The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - The 2025-26 debut of Building the Beast with Dane Brugler

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

Dane Brugler is back on The Athletic Football Show year-round. Every week through the draft, Dane and Dave Helman will bring you Building the Beast, giving you a week-by-week look at how The Beast comes together. In this debut episode, Dane explains the process of building his initial top 50, and then he and Dave go through the top draft prospects and five key positions. They wrap things up with prospects to watch in Week 0 and Week 1 of the college football season.Hosts: Dave Helman and Dane BruglerExecutive Producer: Michael BellerProducer: Michael BellerSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...⁠Apple⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠YouTube⁠Follow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Dave on X: @davehelman_Follow Dane on X: @dpbruglerTheme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the debut episode of what we are calling Building the Beast. I am Dave Hellman, and when Robert brought me on to the athletic football show, we talked about this. It is here. We have not forsaken you, NFL draft fans. We are back with an in-season NFL draft podcast. We are here to help you build the Beast. Dane Brugler's annual draft guide, our Bible, my Bible, at least. I use it religiously.

I have for about 10 years at this point. But what is the process of building that look like? How does it start in the summer and how do we put it together as we inch toward the 2026 NFL draft in Pittsburgh? That is the purpose of this show. We're going to dive into everything, the major storylines, the quarterbacks, and on down the line. Every single position, as many prospects as humanly possible. We're going to be with you throughout the football season, Dane Bruegler and myself, talking prospects, talking draft. We are back

and I am really looking forward to it. So enough with the intro. Let's jump into it with me and Dane Bruegler, building the beast. If you're listening to a draft podcast in August, let's be real, you probably don't need an introduction for my co-host, but I'm going to go

ahead and give him one anyway. He is the lead draft writer at the athletic, long-time draft analyst, good friend of mine, expert barbecue pitmaster, Dan Brugge my guy what is going on man it is so good to hear your voice and see your face as part of this this is this is going to be fun i i cannot wait to do a weekly draft podcast with you as part

of the athletic this is going to be awesome um you know you and i go back man what the first i was trying to think the first draft that we covered together i think it was 14 was that Zach Martin, Aaron Donald. I was going to say, so this is the first episode of Building the Beast. If you're new to the show, if you're new to the two of us, we're excited to have you. But Dane and I go back a decade or more. Yeah, it was 2014 in what I will describe as a very decked out broom closet that we call the podcast studio at the Cowboys old facility way back in Irving, Valley Ranch. And it was 2014, so it was Zach Martin and Aaron Donald.

It was Odell Beckham. I believe back then, before we had this very nice interactive beast, we had to print out our own beast. And it was Jedevi and Clownie on the cover. Yeah, I'd say we've come a pretty long way, man. We were worried about Johnny Mansell. Would we have to talk about him in Dallas that year? And of course, we got a shout out Brian Brought us, who brought it all together as part of that draft show. You were working for the Cowboys at the time.

I was working with CBS and NFL Draft Scout and Cowboys brought me in to kind of be another draft voice. And it's been cool to see how everything's grown from there. And so who would have thought, yeah, over a decade later, we're doing this together. And so with the Athletic, we've done a weekly draft podcast really every year since I've been at the Athletic, which is seven years now, which is crazy. Except for last year. We took a year off last year in terms of doing an in-season draft podcast. And the, I think I can call it outrage. I mean, the amount of messages I received, like, hey, why aren't we, you know, we need this.

And so I'm very happy that we can bring it back to everyone. We'll just be weekly and we'll have plenty to talk about throughout the year. It's such a gratifying thing because the draft show then, I mean, the point was to educate cowboy fans about their team. but what was so special about it was we discovered, or I discovered anyway, I don't want to speak for you, but there is such an appetite for draft content that has nothing to do with team specific stuff. Like obviously fans want to know who their team is going to draft, and that's all very exciting. But we also just, we want to know about the players. We want to know about the process.

We want to know the work that goes into it. we want to stack prospects and argue about whose, you know, stack is the correct one. There's so much about the draft that we love and that fans love that really has nothing to do with where these guys end up. And that's what I want this show to be about is the process, all of that stuff that goes into it. And I think building the beast is such an apropos name because we're going to start from square one the same way that all 32 teams do. and by the time we get to April,

you'll know, you'll have the blurbs and Danes guide memorized in time for the draft. It's going to be incredible. I'm really looking forward to it. Props to, is it you that came up with that name or is I was Robert or, but yeah, building the beast. I think that it really fits what this podcast is going to be all about because it's, it's kind of, you know, a journey together to talk about the 2026 NFL draft, the players to know, the risers, guys that maybe aren't.

living up to what we thought, the entire process. So, yeah, this is going to be a lot of fun. I think that's a Michael Beller special. So shout out to him. The brains, the brains off camera. We appreciate it. So let's start right there because, so I've known you for a decade. And before this show, most of the time I spend talking to you is January to late April, right?

Like the true draft cycle. And we always joke, like, oh, what does, what does Dane do during the? the summer. He gets in the lab. He, like, who's he even watching? How does he prioritize this stuff? So I want to start here. If you're not aware, as we're recording this, Dane's top 50, early top 50 for 2026 is getting ready to come out. It'll be out later this week as you're listening to this, just in time for the start of college football season. And I want to start with the process of putting that together, not just for you, but let's try to shed some light on how teams do this as well. When you get done writing your last bit of content for the previous draft, take me through that process of getting ready to put a top 50 together.

Yeah, well, the month of May, I take the foot off the pedal a little bit. I try and actually have a life, coach my kids in sports. And then after Memorial Day, it's like diving right back in. There's a ton of work over the next three months. And the summer is, it's huge. It's really where the most important work is done because it's building that. database. It's creating a base foundation understanding of who these players are. That way we have a frame of reference going into the season to know, okay, is a player getting better? Is he regressing?

Is he just maybe reinforcing what we saw over the summer? And all the work in the summer, it limits the surprises in the fall and helps you better prioritize your time about what you need to focus on in season. So by the time January of January of the year, first comes around. A lot of people, they're just turning the page to the off season. But for me and my purposes, most of the Hayes in the Barn at that point where we know these players. And yeah, there's still little things we need to pick up at All-Star Games, Combine, Workouts, all those things. But it's really the nonstop work in the summer that lays the groundwork. And so, like, I didn't have a single article come out in the month of June, but that's a heavy, heavy work month for me,

because it's just all about trying to knock out as many guys as possible. And so, So over the last three months, I've watched over over a thousand players that are draft eligible just to get a base understanding of who they are. And so the nice part about the summer is it's all about the film, right? It's, you know, we'll talk about the character stuff, the injury stuff and all of that. There'll be plenty of time. But right now it's all about identifying traits and understanding who these guys are as football players. And so I really do like that part of it. And that's really how NFL teams kind of their approach as well.

Because, you know, that's the summer is a little bit of a step back for scouts. Each scouting department will do it a little bit differently. But it's all about laying the groundwork. I know, you know, like a lot of our listeners, they know this. But just as a refresher, there's two main scouting services, right? National and Blesto. I think there's seven teams with Blesto. It's Falcons, Bill.

Lions, Giants, Vikings, Steelers, and Washington, I believe. So, and then there's 20 odd teams with NFS. And so these spring grades, they give you verified measurements. They give teams a working list of draft eligible players going into the summer. And then that's what area scouts, they'll focus on. They fill in the blanks with, you know, the body type observations, the character notes, these mini evaluations of the on-field talent. And, okay, recommend, don't recommend.

Is he grade as an average starter or an above-average backup? You know, all these things that area scouts will go through. So, you know, there's a working database to go into the season. So when scouts make these school calls starting this week in August or this month in August, they'll have an understanding of what to see with each program. And then you build upon the reports from there. You trust your sources at those programs. So, yeah, the summer is where you lay the groundwork and really create that foundation for what the scouting is going to look like for the next eight months.

I think that's such an interesting wrinkle. I'm glad you brought up NFS and Bresto because as much work as NFL personnel departments do and they do a ton. That is, it is such an essential building block for them is right around the time you start your tape study. Yeah, I'm not surprised that your calendar mirrors NFL teams, by the way. It's almost like you've been doing this for a while. But Bledo and NFS basically give reports to NFL teams like, hey, these are the guys in the upcoming draft cycle. This is who we've got in the database. This is the grades we have on them.

So these scouting services will give you a ballpark idea of these are our first round grades. These are our day two grades. These are even our guys that don't have draftable grades. These are the schools that they're at. I believe it's seniors only. that can give measurements if they want to. Am I correct about that? Yeah, that's how NFS is always operated,

and that's how schools are. They don't really want you talking to the underclassmen. Now, Bledesto will give some grades on underclassmen, but in terms of getting the verified measurements, yeah, that's reserved for only the seniors or at least the fourth year guys. So I'm sure no two scouting, departments do it the same, but you take that list and you spend a healthy chunk of the summer

working through it. You assign guys in certain areas to your area scouts, higher scouts up the chain of command will oversee other things or look at different areas. And then you get to August. And as somebody who covered a team, I always, it was always funny because training camp was chock full for probably the first 10 days because everybody in the organization goes out and you want to get eyes on your draft class. You want to have as many people evaluating your young players as possible. And then after about a week and a half, it feels like a ghost town because the entire scouting department disappears to hit the road. And I think that's the part of the calendar that we're in now where, okay, we've got our list. We know who we like. We know

who we've watched. Now we're just going to go get eyes on as many people as possible, try to cross-check what we've seen on tape with what we can see with our own eyes and we'll go from there. Right. And that's, it's just, it's, the summer is so important and it's great to get eyes on these guys on film. But you're watching a lot of the same film that you've already seen, the 2024 stuff. And so the idea of getting new film and watching new football for 2025 is really exciting. I was talking to, one of my buddies for a team yesterday. And he actually moved into a national role this year. And so that first weekend of the year, college football, he would go on a marathon because

he'd hit one, try to hit one Thursday, tried to hit one Friday, tried to hit one Saturday. Because over Labor Day weekend, the college football spreads it out over five, six days. And he's really going to miss that this year because he's not an Area Scout anymore. So it's something that as much work as it is, Area Scouts put in a ton of work. it's just so exciting to have real football again to watch and the scout. And so plenty of guys that we need to get into. Before we dive completely into the class, I am curious about that, especially for you just watching a boatload of tape across the summer.

How do you weigh the fact that it is all 2024 tape? And you're like, how do you weigh the idea of like, I'd like to see a little bit more, but there are things about this guy that excite me that I don't see yet. And, you know, when you're trying to do something like make a top 50, I got to imagine that's kind of nerve-wracking. Yeah, right. There's a lot of projection and there's a lot of your betting on potential. And that's why the NFL draft and scouting in general is it's always going to be about

scouting the traits and identifying those traits, what translates, and making bets. That's what you're doing. you're making bets on certain traits that you know translates to certain schemes and certain organizations. And so, you know, it's tough to do when these guys, these players we're going to be talking about, they're going to be drafted based off of what they do in 2025. That's not to say that 2024, 2023, like the underclassmen years, it's not to say that that doesn't matter, but largely what you do in 2025 is going to dictate your final grade and where you ultimately end up next April.

So there is a certain amount of, okay, I want to get a firm opinion on these guys now, but then also keeping an open mind to, okay, there's going to be changes. Guys are in different situations. Guys get better. I mean, we're talking about 21-year-old guys. They get better all the time. Not everyone, but a lot of players will get better, especially quarterbacks. You know, I think a lot of people, and we'll get some of these quarterbacks a little

later. But a lot of people, their first exposure to Drew Aller or Cade Clubnick or Nussmeyer, like their first exposure to these guys, that's what sticks with them instead of really watching these guys over the year, seeing improvements they've made, and then keeping an open mind to what this upcoming year will bring. So I think that's really important. It's a fine line of having a firm, confident opinion of a player, but then also keeping an open mind that, hey, these guys do get better. And so, yeah, looking at this year's class, as I'm putting together my top 50, I think that, like, this is, I'm not going to, like, knock this draft class,

but I'm going to say it's not, I don't think it's 2011 where we had, like, not one of the best of all time. Yeah. Like the first, the first, like, 10 non-quarterbacks were all pro bowlers and, like, 12 of the first 14 or whatever it was, or even like 2020, where Micah Parsons was. and even a top 10 pick that year. So, you know, I don't think it's, I'm not going to go out and say we're in for that type of draft. But I think that there's certain positions, like most drafts, certain positions are more

promising than others. Like, offense a tackle loaded. I think pass rusher has some promising guys. Quarterback, like I mentioned, it's a big step up from last year. So, you know, it'll be interesting. Those early observations, the promise that they tease. who's going to emerge this season. So putting into the top 50,

I felt like there were certain guys at the top, like maybe the top seven I was really excited about as being that top tier. And then 8 to 25 are kind of in their own tier. And then 26 to 50 where it's a little more open-ended, where I could make a case for a lot of guys fitting in that mix. It's a perfect segue to dive into some player previews. Let's do that. Let's take an early break and we'll do that on the other side.

Okay, Dane, you teed it up perfectly. And by the way, if you are unaware, Dane has been sharing position previews on the athletic for the last several weeks. They're all there. You can go look at whichever position you prefer. I think by the time this drops, Dane quarterback will be out, I believe. Yep, it'll be out this week. So I'm sure it won't be controversial at all. And you'll agree with all of them.

We'll get to quarterback. That's obviously the biggest. position when it comes to hyping up a draft class. But so what I want to do, Dane, we're going to go through position by position. I read all your previews. And I just want to start. Let's start with the positions that maybe are a little thinner or a little less robust than others, right?

We'll work our way up to some of the deeper, more exciting positions. But right now, before we've played a game of college football, let's start with some positions that look a little on the thin side. And I think it's interesting when you're just. talking about the hype that goes along with the draft class, two of the positions other than quarterback that really build anticipation are the skill positions, running back and receiver. And at least right now, is it fair to say that we're looking for a little bit more? Let's start with running back.

Yeah. And obviously, there's a lot to go through with this. But running back, last year at this time, running back looked loaded. My August top 50 last year, Ashen Genty was the clear top guy. And then right behind him, you had a Marion Hampton. Ollie Gordon was a top 50 guy last year to start the season. Both of Ohio State's dudes were right there. So running back looked like a stronger position last year.

This year, there's a clear running back one at the top. And then I think a pretty cavernous gap to that next tier, at least for me, based on the guys I watched. The top guy, Notre Dame's Jeremiah Love, super-insely. instinctive athlete, springy feet, love the burst. He's able to create conflict for tacklers. And it's a lot of fun to watch. Last year in the FBS, there were only two backs that averaged at least 6.9 yards per carry and had at least 14 touchdowns.

That was Ashen Genti and it was love. And who knows, if Notre Dame has a healthy Jeremiah love for the playoffs, maybe they win it all. He has that type of impact potential. And I mentioned there were probably seven guys. in that top tier for me based off of what I watch over the summer, love was included in that top seven. So there, I do think there's a pretty big gap after him.

Like running back two, I think it's wide open. Seniors underclassmen, Nicholas Singleton at Penn State is my top rank senior, 218 pounds and it might run in the four threes. So that alone's going to keep him towards the top of the running back stack. But decision making, patience, a lot of. of the running back specific traits, they need to be better in 2025. I know he's not God awful in those areas, but he's not above average, at least based off of last year's film.

And then, you know, like usual, it's an underclassman rich position, right? So which underclassmen are going to show out at running back this year? Texas has two guys that are really talented. C.J. Baxter, he's coming back from injury. The hype out of Austin on Baxter was Bejohn level. before he got hurt. So seeing him back on the field with Weissner will be a lot of fun to watch. You know, we'll see him in the shoe week one, which would be awesome. Oregon has to replace Jordan James. They brought him Mackay Hughes from Tulane.

So, but just in terms of top 50 right now, love is the only back that really I considered for a top 50 this early. Which, to be fair, to Jeremiah, I love, he's an incredibly fun player. I think, I mean, if you're familiar with college football at all, you're, you see. saw some of the fun stuff he did last year. Do you think this is a situation where when everybody and their mother hits the draft in 2025, we just don't know as much as we would prefer about the 2026 class? And that's a great point because running back, we had so many guys come out last year. And we usually do, right?

Underclassmen, they usually come out early at the position. And so we saw a lot of running backs go in the top 100. there were still some really good running backs. Kim Scatabode didn't go to the fourth. Jordan James didn't go till day three. So there are a lot of running backs that I think usually go day two, but just got squeezed out. It's just a numbers game.

And so the sheer number of running backs we saw drafted last year in the first five rounds, I think that there are definitely a domino effect here where there's some more uncertain spots. You know, Ohio State will reload at running back. You know, Peeples was there. third back last year. I think he'll have a excited to see what he could do this year. I mentioned the two Texas guys. Baxter coming back from injury.

Haynes, Justice Haynes at Michigan, transfer. So there's a lot of kind of wait and see. Like maybe this guy could be legit. So we have plenty of names for the running back position. If we just want to, you know, talk about running backs. But in terms of proven top 50, top 100 guys, it's a lot more wait and see. then yeah, I definitely feel good about him in this area. Two things really stood out to me when I looked at your running back preview to that point.

Mackay Hughes at Oregon, who was at Tulane before, he's the only running back in college football who ran for 1,400 or more yards last year and is still in school. And then Bryce and Washington, the number five back on your list down at Baylor, he ran for 1,000 yards in the Big 12 and was buried under a list of other guys that went pro. So yeah, I think with that amount of turnover, I'm excited by the thought that at least this feels like a position where once we've

played five or six college games, there's at least the potential that we have a wildly different idea of this group that we do right now. No doubt, no doubt. And guys are coming off. Jay Knott was banged up all last year at Cal. He transfers to Oklahoma in that new look offense with John Mateer. So what will that look like? you know, there's a lot of guys that are maybe transferred or getting new opportunities

or it's the running back Deptart isn't as crowded as it was maybe a year ago. So, yeah, there are plenty of situations primed for a potential breakout. Similarly, I think you could say about the same about wide receiver, which it's not to say that there aren't any good receivers in this class. But, I mean, you already mentioned Jeremiah Smith. we can just put him off to the side. He can't go pro, unfortunately. Even if he would be a top three pick, it's not going to happen.

So we have to sort through the rest of this group. And there's some intriguing talents, but maybe not a bona fide top 10, top 15 pick. And while that might be frustrating in the summer, I think it's going to lead to a hell of a lot of fun conversation. Because I feel like this is a group where people are going to come to very different conclusions about how players stack. up. Right, exactly. I mean, give me, give me Malik neighbors. Give me Marvin Harrison, Jr. Give me those guys, obviously. But to your point, it will be fun to, because there's a lot of names,

once we get to day two, of guys that are kind of jockeying for position and trying to prove that, hey, I am worth a top 32 pick because wide receiver is always going to be the most drafted position each draft. It's the position outside of quarterback that will directly impact the scoreboard the most, creating those explosive plays. But this year, while I do think that day two has a lot of exciting options, it's just it's light at the top.

There's no way around it. I mean, two years ago, like I mentioned, Malik Neighbors and Marvin Harrison, Jr. were both top five overall players for me in that class. We had three top ten picks that year. Brian Thomas was a late first rounder. Ladman McKonkey went early second. So it was just a loaded group two years ago. last year, it took a little bit of a step back,

but we still had two top 10 picks with Travis Hunter, T-Mack. I think both those guys are going to be studs right away as rookies. This year, this wide receiver class, I think it's going to be more similar to what we saw in 2019, which was the two receivers drafted in the back half around one, and then the strength of the position coming day two. That year we had guys like AJ Brown, D.K. Metcalf, Terry McLaren, Debo, was a day two pick that year.

So even though we didn't see a run on that position until day two, it doesn't mean there's not good players, guys that can really emerge. And so this year, my early wide receiver won, it's Arizona State Jordan Tyson. Good size, 6-2, 200 pounds. He can separate on tape. He needs to cut down on some of the drops, but he can win versus man coverage. He can be a threat out for the catch. The Sam Levitt to Tyson Connection is a lot of fun.

And so I can't wait to see that. Big 12 is so volatile in terms of. of just week in, week out. I think Arizona State with the coaching staff they have, everyone's returning. That connection levitt to Tyson, I think is going to be something that helps lifts that program this year. Biggest thing really for Tyson is just can he stay on the field?

His freshman year was actually Colorado. His knee got obliterated. This last year, he actually missed the Big 12 championship game and then ASU's epic playoff game that they nearly pulled the upset over Texas. He missed that with a collarbone injury. So staying healthy, playing in every game, that'll be an important step for him. And really, Tyson, that was the only receiver that made my top 25, my early top 25.

So between 25 and 50, there's several intriguing receivers, but we have more questions about those guys. I heard a lot of surprise reaction when Chris Bell from Louisville ended up as my early wide receiver two. 6-1-5, 227 pounds, runs a legit 4-4. He became a starter last year as a junior and first popped on my radar when studying Tyler Shuck. And you see the talent right away. He's just a young, young, inexperienced player. He just turned 21 years old.

Definitely needs maturing, but the traits are exciting. Carnell Tate from Ohio State, he's kind of next up in that pipeline. I've got more of an early second round grade on him than a definite first round. rounder. Like he's not quite on a Mecca Abuka's level, but there's a lot of talent there. And with Jeremiah Smith receiving so much attention on one side, that should open the opportunities for Tate on the other side. Just obviously, Ohio State breaking in a new quarterback.

So some potential inconsistencies there. Mackay Lemon from USC, really savvy slot option, catches everything, snappy route runner. But, you know, play strength. Is he a slot only? those types of questions will pop up with him. So these guys aren't, you know, definite top 25 picks, but there's reasons to be excited about them. And there's a list of other names, like Eric Singleton, Georgia Tech now at Auburn,

smaller player, but is exciting with the ball in his hands. Denzel Boston from Washington maybe could be this year's Jaden Higgins, you know, has the size, maybe not a burner, but has the size to be an ex-receiver. So it's a high volume of potential at the position. And I expect to see a lot of fluctuation in the rankings at receiver as we kind of go through this process. Again, there's there's, I just think there's a lot to get excited about as we go through a season. Like I took notes on these guys as I was reading through your previews.

And this is, I'm paraphrasing you, but I was reading about Chris Bell. And I was like, oh, so this guy's still figuring. out how to play wide receiver, but he's six, one and a half, two 30 and runs a four, four. That's incredibly exciting. Like, if he can put it together from a technical aspect, I understand why you might be high on a guy like that. Yeah. And, you know, I get people talk about, you know, production and why was he more productive.

And, you know, I think guys, they develop at different paces. And he wasn't, it's not like he has no production last year. He was. he was their second receiver. Now it's, okay, chance to show it on the field. And if he doesn't have a breakout this year, then obviously that grade changes. And then we talked about this earlier, but the idea of betting on traits and potential. That's why the early August top 50 often looks very different than the final top 50 because

some guys live up to it. Other guys don't. That's fine. You know, fluctuation is part of this process. But with Chris Bell and talking to a scout about him a couple weeks, ago, he mentioned how he just, there's maturing that needs to go on with him. And, you know, he's a guy that wants the ball. And when he doesn't get the ball, you know, sometimes he can, you know, not be as, as thrilled. And so, but that's a wide receiver. So he's, exactly, exactly.

So he is your typical receiver. And it's just a matter of a 21 year old working through all that. So, you know, I'm, there was no, there's no red flags with him that tell me he can't do it. It's just he needs to be more consistent now as a route runner. And in that offense with Coach Brom, you know they're going to put the ball in the air. And they've got a stud running back, only a true sophomore. So, you know, it's why we're not talking about him yet. But Miller Moss comes in at quarterback transfer from USC who inconsistent last year as a first year starter for the Trojans.

But in that Brom offense, I think we'll see the best out of him. So the opportunity is there for Bell to really have that breakout and a lot of people want to see. One last note I want to make. And you, I mean, you mentioned two of the guys on your list, Mackay Lemon and Eric Singleton. And then on top of that, like there are a few other guys. Like I'm looking at Dionne Burks at Oklahoma. I'm looking at Harrison Wallace at Ole Miss.

It seems like there's a lot of smaller, maybe twitchier slot type receivers in this class. I think that's an interesting thing I made note of where I was like, okay, so we're going to be having some arguments about who can play inside, who can play outside with some of these undersized. receivers if I had to guess. Yeah, and that's always part of it, especially with these underclassmen. A few of those guys, you know, you're down in Baton Rouge. I mean, LSU, obviously, they're known for producing receivers. And this year, they've got some really interesting ones. Nick Anderson is not that smaller guy.

He's a big 6-4-2-10 transfer-in. Can he stay healthy? Big thing with him. But we're talking about the smaller guys, Aaron. Anderson from LSU. 5-9-190. This dude is short, but he's not small. He is rocked up.

And so what will his impact be? Berrien Brown transfer in the Speedster 510, 5-8th, 175. Is he a return specialist only? Or what kind of role will he brings at LSU offense this year? Chris Hilton, Jr. A lot of scouts are bullish on him because even though he was banged up a lot last year, 5-11 and a half, 187 pounds. Legit, legit, 4-3 speed.

And so a lot of these guys won't have the size, but they will have the speed. And I'm really hopeful we see Dionne Burks healthy. He was one of my breakout guys last year, made my early top 50. It just couldn't stay on the field. He was banged up the whole year. So now this year with John Mateer taking over a quarterback, new offensive system, Dionne Burks is ready to explode if hopefully he can just stay on the field. So to take it back to the top, you said Tyson as your top guy right now is like a mid-20s sort of player for you.

So that's like you said. He's in the top 25. So like he'll probably end up in the teens by the time the top 50 comes out. I haven't finalized it. But he'll probably be in the teens somewhere. But it's not like he's a lock to go that high or even maybe it could he end up going top 10? Sure. But there are plenty of things he'll need to do.

this year to kind of prove he belongs there. To bring it back to your point about the 2019 draft, which, yeah, it's funny to look back and see how many of the second round players wound up hitting in a big, big way. Not to say Hollywood Brown was a bad draft pick, but yeah, when A.J. Brown and D.K. Metcalf and Debo Samuel go in the same draft, it's going to be something interesting to watch if any of these guys take it and run with it or if we're stuck in a situation like that where we're evaluating a bunch of guys bunched together, you know, at the, at the round one, round two level.

All right. Nikiel Harry was, he was crazy. I didn't want to say Nikiel Harry. We didn't, you know, we didn't have to bring him up. But yes, famously a first round pick in 2019. Didn't quite work out. All right. I do want to dive into some of the exciting, some of the deep positions in this draft.

And what better place to start, which I don't want to, you tell me if I'm getting ahead of myself, if I'm a vote. smoking 2023 with offensive tackle. Like, is it that exciting? Yeah, potentially. Offensive tackle, I think it's pretty clearly the top position that I've watched so far. Now that's very underclassmen heavy. So, you know, when you're talking about redshirt sophomores and juniors, it all depends

on those guys hitting their potential and coming out and being a part of this draft class. But it's, I put it this way, it's the most well-reperiod. presented position in my top 50. I think there might be double digits. I mean, it's nine or ten. It's up there. So there's a lot of underclassmen. We'll need to be tracking closely last year, this year, in terms of development.

And I think it starts at the top with Caden Proctor from Alabama, 6-7, 360 pounds. Just a rare explosive power. The body composition is really unique. He was high on Bruce Feldman's freaks list for a reason, 32-inch, vert at that size is silly. The main thing for him, I just, I want to see the same guy for the entire year and for all four quarters. I mean, the conditioning level needs to be consistent.

So snap one looks like snap 75. You watch the Georgia tape, the South Carolina tape earlier in the year. You see a top five pick. Things get rocky later in the year. You throw on the Michigan tape, the bowl game. And it's like, okay, I want to see Proctor playing at the same. level week in, week out. It doesn't matter who the opponent is.

Doesn't matter whatever's going on. And, you know, part of that is just keeping his weight and check. And because when he is, man, explosive power for days, Utah is going to be a team to watch this year. They've got the best bookend tackles in the country. I'm going to say, please talk to me about Utah having two of the five tackles that you decided to preview. That sounds very exciting if you're a fan of the Utah Uts.

and both were high recruits. Both were legit guys coming out that, you know, Michigan wanted them and, you know, Notre Dame wanted them. There were a lot of teams vying for these guys. They go to Utah. Spencer Fano started a left tackle as a freshman and then moved to right tackle last year.

And man, he just kicks ass. He moves well, plays with power. See, he's not the biggest or the longest guy, but the play demeanor, the execution is big, time. Scouts see a top 10 pick. And I agree. I mean, he'll end, he'll be one of my top 10 players. And it's kind of like, like Troy Fontanou, when he was coming out of Washington. He was one of my top 10 players. I think he finished number of nine on my final board. I was really big on him. That's the kind of feeling I get when I watch Spencer Fano. And then at left tackle,

Caleb Lomu, uh, terrific movement skills. He has left tackle feet, no doubt about it. And the way he can recover is just, it's big time, especially for a guy that, was a first year starter. He was a redshirt freshman last year. Now, does he need to get stronger? No doubt about it. That was what kind of kept me from moving him up higher on my list. But he's only a redshirt sophomore this year. So I'm very eager to see what kind of jump we see from him in 2025. That goes back to my point about how you weigh things that you don't know yet, right? Like, you look at Caleb Lamu's tape and you're like, this guy needs to get stronger. But at the same time, You watch him and you think, yeah, Kyle Whittingham's got a pretty successful program there at Utah,

and they've got a pretty good track record of putting guys in the NFL. I'm very confident that a guy like that can gain play strength over the course of an offseason at a place like Utah, which makes me all the more excited about what he might look like here when these games get fired up. Yeah, exactly. I mean, if someone like, if they want to put him Lomu in like the top 10 because they're projecting that out, that he'll reach that level in terms of play strength. I get it. And that's where it's just a projection at this point.

So a guy going into his third year, his second year as a starter, just very excited to see what it could look like for him this year. I don't know. They're just looking at the Utah schedule, how many big time pass rushers they're going to face. And so, you know, I wish there were, you know, more of that on the schedule. But I need to find my way.

I mean to find my way to Utah this year because I want to see these guys in person because they they they look awesome on film to my favorite players that I did this summer. So I'm not trying to get you to put a draft board together today, obviously. This is a slow burn. But just and that's, I'm curious about how we view the depths of these positions. So for instance, receiver, we're looking at a guy who's a little bit further down in a final top 50. Whereas Spencer Fano, you're calling him one of the 10 best players you've watched this. this summer. And obviously, I mean, all you need to do is look at a photo of Kate and Proctor to

understand why that's exciting. But we're talking about at least a handful of tackles that we should view as, I don't know, some of the best 12 or 15 players that you've looked at over the course of the summer. Yeah. And so Proctor, Fano, those guys will be top 10. And then if we extend it like top 20, I think that's all. Xavier Chaplin will be in there. Virginia Tech transfer.

He's going to play at Auburn this year. Six, seven, three, 35. Dude is massive and he can move. You see it in the run game. You see it in pass protection. Some flexibility issues show. But there's a lot of, he's another guy that's really raw.

And so you're projecting how much with the coaching and the development, how much better will he get this year in 2025? If he reaches this potential, we're talking about him as a first round pick. The left tackle at Miami. Francis Mauiwinga. He's a future NFL starter. Size, strength, you see that. But some teams might look at him as a guard because it will help hide some of those inconsistencies that he put on film.

But he's going to have every opportunity this year to prove that I say, no, hey, I'm a tackle at the next level. And those are all underclassmen. So that's, I think, five names we just mentioned, all five underclassmen. If we're talking about seniors, Drew Shelton from Penn State, left tackle. He's my top senior. He's been getting some first round love. Jude Bowery at Boston College. He's a guy that could maybe crack the top 32, Isaiah World at Oregon, transferring from Nevada. There's a lot of names at offensive tackle that we haven't talked about yet that could emerge this year with another year. You know, I really like tackle at Pitt. Texas has to replace both their guys, but Trevor Goosby comes in and he started, we started the Arizona State.

state game. He started one game last year. He's really, he's got a lot of traits to work with. So as a full-time starter, this year, maybe we're talking about him in the first round mix. I can't wait to see him in Columbus, week one. So yeah, even the tackles that maybe aren't thought of as first or second round guys yet, the potential says they might get there by the end of the year, which would only strengthen this class even more.

Which I misspoke earlier. It was 24, not 23, where we saw seven tackles go in the, the first round of the draft. I think it's you're you're getting ahead of yourself to try to get that high up there. But this certainly looks like a group that has a lot of potential. Like this, this feels like a good year to be looking at offensive tackle play if your NFL team happens to need one. Yeah. No, and I knew exactly which class we're talking about because that was a, that was a pretty legendary class that we'll be talking about for a while. We've done this for years, Dane. And you can typically, it used to be something you could say.

all the time be like, look, if you want a great offensive tackle, your shit out of luck if you don't have like a top 12 pick. And then that year just blew all of my priors out of the water. So I don't, I don't want to put that much pressure on 2026 yet, but we're starting in a good place, it sounds like. No doubt. And I mean, I was mentioning guys that emerged. Like at this time last year, we knew Will Campbell is going to be a high guy. Like, we knew he was going to be a top 10 player. And that came to fruition. But Armand Membou, he came out of nowhere. And it wasn't until, I think it was November, right around Thanksgiving, when I watched him for the first time. And it was like, oh, yeah, okay, this guy's at first round pick. And so when we get to October, November, December,

it'll be interesting to see who else we're talking about in this mix as guys that could potentially go that early, which like I said, would only strengthen an already loaded class to tackle. There's two other big positions. I want to preview in this draft class. That would be edge rusher and quarterback. We're going to do it on the other side of one more break. That's called a tease, folks. We'll be right back.

All right, Dane, two positions that get people really, really excited. We'll leave quarterback for last. But let's talk about the edge rushers in this 2026 draft class. How do we feel about it? Because it feels maybe there's not like a superstar Chase Young sort of player that we can all circle ahead of time. but it does feel like there's a lot of guys worth being excited about. Yeah, I think so. And that's definitely the optimistic way of looking at it, which I think is fair.

No Miles Garrett, not even an Abdul Carter who, you know, like last year, he was the top guy from start to finish. Abdul Carter was my number two player in August, and that never changed all the way through April. This year, I just, I don't think we have an Abdul Carter, but there are several players that could come close when it's all said and done. Keldrick Falk from Auburn, 6-6, 270 pounds, power, quickness, very young. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of McKell Williams at this time last year, because he looks the part, the flashes are there, one of the youngest players in the entire class, and you're going to get a day-one run defender who can hold up and make plays, and then the potential as a pass-rusher are really exciting.

And so I mentioned those seven dudes earlier that lead off the top 50. Falk is one of them because he has that type of potential and really excited about what he could look like this year for Auburn. T.J. Parker from Clemson, he's got juice off the edge. If you watch the pit tape, you watch the SMU tape, you see a locked top 10 pick. But then you throw on Texas or some of these other games and he disappears at time. So seeing better consistency out of him will be the key for him to, because he can go top 10, top 15, just want to see it more week in, week out. Oregon had three defensive linemen drafted last year, the lone returning starter,

Mateo Ui Ungalei, DJ's little brother. I got to work on that, but we'll get there. I just like you said, it's a marathon. I love that DJU's little brother is a badass edge rusher. That is the storyline that I'm really looking forward to. 65 270. Yeah, he's got a chance to really emerge and cement himself as a first round guy this year.

L.T. Overton, Alabama, really talented 6.2.5, 274 pounds. Another guy that's, you see the flashes. You see the body control and just he's different for that size. He's just not there yet in terms of technique, in terms of pass rush value. So a big step in 2025, that'll put him in the first round. And kind of like I was mentioning with tackle, there's a lot of breakout candidates at this position.

A lot of these guys probably won't, but at least guys that tease their potential and say, hey, I've got traits to work with. Now I just need to put it together more on film. David Bailey at Texas Tech, big time transfer from Stanford. I wanted to highlight David Bailey really quick. And our purpose here is not to, like we're not here to preview the college football season

or like we're not worried about who's going to win the national championship on this show. But I do think it is a very interesting storyline what's happening out in Lubbock. Texas Tech famously dove into the transfer portal. They look like a team that is ready to punch above their traditional weight class. And David Bailey is a very interesting prospect, which transferred from Stanford only started two games. But I get why I get why people are excited about. him being a big piece of this Texas Tech team? The arc explosiveness that he brings is just silly.

So he has that type of speed that you see on Sundays. And so Texas Tech paid him a good amount of money to go to Lubbock and be a part of that defensive line and what they're building out there. And yeah, I mean, really the overall conversation with NIL in general. And just it's fascinating how it works and how scouts. and how scouting in the NFL are still learning what it means for their process. Obviously, you know, scouts don't care that these guys are being, are legally able to be paid.

Like, that doesn't matter. But I think it does give you a little bit of preview of, okay, what does this guy like when he gets money? Is he still working his butt off? You know, does he still have that carrot, proverbial carrot on a stick in front of him, even though he just got paid seven figures? And so in that respect, I do think NIL is really interesting from an evaluation perspective to understand these guys when, hey, they do have money in their pockets. And just to make sure football is still a top priority for them and understanding that this is the way to more money is by getting the most out of my football potential. And so a guy like David Bailey who is still more potential than production, what does it look like this year for him?

now moving on to the Big 12 for that Texas Tech squad. I can't wait to see him. He could be one of those guys that emerges this year. One of the scouting services we mentioned earlier in the show, I was looking at this. I counted eight draftable grades for Texas Tech. Now, obviously, that's going to change over the course of the season. And I'm not trying to throw shade at Texas Tech,

but this is a different animal than what you would typically associate with that program. I'm, I for one, am very excited to see how they look and whether some of these guys deliver on the potential that that we see in them before the season starts. Well, it's fascinating to see these college programs mirror NFL front offices in terms of structure and having a general manager. And, you know, James Blanchard, he kind of runs personnel over there in Lubbock. It does a great job. You know, it obviously helps that they've got the resources. pouring in there now that help make the facilities the best that you can have. And you have a payroll now with your paying players.

And, you know, so it's just college football is bizarre, man. And it's still up to scouts to kind of weed their way through it and figure out, all right, what is this? How can we use this to our advantage to find the best players? It's, it's clear. It is so much the wild, wild west. And yeah, I mean, you know, I was talking to somebody. recently who was telling me, like you mentioned teams don't want to give out numbers on their

underclassmen. And a huge part of that is because they're not trying to get poached by other programs by making things public. Like it is, it is a wild world to live in. And I would guess it's going to change drastically again within the next five, six years. But navigating this space right now is a wild spot. But I don't know. I'm intrigued by the potential here. And I just wanted to throw out, as long as we're talking about other programs. Keldrick Falk, I couldn't help but notice, Dane, going through your previews. I saw the Auburn Tigers on a lot of these lists, and it made me very curious what the ceiling is for this team. Because according to your summer evaluations, they got a lot of dogs on this Auburn team.

Yeah, I mentioned Chaplin coming in, left tackle from Virginia Tech, Eric Singleton coming in, the wide receiver, Georgia Tech over to the Tigers. But I still think the big question mark will be quarterback. And that's where it looks like Jackson Arnold, the former Oklahoma quarterback,

is going to be the guy. You know, Hugh Freeze and his offense. You know, I think it's an upgrade compared to what Jackson Arnold was running at Oklahoma. But at the same time, I've got a lot more questions than answers when it comes to the quarterback situation.

And at the end of the, day, that's what dictates wins and losses more than anything else. Even in the SEC where, you know, there's some defensive dudes and it'll be, Auburn will have a not an easy road this year. And so we'll find out pretty quickly how legit they can be or, you know, with the 12 team playoff, one loss, two loss, those things don't matter as much anymore. You know, if you can reach nine, ten wins, you got a shot to get into the playoff. And Auburn, I, well, while I'm not going to pick them to make the playoff, they're at least throwing a lot.

They're better than last year in terms of acquiring talent and trying to put the best possible product on the field. It's a perfect segue. Once again, you're such a pro, Dane. Let's talk about it. Quarterbacks drive the web hits. Quarterbacks are what get people pumped about a draft class. You could have the deepest best draft class in the world.

And if you don't have at least a handful of good quarterbacks, it's not going to matter to the general public. Not speaking to you, wonderful sickos listening to this, but let's just call it. Let's just call it like it is. But fortunately, we don't have to worry about that this year because we got a lot to choose from. Even if you don't want to mention Arch Manning, which at this point, I'm not even really sure we need to.

I'm fairly confident he's going to return to school if I know anything about the Manning family. But even without him, this looks like a pretty loaded group. I don't like, do you want me to list off the names? Where do you want to start with this? How excited should we be about this quarterback class? I think it's a really interesting class because there's no like there's no Caleb Williams or like Drake May where we knew a year or two out. All right, this is a top three guy.

They will be drafted somewhere in the top three picks. We don't necessarily have that guy this year that no doubt about it, top three pick. but it's wildly more promising than what we had at this time last year at the quarterback position, where it really felt you had to talk yourself into those guys. I mean, this time last year, I think Carson Beck, he looked like an NFL guy in 2023 and then quickly regressed in 2024. I always liked Shador, but more as a low-end NFL starter. It wasn't like Shador was a locked top 10 pick from the start.

Cam Ward. It was great to see him realize more of his potential at Miami and really at Miami and really emerge as being a true number one overall candidate. But all in all, it was rough. And it was really the exact opposite of what we had the year prior where we had six quarterbacks drafted in the top 12. Last year, you know, we didn't get to our six quarterback drafted until day three. So it's just a wildly different quarterback classes. This year, it's probably somewhere in the middle. But there's a lot of names that are going to be fun to talk about and really track their progress this year. And, you know, you mentioned with Arch Manning how I still think we're not going to spend a ton of time on him necessarily this year where we're covering him every week.

But you never know. So we at least have to mention him and say, look, and like, okay, for my purposes going into the year where we have a small sample size. How do you possibly rank Arch Manning? we've been talking a lot about potential. He's my quarterback one going into the year. You liked what you saw, though, didn't you, Dane? I mean, it might have only been two games, but you were a fan. Exactly.

And it's not just because of the last name. It's you watch us start against Mississippi State, and you see natural quarterback rhythm that you just, you want to see in a quarterback. And so if I had a bet on any of these quarterbacks right now, it would be arch. And who knows, maybe time will tell you. tell that was a wrong bet to make.

But again, are we wasting time even talking about him? Probably, but look, things change. What if he wins the Heisman? Or what if he lease Texas to a national title? Or what if the Saints finish with the number one overall pick next year? The chances that Arch declares are very low, but you never know. There's still time. So we'll figure that part out.

After Arch, so my early quarterback, too, it's another young player who, excitement is there and Dave I know as a avid SEC watcher an avid LSU tiger watcher I don't have to sell you on sellers Lenora sellers South Carolina you do not no you do not at least okay you don't have to sell me on the excitement let's put it that way like I'm not I'm not ready to talk about him in these very lofty terms like I don't know if he's like a top five pick yet. But I understand why people think he could be for sure. Yeah. And okay, if the draft were tomorrow and you're going to take a bet on high ceiling players, I get it with Lenore Sellers because like he's not a one dimensional quarterback. But as a dual threat player, that's what gets you excited. Like he as a passer, you see touch, you see velocity.

His superpower is what he does with his legs. And his, I don't think. with all due respect to Cam Newton, Jalen Hertz, I don't think I've ever scouted any stronger quarterback. Some of these tackles that he breaks are, it just doesn't make any sense. And then on top of it, he has legit speed where he can erase those pursuit

angles and make things happen. So it just, you feel like you're never out of it. Now, obviously you want him to live from the pocket and that dual threat ability is kind of the backup plan. And so there are times where he will bypass a read and use his legs when you want to see him maybe hang tight for an extra

half beat, find that open crosser, anticipate those windows coming open. And that'll come with time, right? That'll come with experience. He was a red shirt freshman last year. First year starter. Like, he's still learning a lot of things. So, yeah, you want the speed option and you want all these things be part of the offense. But at the same time, I'm looking for that maturation from him here in year two.

And, you know, hopefully he gets. better consistency from the offensive line. It was dreadful last year for the gamecocks. But you just don't have to squint to see the talent with this guy. I love the way that football evolves because even like when I started really being part of the draft process, like even then, and you know, like famously, as much as we love him and he's an incredible player, like Patrick Mahomes, people weren't sure what to do with Patrick Mahomes at the time that he was a prospect.

And that was only eight years ago. And now we are chasing that so hard. You know, like the easiest way to become a force in the NFL is to find these quarterbacks that can play out of schedule, play on multiple different platforms, make plays with their feet. You know, I mean, it's not a coincidence that the three best quarterbacks in the league all kind of fit this description. And they all came into the league within the last. six to eight years, right? And so I get why you're going to chase this. And that can lead you to

make mistakes. I'm thinking about Anthony Richardson when I say that, unfortunately, but that doesn't, that shouldn't put you off of the chase because if Lenora's sellers can be one of those guys, it is worth the hype and it is worth the investment. We just got to find out if he is. Yeah, I think Josh Allen is the guy that, like, when you think about what he was in, college and you think about his trajectory. Like there were so many question marks, but you bet on the person. You bet on the raw talent. And yeah, it's not a foolproof plan.

But at the same time, you know, you can understand. And it's not just if watching tape was all you needed to do, this job would be a lot more simple than it is. But obviously, especially when you're talking about quarterbacks, the intellect, the way they see the field, the way they, you know, work around their teammates, their locker room presence, like all these things factor in for all these quarterbacks. And so, you know, these are all boxes that we need to figure out and check throughout the year. So it is way too early to say, oh yeah, Lenore Sellers should be a top five pick. But if the draft for tomorrow, I would certainly

understand why a team would roll the dice on a guy with that type of talent and just that type of ability. It's just it's the way he can change a game, talking about that LSU game that they should have won. The way he can change a game is phenomenal. The scoreboard said just for the record. Yeah. True. One of the stupider football games I've ever watched in my life. Okay, before we devolve into a controversial LSU South Carolina debate. All right. I want to go over this. Okay, Archmanning needs no introduction. Neither does Garrett Nussmeyer. Again, if you're you're listening to this show, I don't know what else we need to say about Garrett Nussmeyer, that we don't already know, then we just have to watch more games.

Cade Clubnick at Clemson, Sellers at South Carolina, Drew Aller at Penn State. Carson Beck's going to have an opportunity to bounce back at Miami. Sam Levitt, who you've mentioned at Arizona State. Nico Iamaleava is at UCLA now. Certainly, like, the talent is intriguing, although I just don't think we've seen enough to have a firm opinion about it. Am I forgetting anybody big? I know a lot of people have been talking about Fernando Mendoza transferring from Cal to Indiana.

Am I forgetting anybody big that we need to have an eye on this coming season? Definitely Mendoza. I really like Mendoza as, and I liked him at Cal watching him last year. Like he's just very even keeled. He's 6'5-225. He's got a feel for layering passes down the field. So he's not a plus athlete by any means, but he's not a statue either. He can do some things with his legs, at least to get himself out of trouble,

even if it's not going to be a weapon for him. But I think he does a lot of quarterback things well. Mentally, his processing, the way he sees the field, I'm really excited to see what he can do with Kurt Cignetti. I mean, you look at that situation at Cal, who he was throwing to, the offensive situation. he's going to Indiana where he'll have wide receiver talent. He will have a really strong presence, just offensive infrastructure in that program.

So I cannot wait to see what it looks like. I mean, Georgia was going after Fernando Mendoza. And with good reason, because of the talent that he has, he starts the year as my quarterback four. And as a guy that will, he'll be in top 20, in the top 30 somewhere in my top 50 comes out. So I'm very high in Mendoza as a player that could emerge. I think it's, you know, we'll see the Penn State game.

There's a lot of games coming up on that big time schedule that I think, you know, he can really, really prove himself. Yeah, looking out my other names. John Mateer, we mentioned him a few times. What does he look like in that Oklahoma offense this year? You go to see what that looks like. Talon Green out of Arkansas. Some scouts are really excited about him. You know, he's a bigger guy.

He's almost 6'6. I say you talk about traits. Yeah, he can move. Good athlete. Yeah, he can, he loses his top top two receivers, I think. And so there would be some turnover there. But, you know, this is a big year for Arkansas in that program. They need Tailing Green to step up.

I want to be surprised if in April we're talking about him as maybe that that fourth round gamble that could really turn out to be something. How many? And I understand that as we're recording, you're not done with it. If you had to guess how many of these quarterbacks are going to be in your final top 50. Not your final, your initial top 50. I think seven. So, you know, Arch, Lenore Sellers, Mendoza, Nussmeier, Clubnik, Aller, and then Levitt. Yeah.

And will all seven of those guys live up to it? Probably not. Some guys, they might be more 2027 draft players, you know, like Sam Levitt. you know, might be that type of guy. But I'm excited for what these guys have shown us, that they can be potential first-round picks. So, again, even though this is not, we don't have a Caleb Williams,

we don't have a Drake May. This is a at least quarterback group that you can get excited about. There's something about each one of these players that I think you can point to and say, okay, that's why he's going to be a starter in the NFL. At the risk of sounding like a casual, I just think it helps you, it helps you put a draft class together so much if you have a group of quarterbacks that you can sort of build it around

because like the the importance of the position just helps you stack things up like if you've got two or three guys that you can count on to be top 10 picks for me it's just easier to visualize how everything else stacks up as opposed to last year where a guy we talked about as a potential top five pick went in the fifth round i mean what do you do with that that's it's it's hard to sort things out when you don't have clarity at the most important position. Well, and to be fair, there's, you know, we'll see how it plays out. Maybe only two of these guys end up going first round. I mean, who knows how, you know, Mendoza could end up staying for another year at Indiana. Does Drew Aller take that next step? You know, he had his issues, his first year as a starter in 23, took a big jump last year in 24.

But like we saw in the playoffs, there's still way, areas where he needs to get better. And so will he take that jump in 2025, hopefully? Same thing with Cade Clubnick, who started off rough, started to come around last year in 2024. But what's his ceiling at the next level? That's where I think there are some, there's a lot of disagreement among scouts on Cade Clubnick and what his ultimate ceiling is in the NFL. Sellers and Archmanning, maybe both go back to school. You know, they're both really young players. So, yeah, there's still a lot that we don't know about the 2026.

quarterback class, but at least there's more excitement with these names that we're talking about as opposed to a year ago. Roger Goodell just bawled his fist at the suggestion that they both stay in school. Like, absolutely not. We need quarterbacks to drive this draft cycle, damn it. All right, you mentioned, you just mentioned Clubnaked Clemson. And so we're not going to do full position previews for all 11 positions. You can go look at Dan's previews on the athletic if you want more.

But there are some players we haven't hit yet that I do want to mention. And let's start with this big fella at Clemson, Peter Woods, who you seem to think very highly of. Your exact words in your preview were 90% of Jalen Carter, which is the type of thing that, you know, makes my eyebrows jump up. That's for sure. And I didn't say that. I don't say that lately. I spent a lot of time because that's, you see some Jalen Carter with the way he plays. I spent a lot of time saying, okay, what's the person?

percentage I should put here. Like, should I say 75%? It's like, no, he's better than that. I'll go up to 90. He could be 90% Jalen Carter. I'm not going to say he is as good as Jalen Carter, but he could be close. And it's strength, it's movement skills. You know, you see the ability to break down blocks, be productive.

And it's against the run game. It's as a pass rusher. He just, his ability to rid himself up blocks and go make plays is exceptional. And so he enters the year as player number one on my top 50. And we'll see how that plays out. But I feel pretty good. This is going to be one of the blue chip players in the 2026 draft. It's really disheartening for me as an LSU alum to hear that.

Week one. Let's put it that way. Week one. I'm not. And it's at Clemson, right? It is. I'm not optimistic. This is the least excited I've ever been about a season opener, if I'm being honest with you.

But we'll see. Oh, hey. We'll see. You got Nussmeyer coming back. I mean, there's, we even talk about, you know, on defense, some of their guys with Whitweeks and, you know, what does Harold Perkins look like? But to your point, Clemson, um, they look nasty. They look really good. They do.

Not even mentioning offense, but just on defense, they're going to have three guys in my top 20 with Peter Woods, T. T.J. Parker. And then Tarell, um, at corner, who is undersized. but man, he just, not at a barbecue, man. He annoys the heck out of receivers. He will, he is pesky. He is physical.

I love the way you plays. And so even though I want better size at the position, man, he's fun to watch. This is, this definitely looks like, just in time for them to open against LSU. This looks like a Clemson roster like we got used to seeing from 16 to 18, probably. You know, when they had top picks all over their D-L-L-L-L-Su. line and the other yeah a j tirl who and acc's going to stop them that's the thing i think that's where a lot of people are saying they're legit national title contenders because you know i'm like miami they should be um okay um better than okay i mean we'll see with carson back and how that plays out

smu uh you know they bring them back a lot of uh the team last year that went to the playoff so i mean it's not like it'll be a cakewalk for them but i think clemson if we're just relatively speaking with the Big Ten SEC, Clemson will have an easier road than, say, Georgia or Ohio State with their schedule in the way it sets up. Although, LSU and the opener will be fun because LSU, that is a game, that is a matchup where I think we'll learn a lot about both these quarterbacks. LSU hasn't won an opener since Joe Burrow was on the team. So I'm just, I'm just going to wait and see.

Come on, Brian Kelly. Just going to wait and see. Figure it out. One other name that I at least wanted to make sure we hit. And if I have forgotten anybody, please fill in the gaps. But I do think we at least got to say the name, Caleb Downs, one of my favorite players in the last couple years in college football. He's my favorite thing in football is a safety who knows what's happening before the ball is snapped. They are so much fun to watch.

And he fits that bill. I know he doesn't have a ton of takeaways. I know that was one of your notes on him. But I don't care. The guy just teleports to where the ball is. He is such a fun player. Well, this will be a fascinating test case because we don't see safeties go early in the draft. I think if for comparison purposes, I think we have to go back to Eric Barry maybe to find a guy that a safety who has playmaking skills, really smart to show a lot of what Caleb Downs has.

So he's not a lock for the top 10. and that's more about the position that he plays, more so than the ability and the talent. But, yeah, you can't talk about the best players in this draft without mentioning Caleb Downs. You know, we saw Ashton Genty, a running back go early in last year's draft. So, you know, it's not crazy to see a non, quote unquote, non-premium position go early. Caleb Downs, if you're going to draft to safety early, it's the type of guy you draft early. But at the same time, like, I don't think he's going to run a four-three. the size is okay.

It's not great. So I don't think he's going to get that pre-draft bump, you know, like the combine testing and all of that. So it'll be really interesting. I think the coaches will be pounding the table for this guy and general managers will be kind of left kind of talking to themselves saying, all right, we love him, obviously. But do we take him here at five overall or do we take the Tulsie Pashrusher?

Or, you know, the raw tackle who might end up being a foundational play. player for us, but we could take the guy we know is awesome right now. And so there's going to be a lot of Caleb Downs discourse over the next, you know, six months or so. But all I know is he's one of the best players in this draft, arguably the best defensive player in college football. So it'll be a lot of fun to watch them this year. I get that a safety needs to be special to be a big time draft pick, but we watched it in the moment and we knew it was dumb in the moment when Kyle Hamilton fell to 14. And if you, there's a lot of football to be played, but if you feel that way about Caleb Downs by April,

stop overthinking this stuff. Like, I would, I would be happy to draft this guy early if he builds on this season the way that I think he's going to. All right, is there any other top graded player that we haven't mentioned that you think we should? We, I think we hit on all of the guys in my top 10. You know, Jamad McCoy, the corner from Tennessee, he is, he had a torn ACL in 9th January. And that's the only reason we, I don't think we've mentioned him yet.

You know, when does he get back on the field? What does it look like? Is he 100%? So all those questions or those needs to be answered before we really start championing him. But he could be one of the best defensive players in this draft, no doubt about it. He was a lot of fun to watch last year for Tennessee's defense. So he would definitely be one. And then if I was going to mention somebody on offense,

I think it Kenyon and Sadiq, the tight end at Oregon. Obviously, at Oregon offense is going to look a lot different with Dylan Gabriel moving on. So, you know, what does Dante Moore look like a quarterback? That all factor into Sadiq and that next step he takes. But a ton of ability. He's a really good blocker. I think people look at 6-4-250 or, you know, he's not the biggest guy, but he's a really good blocker and he's an exceptional with the ball in the air.

He, the movement skills, the body control, natural pass catching. It's there, man. He has a chance. If you told me that Sadiq was the number one pass catcher drafted next April, I wouldn't be shocked. And that speaks to this receiver class like we've talked about not being a lot of high-end guys, but also Sadiq just being a guy that might end up being a top 20 player in this draft. His touchdown against Penn State, which you linked in your tight-end preview, was very, very special.

I understand why you're saying this after just watching that one snap. Yeah, exactly. And again, not the biggest guy, but, and I loved Ferguson last year for Oregon. One of my favorite players last year's draft, we know they're going to use the tight end. And so hopefully they, with the questions at receiver, Evan Stewart, one of the top senior receivers down, with a knee injury. So Oregon loses him. There will be a lot of youngsters that have talent, but maybe unproven.

So do they lean a little bit more on Sadiq this year and the tight end position? Can't wait to see it because I think he's got a lot of ability, a lot of talent. One more question that I had for you about this, just looking through your previews. And you can't set your watch to this. It just depends on the year. But in recent years, you know, you'll have like Chavonne Ravel out of East Carolina. in last year. Quinyon Mitchell, obviously, amazing player coming out of Toledo. Harold Fanon at Bowling Green turned a lot of heads last year with what he did against Texas

A&M obviously was a pretty high draft pick. I didn't notice a lot of small school players among the guys that you previewed. It feels like it's probably a symptom of NIL. Like are all of the bigger programs just consolidating these guys? Or is there anybody on a smaller stage that we should be aware of. Yeah, and I think you nailed it. I mean, it's tougher to find these guys because they usually transfer up. Chavon Ravel, he turned down 500 grand from LSU and Texas and Penn State and all these programs that wanted him to stay at the ECU.

And, you know, I think, you know, two years ago or three years ago now, Tucker Kraft, one of my favorite players, I mean, he was number like 35 in my August, top 50 that year. Love Tucker Craft from the get-go And part of it He chose loyalty at South Dakota State He Alabama, I think it was Alabama I think they offered six figures For him to transfer to the SEC

He stayed in the FCS And so now I'm not going to blame a guy For taking the money and transferring up We've got plenty of those guys But it is tougher to find the quote unquote Small Schoolers This year the top FCS prospect Is probably wide receiver

I don't know if North Dakota State Bryce Lance That last name might sound familiar. Yes, that is Tray Lance's little brother. 6.3-207, big athlete with receiving skills. He's got a chance to

maybe, I think right now he's kind of viewed as a third or fourth round pick by teams. Now, could he improve upon that? Possibly it'll be all about the senior bowl or shrine bowl and going to all-star games and testing well and those types of things.

But he's got good size, good past catching ability. So he's got a chance. to be a starter at the next level. Among the group of five guys, Toledo, man, they got another dude on defense. Safety, Emmanuel McNeill-Woran, six, three and a half, 210 pounds, long, rangy. They've got balls.

He's got ball skills. Credit to Jason Candle for his run on producing these guys, not just recruiting them, but developing them and then convincing them to stay around. I thought this stat was pretty crazy. Toledo. The last four years, they've produced five draft picks on defense. So 2022 to 2025.

That's the same number of draft picks on defense. They produced the previous 34 years. So 1987 to 2021. Again, it says a lot about candle. And, you know, aside from our Mount Union connection, just, you know, props to him and what he's done in Toledo. I was going to say, Toledo has rapidly become one of those programs where if I see Toledo next to the guys, name. I'm like, okay, I'm listening. Like, y'all, y'all got a track record at this point.

I'm ready to, I'm ready to watch. They do. And it's funny, doing like all the research I do on these players, a lot of these guys, their first offer, like, they end up going to Alabama. But their first offer as a sophomore or whatever it was was Toledo. Like, they, Toledo does a really good job dipping in the Florida and identifying these guys early and trying to connect, you know, and that's what happened with Quignon Mitchell and, you know, some of these other players. they develop that connection and then develop them on the field, let them stay around.

And so, yeah, Toledo is one of those group of five programs that you certainly take notice when they're, they've got a dude. Something worth remembering when you're watching Maxion later on this fall. All right. That's basically it for the top 50, at least for now. Although real, real quickly, I don't know how much, how in depth we need to go here. But by the end of this week, dude, we'll have college football on TV. Like week zero is Saturday. I'm not going to exaggerate and say it's this crazy good slate.

It doesn't really look that great from a draft prospect perspective. But at the very least, with the track record that Iowa State and Kansas State have, I'll be at least interested to tune into that. I think great idea on their part. Like Iowa State, Kansas State, both really solid, programs, but on a regular college football Saturday, they're probably the six or seventh best game at best on TV that day. So play in week zero where you are easily the best thing going.

And I know there's at least one guy that you're pretty high on for Iowa State that's going to be playing in this game. Yeah, there's quite a few guys that I think are legit prospects. With Kansas State, they've got playmakers on offense, every Johnson a quarterback, Jayce Brown at receiver. I think the best prospect versus prospect matchup is in the trenches. What you were alluding to with Iowa State defensive tackle, Dominique Orange, 6-2, 328 pounds, huge hands, 34-inch arms.

He's viewed as, I think, a top 100 guy by NFL scouts. He's going to face Sam Hesched, the Oklahoma or the Kansas State Center, 6-4, 300 pounds. Love the way he uses play strength. He has size. He can sustain a little heavy. times, but I think the FBI is outstanding. So I gave draftable grades to six centers this year, six senior centers. And Heschd was one of them. So Orange versus Hesch should be a good matchup to

watch in that week one, or week zero, I should say. Week zero. We've been doing it for a few years at this point, and I still struggle with it. But like I said, I think that that's a better matchup than it would get credit for on a regular Saturday. I'm looking forward to that. I don't know about Kansas State, Fresno State, or Stanford, Hawaii. If you want to flex your draft brain, please feel free. But otherwise, we can move past it. Well, there are definitely a few other individual players that I want to check out on Week Zero. In Kansas, they've got a few dudes.

Dean Miller is a tall, lanky pass rusher who he could be drafted late. Daniel Hyshaw, now the starter at running back with Devin Neal in the NFL. So we'll see how he does. and then another guy I'm interested to see a quarterback for Western Kentucky Maver Marrick McIver draftable grades are on the league

Texas Tech Transfer Abilene Christian Transfer really good football processing won't be surprised if he puts up some big stats in that Hilltopper's offense And this is exactly why you come to building the beast. This is

what it's all about eight months from now you'll be able to find those guys in the position listings. All right and at week one, obviously, headliners galore. It's as good as it gets. Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State, LSU Clemson, Notre Dame, Miami. Those are the headliners. I don't think you need anybody to tell you to watch that.

If you're interested in the draft, there's going to be guys on both sides of the ball. Does anything in particular about that stand out to you? I mean, obviously, everybody's going to be watching Arch Manning to see how he handles, not just his debut, but Ohio State on the road of all places. Is there anything else? Yeah, I mean, I think just we talked about just talked about Caleb Downs, but I think to me the key for Ohio State because Ohio, we know with breaking in Arch Manning a new quarterback,

they're going to be heavy on the run game. And so Caleb Downs being able to identify that, make plays. Both these teams, Ohio State had 14 players draft last year. Texas had 12. So not only do we have two new starting quarterbacks, but a lot of new faces and two programs that recruit and produce NFL talent as good, if not better than most. So I think my only grape about this game is it's at noon instead of a night game.

So thanks Fox for that. A little bit of a bummer, Fox. It is. A name to watch two. We saw Gunter Helm emerge last year for Texas. and with a first year starter quarterback with Arch Manning, we know in Sark the way he likes to use tight end, I think we could see a nice emergence for Jack Endry's transfer from Cal,

who is a smooth athlete, good ball skills, want to see him get better as a blocker, but we could see, he could be one of those breakout guys this year at tight end with the opportunity and also the talent that he has. I'll be watching it with my emotions invested, so take that with a grain of salt. But objectively, objectively as an analyst, Garrett Nussmeyer and Cade Clubnick have every reason to hope that they can be QB1 in this draft class. So to see those two guys go against each other on national TV in week one, it's what dreams are made of.

Is there anything, before we get out of here, Dane, like I said, I don't know if you need in-depth previews of all these NFL loaded rock. Is there anything more under the radar, anything below the headline level that you're really excited to see in week one? Well, because Florida State was so bad, historically bad last year, I think that's easy to overlook them. But I think that Alabama, Florida State game could, there's dudes to watch. So another trenches battle that I think to pay attention to Alabama Guard, Jane Roberts first, Florida State defensive tackle, Daryl Jackson. These are two NFL guys. So that'll be a lot of fun to see them go at it. Roberts, potential day two player, one of the strongest guys that I watch this summer,

64, 325 pounds. He excels at fitting up, owning blocks, driving guys out of the picture. He'll be tested in this one because Darryl Jackson for Florida State, 65, 340, 35 and a quarter inch arms, 11 inch hands. This dude is massive. He's bully strong, hard to move, powerful at contact, and a better athlete than you would think for a guy that size. So he actually made my top 50 last year at this time, based on the traits, didn't play up to it in 2024.

There's a lot more hype, not a lot more hype, but a little more promise, I think, based on what the coaches have said about what he's going to show in 2025. So Alabama, Florida State, even though that may be, you know, because of Florida State wasn't as good last year, there are some NFL guys to watch in this one. So, yeah, keep an eye on that. Notre Dame Miami's going to be fun. LSU Clemson. It's all about the quarterbacks, right? So that's, I cannot wait for week one in the college football. There's from noon until night and then even on Sunday and Monday,

there's going to be something for us to watch. It's going to be a great weekend. And it's going to be a great season, my friend. And we will be here. I can't wait. All the way through it, we will have an episode every single week, although we won't have an episode next week. We're going to wait, you know, there's only four or five games in week zero.

So we're going to wait until the week one game. are played. So Labor Day, we will be back with our reactions from week one, and we will be with y'all through the entire 2025 college football season talking prospects, talking teams. Whatever comes up in between, Dane, I'm so excited to be back with you, man. I'm looking forward to doing this. I cannot wait. This is going to be a lot of fun. I know just based off of the comments when you said we were recording today, I know a lot of people, looking forward to this. So we'll be doing this, yeah, weekly between now and the 2026 draft. So this is going to be a blast. And so I'm very excited to go on this journey with you.

You and me both, man. And we're excited to have you all along for the ride as well. We will talk to you in about two weeks. And then every week from there on after that, looking forward to it. Until then, we'll talk to you soon. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot.