Derek Klesson breaking down every single pick of round one please come check that out we'll be back on Friday with me, Dane, and Derek at 6.30 p.m. Eastern reacting to every single pick from the second and third

rounds. So if you would love to spend some time with us on the first two nights of the draft, we would love to have you. Please check out that stuff on YouTube. We'll be posting about it all week. Very much looking forward to it. Very excited for draft week to be here for now. That's all we got. Appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you very soon.