The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Prospects to Pros: Dane Brugler’s 2023 NFL mock draft 2.0

Episode Date: January 19, 2023

Andy Staples and Dane Brugler welcome back NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein to break down Dane’s latest mock draft. They begin by talking about a potential big trade at No. 1 and they dissect where the QBs could land. Then, they talk about the other top prospects to watch over the next few months, the TE class, who Lance believes is the best WR on the board and much more. Follow Andy on Twitter: @Andy_StaplesFollow Dane on Twitter: @dpbruglerFollow Lance on Twitter: @LanceZierleinSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTube1:53 Bryce Young17:54 Will Levis26:09 Anthony Richardson38:39 Non-QB prospects to watch after Jalen Carter and Will Anderson Jr.44:03 Bijan Robinson50:40 TE class59:58 WR classSponsors! Today's show is brought to you by...Philo: Sign up today at philo.tv and use promo code MAYS to get 50% off your first monthBurrow: Show Burrow you’re listening to The Athletic Football Show by shopping at Burrow.com/mays and get 10% off your first orderLinkedIn: LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/maysMizzen + Main: Go to mizzenandmain.com and use promo code MAYS, to receive $35 off any regular-price order of $125 or more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Football Show. Welcome to Prospects to Pros, where we talk about the guys that are about to get drafted. The guys that just got drafted and everybody in between, I'm Andy Staples, here with the original Prospects to Prospects to Pros lineup. The band is back together, Dane Bruegler, the athletics draft analyst and Lance Zerline from NFL.com. If you read about a player on NFL.com and you disagree with how he was evaluated, you can yell at Lance. Hi, guys. How's going?

How was vacationing? It was wonderful. Utah, cold. I attempted to ski, crashed many, many times. It felt a little like playing football again. Like, you forget what falling, like, when you're playing football, you fall a ton, and you get used to it, and it becomes just part of your daily routine. When you don't do that normally, and then you spend an entire day falling, it's like, oh, this is what football practice felt like. Yeah, it gets a little tougher as you get older too, right?

I mean, just... The next morning is brutal. Yeah. Yeah. So, but I lived and I'm back and I'm very excited because I come back to a mock draft from you, Dane. And I have so, so many questions. We will not... I'm not going to get to the one where I just...

My jaw hit the floor yet. Because I want to start where everybody else wants to start. And that's Numero Uno. And we talked about this on the one. the last episode, what are the Bears going to do with that number one pick? They obviously don't need a quarterback. You obviously do need everything else. So who needs a quarterback?

Who's going to trade? And you have predicted one. Yeah, I hate doing trades in mock drafts, especially this early. And I mean, most of these teams don't even have a head coach yet. The Colts don't have a head coach yet. So, you know, it's way too early predicting trades. But I think the overwhelming opinion is the, the, Bears will not be making that pick at number one.

So, okay, let's look at the teams that'll be potentially looking to move up. If I'm the Bears, I'm hoping to hear from Indianapolis Colts. I think, you know, staying inside the top four picks, there's value in that. I heard from Indianapolis fans saying, oh, we're giving up way too much. Bears fans, not giving up, we're not getting enough. In this scenario, I had the bear or the Colts trading the fourth overall pick. their second round pick this year, which is 35 overall, and then her first round or next year,

which I think is a pretty fair package to move back three spots if you're the bears. You have to feel good about that. But even if you do get a better offer from like the Panthers at nine or whatever, staying within the top four picks, potentially to get one of those two defensive linemen, Willie Anderson or Jalen Carter, there's value in that. And so that's what happened in this scenario. The Colts move up to number one.

I had him take a Brayshon, which, look, that would be very off type for, Chris Ballard, Lance, I know, I mean, you know Chris as well, and you'll be able to add some context to this. But we know how Chris will, he likes big guys. He size measurables at each position. He sticks to those usually. Bryce Young, and it being the quarterback position, I think it might be a little different, especially with just the current state of where Indianapolis is, and it's just all about getting the right guy. I did put Bryce Young there at number one of the Colts. I don't feel great about it. it because of some of those things.

But yeah, in this scenario, this first scenario, I think that's at least a realistic option that we can look at. Yeah, I know that when I visited back in 2017 to camp when he first took over, I had a chance to look at their scouting manual. They had a really cool, they had a really cool thing in there which showed, this is back in 17, but the NFL starters at every position, what the averages were from a size standpoint, from a workout standpoint for all the starters. And then they had what was the Colts bottom line.

Like what's, you know, where do you start getting into taking exceptions, you know? And I remember his quarterback bottom line. I just remember this specifically. It was like 6-1, 215 or 214, something like that. Well, Bryce Young is, Bryce Young falls so far below the normal range for quarterback. Now, quarterbacks have gotten smaller. So maybe the Colts have come down with that as time has passed because there are smaller quarterbacks in the NFL.

But they're typically going to be over 200 pounds. And this is under, you know, to give up what they're going to have to give up more than likely to trade up and land Bryce Young, if they did this, which your mock draft has. I think of two things. Number one, Ballard wants to find the best quarterback possible. It's one thing to love traits. It's another when you're dealing with quarterbacks. is you've got to find a special guy.

You got to find a guy who has the intangibles and the makeup. And so that's not going to be, you know, it's one thing to have traits as a pass rusher and you coach it. You can't really coach quarterback intangibles, I don't think. I think you either have them or you don't. So that's where I could see the traits maybe not making as much of a difference with the decision for the Colts. And the other thing you have to remember is how much is Jim Ursay involved in this?

And does Jim Urstay want to pull the trigger on? You know, I don't know. Maybe Ballard would like C.J. Stroud better. Maybe he'd rather sit tired or even trade back and take Levis or Richardson or something like that. I have no idea. I haven't spoken to him about it. But I do know that they are one of those teams that are kind of in desperation mode right now. And Bryce, to me, is clearly, I think he's the best quarterback in this draft.

And, you know, it just happens to be. He's also going to be the smallest starting quarterback from a frame standpoint that we've seen in well over two decades. you know, maybe dating back about 25 years. I've done the research on it, and Johnny Mansell was technically bigger, even though their body types are similar. Kyler Murray weighs more. Russell Wilson weighs a lot more.

They've got sturdy or thicker frame. So this is uncharted territory. You've got to go back to Montana, Dave Craig, and some quarterbacks in the 80s and 90s to find sub-200 quarterbacks. So do we all agree that Bryce Young, in our opinions, of the quarterbacks in this class is the best at football.

Yeah. Lance, as of the time we're taping this, your rankings and evaluations reports are not up on NFL.com just yet. But how does this quarterback position this year? How does it lay out for you in terms of how you look at the top four or five guys? Well, so I'm going to officially do Bryce Young tomorrow. And I'm going to do it on a Twitch stream so that my,

I may make it available to the general public where you'll get to see my entire process through my radio station's website of the screen when I'm watching tape, when I'm going through the data points, what the entire process looks like. I'll have a microphone and I'll explain what I'm looking at. We plan on doing that tomorrow at 2 o'clock. But I already know from watching the games, Bryce Young's going to be my top quarterback. CJ Stroud, I said this on Twitter. I wasn't in love with CJ Stroud during the year. there's just a lot of the same stuff over and over I've seen. I didn't like the fact that he never pulls the ball on zone reads.

He's got opportunities to help his team and he doesn't take it with his legs. And then I watched the Georgia game and with an open mind and I was just blown away. I mean, the guy was, you know, they ran a lot of this boot action stuff where they'd set up and throw back across the field. They ran that play two or three times. He threw it with timing. I thought he saw the field well. He was, he had good escapability out of the pocket. He extended plays with.

his legs, all the things that he threw on the run well. And then when you go through the data points, and it shows itself on the game, too, and on game tape, he's the most accurate of any of these quarter, of any of the five major quarterbacks in all the data points that you look at, he's the most accurate. When you watch him on tape, especially that Georgia game, man, the ball delivery was just really, really nice. So, Dane, he's two for me. I've got Richardson and Levis about the same.

at about the same mark. There's different arguments you can make for both guys. I think the guy who is more likely to give you something because of his legs is Richardson. So, you know, Levis has great arm talent. There's a lot of things to like. Both of them are very concerning to me as quarterbacks three and four. Like I've got a second round grade on him, a 63. They're both, I think they both go on the first round.

And then I haven't gotten to Hinden Hooker yet just because, and I like Hooker, but watching some tape on him when I rode up Hyatt. He's a half-field reader, torn up knee. He's going to be a 26-year-old rookie. I kind of just leave him out of the mix because I think he's going to be the fifth, even though I think he has talent. But, Dane, here's a question for you. How much are we putting on a Georgia game?

Because the old thing is, if they show it on tape, that means they can do it again. Exactly. So how much do you put it on that one game? It's, I mean, why didn't we see this more from C.J. Stroud? Why did it take a game where they could prepare for a month? And, you know, why did it take this long for us to see this version of C.J. Stroud? I don't know. And, you know, we saw a little bit of it from here.

You know, he had a long scramble against Northwestern. And, you know, there were other things, too. But, yeah, we just didn't see it consistently. I'm with you. I think if you grazed C.J. Stroud as strictly from the pocket, we know he can carve you up. He is accurate. and his decision making from the pocket is outstanding. But the biggest issue with him is he wasn't a creator.

He wasn't a guy that when forced to move his feet and out of structure, he wasn't comfortable. Even some of those plays against Georgia, he didn't look very comfortable, but at least he could do it and create positive plays. So yeah, how do you grade that moving forward? Is this something that he's going to be able to tap into on a regular basis

at the next level? There will be differing opinions on that. The answer will not be the same for every team and every evaluator, and it will be fascinating. That's why C.J. Stroud could be number one for some teams in this draft. He might be number three in terms of the pecking order of these quarterbacks for some teams. It's a really interesting evaluation. I'll play devil's advocate and also the proxy for the Ohio State fans, who were still mad at Ryan Day for everything. They didn't feel like they needed it.

It only came out when they needed it. They probably flipped the Georgia tape on and said, oh God, we can't do what we normally do against these monsters. We're going to have to make CJ do a little more. And it turned out it was in there. You mentioned the Northwestern game with the big scrambles. That was another case where they absolutely needed it. The wind was blowing like 35 miles an hour.

You could not throw the ball. And they couldn't actually their line was not getting much of a push against Northwestern's D line. They needed to move the ball on the ground and Stroud was the only one who could do it. So that's fair. And I think I agree with you 100%. The only thing I push back on a little is going back to high school. This is how C.J. Stroud always has been. Like he even talked to his high school coaches and they say how he wants to be a pocket pass or first and foremost. He does not like, he does not want running to be a major part of what he does. And I don't know if it's just a comfort level thing with him or whatever. But, you know, we saw it, you know, using his legs, he has that type of. ability against Georgia. And it wasn't against a average defense. It was against a really good defense.

Guys, it'll all be in the NFL. Now, I will say when you're comparing Stroud and Young, it's a very good point. Young also wants to be a pocket passer. Young is definitely not a run-first guy. But he has a really good sense of when he should

and feels very comfortable doing it. Right. And he almost, and Lance, we've talked about this before, how he always, almost welcomes the chaos, you know, like too much. Like he, and that's what you worry about with him with that build. And it's not necessarily the height.

I mean, yes, you wish he was six, two and a half. But it's more the frame, the build, just very slender. And I don't care what you're giving him, what type of regiment, workout regiment. He's not going to be a 205 pound quarterback. That's not how he's built. So he's, you know, he's going to, at the combine, my guess is he'll be 5, 10, and 3,8. he's 192 pounds. That's just my guess of what he'll be.

And I don't think he's going to get that much bigger in the NFL. It's just not how his body is made. And so when he welcoming all that chaos, just giving his, giving a route an extra half second to develop that in the NFL, in college, even in the SEC, that's fine. You can get away with that. In the NFL, that might be a huge hit on your body.

And so that is the main concern with Young. The size I've heard on him, from a scout who I guess got the number from inside the Alabama building is 511.1.195. 5.1.5. 195. No way. He's 511. I believe it's a number.

And I immediately when I heard that, I thought, okay, that might be, I mean, you're not sitting there by the measuring stick and the scale. So there's no way he's 511.5. I'm with you. You know, could he turn out to be 511? maybe if you really extend that neck as long as you can. And from a weight standpoint, if I'm his, here's what I'm going to predict is going to happen. He's going to come in weighing 201 pounds.

And not throw, not throw, not run, and he'll work out of this pro day. That's my prediction is they want to get. But he won't weigh in his pro day. Yeah, exactly, right. And he won't weigh at his pro day. And then he won't weigh at his pro day. That's my prediction about what's going to happen is they're going to get them over the magic 200 mark.

And then from there, they'll wait until it's pro-day to throw. And I hope that doesn't happen. I want to look. It's so silly. We know how big he is. We know how big he is. The 200's not a, hey, wait a minute. We're going to change our mind here.

He's 200 now. You know, it's like he's 200. We didn't anticipate this. But think about this, Dane, to your point. Russell Wilson, Johnny Mansell, Kyler Murray. You just mentioned Bryce Young. And I feel like there's another one in here. but smaller quarterbacks.

Baker Mayfield. Baker Mayfield. Now, Baker will work from the pocket, but a lot of those guys are fine with it going off schedule because I think subconsciously or rather maybe very consciously, they got to get out of the pocket because it's harder to see from a passing lane standpoint, number one, and number two, just a bunch of big bodies around you.

And you want to be able to operate in space. I don't think that's a coincidence. Now, there's been, you know, Lamar does it. Deshawn Watson does it. Mark Brunel used to do it when he was kind of a scrambling. There's been lots of quarterbacks who feel comfortable outside of the pocket and operating outside of the pocket. But I think Bryce does make a concerted effort to show you that he can win from the pocket. And sometimes when he scrambles, he didn't just drop the ball and take off.

You know, what he does is he gets out of the pocket. And then he's coasting, still looking down the field. Like, he is, he is not, he is not a super willing runner. He's not. And either is C.J. Stroud. And the thing with Stroud that's different to me is that CJ, you guys, got to be. You got to be because the game has gone in that direction and it's just it's so valuable. You don't have to be, you don't have to be Justin Fields, but you do need to show that you are willing to go get the first down with the list. Especially when it's there. Yeah. So many times. Yeah, you're leaving yards on the field and that's not, that's selfish. Like that's, that doesn't help your team. So sometimes you're going to need to do that on the next level. And I was looking at

my notes on him right now. You see I color coded them. And, uh, I wrote this, and I wrote this because I watched the Georgia game, and I'm not sure which side this belongs on, the top side pros or the bottom side cons. Dan, I wrote, able to extend and make plays outside the pocket. Well, that's specifically because I saw that in Georgia. And I started my film session at Georgia, and I worked my way backwards.

Didn't love Penn State at all. I think there was a game that's Rutgers or somebody like that or Temple. There was another one that I wasn't crazy about. but I mean, I'm not sure. I haven't written, I haven't written these notes officially, but do I put that he can extend plays and make outside the pocket? He did it against the national champs. Right.

It is a tough question that I think, you know, all these teams that are looking at these quarterbacks, they're going to be asking themselves these exact questions because, yeah, you've seen it, but is he truly comfortable? Is it truly part of his game moving forward? I don't know. I think it's something that these teams are going to battle with.

And that's why this, from team to team, we're going to have different orders of how these quarterbacks are going to be drafted. And it's really interesting when you have four, five, six teams picking the top 12 picks that could conceivably go with a quarterback. And, you know, especially in this scenario where I, you know, part of me was hoping that Houston was just going to get that number one overall pick and make it easy for mock drafts at number one. But I mean, okay, let's move to number two. I can tell you right. I'm ready. I can tell you right now. This is Lance's area of expertise. He's daily radio in Houston. Right. I already

highlighted your second pick on the radio today. It was it did not go over well. I can I can understand it. Will Levis and number two to the Texans. Look, is this just going to be Levis checks so many boxes that you want from a prototypical standpoint. Except makes the offense a lot better and scores tons of points. The boxes he doesn't check. Look, again, reasons and excuses, we have to figure those out when it comes a quarterback. You know, his, him not, you know, he had such a good junior year, and then he took us a little bit of a step back this year. Now, the reason.

Wondell Robinson. Wondell Robinson. Offensive line. losing Liam Cohen was a big deal. I mean, even though, you know, I thought they made a nice hire with Rich Andorello. He's already out. Now, I mean, fall guy or not, I don't know.

But now some of this belongs, some of the blame belongs on Will Levis. There's no doubt he needs to play faster. He needs to, you know, do a better job putting his offense. But I thought there were enough positive flashes that make you go, you know, he can make that small window throw. He can do all these. things and I think it will not be hard for NFL teams to convince themselves that,

hey, once we get our coaches with this kid, he's, I mean, he's got a lot of things going for him with his intelligence. The toughness is a big factor with him as well. He is so tough, not just as like a runner and lowering his pads and all that, but he'll play through injuries. There's a lot of things that check, check boxes with Will Levis that I think it's not going to be surprising when a team has him as either quarterback one or two in this draft. It's amazing to me because I look at this and maybe is now the time to get into the Anthony Richardson conversation as well because I feel like Levis is a more polished version of Anthony Richardson, but neither of them put up the numbers in college that you would want from someone going this high in the draft.

And that's why, Lance, I'm very curious to hear what you have to say, because you're in Houston. Nick Casario, this is his show. the the the rhapsutin is gone in houston he was he was shoved out the door finally so what do the texans want out of this and i mean how how much did the greatest drive in the history of davis mills mess things up we'll see is it is it the jets win that went from trevor lawrence to Zach Wilson, you know, we'll see. I don't think that Trevor Lawrence,

I don't think Bryce Young has the generational, and I don't like that word generational. That's used, like LeBron is a generational talent. People throw around the phrase elite and generational like it's nothing. Trevor Lawrence has rare dual threat mobility. You know, he had a very good arm. He had a high-end, you know, high leverage background in college football, footwork, he had size, he had everything. He has all that stuff, right?

Bryce Young doesn't have some of those features and some of those traits, but he's a winner, and he makes very, very good plays. So I don't think there's a Trevor Lawrence in this draft. With that said, it hurts because, you know, at one, you had your choice of quarterbacks if that's what you're looking for. You could get exactly who you want. Now, maybe they'll stack C.J. Stroud as a number one quarterback. I don't know.

Let's just go through. Let's just play detective here. Nick Casario, when he was in New England, they drafted guys like Jimmy Garapolo, Jacobi Berset. They drafted Ryan Mallet. Jared Stiddle. These are guys with arm talent. They have pretty good size. Stidham was like 6-2-14, so he's not small, but he's not a giant.

But these are guys who have armed talent now. Jacobi could throw. There are also people who. had their college offenses producing at a better than expected level. Oh, yeah. No, I think most did. I think most will. But what I'm saying is there's a trait.

There's a traits background. Then he drafted Davis Mills. That was actually his pick, Nick Casario. So when you look at the physical profile, it doesn't say Bryce Young. But that's the same case with Chris Ballard. And I think that Bryce Young may be in play there if you're a really good quarterback. and you're a team that's a little desperate to get your quarterback situation, right? Which is the Houston Texans as well.

Here's my problem. When I watched Will Levis, I just don't think the tape is good enough for me to make him a second pick. And I don't care about traits. You know, he and Anthony Richardson are buckshot accuracy guys and just spray it all over. The difference is for me, though, Anthony Richardson, I see the bad footwork. I see things that can be corrected a little bit.

And I thought when Anthony Richardson threw in-Ritchison, them from the pocket. He could deliver with a lot better accuracy. But there are times that, like, you can look at all the data points and the throws, and he's just not, you can't call him accurate. And when he's bad, he can't self-correct inside a game. And I think that's a big concern because when he starts bad, you knew he was going to be bad the entire game.

I think it was LSU maybe where he was just spraying it all over the place. I got to see which game that was. Maybe it wasn't LSU. And then with Willis, when I first, started watching, I saw throws where I'm like, ooh, that's Aaron Rogersy type stuff. And you see the arm talent. But then he'll make throws it just from me to you, Dane, like here on the computer screen. And that's not far. And he started at people's feet. And I'm like, what I don't understand. Like, how can your accuracy in placement be that bad? Guys are constantly breaking stride for them.

And so that's a big concern for me is I wonder about that, what I call every, everyday accuracy, where the throws, the basic throws, you know, a simple out, you just got to throw the ball or a swing pass where you got to put it on the running back's hands as he's looking forward a chance to catch and run. I want my guys catch and run. And I think Levis and Richardson both have those same issues is they're just, they don't have the standard functional accuracy and placement to keep guys on the move. And that's where I think young and, you know, I think young and especially Stroud have a big advantage. And I think that.

And Hinden Hooker, too, by the way. Henn and Hooker can deliver the ball with some actors. Yeah. And Hucker, I'm not, yeah, he'll be a different conversation because a lot of the things you mentioned earlier. But I think with, if you're looking at Levis or Richardson, you're also going to think back to your evaluation of Josh Allen and say, you know what? He was able to do it.

He was able to, you know, Josh Allen would miss simple screen passes at Wyoming. Gold. I'm the only one who's ever. done that. I'm saying that's that's the reasoning that some will use when no you're right and say I've already heard it right I say look at jay I say how about Jake locker should we maybe look at Jake locker too yeah I mean is that fair to look at Jake but there's Tim Tebow of the Pacific Northwest plenty of plenty more examples of guys that have not been able to do it than have been able to make those necessary corrections and it look it's it is tough and you know I don't I don't want to hear how will

Levis couldn't, you know, win a starting job in the Big Ten. Like, don't, that, it's like saying Justin Fields couldn't win a starting job in the SEC. Like, it's just not, that's not, that doesn't count. But Sean Clifford and Jake Fromm just taking strays here. Yeah, seriously. But, I mean, it is fair to say that this season did not go, that not live up to expectations for Will Leavis and some of the same issues that you worried about. He did not maybe take the strides that you wanted to see.

But I, and I think it's, I need a point that. out with mock drafts, it's never what I think should happen. It's always what I'm hearing. And I do know there's plenty of Will Lovis fans around the league based off of the traits and what they think he could become. Well, let's talk about the other guy who throws laser beams, not particularly accurate at short range, Anthony Richardson. Dane, I admit, I made an audible gasp the first time I opened this mock draft and saw you had the, the Lions taking Anthony Richardson at 15. And I understand the reasoning.

They have got Jared Goff. He's doing very well. You can redshirt him behind Jared Goff, sort of like the Chiefs did with Mahomes and Alex Smith. I get all that. I just, I live in Gainesville, Florida. I've known about Anthony Richardson since he was in high school. Like, I don't see it.

I see the traits for sure. I just don't see it all being put together on a football field against the best defensive players and the best defensive minds. Have you ever heard of a guy named Josh Allen? Yeah. You know how easy that is? Tell me about this Josh Allen character. Okay, can I give you my Josh Allen theory?

I think I probably told Dana. So I did a huge story on Josh Allen for Sports Illustrated before his senior season at Wyoming. I guess it was a redshirt junior season, whatever his last season of Wyoming was. And I talked to his parents, every coach who ever coached him growing up. And I keep going back to this photo his dad sent me of Josh as a junior in high school,

being like, I think at the time he was like six foot or six one and weighed like 175. He was, he was rail thin. And Josh was a very late physical developer. He was still growing in college. Like he got, he went into Juko at like 6'2. and he came out at 6.5. Wow. So could it be that Josh developed as an NFL player

because he was a late bloomer physically and reached physical maturation later than most people do? Whereas most of these guys are physically mature by the time they get to the NFL, and it's kind of set in stone at that point. Could be, you know, growing into your body. I see one of the things I've noticed, especially. Josh Allen's nickname, by the way, in high school,

his high school baseball coach called him Tortuga. He's a turtle. Yes. So I do think there could be something to that. I see this with players need to grow. We sit in basketball a lot. We sit sometimes in football with defense alignment too. You've got to grow into your body.

It's the old giraffe trying to baby giraffe, trying to take steps. I think with Josh, my thing that I come back to is that when I look back, and say, why did I miss on him? Well, it's because I didn't put enough credence into the bad receivers, not being able to get open. And some of that was with Oregon, too, with Justin Herbert. But the other thing was, and I did point this out, he didn't throw with timing. So he was late on anticipatory throws.

And so when you're late on anticipatory throws, you're already going to allow defenses to start crowding your receivers, even with separation. When your guys aren't getting any separation at all, you're basically going to have a ton of contested throws. And I think that was a big part of, you know, when you have Cole Beasley underneath, you know, at times, not, you know, now it's McKinsey.

It's not an accent then when Stefan Diggs showed up. Yeah. Things really started to blossom. Everything changed. And so I don't think it made, it does make Josh Allen death. But what it does is it diminishes some of those negative things. Like maybe he does, maybe I haven't studied him, but maybe he doesn't throw it with great answer.

anticipation now, Andy. But it's a lot easier when you have a rocket arm and a guy like Stefan Diggs and you just get better. Now, I will tell you that Anthony Richardson's receivers at Florida were not good. Not good at all. Ricky Pierce saw the transfer from Arizona State was the best guy he had. Like there's, I do wonder if you put him with Ohio State's receivers, what would that look like? You put him with average to good NFL receivers. What does that look like? But the part I have that I would worry about with him is just the processing, the reading, the timing. Yeah.

Get the ball out on time. And that seemed to be a real problem in that offense. I thought he was bad against intermediate zone, just didn't. I thought the processing was a big problem to recognizing where he wanted to go with the football is something that, it's a big concern because you've got to win intermediate throws in the NFL for the most part. And I thought he really struggled at times against zone, knowing where the zone holes were going to be and how to exploit them. And that's a concern because once you show a weakness like that, it's like a guy who can't hit a fastball or can't hit a curve. That's how you're going to see.

Once you get a certain, the book is out there on you, everyone will explore it. See, I can see Richardson getting drafted wherever he gets drafted. he gets into a preseason game, you know, middle of the first quarter, against backups, maybe a couple first teamers. And the opposing team is playing completely vanilla and not showing anything. And he just lights it up. And everybody's like, oh, my God, we've got the steal of the draft. And then the first week of the regular season happens, and he sees a real defense.

And it's all downhill from there. He's a complete freak show. I mean, we've talked about him a lot, just the physical abilities. but so much of his draft's grade will come based off the interview process. Just what does he know? What does he not know? You know, it's just, it's hard to figure that part out, especially for those of us on the outside.

So there's a lot of unknown with Anthony Richardson in terms of how he's going to be perceived and ultimately draft. I mean, Lance, if I had, this is an unfair question. I'm going to ask you anyways. Give me the, what you would guess is Anthony Richardson's draft. range at this point. He could be as high as this pick. It could be as low as this pick. What do you think the range is now your early guess? My early guess would be without looking at the teams, just a very general number, like 10 to 40. Okay. Yeah. That makes sense.

Malik Willis went in the third round. So my range is going to be, you know, I think he's got, my grade is going to be about the same as, as, that I had on Willis. And, you know, pick it and Carl were basically, all three of those guys were basically about the same, the same for me. I really liked Matt Corral. Kenny Pickett, there were some things that concerned me. But much like Justin Herbert, I think some of the concerns I had about Pickett, he's starting to make me feel a little bit better about some of those issues. With Richardson, I just think the talent is so immense that I have to say like a top 10,

because I could see somebody fall in love with that. But then if you really just follow the tape, because Malik Willis had bad tape last year, it was bad tape. Yeah. They had really good talent. Richardson's just been up and down tape, but he's got tremendous physical tools. So I have to go all the way to the 40s just because I saw it happen with Malik Willis fell there. And he had some terrific tools as well. If I had to put money on it, I think that I think four quarterbacks going in first round, though.

Yeah, I agree. How many did you end up having your mock? Four. With Young at one, two was Will Levis. We skipped over at five. That's why I had the Panthers trading up to get C.J. Stroud. And then Richardson at 15, I had the Lions moving up. And look, Lions fans were not happy with me.

And I get it. Like, I trust me, I totally understand. But look, look, a job of a mock draft is to just lay out a scenario. And Brad Holmes, I don't think is going general manager of the Lions. he's not going into this draft saying, okay, got to get ourselves a quarterback. Like, I don't think that's the number one goal here. They're fine with Jared Goff as the starter.

But I also think they're realistic that he's not the long-term answer. And, I mean, if you gave him truth serum, I don't think he would say that he feels they're going to win a Super Bowl with Jared Goff. So you're on the lookout to upgrade that position if you can. And if they have a high grade on Anthony Richardson, absolutely I can see them moving up a few spots. But Andy, how different do you think that is from what we saw with the Kansas City Chiefs where Alex Smith was a nice little quarterback, just like Jared Gough.

You had a good team. But I think, I think drafting... Well, I tell you the difference. The difference is Patrick Mahomes was a great college quarterback. Well, no, that's... I mean the scenario. Yes, Mahomes was... Well, I would push back a little bit about great college quarterback. Their defense stunk. Yes, but he made a lot of mistakes. He made a lot of mistakes. He had great talent. A lot of interceptions, yeah. But a lot of interceptions. but he plays to his ability

and he's a guy who clearly benefited from having better players around him. But I mean the philosophy of this is what I'm talking about. Oh yeah. The red shirt ear. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the philosophy of,

I feel like Detroit is on the move. Like there's some really good things ahead. Good running back group, good offensive line, the receivers, they can still, they can still upgrade a little bit. Going to be an unbelievable D line with whoever they get. Yeah, they need some help in the secondary. but you know why that pick makes some sense to me

Dan is what you could say along the process is man we really got to where we like I'm just I'm just kind of I'm going through here okay no I understand it we love Richardson and this is a guy we think that is going to be a sustainable a sustainable he's going to help us sustain at the Pat Mahomes level now I don't buy that you don't buy that Andy but I could see the philosophy but here's here's my question I'm going to ask if I'm

if I'm their front office We can get one more good year out of Jared Gough for sure. Like I would feel very confident in Jared Gough being able to take a step forward with that roster and maybe even put, maybe put them in the play. I mean, there was so close to the playoffs this year. Put them in the playoffs next year. If that happens, can you get another year out of Jared Gough? Because if you think you can or if you think it's even borderline, then you wait until next year's QB class. I know you don't have the Rams pick anymore at that point.

But perhaps you trade with somebody who will give you next year's first rounder who you think might stink next year. And then you're into a deeper quarterback class that you might like a little bit better. And I think that very well might happen. I think there's a very good chance. Like I said before, I don't think Holmes is going to go into this draft saying we need to get a quarterback. Like they are comfortable moving forward with off. it's more of strike while the iron's hot.

And if a quarterback that they have ranked high were to fall to them, or at least within striking distance, it does make some sense to. I think a lot of Lions fans are being a little short-sighted on this because they were so close to the playoffs. And Jared Goff did play so well down the stretch that they think, oh, just upgrade our defense a little bit. It will be in the playoffs next year.

I don't think it's that simple. And again, going to the playoffs is a good step. But let's think further than that. and let's try to win a Super Bowl here. If you don't believe Jared Goff can help win you a Super Bowl, then what are we doing? Let's go find someone that can. Is there a guy who can win you a Super Bowl in this draft?

I don't think there is. Well, 100%. I agree with that. This is just a scenario that if the Lions had a high grade on Richardson, I don't know if they do or not. They have seen him quite a few times this year, so they will be familiar with Anthony Richardson. I don't know if they went to the good games or the bad games.

If they went to the Utah game, they're all in. Let's go. Yeah, right. So, I mean, there's so much of this conversation that is just, is guesswork at this point. And that's why a mock draft in January, I think, is more for laying out potential scenarios more so than anything else. And so I, in no way am I saying the lion should or will draft the quarterback in the first round this year. But I do think it is fair to say if the right quarterback were to be in striking distance, I could see them making a move. All right.

So this has been like a Heisman Trophy podcast. At this point, we've only talked about quarterbacks. Let's talk about some of the other positions. We've talked a ton about Will Anderson and Jalen Carter, me and Dane have. So Dane and Lance, I want to get your opinions on that next tier of defensive players

below Will Anderson and Jalen Carter. Well, just non-quarterbacks. I think just after those two, and Lance will be eager to hear what you have to say. After those two, I think there's a gap between who the next. non-quarterback prospects are in this draft? After Jalen Carter and Will Anderson?

Yeah. Yeah, I think Tyree will, I think Tyree is a guy who's way up there for me. But a lot of that's projection. He was not as good against the run, not as physical as I was expecting. I thought he'd be more aggressive. I'm projecting the traits. So I've got him in the 67 range, which is going to be a quality year one starter. I think he's up there, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I think he's going to be a, you know, he's going to be a top eight pick and maybe as high as top four or five. But because his traits are, and he's going to be a good tester too. The guy that I was pretty blown away by Dane and I was interested to see where you had him. And I just, I'm, I don't know that I've seen a guy who plays quite like this for a while was Drew Sanders. Yeah. I didn't have any opinion on Drew Sanders going into my tape study. I intentionally avoid a lot of things So I can watch everything

And I don't want a negative or a positive filter to cloud it So I turn the tape on Do my background work first Okay Alabama five star Denton Texas out near you Well where you used to be You know Is a guy who has

Has been tutored by Alabama Which means his hand usage is going to be good He's going to have some good technique stuff off the edge But then I turn the tape on And he's playing inside linebacker okay, he's an inside linebacker. He's six foot five-ish, 233, I believe is what. So immediately I'm starting to see some latent vandrash.

I'm like, okay, he's got, you know, he's got some very similar size. But then I see some up and down instincts, but he's an aggressive guy. He's not a guy that sits back. He'll take his shots downhill, which accounts for why he had like 13 and a half tackles for loss. Then I see them move him, especially early in the season. rushing as a stand-up rusher. And this guy has a really smooth inside, inside slide and slap where he can beat tackles

across their face. He used it as a stand-up rusher in the A gap, in the B gap, as an outside linebacker as like a rush end. He has range. He's a good tackler, can cover a little bit. And I started thinking, man, he hasn't played this position. I'm like, he's still going to keep getting better at this. and my comp started to change to Tremaine Edmonds

because I remember Tremaine Edmonds filled up a lot of stat sheets. I think this guy is going to be very explosive. I think he's going to test well. He's going to run well. As a matter of fact, I looked up some stats from him when he was in high school. And he ran well. He was a, I think his vertical was 36 in high school, maybe 37. And I just think when you have a guy that can, that is productive as an inside

linebacker, with that kind of size, that kind of link? that kind of aggression, the technique, and now you tell me that he is a capable rusher, because I believe he's a capable rusher. Oh, yeah. I just see a guy who has maybe Anthony Barr qualities. Maybe that's the guy that I should be looking at when he first came into the league

as my comp. But I think Drew Sanders is going to catch a very high grade from me, much higher than people I anticipated. I like the Levante David replacement idea that you had in your mock drafting. That's a good comp right there. Go in 19th,

overall in my mock. And yeah, he's a guy that just, you look at the stat sheet. It looks great. Over 100 tackles, double-digit tackles for a loss, nine and a half sacks. I mean, the production's good. You put on the tape. There are some time, you know, he needs to do a better job, you know, shedding blocks and here and there.

There's not a finished product by any means, but the fact that you can line them up anywhere you want in that front seven, basically, and he's going to help you out, gives you a lot of optimism about what he could be. He's a son of a coach. I mean, there's a lot of things where you go, okay, okay. And you know, you just keep inching him up. So yeah, Drew Sanders, I think has a good chance to be the first linebacker drafted this year. Yeah, he needs to get stronger.

I mean, he's only got one year full-time starting experience. So I don't think, you know, my concern with Tremant Evans when he came out was he's not a very instinctive player, but had all the physical tools. I think there's some instincts, things that still need to, you know, that still need to work themselves out. with it's less about instincts more about fit you know run fits and knowing where he needs to be but um i met now i had a high grade on at a high grade on tremaine edmonds i was a big germane edmonds fan uh 7.0 which is potential pro bowl talent he's about to get paid yeah and he's really starting to come around but um i think drew sanders is a guy to me that i'm going to have really high and i'll be a lot higher on the i know we're working kind of

haphazardly we're not exactly going through the list but i want people to go to the website and read your stuff. You know, I was hoping to see Bijon Robinson higher in your mock. I don't know where to put him. He's, trust me, I, I was mad that I had to put him so low. Where did you put them? Thirty-one to the Eagles. And- Shame. Also, shame. Not fair to the rest of the NFC East if that happens. No. No. Well, the last time the Eagles drafted a running back in the first round, I wasn't born yet. So it's, back to the Ron Jaworsky days, as it's starting, quarterback. It's about a long time. So this is a team, a franchise, an organization that does not look to draft a running back position that early, but at 31, I mean, just run the car up to the podium.

But when you do an exercise like this and you really look at the potential landing spots for certain positions, especially a running back, I mean, you're looking at it and it's like, okay, who, first of all, who needs a running back? And then who would actually take one in the first round? And the teams that really need, and we'll see what happens this offseason. You know, Sequin Barclay's, a free agent, Josh Jacobs. I mean, there's, it's, it's, there's going to be some fluctuation from team to team at the running back position, Miles Sanders. So we'll see how that plays out.

But there's not a lot of clear landing spots for a running back. There never is. There never is when you do my drafts. Right. And so like Carolina, they could, you know, they traded Christian McCaffrey. Are they really going to draft a running back in a top 10? No, they're rebuilding. they have a lot of other needs.

They're not going to do that. And so I mean, trust me, Bichette Robinson, I think, is a top 10, 12 talent in this class. It's just, it was a hard guy to figure out where to put them. I would not want to see that offense, especially, and I don't know if that entire line stays together, obviously, but I do have a lot of faith in Jeff Stoutland, the Eagles of a line coach. So no matter what happens, good God, with Jalen Hurts and Bichon Robinson in the same. How would you like it if the Dallas Cowboys took him and let, you know, cut Zee. Isn't Pollard a free agent this year?

He, I'd be surprised at Pollard is not back. But yeah, I think there's a very good chance. I like your Apuica pick for the Cowboys, though. Yeah, well, it's another team that usually doesn't draft that position. But I think that they can make an exception for him. I just, you know, speaking to my people in Dallas, you know, that closest organization, I don't think that they would draft Bija Robinson there in the late 20s. But you know what?

You never know. You cannot rule it out. That's a definite possibility. And my first mock draft, I had him going to Baltimore right on the early 20s. Just, you know, J.K. Dobbins was, you just weren't sure injury-wise what that was going to look like. But now that he's back and looks healthy, I don't know that they didn't necessarily make that move. So it's, it is tough. Not a lot of obvious landing spots, but, you know, Tampa, if Fournette's gone, could they go that direction?

Maybe, who knows? They might be looking for a new identity on offense, you know, if Tom Brady's not back and, you know, really get to roll out Kyle Trask as your starter. I mean, who knows what the quarterback position would look like in Tampa. Could they lean into the running game and go with the Bejevon Robinson? That's something else that I thought. I just figured out what's going to happen. Oh, no.

They're going to draft Anthony Richardson, keep Kyle Trask, and hire Dan Mullen as their offensive coordinator. They're going to bring the band back together. Hey, I mean, I've heard worse ideas out there. But that was one of the reasons I had Detroit trading up for Richardson is the, you know, there's a couple of teams behind them, Tampa, Seattle, that could potentially look to leapfrog to get Richardson as well. But, yeah, it's the running back position.

Because I also think, Jamir Gibbs is a first round talent. I think he's one of the top 30 players in this draft. It's a great value if somebody grabs him at like number 35. Yeah, but it's a hard guy to, you know, the running back position. Yeah, he's not a lead back. I mean, he's a toy that you can use to really mismatch and win games. Like, it's one of those weird things where, okay, is he going to get you 18 carries a game? No.

What's he going to do? 18 touches, yeah. He'll get out of the backfield and line up and now you're in front. Is it similar to the Clyde Edwards, they'll air pick by the Chiefs a few years ago? I think they saw him. You got what you need, and so now you pick a toy? I think they saw him, Clyde Edwards-Hillera is more of a, more of a lead guy that could, you know, help with that offense. Where Gibbs, it's just tough because he is, at the combine, he'll be what, 205, 207 pounds.

So he's not quite Kamara, but you see that ability. And it's like, man, he's a game changer. And, I mean, Bryce Strong did not have a ton of talent around him this year, but he absolutely had one of the best backs of the nation. When things were tough for him offensively, he went to Gibbs. Like I remember being at the Texas game. And when the offense couldn't get going, it's like, all right, we're going to, you know, as Bill O'Brien's play calls too, but we're going to give. We're going to get Gibbs the ball and let Gibbs make plays.

And, you know, I think it's, I think that's one of the nice things is, depending on who your quarterback is, it's nice to have a running back that can give you some carries. But then, and he has the speed to hit chunk plays. But then more importantly, all of a sudden, when he, he rolls out of the backfield. My player cop on him was Kamara. When he rolls out of the backfield and he's in the slot, you've got to have a plan.

You can't just match him up with anybody. Can I give you another cop? Naeem Heinz coming out of NC State. Yeah, I thought about that too. I think he's a little bigger than Naim, but. Yeah, I think he was like a hundred ninety-eight pounds. But a guy who can be everything in your offense, and that's what Naim was.

And also couldn't return kicks. That is, Gibbs was absolutely the security blanket. for young because their receivers couldn't get separation. You know, they were not an elite receiving core this year until the Kansas State game. I don't think that Gibbs doesn't have this type of speed, but Chris Johnson, you know, like that. Speed is such a big part of what Chris Johnson did. But I think that if you combine Chris Johnson with Alvin Kamara, I think that, you know, the love child of those two would look something similar to like a Gibbs and what he offers. So it's a tough one because, again, we're talking about a little bit of an outlier here.

here. And, you know, we're Bryce Young, outlier size-wise. Peter Skoronski, who might be the best offensive lineman in this class, is an outlier in terms of his length. So there's going to be a lot of interesting discussions with these prospects. Dane, three tight ends between 21 and 27. Yeah. And, you know, the one who's a household name in terms of big production in college is obviously Michael Mayer from Notre Dame. You had him going to the charges at 21, which I think would be a fabulous pick. But Darnel Washington, we've talked about a lot. I contend he will be more of a, he will be more of a receiving threat in the NFL than he

was in college because he won't have the best tight end in the country on his team. But I don't know that he is, I think his physical traits. I think there's a lack of quickness. Well, his ball skills were actually way better than I expected. he moves a little stiff-legged in space but then when the ball's up he actually makes some really good catches like he's got way better ball skills than I

He turns into a basketball player I'm going to throw you all I'm going to throw you way off here and I had this conversation now as a run blocker I actually talk to their offensive tackle. You're going to move to offensive tackle? I'm going to consider it at some point in his career if there's so much value in tackles

and I ask his offensive line coach what's his frame like does he have the frame because he's ripped he's ready he goes he goes listen he can i mean this guy has you know i don't know how much weight he would carry but he's already in a around 280 he could be he could be a lane the 300s lane johnson is an interesting comp in that case in terms of freak athlete who happens to play offensive line the technique though is very ragged right now as a rum blocker just so big and so strong and he torts like he can torque a defensive end out of the way but he's a waist bender his hands are outside

and yet he's still getting guys blocked. And I'm like, man. And I wrote it the last sentence, just the throw-way. Past pro might be a problem. I just said it will be interesting. Yeah, exactly. I just said it will be interesting to see if any teams consider a tackle transition at any point during his career. And that's fair.

He is the leanest 280 pounds I've ever seen. I mean, it's just, it's fascinating. You know who was that in high school? Tyron Smith. Yeah. Tyre, you go, there's a picture. from a USC camp of Tyron Smith as a high school junior, and you're like, oh, my God, that can't be real.

His teammate at Georgia, Broderick Smith was like that. If you look at a picture of him playing basketball, he is a lean 285 pounds, but also the left tackle on the football team. So, yeah, it's interesting because he is so unique. He's a rare, I mean, there's not even like a real comp here for Darnell, Washington. I think he'll have mostly second round grades around the league, but for the right team, the right scheme, you look at what he would add in terms of his blocking

and what he gives you in the passing game. I would not be surprised at all if we, you know, see Darno, Washington sneak in there. And I actually have five tight ends going in the top 50, which is we don't see very often. It's a great tight end draft. Let's talk about Luke Musgrave because not a lot of people watch Oregon State, though you should.

good, but he was hurt most of the year. But he's got an incredible skill set. He's so athletic. He's going to run really well. Former skier, he's got that type of background. You know, he's very fluid. I think you see that. So you're saying he's a better skier than me.

Yes, I am comfortable saying that, even though I've never seen him. Yes. As a block or two, you see that fluidity. And, you know, Lance, I think we've talked about him. You like Luke Musgrave. Yeah, he's my top tight in. Boom, there you go. See, I think a lot of, because he's not getting a lot of run right now out there.

You played two games this year. Yeah, he had a knee injury. And so as long as that, that'll be a big, make sure the knee's okay. I haven't heard if he's actually going to play in the senior bowl or not. But hopefully at the combine, the knees looking good. He has all the ability to go in the first round. So I got some pushback from people about Luke Musgrave being in the first round. But, I mean, if you've watched this kid, he's got the athleticism.

He's a better blocker than you would expect. He's a better, like, Kincaid is. Dalton Kincaid at Utah is look if you want everything Myers your guy. He's he's a guy who is going to block. He's not as he's not as fast but he's a he's a he's a consistent target. He blocks for you. If you want a card carrying why that's your guy. If you're looking for a guy who is more of a Kyle Shanahan type of of tight end, maybe an Andy Reid tight end, but especially more of a Shanahan because they're going to block more. It's musgrave. If you want a guy that is

going to be an Andy Reid type tied in who's going to split out, maybe not block as much, but is really fluid in space and can make catches. Or, you know, back in the day with, you know, Aaron Hernandez, granted, I know he's a terrible person or he was a terrible person, but he was a tremendous, now he's a better blocker, but, you know, New England kept trying to get that balance right for years where they had the why and then they had the dangerous because Belichick clearly recognized the matchup potential of two tight-end sets, then that's going to be Kincaid, because he's the guy who splits out and catches everything, man. He's got great hands. He's a really athletic. So those three guys for me are my three first round tight ends for me personally,

but they're slightly different flavors of tight-in, each one of them. But for me, I like the fact that Musgrave will get after you as a blocker, and you have to at Oregon State. Yeah. But I want to get back to something that Stacey Searle's, offensive line coach for Georgia told me, he said, the thing that made Darnell Washington special, he went back to this like three times without me even asking, he kept saying, man, he's just such a matchup issue in the red zone. And he didn't mean as a pass catcher, he meant as you bring your, as you reduce your defensive line tighter and tighter into gaps, now you've got line backers on Washington. And he captures the edge. And it's so easy to run over the edge for Georgia

because Darnell Washington mismatches whoever's on the edge. He can get out in space and block linebackers or safeties. And so when you think about tight ends, you always have to think about what is it that a team really wants from their tight end.

And Musgrave is going to be the guy if you say, man, we want a pass catcher and we're not afraid to go volume, but for us, we've got to have block. We've got to have block. Okay, you're going to like Musgrave better than Kincaid or you're going to like Meyer better, mayor better than Kincaid.

well but we really want I mean we really want a guy that can match people up we want Dallas Clark oh okay you're going to want Kincaid yeah well we want it we want it all oh you're going to love this kid from Notre Dame and then you got Tucker Kraft who I know you're high on day

you're very high on him from San Diego South Dakota State who's oh and then Dorna Washington that was the other tight end yeah so I mean again five in the top 50 I had Dalton Kincaid going 45 to the Packers you know, could easily see him go higher, no doubt. I mean, he is maybe the most natural ball catcher among these tight ends in terms of isolating the football and going up and getting it. I just don't want his USC tape.

And it just tells you everything you need to know about him as a pass catcher. I like the Michigan tight end too. Schoonmaker? Yeah. He's my next guy. Him and Leporta are the next guys. I mean, it is a loaded tight end class. Those, well, it's that seven guys.

and then even after that, I mean, it doesn't drop off. There are some guys that, once you get to the fourth round and mid-rounds, that you think could be productive. So this is an outstanding tight-end group. Andy, you've been in this business long enough to know. There's nothing that editors and executives at NFL Network or ESPN or CBS Sports, there's nothing they love more than when you tell them, guys, this is a loaded tight-in draft.

Oh, yeah. They'd be very excited about the tight-ins. Yeah, they just start with their palms. Like, Sam, this is amazing. It's unusually deep at center this year. This is a great guard draft. I can't sell guard draft on TV. I can.

At least tight ends. They score fantasy points. The tight end, okay, if we're talking about the chess board, the tight end is the queen. You can do the most with it. And you just brought up one of my favorite people. Emergency Iowa Wildcat quarterback Sam Leporta. Yeah. Come on.

Let's go. I didn't think he can make guys miss, and then I throw on the bowl game against Kentucky. Oh, my Lord, he was destroyed. He wasn't making the miss so much as just running through them. It was a little bit of both. I mean, I was okay, this is new. So, yeah, this is a fun tight end group that, you know,

we usually don't see three tight ends go in the first round. I mean, it happened, what, a couple years ago. That was the Evan Ingram and Joku OJ Howard draft, I think. And then before that. And had that work out. Well, I mean, in Joku, pretty good. And Jokey's very good.

Evan Ingram's kind of comes into his own. Yeah, but in Jacksonville. But I mean, I think that this year it's just a little different because the tight end group is,

uh, it's just so loaded. So yeah, it's, uh, don't be surprised if we have. We see three in the first round, five in the top 60.

It's definitely possible. One more from your mock before we go, Dane. And we've talked about this before. I think you had, you might have this person here in your first mock as well. You got Jackson Smith and Jigba

going to the Chiefs at 30. And, and I, understand your reasoning when you say, okay, they may not do this. They may not feel the need to go receiver. But, you know, without Tyree Kill, you know, they're just looking for weapons here. Jackson Smith and Jigba, I feel like the average fan maybe forgot because he didn't play but the first game this year. But this is a guy who I have a feeling, you know, like Jamar Chase after he sat out of year at LSU.

And he gets to, now he was drafted very high. But he gets to the Bengals and like, oh, yeah, still really good. Jackson Smith and Jigba could have been the best receiver in college football this year had he been healthy. Put him with Patrick Mahomes, and that feels very, very unfair. Yeah, in a way, it's a little repetitive because, you know, Travis Kelsey is basically their slot receiver. And that's what Smith and Jigba is. You know, he just, he will find those soft spots. He will get open.

And that's kind of what Travis Kelsey does. But I had another guy like that just in obviously a totally different package. his ball skills, his route running. Yeah, he'd be ready to go from day one. And I think that, yeah, he gives the chiefs something else to play with on offense, which would be fun. So it's, they don't have to, with an MVP quarterback, yeah, you don't have to go receiver in the first round.

But if the right guy is there, maybe like a Smith & Jigba, I certainly think it makes sense. I mean, Lance, last question before we hop off here, who is the best receiver that you've seen in this class so far? Oh, let me see. I've still got some to watch. Let me see who's got my top grade right now. Well, right now, Jalen Hyde has my top grade.

I've got a 65 grade on him. I like Quentin Johnson. He wasn't, I wasn't as blown away by him when I watched him as I thought. A lot more drops. Yes. Very basic route tree. I like Josh Downs. I thought Josh Downs was really a fun receiver to watch.

I didn't expect to. I was okay on Jordan Addison. A couple guys that I think are really, but like I've got a lot of guys all bunched up together. I was really a big fan of the potential of Tyler Scott from Cincinnati. Zay Flowers from Boston College was a lot of fun to watch, very confident player. Both made the second round in this month, yep.

Yeah, Zayflowers is going to have a better offense around him in the NFL than he did in terms of the better protection for the quarterback. Jerkovic, I always get this wrong. I pronounce it wrong, but he's got skills but has been hurt basically his entire career. So Zay Flowers has never really had the ability, you know, an offense that could deliver in the ball. Yeah.

And I want to, I want to say also, I need to make this clear, because I think it gets to what you're also saying, Andy, is, Dan, you ask me who my top receiver that I, that I looked at so far. And so far, yours was Jordan Addison. I was more of a second rounder on Addison. I didn't love the size. I think he's a slot.

So I think there's going to be a certain value on him. And sometimes that plays into where I slot guys is what their value is going to be. For me, Jalen Hyatt, the reason I had him won is I understand the limitations. He's not going to be a high volume target. He's Deshaun Jackson or Wolfuller all over again. So there's, you know, I understand what I'm looking at here. He is not going to be a guy who runs a lot of intermediate routes. is just kind of sloppy getting in and out of breaks.

But what he does, he does extremely well. And I just think that whoever drafts him is going to draft him with a specific purpose to do something in an offense. And so if he gets with a quarterback that can throw the deep ball, I just think he's going to give whoever the quarterback has a ton of different opportunities. And it goes back to when I had Will Fuller as the top wide receiver over Laquan Treadwell and the kid, Corey Coleman. Yeah.

That was, you know, a bad one. receiver draft. But one of the reasons is because Will Fuller for all of his drops, I knew he was really good at getting deep and making big plays. You're going to have some drops, but you're going to have some home runs. And I think with Jalen Hyatt, I think he's going to hit a lot of home runs. It's really fast. And the reason you do that is, is you stretch the defense. If they're playing zone, you're forcing everybody to cover more physical area. And there's an impact on the running game too. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No doubt. And impact on the on the routes underneath intermediate, you know.

And that's why I've been saying this entire process so far that last year we had six receivers go top 25. This is not that group. Now, it's not a bad wide receiver group, but it's not the loaded group that we've seen the last two years with Jarjase. No, it's really, if we're talking honest right now, if this is a safe space, it's not. I mean, it's, it's more, I think it's more average than below average, but it's definitely not above average. We're an hour five in. The casuals are gone. This is true.

This is true. This is the win Sam LaPorte getting drafted, boys. Just tell us. This is a big tight-in year. Yeah. Lean into it. These are our people. All right.

Well, gentlemen, it was a pleasure. And Lance, we're going to have you with us more often as we go forward toward the draft. And I cannot wait. I'm going to have to watch your Twitch stream now. How can we find that? Yeah, I'm going to send it out. You can always send me a direct message, because I don't know when this is going to air when we're taping it. But it's going to be 2 o'clock.

You can go to ESPN-975.com is my radio station email address, ESPN-975.com. And they'll have a link there. I think it's going to be done through the YouTube channel that we have for the radio station, either through that or through SportsMap. And I'm just going to go through the whole process. I mean, there will be a screen capture where I'll go through. through some of the pro football focus data because they do a really good job of, you know, I want to see all of his rollouts.

I want to see all of his scrambles. I want to see all of his, you know, throwing with pressure in his face. And it takes a while to go through quarterbacks, but it's a pretty important process for a guy as good as Bryce Young. And a pick as important as a top one or two pick. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Cannot wait. Gentlemen, we will reconvene next week. We have All-Star Games to talk about. The Senior Bowl is less than two. weeks away, where the single practices are less than two weeks away. And if you've heard me talk about it, you know I only care about one-on-one pass pro at practice. That's all I'm really worried about. I thought you were going to say barbecue, but okay. That too. That too, and turtle soup. But I'm just, I'm pumped. This is,

it feels real now. The college season is over. Everybody who's going to be in the draft is in draft. Let's go. We'll talk to you soon. was the athletic football show.