The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Colin Cowherd Podcast - NFL Draft Primer: Concerns With J.J. McCarthy? Drake Maye Needs The Right Coaching, Top 5 Mock Draft

Episode Date: April 25, 2024

Colin is joined by Thor Nystrom, the college football expert at FantasyPros to preview the NFL draft! Colin asks whether the Vikings could trade all the way up to #3 to draft Drake Maye (4:00) and if Thor has any bust concerns about J.J. McCarthy (5:30). They get into the reasons behind why 1st round wide receivers have the highest “miss” rate of any position (9:30) and whether USC wide receiver Tahj Washington could be a sleeper pick (15:30). Colin asks whether Texas speedster Xavier Worthy will work in the NFL (17:45) and how Michigan running back Blake Corum is viewed around the league post-injury (26:00) They debate which tackle prospect will be the perennial pro-bowler (30:00) and if Tulane QB Michael Pratt could be a late round steal (34:00). They talk about the potential of Drake Maye and why the right coach will be critical to his development (38:00). Thor gives his draft profile for Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman and his mock draft for the first five picks (45:00). Finally, Colin talks about a major change he’s noticed in the NBA playoffs that has made for a far better basketball product (47:15). (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements.) Follow Colin and The Volume on Twitter for the latest content and updates! #Volume #Herd See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I put on 10. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. All right, Thor Nystrom from Fantasy Pros is about to stop by to talk about the draft. Before we start with Thor, I want you to grab your phone. I've got mine right here. It's a smartphone. I'm dumb. It's smart.

Download the GameTime app. It's now the authorized ticket marketplace for Major League Baseball. Everybody plays 162 games. You got 30 teams. There's a lot of games. I'll go to a Dodger game this year. Maybe we can sit next to each other. Prices on the GameTime app actually go down the closer you get to the first pitch.

They have killer last minute deals. And a lot of times with baseball, you just hide last minute. You're talking to a buddy that's like, let's go to a game. You're sitting in Arlington. Let's just go to a game. That's where the GameTime app, download it in 90 seconds, is great. Zone deals where you pick the section and game time picks the seats. Those are great savings as well.

Download the GameTime app. The code is Colin C-O-L-I-N, $20 off your first purchase. It's really simple. Code is Colin, C-O-L-I-N, 20 bucks off your first purchase. Download the Game Time app today. Last-minute tickets. That's what we're all looking for. Lowest prices guaranteed. That's what we're really looking for. All right, so Thor Nystrom is our college football NFL draft analyst for Fantasy Pros, which has been just such a great podcast for the volume. We monitored it for a long, long time. And there's about 10,000 fantasy podcasts out there. And Fantasy Pros was the one we really latched onto about a year ago. We brought him on board for the football season.

Such a home run. So he's the Vikings correspondent at Fantasy Pros. A team I've spent a lot of time talking about, he has released the Thor 500. So the Fantasy Pros podcast on the volume has been a big hit. And Thor ranks his top 500 players and gives player comps for all 500. This is not, this guy's living on Mountain Dew, folks. He may be on Central Time, but he's on Mountain Dew. This guy is working it.

So I want to start with interesting, because I have called the Minnesota Vikings the furnished apartment of the draft for a quarterback. They have everything. Just move in, get your Diet Coke, put it in the fridge, you're ready to go. Elite left tackle, two receivers, top tight end, star running back. I think the offensive line's good, not great. Maybe it needs a little help interior, but I think a great coach, the tall Sean McVeigh, Kevin O'Connell, and Sam Darnold playing for a year. So I have theorized that they wouldn't get one of the top three picks, so they'd have to settle for J.J. McCarthy, who's my least favorite of the quarterbacks. But now that New England is taking calls, today I feel like, oh, I think they want Drake May because there's a guy on the Viking state. who has some history with Drake May, Josh McCown.

So as somebody that is all over the Vikings, is that kind of the strongest rumor that they would be the team to move up to three and go get a Drake May, who, by the way, needs polish, and that's what Kevin O'Connell does. That's like his skill set. Very well said and very well put, yes. And I would think that they would be leaning that way. Josh McCona, of course, coached Drake May in high school.

used to watch Drake May's film when he was in the Jets facility with another guy in the quarterback room there, a guy named Sam Darnold. So you were talking about the offensive infrastructure around the hypothetical rookie quarterback, but you also would have that extra layer if it was Drake May. Also a situation where you know that he is going to be afforded some patience early on if it end up being Drake, or Judge McCarthy, whoever that ends up being. and one of the best play callers, offensive play callers that we had, to your point with that as well. So a very good situation.

Yeah. You know, so J.J. McCarthy is the one, and I said this today on my show, Thor, that about every two to three years, there's a quarterback that I just, I don't get. And I've been doing this a long time, 30 years. So I've got a lot of executive scout guys I talk to. I don't talk to players as much as people in the business. I didn't get Johnny Mansell. I didn't get Tebow. I didn't get Mitch Trubisky.

I got Baker. I thought it was a reach. I didn't get Zach Wilson at all. I didn't get Daniel Jones. I don't love J.J. McCarthy. I think he's a project. I think he needs an offensive coach. I think when I watched him play, my take was he missed a lot of laps.

He's not a strong-armed guy. Caleb's got a much stronger arm. Drake May is got a much stronger arm. Panics has a stronger arm. That he needs to sort of be lined up, Thor. He needs protection. He needs to point in the right direction. It reminds me of Trubisky. The ball can die if he doesn't really step into it. Well, in the NFL, you don't get a step into it.

You know, you're in muddy pockets. You're feeling on all these, I mean, you've, you have, you've ranked your top 500 players. Does McCarthy give you any pause? I'm higher on McCarthy than you. He's actually the number three player overall on my board. He is QB3, but number three overall as well. As far as the traits that he brings in, you have the athleticism, number six, three cone at the NFL combine, irregardless a position at 17 pounds heavier than his Michigan bio, which also sort of check the size concerns with him. And then I think his arm is a little stronger than you do. And he retains that arm strength on the run,

also the accuracy on the run, but just speaking to the arm strength, that the NFL combine 61 mile per hour max Velo throw was one mile per hour underneath the record, which show Milton tied Josh Allen's record for that. The thing with him, the use of the athleticism with that arm in conjunction together on the field is what makes me excited about his projection to the next level. We see this every year, call him with the quarterback who has a good arm and he's athletic, but those two things absolutely do not work together with one another. Joe Milton would be an example of that from this class.

But with McCarthy, he takes those mechanics with him when he is moving around, keeps the eyes down field, keeps the upper body cock to throw in that throwing platform under him. It's why last year he completes 72% and change in the aggregate completion percentage, 71% in change while scrambling. Most quarterbacks, you see there is an enormous drop-off in their completion percentages. is even when their feet begin to shuffle, but certainly when they begin to scramble. With McCarthy, you don't see that as much. Obviously, a winner going back to high school, the 63 and 3, he had the two state titles. They made a third state title when he was in high school. Then people, you know,

they'll say that he was carried by Michigan. People forget that when he went to Michigan, Michigan was coming off a two and four season, that COVID season. And people wanted Jim Harbaugh gone. J.G. McCarthy not only committed there, he stayed true to that. that commitment. Then he helped, the coaching staff accrued the ridiculous recruiting class that they ended up getting that ended up turning Michigan around. They make three straight college football playoffs. Obviously culminated last year, winning the national title when JJ was a 20-year-old true junior. And they don't beat Alabama for sure. I don't even know if they get there without JJ McCarthy. They certainly do not roar back that double-digit deficit they had in the second

half to beat Nick Sabin. And what was what was Nick Sabin's last game? You wonder if that had not happened, if Michigan did not have JJ McCarthy, would Nick Saban still be the coach of Alabama right now? Alabama certainly would have won that national title. So he sort of flipped that, the college football playoff there as well. I think there's exciting tools there, and I absolutely think you can make an argument for him, let's say, at the number three slot, but anywhere after that to me. All right, that's a good argument in his favor. So something came out today from a researcher at ESPN, and I thought it was fascinating, that, He went 20 drafts back. And if you did not sign a second contract, you were considered a miss. Not a bust, but a miss.

Well, centers over the last 20 years in the first round, only first rounds, were a 92% hit. It's insane. Receivers were a 27% hit. So I'm going to throw my theory out to you, Thor, because I do theories occasionally. This is how my brain works. So I've always, like the Packers, been very reluctant about first round receivers. Now, Calvin Johnson's an exception. Randy Moss, I think Harrison's an exception.

But here's my take. It is a spectacular position. Most touchdowns in football are not dynamic. A running back, a running back, a quarterback, a tight end. Receiver touchdowns are spectacular. They break the huddle first. They're the NBA player in football, not really reliant on anybody other than a quarterback that can get on the ball.

They don't rely on a left tackle for protection. or a guard for a lane. They break the huddle, go get open, or throw me open. So they're often the best athlete on the field. Cornerback is probably second, but corners aren't six, four, six, five. These are magnificent athletes. They break the huddle first. We have a term, diva receiver, not diva guard, not diva strong safety.

They come with personality. If you add fire to that personality, high first round pick, You're sort of validating their greatness, whereas many of the receivers who have Amar on St. Mround, Huka Nakua, who are midpicks with a chip on their shoulder with something to prove. So I'm not saying I wouldn't draft it, but that's an alarming misrate. 73% misrate, Thor. That's insane. Now, the second highest miss rate was tied end at 33% hit rate.

So, you know, 67%. I would explain that because a lot of college tight ends cannot block at the next level. All Iowa tight ends block. That's why Iowa is so great. When Dalton Kincaid came out, I had two execs say, this kid blocks like in Iowa tight end. Dalton Kincaid's a great tight end. A lot of college guys don't. They spread it out in college football, Thor, they get to the pros.

They can't block a defensive end. They're Mike Gaseki. They're just pass catchers. And coaches want blockers. So, but I want your explanation. I understand why a center, often the smartest offensive line, not a lot of flamboyance, either you can do it or not. You don't have to be a super athlete, right?

You can test for that. But wide receiver, 73% misrate. Thor, this is what you do for a living. Explain that. First of all, I think I know who that 8% is in the center. I think that's Mr. Billy Price. And as far as the wide receiver, go, here's what I think that is. Colin, you set that up well talking about the athleticism and the best

athletes that we have on the field. And you know during the pre-draft process, we send them out to Indianapolis and it's the big deal. Now it's, it's televised on prime time. And there's so much pomp and circumstance as far as the athletic testing goes. And now we have the RAS page where you can pull up their athletic composites and compare it to all the players that have entered the NFL since the mid-80s at their positions and different stuff like that. And what you see is the rise. And the rising of players based on athletic traits and, and there's their size athleticism combination where the receiver position, and I don't think people give this enough credit or think about this enough,

so much winning of the separation, it doesn't come from athleticism. It comes from subterfuge. It comes from putting yourself in the cornerback shoes and then keeping them off the beat of your scent the entire time, throwing different stuff at them. We got a release package. It's like cards flipping over the cards. I'm going to show you it.

different one every single time. So you can't predict where I'm going. You can't funnel me towards the sidelines. I'm the one who is dictating the terms of the dance that I'm going to get into my route really quickly. And then, you know, all that different subterfuge stuff plus the the economy of footwork and movement into and out of rail brakes. And then things like acceleration, right? Then we start talking about things like late hands. There's a receiver coming out of the FCS this year. I think he's going to go fifth six round who has the late hands thing all day. And I think he's going to play way up at the NFL of because that Jalen Coe. Okay, I'll shout him out.

But all these different sort of little skills that you cannot test for in Indianapolis. But Indianapolis is the thing that the British shoot some of these wide receivers up. Fascinating. When these other skills, hookah and those guys, they have them. Yeah, that's a really fascinating way to look at it. And you're the second person that's brought that up. I was just, when I saw that today, I thought, I've just seen so many big personalities come in the first round. And then it's like they don't work on their game.

And then you see a puka. Also, it's interesting. Thor is about 90% of the league runs zone. Yeah. So really a lot of this is the ability to come out and read the zone. It's not about running over people. People, too deep safety. People take that away very quickly. You've got to figure out how to read a zone.

Like Puka came into this league and he was like a nine-year vet. I mean, Stafford was telling people, it practice. This kid like he's been in the league for 12 years. He's reading the zone. And so I think to your point, the receiver has these leagues. little gifts, death by a thousand cuts to a DB, these little gifts that are hard to see at a combine. It's a really, really fascinating take. So Thor Nystrom, if you're just joining us here, he has released 500. He ranked 500 players and has player comps. So I don't think there's a ton of

sleepers, but I do think what you do is you get players that are overshadowed. Like I'll give you an example. A player that I think is really interesting. He's fast enough. He's productive. He was a transfer-bordal guy from Memphis to USC, Tage, Washington. Taj is wiry and strong. Again, fast enough productive. In the room, good work ethic. And when I watched probably almost every USC snap, my takeaway is, well, he's not as bulky as Brendan Rice. He's not as strong as Michael Pittman was there, or maybe his gifted is Drake London. But I watched him, and I texted a GM about two weeks ago, I said, if he's available in the fifth round, that kid, I don't remember drops. And you talk about late hands. Amaran St. Brown was known as a real

natural hands catcher. So Taj Washington, you tell me, this is what you do for a living. I think he's a fifth round-ish guy. Am I out of my mind? No, you might get my job, Colin. I love the way that you set that up. And I'll tell you a couple of contextual things, just about his data, right? Because you do the underwear Olympics thing with him. He's small, not the most athletic, his Raz score isn't the best. But let's look at some other stats with Taj Washington. There is so few receivers in this class that can match him in these metrics. Ninety eighth percentile PFF last year receiving grade versus single coverage. 96 percentile in separation rate last year, PFF. 95th in separation percentile against single coverage. And this was a guy who had over three yards

per route run last year. I also think, you know, with a guy like Taj Washington, it's like, oh, well, he was in a really good offensive environment. One way you could potentially push back against that is this is a guy where it's the route running stuff. He will gain that separation short and intermediate. Did that actually go together very well with Caleb Williams' game? A guy who likes to scramble around and it's the three and a half seconds average time to throw.

He likes to allow guys to flower their routes out deep. I don't know if that was the best fit. I think the anticipatory thrower with Todd Washington, it could start to juice up his targets at the next level. And I like that shout out con of a potential sleeper in the wide receiver class. Okay, here's a player that I think, and I love if you poke holes in these, because I love when I think I know something, I don't know shit. So a player that worries me is the track guy, the Texas receiver largely viewed second round or 165 pounds. man, I watched Texas play four or five times. I saw drops.

He's tiny. If you look tiny at me in college, you're going to be really tiny in the pros. I want you to talk about him. I understand track guys. You know, it's all, wow. It's all jaw-dropping stuff. It's hard. Remember, Trayvon Austin came into this league and, oh, people were, wow.

And after about three jet sweeps, I'm like, he's too small, two-two at well. You have to, two, two is so small. You have to get him in motion because he gets clogged up at the line. So I want you to talk about Texagerworthy. Yeah, I want you to talk about him. He worries me. Yeah, Zeberworthy is an interesting case where he breaks the record for NFL Combine 40 time. That was a cool moment in Indianapolis.

But yeah, and the athletic traits are obviously there. And he was a guy who went to Texas. Interestingly enough, Colin, he was supposed to be one of the guys in the Vaunted Michigan recruiting class with J.J. Jim McCarthy. There was an issue that had to do with Xavier Worthy's admission, which reopened his recruiting, his recruitment. He ends up getting courted to Texas sort of at the last second by Steve Sarkesian, who was coming in, who sold him on being the Devantus Smith of his new look Longhorn offense. He's not the same kind of type as DeVant Smith. Now, the skinniness and some of the dimension stuff, there's similarities there.

Devante is a lot more polished and the play strength that he plays with and the ability to win when he is in tight quarters and the contested stuff is better with that. Worthy is more of the jitterbug guy. And it's all the athleticism and it's that high octane stuff off of the line. But obviously struggles with the size, you know, just being 165 pounds. To your point, the one concern that I had about him, they pounded Xavier Worthy with targets, but there was a lot of drops. I saw the same thing that you did con. They had in week two, one of the first primetime, big time games that we had in the college football season this year. You recall Nick Sabins, Alabama croons and tie traveled down to Austin, Texas.

Xavier Worthy licked some guy on this whip route right at the goal line. And Alabama did not have another dude on that side of the end zone. Xavier Worthy was by himself running down the goal line. Quinn Ewers did what he was supposed to to lead him that away towards the pylon because there was a trailing defender back. You didn't want to leave the ball there. You wanted to lead Xavier Worthy out. So this was a free touchdown.

All Xavier Worthy had to do was reach his hands out. And it was that free touchdown. Let's start the touchdown celebration. Ball clanks off his hands. He'd done everything prior to that moment and then the ball clanks off his hands. Just one example, but you saw this. It was a recurring theme with his tape. I will give him the contextual benefit of the doubt of he was pounded with targets.

We talk about his teammate 80 Mitchell. Why didn't he see more targets? I'll tell you why. Quinn Ewers was obsessed with throwing to Xavier Worthy and Steve Sarkeesian would scheme up all this different stuff for Xavier Worthy. I wonder with NFL coaching, can we work on the ball skills at all? And then if Xavier Worthy no longer is that target hounded the wide receiver one, if he's the wide receiver two or wide receiver three, especially initially, will that help out some of that different stuff? but it absolutely bears mentioning. And I agree with you. That is the risk of his profile. Thank you to our friends at Panini America, official trading card of our draft coverage here at the volume and NFT and official trading card.

Listen, whether you're looking for a legendary card or a rookie sensation, Panini America has you covered. They have NFL, WNBA, FIFA, sought after NBA cards. This is what they do. If you're into cutting edge digital collectibles, don't miss Panini's NFT. platform at nfd. Dot paniniamerica.net. Got that? So you can be a collector of physical cards or a digital enthusiast. Panini America has you covered.

They have popular cards from Don Russ, Prism, Select, and more. So if you're into trading cards, Panini America is the way to go, especially if you're into digital trading cards. Visit panini America.net or download the Panini direct app today. It's the official trading cards and NFTs of a calling how her draft coverage. You're into it. They're into you and they deliver. Prism, Don Russ, select, got them all, all the top cards and more. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's

unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care where you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand-new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Cliverts show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you're. need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs?

Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here. unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack all day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black. people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years from black people in American

history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I don't want to go too far into the weeds, but I think this is for our audience really fun. An interesting player for me, it's not a great running back draft. And I have noticed this, Thor, I'm a recruiting, used to be really into recruiting. And then I married a woman with four kids, and I have two, so I don't have the time. But California is a great example of we have 38 million people in this state. In any one recruiting cycle of 250 Division I players, we'll have 35 to 45 Division I receivers, 12 quarterbacks, and three running backs.

The kids, they get it. You don't get a second contract. They want to be edge rushers, corners, receivers, quarterbacks. Kids always are on the forefront of cultural shifts and trends, not old guys, young kids. Running back position, you get an occasional star, Bijon Robinson. But by and large, I couldn't tell you the last bad receiver draft. I'm not sure I could tell you the last great running back draft. Blake quorum is interesting to me.

So Blake is small. That's okay. You can be small. I've been a lot of successful smallbacks. He got hurt. He came back. Thor, I didn't think he was the same running back. I just didn't see it.

I don't know if I could go in the third round. I thought he was a second round guy before the... I thought he may be the best running back in the country. It doesn't look the same to me. How is he being judged by you and others? Yeah, that injury that you're referring to at the end of the 2022 season when he was tremendous. Tremendous. Awesome.

During that season. He comes back from... And by the way, if that's... did not happen. He might have been, like, after his first year at this point, might have been in last year's draft, right? Like, that was the reason he had to go back to Michigan coming off that injury. And then he acclimates himself slowly, certainly the first half of the season, totally agree with you on that. Look sluggish. The burst wasn't there. The cuts we see with him were not as violent and not as smooth. I absolutely agree with you. And you can see this in Blake Corum's

numbers last year, yards before contact, happens to be. be the exact same number as his yards after contact. It was 2.4, I believe, on both accounts. So the offensive line was really helping him out, especially against the front part of that schedule where they played some cans in September, just getting the push. But yeah, can you harken back to that 2022 with him where he had a bit more juice, had a bit more speed, or is this what we have athletically? I think that that's a big thing to look at with him. A lot of the things that we like about Blake Corum are intangible things. that cannot be tested for in Indianapolis, running with tempo, vision,

sensing the cupback lanes and getting in there, forcing off angle tackle attempts of a guy who should be able to hit you flush, just that slight movement right before that guy leaves his feet so that you can get the arm tackle attempt that then you can run through. Different stuff like that with Blake Corum. But the athletic stuff, he does not have. He's a little bowling ball type that lacks high-end speed for sure. His quarterback, J.V. McCarthy, is faster than him.

There was the one time when true freshman season for J.J. McCarthy in the Big Ten title game against Iowa, I love this play. People need to look it up if they haven't seen it. He hands it off to Corum. They're at their own 40-yard line. Corum gets out to the second level and then it's starting to break away into the open field. J.J. McCarthy zooms past Blake Corum in the open field, gets down the sideline and ends up slowing down for him so he can make a block around the 10, 8-yard line to spring Blake Corum into the end zone. But Corum has those intangible type things. The passing game utility, he wasn't used as much as a receiver at Michigan. That was Donovan Edwards. In the pre-draft process, he has shown some hand stuff running the routes. Didn't drop a ton of balls. I'll give him the contextual benefit of the doubt on that. But I agree with you, Colin.

I'm a little bit lower on Blake Corum than some others. I think I have him is RB6 in this class. So, you know, I did a feature on FS1 today, today being when. day, Eve of the draft, about, you can get speed almost anywhere in the draft, but the man upstairs, God does not give us six foot six, 300 pound, 15 pound men with great feet, that almost all of the top 15 offensive tackles ever, going back to Jim Parker, are first rounders, all of them. There's very few sleeper offensive tackles. Now, you can still, Mackay Beckton, there are whiffs. There are often weight issues, just like, NBA centers, big centers, weight on the feet. You can have feet and back issues. But there are positions, and I think offensive tackle as one is overwhelmingly your Trent Williams, Jonathan Ogden, Anthony Munoz, Ron Yerry, the really great ones, God does not create six-six, three hundred fifteen pound men that are nimble. He just doesn't. When you see one, draft him early.

You're not finding him in the six. Speed is different. I've talked to a G. a Super Bowl winning GM who has said he won't draft, he, he by and large, will not draft a corner in the first two rounds. He believes third on, you can find speed everywhere. There's tons of corners. Is there a sleeper? Probably not tackle. Of all these first round tackles, what's interesting to me is Joe Alt probably is the safest from Notre Dame. But I don't think he's a seven-time pro bowler. I think he's a good 12-year starter pro-bowler, too. Is there another tackle in this first round that you look at? And he's not as complete as alt. He's not as finished as alt. But you think he could be the tackle in 10 years we go,

there's your seven-time pro-boulder. Because historically, the one position in football where the stars come in the first, it's left tackle. Who's going to be the guy? And the guy. Who's going to be the guy we come back. And maybe it's alt, or maybe it's not. Yeah, the other one I would toss out. Now, he's not going to be a left tackle, but it's J.C. Latham. And that's the thing about this class is Altil Lees can play left tackle. Outside of that, it's Olo Fushanu from Penn State. And then the discussion about Troy Fittano from Washington, does the organization in question that is discussing and believe that he can hang a left tackle. But outside of that, the other guys in the first round, at the top there, you're talking about right tackle projection between Latham, Fugga, Amirius Mims.

Tyler Guyton certainly could play left tackle, but there is bigger risk there. There's bigger variance band of outcomes with what he could become. I just like Latham so much because he is so dang strong. He is a bully coming forward. He moves people. And at right tackle, he absolutely can handle his past pro responsibilities. I think that that guy is going to make a bunch of pro bowls when he reached the NFL. That's what he is.

He is not, is the left tackle. But you're just talking about a guy that is going to excel in the NFL, in the NFL game. You're talking about a guy coming out of Alabama, 6-6-345 with an 85-inch wingspan, one of the biggest in this class, over 35-inch arm length. And again, it has that two-way utility and a game that projects to the NFL. So I would toss out Latham. By the way, Lane Johnson, Tristan Wirthes, you know, sometimes we reduce the importance of a

right tackle and many can play both. But in a sport where the quarterback, it's such a quarterback-centric league, two elite tackles really matters. I mean, Patrick Mahomes has been blown out once in a big game in his career. It was the Super Bowl missing his tackles. Like, these right tackles, they are gold bars. There's a lot of lefties, Michael Penick's in this draft. And frankly, tackles are tackles. They're the most athletic offensive linemen. Again, if you get 6.6.3.30 and good feet, you just draft them. They're just not many of them. One of the reasons that Brock Purdy, and I think his ceiling is fairly low, but Brock Pretty is sort of your classic. He reminds me a little bit. I think the kid at Tulane may be more talented. Pratt, four years, three to four years of starting, didn't carry great talent. I've always had this kind of belief that I don't,

want somebody from Alabama or Ohio State at quarterback. C.J. Stroud, of course, breaks through. But most Ohio State quarterbacks, even the gifted ones, they all put up great numbers, but they're throwing to five-star receivers, five-star left tackle. They play with leads. Only Michigan in the conference do they feel like they go toe-to-to-to-to with somebody that's got equal talent, some years Penn State. So I look at Pratt at Tulane, and I look at Brock Purdy, and I see a lot of the traits.

Beat up a little. No five-star players. on the run. Pratt's got to, if you look at his childhood and what he's overcome, I could see a Denver saying, we need players. I could see a New England saying, Thor, we need players. We're trading that. We need guys. Nobody can withstand this roster. Tell me your thoughts on him. My comp was Ken O'Brien, which is aging me terribly. That's a terrible comp for a young guy like you, Thor. and talk about Tulane's quarterback and what you see. I love the blast from the past comms.

You know, I've Jane Daniels to Randall Cunningham, JJ McCarthy to Rich Gann. So I love the blast from the past there. And I also like you evoking Michael Pratt. I think that there's a lot to light there. With Michael Pratt, when he goes to Tulane, speaking of Moribund programs and having to be the impetus to turn a program around,

that program stunk when he got there. And then, you know, Willie Fritz had identified him. And then, you know, everyone remembers Tulane. beaten USC and then last year they remained good even though tajey spears and dorian williams on the other side had gone to the nfl uh michael pratt didn't have a lot of supporting talent last year but he kept doing it that he is very very steady he gives you accuracy he can move around he's an athletic kid very very sharp kid people around him rave about him that's the stuff that you get with michael pratt and yes like he's that guy where if you're starting quarterback gets injured

he's going to go in and not embarrass himself because he doesn't make uh mistake right he is going to run your offense exactly as you ask him to he's going to get the ball out expedient and hit a guy on the hands whether it's short or intermediate the one thing is is when you're pushing that ball more than 40 yards down field that's where it can start to flutter on him a bit it's the only thing that i have about his athlete uh you know the traits that you see on the field the only other thing is just to keep an eye on is is the medicals he had some concussions at toulain there was a shoulder thing but outside of that like you know as as long as your team's medical staff is cool with Michael Pratt's medical. It's giving you the thumbs up. That kid

absolutely behind all those quarterbacks, we've talked about all process. This is a kid that people probably should be talking about a little bit more. So a lot of times we forget this, that a college quarterback and a pro quarterback to a large degree, they can be elevated significantly with their coach. So Caleb Williams has Lincoln Riley, a super high creative coach. Jayden Daniels has Brian Kelly, Michael Pennix, Kalin de Board. These are really high end. I think Dan Lannning does a terrific job at Oregon. They scheme up most of their plays. Bo Nix is not asked to go off script very often. And so, and this is not a knock on Mack Brown, but he was never known at Texas. He was the Southern gentleman, the great recruiter. He didn't run terribly sophisticated

offenses. I mean, that was kind of the reputation. So when I look at Drake May, I think and this was my criticism on Justin Herbert's coach at Oregon, again, seen more as a recruiter as an offensive genius, the offensive line coach, Mario Cristobal. So a lot of people banged on Herbert for being sort of kind of a remedial offense. They didn't ask much of him, but the coach doesn't run that. He's a former offensive line coach. He wanted power, run the ball. And Oregon didn't have a great backup, so they wouldn't let him run until the Rose Bowl. So I look at Drake May and I think, what if I'd have put him with Lincoln Riley or Brian Kelly or Kaelin DeBore? And some of the criticisms on him are he's inconsistent. But we have a history,

Thor, in recent years. Josh Allen, Jordan Love, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson. The unfinished product with good traits ends up being the best quarterback in the class. And that's Drake May. He's not refined. He needs to be sandpaper. is it a fair defense of him that he didn't run a sophisticated offense. He wasn't put in a position as often to succeed. His team wasn't his gift. He didn't have some of the elements that, you know, Michael Pennix basically had an all-star team. Bo Nix has Franklin, another great receiver.

How do you view Drake May contextualizing his inconsistency, the kind of pedestrian offense? because boy the traits are really good size movement arm he looks like Justin Herbert he sure does and you set that up very very well uh early on contextually early on in drake may's career in 2022 he was on fire it was like uh what's the arcade game with the basketball boom shock a laca he was absolutely on fire the first 10 games that he started in 2020 starting his college career the first games that he had started in that philongo offense was absolutely lighting people up and this was his first exposure to college football. And I was like, oh my gosh, who is this kid? You know, and the ripping the balls down the field, you saw everything with the arm talent. And in that system,

they allow you to go down field a lot more. And he was destroying ACC, ACC teams that did not keep the too high safeties up down the field. You've seen all those elements of his game. The stuff that you're talking about, I totally agree with you. This year, UNC, they had an offensive coordinator that maybe we don't respect his acumen quite as much, that, came in. We won't get into that, but that hurt. Obviously, Josh Downs leaving, because Phil Longa went to followed Luke Fickle to Wisconsin. Then Josh Jones had gone to the NFL. Antoine Green had gone to the NFL. And then the NCAA, strangely, decided right before the season that they were going to be punitive with Tess Walker in particular to also neuter Drake May's wide receiving court, which was a bit

odd. The point that you made that I really liked is you have seen a sort of pattern with that coaching staff guys on it. Matt Brown. guys going back a little bit where maybe some of the finer points of the position weren't worked on as much. And when Drake May was ripping all those teams up in 2020 early on in the season, he didn't need to in order to rip those guys up. You know, all the, all the Arntown was there, the looks were there, the receivers were there. But this past season, when the offensive system wasn't as good, when the supporting cast had cratered around him, that's where you started to see what I refer to as weeds in his game. They are not things that.

necessarily will be there forever. In fact, they could be plucked out theoretically pretty quick next year. You might need to exercise some patience for him, but that's all they are. They're weeds. Someone, he needs a constant gardener, someone that will be with him late night film session. Kid, I got a bowl of popcorn. We got your film up here from last year at UNC. Today we're going to focus on this area of your game. Today we're going to focus on how you lost your mechanics a little bit when you were under duress. One thing that I noticed, he'll start to speed is decision-making and then sort of eschew the lower half in particular to get the ball out in some of these situations, or there will be sometimes where the decision-making glitches a little bit that we saw

crop up more this past season, but some of it is easily fixable. Colin, I don't know if you saw this a moment that went viral in my state of Minnesota last week. Kevin O'Connell had given a speech at a church, and afterwards there was a Q&A session at which point someone went up and asked a question about the evils of J.J. McCart, to Kevin O'Connell, the evils of J.J. McCarthy against Drake May and talking about, you know, JJ ran that pro-style system for Harbaugh, and he had this success last year, and yada, Drake May, you look at him and you see all the natural armability that you would ever want, and you look back a little bit, you see a Justin Herbert, you see a Josh Allen,

except there's that sloppiness with the footwork, and sometimes the mechanics get wonky. And basically the guy was asking him, how do you sort of weigh the sort of the polish of the guy coming out of the pro stop. Yes, against the Drake May thing. And I thought O'Connell's response is so interesting because it talked about exactly what we're talking about right now, about how there's, as long as O'Connell sees all the box checks of what he needs to see of the guy has the attributes to be a difference maker at the NFL, there are a couple areas that he believes that he could fix.

And bands around here believe that he was referring to Drake May's footwork. So just something for people to keep in mind. Yeah. And I think Drake May is one of those. that would struggle if he got a defensive coach, who didn't understand the nuances of the position. First of all, I think anybody that, I think Drake May would be a much bigger success,

in my opinion, in Minnesota than J.J. McCarthy, that's just my opinion. I think Drake May needs, he's Josh Allen, not quite as gifted, but he needed Brian Daibble. You know, Josh Allen would have been successful. If he never gets Daibble, he'd be successful. But Daible really cleaned him up. I watched Josh Allen against Oregon and Iowa because somebody said, watch this kid.

He was a mess. I mean, it was huge. He looked, I mean, he's the biggest player on the field, right, for Wyoming, but it was raw. I mean, he had a hose, but it was raw. And I think there's some of that with Drake May. He just needs to be cleaned up, and Kevin O'Connell will do it. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball. basketball to college football or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes,

creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed cracks. I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

That you're finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let me throw this out before we close.

I'm not, Sam Hartman and me is a little, a little hammondagger. I don't get it. I see. I think he's a less talented Sam, how? Tell me I'm wrong. What do you see? I'm not going to tell you you're wrong on that one. I think Sam Hartman, though, after when his playing career is over, I'm not bullish that it is going to last very long. We can't cry for him, though, because I think there will be television contracts for him immediately. He is one of the best-looking people that you will ever see in person. We were down with him at the luncheon at the senior ball in Mobile. Even like the ink stain, you know, guys or whatever, they were all like, oh, look at that guy. Who is that guy? You know, it's like, Sam Hartman, very good-looking guy,

very charismatic, but yeah, he lacks arm strength. He is not a good athlete, and he accrued stats in some rather gimmicky offenses, the claw offense at Wake Forest. And then, of course, last year, he had a solid supporting cast around him at Notre Dame. Yeah, Jason McIntyre keeps telling me, I like that Notre Dame quarterback. And I'm like, Jason, that don't die on that hill. That is not the guy. That is not the hill to die on. He's just not a starting quarterback in the NFL. Thor, this has been great, continued success. We will circle back to you for sure. By the way, You do evaluations. You also do a mock draft. Give me your top five in your mock draft. Top five, I had Caleb Williams one, Jaden Daniels, two, J.J. McCarthy, three. That's obviously a crux point right there, whether that would be J.J. or Drake May.

Number four is another free spot on the board in Marvin Harrison Jr. so long as Arizona stays there. And then in the five slot, that is where I had the Vikings consummating their trade up to go and get their guy, reunite him with this high school coach draft McCormack. and selecting Drake May in the number five slot. Yeah, I do believe Minnesota accumulated that second number one pick to move up. And by the way, because they are so gifted offensively, I think they could give up both their ones and potentially a number one next year. They have their left tackle. They have their receiver.

They'll have their quarterback. They have, I mean, they really have an edge rusher they like. Minnesota reminds me a little bit of Houston, although in a better spot the year before where they have slowly, quietly gotten B, B, plus free agents. They put some offensive people together. If they hit on the quarterback, watch out for the Minnesota Vikings. The only thing I'd worry about is that the Bears' offense,

the Lions, the Packers, that's going to become the best offensive division of football. That division is you could do a Pro Bowl team, an offensive Pro Bowl team in the NFC North that can beat the rest of the league. It's about to get fun there. And the one other thing I was going to say about the Vikings, next off season they are projected at the most salary cap.

in the entire NFL because this offseason they are carrying the most dead cap hit. It's called the Thor 500. It was released last week on Fantasy Pros. Thor ranks as top 500 players and gives player comps for all 500. As you can tell, he's absolutely encyclopedic. The Fantasy Pros, in my opinion, is the best fantasy pod out there. This is great stuff. Thor, thank you so much. Thank you, Colin. Appreciate you having me on. A lot is made of the NBA ratings, and I have touched on this. Baseball hockey and the NBA are increasingly international, and I don't think that necessarily helps your domestic ratings. But I do think the NBA is really dynamic. I've said before, the sports that I truly love,

NFL, college football, NBA, especially the playoffs, World Cup, and a great UFC fight. That's my five. And sports gambling. But I thought, one of the things that's been interesting about the NBA that I really appreciate. And it doesn't benefit the young teams, but it benefits the tough teams, is that the NBA has decided to do this. And this has always been an NFL strength, the ability on the fly to change rules. Baseball really struggles with its traditionalists and its lore and its history. But the NFL has always, even though it's the number one sport by a long shot in America, always views itself as an underdog. And it's not called America's pastime. Baseball is. So the NFL's always willing, views itself as a TV show, always willing to evolve.

A few years ago in that Super Bowl, Nick Foles Brady, the league literally changed its catch rule in the Super Bowl. And a couple juggled catches that, in my opinion, were catches, were granted as touchdowns and catches that weren't during the regular season or the playoffs before the Super Bowl. So I really do appreciate the NBA. There was a big story this year in the NBA for diehards. I'm not a diehard, but I watch a lot of NBA. After the deadline, trade deadline, I'm into it almost. every night or every other night watching at least a half of a game. And there's been this talk about that they started officiating the sport differently.

And I really appreciated this, and I've noticed it in the playoffs. One of the reasons regular seasons are struggling in all major sports outside of football is because other sports lack urgency. The iPhone is distracting all of us. But the NBA decided to call fewer fouls. And I think it's really helped the game. I think these playoff games, there's fewer whistles, there's fewer free throws. I really appreciate this.

You know, during that Knicks Sixers scrum on the floor the other night, and I picked the Sixers to win this. So, you know, I'm looking for Philadelphia to come out of this malaise and beat the Knicks. I think they have more good players. But I appreciated the NBA letting the play go. When the ball's on the floor, give me a break. That is just hustle. A ball hits the floor, players hit the floor.

I'm not calling fouls unless it's egregious. I love the NBA not calling a foul. Effort wins. The Knicks had more effort. What I didn't like is the NBA coming out where the next day they come out and say, well, there was two fouls that weren't called, and they should have called a timeout. What value does that have? Embarrassing your officials, the game is over.

It extends the Reddit board crowd who thinks the league is rigged and there's a conspiracy. We know the league isn't rigged because major markets like Detroit, Atlanta, D.C., previously before the last couple of years, New York, but in the toilet forever. The league is not rooting for Wembe to go to San Antonio, Zion to New Orleans, John Morant to Memphis, and to have Oklahoma City and Minnesota and Denver running the west. Step out and LeBron about to be out. That's not what the NBA is hoping for. But I do appreciate when a league on the fly, even in season, has an interpretation of this is hurting the quality of the product for the fans. And what the NBA has done, they're speeding the game up, fewer whistles.

College football has made multiple changes last several years. Speed the clock up. It is my number one complaint. Baseball, by the way, pitch clock. First year, attendance up 8 percent, ratings up 11. People are telling you, we love the game. we don't have all day. So a lot of people criticize the NBA. I thought it was really smart by Adam Silver. People were, they made it sound like it happened in a smoke-filled room. He just said fewer whistles, let them play. And I think the NBA playoff to this point have been really good, really intense, and really physical. Yukon won a national championship. They were the most physical college basketball team I saw. And Minnesota is pushing around the suns. It works. It matters. And it's, it matters. And it's, makes for a better product. I love sports, but I have kids. You have kids. You have work. I don't have all day. Keep them going. Speed them up. These are TV shows. It's entertainment. It's why Hollywood doesn't have three-hour movies. Right? There's like two hours, 15 minutes is the cutoff for most movies unless they're going to be all-time epics like Oppenheimer.

Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed the podcast, take a moment, rate, and review. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve

to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliverts show on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.