The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Prospects to Pros: Dane Brugler’s 2023 NFL mock draft 1.0

Episode Date: November 30, 2022

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Dane Brugler’s first mock draft is here! Who will go No. 1? How many WRs will be selected in the first round? What players have risen up the ranks? He joins Andy Staples to break down the top prospects and team needs. Plus, they talk about conference championship weekend and much more. Follow Andy on Twitter: @Andy_StaplesFollow Dane on Twitter: @dpbruglerSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTube2:58 What will the Texans do at No. 1?5:17 EDGE Will Anderson Jr. & DT Jalen Carter10:51 EDGE Jared Verse12:11 TEs in the first round16:14 The QBs23:37 Surprising risers to the first round27:47 The WRs40:24 The RBs46:14 Conference championship weekend Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Football Show. Welcome to Prospects to Pros, the podcast that talks about the guys that are in the NFL that just got drafted, the guys that are about to get drafted in the NFL and everything in between. And this is a big day for us. Huge day. Well, for one of us. Me, I'm just window dressing at this point. I'm Andy Staples.

Join by Dane Bruegler, the athletics draft guru, and Dane, you put out a mock draft. today. This is a big, big, big day. Mock draft 1.0, yeah. It's the first one of the year, first one of this process. And, you know, we don't even know the exact order yet. We don't know, you know, which underclassmen are going to be in this.

We had a big announcement this week, Olu Foshanu, the Penn State left tackle, who was originally in my mock draft. As I mapped this out over the weekend, he was a top five pick. He was going to be going very early. And then on Monday, he decided. And I was told last week that it was about 50-50.

Like, you know, his parents are big on education. He's only 19 years old. There were a lot of things pulling him back to Penn State. He was very, very surprised at all the NFL attention that he started to receive in September and October. And so I think this all caught him off guard. And he's just more comfortable going back. Justin Herbert as a junior. Right, exactly. was stunned by, he's like, wait, me?

And ended up going back and it all worked out fine for him. Yeah, and you know, you hope the same things for Olu, who, you know, there's a lot of, you know, you get a lot of people saying, oh, he's passing up all this money. And you know what, money's not the motivating factor for everybody. And for Olu, hopefully, you know, he's going to probably take out a big insurance policy, probably get some NIL money in the process. You know, we'll be talking about him in the 2024 class.

But going back to my original point about we don't even know the underclassmen that are going to be in this. But this is a very underclassman heavy first round with this first edition of the mock. So, you know, it's going to be, it's going to be interesting. I think the biggest, the biggest challenge for this mock for me was, okay, where do the quarterbacks go? And where do the wide receivers go? Because the quarterbacks and wide receivers, there's a lot of split opinions around the league. And just a reminder, too. The mock draft, no one, this isn't about what I think.

think teams should do or, you know, what they, this is more about what I'm hearing, what teams are. Right. And looking at trends, looking, okay, well, this is the type of general manager who prioritizes this position here or, you know, that type of thing. So, yeah, it's all based on what we think they will probably do or might do. All right. So we'll start at the top. The Texans, while most of the draft order is still in flux, we can be fairly certain the Texans, which, we can be fairly certain the Texans, have the number one pick. Yeah. They need a quarterback.

You have them taking Bryce Young from Alabama, and I commend you for choosing the guy who's best at football over the guy who's best at traits. Because it drives me nuts when teams go traits over simply being good at football. And you've mentioned on this show multiple times. Bryce Young is an outlier. We have not seen but two other sub six foot, sub 200 pound quarterbacks get drafted, and neither of them were drafted very high.

You are putting this one at one. Why is that? Well, and it's interesting with Nick Casario, okay, the general manager of the Texans. He's been in the NFL in an NFL front office with an NFL franchise since 2001, so a long time. He's never been with an organization that drafted a quarterback in the top 50 picks. Now, a big chunk of that is because he's with the Patriots and they had Tom Brady for all those years. But my point being, we don't really have a frame of reference of, you know, what Nick Casario is, you know, really specifically going to be looking at at the quarterback position. If we're talking about a top five pick, a number one overall pick.

So, you know, we don't really have anything to go on. This is a, it's a mystery how he's going to attack the quarterback position. For all we know, you know, he might. looked at, you know, bulking up the roster and going with a non-quarterback here and then, you know, targeting a quarterback of the 24 class. And so there's a lot of unknown with the Texans, but we do know they need an upgrade at quarterback. And if they believe, if they can look past the size with Bryce Young, I think he should be the pick there first overall. Well, they also have Cleveland's pick from the Deshawn Watson trade. So it might be that they get a quarterback with

that one, too. If they're, if they're in love with Will Anderson or Jalen Carter, you could see them doing that and then if there's and then going you know what if somebody falls to us great otherwise right move on to 2004 that makes sense i you know does my heart good to see the next two because somebody's not reaching for a quarterback that they shouldn't be reaching for uh you've got will anderson the edge from alabama going to the bears you've got jalen carter the multi-talented multi-tool defensive tackle from georgia going to the lions the idea of jaylon carter and Hutchinson on the same defensive line is terrifying. Yeah, well, and throw Aline McNeil in there, the former NC State defense tackle,

who's been a really nice player for them. Yeah, that, I mean, it just fits exactly what the Lions are trying to build up front. And just same thing with the Texans, mentioned how they have a pick in a little bit later with the Browns pick, the Lions, this is the Rams pick at number three overall, which, you know, it's crazy how we're talking, going back to the, you know, Stafford trade and how, those first round picks they traded. They're all going to be late first round picks. This is the third overall pick right now.

And Stafford might never... Yeah, I was going to say, no one saw Bryce Perkins starting down the stretch for the Rams. So this is their pick could actually... It might be the second pick by the time it's all said and done if the Bears win a few more games. And then the Lions pick right now is at 13. So they're in a position where they don't have to reach for a quarterback if they don't want to. They can go with truly the best player on their board, could be one of these two defensive linemen.

And then with the Bears, right now picking number two, I know some of these losses are tough to swallow, but you know what? Justin Fields is progressing, and you're getting a higher draft pick. Like for the long term, this is a positive outcome for them. So Will Anderson, you know, he's the type of guy that could be a cornerstone player. Here, a trivia question for you.

Alabama players, first two off the board in this draft. When's the last time the same program had the number one and number two overall selections in the draft? It was sometime in the last 25 years. So fairly recent, but, you know, definitely some guys you've heard of. So you've got to go back a little bit, but not too far. Let's see. Was it USC? Is that the school?

It was not. Big 10 team. Big 10 team. Okay. Yeah. So would it be Michigan? No. No, two defensive players.

Oh, two defensive players. Okay, because Michigan had Jake Long, but they didn't have anybody else who got driving that high. Right. Okay, Big Ten, two defensive players, one, two. Oh, gosh, why am I having such a hard time with this? Because, you know, you're assuming it's Ohio State or Penn State or Michigan, but it's not, is not any of those?

No, it's one of the ones you mentioned. It's, okay, it's Ohio State. and no no it's not it's it's it's michigan no no no okay so it's pen state it is pen state okay who is number one overall from penn state two thousand the last 25 years lavar arington yep Courtney brown went one that was and lavar arrington and lavar arrington went too yep exactly it yeah okay so it's you know uh obviously they all the browns that didn't quite work out for them, but LeVarrington was a pretty good player. But yeah, it doesn't happen often.

You know, it's been, you know, 20 years last time it happened. So it's got a realistic shot of happening again this year. Well, and the thing is, like, if you look at your mock as a college football reporter, and we don't know exactly what's going to happen with the playoff. Alabama's kind of resputing as these things go, like until I see a top four without the minute. I'm not going to believe it. But if they have the top two draft picks, you also have Brian Brand. going in the middle of the first round.

Drew Sanders going later in the first round, who doesn't play for Alabama anymore, but was on their roster until he transferred to Arkansas. And then Jamir Gibbs as the final pick of the first round. Like, that's, it's disappointing. Maybe not as disappointing as Clemson, which had a much easier schedule and is not going to make the playoff. They just lost South Carolina,

but you've got one, let's see, two. three. Yeah, three Clemson defenders in the first round. Yeah. Holy cow. Yeah, that's, uh, and you know, it's a lot of times comes back to the quarterback, right? And, you know, just not getting the consistency you need. And, uh, you know, it's, uh, kind of crazy to see how things played out down the stretch for, for South Carolina specifically, but then also for Clemson. Um, but yeah, I mean, Clemson's well represented. Alabama's well represented. You know, Ohio State, who obviously did not have a good weekend, they're well represented. So, you know, a lot of the, you know, usual suspects when you talk about the programs that are producing the most talent.

But, you know, you also have, you know, a big 10 offensive player mixed in, which, you know, we don't see. You don't see that often. Yeah. Well, you know, Ohio State quarterbacks have, Ohio State's had some quarterbacks drafted in the first round. So it's not that unusual. But I guess the two winners of the transfer portal, well, three, because we mentioned Drew Sanders already, but Christian Gonzalez is the corner from Oregon who was at Colorado. Colorado must have had the greatest secondary in the world for a terrible team last year.

McKayne Blackmun. Yeah. Yeah. Not USC. Probably going to get drafted. Yeah. And then Jared verse. And Florida State, you know, Mike Norville just needs to hang a sign like, do you want to be

first round edge rusher come come transfer to us we've turned into a factory jared verse you got going number 15 to atlanta yeah a pretty good uh you know selling uh point if you're trying to bring in some transfers uh you know versus uh for a guy that it was even hurt and banged up for a lot of the year i mean he still at top the acc and tackles for a loss with 14 and a half uh his ability to deconstruct blocks is really impressive. It's not just speed. It's not just power. He can do it at a lot of ways. And so that ability to create pressure off the edge, that's what the Falcons need. And right now, they're picking right in the middle of the first round. So, you know, out of the Will Anderson territory, you know, not going to get Miles Murphy. But right there in the middle, I mean,

Jared Verst, I think that's maybe a little bit higher than some people think he's going to go. But, you know, he's a pass rusher, he's productive, and he has traits that will translate. So Jared Verse, I think makes sense for them in the middle of the first. Now, normally I'm a production over traits guy, but there's an excuse for this guy I'm going to bring up. And so you've actually got two tight ends in the first round. You've got Michael Mayor going to Cincinnati, which Michael Mayor and Joe Burrow together feels like a great combination. But you have Darnell, Washington, going to Tennessee to be under Austin Hooper's wing with the Titans and just deliver crushing blocks for Derek Henry.

Darno Washington, for those who don't know, is a 6-7, 265-pound tight end at Georgia who has, like, 1% body fat. He is a freak of nature. But his production, especially his receiving production, is not what you expect from a first round tight end because there's a guy named Brock Bowers who exists, and you will hear all about him in the 2024 draft. And Darnow Washington is so, he's just so unique because he's, I mean, he's probably closer to 275 now. I mean, he's, and he's the leanest 275 you've ever seen.

So it's just we haven't really seen a guy like this before at the tight end position, a dominant blocker. I mean, you'd think about what the Tennessee Titans want to be, their offensive identity. Darnow Washington fits perfectly because of those blocking skills, but also because he's an ascending pass catcher. You know, he's getting better in that area. And, you know, when he's targeted, you know, good things usually happen. So, Darnell, Washington, I think, you know, it's, you know, I remember it was the last, last show or two shows ago. We talked about, you know, when's the last first round tight end that has really lived up to it. This is, I just, I have two tight ends in this, in this mock, like you mentioned with mayor in Washington.

And I really wanted to get Tucker Kraft in there at a South Dakota State, who's, you know, one of my. my favorite players in this draft, it just didn't work out and I wasn't going to force it. But he's a top 50 player. And then there's also two seniors who I think belong in the top 50 with Luke Musgrave out of Oregon State and then Dalton Kincaid at Utah. So this is a, like, it's not a top heavy tight end class where we're going to have a Kyle Pitts or, you know, a player that should go top 10, top 15. But in that 20 to 50 range, I'm probably going to have five tight ends that at least for me

are worthy of a spot in that range. So this is a look shaping up to be a really, really good tight end class. And, you know, mayor to Cincinnati, I love that fit. It's, you know, first of all, it's a great story. He grew up a Bengals fan just growing up just south of Cincinnati and Kentucky. Joe Burroughs his favorite quarterback. His cousin is a major league catcher that plays for the Reds. So, I mean, just a lot of storylines.

Yeah, love it. But more than anything, you know, you think about 10 years ago, the Bengals drafted a Notre Dame tight end in the first round in Tyler Eifert. you know, and that was good for stretches. But, you know, I think mayor with, you know, because we think of the Bengals and they're such, they're so reliant or they have been on the big play, you know, getting Jamar Chase down the field, getting these explosives. Michael Mayer just adds another element to that offense where he can just feast over the middle

of the field. You know, one of the best, one of the strongest contested catchers at the tight end position. I think, you know, we've seen the last few years. I think he adds another element to. that offense that they could really use right now. And you mentioned Dalton Kincaid. If you want to get a good look at him, he'll be playing against USC in the Pact 12 championship game on Friday night.

He destroyed USC in the first meeting. It was maybe the most dominant game I've ever seen a tight end have from a receiving standpoint. I think 15 catches. It was over 200 receiving yards. It was there was nothing USC could do to stop them. So it'll be really interesting to see can he do something like that again or will the defense be focused? Because it was interesting.

was after Quethe got hurt because Utah has another really good tight end who just got injured and knocked out for the rest of the season, who was actually their number one target at tight end going into the season. And then Kincaid came along and now he's their number one target in general in the offense. So this is going to be a chance for him to kind of show off and show what he can do. So let's talk about the quarterbacks again. We talked about Bryce Young. You have CJ Strang going five to Carolina, and probably the most controversial person in the QB class and the upper reaches of it and the ones where we're talking about first rounders, you got Will Levis going to the Colts at number 14.

I just wonder with Will Levis this season, has it soured scouts on him, or do they just feel like, okay, this particular new offensive coordinator, Rich Skangarello, who came for the 49ers, didn't click with him the way the coordinator last year, who's now with the RAM, and is now the OC of the Rams, the way Liam Cohen connected with him last year. Right. And that's, you know, I keep coming back to this with quarterbacks.

You have to separate the reasons from the excuses. And with Will Levis, you have to mention, you know, the new play caller. You have to mention the losses on the offensive line. You have to mention no Wondell Robinson. The offensive line is dramatically worse this year. Yeah. And, I mean, that's part of the conversation here. It's not to totally excuse, you know, Levis from, you know, just not being a more productive player,

but it's part of the context here. And so do you wish you watched that Kentucky offense and you saw the quarterback elevate the offense a little bit more? Yeah, you do. But a shaky supporting cast, you know, the play calling is not doing them any favors. I mean, there is plenty of blame to go around. And so for teams that are, you know, going to bet on the trade, rates, which most of them will, they're still going to look at Will Leavitts and say, I can understand a path where he's going to be a productive pro and be a guy that can

help us compete for the division and a spot in the playoffs. So you look at the Colts, they've tried the veteran route. It has not worked. You know, maybe, you know, who knows what's going to happen with the quarterback carousel this offseason. You know, is Aaron Rogers become available? You know, Derek Carr. I mean, who knows?

There's a lot of unknowns at this point. but, you know, they have not addressed the quarterback position early in the draft, you know, sent Dan Drewlock. And, you know, it's just something that if one of the quarterbacks is there, do they make a move? And Will Levis was available in this mock. And so, you know, he's the pick. It's not, I don't know if it's the best fit considering that the Colts really need someone that can step in pretty soon and, you know, help them.

but, you know, at least it's a swing. And if it ends up being a swing and a miss, then so be it. But, you know, we know that the ownership there is really going to be pushing for this organization, a draft a quarterback, and at least take a swing. And Will Levis could be that guy. Well, and getting to play with Ryan Kelly and Quentin Nelson and getting to handoff to Jonathan Taylor, that's a pretty good way to ease a quarterback in. Now, it's not going to be that easy because you're in that position,

especially given where they are, you're probably going to be counting on him to start. Yeah, and that's exactly. That's what you want. And so, I mean, Will Levis for, yeah, he does need development, but he's an older quarterback. And, you know, this will be a second full year starting. You know, you kind of throw him into fire, see what happens. I, the biggest thing with me with Will Levis is I want to see him play faster, be, you know, stay ahead of things instead of being reactionary.

And so will he be able to do that when things are only, going to get faster in the NFL in terms of defenses and the way the game moves, you know, it's hard to say. And, you know, we don't even know who the head coach is going to be for the Colts next year. So, you know, will Chris Ballard still be the GM? You know, I think it's trending that way. We know the ownership's not going to change. And so that's about all we know of the Colts at this point.

Well, it seems, and it seems like Ursa has created, you know, a philosophical set that we understand. Like, in fact, even bringing Jeff Saturday in as the interim coach tells us what the philosophy he expects is. So I do think they're going to want to rely on that offensive line and that running game. And then they want a quarterback who can compliment that. So let's talk a little bit about C.J. Stroud. I still have my worries about him in a dirty pocket. And he's going to have a lot more dirty pockets in the NFL than he saw in Ohio State. But then in that Michigan game, and look, they got dominated in the second half.

but there are some throws that C.J. Stroud makes where you're just like, oh, yeah, not many other people can do that. Yeah. I mean, he's a smart rhythm passer. You know, when everything's on time and structure, he can execute at a very high level. When things fall apart and he's asked to make plays out of structure, that's where it just, it does fall apart. And it's something that you worry about in the NFL because often, you know, things don't go as planned. And you have to be able to be a creator and not just a passer. And that's where the concerns come in with C.J. Stroud.

That's why the league is really split. Again, you know, this mock draft is based off of what I'm hearing. And I'm talking to everybody that I know in the league, getting their opinions, what they think. There are some that don't think C.J. Stroud is going to be a top 10 pick. They think he's going to, you know, Justin Fields fell out of the top 10. You know, Dwayne Haskins fell out of the top 10. Could C.J. Stroud be the next Ohio State quarterback to fall out of the top 10? certainly possible because he does not have a consensus rating in the NFL among scouts and evaluators.

So, but again, with that said, there are some that still believe that he'll be a top five, top seven pick because of the positives to his game. The fact that he is a very smart player, the way he can, you know, pre-snap and post-snap, understand what the defense is doing and make the right read. And again, as long as everything's on time, I think that he can make it at the next. next level as being a successful starter. It's just, you know, can he find that rhythm when things fall apart? That's the question mark with him.

And again, same thing we, the conversation we had with the Colts, it's a similar conversation here with the Panthers where we don't know who the head coach is going to be next year. You know, we know that it just feels like the, the Panthers are, they're without a compass right now. You know, like what's the direction they want to, they're headed? Well, at least with the Colts. I can tell what Ersa wants.

Like, I don't know what David Tepper wants. No, I don't think he knows what. I mean, I think he's still, he's a new owner who's still trying to figure this out. It's a lot of the same, you know, issues that I think Haslam had when he, you know, bought the Browns. And it was like, they try all these different things and they didn't work. And it's the same thing with Tepper now. Is he going to be trying, you know, what's the new direction he's going to go in terms of a head coach? Scott Fritter going to still be the GM.

You know, so what's the compass? You know, what direction they headed? So I think there's a lot of question marks with the Panthers. But again, we do know that they need a quarterback. The future of this team is not on the roster right now at that position. And right now they're slated to pick number five overall. And it, you know, who knows? You know, they got to win over the weekend against the Broncos.

Who knows? Maybe they win another game or two. So we'll see what this pick ends up being. But we do know quarterback is going to be something they're going to look at in the offseason. So, Dane, who is in the first? this mock, which is a first round mock, by the way, that if I had told you last year, you'd have them in your mock 1.0, you'd have said, oh, God, no, absolutely not. Or who is that? Lucas Van Ness, the Iowa defensive lineman, who's not even a starter for the Hawkeyes,

redshirt sophomore. I guess I heard the name last year, but I had yet to watch him, so I didn't know, I didn't have any context for just how good he is, or, you know, even what his play was all about, but this guy is a grizzly bear playing out there on the defensive line. He's 6.5, 275 can play inside, come and play outside. I've gone going number 17 to the Chargers, so a little bit higher than I think most people would assume. But, you know, he gives them some position flex up front. If you want to rush off the edge, you want them to, you know, give you that interior disruption. I think just add something else to that defensive line.

He would be definitely one that included in that mix. It sounds like AJ Epinessa a little bit. I think he's much more explosive. But I agree. Like I think he didn't start for Iowa. Right. He was probably the best prospect. You think of the power that he has in his hands.

I mean, that's what he brings. What it separates Epinessa and Van Ness, I think is just there's a little more explosive twitch with Van Ness. And that's, to me, the difference between, you know, Epinessa being a second round pick and Lucas Van Ness possibly being a first Trump pick if he comes out and, you know, decides to enter this draft. So he would definitely be one. Another one who has just been a guy that will not be denied. Devin Witherspoon, the corner at Illinois.

The Illinois defense is my favorite defense in college to watch. It's so much fun. They're going to have a lot of draft picks. He's up for head coaching jobs. You may have a new favorite team soon. Yeah, no kidding. I mean, the way, I mean, he's got. God, dude. But you know what? It goes back to Lovie Smith and some of the guys that he recruited there.

So give him credit, give credit to, you know, Bilemon, Walters, and their staff for the way they developed these guys because they've just gotten better each year. Juan Martin is going to be a mid-round draft pick. Sidney Brown Chase's twin brother who had two picks over the weekend and a fumble recovery, scoop and score against Northwestern. He's, you know, really making a move up. You know, he's 5-11, probably going to run a 4-6. so doesn't have, you know, necessarily the traits, the high-end traits you look for. But Sidney Brown is just a good football player. And so somewhere in day three, he's going to come off the board. But Devin Wetherspoon, watching him over the summer, you know, there's a lot to like. But it just seems like he's taking his game to another level this year.

His, he's a dog. I mean, he competes every single snap. He takes it personally when a quarterback throws his direction. It's like, really? You're going to test me? Like, he seems to take it personally. And you love to see that from your corners. At Witherspoon, he's got that competitiveness, that tenacity.

But he's also a smart player. He can anticipate routes. You know, when the ball's in his area, he understands how to go make a play. Now, he will arrive a little quickly at times. And I'm interested to see what he runs at the Combine. You know, because he's not going to be a 4-3 guy. That speed is not his game. He just can't be a 4-5 guy.

You know, if he runs a 4-4-7, great. You know, that sets, you know, I don't think that will change from where I have him. But also his weight, you know, he's right around that 180 mark. So he's not a big player. So if he doesn't have high-end speed at a position that's a stopwatch position and he doesn't have the necessary to build that teams are looking for, that could knock him out and, you know, make him a day two pick. But towards the end of the first round with several of these teams looking at corner, Witherspoon should at least be in that conversation because a lot of what he does, the strength of his game, NFL coaches are going to love. So I wanted to include him in this mock.

Yeah, I am fascinated by the receivers because you, in terms of how you set them up and where you had them going, I agree completely with you. You've got Quentin Johnson going to Jacksonville, giving Trevor Lawrence a different kind of threat on the outside. And then you have Jordan Addison going to New England, which feels like a very good fit with Mack Jones. He feels like a receiver Mac Jones would have played with at Alabama. Yeah, no, that's a good way to put it. And, you know, it's always tough with Belichick because you know he wants to draft defense or offensive line here. You know, like that's his preference. But, you know, it just, you think about what Jordan Addison could be for that offense, you know, the spark that it could provide.

You know, it's, Jacoby Myers is a free agent. You know, there's a lot of question marks about what that wide receiver room is going to look like next year. And, you know, I don't know how they feel about drafting a receiver in the first round after, you know, the Kiel Harry experiment was, it did not go as planned. So it's not a pick that I feel great about in terms of it coming to fruition. But I do think because of the spark that Jordan Addison would provide for Mack Jones, for that offense, that's something I would really like to see. Well, put it this way. If I'm in that division, I don't want to see Jordan Addison go to the Patriots. So that's how I know that it's something that makes sense, at least.

You know, we'll see if Belichick would actually follow through with that. And then with Quentin Johnson, you know, it's like I said. would give everybody that division great receivers, by the way. Hey, yeah, why not? And it would make a lot of fun. I mean, it's a division that's becoming, you know, tougher to figure out. I mean, the bills are still, I think, the favorite. But, you know, with the way that the offense are coming on with that offense,

the Jets are playing good football, and the Patriots are still Patriots. So that makes it a lot of fun. With Quentin Johnston and the Jaguars, you know, you watch Trevor Lawrence, how special he is, and how much better you think he can be. and it's just, you know, you want to surround him with the best talent available. And remember, they did trade for Calvin Ridley, so they've got him in the mix next year. But you think about, you're just missing some size, especially on the outside. Quentin Johnson can provide that for him, 6-4, 215, but he's also going to run in the 4-4s.

He's a really good athlete. So you think about Quentin Johnston, Calvin Ridley, Christian Kirk, as your 1-3-3, I think Zay Jones is still under contract technically. So Travis Eats you in to catch the ball out of the backfield. Yeah, exactly. And, you know, I think that you're looking at an offense that is ready to go. I mean, it's ready to help your young quarterback, you know, realize his potential. So, you know, it's, I don't necessarily, I don't love it just because, you know, it's, again,

trying to figure out how early the receivers are going to come off the board is kind of tough. Quinn Johnson has not had the most productive year. I think you only has five touchdowns. He's been banged up a lot with an ankle. But I think when teams get their eyes on him, especially at the combine and how well he moves at that size, the way he can track the football, I just, I think there's a good chance he ends up as wide receiver one for a lot of these teams.

Well, I also think he's been kind of targeted by opposing defenses because he is the biggest threat TCU has down the field. They run the ball well with their backs and with Max Duggan. But if they want to really get down the field, Quentin Johnson is the scariest guy they have. So, no doubt. I do think he gets outsized attention from defenses. And if you put him in an offense where he's got some other dynamic receivers around him, then all of a sudden he becomes that much more dangerous.

One other receiver I wanted to mention, you got Jackson Smith and Jigba in here at 29 to the Vikings, which would be patently unfair to put him on the same field as Justin Jefferson. Like, is this a case of like, well, Jamar Chase was drafted very high. But have we just forgotten how good Jackson Smith and Jigba is because he hasn't played this year? Yeah, well, and I think with Smith and Jigba, I think he's, he's going to be looked at as a slot only for a lot of teams. You know, because he's probably a four or five athlete. He's not a burner. You know, good size, but not great size.

So a lot of his profile is perfect for the slot, but not necessarily on the outside. And so that's something that could hurt him. a little bit. It's basically a lost season for him, which is a bummer for Ohio State and for Smith & Jigba. But, I mean, he's still a player that should be in that late first round mix, early second round mix. And when you look at the Vikings, that Adam Thielen contracts a little tricky, but they could clearly use an upgrade over Thielen. And, you know, he's 32 years old now. Yeah. If you just trade those two, you put Smith and Jigba in that Thielen role, man, they're ready to cook. That'd be Kevin O'Connell.

It's not bare. No, that would be the offense that Kevin O'Connell wants to run. That would be a lot of fun to see play out. It's Kirk Cousins, he wants to see it. I can guarantee you that.

It'd be a fun match if it ends up happening. Well, speaking of fun matches, I'll go in your mock one pick after that. Yeah. You got Jalen Hyatt going to the Chiefs. You got essentially Patrick Mahomes getting his new Tyree kill, if that happens. Yeah, and you think, you know,

they basically have, you know, one of their big free agent signings last year was Marquis Valde's Scantling. I don't know that he's necessarily lived up to what they thought he'd be. I think they have it out after this year to get out of that contract. But Jalen Hyatt just, you know, put him in that role. And he would be that vertical threat, that true deep threat that, you know, you know Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid want on that offense, help open up the entire offense.

Jalen Hyatt with that speed, with his hands and tracking skills down the field, man, that's, again, that's a type of, you know, when, if that pick happened, you know, if you're Denver, the Chargers or the Raiders, you're looking at that saying, crap. Like, I mean, it's just, or the bills. I mean, you're not, you do not want to see that happen. I want to backtrack a little because it's unfair to call him their next Tyree kill. Jalen Hyatt to this point is not proven that he can be what Tyree kill. Remember, Tyree Kill only had one real year in college as well. But in Hyatt has only had one very productive year in college. I don't know that we've seen the willingness to deal with contact that Tyree Kill has from Jalen Hyatt.

I think that would be the key difference. He has to develop that if he wants to really ascend to that level. But in terms of a take the top off a defense guy in that offense, you're right. It would terrify the rest of the division. Right. He doesn't have Tyreeks, you know, agility and suddenness to make guys miss. And, I mean, no one does. I mean, Tyrake Hill is a complete, you know, unicorn. But Hyatt, yeah, with that track speed, you know, he should run in the low four threes,

maybe the high four twos in the 40. And, you know, the tracking skills downfield, that's a big part of it too. So I think if he's available there, it'd be tough for the chiefs to pass on a weapon. like that. It's it is it's so much fun to think about and that's what I like I like it when you get really diabolical with these and and that one that one's about as diabolical as it gets. Again a lot of times I look at this as okay if I'm one of these other teams in the division who do I not want to go here? You know and I I believe in strengthening your strengths. You know if you're really good in this area keep building on it, keep adding those weapons, keep doing that,

whether it's, you know, if you're a team that it's, you know, really strong in the defensive line, if you're a team that's, you know, a good example of that is with the Eagles, another team with two first round picks, one of those being the number six overall pick right now, which belongs to New Orleans. I've got them taking Brian Brisei, who, you know, would be defensive tackles back to back years, Jordan Davis last year,

Brazzi this year. I mean, you think about what that defensive front could be. I mean, it's Howie Roseman's dream. You know he wants to draft defensive line. So basically, you're playing Jordan Davis 23 snaps a game, and then Brian comes in and plays the other 40. I don't know what you're doing against that team. I mean, and then you put him on the fields at the same time,

and you're good luck. And Brise is a guy that I keep saying, I keep saying it differently. I'll go with Brazil. We'll go with Brazil. Briseet. Yeah. He's a guy that could play inside, could play outside.

He could give you those snaps at different points, parts of the defensive line because he is such a gifted player. He's right around 300 pounds, but he moves really well. He's really coordinated athlete. He's explosive, power in his hands. So, yeah, I think that when you think about the intangibles and the traits, he would be a really good fit for the Eagles there at number six. Yeah, you want to go odd front look, Jordan Davis at nose and then Brian at 4I and don't like that. Don't like blocking that.

We have yet to talk about the offensive linemen. This is not a ton of offensive linemen in your first round mock. You've got three offensive tackles. The first one you have off the board is Paris Johnson, the left tackle from Ohio State. Peter Skoronsky, the left tackle from Northwestern, who has kind of been slotted into this spot for, you know, a year or two now, it feels like. And then also Broderick Jones, the offensive tackle from Georgia. So what was it about, about Johnson that makes you think he's the first one off the board? Yeah. And again, that Olu, Foshanoo going back to school, that that plays a

big part in this. Because I thought he was the clear top offensive linemen, period, in this draft. And so now I would put, you know, at this point, with what we know, it's still November, early December. With what we know right now, my bet would be Paris Johnson being that first offensive linemen off the field. He's just so gifted for a big man. And his issues are, they're all fixable. They're due to inexperience, not inability. And, you know, this is his first year as a starter at left tackle at the college level. He's playing at a high level. You know, he's had a few hiccups here or there, but he's playing at a high level. The pick that's interesting in this mock is Skoronsky going to the

Texans at number 10. Again, you know, at number one, they take an outlier with, with Bryce Young. At number 10, they're basically doing the same thing with Skoronski, who, you know, does not have the length that you want to tackle. But when you think about, okay, I mentioned Nick Asario, joins the Patriot in 2001. You know who else joined the Patriots in 2001? Matt Light, who they drafted in the second round out of Purdue, not a long-in-arm guy, but he was their left tackle for, you know, like 11 years. They won like three Super Bowls with Matt Light and he was a big part

of that. So, you know, Nick Casario knows what it's like to win with a player like that. Skoronsky, for what he doesn't have in terms of arm length, he makes up with the way he processes, the quick feet, his technical approach so he can get into position and stay in position. So he's just a darn good football player who, and even if he doesn't stay at tackle long term,

you move him inside, you move him the right tackle. you want to strengthen that offensive line for whoever is that quarterback. They drafted Kenyon Green in the first round last year. Laramie Tunsell is not going to be in Houston. I think he's going to be entering the final year of his deal next year. You know, who knows he could be a trade piece at some point this offseason, maybe on draft weekend. So somebody might use Laramie Tunsell to get draft picks? No.

Yeah, exactly. So this, I feel like the offensive lines in Florida. flux. You know, it's, it's something that Houston's trying to figure out right now, and Skronsky, you know, would not be a bad place to start if they want to do it in this draft. Only one back in your first round mock. And it's Bejohn Robinson from Texas, who I think, too, for those who, oh, did I miss one? Oh, what did I miss? Where's the other one? Last pick. Oh, Jemir Gibbs. Ah, yes. Alabama's leading receiver, makes it hard.

That's what threw me. Right. No, no. So you do have two. Okay. Yeah. Both of these guys give you something when you hand off, something when you throw to them. But Bejohn feels like a different level than any other back that could possibly be in this draft or the next draft or maybe even the next draft.

Still, how do you do the cost-benefit analysis of a first round back? Yeah. And that's obviously a part of this. And, you know, Bidon Robinson, you can make the case as a top 10, maybe even top five talent in this class. But he's not going to go that high. And when you're doing a mock like this, it really puts it in a perspective because you're going team by team. And the first 20 teams in this mock, I just, there's no, I, there's no way I could see them taking a running back. At least how, what we know right now.

Now, if somehow, you know, a team, you know, if stay like Sequin Berkeley go for the Giants or, you know, who knows how that all. all play out. But it's just, it's hard to find a team that's like, okay, yeah, that makes sense for them to address running back there in the top 20. So Robinson, it might fall a little bit. It's definitely possible. And Baltimore are currently picking at 21. You think about why they drafted J.K. Dobbins in the second round a couple of years ago. Obviously, injuries have completely derailed his career, unfortunately. The Ravens don't feel like a team, like a front office that would necessarily go running back in the first round. But if you have a high enough grade on Bejohn Robinson, and you think about your offense and think about

Bijan Robinson and Lamar Jackson and the same backfield, that's a nightmare for defensive coordinator. So, and you mentioned it, the way that Bejon can help you in the passing game, you know, yes, the vision, the elusiveness, the balance as a ball carrier, but his ability to not only run the running back route tree, but go out in the slot and run routes and be effective that way, that's a game changer. That's something that can really change your offense. And so, you know, even though I don't love the Ravens addressing running back in the first round,

it just might be one of those things where, hey, can we pass on this guy? And honestly, it was the same thing with Jamir Gibbs at 31 to the Eagles. The Eagles have not drafted a running back in the first round since 1986. It's been a long time. Okay, this is a team that just is a franchise that doesn't do it. But you look at it, okay, the Eagles have two first round picks this year. this is their second first rounder. Maybe do they buck the trend a little bit.

Miles Sanders is set to hit free agency. And again, you think about Jalen Hertz and Jemir Gibbs in that same backfield, what that could be. And Gibbs, I think is a perfect fit for that offense with that run game, what he provides in the passing game. You mentioned it. Alabama's leading receiver. I mean, I just, it's one of those things where, you know,

no, we don't usually go running back this early, but it's the last pick in the first round. We think about the possibilities with a guy like that, and all of a sudden, Jamir Gibbs doesn't seem so crazy to the Eagles there. Well, and I also think about everybody thought ETIN got overdrafted a couple of years ago. It may turn out that that was a good spot for him. Right. Based on what he could produce in the Jags offense going forward,

that might have been a pretty good choice at that spot. I think it was 24 overall. Yep, I think so. And Gibbs gives you a better pass catcher out of the backfield. I think ETS is probably the better pure runner, better vision. But they both give you a lot and a lot of things that you can do with them. There's another running. You've got some guys that kind of just missed the cut at the bottom that you sent.

Devon A-Chain is really interesting to me from Texas A&M. I've watched this guy basically carry their offense all season. If you watched against LSU, there was a great win for them. he made it go and he is so tough for his size and he's he's legit track fast but he is a football player like and he can give you stuff in the return game like this is a guy i don't know if he could sneak into the first round because again cost benefit analysis of a back in the first round but my god he's going to make somebody really happy especially after he runs that four two or four three or whatever it's going to be at the convoy i mean it's it'll be interesting

what is he weigh? Is he 185? Is he 1.95? I mean, he's just, he, he looks like a track athlete, but he plays like a football player. I mean, he really does. He's, he can string moves together. It's not just a speed guy out there. You know, he'll follow his blocks. He does a really nice job. I thought, as a receiver this year, he really added that to his game. But yeah, he had over 200 yards rushing over the weekend. And what I did in this mock draft, so the teams that are not current picking the first round. They currently do not have a first round pick. I included their first pick. So the Rams. You gave him to the Dolphins. Think about that. What did I say earlier about strengthening your strengths? How, I mean, you think about the philosophy with the dolphins and everything

they have going on there with Tyra Kill and Jalen. I mean, it would be so much fun. You add A-Chane to that mix. And good gosh. I mean, just if you're a defense coordinator, I, good luck trying to cover all that speed on the field. Oh, I can't wait. I cannot wait. But speaking of speed on the field, I want to talk to you a little bit about these championship games this weekend because I think there's a couple people that everybody's going to be watching,

be it for future NFL purposes or Heisman Trophy purposes. That Friday night game, we talked about Dalton Kincaid from Utah already, but USC in Utah, we mentioned Jordan Addison, who's in your mock. Caleb Williams for USC, I think he's going to lock down the Heism trophy this weekend if he hasn't already. But let's get people, because you've mentioned several times, you're pretty sure the 2024 QB class is going to be better than 2023. You got Drake May from North Carolina and Caleb Williams from USC as a top two potentially. It's pretty scary. And I think, you know, Quinn Ewers is, has the ability to, you know,

trace. In that conversation, J.J. McCarthy, you think about what he could be a year from now at Michigan. And, you know, Fancy Richardson goes back to school. So the quarterback class, I get it. Next year's class is always better. It gets talked about all the time. But it was true last year and it's true this year. And that's fine.

And what's fascinating will be how do teams this year address quarterback, knowing what's coming down the pike. You know, is that something where they look forward and say, you know what, we'll be patient this year. We'll wait for next year and see how it plays out. You know, this week, earlier this week on the Colin Coward Show, Sean Payton, you know, now doing a year in the media. I mean, he'll jump back in to being a head coach at some point here,

either next year or the year after, likely. Maybe with one of these QBs. Well, we know who his favorite is. He called Caleb Williams, a generational prospect. He was ready to go that far. I think Sean Peyton, I think, understands the value of words and, you know, not being, not just throwing stuff out there. I mean, he, he was very, you know, poised with how he said it. And this is a player.

And he also mentioned it was interesting how Caleb Williams is the type of talent that could force the NFL to adopt a lottery system when it comes to the draft. Just like the NBA. So it's not as simple as, you know, cut and dry. You have the worst pick. first pick, or you have the worst record, you have the first pick. Right. Because of some of these quarterbacks. If, you know, a team like the Texans, you know, they're trending towards that number

one pick right now. If they are all in on Bryce Young, you know, pulling starters or, you know, if it's, you know, another team's coming on their heels about taking the number one pick. So it's interesting, you know, that's, and that's a separate discussion about the lottery and what that could mean. But Caleb Williams, I mean, obviously, it's, and what he did, what he did. against UCLA and then what he did last weekend. I mean, that game was a ton of fun against Notre Dame.

It's not just the, you know, running around and, you know, being instinctive in terms of from the pocket, outside the pocket, moving the pocket. It's some of these throws down the field. His ability to really frustrate defenses with his legs and his arm is just so much fun to watch. Well, and he's got that just kind of great athlete ability. to change arm slots. He doesn't have the baseball background that Mahomes did, but he does seem to have a natural gift for understanding, okay, I may have to throw this in three quarters

or I may have to throw this from sidearm because that's how I'm going to get it there. It's just a, I hate to say it. It's just that natural athlete thing. Like, you know that kid at your school that was the best at every sport, even if he'd never actually played it. Like, that is what Caleb Williams is.

And it's probably what Drake May is, honestly. Because, you know, Drake May, if you put him on the basketball court, he's going to dunk all over everybody. His older brother was an all-ACC player at North Carolina in basketball. So, like, that's what we're talking about in terms of athleticism. And then you mentioned Anthony Richardson, too, who if he comes back to school, similar, you know, explosive athlete with a rocket arm. Like, it's a lot of traits. But the thing with Williams and with May, who, by the way, you get to watch Drake May against a really good Clemson defense. You also just got to watch Spencer Rattler against a really good Clemson defense.

He had a terrible pick six, but the rest of the game, not so bad. You know, these are good athletes who are also really good quarterbacks. And that's today's NFL game. And that's, again, going back to Stroud, that's one of the big questions. It's not that Stroud's a bad athlete. He's a good athlete. He's just not a freak of nature like these people. And he just doesn't seem as comfortable using his athleticism.

He can do it, but it's not, he would rather be a pocket passer. And there's nothing wrong with that. You know, you want guys that are pass first and are going to exhaust every single option before they go and try and create. But in the NFL, you have to be both. You have to be a passer and a creator. And C.J. Stroud right now is a proven passer and unproven as a creator. where I think we can, you know, say that a guy like Caleb Williams is proven in both areas.

So it's going back to the whole philosophical question with how teams are going to attack this draft, this quarterback class. It's something that we will be talking about the next six months. As we look forward, as we look towards next year's draft, as, you know, you look at some of the teams in the top 10 that could use a quarterback. The lions need to figure out the quarterback for the future. They have two picks in the top 15 picks. You know, Carolina, possibly Seattle, as well as Gino Smith is playing, maybe they see an opportunity to say, hey, you know, we don't want to be picking this early again. Let's maybe get our quarterback now. You know, what will, you know, what does Green Bay decide to do? Is Jordan love a guy they're ready to move on? You know, the Raiders with Carr maybe being there, maybe not being there next year.

You know, it's just there's a lot of question marks at quarterback with these teams picking in the top 12. and that's why they're picking top 12. And so how they attack quarterback in this draft, how they look, you know, do their advanced scouting and look at the quarterbacks next year, that is going to be a big storyline for this draft. And I think that this mock draft shows that. All right.

Last question before we go. This is a personal question, Dane. Okay. How much do you look at your Twitter mentions the day that a mock draft comes out? Between that and the comments on the mock, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, sure I check it immediately just to make sure I didn't like have a mistake or yeah I totally forgot this guy or you know so I do check it immediately just to make sure I didn't there wasn't

something that flag because these these readers are so good at that like they they find those are so quickly so usually that pops up right away so I'll check it immediately and then I'll go work on something else take my mind off of it and then I do try to return to it just because um you know I I've spent a lot of time on this mock draft more than I carried it more time that I care to admit, putting time, just putting thought into each one. So I know I can defend every single pick in this mock draft.

And so I will go back to it and kind of listen and hear why people, as much noise as there is, a lot of times people bring up good points. Like, hey, you know what? The Eagles haven't drafted a running back since 1986. What are you doing? And, you know, that's a fair point.

It's a fair criticism about me having Jemir Gibbs there. So it does, there are a lot of times when, you know, a lot of these readers and things, they bring up good points that, you know, help me form opinions about the next mock draft and maybe the direction I go. So, no, it's definitely something that I look at and, you know, I don't take it personally.

Because I go into this understanding. I hate all 32 teams. I'm trying to make you mad with my pick. So, you know, I know that going in. Just be nice, everybody. Be constructive. But be nice. It's all it takes.

It's a good word. Yeah, exactly. Dane, this is going to be fun. Can't wait to see how people react. Can't wait to watch these championship games, and we will reconvene next week and talk about it all. Can't wait. This was the Athletic Football Show.