The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - The biggest questions heading into the 2023 NFL Draft

Episode Date: April 25, 2023

We can measure the distance between this moment and the start of the 2023 NFL Draft in hours, yet we still have more than our fair share of questions. Robert Mays, Nate Tice and Dane Brugler dig into top-five intrigue, Bijan Robinson, possible runs at receiver and offensive tackle, and more on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Follow Robert on Twitter: @robertmaysFollow Nate on Twitter: @Nate_TiceFollow Dane on Twitter: @dpbruglerSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTube3:00 Questions in the top five21:00 Trading up for a QB?24:33 Intrigue in the top 1028:28 Intrigue outside the top 1032:14 Bijan Robinson37:14 The most interesting players41:22 Wide receivers44:04 A run on offensive tackles?47:29 What's the big veteran trade?50:04 Who goes earlier than expected?53:53 Who goes later than expected?56:37 Quick hitters Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic football show. Welcome to the athletic football show. I'm Robert Mays. Great show for you guys today. It's draft week. We're here. We made it. Last year, in the lead up to the draft, a couple days before the draft, we did a show with

Dane and Nate, just the biggest questions that we had heading into the draft. I love doing it. It was fun as hell. I thought it was kind of a great appetizer and a great way to kind of get into the final couple days before the draft. And guess what? I'm out of new ideas. So we're doing it again.

Here to dig into these big questions that we have on the eve of the 2023 draft. First of all, it's our draft expert at the athletic, Dan Bruegler. Dan, how you doing, buddy? Man, it feels good to be here, but these next three days are going to be long until we get to actually that first pick. But you know what? Let's savor it because, you know, part of us will miss it next week when it's all gone. That is very true. Also joining us today, it's my guy.

good friend, Nate Tice. Nate how are you doing, but? I'm doing well. Yeah, Dane says that now, and then when he's opening up that Google Doc to start the Beast 2024, then he goes, oh, man, here we are again. Hello, darkness, my old friend. I'm doing great. Excited for draft week.

I think I'm going to tweet the Duf Warrior from Mad Max Fury Road about 15 times this week, just because that's exactly what I feel like. I'm on the Fury Road. Finally, we're almost there. Just a heads up. So you guys don't forget. we are having a live draft show Thursday night from Kansas City, 7.30 p.m. Central time, about a half hour before the draft kicks off. We will be live on our YouTube channel doing all things draft. We're going to have live breakdowns, full breakdowns of every pick of the first round on Thursday night.

And then we are going to be back on Friday doing every pick of the second and third rounds live on video from KC in a studio. Bells and whistles, fun stuff. Please come hang out with us. We're very, very excited. about what is now round three of our live draft presentation at the athletic football show. Far Cry from draft one where Nate and I were alone in a dark hotel room with two iPhones. So we were slowly trying to crank out here. 1020 at whatever it was, the Hilton Garden Inn in Chicago, whatever hotel that was. It was a courtyard, all right? So thank you to the courtyard for putting us up that night.

We're really pumped. Please come hang out with us. For those of you who still want to listen to them as podcast, they will be available shortly after the draft is over that night in podcast form. So no worries there, but we would love if you guys came to hang out with us. All right. We're going to dig into the biggest questions we have heading into the draft now that we're 48 hours out.

Dane, we were talking before we started recording about how this draft specifically feels like we have more questions than we typically do. I mean, the top five still feels like a mystery. Everyone came out with their mock drafts or 32 team predictions today. every NFL writer under the sun. They're all different. I mean, it just seems like there's so much conflicting information going on that this exercise feels more appropriate this year

than it has even over the last few years. Yeah, no doubt. And let's remember that's what the NFL wants. They want us talking about all these different scenarios of what might happen. And, you know, it's funny, growing up, I used to love the home run derby. And the day before the home run derby,

they'd always play the past home run derbies. And I'd love that. And so like this week in the background, I've got past NFL drafts. You know, last night is a 1999 NFL draft, which is the draft that made me fall in love with the draft. And it's funny watching that. I have me too, the Cade McNow draft. Yeah, it's Tim Couchofebubber, baby. Yeah.

Not to meet your Sunderwood, though. We're not going to talk about that one. That's right. That's right. But like hearing them, I mean, they were like tipping picks every single time. Like it was like, you know, they finally figured out. Let's, let's string it along a little bit. Let's, let's keep people wondering.

and, you know, it's make for good TV, good conversation. And whether or not that's part of it or not, that we have feels like more questions this year than we usually do. And a big part of that's the quarterbacks. When you have four quarterbacks that realistically could go top 10 picks, then you've got a lot of, you've got a couple teams that we know we're going to take a quarterback. You've got a couple teams that should take a quarterback, but might not. And then a couple teams that could conceivably take a quarterback that maybe we're not leaning into enough.

So a lot of intrigue there. Trades feel like if they're going to happen, you know, I think Braysham, I mean, feels like he's going to be the pick of Carolina, number one. He's the best player in the draft, in my opinion. I think that makes sense. But then at two with the Texans, you know, I've mentioned this before. What I've been told is the Houston coaching staff, there's not a consensus about the quarterback they should take it to.

And it's not that they are multiple quarterbacks they feel should go number two, is there's not a consensus that there is a quarterback worth taking there. Now, Nick Casario ownership, they could pull rank and say, listen, we're taking a quarterback, so figure it out. But I think it's a better, more likely outcome that they take a non-quarterback here. Is that Tyree Wilson? Is that Will Anderson? And that brings us a three with the Cardinals.

And that's where things really heat up with the trade action. It feels like the Cardinals with their roster situation. I mean, I feel like, you know, listening to you guys talking about. on the athletic football show during the year. Multiple times I heard you guys say, this is the worst roster in the league. And I don't disagree with you guys. So they need help.

And if that means taking the best offer, you know, what does that look like? Is it future picks? Is it picked multiple picks this year? So it feels like that trade is going to happen at number three. But who is it going to be? And how many quarterbacks are going to be on the board? Yeah.

That's the other question. Right. Yeah. So is it a team training for C. Strowd? Is it the Colts moving up one spot? for whoever their guy is, which is a lot of debate. We'll get into with that.

So, yeah, so much intrigue. And it's a lot of fun to discuss all the different sliding doors about what could happen. What do you think, Nate, is the most fun outcome with the number two pick? Like, the thing that will throw this into the most chaos, potentially? The Texans trade out of number two. And it's a big, it's a team that moves up big time for them, even if it's, if it's Vegas from seven, is it the Titans from 11? You know, something of that sort, like a big move up to number two where a team is trying

to leapfrog and get their guy and leapfrog anyone potentially moving up to three or the Colts just standing pad at four. I could see that being, I could see that. If that happened, that could be hilarious and a lot, very interesting for us as we're doing a live show and breaking down all the ramifications of that. But I would say that would be the most interesting outcome. Also, just even if the Texas do say, hey, wow, we're really not sold on the guy.

We'll see how things trickled after our pick, and do we do anything with 12? And we'll just take Will Anderson. We'll take an Alabama guy, a culture, culture setter type of player as we're trying to kind of just get as much talent, injection of talent onto this team. So I can see those two outcomes being kind of the most interesting ones. If they end up taking Stroud or Levis or even Richardson, any of the quarterbacks at two, it would be kind of like, okay, they took a QB. All right, let's move on. We all expected that. But I'd say a trade back or taking Ames.

Anderson would just cause a lot of chaos because also that number three pick becomes even more juicy than than it was originally. The one outcome that I just don't really understand, Dane, or the one storyline that's kind of trickled out here, is this idea that the Texans could potentially pick a guy to a positional player. Let's say it's Will Anderson and then potentially try to move back up for one of the quarterbacks a little bit later in the top 10. If you want a quarterback out of this year's draft, the idea that you would wait and then try to trade back up for one when you don't know which of the quarterbacks is going to potentially be on the board.

That seems crazy to me. Like that seems insane. Is that wrong? No, we're on the same, you know, wavelength here because I, that doesn't make sense. It's, it's, now I get, if you have these quarterbacks ranked very similar, like, but you have to love one of these guys or you don't.

Like, if you, if you're comfortable drafting them at seven, eight, or 12, whatever it is, just take them at two. There's no point in getting cute about it. So, and, and, As much as I love Will Anderson, this isn't a, Will Anderson, I don't think you look at him as a truly franchise altering player. And so it's not a case of, you know, we can't just, we can't pass on.

It's a case of, if the Texans do take Will Anderson at two or Tyree Wilson, it's not because they view that player as being franchise altering. It's because they don't love one of the quarterbacks of two. So the idea that they would then draft one, you know, seven picks later or whatever it ends up being is very confusing. You can go back and there's not many examples where that second quarterback with two teams speaking twice in the first rounders worked out. Now they worked out with the Ravens with Lamar Jackson was their second and first rounder that year. They traded back up. But I mean, it's just, it's not a sound strategy, you know.

Get the quarterback right first and foremost. And if you love one of these guys, enough to draft them in the top 10. or top 12, then you take him at two. So I still feel like maybe common sense is going to win out. And I think they're going to come away with this from this draft with the quarterback. Now, that might be Aidan O'Connell in the fourth round. But I think there's a good chance they come out of this draft with the quarterback. It would just be surprising if it's with that second first rounder.

The other thing that came out this weekend that kind of trickled out is that the betting markets have shifted. And I now believe, Nate, that Will Levis is like the favorite to be the number two over. overall pick. I don't know what to do with that. Does that mean that the tech, there's been buzz about the Texans wanting Will Levis? Does that mean that there's been buzz about the Texans trading out of that pick? And there's another team like Indianapolis that potentially loves Will Levis. There's been a lot of rumblings around that. So even that little shift that's happened over the last 72 hours or so has thrown a little bit more intrigue and uncertainty into this entire process. Yeah. Especially with Levis is the interesting one because even when I did the video for a YouTube page and I rewatch them and I'm

clips again and I kind of rewatch it and even like my summary at the end of the thing. I understand how NFL teams will like why they would like Will Levis. You watch them and you watch his play and you watch the offense that he played in. There's a lot that easily translates. Even just stuff that's under center, quick hit and play action stuff that is I can see a lot of offensive coaches. You got to remember, there's a ton of guys with Shanahan influences in this league right now. Not just saying that traditional mindset kind of NFL offense is the Raiders being won.

Josh McDaniels likes to do a lot on your center. I could see why teams would fall in love with that. And it's interesting, and I'm glad you said it that you said the number two overall pick, not that there's also betting odds. Well, the Texans select Will Levis, which is different betting odds. And that is what is so interesting that's the number two spot. So that's why seeing movement there as far as a team moving there or the Texas is just deciding, hey, Bobby Sloick, what do you think about this guy?

And Bobby Sloak, the offense coordinator from Texans going like, hey, I recognize this scheme. But if I had to pick a guy, this is the guy that translates the most to our offense, the easiest one I can see picturing in our offense. So that would be interesting to me. And that one would kind of make sense because there is a lot of stuff that easily translates, even though there's other traits that these other guys have. What you watch what will Levis do on a snap to snap basis is a lot of what he'll be doing at the NFL level, even stuff that's pre-snap, huddling, calling the plays, handling all the shifts of motion. So I can see why teams did fall in love with them. And especially after the rewatch, I totally understand. There's been a lot of buzz about the Colts liking Will Levis, Dane.

I'm wondering what sort of noise you've been hearing about them and Will Levis, them and other quarterbacks, because it doesn't seem like there's been a lot of stuff coming out of Indianapolis during this process. No, I mean, Chris Ballard, he keeps things close to the best, especially with this pick. But they're talking to other teams, they look at the Colts and that's where that bus is coming from. Other teams believing that Will Levis could be the fit. And really, okay, let's just say non-quarterback goes to, let's say the Colts move up from

four to three, move up one spot to get their quarterback. They don't want to take any chances. This is almost like the third pick two years ago when we're up to the minute. We're talking about, is it Trey Lance or is it McGoverns to the 49% number three? This year, okay, is it C.J. Stroud? Is it Anthony Richardson? Is it Will Lev us? We've got three guys that were debating could be that third pick to Indianapolis.

I think you talked, it's not consensus, but. most around the league believe C.J. Stroud to be that second quarterback after Bryce Young. But when you talk specifically for the Colts, that's where it starts to change a little bit. You know, I was texting with someone this morning who used to scout with Ballard and Casey. And I asked them, who do you think he's going to take? You had to just take a guess. He said Anthony Richardson. Talking other people, they think Will Levis has that fit.

But C.J. Stroud, with everything that he offers, and, you know, if you had to put the safe label on one of these quarterbacks, you're doing it with CJ Stroud this year because of that floor. So, you know, and then you get into the whole, let's get this out of the way. We have to talk about the S2 testing, okay? I want to ask you about just the conversation around C.J. Stroud over the last week or so, because it seems pretty wild what's happened recently and what's going on right now. So for me personally, I chose not to include the scores of the S2 testing, which it's a relatively new. Some teams have been using it about six, seven years now.

Other teams don't use it. More than half use it in the league. I chose not to include the scores in my draft guide. I never have. Wonderlick, I don't include them. It's just, I think it's a little unfair to the players because those of us on the outside, we don't know how to properly use the information, including myself. 100%.

I'm still learning about how to properly use these test scores in my own evaluation. So I choose not to do it. Now, I knew as a matter of time before they came out, and they did this week. with CJ Stroud, the score is shockingly low, especially compared to Brayshung and Will Levis, who are both in the 90s, and then Anthony Richardson, who's not too far behind from those two guys. And I was told CJ Stroud took it multiple times. He was drastically low. And this test is supposedly a really great indicator of processing, basically, to sum it up.

And, you know, it's, again, not an exact science, but a lot of times. teams do really subscribe to this. And one of the teams that pays close attention, the 49ers, Brock Purdy scored off the charts in the S2 testing. Where did Dimeco Ryan's and Bobby Slowick cut their teeth as coaches? San Francisco. So now this Houston staff, they're looking at C.J. Stroud and how much is that S2 testing factor in into their evaluation of these quarterbacks? So it's at least, I don't know the answer to that, but it's at least a data point. how big of a factor is an unknown variable, but it's still relevant to the conversation. This idea, Nate, that C.J. Stroud has the highest floor of these quarterbacks and that he has a

really definitive floor. I was talking to a couple of coaches about this recently, just this idea of what creates a floor for NFL quarterbacks. And I wanted to posit this to you. What do you think is the aspect of a quarterback's player, an aspect of playing the position that causes a guy to crumble like more than anything else, where you are just not a viable quarterback in the NFL, even if you're drafted high. What would you say that it is? Lack of process. Like that, uh, and lack of process leads to bad eyes and bad footwork because everything just goes off, off the rails right away. I'd say the best example that we have recently is the biggest example, Zach Wilson.

100%. And that is that how Zach Wilson play in the NFL is kind of everything that could go wrong, uh, as far as as footwork, timing, just everything. Because it, that's what I would say is number one thing. It's your way to win, way to your, everybody wins in a different way, every position. Some are very similar. And then that's why we can group them all together. But everybody wins.

How Josh Allen wins is totally different to Joe Burrow, who's totally different than Patrick Holmes, who's totally different, all the top guys. And so I would say when you watch every single guy and it's like, okay, how do you hit your singles and doubles? Like, how do you get on base? Everybody's going to be a little different. And so I think when guys don't have that, they're just swinging for the fences. There's not a lot of down-to-down consistency.

I think that's where you see the issues crop up and you see guys just fall apart because the flash plays and everything's out of structure, yada, yada, yada, it could be different ways. If they have to rely too much on that and not stuff that's more sound and sustainable, that's where you see the issues crop up. That's, I admit, it's interesting that you said that because Zach Wilson is who I had in my mind. And Zach Wilson, the pocket presence and the ability to navigate that space when it gets a little bit muddy. He doesn't have that. And I think if you can't do that, that's the fastest way for you just not to be a viable quarterback in the NFL. fell if that moment causes you to crumble. And so that's why I thought that the conversation around Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud was interesting

because Bryce Young, that's what he does best. So being able to navigate those muddy situations, to me, it feels like Bryce Young's floor because of that is actually pretty high. And where we haven't seen C.J. Stroud do as much of it, does that mean that C.J. Stroud's floor as a passer is potentially a little bit lower than we've been conceiving of it because that's the one question about his game that kind of exists compared to a guy like Bryce Young. I think, well, I'm not disagreeing about Young. I'd say with Stroud, it's that the games where they're the muckiest games, the Northwestern game is the one I always come back to, even Iowa, where shit wasn't going right.

And he had to kind of do more with the offense and carry more of the low. The Georgia game is going to be the one everyone brings up. And that game, of course, is the epitome of it. But that's where you have to, just because you don't see it in every game doesn't mean the guy can't do. it. Sometimes being on a loaded team. I watched Mac Jones, like, just sit in a pocket and throw RPO's all over the yard. And, like, it was amazing. It was incredible. It was just accurate, just pinpoint accuracy to these fantastic receivers. But it didn't mean I went, oh, he's got terrible pocket movement because he never did a dropback. You know, you have to extrapolate what you do see,

the couple snaps that you do see. And I think Dana will agree with this. And I don't want to put words in his mouth, but that's what I think scouting, especially with quarterbacks in every, every position, really. it's what fat you can trim out from the film. What translates, Will Anderson and the four eye isn't going to translate because you won't be used that in the NFL, you know, but especially with a quarterback, just because he's operating from the clean pocket doesn't mean he can't do it. And it's just that maybe he doesn't have 100 reps at it. Maybe he just has 15 reps at it.

So the ones that you do see, and there's a couple of plays against Georgia, of course, where I do see Stroud do that, that I'm not as worried about it, even if you don't see it in the film. I think even Zach Wilson, when he came around, I was a little worried and had question marks about it because he was throwing trick shots from just because, just unnecessary, like bailing out of clean pockets and throwing stuff sidearm. And it was cool. But that's what caused the question marks.

It was like, well, that pocket's clean. Why are you bailing? I think with Stroud, you're seeing those maybe five snaps a game that you can kind of like take and say that's an NFL rep. That's an NFL pocket. That's what you're trying to carry over. And I just want to kind of add onto this. That's why I started liking Levis even more is that because his teammates were so bad,

he actually had the most realistic NFL pockets to work with and how to get rid of the ball and find targets and manipulate himself in the pocket good and bad. But I think that's why it was easier to translate his stuff. And Stroud, you have to take the two, three snaps a game and figure it out. The last thing I'll say about the top set of quarterbacks, there's a chance that Seattle or Detroit takes one of these guys. And we haven't even mentioned them as part of this process. So there's just so many different dominoes that can follow in different ways within the top 10. what you're saying too. What's cool is that how these teams are taking these guys are in such different situations too.

Usually these teams at the top, it's like they need a guy because they suck. It's like some of these guys that's like, this is a bonus pick. This is a, oh, they're halfway. Like the Panthers could hit a guy and easily be a nice playoff team next year if things go right. It's like that's what's really interesting and cool about where these guys can go in the top 10. So let's move outside of the top 10 a little bit. Let's say that one of these quarterbacks starts slipping outside of the top. top 10 in the way that Justin Fields did in 2021.

Dane, who do you think is the most interesting team, maybe in the back half of the first round, that if we saw them click on to the board at 11, because the Titans didn't like a quarterback, we'd been wrong about that, something like that, or the Eagles wanted to move back. Who is the most interesting team that could make that sort of move up the draft for you? Probably Tampa. That's the team I keep coming back to. They did have a 30 visit with Will Levis. you know, so they may be thinking if Levis did slip a little bit, that's someone they would go up for.

You know, obviously, they're in a state of not sure what we're doing at the position right now in the post-Tom Brady era. Kyle Trask, I never graded him as an NFL starter. I think he's going to be a solid backup in this league, and that's fine. You know, they draft him, what, late second round, so maybe they have higher hopes for what, Kyle Trask is going to be. But I think that if you have a chance, we have a general manager with Jason Light, who's, you know, who knows? This might be his final draft.

So, you know, you're in a position where, you know, go back to the Bears and they trade it for Justin Fields. It's almost like, you know what? If we don't make a move now, we might never have a chance to make this move. So let's just screw it. Let's go for it. And maybe that's what the Bucks will do. So, you know, I think they're in a really weird position because the roster is

semi-ready to compete, but you're missing. that quarterback. And that's a big part of it. And obviously with a rookie quarterback, things might not go well if that's end up who's starting for you. But at least you have a plan in place that might give you a little bit more of a lifeline if you're head coach general manager. Nate, how about you? Which team could move up into the top 12ish for a quarterback? Do you be like, okay, now I'm interested. You have my attention. It was the Bucks. I thought the Bucks would be super interesting as well. Just because Robert, we've talked about, especially for agency and things the Bucks moves this off season was that.

that the roster is pretty dang good. They have a lot of tangibly good players under contract as well. They could easily slot in a rookie, you know, rookie contract right there and it would really make it a lot more workable and tolerable what they're trying to do. Yeah, they still need like a left tackle,

but as far as defense and pass catchers, wouldn't be the worst place to drop a young QB in. I would just tell, you know, Baker to shut up every day and just be like, hey, hey, this is our guy. I know you're competitive, man. I know you're competitive,

like just, but I agree with Dane about. Kyle Trask, I just want to have dot, dot, I've never had like Kyle Trask thoughts, I think on this podcast. But last, last preseason,

Trask bawled out. And I was shocked. I watched him. I was kind of like my breakout player of preseason. It was Kyle Trask, which if you had betting there would have been a thousand to one odds that I would have brought up Kyle Trask. I think the Bucks told me everything they needed,

they needed to in week 18 against the Falcons this year, when they played Blaine Gabbert for three quarters and didn't play Kyle Trask. a nothing game. They didn't have to win, didn't have to lose. They're playing all backups, and they wouldn't put Kyle Trask in until the second half. I was like, got it. I see that.

You don't want to see him in a real game? No, you want Blink Everett, who's like in his 12th year? Okay, all right, all right. That's what you guys feel. So I think that's all I need to know about their feelings of Kyle Tras. But I will say that the Bucks would be the most interesting one to me and one to actually kind of sort of makes sense if one of these guys falls. I just keep going back to Minnesota and like what their quarterback plan is.

And I don't know if they have the ammo to move up or if they have any interest in moving up or if there's even a guy that they think is worth moving up for. But that's just the other team in the back half of the first round where it's like, I just want to see what they end up doing here over the next calendar year when you consider what Kirk Cousins' future looks like. All right. After the Texans pivot point at two, Dane, is there another team in the top 10? Maybe that's even a little bit outside of the quarterback conversation where you're intrigued what their pick is going to be and maybe what their pick is going to do to kind of set off things. that come afterward. I think so, okay, let's look at five and six. It feels like Seattle and Detroit are going defense.

I think that's the right move. It makes a lot of sense. Maybe they surprise this one of them takes a quarterback, maybe. But it just feels like those two teams are going defense. The Raiders at 7 to me are such a wild card because Dave Ziegler, he's had one draft as a general manager, and he didn't pick until 90th one. Yeah, we just don't have a frame of reference here. You know, and go back to Josh McDaniels days when he was in Denver, you know, when he was running those drafts.

And it was all over the place. You're drafted Cibo. Yeah. No Sean Moreno in the first round. I mean, he drafted to Marius Thomas, which obviously was a great pick. But, you know, it was all over the place. And so Raiders could go quarterback. They could go offensive line.

They could go any level of the defense. None of those would surprise me. And so I think the Raiders really are a wild card here with the direction they could go. And that's, you know, maybe it depends on how many quarterbacks are still available. There's a lot of intrigue there with number seven. I can't wait to see what the Raiders do. I'm going to read off the starting players on the right side of the Raiders offensive line and then at several players positions on defense.

Right guard right now, the first line of the depth chart is Alex Bars. Right tackle, it's Jermaine Illumanor. At defensive tackle, right now, the first line on the depth chart is Jerry Tilleri, who the Chargers cut last year and Belal Nichols. The Chargers got a great run defense, right? That's why they can get rid of a bunch of guys. Okay. At Corner, we've talked about this, Nate, starting outside corners right now on this roster, on this step chart, or Duke Shelley and David Long, Jr.

Like, and so you could anything, you could justify anything. If they pick Skoronsky and just said he's going to be our starting right guard for the next 10 years, it's like, cool, you need one of those. And I feel the same way about Corner and I feel the same way about the interior of the defensive line. It really is going through this team. And I think we talked about this, maybe when I was at Barnwall on the other day, it's just a reminder when you actually look at the depth chart how many things that they still need. And why the process they went through last year, trading away those picks that we just talk about is a little bit strange. And I think that set them on sort of a weird timeline.

That was when we did our AFC West preview last August. And we got to the Raiders. And you start really diving into the depth chart. And you're like, who else you guys got? I see Devante Adams. I saw you guys sign Chandler Jones. Okay. All right.

Those are like cherry on top moves. Those are like, oh, yeah, we're all in. You guys are still like two steps away from contention. And they are better than what their record was. It's actually kind of nice that they fell into the top 10. And I think they'll be, but they move on from Derek Carr. So it's kind of like two steps forward, one step back for them. So I agree with the Raiders one, like as far as being super interesting and intriguing in the top 10.

They actually are the one team. And I already mentioned this that as I did that Levis video, I actually love the Will Levis fit for the Raiders. as far as what their offense is and what he brings to the table. To me, though, my answer to his question is the lines, just because I could see them going so many different directions. Like Dane said, I could see them going defense, especially in the front line. Anderson, if Will Anderson falls there, Jalen Carter falls there, Tyree Wilson, that's right, he could go anywhere in the top 10.

All those guys would make sense. If they want to go corner and as a continuation of the guys they signed this offseason, if they want to go QB of the future, or if they want to trade back and just like, hey, screw it, we got this pick and we're in a cool spot. when the quarterback falls, we're not taking the QB. I just think that they're kind of the international men of mystery, uh, kind of, kind of of of this top 10. There's a lot of men of mystery in this top 10, but I really, I'm intrigued to see what

the lines do. How about outside the top 10 day? Is there a team outside the top 10? We're just like, I can't wait to see what they come away with like in the top 100. Man. Oh, yeah. There is. In general, I'll go with the bills.

I, I, I, I decided. There's like really my first answer was there's so many teams in the 20s I want to talk about here. But if I had to pick one because I'm trying to limit myself here and not answer five things, I'm going with the bills. Do they go align? Do they take a receiver anywhere early? Do they take a tight end? Do they go defense linebacker in a weaker linebacker class? Do they go defense align and try and find a different type of player there?

We got to remember the bills are still pretty damn good. They still have a window right now to compete. They're currently tied for third highest odds to win the Super Bowl right now. Um, some of the discussion has cooled on them, but I'm just really curious because they're not pivoting like a hard pivot as a team, but they're tweaking, uh, what they're doing right now. So I'm curious what this draft indicates what tweaking they're trying to do or a continuation of the tweaking. So I want to see what the bills come up with because I think they could if they hit this, this could be an ultimate heat check for them. They could really like leapfrog again back into that contention mindset. I want to list off the top 100 picks the bills have made since the Josh Allen draft. Ed Oliver, Cody Ford, Devin, Devin, Singletary, Dawson Knox, AJ Epinessa, Zach Moss, Greg Rousseau, Boogie Basham, Spencer Brown, and then last year's class, I don't think we can make any definitive decisions about or statements about. Those are those guys. They have not found those difference makers early in the draft, and I think you're starting to really feel it, and I think that they need this year to be

a pivot away from that. It's obviously harder when you're picking in the 20s to find those guys, but even like one random second round pick. It's like this guy's a borderline star for them. That just hasn't happened. It's like a lot of starter quality guys, but not a lot of needle movers. Yes. Which is, but you're competing. You need a couple of guys to like just get more out of than you're expecting. It'll be interesting to see what with Buffalo 27. Do they really want to get that extra weapon for Josh? Or they really want to build up that defense. Like it's right. And there are a couple of these teams in those 20, the Chargers, for example. Like, you have to sign Herbert.

So you have to hit on these picks to get solid starters. these cheap starters. And so are you going to do it with more help with Dalton Kincaid or are you going to build up your defense? And so some of these teams in the 20s with those young quarterbacks with those either big contracts like Buffalo or soon-to-be big contracts like Cincinnati, the Chargers. Those are really interesting picks because there is a level of we got to get this right. And so it's shooting for the moon, but maybe going for a safe option to someone we really

trust is going to be that solid starter that we need the next four to five years. Is there anyone else for you, Dane, outside of the top 10? You're just like, man, I just have been, there's been a level of intrigue for me that maybe I didn't expect. I was going to mention the Chargers because, you know, they feel, they feel so close. But it's just like, okay, what, what's that move that they feel? You're not doing this to me again. I know, I know, I know, I know.

But also, I want to mention Dallas, because Dallas is another team that they have a championship roster. So what do they feel like is going to get the, Dallas has been so good in the first round. Like, they deserve a lot of credit. Will McLeigh. Yeah, absolutely. And so, okay, at number 26, where they're picking right now, who do they feel is going to be their pick this year that's going to help get them over the hump?

So, I mean, I'd say this. Jerry is not getting younger. Jerry wants another title. They are going for it right now with the setup of that roster. So I'm really eager to see what Dallas does. All right. We have not talked about this very often, but I think one of the biggest questions coming into the drafts, because we didn't talk about running backs that much.

Where does Bejohn Robinson go, Dane? What are the teams that you have circled? I mean, what are the teams that you've thought about the fit and how he would work there? I mean, what does that look like for you? I think, we've talked about this several times when Prospects of Prospects of Pros, I don't think we talk enough about the possibility of if Bejon went eight to Atlanta. And what, I mean, you think about the setup of that. roster and that offense, how much fun that would be. I mean, whether or not it should happen or, you know, whatever, we can talk about that

another time. But if it did happen, what that would look like and all of a sudden, that Atlanta offense is look at a little more, a little more impressive. And they've taken those big swings in the top 10 on offensive playmakers the last two years with Pitts and Drake London. And so it kind of fits that they would do it with Abijah Robinson. And Terry Fontno was in New Orleans when they drafted Mark Ingram in the first round. I mean, I think that it's not as crazy as some people want to make it out to be.

I'd love to see Bijon at 10 to Philadelphia. But the last time the Eagles drafted a running back in the first round, none of us were born. So I don't think that's going to happen. So let's come back to reality. And where's Bejohn actually going to go? It's a good question. I mean, I had him going to Washington in my mock draft. I think that's a team that they obviously a quarterback's a little bit of a question mark that it seems like they're fine with Brissette and Howl as their quarterbacks.

Ownership is changing. They need some excitement. I can see that happening. Let's just say he gets past Washington. Okay. So he's out of the top half around one. Where does he fall at that point? Detroit at 18, you can't rule out. Even though it just seems like, you know, with the addition of David Montgomery, DeAndre Swift's still there. It just feels like that's, too much of a luxury there. Would the Chargers do it? With their current running back situation? I don't know. That one would be really fun. I don't love that so much.

But him landing with the Chargers would be really fun. And then I don't think he gets past Dallas at 26. So where that's one of the harder parts about doing a mock draft is trying to figure out where does Bejong go because he's going somewhere in that top 26. It's just a matter of where.

If he gets to a certain point with Buffalo, look to make a move up to go get him? I mean, could he be someone they see as like the missing piece of that offense? I don't know. It's, I mean, you can't rule out Cincinnati with the way that they're looking at running backs now. So it's a fascinating conversation with Bejohn. And that's one of, you know, the quarterbacks to the top 10. That's going to be what drives the conversation Thursday night.

Bejohn watch. I think then Jalen Carter watch where Jalen Carter goes. And then it becomes Bejohn Robinson watch. Where does Bejohn go? because someone's going to get just a heck of a football player. You mentioned the Eagles haven't drafted running back in our lifetimes. Since 2010, when Howard Roseman became the general manager of the Eagles, they have only drafted four positions in the first round over that 14-year stretch.

Do we know those four positions? Defensive line. Yep. Defensive line, yeah. A line. Quarterback. Wide receiver. That's it.

Yeah. They've drafted three receivers. they've drafted, I think, three or four offensive linemen, three or four defensive linemen and one quarterback. That's it. They've drafted four positions in the first round in 14 years. So it's not just that they've never drafted a running back. It's that they have a very specific idea of what type of players are worth first round picks.

And guys like Bejohn Robinson have not been that in the past. You have to wonder if they did trade back from 10, does it become any more palatable for them? You know, if they move back from 10 to, let's say the. the bucks. Say the bucks move up for a quarterback. So now Philly is picking at 19. Does that become more of an option for them at that point? I don't know. Maybe, but it just seems like it goes against their MO, against the ownership, what they believe in, the GM, and all the way down. So it becomes hard to see. And I, you know, I think they do have high hopes for Rashad Penny. And, you know, not only that, but this is a deep running back class. That needs to be.

talked about when you talk about Bijan Robinson and Jemir Gibbs and these top running backs is a lot of teams feel fine waiting until a third round and getting a Tank Bigsby or Taije Spears or Rochon Johnson, Kendrae Miller. I mean, the list goes on and on about quality running backs in that third, fourth round range that don't have the first round price tag. As someone with the Rashad Penny fantasy stock, the dynasty stock, I desperately hope that the Eagles do not take a running back until like the fifth or sixth round. That's kind of where I'm at right now. Nate, outside of Bejohn and Jalen Carter, both of whom will incite their own watches on draft night,

which guy are you most interested in seeing what his draft position is and what that range looks like? Michael Mayer, because what I thought going into this process would be like, oh, yeah, this guy's going into teens, no doubt about it, just pick which team in the teens that he's going to go. And now it's like, well, don't call Kincaid. There's teams that are above. Have him as tight end one, and he's going to go above. And so that makes it interesting to me because I thought he was a kind of unquestioned tight end one in this class.

And the fact that there's even question marks, I think that's more interesting to me that it could be surprising that he falls back. Him and Kincaid or Michael Mayer and Don't Kincaid have the exact same odds, I think at this point in time to go be the first tight end selected. So I think just the what his range could possibly be, how far does he fall could be interesting or does he not fall at all. So I'm just curious where he, how the NFL views him because just the whispers of them. I think he's kind of gotten taken for granted about what his skill set is,

what we've talked about on the tight end show, Dane. But I'm glad you said the, by the way, but the Bejan with the Falcon stuff. It's like, even though, yeah, we could talk about value and everything as a scheme football nut. Oh my God, that would be so much fun. It would be the most fun easily. Easily. Pits, Drake, London, Bejohn Robinson, and then, you know, whatever they end up. We talk about position as football. Like, but this is the same team a couple years ago because they were the island of misfit toys. They had their quote unquote running back Cordial Patterson lined up as a tight end. Their quote unquote tight end lined up as a slot receiver. And like they just had everybody shipped. They had a quote unquote tight end as their

running back and protection. So it's as Bejohn is a true true three down player. That's why if you're looking at this type of player like as far as snaps play touches, he can pass protect, he can catch. That's just a weapon. So it doesn't matter what position he is. So that's why the value I think with Bijon's maybe a little different than other spots. But I'd say Michael Mayer is the one. If we're not talking about Jaylon Carter as well, because I know we'll be on Carter Watch. I'm on Michael Mayer watch a bit.

By the way, I mentioned I was watching that 99 draft. It was fascinating watch Mike Ditka give up his entire draft, plus first and third the following year to go up and get Ricky Williams. It's just an amazing time capsule of what used to be and how things have shifted quite a bit. And Eagles fans were pissed about Donovan McNabb because they wanted Ricky Williams. James that totally different change. We have a consensus running back in the top five of pretty much every single big board that anyone has put together.

And we're wondering if he's going to be on the board of 26 when the Cowboys pick. Another Texas running back. That's it. Exactly. I wanted to mention Jackson Smith and Jigba as a guy that I'm really. He's one. I circled as well. Yeah.

You could make a case 11, Tennessee. You know, they desperately need playmakers in that offense. And you don't have to sell Mike Vrable and Ohio State guy. So that could happen. Right. 15 of the Packers. Give Jordan Love some support. I heard you guys talk about them on yesterday's podcast.

I think you just drop them in with Romeo Dubs on the outside, Christian Watson on the other side. But you look at the Packers. They have drafted one wide receiver in the first round the last 20-some years. Would they really take a slot receiver in the top half of round one? I mean, it makes sense, but would they do it? I don't know. And then I had JSED to Seattle at 20 in my mind.

mock and I love that fit. But again, is that a team where do they love the value there? And so there's a couple teams in the 20s where you can make a case, you know, with, they need an extra receiver, whether it's the Chargers, the Ravens, the Giants. JSN's a really good player, but he's a certain type of player. And so he might not be that exact fit for all of those teams picking in the 20s. So JSN, where he actually ends up on draft day, is going to be really interesting. What Dane's saying, too, is that that's why when I use the term scheme independent, or scheme like they scheme proof that's why it matters like jsn like dain saying is a good player but it's not perfect for every situation every scheme and that's why all these prospects and everything

when they could just get dropped on anywhere and they're like yeah they're an improvement on whatever you got and doesn't matter what scheme you're on that's why i always kind of want to bring that up but jason's a perfect example of that so i think the jsn conversation leads me to my next question here is how early do the receivers go and who's the first one to go like when does the receiver run happen when do we see the first one come off the board? Is it going to be surprising who that first one is? Is it Zay Flowers first and then J.S.N goes after him? It seems like that's a pretty big bit of intrigue here, Dane,

especially when you compare it to what we've seen at the position over the last couple of years where there wasn't nearly that level of mystery associated with it. We knew it was going to happen early. Right, exactly. And it's still the same mindset that teams have with receivers as they want them. They want to score points. They want to be more dynamic on offense. And receiver helps you do that better than a,

every position outside a quarterback. And so every team still wants those guys, but this draft doesn't have them, at least in relation to the last two drafts. And so there's one line of thinking that's saying, you know, team, and this is what I heard in the fall is, you know, what teams would be fine waiting until round two to get that receiver. It's just, it's an average class. They're not going to force the issue.

But then as we get closer and closer, it's like, you know what, teams need these guys. And so they're going to take them. And it becomes. it becomes dicey to figure out exactly which teams are going to do what. A guy like Quentin Johnston who has been, it's been a roller coaster for him.

He's a top 15 pick. Now he's out of the first round. Now he might sneak back into the first round. I think all these teams look at these guys really differently. And so that makes it tough to have the, and I can say the same thing about tight end. I can say the same thing about corner. Where there's a lot of these guys,

but everyone has them grouped a little bit differently. How early do they feel comfortable? drafting them. What's the order that they have them in? So, you know, I think, you know, with JSN, it's kind of sums it up. He could go as high as 11. He could fall out of the top 20. Neither of those outcomes would be particularly surprising. Do you think the JSN is the best bet if any one of these guys is going to get drafted in the top half of the first round? He was the guy that you would assume would get drafted that high? Out of the receivers, yes. I mean, I think he's, again, if you had to label a safe guy among these groups, I think, I think that.

most teams feel comfortable with who JSN is, what he's going to bring to your team. There's just not a ton. He's wrapped in clear wrapping paper. He's universally light. Some teams don't love him. Some teams love him, but he's universally light. High rock tomato score. Right, exactly.

And no assembly out of the box, right? You don't feel like you have to do all this work with him to develop him to get him on the field. You feel like realistically, he will be out there week one when your season opens. So I think that's part of the appeal with JSN. as well. Nate, is there another kind of positional run that you're interested in in terms of how it shapes the first round? Yeah.

Once the teens start, I'm curious how the tackles start going, the offensive tackles. Another position, and again, every position is like this, especially in this draft, but there's a little consensus, it seems, on how teams stack these guys, how even people in the media world that were watching these guys stack them, you know, people I respect, like a Brandon Thorne, a friend of the show, others like that, but everybody's kind of all over the place. It's kind of,

there's a consensus on who they view maybe as a quote unquote first round guy, but even after that, the stacking is different. So I'm curious if there is a run on tackles in the teens because there's a lot of teams that seem to need them. And it could just get interesting where, where does like a guy like DeWan Jones go,

who I view as a second rounder, but teams might want to tackle. And in this class, there's, even if there might be only, 10, 12 first round graded the guys, there's still 31 first round picks. So some of these guys are going to go earlier than we expect. And once that's where needs kind of crop up, Anton Harrison from Oklahoma, guys of that sort.

There's another guy I'm going to bring up later. So I don't want to spoil my own stuff. But here we go. But tackles, I'm really curious to run on that and then corners following that because I think that's what's going to happen in the teens. It's just like in a fantasy football draft. Someone's going to take that one position, then there's going to be a little run. And I just think that's exactly what's going to unfold in the teens.

teens in the early 20s with tackles and corners because there's so much grouping with those positions. And there's, you know, four to five to six at each of those spots that could like realistically go in that area. And to your point, I think darn all right. He also has one of the widest possible draft ranges. He could go to the Bears at nine. Plug and playwright tackle. Wouldn't surprise me at all. He could fall into the 20s.

I think he has a wide range of where he could end up. I love him. Yeah. So easy guy to love on tape. And so, you know, there's a lot of things in his favor. And so, yeah, the tackle this, tackles this year, I don't think it's a great tackle class, but the guys at the top are intriguing. And there's, you know, they project as NFL starters. And those guys go early.

So, yeah, I think there's a good chance we see our run on those guys. There's more than one guy with 36 inch arms. Like, like, like, there's a lot of guys where I, I think you're like, it's not top head. where it's like, oh, this guy, top five pick, don't even think twice about. But there's a lot of guys that can become that pro bowler, like, legitimately so. And that's why it's interesting because how people project these guys. If there's a bunch of them on the board, it feels like that run will start at nine. I just can't imagine, like, outside of like a Jalen Carter type falling into the bears, it just feels to me,

like picking a right tackle there, making sure that you're leaving this season with no excuses for your quarterback is it has to be the priority for them. And maybe that Scorotsky, if the corners go seven, eight. in the way they were anticipating maybe. And if it's Skoransky, what does that do to how those dominoes start falling? Because now all of them are on the board. And then does Tennessee take a tackle? And if Tennessee takes a tackle, what does that mean for the Jetson eating an offense?

I mean, just that's how all of this stuff can go. And the Steelers went so far. Yes. Do the Steelers move up for one because there are more of them on the board than we thought? Like all of these different options potentially playing out at that position. I'm more interested in it this year than I have been in years past because certain priority is existing in my life. We don't spot a lot of time on this one, but I think a question we have to at least think about,

what's the big veteran trade that could happen in this year's draft? Obviously, we're sitting there last year in Vegas, and we got Matt Havie, our boss, holding up a whiteboard with the A.J. Brown trade on it because that's where we were technologically during last year's live stream. Highlights of my experience with the athletic was right that moment. And those moments are amazing. Like when those are happening in real time, there's nothing like them. So what is that this year?

Do we get the Aaron Rogers trade, which seems unlikely but possible? Does DeAndre Hopkins get moved during the second round of the draft? Like what that veteran trade looks like, Dane, if we're going to have one, could potentially shake up the first or second night of this thing? Buda Baker recently. Yeah. He said he wants to be traded. I mean, Cargels feel like everything's on the table at this point.

So you can't rule it out completely, even though it'd be crazy to trade your best player on defense. and really a guy has a heartbeat of that locker room. But the two guys you mentioned are obviously the most realistic. Aaron Rogers at some point, I mean, Jets have those two-toes. So it feels like sometime before Friday evening, an Aaron Rogers trade needs to get done. And then DeAndre Hopkins, is it going to cost a two? Does it cost maybe your swapping picks?

Is that involved somehow with the Cardinals moving back from three? I mean, there's a lot of different ways they could make this work. But it feels like those two guys you mentioned with DeAndre Hopkins, Aaron Rogers, those are the names most likely to move. But, you know, we didn't, I don't think a lot of people were saying AJ Brown, they didn't throw Hollywood Brown in there too. Yeah, that's right. Right.

You know, we weren't talking about really those guys as, you know, look for them to move spots or, you know, be traded on night one. So maybe there's a few surprises up someone's sleeves this year. I hope so. God, I hope so because that would be really, really fun. That I would be absolutely shocked by. That I would be absolutely shocked by. That's one that I'm going to write off.

But if there's the other guy I keep coming back to, like Mike Evans is the one I keep thinking about. They didn't restructure him the same way they restructured some of those other guys. It's going to be a free agent after this year. Like do they think they're relatively close? I mean, that's the one guy I just keep thinking about outside of Dodger Hopkins. Or those vet vet running backs, the Davin Cook. Austin Ecklers, even Derek Henry's of the world, like maybe some middle round fodder for one of those guys. That's, that market's also interesting to be too.

Speaking of fun moments from last year, my next question here, Dane, who is this year's Cole Strange potentially? Who is the guy that's going to go in the first round where people at home are like, who? And you're like, yes, it's the best moment of your day. Yeah, I don't, because really, the last five years, that is probably the only Cole Strange moment we've really had where. Yeah. Truly a guy, we thought in the third round maybe went in the first. first. So, you know, the chances are it won't happen this year, but if it did, and look, I'm not including anybody that I've seen in a first round mock. So like a guy like Steve Avila, he could go first round. Jack Campbell could go first round. Joe Tipman, it is a name that not many people are thinking, yeah, not maybe you're thinking, but it could. Yeah, yeah. Two names I'll throw out there as I have not seen in a first round mock, but it wouldn't shock me. It could happen. DJ Turner, the Michigan corner, who ran the fastest 40th at the combine.

There's just, you know, a lot of things alike at him. Check the box at corner. It's funny because Dax Hill is kind of one of those guys from last year, where we weren't sure if he was going to go in the first round, then he snuck into the back half of the first round. So that's mentioning in Michigan defense back is interesting. The other guy I wanted to mention Kwan Martin, Illinois safety, really more of a nickel.

I mean, they kind of rotated it between single high and the slot. Yeah, and he's tests off the chart, big-time athlete. he's like a kind of a 90-10 player where like the first 90% is great and then 10% it's like come on finish but you know when you have that type of ability you don't last very long so kwan martin one of my favorite players in his draft i'm i'm frustrated i didn't rank him higher honestly because i how much i like him but if someone said you know what we're sitting here at you know 28 whatever it is he's he's the top guy on our board let's screw it let's take him i would not be surprised at all got one. This is why I didn't want to spoil my offensive line discussion. Matthew Bergeron from

Syracuse. Yep. That's another one. I think you have a second round grade on him. That's kind of like been the consensus around there. Late watch for me as I get around to day two, day three offense alignment. But this guy has that movement ability where I could see a team falling in love with him in the late 20s, especially if there's a run on tackles and offense alignment in the teens. Oh shoot. We wanted to take a guy where, oh God, they're all gone. They're all God, okay, take the guy that we have the early second round grade on. Kind of, yeah, Cole Strange might be a good comparison, not as play style or anything, but as far as how teams view him maybe. Interesting movement ability. He's a left tackle for Syracuse, could have potential at guard, but I would still give him a shot at tackle because I think he has the arm length and athletic ability. Kind of a, his, the footwork I compared him to almost, this is sound weird, but like Peyton Manning's footwork in the pocket where it's very chattery.

but he has like good quick feet. It's just that he like doesn't stop him moving. And I'm like, okay, plan him. Play it. Like, look at a little force into it. But I really like him. I've laid watching, like I said, but I could see him maybe sneaking in the back half the first round as a kind of a surprise tackle.

I'm glad you mentioned him because he's another name I wrote down is because again, with offensive linemen, you know, a lot of teams need that depth. And he's one of the guys you think maybe tackle guard versatility, the characters off the charts, movement skills, toughness, a lot of the pedigree you want. So I mean, it's for your starter, right or early starter. Yeah. Four year starter played right tackle and left tackle. So a guy that teams you're going to look at and just say, you know what,

he's not going to make it to us in the second. So yeah, let's take them here. Right. I was curious, but there are a couple teams in the back half of the first round that could potentially use them, you know, like the chiefs might need a right tackle. The bills, Nate, we talked about potentially if they want to upgrade a tackle. So a couple teams in that range that could be interesting. You got to make those Syracuse and ticket holders happy.

That's right. That's right. That's right. Come on down. On the flip side day, those are guys who could go higher than we might think. Who's somebody that could go way later than people have been predicting? Somebody that's been a first half of the first round player that you think could slide a little bit. Obviously, you know, Jalen Carter, B. Jean Robinson, those guys we talked about outside of those two guys.

I don't, it's hard in the top half of first round. I mean, I guess I've seen John Michael Schmitts, the Minnesota Center in a lot of first round mock drafts. I just don't see it there. I mean, I think he's a solid. player, I think people are just forcing it, you know, with like, okay, this team needs a center. You know, we've seen, you know, is it Frank Ragnow or, you know, whoever your center is that you drafted in the first round. As much as I like John Michael Smith, I just see more of a second or third round pick.

And so I would not be surprised at all when he's still on the board outside the top 50 picks come draft weekend. The other one I wrote down, darnall, Washington. You know, it's the talent or the traits are off the time. charts. He's a truly unique player. But do you like the idea of Darnell Washington or do you really like Darnell Washington? Because I think a lot of people are thinking about what he could be and the idea of it. And it's like, it sounds great. But what's the percentage chance he reaches the epitome of what you're thinking about and Darno Washington as a full-fledged player? I don't know. I feel like a lot of teams might opt for, quote,

unquote the safer player where we know what we're getting with him instead of shooting for the stars with darnow Washington. And if everything clicks exactly right, what he potentially could be. So if Darno Washington falls out of, you know, the top 40 picks, that should have be too surprising. I love that one. Darnow Washington was the one I had first. But what about Coliza Cancy from Pitt?

Right, right. Been popularly marked as kind of like defense tackle two for a lot of people. but I think as time has gone on and people are kind of like he's kind of a tweener does he kick out like you know he kind of undersized guy that obviously because he went to pit he got those Aaron Donald comparisons which is so unfair to any player much less any like a guy like this but I could see maybe him maybe you know dropping into maybe the second round and it shouldn't surprise people I don't think well I'm almost mentioned him sorry for the wide as possible range range because he could go 18 the Lions he could fall to the second round there has not been a defensive tackle. with sub-74-inch wingspan drafted the last decade. And, I mean, he's just a short, small player, and you have to be okay with that. So if he's still available at pick, you know, 42, would it be that big of a surprise?

All right, let's a couple rapid fire ones here. Dane, outside of Anthony Richardson, who do you think is the biggest risk-reward swing in round one? I mean, let's say outside of Jalen Carter, too, because obviously that's, you know, I think two I wanted to mention, Brian Brzee, love the talent. but he's dealt with several injuries the last two years, and he's just a tall player.

And I just, I wonder if he'll ever be able to fully unlock all of that talent that he has. I love the potential, but there's just, there have been things holding him back, and it just worries me moving forward. I still think,

his defense tackle from Clemson. Right, and I still think in the 20s, he could still be, end up being a steal at that point. Then the other guy wanted to mention, Joey Porter, corner for Penn State. You love the length, 34-inch arms.

He has speed, but he also has stiffness. and I think that savvy NFL route runners will really be able to tie him up. If he doesn't win with that initial jam, I think that Joey Porter Jr., there's more risk reward there than I think gets talked about. How about you, Nate? Well, you know, any of the quarterbacks is a pretty risk reward.

Like even Bryce Young love his game, you know, but it's an all-time size outlier. So you're kind of, you know, that is kind of risk-rewardish to me. A guy that I kind of, I like, I really do like, but there is some risk reward to his play style and maybe just what you're projecting is Broderick Jones, tackle from Georgia, really young and he came along. You have to watch when you do study him or I know not a lot of people this comes out or are going to be watching off its line for the next two days before the draft happens, but you have to watch the second half of this year to really project what he is

because he's such a young player, just needed live reps and it came along, but you are projecting. That of the top tackle prospects, I would say he has the most or the least, amount of kind of tape of like proving what he can be but it is there and there's flashes but where he might go top 14ish uh maybe the first half of the first round it is kind of a little risky to me especially when comparing him to maybe the other top offense alignment uh in this draft but that's one lucas van ness as well but i don't really i think we have kind of come around on what he actually is uh like you know exact i think he is getting slotted kind of fairly so i don't want to really throw him into this grouping as well a couple more quick ones here dayne who is the guy that we

just overthought in this process that like when it all said and done he's going to be a good player we shouldn't have gone through all of this trouble the way to get in there i think Emmanuel Forbes uh the Mississippi State corner uh you know 166 pounds at the combine that's hard to overlook and again it's not like he's five nine five 10 he's over he's almost six one so you know he is a string bean wiry thin bone you have to be okay with that but this is a guy go back to forget just three years at Mississippi State go back the last six seasons so his final three years at in high school first three years, Mississippi State. He had the total of 30 interceptions.

That's insane. Set the FBS record for... He's a ball player. Pick sixes. I mean, he is a guy that finds the football. And you know what? I was a little hard on him early because he likes to freelance quite a bit. And that's part of why he ends up with so many interceptions.

But over time, I kind of realized the more I really dug it in the tape and watched more and more. I realize he does it responsibly. Like he's very smart and savvy about the risk that he takes. And so there is a level of, you know, we mentioned instincts and awareness with corners and what does it actually mean. He has that where it's just a feel for route combinations. It's a feel for spacing. It's a feel for how to beat quarterbacks into making that throw and still being in a position where you can attack that passing window. So with Emmanuel Forbes, and it's not like even though he is 166, 170, he doesn't play to that all the time.

Like he will try and tackle. He tries to get physical. And so as long as, and he hasn't been a guy that's been hurt. He's played in every game the last three years. So I think that that number is hard to ignore when you talk about Emmanuel Forbes. But this is a guy that, another guy, first round, if he ends up going Thursday night, wouldn't be surprised. How about you, Nate? Who's the guy we overthought in this process?

Well, Forbes is, I love Forbes. His tape was one of my favorite corners to watch of this grouping. So I'm glad Dane mentioned him or we threw him in here. But I'm just going to go with, I think this is more of the consensus. I'm going to bring his name up again as Michael Mayor because I just think is, I would say we, this trio that's talking right now. Collective we is what we're discussing. We, I think there's been some overthinking of what he brings to the table, him and I think

Will Anderson as well. I think they got the kind of knock of being too good too early. And then everyone's expecting that next leap. Well, a guy like Will Anderson and I'll bring it as like, he almost had 40 TFLs in the season. It's hard to improve on that. So of course there's going to be a half step back in his play, quote unquote, and same with Mayor who came in as a true freshman tight end at Norderdame. I just want to reiterate that true freshman best tight end at Norderdame.

That is saying something and looked the part and did everything right for three years. Those are the two guys that I would mention, Will Anderson, Michael Mayor, that maybe kind of kind of getting dinged unfairly because they've been too good for so long. Two more, Dane, your favorite got to watch in this process. You've watched a lot of guys. What was your favorite experience scouting a prospect in this? draft. I wrote down four names. I mentioned Juan Martin, the Illinois nickel, how much I enjoyed him. Tyler Scott from Cincinnati, I talked quite a bit on the receiver show. I'm just, I really believe he has Tyler Lockett upside. Christian Gonzalez, the corner from Oregon,

love all the traits that he brings and what he could go into, one of the youngest players in this draft. But it all comes back to Bryce Young. Every week, he would do something that just made you sit up in your seat and be wowed. And I was far more impressed with his tape this year than I was when he won the Heisman trophy the year before. You know, when he had Mechie and Jameson Williams and those guys this year, it was my favorite exercise every Sunday when reviewing the previous days film was see how many plays that I could find where it was just magic by Bryce. Yet it went down as an incompletion in the box score because either the receiver dropped it. He didn't come open. I mean, he's doing all this stuff.

And I mean, does it, Arkansas, Texas, LSU. name a tape, it doesn't matter. There is an example on there where he just, it felt like he's creating and he's not getting any help out there. And so it's just a case of him putting the offense on his back and just dragging them up and down the field. So watching Bryce Young play was really a treat to watch week in, week out. And how about you? Favorite guy to watch the process.

I mean, Bejohn Robinson was pretty fun. That is a guy you watch five plays of here. Okay, I get it. And then you watch 50 plays of it. And you go, I get it. You watch 500 plays of them. You go, okay, I get it. Awesome.

One of my favorite guys to watch in the last like three or four drafts, really. Darnel Wright, the offense tackle for Tennessee, really liked his game. I do think he's kind of a 90% Tristan Wirfs. And I think this guy has a lot of potential, even more than I thought going in, especially having to watch that Tennessee offense way too much. A guy that I really, really loved his game, even if I don't think his upside is all the way there. We talked about this on the edge prospect video with, uh, Deontay is Nolan Smith from Georgia, just a, like just a tough football player who gets it.

Any guy that doesn't wear gloves, even though I was not a tough football player, I was a quarterback. I do appreciate that style of play, a guy that just knows what he's doing and does it well and has some gifts. It's funny when the guy tests better than you expect because of how their play style is. It's an interesting kind of disconnect there, but I love it. And the last one I'll throw in here is another running back. I love watching running backs, by the way.

It's probably my favorite position to watch. Devonde chained from Texas A&M. A 180 pound running back, which usually I would, don't care, like throw them out. Last year I brought it to my attention because I watched Isaiah Spiller. And the whole time I'm watching Spiller, just couldn't get around on him, gave him a day three grade. Everyone yelled at me when I threw that grade out there and look what's happening there. And then I'm watching the backup.

I'm like, who the hell is this guy? And he's a track star just has unbelievable track times. but I don't want to devalue what his running back ability is, has a vision, has feel of any under sub 200 pound or even sub 190 running backs. This guy is the most running back-ish of those guys on top of being a world-class track athlete. But his tape is a lot of fun. There's a real football player on top of being a very gifted athlete. All right, Dan, a bold prediction for Thursday night or for this draft in general. Lay one on me before we get out of here.

I'm going to go with the Eagles end up with an all-Northwestern first round. They go, remember, Northwestern won one game last year. They won the opener and then they lost 11 straight. So Peter Scronsky at 10. I think Howie Roseman wants that defensive lineman, but he knows offensive line not going to stretch in this draft. Defensive line will stretch.

Peter Scronsky at 10 and then come back with Atabare, the defensive tackle, the three technique, they're at number 30. you get your plug-in-play guard, maybe your future right tackle in post-lane Johnson, and then you come back with your interior disruptor, one of the freakiest athletes we've ever seen at 2 and 85 pounds. Be fun watching him and Jordan Davis next to each other. So that's my prediction.

Could be any more different. Yeah, exactly. That's a lot of fun. So all Northwestern first round for the Eagles. That's a fun one. Nate, you got one? Yeah, I do. It's a two-parter, of course, because I always just can't help myself.

But the same amount of tight ends and wide receivers get drafted in the first round. I would say three of each go in the first round. And then I would say my second part of this is more offensive linemen than past catchers will go in the first round. So I know or better yet, same amount of non-quarterback skill players will go as lineman. So that, so seven at seven is what I'm predicting anyways. But that's that's my bold prediction, which is actually more or less the same one I had last year. so I'm a hack. All right, guys, that is all we have.

That's our last show with the three of us before we get going on the draft. We got a mock draft coming tomorrow with both of these guys featured. But this little trio, our last podcast in preparation for the draft. But again, another reminder. Three of us live Kansas City on our YouTube channel, 7.30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday night. We're bringing you the entire first round, breaking down every single pick. Also, we'll be back on Friday night doing the same thing for rounds two and three. We got some fun friends visiting.

We got some breakdowns we'll have for you guys that night. Really, really excited about it. Please come check that out. Rest of this week, we got the mock draft running on Wednesday, so no prospects to pros. We're going to put Dane and Cryosleep until the draft actually starts. We also have football GM coming to your way on Thursday, the same way they normally would be. For now, that is all we've got, though. Thank you to Nate.

Thank you to Dane. We will talk to you guys later. This was the Athletic Football Show.