The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - On the Clock: Why picks 13-18 are a run on pass-catchers, and the guys who try to stop them
Episode Date: April 7, 2026Picks 13 through 18 will be an interesting stretch in the draft. You've got consistent contenders, such as the Rams and Ravens, as well as obvious playoff contenders, to varying degrees, in the Buccan...eers, Lions and Vikings. Oh, and also the Jets. Lance Zierlein from NFL Media joins Robert Mays to make draft selections for those teams on this episode of The Athletic Football Show's On the Clock.Host: Robert MaysGuest: Lance ZierleinExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysTheme 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.
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Welcome to the Athletic Football Show.
I'm Robert Mays.
Our on the clock series rolls on today.
We're doing picks 13 through 18 with our friend Lance Zerline from NFL media and NFL.com.
Just so if you've never watched these or not familiar with the exercise, just laying out what this exercise is and how it ends up playing out, I give the guest three options for whichever team is on the clock with that pick.
They make the selection.
they would make if they were the ones sitting in that share.
The goal of this is just to have one big mock draft for the first round by the time we get
to the end of it.
I gave Lance the players that have already been drafted early in our conversation.
So just be on the lookout for that.
That'll be coming here in about 30 to 45 seconds.
So let's get to this conversation with Lance Zerline about picks 13 through 18 in the first
round right now.
Joining us now to dig into the
middle meaty part of the first round of the 2026 NFL draft.
It is our buddy from NFL media and NFL.com.
Lance Zerline.
That's how you doing, man?
I'm doing good, Robert, how are we doing?
I'm doing great.
I'm very excited to dig into this group of teams.
There are a lot of wrinkles here.
We have some teams that are picking higher than they typically would, right?
Teams like Baltimore, Detroit that you normally expect to be picking at the middle
820s are picking at the middle of the first round.
The Rams are picking at 13 because they have the Falcons pick.
the Jets are picking at 16 because they have the Colts pick,
and we already have them with Ruben Bain as part of this exercise.
And so you and I were starting to talk before we started recording.
And it really is a unique stretch of teams in this draft for a bunch of different reasons.
Right.
Yeah, it is.
And, you know, I always look at drafts, like how clean is a draft, right?
And so for me, one of the easiest ways, well, the first thing you look at is how deep is a draft with top-end talent.
And if it's not real deep like this year, and especially not at the quarterback position, you expect fewer trades.
Like I just, I don't, I think there will be some trades because there are so few blue chip caliber players.
So there's going to be a couple teams who may say, look, we got to get our hands on this type of player, especially at that position.
But it's just, it's just turning into a strange draft.
And then when I look at picks 13 through 18 in terms of, you know, there's some.
some wide receiver need there, but for, I'm not sure once you get past Mackay Limon,
who we'll talk about in a second, just kind of a heads up on where one of my picks is going.
Once you get past that, it gets really tricky because Jordan Tyson's not going to run a 40.
He's not going to, you know, he's had ongoing hamstring issues.
Where does Omar Cooper go?
KC. Concepcion is not the biggest guy.
He's had some drop issues during college.
So that's a priority position.
Quarterback's priority position, we won't have.
I can, spoiler alert, and not going to be in this group for me,
my stretch that I'm going to go through.
And defensive tackles, which is always one of those, you know,
picks where if you have them, they go kind of quick if they're pretty good.
But I don't think it matches up with the teams that really have big,
immediate defensive tackle needs.
I don't think the board matches up that way.
So you could see some trade backs.
I think you're going to have a lot of teams who really want to trade back
to get their hands on a pick that may be.
more value appropriate, especially if they can add a draft pick.
So I think the tradebacks, this is with every draft, the tradebacks outnumber the trade
up, you know, the people who want to trade back versus trade up.
But I think this year, especially in this range that we're looking at, I could see, you know,
the Ravens moving backwards.
I can see Tampa moving backwards.
I can see the jets moving forwards from 16, since they have so much, you know,
they have so much capital to work with.
So really intriguing group that I have here.
It's funny.
In your latest mock draft, you had the Ravens moving back.
And I think Carolina came up to get Akeem Mesidor as part of that exercise, which does
make sense.
And we'll talk about that.
And I think that the way that our first round has fallen, he becomes an interesting name for,
I think, Tampa in particular.
And we can dig into that and we hit it.
But then with the way that I laid it out, I also, one of the things I wanted to talk about
was if there was a team with certain guys off the board for the bomb.
if they were willing to move back.
So the fact that you think they are a candidate to do that,
I think is really interesting.
So let's start just by setting the table for the players
that have already been drafted if people have not listened
to the first two versions of this show.
So the goal here is essentially to get a first round mock draft
comprised of the selections from five different people.
Like that's what we're doing here.
And so here are the players that have been drafted so far
over the first two episodes.
Fernando Mendoza to the Raiders,
Ruben Bain to the Jets,
which will matter today
because we're talking about the Jets again,
Sunny Stiles to the Cardinals,
Rvel Reese to the Titans,
Francis Maui Noah to the New York Giants,
Cornell Tate to the Browns,
Jeremiah Love to Washington,
David Bailey to the Saints,
Caleb Downs to the Chiefs,
Mansour Delane to the Bengals,
Spencer Fano to the Dolphins,
and then Dylan Thineman to the Cowboys.
When I sent you those before we started recording,
any that you found particularly surprised,
or that jumped out to you in any specific way?
Yeah, I think Bain too.
I just don't see it happening.
I think Bain it too.
You got to understand now, Darren Mugie is a, is a general manager
who really looks at historical norms and looks at traits.
And so as soon as you have a general manager that cares about historical norms,
you can throw, you can throw Bain and Cash's Howe out at the edge position,
because they simply fall, especially a top five or six pick,
it just falls so far out of the norm for a player with historically short arms.
And I understand that people get tired of the discussion.
But in NFL circles, it's a very real discussion.
And it's just considered a given that guys with longer arms,
either on the defensive line or offensive line,
if you have a substantial disadvantage at that particular,
with that trait.
It's really difficult.
You know, as you know, Robert,
my dad coached for years
on the offensive line
in college and, of course, in the pros.
And we talked about arm length
multiple times.
And he said,
the people who think it's not a big deal
don't coach against NFL pass rushers.
They don't have to coach
against NFL pass rushers.
Because if they did,
they wouldn't say that it's not a big deal
to have a shorter armed offensive tackle.
Because all it does is it,
and the same thing for defensive end,
It just creates a smaller margin for error.
Like, you have to be elite with your hand timing.
And now, with all that said, I think Ruben Bain kind of,
the way that he plays reminds me of when Mike Tyson used to get inside,
used head movement to get inside of the jab.
And so all of a sudden his lack of length wasn't as big a deal.
I think the explosiveness off the ball and his strength to collapse,
you know, punches just with pure hand fighting and power and brute force,
I think that makes his lack of length when he's playing forward explosively.
I think it makes it less of an issue.
I think the further you get him away from the line of scrimmage,
actually the worst it is for him because it gives offensive linemen a chance to really,
you know, get their, get their pause on him.
But the tighter he plays in the line, you know, especially if he's right up on top of,
you know, in a very tight defensive end alignment,
maybe not a five tech, but if he's just off that,
I think he'll get into offensive linemen before they can really get their hands on him.
But Darren Mugie specifically, I don't see him, you know, I don't see him drafting Ruben Bain.
That one was kind of surprised.
DeAnne at 12 was a surprise for me as well.
But if Caleb Downs is off the board and they want to get a, you know, a sheriff on the back end,
it made some sense.
It certainly made sense from a need standpoint.
I just, that was just a little high.
I was a little bit surprised that he went.
that high, but I don't hate the pick by any stretch of the imagination.
So to explain the Bain thing a little bit and to kind of get into what we're doing,
this is what you would do based on the options I give you at these picks.
And so for Trevor picking at number two, he just loves Ruben Bain.
And he's like, if I were the Jets, if I was in that chair, that's what I would do.
And so that leads us into this stretch of the draft and the selections we're going to talk about here
and the options that we're going to talk about.
So let's start with the Los Angeles Rams at 13.
the three options that I'm giving you for the Rams at 13
start with drafting McCoy Lemon one
two drafting Jordan Tyson
I just think it's an interesting contrast between like styles of receivers
and which one you might like Tyson I think you had the Rams picking
in the latest mock draft that you did so I wanted to
Lemon was off the board though lemon was off the board and so I wanted to just
present both of those options to you so we could talk about what teams are going to be
weighing if they want to draft a receiver and both of those guys are available
And then the third one I had, I had draft Caden Proctor.
This is more so just offensive tackle, right?
Because I do think if you're stacking up needs, long-term need at right tackle for the Rams
is absolutely something to think about.
You know, McClendon played there last year after having Stein was hurt, but he's in the final
year of his contract.
And so this is not a lot of team, this is not a team with a lot of screaming immediate needs,
but I absolutely think you could talk yourself into them drafting and tackle in the
first round, even if it's not going to help them immediately.
So those are the three options for the Rams here.
13. Option one, draft
McCoylemon. Option two, draft Jordan
Tyson. Option through
three, draft Caden Proctor. What are
you doing if you are making
this pick for the Rams?
I like that you through Procter in there because
you're thinking like a team would
and you always have to look at next year's
contract. And I think
I don't think enough people
look at the factor of
no one likes to have
a blank spot
on a roster
and then have to go into free agency and draft
because then you're a sitting duck.
No one likes that.
So I absolutely could see Proctor.
With that said, I'm taking McCoy Lemon.
I don't trust Jordan Tyson's hamstring right now.
Mackay Lemon, to me, this makes a lot of sense.
He can operate from the slot.
You can keep your other, you can keep Puka.
Well, I think he's interchangeable.
But here's my concern.
The one that makes obvious that we all talk about
is that Devante Adams has one year left on a
contract. Okay, it makes sense that you draft them to bolster your firepower for an aging
quarterback because your window is open. You're trying to win a championship. You got to have firepower.
We saw it in the, you know, we saw it in the postseason in that incredible game between Rams
and Seahawks. I like the firepower angle for the aging quarterback. I also like the angle
for replacing Devante Adams after 2026. We now have to at least consider like
Maybe this is partly some insurance for Pooka and Akua also.
You know, it's something we haven't really talked about.
Pook is an incredible player.
You know, anytime you start having off-the-field stuff,
anytime a player gets into second-year, second contract territory,
there can be some changes in personality.
There's always a question that's asked by NFL executives.
What will a player do with more money, more time on his hands, and more access?
And a lot of times that sometimes for some guys,
it shows up right away in the first contract.
For some guys, it's not until they get in the second contract,
Albert Hainsworth, as I'm sure you will remember.
Some guys are just aren't built for the second contract.
So I'm not saying that's Puka, who's got it, you know, coming up.
But I am saying Mikey Lemon makes maybe even more sense
than before with the Rams there at 13.
It's a contingency plan for this year.
It's a contingency plan for next year.
And it's a schematic fit.
Like you think about the kind of the relative,
limitations or concerns, however you want to frame it about Mackay Lemon.
A lot of them go away in that Rams offense with the way that they play.
I just think that he fits so well with who they want to be and the way that they operate.
And this is a team that even with their transition away from being an 11 personnel as much as
they have been in recent years, it's still at like a 56% clip.
They're still playing with three wide receivers more often than not.
And so you still need a third guy you feel good about.
So Lemon, if he fell to 13, even independent of this exercise, I always felt like,
like he would have been a potential option for the Rams.
And that's before you even consider.
They've tried to draft an offensive playmaker every year for the last like three years.
They just haven't been able to trade up into the range to get one.
And so now they're finally able to get one just with the way the draft falls to them.
Yeah, they're going to know him.
And he's one of those guys.
You just drop him in on that Rams Island.
You just say go scavenge for touches and he'll do it.
Like you, you know, there's not going to be, he already runs routes well.
he's ultra competitive.
For me, it's really one of those things that from a RAM standpoint
where they have so many competitive players at different positions,
he's got that same kind of mindset where I just think if you plug him in,
right away he's a really going to be,
he's going to be a really dangerous player
who's going to get matched on third corner a lot of time and man to man.
So it's just a big advantage to me having a guy like McKay Lemon out there.
And like you said, even if you're only an 11 personnel,
56, 57% of the time.
As a rookie, that's okay.
And we're talking about from a contingency plan,
he's, you know, wide receiver 2 in 2027.
So I'm not sweating it.
Plus, you also maybe feel like you, you know,
can attack certain defenses more aggressively with your 11
now that you have a player like that on the field.
So I just think it makes sense.
I had trouble figuring out a third position to even throw out for the Rams.
Like, I think pass rush depth on the edge is something
to think about.
Byron Young's a free agent after this year.
It does seem like they're interested in paying him and that is probably that's something
that's going to happen.
You know, that market right now for that like kind of number two, I don't even think you
have to say one B.
I think it's like truly number two guys is now sitting there like $27,000 a million
a year.
It's crazy.
But that's what Trayvon Walker just got paid.
I assume Byron Young would probably be in like a slightly similar range.
So maybe there's a thought of is that a little bit rich, but the way he played last year.
And again, based on everything.
I had heard about their appetite for paying.
It seems like that's going to happen.
So they addressed corner.
They signed, they brought back their safety and free agency.
They are probably going to bring back Byron Young on a new deal.
The offensive line outside of tackle is pretty set.
We just talked about receiver.
Like it was hard for me to come up with another first round worthy position to really think
about for the Rams.
As you've done this exercise and done other mocks, is there any other spot you've thought about?
No.
And you're bringing up one of the, the.
Most difficult things on mock drafts is more and more of these general managers are getting much better, being smart and free agency, drafting a year in advance.
And so what we have is you don't have clear and obvious holes.
Like Mach 1 and mock 2, look, I don't want to do mock drafts pre-free agency.
They're a waste of time except other than the thought process because then they just blow up after free agency.
But it is amazing after free agency how difficult it became for some of these teams who really did an outstanding.
job of taking immediate priority focus off of positions. And what that does is it allows,
like on draft day, people can't just jump over you to get a player that you clearly have to have.
And the Rams are one of those teams. They've done a great job. I do think an interesting position,
it wouldn't be drafted here, but a need that they may see as a need, believe it or not, is running
back. And Corum's fine. I love Kyron Williams, what he does. But a guy with a little bit more
juice at running back, you know, if they were to fall back to 23, I could, I could, you know,
if somebody said, we want to move up and we're going to move up from 23 to, you know, or 26 to
13th. I could see Judarian Price being on the board for them, maybe a surprise, because then
you, you buy him. And we, price isn't going to be in this exercise for me, I would assume in
these, in this spot. But I'm a big believer that if you get a really good running back with six
years, which is essentially what you're doing with running backs now. You have the five-year
option, the fifth-year option, and then you get a potential franchise tag. You've got the
options to get a running back for four years or six years. Who likes giving second contracts to
running backs? Like, I don't know anybody who does because they usually are a problem by the sixth
or seventh year that they're playing. So I would rather have a running back, a really good one.
If I'm really in on a guy, I'd rather have them for what I consider a six-year contract than the
first round. So I think Price could be a sneaky guy if they were to go way back in the draft,
certainly not at this spot. But it is too hard to find a clear need. And I'm not taking Ty
Simpson there. So it's tough. I've gone running back. I think I've gone running a wide receiver
every single time in all of my mind. I think that makes the most sense. Yeah. I mean, again,
I think you could you could make an argument that tackle actually might be a better way to
think about this because you could, I think finding tackles, quality tackles and is just more
difficult to do. And the fact that they're picking higher in the first round than they normally are,
is this their best chance to find a tackle for 2027, 2028? But I don't know. Would we be surprised
if this team wasn't thinking that way with Matthew Stath been nearing the end? Like, I think they're trying
to do everything they can within reason. I think drafting a receiver here, you're also giving yourself
opportunities in the future and planning for the future,
but you're also helping to maximize the roster right now.
You're thinking like a meeting with two.
You're thinking like a roster builder.
And that's why I like about talking football with you
is because you're thinking like a roster builder
who's used to operating in the free agency slash,
especially draft space,
the supply side on offensive line is dead
by the time you get to the third round.
It's dead.
It's very difficult.
It's like quarterbacks.
I mean, it's very difficult to find really,
good tackles outside of the first couple rounds.
It happens. You still can. But premium players, you know, it just, it falls off such a cliff
from Tier 1 to Tier 2 and then down to Tier 3 and then it's, wham, Tier 4 goes way down.
And so when you think like that, and that's kind of how I think is, why would you not take
a premium position and go, if you have the proper grade on it, why would you not look at a tackle
because I know I can find wide receivers? Like if we're just doing it,
exercise of wide receiver versus tackle.
I know I can find a wide receiver
in a second, third, fourth round.
Tackled, that's not
a given by any stretch.
And we never know how weak or strong
a tackle draft is going to be. Lately, it hasn't been.
Last year, it wasn't very strong this year.
I don't think it's particularly strong.
So that's why when you get your chance,
sometimes you just got to, you know, you just
got to take your shot on that position.
Let's get to the Ravens at 14,
who are another just kind of interesting team
because a lot of the big pressing needs
they had going into free agency, they were really aggressive in filling that.
Like, edge rusher was the number one thing for the Ravens, if you looked at the roster
before free agency started.
Now they still have Trey Hendrickson, or now they have Trey Hendrickson.
We can talk about whether it's still worth addressing, but whether it's addressing at 14,
whether it's worth addressing at 14, I think has shifted since the Hendrickson signing.
So the options I'm going to give you for Baltimore here.
Option one, draft Vanga, you wante from Penn State, which I think is pretty clear when
comes to need.
You had them taking Yonai with the 19th pick when they tried.
traded back in the latest mock that you did.
So that's option one here.
Option two, this one I was more excited about when I started thinking about it, is draft
Kenyon Sadiq.
If you look at Baltimore right now, after losing Isaiah likely, they have Mark Andrews,
and then they signed Durham Smyth and free agency.
And Durham Smyth was the third tight end for the Bears last year when Declan Doyle was there.
And so that second tight end spot for Baltimore is maybe a little bit more of a need than we
typically think about with this team because it always seems.
late. They've got two of those guys in the hopper.
The third position here was a little bit.
I'm all, I'm a check.
No, I got to hear third option.
I got to hear third option.
The third one's here was tougher for me because I wasn't sure which position made the most
sense.
I threw out Jordan Tyson and I also think corner is maybe more of a consideration.
Yeah.
Then you might think Marlon Humphrey's in the final year of his deal.
He had a down year last year.
And so to me, receiver corner were the other two spots I was thinking about.
But so let's go with you want a.
Kenyon Sadiq, Jordan Tyson, as your three options are Baltimore.
As you see, I'll bring it right there.
It's Kenyon Sadiq, when my handwriting is Scout Scribble.
I was thinking right the same along with you.
So I went and before I did this, I want to look at Declan Doyle.
I wanted to see how often Chicago ran 12 personnel.
And they ran 32% of the time in that neighborhood, which was fifth in the league in Chicago.
You take a lot of where you were and you bring it to where you go.
And look, tied a great.
Great tight end, as you know, Robert, when you talk about, let's talk about Antonio Gates.
Let's talk about Tony Gonzalez.
We can look at Rob Grancowski.
You can look at Kelsey.
They became more than tight ends.
They became primary pass catchers.
And once you have somebody who's a trade McBride, once you have a high volume tight end, you no longer have a tight end.
You have a big slot, basically.
We can align it different.
He can align connected or in the slot.
And so, yeah, I would agree with you.
When you said Tyson, could they use a pass catcher?
Yeah.
Well, that also happens to be Kenyon Sadiq.
And so as I'm going through this and putting my own down here, I think Kenyon Sadiq makes a lot of sense for them.
Number one, when it was likely and Andrews, there was a time where that was a great combination for Lamar Jackson.
He really locked in on those guys.
I don't think Lamar loves throwing outside the numbers.
I can tell you, defensive coordinators from some teams.
I've talked to, they want to push him outside the numbers.
So if that's the case, and you want to play to his strengths,
I think having a player who can play from the slot or play in line and 12 personnel with
Kenyon Sadiq really opens up the throws that Lamar likes better that he's better at.
He gives you a mismatch nightmare because you can line them up in the slide.
Good luck putting a linebacker on him if that's what you choose to do.
If you choose to try to put a nickel on them, then you can run at a team from that 12
personnel because you're in 12, but really you can go 11 anytime you want with Kenyon Sadiq.
And you have a huge advantage because you have two tight ends on the field.
So if you try to go with a sub package, they're just going to run the ball at you.
They're just going to run the ball at you and mismatch you.
So I think he's a great mismatch from a schematic standpoint.
I think he's a mismatch from an on-field coverage standpoint.
And then I also think it allows Lamar Jackson to get to throws maybe that he's more comfortable with.
So I love the Cadiq pick.
I also think if you look at it, and I'm totally with you on what Declan Doyle is going to bring over, I think with some guys with some offensive coordinators when they come from a certain system, it's like, well, how much is he really going to bring?
How much is it going to look like what they did before?
I think he wants to do a lot of the things that the Bears did last year.
Right.
And I think about the ways that the Bears use Colston Lovelland.
And they're different players, right?
Kenyon and Dadeeke is much shorter than Colson Loveland.
I think long term he's going to have less viability as an inline blocker than somebody like Colson Loveland.
But as a rookie, I think the bears were very smart in some of the ways they deployed Colson Loveland as a blocker.
It's a lot of slicing across the formation.
It's a lot of getting him on the move.
And so a lot of those ideas, especially early in his career, are the ways where I think Kenyon and Sadek is going to be able to hold up a little bit more as a blocker just because he is a little bit of a shorter guy.
So I just think that that's so much of the ways that the ways the lions use Sam Leportar early in his career applying to the way the bears use Colson Loveland,
and potentially applying to the way
a Declan Doyle could use a Kenyan Sadiq within this offense.
And so I actually really do like the idea of him getting there,
becoming their number two tight end in a world where, as it right now,
they don't really have that guy.
I don't think Durham Smyth really counts for that.
No, he doesn't count.
I mean, they have a lack of tight ends on the roster, period.
And Mark Andrews, you know, he had the horrific drop a couple years ago.
He bounced back last year.
He's under contract.
They're not getting out of the contract after 26.
really or 27.
I mean, they can take a,
I think it's a two or three million dollar haircut
if they try to get out before 27.
But I think he'll stay there.
I mean, Lamar works well with him.
And I just think the 12 makes a lot of sense.
More and more teams are going to it.
But that's the other thing is you are getting such a,
there's such a gap between tied in one and tied in two in this draft for me.
You were drafting,
you're getting a premium cut at a position that is going to,
to, it's not a bad tight-end draft.
I'm just saying you have a unique, unique player or potentially a unique player.
And Kenyon Sadiq, and I liken him to Trey McBride.
I just think that you can end up seeing him at some point, you know,
in the neighborhood of 80 to 90 targets depending on, you know, in the future,
depending on how Declan Doyle operates.
And, you know, and I don't know what the quarterback situation will look like.
I guess Lamar Jackson forever until he can not.
go. But I could see
Kenyon Sadiq being a high target
tied in like a primary
target like Travis Kelsey was.
Let's take our first
quick break here and then come back and chat
a little bit about the Tampa Bay Bucks at 15.
All right. So in the latest mock that you did,
you had Carolina coming up to 14
and drafting in Keem Mesidor right ahead
of the Buccaneers. And when I'm looking
at the bucks, like pass rusher
is to me with blinking lights
like the number one thing that I'd be
worried about. And so my first option I'm giving you here for Tampa with them on the clock at 15
is a drafting in Kim Mesedore from Miami. Option two was going to be drafting Kenyon Sadiq if he
were available because I do think that tight end is still potentially a consideration for the
bucks. They've got players there, but having like a true number two behind a K.aten, who they
just brought back, would that be something they would think about. After pass rusher, I think it was
hard for me to come up with a spot for the bucks at 15 because you look at some of the other things
they need. They need offball linebacker help. That's probably not going to be happening in 15.
They probably need interior offensive line and cornerback depth. That's probably not going to be
happening at 15. And so with Sadiq not available, I didn't really have a good third option.
Is there somebody else for the Bucks here you would want me to give you other than Mazzador or
another pass rusher? Yeah, I think Vanga, Yawani, for me,
And here's why.
And here's why.
If you look at how, if you look at how Jason, like, drafts Tristan Worse was a first round pick.
Graham Barton was the first round pick.
Cody Mock was a second round pick.
Luke Gadeke was the second round pick.
Like, he just puts such a high emphasis on offensive line.
And in the first round, he has a tendency to, he looks for good football players.
And so the needs, it's less about priority.
of need and more about grouping maybe four needs together and looking for the best possible
player.
Look, I like Mesidor a lot.
I think Mesodore would fit there with Todd Bowles.
I think Todd Bowles would love Mesodore.
I love the fact that you can also rush them inside.
I would personally love to put Mesidor there.
But I think I'm going to put Vanga, Yawani there.
And it gets back to the history of how they envision.
the offensive line.
Jason Light is willing to spend the draft capital to build the fronts.
And I just think he'll view him as just a rock solid player.
There's, I just don't know how they view a 25-year-old pass rusher.
I think most general managers are not going to sweat it.
I think fans make too big a deal about it sometimes.
They're not worried about, you know, the idea of a 10-year starter.
I always hear this phrase 10-year.
10-year starters are three contracts.
I guess three contracts.
in most cases. So that's really hard to get to. Most general managers will tell you, I'm just trying
to get, I just want to, I still want to be here in three years. So they're not really looking,
they're not really looking at, is this guy going to get a second contract? That's not how they,
they look, can this guy, now coaches who are trying to cover their ass or GMs, they want to know,
can this guy play right away? That's a question they will ask. But they're not asking, you know,
they want to know, can he play right away and can he, can he play well enough to, to, to help me save my job or to help
win a lot of games.
And for me,
Mezzador is that kind of play.
I think you can get behind Akeem Mezador.
But I do think that when it comes to risk, reward,
you know,
Mezador's best,
he was best this year.
You could make an argument.
I don't think it's a valid argument.
You could argue, well, maybe Bain,
the attention on Bain helped Mezador.
I would argue that Mezador did his own work on tape,
and I like him a lot.
But Yawani lost weight from last year to this year.
quicker. He got even better. I don't think Wade is going to be a consistent problem for him.
I think he just altered his body type last year. And I think that he would really fortify that
offensive line to where that is a big strength moving forward for the buck. So I'm going to go
with the safer, maybe a little bit safer pick here in Yawani in what is a much deeper. But it
happens to be two positions, Robert, where interior offensive line and edge are both two of the top. I think
they're both two of the top position groups in this year's draft.
So either direction they go in, I think they're going to have a chance to fill the other
need later in a note.
So right now, if you look at the Bucks offensive line, Ben Bredesen is under contract through
next season, but they can easily move on from him after this year.
I think it's only $3 million in dead money if they were to move on.
And then Cody Mock is out for, I mean, he had a season ending knee injury last year.
It was early in the season.
So I wonder when he'll be back and ready to play.
But those are the two kind of considerations for them at guard.
here's my only pushback to this.
I do think that if you look at the way the Bucks have operated in recent years, that is what they've done, where I think they've done such a good job of having these multi-year plans at some of these positions that they've been able to take guys that haven't needed to contribute right away because the rest of the roster has been strong enough.
Like Ben Benjamin Morrison last year in the second round is a perfect example of this.
you already have McCollum and Jemeldin,
and so you can bring Morrison on along
when you watch Dean Walk in Free Agency,
he can step in and be a starter.
But right now, I think that the need at pass rusher
and how scary it is right now,
does that shift the thinking a little bit
where this is the type of year
based on how thin they are there,
where they no longer have the luxury of saying,
we're just going to take the better player
because the need on the edge is so strong
compared to others they might have had in years past.
Yeah, no, they swung and missed on edge,
but you can't stop swinging if that's the case.
I can tell you who I put down,
because in the exercise,
I thought I was going to come up with these.
That's my fault.
I didn't communicate that to you properly.
No, no, no, I actually like this concept
to where I actually like it just fine.
I'll tell you who I had down,
and then I was told by somebody with Tampa,
not the team, but somebody who covers Tampa,
this guy might not be,
might not fit,
the position may not fit,
a first round model for them is I had McCoy from Jermad McCoy at corner because look
Benjamin Morrison was hurt his last year at Notre Dame he was hurt last year he didn't play
particularly well when he played Zion McCollum got a new deal but he didn't play great last
year I mean if I'm making the pick personally I but I'm not sure they would do it but maybe
maybe we just change up here just tell you who I had down was Jermad McCoy because I
Interesting.
Rob McCoy, for me personally, I don't trust the corners they have there right now.
And I'm going to take a guy with upside at a position where, frankly, I think Morrison is just too big a red flag right now with his injuries.
I would personally go more McCoy.
I was just told Tampa really doesn't love to, and that's why I kind of got away from McCoy is that Tampa might not view corner there because they usually like to do it in rounds two or three.
Gotcha.
Okay.
However you want to put me down for the few.
For the next guest, you can put it, Yawani, or you can put it McCoy.
But, I mean, if I drafted, I personally would go McCoy, even if they don't value
cornerback there.
Well, let's go with the options that we had.
So let's say Yuanay is the, is the bucks pick there.
We're going to talk about dropping Jemma Koi in a second because I do think he was one of
the three options I was going to give you for the Jets here at 16.
So let's get to the Jets at 16.
Let's start with just the receiver need that the Jets have.
I think even with Garrett Wilson on the roster, it's still something they probably need to
address at some point.
Mackay Lemon is off the board.
So option number one here for the Jets is draft Jordan Tyson out of Arizona State.
That's your first option for the Jets here.
Option number two is draft Jermad McCoy.
They probably need multiple corners.
They probably need a nickel corner.
They still need another outside corner.
And so corners are a pretty big need for the Jets, I think, right now if you look at the roster.
The third option here, and this is mostly because I wanted to have the conversation about this,
is drafting Ty Simpson with the 16th overall pick.
That's probably a little bit rich, but I did want to have the discussion of like whether
teams should be at least considering him at some point in the first round.
So just for a little bit of context, the Jets drafted Ruben Bain second overall earlier in this
exercise.
So they have addressed the edge rusher part of this draft with drafting Rubin Bain.
So those are your three options.
Draft Jordan Tyson, draft Hermod McCoy, draft Ty Simpson.
What are you doing if you're the Jets?
Based on those options, I mean, my gosh.
guesses the Jets would want to come away with the wide receiver if they were if and they're the
ones who are going to pick it but I'd probably go McCoy because I just I'm looking at you know I'm
looking at Brandon Stevens I think he's fine they just added Nation right so I think they like
Azurier Thomas let me think about this um because they brought right over he's not bad you know
right as well it's a three and a half million dollar deal for one year oh yeah that's nothing that's
That's nothing. You could still see competition there.
But man, the wide receiver group is so weak here with them.
Adi Mitchell, Isaiah Williams.
I'm going to do it. I'm going to go Jordan Tyson.
And I just, I have to.
Once again, I don't love the hamstring issues with him, but I like the talent a lot.
And I just, I think they're going to have to come away with somebody who can play right away
for them this year.
Yeah, I just, as you look at it, I mean, it's a bleak situation.
I mean, even if you still have like a candlelit for 80 Mitchell, which part of me does
as somebody who refuses to stop believing in 80 Mitchell.
But I think if you're being realistic here, that probably is like the biggest single need
they have on the entire roster is like one more workable receiver.
And even if you've got some reservations about Tyson at 16, I think based on the rest of
this draft and where the Jets roster currently stands, I wouldn't have a huge problem.
with them taking a swing on him here.
No, and I think Omar Cooper could be in play here also.
It'd be early, but I think Cooper could be in play because he's big, strong.
He's got good speed.
He can play inside, outside.
So I wouldn't, you know, I wouldn't take him off the board if you're just considering
where to go if you guys are all doing your own mod graphs.
I think Omar Cooper could be in play there at 16.
But Jordan Tyson is more polished.
I think he's more game ready to come in and potentially.
get targets as a wide receiver one.
It's just you got to really be okay with that hamstring.
Let's get to Ty Simpson.
So I think you have to have done some scouting of the quarterback class next year.
And I know most teams will tell you that's foolish to get too deep into it
and to make decisions based on the next year's quarterback class.
And this year is, I don't know if we've ever seen an example of why that's so foolhardy.
Because if you put all your chips on a 26th draft and you said,
Oh, man, we got Lenore Sellers.
We've got Arch Manning.
We've got Carson Beck.
We've got Garrett and Usmire.
Like, we are loaded at quarterback.
We're not loaded at quarterback.
As a matter of fact, the guy who hadn't even made us, you know, we got Ty
Simpson who we're talking about right now is maybe the only other second round, the only
second quarterback in the first round.
I think Simpson has a chance to be a good quarterback.
But to me, you got to really put him with a good organization that has a great.
great plan for him because here's your problem. If you're the Jets and you play him right away and
you're in New York media with New York fans and he doesn't play well and he's, let's face it,
he doesn't have a great running back, a wide receiver crew since we haven't taken a wide receiver yet.
Now, if you don't play him, which would be preferable, you still have to remember this will now
be the fourth time in five years where he doesn't really play football. So how is he going to learn
without reps? If you do play him, is that going to be?
a fan base and a media
hub that is going to
be patient with him because I do
think they have undue,
they maybe create undue pressure
or create more pressure
on ownership slash
the building than maybe some other
fan base slash media
combinations would.
So you have to be, like you have to be
a certain type of player, first of all
to fit into New York. I think Jackson
Dart happens to be that guy. I think,
I think he's got that personality where he's going to be fined.
Ty Simpson's got one year under his belt, man.
I think all the things you look at on tape where you say, I like this, but these are areas that are concerns,
it would have been no big deal had he gone back to school.
We'd have just been like, man, I like Ty Simpson a lot.
He's going to be my, you know, I like him to be the favorite to win the Heisman trophy.
Once you enter the draft, we get our draft microscope on you, and we're breaking all that stuff down.
because a lot of times you don't grow on the fly as quickly.
You know, there's no guarantee that you're going to get better.
In college, you usually get better.
In pros, there's no guarantee that these quarterbacks get better
because if they haven't learned already,
I think it's why so few one-year starters get better in the pro level
because they step into a game that they haven't had enough reps to be ready
for the changing pictures post-snap of defenses,
the speed of the defenses.
And then it's hard to improve and learn on the fly
because organizations just don't have the same patience with you.
I mean, ask J.J. McCarthy.
That guys had one year, and it looks like there potentially is a chance they're moving on from him after what amounts to one year since he didn't play his rookie year.
I think even beyond the Ty Simpson element of this, I wanted it as a way to talk about the Jets quarterback plans overall because exactly what you're saying.
Are they better off just saying, you know what?
We feel better about the 2027 class.
We have three first round picks next year.
I'm sure as an organization, it's difficult to walk into a season with Gino Smith and no real future plans at the position.
But for them specifically and the way this draft class fell and the way that things are setting up next year,
I think it's probably just better for them to punt on it in this draft overall and just say, you know what?
We're going to take our lumps.
This is in the best interest of the multi-year plan for what we're trying to put together here.
100%.
While you don't like to necessarily forward cast,
that position, I think you're forced to this year.
You know, Archmanning should be better next year.
Lenore Sellers should be better.
Dante Moore is going to be better with another year of college football under his belt.
Now, had he come out, he might have been the pick.
And number two with the Jets.
But I think once you have three first round picks, you've got so much ammunition,
any quarterback is going to be your quarterback if you want it to be.
Like three first rounders should give you the ammunition to get your choice of maybe number one.
and potentially the second quarterback.
So I'm completely with you.
Why even throw any draft capital at Ty Simpson,
who's going to require probably top 40 capital?
Why do that?
Why not hang on to every, let's surround the future quarterback
with as many good players as we possibly can
from this year's draft capital?
That's the way I look at it.
Let's take one more quick break.
and then come back and chat a little bit about the Lions at 17.
All right.
The Lions for me, and we'll talk through all the options,
I started with what I think is probably the most glaring knee
just because it's such a new feeling about this team.
Option number one was draft Caden Proctor if he's available,
which he is available as part of this exercise.
So that's option one, draft the offensive tackle,
the big boy offensive tackle from Alabama.
Option two was draft Caldrick Falk from all.
Because I do think the edge is still a need for the Lions.
And if you look at the body types, they have sought out consistently at that spot opposite
Aidan Hutchinson.
They've gone for those longer players over the last few years.
And Brad Holmes's tenure, that's what Falk is bringing to the table.
Option three, he's back again, is draft Jermott McCoy if he is available.
Because I do think the corner for this team maybe is more of a consideration that it might
seem at first glance.
Let's see what happens with Terry and Arnold.
they don't believe he was involved in, you know, the robbery and everything else that's been happening with him recently.
Dan Campbell said that at the owner's meetings, but we'll see what happens with that.
DJ Reed's going to be 31 next year.
He's got an interesting deal.
It's like a $13 million option bonus in 2027.
And so it feels like that's something where could they move on after this season with him?
And then they signed Roger McCreery to be their nickel this year.
He's on a minimum deal this season.
It's like $1.4 million.
And so I think Corner might be a bigger consideration for,
for the Lions, then we might typically think based on how aggressive they've been adding
bodies to it over the last couple years.
So those are the three options for Detroit.
Draft Caden Proctor, draft Caldric Falk, draft Hermann McCoy.
What are you doing if you're the Lions?
I'm drafting Caden Proctor.
Proctor gives you a chance to, you know, you really can decide whether or not you want to
move Penae Soule over to the left side and let Proctor go to the right side.
if you think there's a physical advantage there.
Some teams don't look at it that way.
They just say, look, you've got to have a good,
why not keep Proctor on the left side where he's used to playing
and keep Sewell on the right side where he's used to play.
My guess is the Lions would do that.
My guess is the Lions would keep Proctor left
and move Sewell to the right.
But based on those options, to me,
Proctor makes the most sense.
He's physical.
He's a really good run blocker.
I think his old key is going to be keeping his weight down
into the low 350s.
Duke Mannyweather from O-line masterminds over there
has done a really good job of reshaping his body
and getting his weight down.
And Duke does a great job every draft
with all those guys in making sure their body types
are like that.
He works with them in the off-season.
I think it's just a matter of he played
in the high 360s this year during the season.
I mean, some coaching staff said he had to lose weight in season.
And he did lose weight in season.
He was too heavy.
And people beat him inside.
And I still have some concerns.
I want to ask you this.
you're a football guy.
This is a problem that I have with the NFL.
I think the NFL loves to say, well, let's put him at tackle.
Tackles the most valuable position.
And then if he fails, we move him to guard.
If he'll fail inside.
And usually by the time you fail, you're like Evan Neal, you know, right, your confidence
is shot.
The fans hate you.
The media are writing negative articles about you.
make people in your own building don't have confidence on you.
Coaching staff for sure.
You may be on a second coaching staff by this point.
I always find it amazing that I feel like I know for a fact that Caden Proctor
would mash people into the ground at Guard and become a Pro Bowl Guard for sure.
And he also has past pro stuff as a tackle.
And some of his issues with being able to redirect against inside moves,
that goes away in smaller spaces.
He becomes a really plus.
plus pass protector as a guard.
You stick him a tackle, put him on an island.
You go watch that, for example,
that Florida State game was a disaster
in the first game.
I think some of his same issues
are going to follow him past protection-wise, a tackle.
But if you put him at guard,
I think they blow people off the ball.
It just beat him up.
But NFL teams just don't think like that.
Now, I'm going to continue to write this up.
Well, you can always move him inside the guard.
He wears a chance to be a Pro Bowl guard.
I've written that about Jay C. Latham.
I've written it about, you know,
Maya Noah from this year's draft.
I've written it about Proctor this year.
But teams, I've got to stop writing it because I'm going to write it to cover my own tail.
But the fact that is NFL teams just don't think like that.
Like, I guess they don't care about taking a guy that would definitely be Pro Bowl caliber at guard
because that tackle position, you know, is just so tough to fill.
I get it.
But I just wanted to throw that out there to you because you see these guys on the NFL level.
all the time. I want to get your thoughts on that.
So there's a couple different considerations here.
We actually had a mailbag question a couple weeks ago talking about this idea of
guys failing a tackle and moving inside a guard. How many examples are there with that
that's actually worked out? I think it's going to depend on how you're going to classify
fail. Like in the short term, I think the best recent example of a guy who was an abject
bad tackle moved inside to guard and you really saw, okay, we can work with this,
was Kinkley-Suitzumae's idea last year with the chiefs. But I think a lot of
the time, it's guys that move inside for one reason or another, but they weren't a disaster
at tackle and didn't suffer some of those confidence issues that you're talking about.
Sam Cosmy was one of those guys.
Colaccio Semillet was somebody that we mentioned, Roger Saffold, but those are guys that
just were better guards than they were tackles.
It's not that they failed outside necessarily.
So I think that's the consideration there.
And I think with guys moving inside to guard, it's typically a, well, they have to move inside
to guard because there's some sort of physical.
limitation. And there isn't a physical
limitation with somebody like Caden Proctor
and so would a team be hesitant to move
him inside where he's a little bit less valuable?
The last wrinkle of this,
we are doing a series of videos
this year in conjunction with The Beast
and Caden Proctor was one of my guys.
And I was watching it and I'm just watching the way that he moves
and the way that he struggles with space and to redirect
a little bit. And I'm like
that he's a guard. And not
in a pejorative way. Not in a like,
Oh, sometimes that's a dirty way of framing a player.
Well, he's really a guard.
In my mind, it wasn't even that.
It was, I just think this upside is so real at guard
and you're minimizing some of the deficiencies.
I would love to see him have a chance to play guard.
Like, you watch, Mackayy Beckton had a rough year with the Chargers,
but moving inside and like what he was capable of doing in the run game with the Eagles,
like I just think there's something really appealing about that for a guy like Caden Proctor
and you're minimizing some of the concerns.
So on that front, we're 100% on the right on the same page.
And that's the exact same thing I saw when I watched him.
Yeah, you got to need a left guard too.
So he, I mean, you could draft him and plug him there anyway.
You could start him at left.
You know, and that's one where you could say, look, let's start him at left tackle or even
right tackle.
And if we need to, we can move him at guard.
But I just, when you watch the way he run blocks, he mashes people, he's got the mentality.
I think the weight is always going to be in the, you know, more unlikely, the high
350s, the low 360s.
I mean, if he was 339, 341 pounds, he would be ripped.
I mean, he carries so much lean mass.
At 350 is not a bad weight for him at all.
It's just that trying to catch up with guys who are 100 pounds lighter
who make quick inside moves on you, it's just going to be tough.
Like, it's just physically going to be difficult.
He's got long arms, which helps.
But, yeah, I was curious to what you would think.
Because if you watch him on tape, you'll see the same thing we saw.
It's just if you didn't, we'd be talking about him as a top four player, right?
If he had a good year, the year that was expected, he'd be a top three or four player.
So that's just how that works.
And I'm not completely convinced that he's not on the board at six with the Browns, by the way.
I think Monroe Freeling and Caden Proctor are two guys you need to keep an eye on at number six for the Browns.
So I was going to ask you, are there any other offensive linemen here for the Lions that you would consider if Proctor isn't the guy that I offered you?
Yeah, I think Monroe Freed.
The way to talk with other guys.
Yeah, I think Monroe Freeling would be the pick.
Yeah, just because I think, look, he needs another year of college football, in my opinion,
but he's extremely athletic.
He has long arms.
He's a natural left tackle.
And he is somebody who has the athleticism to handle the things that I think that we talked about,
that Proctor could struggle with.
So based on, if you look at this, like, we have to get a tackle this year.
I think Freeling may, the lions could look at Freeling as having the higher floor than Proctor.
And that's why I think that he could be the pick there if he's available.
If both those guys are available, I think Freeling might be the pick just because he has that higher floor, athletically especially.
Let's get to the Minnesota Vikings here at 18.
Option one, feels like we've talked about him for every team.
Let's do it again.
Draft Ramad McCoy, if he is available and he is available.
Option two.
draft Emmanuel McNeil Warren from Toledo
Safety is absolutely a need for this Vikings team
If you look at the current roster
Without Harrison Smith
Option three
Draft your best available offensive tackle
We talked about this a little bit with the Rams
Where you're planning a year in advance
Brian O'Neill is going to be a free agent
After this year
Freeling Blake Miller
Max Anachor from Arizona State
All available here
So those are the three ways I went
Draft Remod McCoy option one
draft Emmanuel McNeil Warren option two
draft your best available offensive tackle
what are you doing if you're the Vikings
man well my pick that I'd made
follows one of the picks that you have is
Jermal McCoy
I just I think when you look at the
cornerback and let's get into it right now then
I've had a James Pierre this year they got Isaiah Rogers
McLaughern I think they think he has some
potential in terms of outside corners
Jerob McCoy is going to be better potentially than all of him.
He is a press man corner who, and if you have a good press man corner,
it allows creative blitz callers like Brian Flores, a lot of leeway to get as exotic as possible.
You know you can throw a guy on an island.
I'm not too worried about the athletic stuff I knew was going to be good.
I think the medicals will work themselves out.
I mean, teams are going to know if the medicals are good or not.
But my guess is it's an ACL tear.
I think he's going to be fine.
guys come back from ACL tears all the time.
My pick is Jermad McCoy.
Jermad McCoy, I feel like wide receivers should be a need for them
because I don't trust Addison off the field.
And I think Corner for sure should be a need as well.
And I brought this up on social media.
I said, A, Vikings fans, why did I never read about Corner and Wide Receiver?
Shouldn't this be, I always read about defensive tackle, who I don't like one there.
I read about safety, who I personally wouldn't take McNeil Warren there.
why not cornerback?
And to my surprise, a lot of the Vikings fans, you know,
it wasn't beat riders, Vikings fans that absolutely cornerback should be on the board.
And so I love McCoy in that spot.
I think McCoy, and that was my mock draft pick and my last mock was McCoy,
I just think it makes a lot of sense.
But I want to get to, let's go pick two, the option number two.
Who was option?
Oh, who is McNeil-Warn?
Option three.
So let's go, Blake Freeling.
man, I mean Monroe Freeling over there.
I mean, Monroe Freeling would have to come in and be a swing tackle in year one,
more than likely, unless you wanted to play him at guard,
if you thought you could try to get away.
But really, Will Fries is there.
I don't think he's going to take any snaps at center.
I don't know if Donovan Jackson, I'm trying to recall if he's ever taking snaps.
I don't know that there's a guard who could slide in and challenge and maybe start.
at center.
I'm not sure if any of those guys have snapped at all.
But to your point, I just told you that I think the tackle needs a year of seasoning.
What better way to get seasoning than to be a swing tackle behind Darrisaw and Brian
O'Neill, two very good tackles.
And then you've got your, you know, you may have to play some politics there with Brian McNeil
or maybe Brian McNeil is like, I know, I'm getting older.
That's, I mean, Brian O'Neill.
Maybe Brian O'Neill says, I'm getting older.
Whatever. This is just football. I'll move on after this year and get another contract with somebody else.
It may be cool with him. Maybe you have to kind of smooth it over a little bit. I don't know. And maybe you try to get, you know, maybe you say, well, he's a swing and he's going to be tackle, some tackle guard for Monroe Freeling.
But as a roster builder, I love it because we get cheaper at right tackle in the future. We have a plug-in play option at right tackle with Monroe Freeling as soon as Brian O'Neill is gone.
And like we talked about, you have to move forward.
You have to be a year ahead on offensive tackles, especially, if possible.
If you can be a year ahead on those guys, so you're not in a desperation mode with low supply, you know, where the supply is low.
And if you're Viking Joe to be drafting 19 or higher every single year, you hope to be in the 20s every single year.
And the best tackle is usually off the board there.
So I love the idea.
I'm going to stick with McCoy.
But man, I love the idea of freely there
if you're willing to let him just basically spend a year
not playing a whole lot.
At least you hope he's not because you hope both your tackle stay healthy.
They signed Ryan Van dernermark to that one-year offer sheet,
which is that wasn't surprising to me only because
having to play a school last year was just such a disaster for them.
And so having them get a little bit of insurance with a swing tackle wasn't surprising.
I'm not sure that would prevent you from drafting a tackle
in the first round if you think you're moving on from O'Neill after this year.
So the last one, I never, I hadn't even really thought about that.
I didn't look at O'Neill's contract.
And it's something that's important to do.
You really need to look at contracts.
There's so many of these decisions are based on future contracts.
And Brian O'Neill is, what is he's 30 now.
I mean, he's still got a lot of good football left.
But if you wanted to hit reset on, if you wanted to hit reset on the value of that position,
it's not a bad idea.
Yeah, his age, his 2027 season would be his age 32 season.
That's where that 32 came from if you were to bring him back for that season because that's why I threw that out there.
The last one I wanted to mention, just very briefly, just you talk about defensive tackles and defensive tackle, maybe no one in this range being worth drafting.
Option four that I was going to throw out at you, would you trade the 18th overall pick for Dexter Lawrence if you were the Minnesota Vikings?
If you flip me
I might need to be flipped the third
I might want to get some more I don't love
Dexter's not young he's not old
He's in his pride but he'll be 29 this season
He turns 29 this season don't think I haven't looked
Yeah one is a lot I'd have to probably get at least
I'd have to get probably a third back for that
For me to consider that I'd push back on
I push back on me giving up just my 18th dick
Let me put it that way.
But what I love to have, Dexter, oh, man, I'd love it.
So, yeah, I would.
I wouldn't just settle for giving up 18, though, but we can have that conversation.
We can stay on the phone line a little while.
Let me put it that way.
We can talk.
Obviously, the news came out today that he's requesting a trade.
Diana reported that.
So just something that's worth keeping.
And I am two kind of just wrinkles that are Viking-specific when it comes to that.
They do not have a lot of cap flexibility, even if you were to play with the contract
of this year and try to get that number down.
they've already restructured pretty much everybody
based on looking at it, that's not Brian O'Neill,
and then T.J. Hawkinson and I think Van Ginkle
are like the only three deals where there's like a big base salary
that they haven't touched already.
And so that would be a consideration for a team like the Vikings.
And then the other part of it, which plays into you talking about getting
a third back, they just haven't made a lot of picks over the last couple years.
And so them giving up a pick, even if it's for a premium player like a Dexter Lauren,
especially coming on the heels of an offseason
where they added to third contract defensive linemen
and did not work out for them.
They may not be the best fit,
but because it came out this morning,
I thought it was worth touching out just a little bit
for maybe what teams in the back half of this first round
might be thinking if Dexter Lawrence is potentially available.
I would say one player you didn't mention is Akeem Mezzador,
or we could just talk about Rush.
So, Vinkinkel is in the,
I believe it's the last year of his contract.
I looked at his contract.
I think he's got one.
Oh, no, he has a one-year deal.
So Van Ginkle has a one-year, like $23 million deal.
So you also have a player in Jonathan Grenard,
who had three sacks last year played only,
he had a shoulder injury,
so he missed the end of the season, right?
He only played 12 games.
But he really didn't have a ton of production leading up to those,
you know, up to his season-ending injury.
I mean, you can never have enough rush.
I think Mesidor or Choose Your Pass Rusher could also be an option there for Minnesota in that spot.
Just because as a 3-4 team, like I said, you can never have enough.
Van Ginkles getting older.
I just think Rush could be another position that you could see potentially on the board there.
I think defensive line for Minnesota.
Detackle, we know, don't love one here.
I like Dexter Lawrence.
And then, of course, Rush, I think, is another one that we could.
Like, Minnesota's got sneaky amount of needs now that you really look at it.
I mean, there's a lot of direction.
They absolutely do.
And we have things like that.
Move back.
That's what I do.
So let's run through the selections that we made.
13.
Mackay Lemon going to Los Angeles Rams.
14th.
Kenyon Sadiq going to the Baltimore Ravens.
That's a spicy one, man.
15.
Vega, Juana, going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
16 Jordan Tyson going to the Jets
17 Caden Proctor going to the Lions
and 18 Jermad McCoy
the cornerback going to the Minnesota Vikings
I like it I feel like we did a good job
of sorting through this stretch of the draft
Good players still on the board for the next person
making the picks I can tell you that
there's some interesting picks
All right that is all we've got for today
Lance tell everybody where they can check out
all of the draft work that you were continuing to do over there
Yeah you can go read the draft profile
at NFL.com. There will be 400 plus draft profiles on their strengths, weaknesses, how I see a
player, player grades. Coming up soon, I'll have round projections that are coming from my NFL
sources where players are expected to get drafted, not relative to my grades, but relative to
where the league values them. So I'll have that populating. You can just, you can just Google NFL,
you can just Google NFL draft tracker 2026 and you can find it very easily. I'll be on pat to the
draft every Friday on NFL network. You can see that NFL Insiders on NFL Plus every Tuesday,
Thursday. And then I'll be doing live draft commentary Thursday, Friday, Saturday of the draft,
along with Bucky Brooks and Mike Yam on the NFL Fast channel or I think YouTube for sure on day
one and maybe on day two and day three as well. I'll have that information on the future.
But every pick, I got to know them and I got to talk about. So it's fun.
but it is a long draft week for me.
Listen, I'm sure by the time my draft prep is over,
I have read a hundred of the write-ups that you do on guys.
I wait for Dane to hurry up so I can find out if Dane and I talk all the time during the season,
like, hey, what did you think of this guy?
Like, we always like to bounce things off of each other.
Dane is one of my favorite people in the space, one of the guys I trust the most.
But I'm like, hurry up, Dane.
I want to see where you and I disagree or where I'm like,
yeah, exactly.
gets it. I don't know what these other draft
guys are thinking. Well,
you have to wait about one more day because the
Beast will be here on April 8th. So be on the lookout
for it and be on the lookout for all
the stuff that Lance is doing. Really appreciate the
time, sir. Great to chat with you. Great to catch up.
Yeah, great catching up. Thanks, Robert. All right, that's all
we got. Thank you so much to Lance for his
time. We will be back tomorrow
with Dave and Dane
Building the Beast, which like we said
is coming out on Wednesday. Very,
very exciting. We're getting into the best
part of raft time.
So be on the lookout for that.
Sincerely appreciate you guys listening.
We'll talk to you very soon.
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