The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Prospects to Pros: NFL Draft top 12 picks scenarios

Episode Date: February 21, 2024

Who needs an NFL Draft simulator when you have Dane Brugler! Dane joins Nate Tice to mock several scenarios for the top 12 picks of the 2024 NFL Draft. How many QBs will go? Where is the biggest pivot point? What teams could move up? They discuss all of that and more as they break down each pick. Follow Nate on Twitter: @Nate_TiceFollow Dane on Twitter: @dpbruglerSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic football shows Prospects to Prospects to Pros. Hello, welcome to Prospects to Pros. I am your host, Nate Tice. We have a mock scenario simulator that Dane Brugor and I are going to be doing today where we will be looking at the top 12 picks. Picks 1 through 12, why 12? We just pick 12. It's a nice cutoff and you'll see why.

We're going to go over each and every single team, all the situations because there's a lot. There's a lot of paths these teams can take. Might as well go over all of them. It's that time of see. season. It's draft season. And to help me do that, of course, I already mentioned them, but is the athletics draft expert himself. And in his season, Mr. Dane Bruegler, how you doing today, Dane? I'm good. We're pre-combined. So, you know, there's a lot of this is going to change that we're going to talk about. But there's a lot of intrigue with a lot of these picks and what direction

they could go and the quarterbacks and how many quarterbacks are we going to see in the top 12. So, and again, this stuff is going to change. Free agency will change things. certain decisions that need to be made between now and the draft will change things. But yeah, this is going to be a fun conversation as we kind of work through all these different scenarios. Yeah. And we're going to have a Combine primer, which the NFL Combine will be in Indianapolis, as always, or at least for next year or two.

We'll be there next week. Dan and I will both be there. Robert would be there. Everybody will be there from the Athletic, just about, it seems like. But we'll also have some shows from you from there, but a primer before and then a recap after the Combine. So make sure to check that out on the Athletic. football shows feed and prospects to pros.

But pick one, the driver's seat, the pole position, whatever you want to, both car analogies. But we got, oh, I was going to say Caleb Williams. We got the Chicago Bears. The Ryan Poles position. They're all, beautiful. Beautiful. I know.

That's a New York Daily News headline. But we got the bears at Pick one via the Carolina Panthers. Now, plenty of paths that they can go along. But, Dane, where would you start with the Bears? And what are some of these situations and scenarios that they go through these next couple months? I think most Bears fan-based. They've come around to the idea that this pick is going to be a quarterback. Still a few holdouts, according to my mentions on Twitter.

But anything other than a quarterback to Chicago at one would be a major surprise. And now, with that said, if you're Ryan Poles, you're keeping the phone lines open, right? You want to know what other teams are going to possibly. put out there at trade interest. There are desperate teams out there for a quarterback. You never know the offers you might get. But anything other than a quarterback here at one to Chicago, I think would be a pretty major surprise.

And I would also say anything other than Caleb Williams at one would be a surprise. For me, just guessing what they're going to do. Now, who knows? Maybe the Bears will come to a different conclusion. But, you know, I think it's an interesting, you know, we've talked about these quarterbacks since August between Caleb and Drake and then Jane Daniels entered the Convo,

how everyone's going to look at these guys a little bit differently. Beater using the eye of the beholder. You know, it's not crazy to think that Chicago and their brainchusts might think of, you know, might have Drake May out number one or who knows, maybe in Jane Daniels. But I still think Caleb Williams, where we are right now going into the combine,

he is still the favorite to be that number one overall pick and anything other than him, I think would be a surprise at this point. Yeah, not just to you, but it would be to Vegas as well. Caleb Williams right now is minus 1,500 to be the number one pick. That doesn't say to the Bears, though, just says the number one overall pick. So that's another thing as well. We don't know if there's going to be some flopperoo, swapparoo action with some of these teams that we'll see. But it's tons of craziness.

But yeah, Caleb Williams seems to me to be the consensus at this point in time. of course, I'm a Drake May guy, and I've been mocking him to the Bears at one as well. And he has maybe some height weight speed stuff that, you know, polls likes. He is a kind of a guy that seems to like that kind of height, speed stuff with all of his positions. Maybe quarterback's one of them. But May Williams just seems QB dash guy is going to be the scenario here or the situation here. One more thing with the Bears, too, as I think at the Combine is when we're really going to

start to hear the Justin Fields rumors pick up about. specific landing spots. I know we've heard the Steelers. The Falcons feel like an obvious fit. But I think we're going to hear more about those talks heat up in Indy. And I think it'll be interesting about whoever trades for them because you have to have a plan in place for fields, meaning you're talking to the agent. You're working out a Jordan Love type of deal.

So, you know, you can decline that fifth year option. And when you trade for him, come up with a feasible two-year deal, similar to what the Packers did with Love last. year. So whether that ends up being, you know, your trade, I still, I'm, I still lean towards it's going to be two, day two picks, you know, one day two pick this year and then a conditional pick next year based off of playing time. But, you know, these trades are always based on the market and, you know, the number of interested suitors that are going to be making a bid on fields, which is a really, you know, we won't go too far down that conversation, but that's a really

interesting a separate topic about who should be in the sweepsticks for fields, how much should they give up, and then, you know, how you use your offense to get the best most out of him. So that, but that's a completely separate conversation. But again, something that I think will really start to heat up when we're in Indianapolis. Oh, I'm sure, especially maybe some of these teams, like you said, that are QB needy and they go, well, do I want to trade a war chest for Jane Daniels and move up to three or something? Do I just trade a second and take a receiver with that number one pick I have? You know, something, some of that's where I'm looking at teams like the Falcons or the Broncos or Raiders or any of these teams that could be frisky in the end in the season, in the draft season.

No, but I think that's a great point with Fields is that I was looking at some recent trades. You know, there was the Sam Bradford trade, the week of the season. That was a first rounder. I was looking at. I just looked at every example possible just to see what this price would be. The Carson Wentz trade recently when he went to the Colts. Right. I know they went to follow up with Washington.

The Darnal trade was a bunch of several day two picks as well. Yeah. So it seems like that day two, but then it becomes a, you know, might be a little bidding war if as teams get a little bit more desperate. So that's going to be really interesting. But another QB needy team at two, Washington commanders right now. It seems like they'll kind of that interesting position that they could go with the 1B if the other team doesn't go with the 1A.

It might be their 1A or there's the wild horse, you know, wild card, which is also, you know, with Daniels. So where do you think about their kind of scenarios lie right now, the Washington commanders, Dane? This is a quarterback, right? It's just a matter of which one. The last 30 years, commanders or the Washington organization, they've drafted a top 10 quarterback just once,

and that was RG3. And that's kind of crazy. That was a dozen years ago. God, we're getting old. But so this franchise is overdue. There you go, yeah. This franchise, I mean, they're overdue for a quarterback. you know, to take a swing on a really talented quarterback in the top 10, top five, top three.

And, I mean, you and I both agree that if Williams goes one, it should be May at number two. And it's not impossible to think that they could come to the conclusion that Daniels is their guy. But, you know, we're on the same page. Drake May should be the pick if Williams goes one. I think it gets interesting. Would they, what kind of conversations are they going to have with Chicago at one? Just to kind of put a few feelers out there, see, you know, what would, it cost to swap picks one and two.

Who knows? Maybe Chicago has a really close grade on both Caleb and Drake May. And if the trade compensation is enough, you're okay going with Drake May instead of Caleb. Who knows? Maybe Drake Wayne is their top quarterback. But if it's close enough, trade back one spot, get more draft capital, still get the quarterback that you really, really like, and think can be a top 10 to 12 quarterback in

this league. Washington goes up, reunite Cliff Kingsbury with Caleb Williams, bring Caleb home, he's a D.C. guy. So the Washington conversations with Chicago, just to put out those feelers, I think will be really interesting. It's only moving back one spot, but you're moving away from Caleb Williams. And what will the price tag be for a team like Washington to pull that off? We talk about intangibles with players, too, but there's also with this with teams. owners, new ownership might go, hey, we get the guy, we get the hometown guy, we want to buy as much fan goodwill as possible.

Let's lock it down, guarantee that it happens. That'll do it. That'll do it, especially with the new owner and new, you know, new GM, new head coach, all these things. Adam Peters and, yeah, right. The OC, okay, well, the OC, Cliff Kingsbury being Caleb Williams, this guy is interesting as well. It's funny, you mentioned that Washington hasn't taken a quarterback in the first round since RG3. Then they took Kirkland.

Well, top town. Top ten, I'm sorry. Yeah, because there's Jake Dway. Haskins and uh who was they who else they take um because i was going all the jason campbell they took jason kansas keith schiller that that was i think that's the last one they took top top top top 10 right in 194 yeah and then i took gus ferrott like later then i think ferrott like beat him out or something like that yeah heath shill i think it was state representative but i know my brain was going all the way back there we had campbell we my uh campbell was at with the bears uh when my dad was

there. I hate when I do that. That was one most impressive looking quarterbacks I've ever seen in my life. Holy crap. I get it. Like I get my take. I know you have the whole offense coordinator change, but I'll talk about Jason Campbell a different time. But pick three, maybe another quarterback's landing spot. Really huge pivot point in the draft with the Patriots there right now. Because any kind of path makes sense, at least to me, about what they could take. What are some of those paths that may be stand out to me, Dane? Okay. So I think this, Patriots are fascinating. And I think regardless of what they end up doing,

they're going to Indianapolis, hoping that the top three quarterbacks crush it. Caleb, Drake, and the Jaden Daniels. They want to see all three test great, throw the ball well, interview at the best of their abilities. I don't know what they're going to say publicly, but I 100% believe they want to draft a quarterback.

They're looking at their own depth chart. They know what they have right now. They know it's not good enough. The proof is on the tape. You need to do something. to upgrade. And if you're hoping that all three of these quarterbacks impress you when you're in Indianapolis, because that way you'll have options.

You could stick and pick and take the quarterback. But regardless, even if you end up coming to the conclusion that this is a two-quarterback class and that they go one and two and you're missing out on your guy at three, you still hope these three guys crush it because then your phone's going to be blowing up, the Giants, the Falcons, Denver, Minnesota. Vegas, teams calling making offers to go up to get number three. And then at the end of the day, you have a decision to make about trading back

or going with the top non-quarterback, whether that's Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik neighbors, whoever ends up being for New England. But I 100% believe they want to draft a quarterback. That is their hope to come away from the combine saying, all right, yeah, you know what? We'd be fine with any one of these three guys. And we are sitting in a good spot to do it.

So time will tell. Gerard Mayo, first year head coach, Elliot Wolfe. Obviously, we know his dad and everything he did in Green Bay. Elliot's well respected around the league. Yes, he's bounced around. He's worked under a lot of different GMs, you know, from John Dorsey and his dad and, you know, with what he's done in New England. And so what will his approach be to this? But I think from ownership down, they want a quarterback.

It's interesting because he also being the early Ron Wolf's son, that Wolf is generally known as kind of the height, weight, speed, athleticism, traits, all these types of things. So it's, you know, and Belichick kind of had a little bit of that, but it was different. It was more about size, I would say, and football kind of wherewithal, which kind of got some hurt at some skill position spots. But, you know, his defense alignment were a certain type. And so that's always just an interesting kind of mindset. changed than we've seen maybe in New England the last two decades. But no, it's a great point. Elliot Wolf, it's, I mean, he's been around for so long, even though he's like our age,

a few years older. Like, he's just, he's a true, true, true, true life or so it's going to be interesting. I know the quarterback there is if, if they fall in love with the guy, that's the thing, you only need one team to fall in love with a player, especially a quarterback. And so even if they might not like Daniels, a team might love Daniels or maybe a team wants to jump up to two to take Daniels and they get May, you know, or Williams or some weird can happen. You never know how these things shake out, but they're just such an interesting team right now just for a hundred million reasons. And then another interesting team,

at least to me, maybe football nerd is Arizona Cardinals. And they are another. They can kind of get some great things here as this draft falls. They don't technically really need a quarterback. Kyler looked decent in Drew Petzing's offense and they could still build around it. They can, they got a little bit of a war chest in this draft as well. Some of the scenarios with the Cardinals that you kind of think were shaking out, some of the players they didn't might be looking at. Well, obviously, if the quarterbacks go one, two, three, then Arizona's taking the first non-quarterback in the draft.

And all signs would point towards Marvin Harrison, Jr. Just the fit makes way too much sense. So, you know, maybe it's not going to happen. But, you know, Malik neighbors, Marvin Harrison, Jr., it would just be hard to see anybody else, right? I mean, I would love to hear your take on what you think is best for the Cardinals in this spot? What do you think they should do? And what do you think they might end up doing? I think they stand pat or I think they should stand pat. And I think Marvin Harrison Jr. is that type of player that you, you know, it's a true needle mover that I would be comfortable

at them taking. Like, and if they feel like they want to keep building up through the trenches, you know, move back a little bit and take one of the top tier tackles, I understand that plan. But Harrison Jr. is one where I'm comfortable where it's like, yeah, let's just stand pat. It was just take this guy because it's just he with him and Trey McBride and with Kyler and with that offense I think could do that's like whoof that could really supercharge things quicker than even I was anticipating for them. So to me it's just they take the BPA and just get get assets, get these dudes because we have enough draft collateral already.

They have six picks I think in the top 90. I think it was seven seven in the top 105. Yeah. We don't really need some of those more dart throws. So it's actually get the blue. type of player. And we saw last year how willing they were to move around. I mean, they were wheeling and dealing throughout the draft. And so we at least know that they have that in them to move around to make sure they get their guys. And to your point, the draft capital they have

just gives them more options. They can stockpile more picks or they can use that picks to be aggressive. And if they really want somebody, go and get them. So with having two picks in the first round, this pick obviously at four, but then also pick 27, that maybe pick 27. That's where you be aggressive. Say they have 22 first round grades in this draft. Maybe that's where you're aggressive at 27 and make sure you go up into the top 24 picks to get one of your first round grades. Yeah, this would be interesting for Arizona. I agree with you. I mean, quarterback, I feel set for at least one more year. Even if Kyler struggled this year, the contract situation.

I just didn't, I don't think they can move away from that. So you're looking at surrounding him with more help, whether that's the offensive line, whether that is a pass catcher. But they're sitting in a good spot there. I just feels like Marvin Harrison Jr. Descent to wear a Cardinals uniform at this point.

It really does. Wasn't your comparison, Larry Fitzgerald? Larry Fitzgerald. The way that they can play, and it makes a lot of sense to see that, see that marriage happen again, yeah. technicians and also like an outstanding body. Yeah.

Yeah. It's not very fair. This is the thing too is that if something goes weird and say the Patriots, someone moves up, say a team loves Harrison Jr. Or something like that. And they move up with the Patriots to three. The Patriots like, oh, we don't really like Daniels that much. And something just funky like that happens where the quarterback doesn't go three.

Daniels is still sitting there. The Cardinals are at four. Now they're in that kind of spot where it's like, oh, anybody want to call? Like, hey, they can move back. And so many avenues just going to open up with these kind of two little spots. So it's just going to be so interesting. Well, I was going to say I was going to mention that at number five. I think this.

Yes, the Chargers. Yes. Yeah, because I think that's, if say the Patriots go Marvin Harrison Jr. at three. You know, they just, they look at the value of a number one type of receiver, and that's the direction they go. And say the Cardinals at the next pick, I mean, Malik Neighbors, in my opinion, is a top three player in this class.

Fantastic. Yeah. Over the moon, about. with Malik Nia. I saw you watching a little bit more of neighbors. It was Daniels and then my eyes got drawn to neighbors a little bit longer. I was trying to cut up some clips of Daniels and I was like, oh, there goes Malik neighbors. Just turning the corner on 15 guys, it seems like.

He's just, I don't know. He's, I think he's a special player. And so if you're the Cardinals at four, very realistic they could bypass some trade offers and take Malik neighbors at four. And then at number five with the Chargers, that's where, I think. think, you know, you know Harbaugh wants to put his stamp on this roster. Say the thing with the new GM, Hortiz, Joe Hortiz coming over from Baltimore. So, you know, right now I think the Chargers, they just have the original picks in each round,

but they're going to want more. So if New England passes, Arizona passes, that third quarterback is available at that fifth spot, that all of a sudden, that's the power position. teams trying to get ahead of the Giants at number six to get that third quarterback. Yeah, that'd be pretty interesting. Yeah, to me, like, if they do San Pat, I'm saying, or they stay in this kind of top ten range, maybe they just do kind of like a little flop there. I feel like just Harbaugh is going through the trenches.

Like, I just, I don't know, that just feels like him. Look how the- That's how he's built everything. So it's just, yeah. The way Michigan beat Ohio State the last three years, the way they won a national championship, the foundation was in the trenches and is very logical to think that Harbaugh would look to replicate that formula in Los Angeles. And so if this is where we see that first offensive linemen off the board, it would totally make sense. And I think it's an interesting part

of this as we do mock drafts and make these projections. You think about Harbaugh and how unique this is because of his familiarity with so many of these prospects, not just the Michigan guys, but guys he recruited or guys he played against. You know, I don't think Michigan went like super hard after Joe Walt because it always felt like he was either Notre Dame or Iowa. But obviously, you know, he's familiar with him from college. He coached against Olu Fashnu. He coached against J.C. Latham.

So, and he recruited both those guys too. So unlike most head coaches in this process, Harba already has a perspective and an informed opinion on several of these top prospects, several of them on the offensive lines. So that's definitely an interesting, you know, wrinkle with him and what the Chargers might do. That's a, no, that's a, it's a great point because it also is very telling that

I always just remember the Pete Carroll's first draft pick when he took Earl Thomas over, over Mays, Taylor Mays. Yeah. And over his guy from USC. And I remember that was just a big indicator that what the path that Pete might be going down. I was like, oh, you're not going to take it. Because Mays was so hyped, remember, and he was so stiff.

He was, you know, but he was such a freak because he, yeah, heightweight speed, right? Right? Oh, all the way. Speed straight line. Don't make a turn. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. But I think that's also, you know, with these Michigan players, Harbaugh will know better than anybody else, you know, who he would be eyeing to draft.

And that's interesting. But let's have the Brock Bowers conversation here too. Okay. Right. The idea of pairing Brock Bowers with Herber, it's a lot of fun, right? I mean, we know how much Harbaugh likes to incorporate. rate, the mismatch tight end and the offense. You know, Luke Schoonmaker was a second round

pick last year. A.J. Barner is going to be a day three pick this year. Colson Loveland, probably a first rounder next year. He's awesome. So, and Eric All, who transferred to Iowa this past year, he's going to get drafted this year. So this is where the debate comes in about tight end value,

but it's just not quite that simple with Bowers, because he's not just a tight end. And you can't, you can't label him as a tight end and build your argument against him. It just, it's going to fall apart. It doesn't work like that because he's not just a tight end. The Georgia offense was literally constructed around him and all the different things he can do. Slot, wing, in line, motion, backfield, whatever you want him to do, he can do.

And I know people will bring up Kyle Pitts, the fact that he hasn't lived up to being a top five pick. He had over a thousand yards receiving his rookie year, then multiple surgeries. And, oh yeah, his head coach was just fired because he couldn't get consistency from the quarterback's position. So if we're going to talk about Kyle Pitts, let's at least use proper context here. And I also, I get the conversation or the argument that you're not paying, that you shouldn't pay top five overall money to a tight end because once you do, he's going to be one of the highest paid in the league at his position. But I think you have to think about it, it's all relative,

because later on, you're probably going to be paying a little bit less. If you franchise to tag him, it's going to be a little bit less than a wide receiver. If you give him an extension, it's probably going to be less than if he was a top three receiver in the league. So I do think it's fair to point that out, but it's also relative to how you might be paying him later on. And so I'm not saying the pick should be Bowers, but I do think that he belongs on the short list all the way up until draft night. Yes. And it's just a comfort level where you can kind of just like, all right, how can we use him in the offense? I think Bowers just, I keep saying this, but the offensive weapon term, which I always

am like, yeah, whatever, because it's usually some 5-8 gadget guy that they can't figure out on the field. This is actually a good use of the term for Brock Bowers because he truly can win isolated. That is a past-threat, past-catching threat at any position. And I think you brought up the contract stuff. This is where this has to break for some people because of how Bowers is used. It's like calling Kelsey a tight end. No, he's a receiver.

He's a pass-catcher. Like he gets split out like a wide receiver. He lines up in a slot like a wide receiver and he, you know, just gets asked to block a couple times. But if you look at it that way, just pass catchers and just money wise, if Bowers is a 1B in your pass catching arsenal, maybe even a 1A, he can get to that level, you know, as a true primary threat and a good passing offense, you're underpaying of that. Because then you've got to look at it as a guy that's getting 120 targets, whether that's receiver or tight end. It's just pass catchers. So that's where Bowers to me is a different. He's just his own type of player.

You just got to ignore the TE. You just got to look at him as an offensive pass catcher that you move around. But he's so good. He's so good. He probably has the widest range of drafts where you could land in the top 20 picks, right? He could go here at five, and it wouldn't be shocking. He could fall, I don't know. It's hard to really figure out how far he could.

could actually fall. I don't, I don't think he's falling on the top 15, right? I mean, he's just too good. He's just too good.

Yeah. Too much of an impact player. And again, I think if you get hung up on the, like you said, the T.E. next to his name, I think you're missing the point

on what this guy can do. You're being very close-minded to what he actually gives you on the football field. So, um, yeah, he's going to be a really interesting debate here as we go through the

process. I just, he's a good player. That's all I know. And, you know, at the end of the day, that's all that matters. Give me the good players. Let's build this offense. And I think that there will be a team more than happy to draft Brock Bowers.

And I do think the conversation starts here at number five. But, okay, right now, going into the combine, if you had to put one name next to the Chargers, which name you put in? Ooh. I'd actually go with Al, Joe Alt. Yeah. Because just because it would be a tackle of some sort. But one of the tackles. I actually go with Alt because it's just everything you mentioned with the background, stuff like that too.

And I'd be interested in seeing him. The plan was Slater. And I keep making this argument. Slater has played right tackle in college. So that would be, you know, or I, but also think Fashanu and Alt have athleticism to play on the right side and kind of just wherewithal to play on the right side if he did want to do that too. Right. They don't have that experience, but they could do it. I think that's the fair.

Give six months of prep. Yeah. I know it's hard. And I know offensive line guys. It's harder than it. I know, I know. That's why you give him five months to train for it. That's why then you do that.

Like, yes, it's not the long term plan. We'll figure it out. But just to get through this year. That's why you have offensive line coaches. Yeah. During the draft process, to make sure that they give stamp of approval and say, yeah, we think he can do it, no problem. And then it's up to that coach to actually make it happen.

So, yeah, I think that that makes a lot of sense. If you put one of these tackles, I mean, I think Joe Walt's a top tackle in the draft. You put him at number five. I think that makes sense when you look at. at the foundation of what Jim Harbaugh wants to be, I think that that makes a ton of sense. Next one, which is also a true wildcard team to me. This is a Giants team.

The New York Giants are I picked six. It seems commonly so far, a lot of us, including myself, have mocked the second receiver to them after Marvin Harrison Jr., whichever one that you want to pick there. But where are some scenarios, some of the situations that the Giants are going to be going through next six, seven, eight weeks, because it seems like a lot that they could be doing. offensive line is obviously a big need here.

They have to get better on the offensive line, but where do they see the best way of doing that? They drafted Evan Neal top 10 two years ago, and that hasn't worked out yet. Are they at the point where they would move him inside to guard full time and you draft a tackle here? Obviously, you feel good about Andrew Thomas, a left tackle. What are you doing at right tackle?

And what are you doing with Evan Neal? That's kind of a big thing that is a little bit up in the air right now. Wide receiver makes a ton of sense because regardless of who your quarterback is, who's your number one target in this offense? I mean, it's hard to feel great about who you're number one. Who's your difference maker? Who's going to be the guy that defensive coordinators are worried about in the passing game? They just don't have that guy right now.

And so if you have a chance, I mean, if Mill League neighbors there, to me, I don't know how you're passing on my league neighbors. But I understand why that might go offensive line. And then, of course, if a quarterback makes it there. Okay, let's just, if you're the Giants, and let's say that Daniels gets past New England at three, what are you, are you willing to put draft capital forward to go and get Daniels if you're the GM of the Giants? Right. And with also the contract with Jones still pay, because then you're paying.

that room. You're not kind of getting that kind of discount that you want with the cheap contract. I, if they like him, that's the thing. If they do, I totally understand it. If they're like, this is our guy, yes, he, I mean, there's some differences with him and Jones, but there's also actually some weird similarities, which we'll talk about, I'm sure as we talk more about this. Some of the ways they attack throwing the ball.

It's actually kind of funny. But I think it's a little rich for me unless they really like the guy because of just what they need and everything. like that because also the special talent that neighbors is. You know, so I just think, because I think if say he did go to like, okay,

Daniels is still there at four. We'll just say that. So they would have to flop two spots. I'm sure they're getting so many calls to move up. So I'm sure all these other teams are going like, hey, we'll give up this. Do I want to get in that bidding war? And then I'm like, okay,

we're out already and we're not even getting the discount in place anyway. So that to me is a little rich. Yeah. Well, I mean, the Giants, they do have three picks or four picks in the top 70. They have the two,

two twos. Williamson, all that, yeah. Right. And so they do have a little bit of extra draft capital to go make it happen. And they are kind of the first in line, right? So if you're the Cardinals and you don't want to move back too far, you know, you move back from four to six and you're guaranteed to still get one of the receivers. You know, if you want to go tackle, you go that direction too.

So instead of going from four down to, say, 12 in Denver or, or even eight, Atlanta. You feel better about going to six. So that plays a factor too. It's, you know, the Giants are at the head of the line with when it comes to these conversations. And again, this is a top, we've been talking about this draft since August, how it's going to be a top heavy draft.

This is the year to be drafting in the top 10. So even though we are talking about teams possibly trading back, you don't want to move back too far. You want to try and stay as close to the top 10, if not in the top 10 as you can. because you want to get one of these blue chippers. You want to get one of these guys that are true difference making or project as difference making talents. And so, you know, we mentioned it with the Chargers wanting to move back.

If the Cardinals want to move back, the fact that you're trading back just two or three spots instead of five or six, that matters when you're talking about the top ten and especially this top ten. Yeah, you say, okay, yeah, it's only a day two pick, quote-unquote, only a day two pick. All right, they're getting up that, but we can't, man, the drop off at the receiver position's there or the drop off at this position.

That matters so much. I know. I haven't even just trying to think what a six to four swap would cost because, okay, when the Trubisky trade with the 49ers, with the bears of 49ers, I think they gave up a third just to swap to one spot. I've topped my head. That's what I remember. So I was just trying to even think what those kind of one pick swaps or two pick swaps are in the top 10. But it's a great point. This is a top heavy draft compared to maybe even recent years where we.

had some really good role kind of player draft. Like that 20 to 40 spot was kind of the sweet spot. This is the opposite. This is just like loaded, loaded, loaded. Premium spots too. Let me ask you this, because I know how you feel about May. Let's say Daniels goes two. And then let's say May, say the Patriots go in a different direction at three.

Say May is there at four. And you're the GM of the Giants. What are you trading to make sure you get May at four? Oh, boy. See that? See, this is a bunch of question. Yes. This is a family-friendly show.

Keep it, you know, but I want to know what you would give up. Yeah. What would you give up to go up and make sure you get May at 4 and eliminate all doubt? Make sure that the Cardinals at 4 aren't considering any other offers. They know this is your best offer. Here it is. What is that? Because I would offer a second.

I would offer. That's what I'd offer it. So, I'm sure they. 39. Yes. Which would be the earlier of the two seconds that the Giants have. Yes. That's what I would offer.

And I'm sure there to go, well, no, we want a future first. And that's so that would be how much I love them. It would be one of those two. It would either be this year's second or next year's first. But that's such a rich flop to do that for. But I would say, but it's a quarterback that and you're desperate. That's the thing. That's a desperation.

I would try to stay a hold and just that it's a day two pick from this year. But, man, I know they would be asking for a future first. And that would be a tough one to. I would do it. I know it's rich. Let's be honest. I would do it. I know, but that's me.

That's the thing. But that's perfect. That's a perfect thought experiment, though, because for Daniels, I'd be like, I don't know. No, but for May, yes, but that's how these GMs are going to be. I think, I'm with you. I think I would do it too. This is what Robert does with me with DAC all the time.

He'll go, well, this guy or this quarterback, I'd be like, yeah, no. And he goes, well, what it's, Dak? And I'm, oh, well. No, look, if you believe in the guy, then you go get him. Simple as that. That's it. You know, it's rich. It's costly.

But, you know what? The Texans believed that much in Will Anderson. and they went and got them. And we're not talking right now about how the Texans really screwed up and gave up the 27th pick for the defensive rookie of the year. We haven't mentioned to the edges yet. Yeah, right, exactly. And I think you also factor in, this is something we haven't talked about yet,

but projecting forward next year's quarterback class is not on the level of it. Now, maybe we have a Jayton Daniels who ascends. You know, we just, you can't predict that. could a quinewers really make that jump and take that step that you're hoping for in his development next year at Texas? Sure, it's possible. But right now with the information we have, the evidence in front of us, next year's draft at quarterback does not look as strong as what we have this year. And so if you have a chance to go get your guy, I'm not going to fault any team that is aggressive and goes and makes it happen. If it doesn't work out, yeah, your GM's going to be out of a job. But you know what?

he went down swinging and went down trying to get a guy that you think is a difference maker for your franchise. Yeah, that's why the May one for me is like, yeah, yeah, I'll be comfortable with that one. I'm trying to just even think of the other ones that moved up.

That's a great point about the class though, because even that with the Will Anderson one, I've looked at this edge class and there's like, there's no impact, no one even close to that tier of a winner. That's why I didn't slam the bears for trading a second round pick for Montez sweat. Montes, I know it was risky because they hadn't given a contract at that point.

And you gave the player all the, leverage when it comes to that extension. I get it. I understand why many were against that trade when it happened. But I wasn't going to slam it because I know how this pass rush class was looking. And nobody's close to Montez Sweat with what you were going to be able to get at that second round pick. So, yeah, I, yes.

And again, it was costly. It was a very expensive trade with what the contract you had to give out. But for the bears, I thought it made all a sense in the world. and with the past rushers that will be available in the second round this year, it's kind of a no-brainer. Right. Yeah. And Montess Sweat also made sense to me because he barely missed time.

I think the only time he missed time in the NFL is when he broke his jaw. And it was just, like you said, it's one you need, they needed players. Like you said, for the bears, it made so much sense for them because they needed a very good or above player, that that guy that can be a pro bowl quality player in the right situation. And also, if you want to build out. a pass rush, it's been proven now that you obviously need me more than one guy. So how do we get more than one guy? Well, we have to start with one guy.

That's how you get to two or three good pass rushers. You need to start with one. So now I'm with the Montesville. That one's, I think, even with the price they paid, I think it's aged already in four months, been just a great train for them. Everything he's on there. At this time, two years ago, I think they regretted the Chase Claypool trade. at this time right now they don't regret the Montess Wet Trade

and I don't think they will yeah How do you find those guys? You usually have to take a first round or you pay these guys a premium well okay they paid a premium boom done but speeder premium uh yeah pick seven which I've been the popular Joe Alt destination from Notre Dame offense tackle here to the Titans uh the Titans to me seems very they actually are set up kind of nice for what they need, which is offensive tackle or receiver.

It's a theme in this top 10, right? I mean, the Giants, the chargers, the Cardinals, I mean, all of these teams could use a pass catcher or an offensive line. And that's the strength of the top 10. So, yeah. Jets, the Jets? The other one? Exactly.

There's a lot of that. Chicago at nine. Yeah. I know. It's set up nicely for them. I know. It's every time I do one of these mocks or even the big board, I'm like, I got throw a defensive player in here for some, at some point, because it's offensive.

Off its, offense, offense. But yeah, the scenarios for the Titans, any kind of possibilities of them doing anything different, or do you kind of see the same, but just kind of offensive line of receivers? Yeah, I mean, I get to thinking that, okay, we have Bill Callahan now, right? He's in the mix. We don't have to invest heavy on the offensive line.

I'm kind of the opposite of that where I'm going to invest in the offensive line because I'm going to draft the guys that Callahan stamps with his approval, right? And the chances of you hitting on those picks and making the offensive line of strength, it skyrockets if you're investing early picks with this offensive line coach and, you know, the development process. And I think, okay, let's look at this front office, Rand Carthon, he's a former running back. You think he knows offensive line play pretty well? Anthony Robinson, he's the assistant GM.

He came over from Atlanta, right? Yeah, yeah. So you're familiar with him. He's kind of a major say in the Tennessee draft room. You think about where he came from in Atlanta and how they built that offensive line. They did it. A lot of those early round picks on the offensive line. So I just think that everything points to offensive line with this pick. You know, you just keep building on that line.

Peter Scoronsky last year, whether that's Joe Walt or Foshanoo this year. I just think it makes a ton of sense. Yeah, it's building strength, a true identity for your team. team. And I think any team loves to do that. The lines kind of, it worked out perfectly because they already had that strength. And they just, oh, it's drop Shul and do it. Okay, cool. And, uh, yeah, that, I mean, that leads their team. You can see just how that team, the impact of that unit. And I think just makes sense. I think that's what they want to do. Obviously, you know, with Gowahann being there now and just being the son of an offensive line coach, I can relate. Uh, no, but that's great with Aerob too.

Aerobs, uh, has Florida state background too. And I used always kind of joke with them about that being from Wisconsin and stuff like, oh, you guys don't know the line play. No, he knows his line play. So, yeah, I think they're going to definitely be be amping that up a bit. The next one are former employers. That's the Atlanta Falcons at number eight. They could be a move-up candidate. This could be a J.J. McCarthy landing spot, maybe.

This could be a really interesting. Yeah, that conversation starts, right? Right. The J.J. McCarthy conversation. Yeah. And I think somewhere in that 8 to 12 range is where I think J.J. McCarthy is going to end up. We're two months before the draft.

So I was a little hesitant to tweet that. I tweeted it last week and I was a little hesitant to do it because, you know, it wouldn't be surprising if he ends up being Will Levis and, you know, falling a little bit. Right. You know, quarterback is such a tricky thing, but there's enough love for him already. And there was love for him in the summer. I mean, he was my 18th or 19th prospect in my top 50 in August. Like I was hearing love for him in the summer.

Once coaches get involved with JJ McCarthy, that's what's really going to put him over the top and why I believe he's going to be a top 12 pick. And this is where at Atlanta, where I think that conversation starts. But I do think Atlanta is going to be aggressive. And they're going to be making calls about, okay, because if you're the Giants,

I think Atlanta is who you're worried about. Because if that third quarterback does get past the Patriots, Falcons are who you're worried about if you're the Giants moving up to go get that guy. but yeah, it'll be interesting. But maybe we'll already know before the draft what Atlanta's going to do,

meaning a Justin Fields trade, meaning Kirk Cousins, you know, whatever, maybe we already, maybe they show their hand before the draft that we know. Because, you know,

if you're the Falcons, you're kind of looking at all your options, you're thinking, you know what? We just don't feel great about us getting one of these top three quarterbacks. And we like JJ McCarthy, but we need someone that's ready to go now.

And so McCarthy maybe not the best fit for Atlanta at 8. So, you know, I think maybe we see this as a situation where they go quarterback prior to the draft and then at 8 they can take the top player on their board. Right. And to me, this could be the defensive first spot too. Could be. You could see the edge. You can see a corner, Arnold, I think it's both our quarteritarian Arnold. This is, I on the pod last week with Robert, or it came out earlier this week, I kind of was doing math with McCart.

McCarthy and I was like this or quarterback math I should say because it's kind of just like convoluted math it's the inflation you know I was like well you know Dane and I we kind of have similar grades I go say I have a second round grade on McCarthy okay you give the half round inflation okay that's the late first round I got team really likes them that's 10 spots up that's how you get a guy in the top 12 it's like just like that that's how a second round graded quarterback ends up at the top 12 so even going off your tweet too I started just kind of doing the math on the air and I was like yeah that I could see that that's how mac jones went what did Mac Jones, I'd have been going 15.

15, yeah. I kind of agreed him more or less the same tier, get that inflation, and that's how these guys end up in kind of this top half of the round. I think they're too wildly different players. But like you said, once coaches watch McCarthy, and I keep saying this point, I'm nauseam, the Shanean coaches are going to like this guy a lot. Yes. This is the type of guy they love all the way through. So this is, that's why he's going to have a lot of fans. And Falcons have one of those coaches.

Zach Robinson. Robinson. It makes a lot of, it's a very, very big point. But yeah, I have been joking and given them a receiver in the mock. That's just, just to really annoy everybody. I just been enjoying doing that, but yeah, it seems like the quarterback wants way live. The thing with McCarthy, though, is I do think he's, he needs time. Like, and I do, when you look at Atlanta, it just feels like they, they're in a position where they want somebody right away. And so, right. And so, right. And that shouldn't drive your conversation about what to do a quarterback, but it does, it does matter. And so that, that makes it an interesting part of, you know, what quarterback they might target

there at number eight. But yeah, and to your point, this is probably the most likely spot where we could see that first defensive player off the board or the earliest we could see a defensive player off the board. But you know, okay, if you're at number nine, you're Chicago, I kind of mentioned this last week. I'm looking at my options about moving up to go one of these receivers. I know it's a deep draft at receiver. But if I'm Ryan Poles, I'm going.

And if neighbors are Adunzei fall enough, you know, I don't know. I'm going to go get them because I just did the chance to pair one of these guys with DJ Moore and you have your quarterback Caleb Williams, your offensive line's going to be better next year. you've got the tight end in place. I mean, this offense, all of a sudden, the optimism around this offense is, you can get pretty excited about it. So if I'm Chicago, that's what I'm going to try and do.

And I'm not going to sit, maybe one of these receivers, maybe one of those top three receivers falls me at nine. I'm going to be aggressive and I'm going to go get them. I don't, like, what would it cost you think to move up from nine to, let's see the receiver, let's see one of these receivers gets passed out of the top six. So if I'm going from nine to seven,

what's that going to cost me? That's probably day two pick, right? That's, yeah. Maybe, yeah, say a third. Because I'm trying to think because I've seen teen ones. I've seen two one pick swaps and teens usually go for like a fourth or a third or a future third. I'm trying to just even think. That's the thing too.

It's like what you want to crank out of it because that's what I'm starting at and it's on negotiations work. So it's, I don't know. What do you think right there are two pick swap? Because that's not going to be more than that, would it? No, I think a third is, I think. that's that's makes sense. Yeah. And if you're the bears, you hope so because you don't have a second round.

Yeah. Yeah. Now, if you make this trade, you don't pick again until the fourth round. So you're, interior line 11. You're, you're taking day two off. Okay.

And so it's, but, okay, they have picked 75. So it takes pick nine and pick 75 to guarantee you one of these top three receivers. So would you rather have, Okay, who are they going at number nine if they don't take a receiver?

Let's just say it's, what, a pass rusher? Or say they take the top pass rusher off the board. Say it's Dallas Turner. Because I think they feel okay with Braxton Jones, a left tackle, darn on right tackle. Let's just say they take Dallas Turner at number nine. Yeah. Okay, so Dallas Turner at nine.

And then who's the receiver they take at 75? Let's just, I'll pull up my top 100. Who's the closest receiver to 75? It's Ricky Purcell. He's at 78. Perso, right? Okay, so would you rather have Dallas Turner and Ricky Pearsall or would you rather have neighbors or a Dunezay, one of those two?

Neighbors are in Dunzee. And that's just, there's a tear break in position. Yeah, even great. This is why when you look at the big board, it's like there, this is where the tear breaks happen. No, Robert kind of posed this question too. You guys, you say it's a deep receiver class. Wouldn't you be more comfortable with the Bears,

maybe taking this next tier or two tiers down of a receiver in the second I was like, but these three are special. Like in that, and that changed my thinking too. These are true, true needle movers to me. And I think you as well. So I, yeah, I like that thought experiment though. Because it makes sense.

Like you said, that's a, these guys walk in and it's like, boom, they're the alpha of the offense. They can eat those targets, those 10 targets a game. And that matters as opposed to another guy that could be more of an auxiliary role. Yeah. And it's only going to help Caleb Williams in his development. Right. You're helping DJ more on the other side. I mean, it's feel good about what this is due for the offense as a whole.

I don't know. I'm going to be aggressive here, but I don't know. They're going to have options. Not having that second round pick, though, taking a day, you know, day two off, basically. It's a tough pill to swallow. But again, I'm going to just going to, I'm going to sit there on day two and watch Roamed Dunezai highlights if I'm Ryan Poles. And I'm going to feel really good about my offense moving forward.

Him on Dengze Moore is like perfect synergy too. Yeah. Like for an accent a Z. it's like, oh, it's exactly what you want. It's just the, yeah, their complimentary skillsets. I know Bears fans are just salivating right now. If you don't give them the exact receiver that they hyped up that, they get so mad.

They get so mad at you. Number 10, another one that, like, I don't know, I feel like the position here, it kind of sets up nicely for them, but we have the Jets. I kind of, this is the J.C. Latham spot for me. That's why I keep kind of, he's offensive tackle three from Alabama for me.

But any other scenarios of situations, for the Jets that you see, Dane, because maybe I've just pigeonholed myself in my line of thinking here that they would just probably go with an offense tackle here. Well, I think that obviously depends on what your general manager, Aaron Rogers wants to do, you know? I mean, it's, it feels like it's going to be something that's going to help Aaron Rogers. It's going to help this offense. Because they're all in for this year. You know, we don't know what 2025 is going to look like, but we know 2024. Yeah, right.

The defense is going to hold its own. So this is going to be a past catcher or it's going to be a past catcher who they believe can help right away or it's going to be someone an offensive lineman they think can help right away. And is Olu Foshanu still available here? If he's off the board,

what does their offensive line stack look like? Is it Latham? Who is I don't, in some teams even have Latham on the board as a guard. You know, how does he fit with their plans? if it's not Latham,

is it Fooaga from Oregon State? You know, how does their stack really... Then you look at Tyler Gight and you look at Amarius Mims. I don't think that those guys are far enough in their development where you feel great about drafting them right away because... That's a Packers pick, not a Jets pick. Yeah.

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. This is also where I think Brock Bowers makes a ton of sense. Because, again, you can't look at him as just a tight end and him, oh, yeah, he's an upgrade. over Tyler Conklin or, you know, Jeremy Rucker, you can't just look at it just like that. You have to look at him as an offensive weapon and what he can do as a whole.

And so, yeah, our writer Zach Rosenbideover at The Athletic did a nice piece today, kind of laying out the options for the Jets. And it's all past catchers and it's all offensive linemen. So it just depends on how their board stacks out and who's available for them starting at number 10. I threw this out and I meant it more just as a body type comparison, just like how they look. And that was Fulaga reminded me of Bacdiari, just how their stances were and how they look and something. They do not play alike at all. That's what I want to reiterate that.

I did not want to say like these guys play alike, but they're body type. So I was like, oh, I don't know, makes sense for the Jets. Maybe that, you know, Aaron's just like, hey, that guy has the same kind of like a little similar stance and body type. Maybe that actually works out. We get them over here. But no, that was, I watched a little bit of Fouwaga. versus Latu this week, which was interesting. That was a fun little matchup.

He held his own. Yeah. Yeah, it was a back and forth. Classic, nice little, you know, high prospect back and forth that you like to see. Another, now we're getting to the back to back. We've got these last two picks here, and we've mentioned them several times. They might be move-up candidates, but we got the Vikings at 11. Vikings are interesting because they're kind of like the Falcons in a way where it's like,

hey, they have this kind of offense. They could go with Kirk Cousins, or are they going to build to the future at their quarterback position as well? but Vikings are a very interesting team. They can move around a lot. Where are some other scenarios, scenarios that you see maybe with the Vikings right now. One of the worst kept secrets in last year's draft was how much the Vikings wanted to draft a quarterback. It didn't happen.

The board didn't fall that way. But now we go into this draft and I think it's fair to assume again they're going to be hunting quarterbacks in the draft. And if I'm JJ McCarthy, I think this is where I want to go. This is the landing spot. The Vikings, you bring back Kirk Cousins on a one-year deal. You draft McCarthy to be the future. Love the fit with Kevin O'Connell and his offense. And we talked about McCarthy being, you know, I said he'd be a top 12.

There's a good chance he's a top 12 pick. I expect him to be a top 12 pick. Part of the reason I said that is because who's picking on the top 12? And you look at 11 here, 12, Denver. either of these landing spots, I think, would make sense. And I think with, especially with O'Connell, you look at the way he wants to run quick game and the way he likes to get his quarterbacks in rhythm, he'll let him use his legs.

You know, he'll let him move the pocket and he'll kind of game plan from there. You think about sale concepts and McCarthy's ability to process and be accurate, especially over the middle. And you look at Michigan, you look at their pro-style spread offense that they ran. there's a lot of parallels what I think O'Connell likes to do in terms of exploiting the defense, using motions, using alignment to create mismatches. Same way. Yeah. It's all stuff McCarthy was very good at doing in Ann Arbor.

So I certainly understand why not everybody is full, all in on McCarthy being a top 12 pick. I get it. I'm not sure I would draft him that early. He was, what, 24 or whatever on my top 100? 38 for me. Yeah, right. And so like them, but it's obviously an expensive bill to pay and a risk to draft him that early when the body of work isn't great. But, you know, Mack Jones was a 15th overall pick and I believe he had fewer dropbacks than J.J. McCarthy did in college. So it's not crazy. I mean, Anthony Richardson didn't even come close. Obviously, he was a totally different skill set and talent and all that. But yeah, when you have, when talking about J.J. McCarthy. He's sharp. He's accurate. He's mobile. I think the biggest thing, he's going to blow away coaches with the intangibles. And I think that that's going to be a

factor here with Minnesota. And again, the love for McCarthy is not new. This isn't like a recency bias type of thing. He was a top 20 prospect for me back in the summer. It's a guy that teams have been identifying as, hey, there's something here. And for the right fit, I think it makes sense. soda could certainly be that right fit. And he's the, the size thing is mine biggest negative with him right now because he's sub 200, but I started combined will be big.

For the weight stuff. Jaden Daniels, same thing. Yes. Last year it was Bryce Young. You know, was he be over 200 pounds. He got to 204 and then he was right back down probably 192 the rest of the year. With Jane Daniels, I think the number is going to be

can he get up to 212? I think that'll be the number to watch for with Daniels. And then with J.G. McCarthy, I think it's 210. You know, can he be comfortably over 210 pounds? And so that's going to be interesting in the combine. That's one of those numbers that be very eager to see. Yeah, they drink a lot of water.

Scott Tulzian told me about how much water he drank before his way in because he wanted to break that 210 threshold as well. No, but McCarthy, too, so I was looking at weight stuff. And I noticed, like Lamar and Vic were two guys under 210 that have had success. And Mark Bolger was another one. So I was looking under 205. I was just curious. So I just looked at a simple stat on pro football reference, which is adjusted yards

per attempt, which is, you know, adjust for touchdowns and their receptions. I just looked at seven. And seven yards are more a year. And why that number is, if anybody in the top half of the league this year was seven or more. So basically average or better quarterback in the last 20ish years. So the only quarterbacks, sub 20, five, break that number.

Seven in the last since 2000 are Jeff Garcia, who played in this type of offense. Aaron Brooks, who was his own kind of thing. And then Kirk Cousins was the other one. Yeah. Same threshold, seven yards, seven yards or more. If you went eight yards or more, which is like, okay, an excellent season or more, Joe Montana, Joe Thaisman, and Kirk Cousins. Yeah, I heard those guys.

But all these, but I watch. And if you look at McCarthy, he's listed right now, like, 6-3, whatever he is. There's 198, 202, somewhere out there. Cousins, 62 and change, 6.3. He's listed 205. I think he waited about the same at the combine. He was 6.025, 214 at the combine. Yes.

And now he's listed at 205 on the pro on the pro charts. So it tells how much water weight he had. But that's where they're comfortable with that body type. Maybe I'm not because I like more kind of a different flavor of quarterback. But they are fine with that because he stands in the pocket. He moves well in the pocket. He has great pocket feel. that's something that grew up.

That's why I like him more than I did even two months ago. More you watch him, the more you watch those dropbacks, more you see, his feel in the pocket, his timing, his willingness to just work over the middle. That is such a huge thing. And that's what they love. And he's comfortable throwing left or right. Hey, this team, these guys like bootlegs and play actions, you have to be able to do that.

So they're going to like him. They're going to like a lot. And the athlete that he is. I mean, he's such a much better athlete than Kirk Cousins even is, you know, in terms of. Yes. Yes. And not just, I'm not just.

talking about, you know, scrambling and just move in the pocket and being a guy that's not going to be, you know, stationary. He can do some different things with his arm angles. And, I mean, that, that catch he had that,

the adjustment he made on that catch against Alabama tells you what kind of athlete that he is. So, yeah, yeah, Kirk Cousins is not quite what, uh, what JJ is.

It's, yeah, same body type, different, a little bit different type of flavors. Some, some, some,

some, some, some, so by that, I just thought that was interesting. I was like, this was the other little skinny guy that's worked out. And it was Kirk Cousins.

And Kirk, another thing, both these guys, tough as hell. McCarthy and Cousins is an all-time tough guy. And I think more people have respected it recently, which is really cool to see. But I think McCarthy's got some, he's got some balls in there in the pocket. The last one, this dirty dozen of this mock simulator, whatever we just want to call this mock scenario. Will it Marissa come up with the title? But we have the Denver Broncos who are also kind of some of the stuff we just talk about the Vikings. Maybe we kind of pass it over to the Broncos as well.

But some of the scenarios here, I know quarterback is won, but any other things that you're thinking of with the Broncos right now. Yeah, and this is where we could also see the next run on defensive players come. We feel like, okay, Russell Wilson probably not going to be back in Denver. So what's what direction are they going at quarterback? They only have two picks in the top 120. So unless we're talking about future ones, you know, it's going to be hard for Denver to really make a big splash. but this was right around where where was when the 49ers moved up for Trey Lance

I mean they were, was that 11 they were at or 12? Yeah, I mean, so there's a blueprint out there. If the Denver wanted to be bold and go up to three and get that guy, there's a blueprint in place to what it would take and it would really take away from your draft spending, but you know how badly Sean Payton wants to get that quarterback right and it'll be really interesting what he feels is the best course of action to go to go get that. I mean, if you're like, okay, I know this is an unfair question, but best guess who's the Bronco

starting quarterback in a week one in six months? You know, I think it's weird stid them. Very well, might be. It might be. Until whoever they have behind them is ready to take over. I mean, he knows. James is going to come on over? but that's what we're talking about.

It's one of these grab bag names, Jacoby Brissette. Like, you don't know, like, it's one of these names. I know. So they moved up, the foreignaires moved up from 12 to 3. It was about a month before the season, right? It was about, it was like right when April started. Yeah. Or that's the season.

The season, yeah, the draft season. Yeah, the draft. They gave up that year's first, the following years first, the following years third, and the year after first, which is last year's draft. So they gave up, what, 12 overall. would turn into 29 overall, 101 overall, and 29 overall. It's a lot.

That is a lot. That is a lot. But using that that draft, or that as a blueprint, they could do it because, you know, they don't,

we're not talking about second rounders and third rounders this year. We're talking about future ones. So as badly as it would hurt, if they believe enough in one of these three quarterbacks, there's at least a possibility they could try to make that move. Absolutely. And, I mean, it just seems like Sean Payton's kind of cranking it up where he's like,

yeah, let's do this. Let's push it. He's bringing, that's really turning to New Orleans West. Jim Leonard went over there, by the way. That was very interested to see that. With Wisconsin ties there? Wisconsin ties, yeah. And also just, I was always curious if you ever jumped to the NFL, this kind of a different path.

I thought Leonard would take coaching wise, taking the year off and everything. But because some of the stuff he does, a lot of people are copying, which is a lot of Rex Ryan stuff. So it's kind of fun to see that. So I'm curious. I see how that rises in the NFL. But, Dan, this was awesome. This is a dozen scenario thing, and we didn't even get to the back 20.

Yeah. It'll be fascinating to see how it changes over the next few weeks at the Combine, and then, you know, once we get into free agency and all of that, it will be really interesting. But, yeah, it's look forward to seeing you in person here in a week. So it'll be fun. Yeah, see you soon.

Yeah, well, we're going to be having a Combine Primer It will come out early next week. So be on to look up for that on YouTube and our podcast feed. I think it'll be on YouTube. We'll say it's on YouTube and our podcast feed as well. But thank you guys all for joining us. There's going to be plenty of stuff on the Athletic Football Show feed. Prospects of Prospects of Prospects especially.

We've got the Combine. We've got plenty of stuff. Pro days. A ton of fun stuff coming up. So make sure to check it out. See you guys next time. This was the Athletic Football Show's prospects to pros podcast.