The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Prospects to Pros: Dane Brugler checks in from the Senior Bowl

Episode Date: February 1, 2024

We're all thinking about the S. Bowl these days. But while for most of us that means the Super Bowl, for The Athletic's NFL Draft expert Dane Brugler, it means the Senior Bowl. Dane checks in with Nate Tice from Mobile, where he's been attending Senior Bowl practices this week, on this episode of The Athletic Football Show's Prospects to Pros.Follow Nate on Twitter: @Nate_TiceFollow Dane on Twitter: @dpbruglerSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic football show's Prospects to Prosos. Hello, welcome to Prospects to Pros. I am your host, Nate Tice. It is All-Star Time in the draft season. We had the Shrine Bowl practices happening this week. We also had the Senior Bull practices happening this week. Today, we are going to focus on the Senior Bowl and the few practices that have happened and all the stuff that's happened off the field as well because that is just as important as well.

Tell me to do that. As always, is the man himself, Mr. Dane Bruehler, who is in Mobile Out. Alabama at the Senior Bowl live and in person watching these practices. How are you doing today, Dane? Yeah, if you couldn't tell, this whole side of my face is red, that Alabama sun beaten down on me. So I need to make sure tomorrow practice going the other side of the field just to even it out. You know, Mobiel's over here. Shrimp and fish, but I'm bringing some lobster to the mix as well.

So, yeah, it's been a good week. It's been some awesome action on the field. We're through two practices now. So a lot to go on. And then one more practice tomorrow before everybody will hit the road. But yeah, I think some players have certainly helped themselves this week with what they put on film so far. So yeah, it's been so far so good. That's how it always is.

And also it's just so nice to see him stacked up with their peers. And you're going to, oh, yeah, he was. All right, cool, cool, cool. Because we're not getting the official testing yet. But no, that's awesome that you get to go there. It's always a crapshoot with that weather. I've been to Mobile when it's been like freezing rain. I've been to Mobile when it's like, like you look right now.

I also have Irish skin. So I fry easily. So I think I think you're right that you brought the shellfish. And I think that's very in theme right now in Mobile. But yeah, let's talk about the senior role standouts. Who so far? Let's just start with the offense. You know, what everyone kind of focuses on.

You know, fans, I see plenty of fantasy counts already staking claims on guys. but the offensive standout so far at the senior rule who you got so far dane i have to start with jackson powers johnson the oregon center slash guard uh he's been just tremendous uh it's hard to find and this is a theme from his tape it was it's hard to find bad tape on him from the season it's hard to find reps this week where he is struggled um he makes it look easy the balance that he plays with at contact uh he had a rep today where he was able to use his offhand to steer the the rusher wide of the pocket. I mean, it's, it's just really, really outstanding the way that he plays controlled,

patient, and just he understands what the defense is trying to do with him. Even on these one-on-ones that really favor the defensive player, because the offensive player, the blocker, they're playing defense. You know, they don't know what's coming at them. They don't have any, like in a normal game, you're playing in tandem with the guy next you and, you know, you've got more of a confined. And the defense has a two-way go. These one-on-ones, you just don't know what they're going to throw at you.

Could be power, could be quickness, whatever. It doesn't matter what has been thrown at Powers Johnson. He has answered everything. In my mock draft, he was going 21 to the dolphins. I thought that was a great fit. I thought, is it a little early? I don't know, maybe. But I don't know.

After this week, I could see him going top 20. You know, the Steelers are picking, I believe, at 20. They could certainly use him. There are a couple teams in the teens. that should look at him. So the centers are going to be really interesting because we've seen in the past good centers. We've seen them fall a little bit just because they're centers. Creed Humphrey, perfect example of that.

But this year we've got three guys at the top that are really, really good. Jackson Powers Johnson, Zach Frazier, and then Graham Barton, I think those three guys are all top 35 guys, maybe even higher than that. And Jackson Powers Johnson is the only one that's playing here. both Graham Barton and Zach Frazier are hurt. Frazier, which just kind of blew my mind, he's actually here. He broke his leg November 26th. He's here. Literally crawling off the field.

Yes. Oh, right, exactly. He's here this week, two months removed from surgery. He has nothing on his leg, like no brace, no rap, and he's moving around like nothing. I was in Friscoe last week for the Shrine game. I visited Duke Manyweather at Offensiveline. masterminds and I'm going through some of his guys I wrote a story about this on the athletic people can read more about about about that but I was asking him about some of his guys and asked

about Zach and how's uh how's his rehab going how's he looking um you know what do you think we'll be able to see a move and he's like turn around and I look or turn around and he is sprinting on a treadmill I'm like he broke his leg two two months ago and what like this doesn't make sense and dude was just telling me all about how their rehab how aggressive they are and how Zach, it's just the type of guy that he is has been a part of this in terms of the quick turnaround. But sorry, yeah, that that's off on a tangent. No, but it's great. It's great.

Back to the center that's here at the Senior Bowl, Jackson Power with Johnson, unquestionably has been one of the winners this week through two practices and a guy that has put a lot of first round film out there for scouts, both during the season. and then now here at the senior bowl. And again, this is an example of a junior taking advantage of that new rule. In past years, we wouldn't have seen him. He's not known. He would not be eligible. And obviously, we still liked him coming into this week, but just having that a little bit extra from this week is only going to help him.

Especially a guy that is rarer at the position than you usually see at center. You know, it's kind of like, okay, he's still picking up the position. I got to watch him this week, so it's got a great timing because he has some of the most entertaining film you'll ever watch. Because every play he's doing something. And I mean either as doing something positively, within the play, but also after the play, he is up to a lot of shenanigans. And he is a very athletic.

He's athletic. Like, that's the first thing that came to my mind. He's 337. I was shocked by the weight. I couldn't believe that. Yeah. And I love everyone. Yeah.

I think it was 3.30 something. 3.34. Yeah. 334, which is crazy. It's crazy. There's several centers in the league that are sub 300 right now. And he moves just as well as any of them. He pulls.

He's great on screens. I'm a huge fan. And the fact, the mental stuff is actually pretty good already. I thought his, this is just film watching from the regular season. Blitz recognition, I thought was pretty good.

He was bumping guys off. And this is probably why it's great with the senior bowl. He got better as the season went along, which should be natural, but it's also what you want to see it. You want to make sure that's what's happening. So I, and the fact that,

you talked about, would you say center slash guard, positional versatility. Yeah, he was a guard last year for Oregon. Yeah. Didn't start. And then this, defense to tackle in there somewhere, like for like a bowl game or something like that,

I think I saw. He like, yeah, he started the ball game. His freshman year, so he was in Oregon for three years. He's a true junior coming out. His first year started a game at right guard,

started a game at left guard, and then started the ball game at defensive tackle. It's like, we got to get this guy in the field. And they had injuries pile up. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and then last year he was a backup, started one game at right guard.

This year won the starting center job and just blew up. I mean, and to your point, if he's not, you know, if you're not wowed by what he's doing on the field with his blocking, seeing him after the play too. And a good example that here this week, it was seven on seven or no, it was, it was team drills. And, yeah, it was team. And there was a pass down the field. the corner route to Theo Johnson, the Penn State tight end, I believe. Oh, yeah. Made a nice catch.

And this dude, JPJ, sprinting down the field to go give him a chess bump to, it's just it wasn't like a, you know, the final play at the practice or anything. It was just another rep. But he was so jacked for it. And I was like, all right, yeah, that sums up this guy. He is, he's fun. And that's how he's on the game. I mean, the, I tweeted out, tweet out a clip this week.

It's a screenplay. he's 50 yards down the field because he has a block. The DB gives up. So that's also another thing he does well. So it's just a funny story, but also a positive thing. He's awesome at sifting as far as like, hey, that guy's running himself out of the play. I don't have to worry about him. So I can just keep my eyes up field.

So just great aware. He's a football player. But anyways, he's a good balance of like both. He's a meathead. But he's also smart and understands, you know, the way he can process. And so like he'll knock you down. He led working at knockdowns this year, but he's also playing smart. And, you know, maybe not the most technically sound player, but it's catching up to the physical abilities.

That's what it is. Right now he's more of a bar room brawler type, but he's getting there. Like, he's figuring it out. But at the end of the screenplay, I think it was against Arizona State. He's like, like, you know, one two with the runnerback who's about to score. And he finishes through the goal line, like it's a sprint, you know, like that he's going through the, like to get the best time, like at the end of a sprint, like out of a track. like out of a track race. It killed me because not only that shows he's an athlete.

The center is thinking that way, not the running back. But Graham Barton was another guy he brought up another guy with positional versatility. I think we both like him. I think we're both kind of set where he's at and Frazier as well. Were there any other offensive line standouts for you this week so far? Christian Haynes, the guard from Yukon. Yeah, yeah. He's had a nice week.

He's maybe not the best. best athlete out here among the offensive lineman, but anchors well. He's, and he's a better, I think he's, he's not a bad athlete, put it that way. He's not the best athlete here, but he's not a bad athlete. He's a functional athlete. Strong at the point, anchor at shallow depth. He's been really, had a nice few practices here. Good line, too.

Almost three, four in charge too. Right. That actually surprised me. Yeah. Tyler Geithen has some up and down moments that, yeah, that he's someone we talked about, we've talked about all season. And then we mentioned him with Jim last week, how, you know, if he was the first player drafted from this game, would that surprise him. And, you know, Jim said absolutely not.

He's got that type of ability, those traits. And we've seen it in practice with his ability to anchor at the point of attack so he can stop bulls. He's got the length to him. So he has the range that he can cut off the outside quickness. Gaiton, now some of the Darius Robinson, especially. especially the Missouri defensive end, has gotten him a few times. But for the most part, Tyler Guyton has been as advertised, as a mover, as a guy's just a physical freak. And someone that if you need offensive tackle help, somewhere in the top 25 picks, he's going to be someone you're really interested in.

So, yeah, he definitely fits that bill as well. There's going to be some people that really like him because he's such a good mover that is getting out space, zone stuff and all that. And yeah, like you said, he's still a little bit to go. with some of the tools stuff, but it's also the classic, or MC technique stuff. He has the classic, though, tools that you can't teach. You can't teach that size. We'll coach up the rest. Yeah, exactly.

We'll figure it out. And get you in the squat rack a little bit. Like, just build out the bottom half a little bit. That's the only other thing I ask out of him. But he kind of exactly looked. There's some good plays. There's some bad ones, even from the one-on-ones that I watched, you know, just offhand.

Sticking with offense or any of the skill guys stood out for you. Do you want to just make... As you say, one other offensive linemen, Oh, yeah. The other tackle who has a shot to go top 20, Fwaga from Oregon State. Oh, Flaga of Oregon State, yep. Yeah, he's had a nice week. He's really good with his hands.

And he's used this move quite a few times this week during one-on-ones, where he'll show his hand and then he takes it right away. And that outside, yeah, outside rushers. He's going for it, and it just whiffs at air and he buries them. He's gotten, who did he get was Penn State, rusher. It got him a few times. Yeah.

He got a couple of the guys too. Oh, Isaac. Isaac from Penn State. Yes, yes. Yeah. He got him a few times. So he's been as advertised. It's really interesting with that.

In my opinion, it's Joe All and then Olu Foshanoo won two. And then there's this group of guys, these offensive tackles between J.C. Latham, Ameris Mims, and then, Those two guys we just talked about, Guyton and Fuaga. You know, how they come off the board next is going to be split from team to team, depending on just what exactly you're looking for. And I mean, it's interesting. They're all right tackles, but they're all a little different.

So it's, I think, you know, there's going to be no consensus among these offensive tackles. They're all going to go early, but it's going to be kind of like, what flavor do you want? Yeah, I like, I watched all of them. I like all of them. Mims, God, it's funny, the game against Tennessee, he wears number 77. I know we're talking about these other guys, but he was 77. And it was the funniest thing. I was like, he played in this game.

I'm watching him and I'm feeling him. I don't even need the check that that's him wearing 77. Like, you know, you're like, okay, that's him. But yeah, he was working out with Duke. And I saw him and I, there's just no, he's 101. Like, there's no. He is. Yeah.

That looks like that. That can move like that. Nope. And when I was there, they were working out with. Steve Hutchinson, a hall of the guard. So they're getting first class education there. And he, to see him move at that size is just kind of mind blowing. He is a, he's a freak that is just barely scratched the surface of what he can be.

And any, uh, getting back to Fulaga, do you, okay, any similarities? This is the guy he reminds me. I know people like him as a rum blocker, but I think he's, he's solid, but he, I don't know what he, how to describe him. But I don't mean this as a negative. any similarities because he's technician. He's really, I think he's a good pass protector because he has kind of this nice, like you said, technique and length and everything. And more finessey, I think, as a past protector. Any similarities to Bakhtiari, David Bakhtiari.

And he's a little different in the run game, but as a past protector, that's who reminds me of. And even their build a little bit, no kind of the, I hate to say this like this, but leggy build. I think, I think maybe stands up. But that was the guy when I really studied Fialaga who came to mind. And I don't know. I could see that. And you're saying different flavors because you couldn't get any more opposite than him and Latham, who is built like a bowling ball. And, you know, but it can move.

But it's, yeah, but it's just funny with this right tackle class. Yeah. Probably not quite the same athlete as Bacchieri. Yeah. Good enough. And but I think stylistically, I could definitely see where, yeah, there'd be some parallels. It makes sense. It's like past protection play style.

That's so specific. But that's what I'm going with here. Right. Moving off offensive line, skill position guys. You and any guys that stood out from the high flyers? Let's start with receivers. And I mean, Roman Wilson has been, so coming into the week, my top three receivers in this game, very similar grades in all three with Ladd-McConkey, Roman Wilson, Malachi Corley.

Very similar grades on those three guys. And so far, I think all three have done a pretty good job. McConkey, if you don't jam him and really get physical with him early, there's no chance. You're done. None. And Roman Wilson, the best reps this week have been between Roman Wilson and Quinion Mitchell. It has been a lot of fun.

And those two going at, like, I'm on the field standing right next to the sideline, and they're running down and Quinnion knocks it down. And he just looks at Roman and says, all right, one, nothing. And they go back and then they run it back and do it again. and they just keep going battling, battling, battling. That's been a lot of fun to watch. And Roman Wilson, he's gotten a few.

At the end of the period, him, they did a best of best, and Roman had an amazing one-handed catch along the sideline. Lance Dirline and I were staying right there, happened right in front of us. I tweeted the video out. People will check it out there. But Roman Wilson's had a good week.

He's kind of like the conkey, where he plays fast. He understands how to leverage his routes. So, you know, he's not only does he win with quickness at the break point, but he can snap that, snap off his route. So he's going to, you know, leverage and sell one way, snap it off the other way. And he's really able to get corners off balance with that. And like one of ones are tough when you talk about wide receivers and corners because it's,

the wide receiver literally has the entire field to work. And the corner. Yeah, especially from the slot. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, and there's because there's nothing else going on on the entire field and one-on-on-one. So the corner is just kind of guessing what's going to happen.

And so corners are at a disadvantage, but Roman Wilson has done a really nice job. I think he's looked good. Rookie Pirsall from Florida has had a really nice week. He's, to me, I think the ideal, like, dirty slot player where he's going to do some of the dirty work, but he's also a really good receiver as well. You know, he can play.

play through contact for a guy that's a little bit smaller. He's got good hands. He's got quickness. So Ricky Pearsall has had a nice week. I'm a mission Malachi Coralie. He's done a nice job. You know, especially because obviously he's a underneath guy in that West.

Yeah, Western Kentucky offense. So, right. How does he track the ball deep then running some of the vertical routes and things like that? He's done. I thought a nice job. Okay. And even that's what I was. I was going to ask actually about Wilson is, and then you mentioned right.

Literally, I was I was about to ask it. You said, oh, he won near the sideline on the thing. I was going to ask how he looked on the outside, because I think that's going to be the thing you'd look at with all the size and stuff like that. So I didn't see many the clips of that on the outside. So I was curious how he looked. He did a nice job. I mean, it's with. He's smooth.

Yeah. With Roman Wilson? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And Quignon, he's a guy that he's used to playing. He played a lot of zone at Toledo. And so, you know, he's not necessarily going to jam you.

He's going to play a little bit off. And so Roman Wilson hasn't had to really deal with the jam, but he's, he, him and Mekonki are kind of in that same boat with their ability to leverage the stem, get open. And he's, he's done that plenty, whether it was inside or outside. I really, I'm glad lad kept it going because I know, I know you plopped him on your first big board. And I was like, yeah. And it's just, he hasn't done anything.

I've only gotten higher on him as this process has gone along. I think he's such an easy guy. I can just go, yep, I know what you are. Right. And you feed him targets and he'll be fine. I don't know, like, that he has like the ceiling to go in the first round just because, like, he's small. And he, you know, he's dealt with injuries. You know, he missed the first four games here with a back injury.

You know, then he rolled his ankle and missed another game. And so it's, he's constantly playing hurt, which says a lot about his toughness. but for a smaller receiver, that's not a good sign. And so that with the light side... It doesn't get easier. That's for sure. They don't hit softer up there at the NFL level. They do not.

So I would be surprised if you went in the first round, but I think in the second round, if you go to the right spot, he can be a really quality number two option for a team. Absolutely. Any guys in the backfield, runoffbacks, quarterbacks stood out this week? I'm curious about a couple,

so I want to know where you go with this way. I tell you, it's been, disappointing with these quarterbacks. The first practice, well, first practice, I always kind of ignore quarterbacks. I'm like, all right, you guys get a pass. New center. Right. You're throwing the guys you've never thrown to.

Might as well be freshman. Right. So first practice aren't even pay attention to quarterbacks. Give them one practice under their belt before we really start poking holes in these guys. And then this morning, second practice, Knicks didn't look great, Hartman didn't look great, Pennix didn't look great. All three had some moments, but then more inconsistent moments as well. I thought in the second practice, those guys played a little bit better. Michael Pratt, Spencer Rattler, those two especially, I think, stood out with some of the throws they were making.

Even Carter Bradley, Gus Bradley's kid, made a few nice throws. Joe Milton, obviously, the arm, people gushed about the arm, and with good reason. Obviously, the tape isn't anywhere close to what the arm is, but the second group of quarterbacks, the American roster, doing a lot better than the national team, which is the more, you know, Valley-Hood, yeah, guys with especially the Pennix. So, yeah, I don't know where that came from. That's awesome.

So every opening script of Raw, because they have actual, you know, scripts is scripted. The opening says, Ballyhoo. And that's the, that's the fireworks and everything to start every show. So that's only other time I've heard or read that. word. That's awesome. So, yeah, I'm interested to see the quarterbacks tomorrow morning.

Thursday morning. See if they look any different with one more practice, and then obviously with the game on Saturday, see how they do. Running backs, you know, it's always tough. I thought Ray Davis caught the ball well, the Kentucky running back. I don't know that he's going to get in the top 100, but early on day three, I think it'd be a really nice

option for a team looking for running back help. Speaking of bowling balls, he's built like a bowling ball. I mean, he had muscle hapser all the way. A lot of these guys are, I mean, Cody Shrader, Missouri, backs that way, Isaiah Davis and the Troy kid, Vidal. Bailey. Yeah, TCU's 5753-8s.

He's a good player. Yeah. So, yeah, these running backs are, I think, are good players. Marshall and Lloyd's caught the ball while at the backfield. Oh, Dylan Lobby, a New Hampshire kid. Yeah. They let him run some wide receiver routes, one-on-one with corn. and he tracks the ball as good as anybody here down the field.

And this is a short, stocky running back. And he's, it's impressive to watch. I mean, but anybody that watches Central Michigan tape with Dylan Lobby in New Hampshire from this past year wouldn't be surprised to hear that. So, yeah, he's another guy that's, what, five, nine and a half, 210 pounds. So well put together, Long Island kid. Dylan Lobby, I mean, the Danny Woodhead comparisons are kind of, a little on the nose, but they make too much sense.

Like, I'm sorry, that's the comparison. He's Danny Woodhead, and that's absolutely a compliment for him. Yeah, I thought he's had a great week. That's actually, I'm glad you got to him because that's exactly who I was hoping to get to. Yeah, he's fun. Again, another guy you can picture his role, like, instantly. And the fact that he's 210 is huge because of pass protection stuff, so he can be a true

passing down back, at the very least. So, I, no, that's a fantastic one. As far as the quarterbacks, no, even before. Jim came on. I watched some more of the auxiliary quarterbacks as the second half of the tape came in. I'll put it that way. And Spencer Rattler is one of them. And I have two of a couple of clips and I

just can't help but come away impressed by his ability just to spin the rock and throw from tight pockets and actually truly throw guys open and create and do a lot of the things that you want to see. The size for me is always going to be a drawback. And obviously, I don't think he's an overwhelming athlete. I think he's just an adequate one. But no, he was one that day one of this week, I was like, uh-oh.

And then day two, just like you say, you, I could take it with a grain of salt, take it with a pound of salt. But day two, I did think he had a little bit of a better day. I just watching him in one-on-ones and stuff. That was the one that stood out to me the most as far as day two. But I agree with you that the, what would be the, I would just say the Pacific Northwest roster with Pennix and Knicks. I agree.

I thought there were some if few moments, especially one-on-on-ones and seven-on-seven, where you can tell that they were just maybe a hair away pulling the trigger on some stuff. So yeah, no, I, I'm glad you said with the running back stuff because I felt like, yeah, it's some mighty mice going on one after another, just one after another. Just like every single step was like, that's the same guy. Oh, no, different helmet. Yep, different helmet on that one. But, yep, same exact type of thing. But.

And Pennix, he was, so when I flew in to Mobile, Sam Hartman was on my flight. Okay. And I would, like, either this is Sam Hartman or there's a model convention at Mobile because that's, he's a good looking dude. him and then Pennix. I surprised. Penix is really skinny. I mean, I knew he's not the biggest guy,

but for six two and a half, I think he's 212, I think here. And, you know, I remember I asked you about that. I was curious. In the spring,

scouts weighed him at 221. Right. So I thought he might be even 225 by the time, you know, combine and all this. But no, he is lost weight and he is, he was a lot skinnier than I expected him to be.

Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, I know. He did have kind of skinnier legs on that. Do you want to get negative first or do you want to get to the defensive side? Do you want to say any fallers for you on the office inside? Let's do that. Let's get spicy. Any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, any, it did better. On the, any, any, any, it did better on the day two of practice. He really struggled, practice one. I mean, you and I have talked. I mean, you and I have talked. about legate before. You know, it's not a guy that either one of us see in the first two rounds. You know,

once you get the round three and round four, that that's probably more his speed of where he should be drafted. So I think, but a lot of people on Twitter are, I mentioned first round for him. And it's like, all right, we got to back off that and not put unrealistic expectations out there for him.

And then you watch him today run a real route tree. And you're like, ah, that's right. You got a ways to go. But to his credit, he did do better today, Wednesday, and he did the first practice. So that was good to see.

Outbreak, that was pretty nice, actually. With Rattler, actually, they threw it. Yeah. I mean, it felt like he struggled to sell it. And like NFL corners are going to be able to sit on that a lot easier than what he's going to see here. But, yeah, it was still a step in the right direction. I thought, you know, Bo Limmer from Arkansas, I thought it's been, I tell you, a really good first practice. And then today, especially going up, it's almost unfair, going up against Defandre Sweat, our big nose tackle from Texas, because he's just, it's funny.

He did not weigh in here. And that tells me he's probably a little bit heavier than he wants to be. And so he's probably, I think he's probably. The wrestler, you know, the trash bags for a few weeks. Right. I mean, I'm guessing he's probably above 360 somewhere. It's just how far north of that number is he. But when you have that type of power behind your pads, you can just de-roll guys. And he was able to do that to Bo Limmer and a few other guys today. So, you know, Patrick Paul, the Houston tackle, I think we see just how, I mean, you love the length. You love just how much space he can take up because of that wingspan, because of how long his legs are. But it can come unraveled very quickly for him. And this is another thing I talked with Duke about was because he's working with him, just how you have to set a foundation for how to use your hands,

how to, you know, in your stance, in your feet. And he's just not there yet. And so he's going to be an interesting one where he ends up on draft day because, again, very raw. You don't want to see him out there as a rookie. But how, you know, what's, can he, how long do you see before you can get there? and if you can get there in terms of the technique catching up. So we've seen some of the his rawness this week, no doubt.

Yeah. Yeah, I know Paul. Paul's one, there's going to be an eye to bolder type. If you have a good line coach, I'd like it. Or just like, hey, we have a steady offense here that we're, you know, we can develop you. I suppose what you're saying, you'll pop them in. But that was interesting to see because that's kind of how it looked film wise, you know, just raw wise when watching it afterwards.

Flip it over the defense aside. standouts on the dark side of the ball. Do you want to start in the trenches or do you want where you want to go? I got to start with Quignon Mitchell. Oh, I have to, right. Thank goodness. He was, no, so coming into this season, thought highly of him enough where it's like, okay, this guy can be a top 100 pick.

He could be a day two pick. And then when my first top 50 came out or my second top 50 came out like right around Halloween, I had him up at like 35. or something. And so it's like, all right, this guy is creeping towards the first round. And then in my first mock, he was 28 or something like that. It's like, all right, guys, this is a real player. It was harder just to go a little bit higher because he really hadn't faced high-level

receivers. Yeah. Yeah, love the ball production, love the instincts that he plays with. But seeing him here, and I know he was a little bit on the fence, if he was going to come here or not. last minute he decided to come and I'm glad he did he's glad he did NFL teams are glad that he did because he has been through two practices been outstanding again I mentioned it earlier it is hard for these corners to keep up one-on-ones with the receivers just ask Caleb King has been a rough week but Quinnian Mitchell has he has a he has the best winning percentage of any of these corners this week clamping down the receiver his patience is so important. impressive at the line of skirmage, so he's not losing right off the bat, the balance in his transitions, and then his ability to find the football and make a play to finish has been

really terrific. He's intercepted a few balls, knocked a ton of balls down. He's just under control with everything that he does. And this is a guy that's going to run in the four threes. He's, I believe he came in north of six foot. It's got legit sides. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. He's got all the six a lot. Yeah. So, I mean, he is a guy that is six foot six foot six foot three ace one ninety five three one three one the eighth arm perfectly fine size for a yeah i terry and arnold that that's i kind of planted my flag with him as corner one after that it's i think it's wide open mitchell is absolutely in that mix to go grab cornerback two if if he wants it um and he i there i bet you there will be teams that have him as high as corner to

I'm with them. When you first put them on your big board, we talked about before that. And then I did a mock draft for Yahoo. And when I'm doing a mock draft, it's like, all right, I'm watching three games of this guy. Just to make sure, I found me like, I had, because I put him up, I think picked 30. And you know, it's like, just making sure when you throw a guy from the Mac in the first round, you know, like, you don't want to just do it. So really studied them. And I was like, this guy is going to blow up because he has legit size, legit length.

I mean, the length of wasn't crazy, but it's not short, but legit burst. And you talked about the off ball stuff, and you can't get PBOs and picks and plays on the ball without getting flagged unless you have that timing, like you mentioned. And it didn't feel like it wasn't just pure zone where he's a cover two corner and he's like, you know, sinking back on a ball on a throw. Nope, manned up on the outside. You know, it's zone, but he's essentially manned up on the outside off the ball, making plays on the ball. Good eyes can turn and run. I've seen what he looked like this week. I'm like, yeah, there it goes.

It seems, and this is, it's solidified it. Like you just said, when you come into a senior bowl, it's just that, are we sure? We're like seven-eighths there. Okay, you could do it against these guys? Oh, sweet. And you can do it against this type of guy, this type of crafty receiver or this type of speed, do it over and over. So really cool to hear.

I'm all aboard it. I'm all aboard that hype train. So it's cool to hear that you kind of solidify that spot. Well, again, he's got it. I mean, he's got everything you want in terms, okay. Production. All right. The last two.

years, he has combined for 44 passes defended, not bad. The traits, again, he's got the size, got the speed, check that box, and then it tapes outstanding. What he's done this week, outstanding. So as long as he interviews well, which he's expected to do, you know, he's not the most outgoing or, you know, verbose kid, but he is someone that, you know, I'll talk to Jason Kendall, the head coach at Toledo about him, and he raves about the work ethic and the character, both personal and football. And so he just checked off all those boxes. And you've got a guy that's going to be in the mix to be that one of the first corners off the board. There's no question. I had him going to the lines because he's so competitive. And I felt like that was a perfect fit. Yeah, but he might not be

there now. But keep it with the DBs. Any other DBs that stood out to you so far this week? Let's see here. I thought that where's the safety is that? Cole Bishop's had a nice week. Utah safety. I thought he did a nice job with different drills. You know, coming downhill, understanding his angles, and just being a guy

that closes space quickly. On the other team, Andrew Phillips, the Kentucky corner, I thought has had a really nice week. I mean, he's not the biggest guy. 5, 10, and a half, 190 pounds. It doesn't have a ton of ball production on tape,

but he's a controlled athlete and you just don't see a lot of, you know, clear losses for him. So I thought, I thought he stood out in a good way. Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., the Louisville kid. He's had some nice moments. Cameron Kitchens, Miami, same thing. Malik Mustafa, Wake Forest, same thing.

So a couple of these guys have stood out, not quite like Quignon, but a couple of them definitely stood out in a good way. Yeah, okay. The other DP, I went to ask you, oh, we'll get to negative stuff in a second. But, yeah, I think you already, you already hinted at it. then that's why. But no, going into the front seven. Actually, we just go to the linebackers.

Have there any linebackers, anybody that has stood out offball, I should say, and not outside linebackers, but guys that are ritual offball linebackers, anyone that stood out there, surprises, anything like that? Trevin Wallace and Kentucky, sticking with Kentucky. Yeah, right? He's a good athlete for that size. And so he's done a nice job in some of the one-on-ones versus receivers, or versus the running backs out of the back.

He's held his own. Cedric Gray had a nice moment today where he did this. same is able to uh it feels like those guys are guessing a little bit because again you're just running back because a two-way go and you know you're like a goalie uh and soccer where you i'm going left i'm going right i'm just going to guess and give it everything i've got and so a little bit of that but you know he's had a good week um j t bertrand the notre dame linebacker there's probably not a better like leader in this draft it's so funny watching uh going through drills and he

whoever the drill was geared towards he'll after every rep he's going up to him hey man good job you did a really I really liked how you did this like he is so locked in it's so important for him to be a the biggest the best leader on the team the best leader that he can be

it's just kind of and I knew this coming in because he's yeah well first of all he's literally a boy scout he's an eagle scout growing up he two-time captain at Notre Dame no that's a academic highisman like I mean, all these, a lot of the charity stuff, like everything off the field is outstanding. So I kind of had this expectation coming in and he's been as advertised with just the way he's carried himself this week.

So J.D. Bertrand, he's a type of thing that'll be a catnip for NFL coaches. Oh, absolutely. Especially, like you said, being the leader and everything. I know there's, it seemed like this guy's getting a lot of hype, but what's, I don't want to spoil it, but going on to the front end, how the defense align. Any guys standing out to you? I think there's one, been one huge winner, but I'm curious who else has stood out to you as well. Darius Robinson, Missouri. Yeah, there it is. We've talked about it before, obviously, because he's a guy.

He's a first guy off the bus type of guy, 6-5, 285 pounds, almost 35-inch arms. He looks exactly how you want your defensive linemen to look. But up until this year, he hadn't really played. that way. Like he, and this is another guy that benefited from, from COVID, because he was a fourth year senior after last year, and in most years would have gone to the NFL, but he had an extra year because of COVID, so he took advantage of it. They moved him to more of a six technique, more of someone on the outside that can rush the quarterback, and he was a problem for offenses all year. He led the team in Sacks and tackles for a lot. He led the team in Sacks and tackles for

loss. He was among the best in the SEC in those two categories. And this week, he has been really unblockable. And they've lined them up inside. They've lined them up outside. He beat Tyler Geithen pretty good today with a nice arm over and nice technique move. So it's not. And so for these one-on-one drills, the offensive linemen, I'm standing literally five feet

from him. And every time he gets done with the drill, he came back to the huddle where the defensive linemen were. And he's going over his different strategy and his past. rush plan and the different tactics that he's using. And I'm listening to this, that he's going through it. It's just really fascinating to hear him talk to these other defensive linemen about what he's trying to do and what worked, what didn't.

Hey, next time I'm going to try to do this. And so this is a guy that's not just height, weight speed. He is, it really came together for him this year. And that's why Darius Robinson, he was in my two-round mock draft. I mean, he was, I used a perfect Baltimore Raven, made it there in the second round. now I don't be surprised we're going to see him pop up in first round mocks maybe the Baltimore Ravens that might be the perfect fit for them but he's yeah he's going to be a guy that starts popping up in first round

mocks with just the momentum that he had during the season and the way he's played this week no it's he was a fun watch and you're saying too is do you think of him as that kind of de-end I guess as opposed to edge does that make sense as opposed to like that in like a three four d-end you know, four, I, five, like, you know, something like that, like, or that type or six, as you just said, more interior. Is that what you kind of see, more of a two-gapper, I should say, that one gap type? He's probably not, you know, obviously he's not a true wide nine type of, you know, just let him use that speed and go. Right.

I just don't think you, you have to put any type of cap on. You know, you don't have to say he's only this or only that. Let him line them. I think he's probably base or best as a base end who's going to. reduce inside and, you know, give you those sub-package reps as an interior player. Which is huge. Yeah, but he doesn't have to be that. He can give you that versatility.

And for teams that like to mix up kind of their schemes up front and what they, different games they like to play, he's going to be someone that they're going to be really interested in. Absolutely. I mean, that's everybody now. It's like, it's not like, can you rush the pass or it's like, can you do it across the board? Can you line up over the center?

But that's another thing, too. You were talking about how important, like there's those three centers that you mentioned. or potential centers, that's super important right now because if you just look across the NFL, what's happening? Miles Garrett's over the center. It's not just Arden Key anymore. Michael Parsons is over the center. They're going to find the weak spot. So, and just like this, if you have a guy like Robinson that can do a two-man game with somebody, that's, that's so huge. Any other defense front players that you like that style this week? Devonre Sweat has been, again, when you're that size, it's unfair.

It hasn't been all perfect for him. The coaches got on him a little bit because he wasn't winning as maybe as easily as he should have been. And so the coaches were getting on him. And he responded pretty well. He got mad. Devonre Svet got pissed off. And meanwhile, that poor offensive line was like, really? Thanks, guys.

He took the front of it. But, you know, a couple of these other guys have stood out. I mean, Eric Watts. He bought he devoxed somebody. Sorry, Sweat did. The guy, I mean,

the guy just got steamrolled. I don't know who it was. I think it was Bo Limer, the Arkansas. It was Bo Lever. Yeah, yeah, the guy you brought up earlier.

Yeah, that was, I did see that rep. So that might have been after the pissed off, pissed off moment. I'm sure. Eric Watts has been, he's in a nice job using his length.

It's 35 and three quarter inch arms. That's put you at an immediate advantage, especially when he was trying to use the speed to power. So you kind of trying to use the speed to power. French guys. Yeah. I mean, there's something there. It's not a guy that's going to be really flashy, but like he's not going to break out a lot of different moves, but he can give you speed of power.

And with that length, he's going to reach the blocker before the blocker's able to reach him. And he did a nice job. I thought, Marcia Neeland, that was one of my guys coming into the week. In my senior bowl preview, I said, don't be surprised if he leaves this week as a top 60 guy, as a true second round pick. and I thought he's he's lived up to it. I mean, he's, I think he is the foundation for a really good patch rusher because he's, he's long, he's 34-inch arms, he plays with power, and he rushes his butt off.

I mean, he plays it through the echo of the whistle consistently, and just that leads to production. So, big fan of Marshawn Neeland, and I think he's helped himself. I know he has a lot of fans right now. That's a good shout. I got a weak spot for those Matt guys between Quinnian and Marshaun. Right. And Marshall is a guy that Dion had him.

He was getting ready to transfer to Colorado. He actually committed the Dion this offseason. And then Western Michigan stepped up. I was like, no, we need you to stay. Those boosters rode the boat. They kept it there. How do you think he'll test? That was a curious thing about him because he does look the part.

Yeah. I mean, he's 6'3, almost 270. Yeah. I don't like in terms of the like the 40, I don't. I know this is not fair. ask you, by the way. This is not fair to ask Dave, but I was just curious. No, because with every one of these guys, you go in with expectations for what you think you're going.

And that's every good evaluator should be doing that because if you're way off, then it's like, all right, I got to go back to the tape and figure out. What was I missing? You know, sometimes it's as simple as there's not a great tester. And, you know, you put them in a track stance running a 40 and it's just it's, they're not used to it. And it's not what they do. Or vice versa. Right. Exactly.

The Chris Conley, I like to call it. He still is. He's still in San Francisco. I had to play him a bunch after Debo got hurt in the division around us. You know what they're called in the Super Bowl is the Chris Conley revenge game. That's all that game. That's great call. I'm dead serious.

I have a Chris Connolly story. I was at the Combine. I'm sitting there at the 40 testing. I'm looking two fucking scouts. Those two guys and me. And, you know, I just rows and rows of guys. Conley goes, runs a 40 and cook, cook, cook, cook,

everyone, right, and you hear the murmurs. Everyone starts looking and goes, you had 4-3, whatever, 4-3-7, whatever you ran? You had that too? And everyone's like, I thought he was going to run like a 4-6. I thought he was going to run like a 4-5-5. Like I heard everybody kind of chattering about it. So he always sticks out to me because everyone's like,

I guess I got to go back and watch him because what the hell that I just miss? But yeah, Chris, I said that. And then the vertical that he had, it was. Yeah. Oh, you sent a video of it because he tested at the Falcons facility. And on local day, they did the force testing. And he jumped and I had a video on it at my old phone. And I had it slow-mo because his head almost at the ceiling.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was 6017, 213, 13, ran a 435. Vertical at the combine was 45. 117 broad. Yeah, that's ridiculous. And yes, he's stuck in a league, but he does not play like that. No, not at all. And he went in like, what, the fifth round?

I mean, it's not like, yeah, went up into a third or something. No, no, but it was like he was like a UDFA before going into that. Oh, right, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Oh, no, sorry. Yeah, sorry to go on the side. Yeah, third round.

Oh, my God. He went 76. Oh, wow. Yeah, I went 76. Andy, you know, Andy, you know, Andy Reid's going to. Yeah, yeah, it was. It was, yeah, it was a Dorsey pick. I know, you know those guys.

Oh, that's. That's what they're going to do. Yeah, sorry for the, sorry for that about the Chris Conley tangent. No, no, I thought Gabe Hall, too, Baylor defensive alignment. This is a guy that certainly looks apart, six, five and three quarters, two 90, 34 and a half inch arms. He's won quite a few times, more so than what his tape said. His tape's been a little inconsistent at Baylor.

But in this type of situation where he's one-on-one, he can really show off. And so I think he's someone that helped himself. Teams are going to take a longer look at him and kind of give him more benefit of the doubt when you're built that way. Right. Yeah, 300 pounds, almost 34.5 inch of arms. Yeah. They're going to look at you.

Getting, have to, but anyone that's disappointed you in these couple of practices on the defensive side of the ball or anyone that just maybe you want to see a little bit more for the rest of the week. You know, for a guy that it could be a top 15 pick, Latu Latsu hasn't been dominant. he's been fine. He's been okay. He's been good, but he hasn't been maybe as impressive as you would expect.

If you didn't watch any of these guys, you didn't have any idea what they looked like. You just came in with a sheet of, okay, these are the top 10 players at the senior bowl this year. Latsu would have been close to the top of that list. And then you watch him at the senior bowl, you would have come away disappointed with the way that he's played. He uses his hands really well, but he's, And this is what we knew this go. Even in my comparison form is John Wick because he's he's not superhuman size, doesn't have superhuman athleticism, he's not long, he doesn't have any of those big time traits.

He just, he's technically refined. He's got a killer incident. You know, and so it's in a game setting, I think that shows more than during a practice. And that that's certainly been the case so far this week. Yeah, no, I saw him, I saw a couple of reps with him in 101. And that's kind of what you thought. that he didn't have full on T-Rex arms, which was like, okay, all right? That's one.

At least he's adequate, I would say that, you know, it wasn't a total negative there. But I know that testing is going to be a question mark with him. And that's the thing, too, is if you're maxed out with technique and everything, then it's like, okay, what else he got? Like, what were we developing? Where are we growing? Especially with the medical stuff, too. So, interesting that you brought him up as well. I had a couple of people asked me what I thought of them.

And I've been trying to think of a way to kind of package them in my thought. I was like Diet Coke Hendrickson, Trey Hendrickson, where it's like diet, you know, like a lesser version of that because just the same thing. Maybe not so tech. He is super technically refined, but maybe he's not playing the run great. You know, maybe does not have those overwhelming athletic gifts or size gifts as well. So I was curious how he looked this week. So I'm glad you talked about him a little bit. Any other players that maybe have kind of made you go, hmm, or left you wanting a little bit more?

I don't not not any guys that have really been disappointing person I mean I think like Kaelin King is someone that is clearly talented but again it's tough for these corners and he's one-on-one to hold up and he's put it this way he's guessed wrong quite a bit this week and doesn't have the recovery ability to make up those lost steps and that's that's been an issue for him so he's had it's been up and down for him. With his talent, you just expect a little bit more out of him.

I get it. He's kind of, the Marvin Harrison game wasn't fun for him. It's been kind of the slide, the slide all of it. Like he made my second round mock and if I did a mock track tomorrow, he wouldn't be, I don't think he'd make it in the top two rounds.

They're just, I think there are other better players. Yeah. But, you know, we'll see how he runs. We'll see how he does at the combine. Right. You know, because again, he is a talented guy, but,

playing corner is not for everybody. It's not at the NFL level going up against NFL receivers. It takes more than just being a talented guy. So, yeah, we'll see how he does the rest of the process. Yeah. Yeah, he's one that's kind of had an interesting season. He's been a day one guy on the prospects and pros. But, Dane, thank you so much.

The Triangle also happened this week and the practice is there. We're going to hit on that after the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks and kind of have a deep breath recap as we get into the combine and pro days and all the fun stuff of February and March and then April with the draft. But Dan, thank you again for your time. Thank you again for getting with us from a hotel room and mobile. I mean,

we get some barbecue. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you have one spot you really like, right, like at the barbecue spots. There's one.

Yeah. I mean, last night we did Felix's. That's kind of my go-to seafood plays. I'm not a big seafood guy, but, you know, one in Rome.

And then, right. Can't get better. Much better there. Right, exactly. It's not fried here. Or it's not,

frozen here. Don't have to worry about that. But barbecue, go to Mo's barbecue, definitely have to hit that up. A couple of local spots. So it's been good week of football, good week of food, and yeah, head back tomorrow. And I've been home in 10 days. And so hopefully my wife's still talking to me when I get back. But yeah, it's been a good trip. The kids here. No, but pass along with that. I know. Frisco, to Mobile and the back home. That's quite the trio. Trio towns to be hitting up. But thanks a bunch, Dane.

a ton of fun. We'll be here. Not next week because it's a Super Bowl, but after that, we're over that, and we'll be cruising. Prospects to pros. See you guys next time. This was the athletic football show's prospects to pros podcast.