The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Big Ten vs SEC - what the NFL Draft tells us, Rams’ Ty Simpson Gamble & 2027 Draft Top 10 Big Board

Episode Date: April 27, 2026

FOX Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt explains why the Big Ten and SEC battles in college football played out at the NFL Draft this weekend and why Ohio State is officially the premier source for NFL talent. Klatt details which NFL teams won the Draft before debating the Rams’ decision to draft Alabama QB Ty Simpson in the 1st Round despite having MVP Matthew Stafford. Then, Klatt previews next year’s Draft Class with his Way-Too-Early Top 10 Prospects for 2027 which includes a stacked QB Class which includes Arch Manning and Dante Moore with a pair of former 5-Star Wide Receivers, including Jeremiah Smith. 0:00-4:45 What does the NFL Draft tell us about the state of college football4:46-7:25 Is Ohio state the top program for NFL Draft talent?7:26-12:48 Is NIL & transfer portal hurting or helping development for the NFL Draft?12:49-23:36 Klatt’s winners of the 2026 NFL Draft23:37-34:57 Did the Rams make the right decision selecting Ty Simpson at #13?34:58-45:33 Klatt’s top 10 prospects for 2027 NFL Draft Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/KLATT10Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. The NFL factory of college football is Ohio State. Those two guys were not considered top two picks in the NFL draft, even to start the year. Is Ty Simpson good enough to get selected here? Yes, absolutely yes. I got some texts from Seattle fans on night one that said we would like to thank the Rams for not improving next year. Hey, welcome into the program.

This is a Joel Clatt show. I'm Joel Clad. This show is brought to you by graduate by Hilton. We thank them for their support. Big follow up to the draft. We've got a draft recap here as we roll along here during the spring. I'm going to talk about the draft from a college perspective to start with. Then I'll obviously get into kind of my favorite drafts from the NFL side, my favorite individual picks.

And then I've got my top 10 list for next year. So my top 10 on the big board, top 10 players available for next year's draft. That's coming up at the end of the program. So stick around for that. But I wanted to start by just getting into this draft. and what it tells us about college football, where we stand right now. This is a college football show, and I know that you guys have been wanting during this process, a little bit more college talk. So I wanted to start right there because obviously a big moment at

the top of the draft in the first round. For the first time in a long time, the Big Ten surpassed the SEC in terms of number of first round draft picks. Big Ten had 10 first round draft picks. SEC had seven first round draft picks, six for the Big 12 and the ACs. And so listen, this has been something that we've known about college football over the last couple of years. Obviously, the last three national champions are from the Big Ten. And we know what we see in the playoff is that the top of college football right now is owned and run by the Big Ten. And we knew that that would come to fruition in this year's draft. And now it's just obviously happened.

So the SEC, they've got the better top end players, at least at this point. And I think that's a big deal because it's been a long time. It's been 10, 15 years since another conference had more first round draft picks than the SEC. The SEC has run college football and they ran the NFL draft for better than a decade. And they were the best conference in college football. But that's changing as we've seen NIL and transfer dilute the product in the South just a little bit as far as stockpiling talent. And now we see this dispersion of talent around the country. And lo and behold, it shows up here in the NFL draft.

Now, if you dig a little bit deeper, though, the SEC still had an incredible draft. In fact, they set a record with 87 total picks. So this conference is not going anywhere, and it's still right now the deepest conference. So what did the draft actually tell us about college football? It told us everything that we already know. It just supported the narrative. It supported the facts as we see them on the field as we're covering and watching and consuming our favorite sport, college football. This is what you're going to see.

The Big Ten had seven teams with at least four draft picks, but the SEC had 12. Okay, so what did we hear? What was the narrative surrounding the conference? It was that the SEC was deeper, but the Big Ten was better at the top. Well, that's exactly what the draft told us. The SEC is deeper. Now, the top half of each conference is fairly even. The top end of the Big Ten, right now better than the SEC.

But as you get past the top half and you get into that bottom half, The SEC clearly stronger. They've got more quality players on some of their lower tier teams. So we see this as a deeper conference in the SEC, and yet the better conference, at least at the top, is the Big Ten. The SEC struggles in the playoff. This has been documented on this show since Georgia won the title in 2022. The SEC is two and seven in the college football playoff against other power for teams.

That's obviously including Notre Dame. By the way, they've got an 0 and 4 mark since that Georgia title against the Big Ten. in the CFP. So this draft was just affirming everything that we already know about college football at this point. SCC is a great conference, great conference. Again, set a record for total picks in this draft. They had 87 players drafted. It's wild. But as that talent has dispersed, it's dispersed within their conference. So they're a very deep conference. And it's gone elsewhere, as we've seen now again, six for the big 12 in the ACC in the first round, 10 for the big 10 and seven first round picks. for the SEC. It also told us what we already know about the very top. And that is right now

the draft factory, the NFL factory of college football is Ohio State. That's just a fact. And these numbers are quite staggering. In the last two drafts, obviously, they've got a national championship in there, but they've gotten eight players drafted in the first round. Eight, eight first rounders in the last two drafts. They've got 14 players drafted in the first two rounds in the last two drafts and 25 total players drafted in the last two drafts. That's wild. That's staggering. In fact, that's tied for the most players ever for one school to be drafted in back-to-back

drafts. So right now, the school churning out the most talent, the factory for the National Football League, lives in Columbus, Ohio. They are rolling. And by the way, it's not going to stop. And you'll see some of those players on my top 10 list later in this program. Again, into the program. Today, I will give you my top 10 players available for next year's NFL draft.

They were the first team since 1967 with four picks in the top 11. And they've had now five straight drafts with a wide receiver drafted in the first round, which is wild. And by the way, we're going to have a sixth because obviously Jeremiah Smith, he doesn't even have to play next year. He's going to be a top five pick in the NFL draft next year. Of course, a lot of it that depends on quarterback need at the top. And we'll see how that all plays out.

I'll get into that a little bit more and talk about the depth at that specific position for next year's draft. That's coming up later in the show. So what did this draft tell us? Well, it told us what we already know about conferences and conference strength. And it told us everything that we already know about the singular program that is the draft factory right now for the NFL, which is Ohio State. Their run right now, what Ryan Dunn, Ryan Day has done to accumulate talent as well as developed talent has been pretty staggering, including guys. that only play for one year, like Arvel Reese and Caden McDonald. One year starters, they get drafted in the top two rounds.

Of course, Alvall Rees, a top five pick in this year's draft. All right. I think it also told us something that I've been arguing for in college football. Now, I was in Pittsburgh, as you know, I was on the NFL network on night one and night two, rounds one through three with Rich Eisen, Daniel Jeremiah, and Charles Davis. It was awesome. Those guys are phenomenal to work with. I had a great time, great time. But when you're in that setting, there's a ton of conversations that take place. And obviously, the NFL guys like to talk about the NFL, but then everyone comes up to me and they want to talk about the college game and where we're at in the college game. And so I had a lot of conversations with people in Pittsburgh surrounding NIL and the transfer portal. And here's the thing. The general sentiment, as you know, and you might might even feel and might believe is that those things are a bad thing for college football. I've been arguing if you listen to this show for any length of time, that it's actually

good for college football and that actually college football is better than it's ever been. I think Indiana winning the national championship was evidence of that. We've got players everywhere. Indiana was the worst program in the country as far as most losses in history to start the year, and they went 16 and 0 and won the national championship. I mean, that tells you everything you need to know. By the way, the draft told us everything that we need to know about why NIL, which keeps players in college longer, and the transfer portal, which gives players an opportunity to find the right spot to develop, is great for our game. And it's great

for the NFL as well. There were players littered in those first three rounds that would have never sniffed the first three rounds in the old system. They would have never gotten the opportunity. They would have never stayed in school long enough to develop to the point where they could be drafted in the first three rounds. They would have never gotten the opportunities, found the places, found the specific coach, the philosophy, the scheme, the right situation to develop into a player that the NFL looks at and says, yep, absolutely, you're going to be a top three round draft pick.

I'm going to just mention a lot of these guys right here. right at the top, the first two guys, Fernando Mendoza and David Bailey. Those two guys were not considered top five picks, top two picks in the NFL draft, even to start the year. But they found the right situation. Now, David Bailey was a terrific player at Stanford, but he wasn't nearly what he was at Texas Tech. We all know that. We all know that. And he went out there, led the country in Saxon TFLs, and becomes the number two pick in the draft.

Why? Because he found the right situation. and a great opportunity from an NIL perspective down there at Texas Tech. Fernando Mendoza was not considered the top quarterback in the draft, not even close at Cal. But he found the right situation through the transfer portal. He found the right coach and he got in the right place where he could develop into the top pick in the draft. Those are just two. It's littered with this.

Colton Hood, you could say the same thing. The corner that bounced around, found a spot at Tennessee. He's a draft pick. Max Ionichor, the tackle from Arizona State. State starts at, what was it, East L.A. College is going to go to Fresno State. That coach decides to go to ASU. He follows him to ASU, ends up starting a bunch of games. And now a guy who didn't even play high school football grew up in Nigeria, here he is selected in the first two nights of the NFL draft. I love that. First round of the NFL draft, Ramello Hype on the other side of

David Bailey at Texas Tech. You could say the same thing. Lee Hunter, defensive tackle at Texas Tech. You could say the same thing. Cassius Howell was a three-star recruit. at what Bowling Green found an opportunity, played his way into the top three rounds. Emmanuel Pregnon, the guard. Everyone thinks like, oh, he was highly recruited. No, he wasn't. He was a no-star recruit went to Wyoming before finding an opportunity at USC, then getting another opportunity at Oregon. Keelan Rutledge, the guard. Same thing. Markle Bell, no-star recruit ends up starting a bunch of games at offensive tackle for Miami. And there he is, A.J. Halsie, Jacoby Thomas, Nate Bork, The Tired Inn.

Elijah Surat was a no-star recruit, the wide receiver. Now he's a draft pick. Ted Hurst, same thing. Goes to Georgia State and then ends up being a good receiver at Georgia State developing into a player that can be drafted. That's just to name a few. So I keep saying this, and I'm going to continue to say this. By the way, I missed DeAngelo Pons.

Had to go to JMU follows Kurt Signetti to Indiana. I bring up all of these guys to continue to pound the table for the fact that what's going on is actually good. Now, that doesn't mean that I like how it's done right now. And certainly there's going to need to be some guardrails on some of this movement and in particular the money being thrown around because it's an unsustainable model at this point. We know that. The calendar needs to be fixed. There needs to be some guardrails. All of that can and hopefully will take place in the future. But the fact that it's here is not ruining anything. In fact, it's making everything better. It's made the college game better. There's more parity than there's ever

And now the NFL has a greater depth to select from which is going to make the NFL an even better product. These guys are more experienced. They're more mature. They're ready to go. I read some stuff that maybe the offensive and defensive lines are not quite as developed because they're not staying in one strength program. I disagree with that premise. I think that that's going to be cyclical. There's going to be some years where we have great defensive tackles.

One of them was just last year. Mason Graham was what, the fifth pick in the draft as a defensive tackle. Maybe this year wasn't a great defensive tackle draft, but there will be drafts in the future that are great defensive tackle drafts. So that's a cyclical thing, whereas you look at it from a 30,000 foot view. And like I said, this is a good thing. It's been good for college football. And it's certainly been good for the national football league. Let's get into some of that NFL.

I don't want to call it like grading drafts because, listen, you can't grade drafts. I'm just going to talk about the drafts that I really liked. Teams that went out there and selected really quality players, number one, two, in positions of need, that's what always kind of like stuck out to me. And technically, I thought that the first round was really a need-based first round, more than just best overall available. I thought more teams were drafting for need than in prior drafts. We saw that kind of littered the first round.

But there was a few teams that stuck out. And I'm going to start with the New York Jets. I thought the Jets did a heck of a job. Now remember, they've got, they had three first round picks this year, obviously trading back in there at the back of the first round. They also have three first round draft picks next year. And this is a team that is not very good. And they need to stockpile talent.

They need to prioritize production over potential. We heard that phrase from Kurt Signetti all the time, as he's been building Indiana for two years into the eventual national champion. That's been his mantra, an evaluation, production over potential. And you look at the New York Jets, and I see production over potential. David Bailey, the number two pick. He can come in and rush the passer right away. Great first step.

Really loved that pick. They get Kenyon Sadiq. Kenyon Sadiq is one of my favorite players in the draft, because he gives you a ton of versatility on your offense from a schematic perspective. He can flex out as a tight end. He ran faster than any tied end at the combine since, what, early 2000s? He's explosive, but he's also a great blocker, great blocker, and is going to help them in the run game and in the passing game. Solid pick.

Omar Cooper Jr. You know how I feel about Omar Cooper Jr. This guy will make them better in the middle of the field, and I think he helps Garrett Wilson out. He helps whoever their quarterback is going to be next year and into the future. And then they get DeAngelo Pons, who's a direct comp to Aaron Glenn. And they get him in the second round. I loved that pick. DJ loved that pick, obviously, because he had Pons comp to Aaron Glenn on his little board.

I thought that was fantastic. But you look at those four players that they got. Again, production over potential. I thought it was a really solid draft for the New York Jets. They still have three first rounders next year. By the way, they've got their pick. they got the Colts pick, and then they get the Cowboys pick. How about the Giants?

And you know, I've been hard on the Giants in the past. I thought that they made some mistakes in the past in the draft, and then John Harbaugh comes in. And it's like immediately you get this like solid Ravens style draft. And I really liked the Giants draft. They get in the top five at the fifth slot, what I thought was one of the two best overall. football players available in the draft period.

In Arvel Reese, that was a touch of a slide, I think for most of us. He falls to them. I think that's a great pick, and I'll explain why in a moment. Then at 10, they're able to get Francis Maui Noah as the second tackle off the board when almost everybody from a consensus ranking standpoint had him as the top overall tackle. So value in the top 10, which you don't always get at 5 and 10. Then they get Colton Hood, really love him in Malachi Fields. and I think Malachi Fields is a hell of a player.

Great frame, big body, and when healthy, he can do a lot of damage. But the Arville Reese pick, more specifically for where they play as far as division goes. This is one of the reasons why I loved what the Giants did and the ability to select Arvel Reese, which I don't think they thought that that was going to be available. It was a little bit of a surprise that Carnell Tate went forward to the Titans there, and all of a sudden, Reese is available. I think a lot of people thought that Robert Sala would take a guy like Rvel Reese, just the next best edge rusher.

He didn't. Then Reese is available there at five. Okay. Why is that great? Well, number one, you can't have enough great pass rushers. So they've got Abdul Carter. They've got Brian Burns. They even have Kavon Thibodeau, although a lot of people think they're going to move away

from Thibodeau, but even if they don't, all right? And Reese is there. Reese is a different style of player. He doesn't have to play on the edge all the time. he can be on the field when those guys are on the field and still make an impact. And one of the ways he made a tremendous impact last year for Ohio State was as a spy because of the athleticism that he has. And it's tremendous.

I mean, his athleticism is off the charts. We saw it against Archmanning. If you're watching YouTube right now, you're seeing some of those highlights. And we also saw it against Demand Williams. Again, those highlights are playing if you're on YouTube. If you haven't subscribed, go ahead and subscribe right now. DeMond Williams was one of the great scramblers in all of college football, and he couldn't do anything against Ohio State, mainly because of Arvel Reese.

Now, a little bit of sunny styles is well mixed in, but Reese was spying him, and he was watching him, and he could not create outside of the pocket. Well, where do they play the Giants in the NFC East? Who do they see twice a year? They see Jalen Hertz and they see Jaden Daniels. Those two guys are electric with their legs, and in fact, if you look at last year, Jalen Hurtz specifically because Daniels was injured and so, you know, those stats aren't going to bear out. But Jalen Hurt specifically, he had the second most dropbacks that wound up being scrambles.

20% of his dropbacks wound up being scrambles. The only quarterback in the NFL that had a higher percentage of his dropbacks turned into scrambles was Caleb Williams with the Chicago Bears. Well, now you've got a guy. and by the way, John Harbaugh knows exactly the value of the scrambling quarterback, the guy that can create, because he just coached Lamar Jackson. Now you have a guy that can handle that and do it basically by himself. So it is a great fit not just because he's a great player, but also because of who they play. And for that reason, I loved, loved that pick. Really loved that pick.

A couple of other picks that I really loved. and then I'll get into my reaction to the Thai-Simpson selection by the Rams. I'll also talk a little bit about Carson Beck going to Arizona. A couple of my favorite picks. Vega Yawane going to the Ravens. This is where I had him mocked. And before the draft, I said this would be the most Ravens pick of any possible pick. And it happened.

And I was super happy for Yuanay because I think he fits perfect. Now, he's not a sinner. And Linderbaum obviously goes to Las Vegas. But you need to solidify the interior of that offensive line so that Lamar Jackson's not running for his life. And you won't. I can do that. He's nasty. He's great.

A lot of people, myself included, felt like he was actually the best offensive line been available in the NFL draft. It's just that he played guard. You're not going to value guard like you would value a tackle. And so the Ravens selecting that, it's like every single year. The Ravens are sitting there and some player falls to them and you're just like, of course. Of course, he fell to the Ravens. And of course, they're going to run to the podium and turn that car. because he is a perfect fit for the Baltimore Ravens.

So you want to go into the Ravens at 14. I thought that was a tremendous, tremendous pick. Another one that I really liked was the Texans at 36, early in the second round, getting Caden McDonald. I think McDonald very easily could have been a first round draft pick, probably should have been a first round draft pick. Unanimous All-American, now only started one year at Ohio State, but man, he was dominant. And he was versatile.

He would play on the nose. He would play out at the three technique. and you could see the emotion. He was one of the guys. I think Colton Hood was also in the green room on night one, did not stick around for night two. Cade McDonald decided to stick around for night two, and so he got his moment.

You could see the emotion. You got to imagine now you're ready to be a first round draft pick. It doesn't happen. I'm sure on Thursday night he was devastated. He sees all of his teammates get drafted. Ryan Day was there. Matt Patricia was there. Everybody's there for Ohio State.

It's a big party. he doesn't get to partake. And then he is finally selected, and just the emotions of it all, that's a cool pick, right? But he goes to the Texans. And you might be thinking to yourself, like, the Texans don't need defense.

Yeah, but the one area that they could help solidify was their interior or their defensive line. So you're telling me that the best defense in the National Football League last year just got Caden McDonald, like a bona fide production defensive tackle. That's a great pick. I thought that was a tremendous one right there

for the Texans, and I thought that was really good. Another one that I just loved, and this one was probably more sentimental. Avion Terrell going to the Falcons with his brother, AJ Terrell, and AJ is there at his draft party. That was awesome. That was cool to see them hugging. And imagine if you're Avion Terrell and you have looked up to your brother, like my brother was six years older than I was, Jason. And Jason was my hero. I wanted to emulate everything my big brother Jason ever did.

I played like him. He was a quarterback. He was a shortstop. He played basketball. I did all the same things because he did it. And there would have been nothing in the world that I would have wanted more than to actually be his teammate at some point. Well, Avion Terrell, I'm sure, has felt that way about his big brother, AJ Terrell,

a first rounder for the Falcons. And here's Terrell getting selected by the Falcons to go play with his brother. That was a really cool moment in this draft. And I thought that was one of my favorite picks. And then late in the draft, Eli, Hydenwright, the running back from Navy. coming out in his uniform, gets drafted by Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, and he's there in his full dress, and he walks out there. I mean, you could say it was staged, but you know what? I don't think things like that are staged. And what a moment for him, for that crowd. And just, man, I got to tell you,

it takes a really special human being to go to the Navy Naval Academy in the first place, the Air Force Academy, in the army, like all of those things, man, the selflessness and the sacrifice that they make for their future to protect us, to give us our freedoms. And then he gets that moment. I mean, come on. That was awesome. It was very cool. So the draft littered with cool stuff right there. Like I said, Jets, I thought did a great job. Giants, I thought did a great job. Those were the picks that I really liked, some for sentimental value, and then others for just specific team and getting themselves better. This spring, denim gets a softer, lighter update.

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Okay. So Ty Simpson was selected with the 13th pick. Was this a good pick? We don't know. And we won't know for at least two, probably three more years. Now, let's take this in two parts. Number one, is Ty Simpson good enough to get selected here? Yes. The answer is absolutely yes. If you watch his film, he is an NFL quarterback, without a doubt. In fact, for a large portion of last season, a lot of us, including me, thought that he could have been the top pick in the draft.

Now, he doesn't have the stature, the size, the frame of Mendoza. But, man, he throws the ball as well as anybody. He makes NFL throws. he anticipates, I constantly say this, I think to make it at the next level, you've got to own the game from the pocket and be an anticipatory thrower. He does that.

He anticipates Windows, and I thought even better than Mendoza at times. Now Mendoza throws with great leverage in particular outside the numbers, and he's very accurate. But if you're talking about anticipating those layered throws over linebackers in front of safeties, those deep seams,

I don't think that Mendoza did that as well as Ty Simpson. Simpson is a terrific player and absolutely he should be and was drafted in the first round. Now, that's just the Simpson side of things. Then you have to evaluate where he went. And that's the L.A. Rams. And that's where the controversy comes in because they have the reigning MVP on their team, as we all know. Matt Stafford had an incredible year, an incredible year. They're really one muffed punt away from beating Seattle in Seattle to win the NFC championship and likely win the Super Bowl. That's how close they are. I've said this for a long time, not on this show. I used to say this back in my talk radio days. I think that organizations have to, what I would

call respect to the championship window. You've got to know when your window is open and you've got to go for it. You have got to jump through that window. You've got to push the chips into the middle of the table. Their window is absolutely open right now. The Rams could absolutely go win the Super Bowl next year. There's no doubt about it. In fact, the Super Bowl is in L.A. It would be the second time they could win the Super Bowl in their home stadium, which is wild. I got some texts from Seattle fans and some close to the organization on night one that said, we would like to thank the Rams for not improving next year.

Okay. They did get Trent McDuffie. And you could actually say that their real first round pick is actually. actually Trent McDuffie, because that's the pick that they got for McDuffie from the Chiefs. If you told me that the Rams in night one, Thursday night, got a player the caliber of Trent McDuffie, and you asked me, did they improve themselves? Did they get closer to passing the Seattle Seahawks or even 49ers in their own division? I would say, absolutely, absolutely. So from that perspective, you could say that they were playing with house money. and if you're playing with house money,

you can do things like look for a second house or a second boat. Rich people problems at this point. Drafting a quarterback to be your backup at 13 is rich people problems. This is our roster is fine and we can look towards the future. We can develop. We can become better. That's hard when you're sitting there and a guy like Mackay Lemon is still on the board. And you could improve your defense with Trent McDuffie

and the other moves that they made on that defensive side. and you could improve your offense and Lemon certainly would have improved their offense. And you've got to take into consideration. Can you absolutely take to the bank that Devante Adams is going to have the type of year that he had a year ago? I don't know.

He's aging. He's not a young guy anymore. Is he going to be healthy? Is he going to give you that production? Those are all questions that I think, you know, are going to come. And I think that they are accurate and appropriate. Here's where I finally sit on this. My biggest concern is actually none of those things that I actually talked about.

My biggest concern with this pick is that I'm big on experience. If you watch the NFL network, I put up that graphic about the players that have won a Super Bowl at that position, quarterback position, this century. And if you average out the college career of the Super Bowl winners of the last, 25 years this century, what you see is that Super Bowl winners start 34 games, attempt 11,100 passes, and on average have 70 touchdown passes in their career. Just so happens, that's the identical experience that Fernando Mendoza has. Identical. Simpson only has 15 starts. And so just from an experience standpoint, that was my biggest knock on him, even as a first rounder, was his lack of experience. He only played the one year. He had to sit for three years

at Alabama. And the sitting for three years is where I get concerned because now you're going to be asking him to sit for multiple years going forward, which means, and Daniel Jeremiah made this point very astutely, if you wait, let's just say two years, okay, two seasons, and he's your starter in 2028. That means from 2021, his last year in high school, to 2028, he will have had 15 starts. That's not enough. That's not enough. So this is the type of guy that actually needed to go and play, not necessarily sit. Everyone points to Mahomes and how great it was for him to go and sit at Kansas City. Well, one, he was a traits quarterback. And two, he had loads of experience at Texas Tech. He started a ton of football games. And so he could pull on that once

he got on the field and it didn't feel like he was off the field for long. Well, Ty Simpson has just not done it very much. And I can tell you this from firsthand experience. This is the only position in sports that you cannot replicate in practice. You can't do it. There is no amount of mental reps that will improve you to a point to be great on the field. You've got to go do it. And that's a difficult question. 15 starts in six or seven years for Ty Simpson. That'll be the question. And we won't know if this was a solid pick until 2028 or 2029. And by that time, might be too late. If you don't win the Super Bowl this year, everyone's going to look at that pick and say, why didn't you improve your offense with Mackay Lemon or someone like that,

an offensive lineman per se? You know, they passed on a lot of good players. And so those are the questions that are going to come up for the Rams. How about the Carson Beck? Oh, actually, one more thing. One more thing on the Ty Simpson stuff. There's been a lot talked about about McVeigh's press conference and his body language, was he on board with the pick? And I know he's been on with other outlets, including a great friend of mine, Peter Schreger,

and he said, listen, I knew that I just didn't want the optics out there to be I was the giddy kid on Christmas Day. That wouldn't have looked great for Matt Stafford. Let me just give the background on this. Less need new Ty Simpson and his family turned

Sean McVeigh on to Ty Simpson. And so, Sean has been watching his film for quite some time and really fell in love with him. Sean loves Ty Simpson. And I know he said that to Peter Schrager. This was a Sean McVeigh pick, but he also met with Matt Stafford before making the pick on Thursday. And it was made abundantly clear to Matt that this was for whenever Matt decides to step away from either football or the Rams. And this was not a nudge.

This is not shoving him out the door. that's what I was told is it was abundantly clear to Matthew Stafford. McVeigh loves him, Ty Simpson. He loves obviously Matt Stafford. He knows where they're at. But again, my concern is about the starts. Okay, now you get to Carson Beck. So Carson Beck then becomes the next quarterback selected down in the third round.

And we knew that there would be a little bit of a drop off after the first two. But Beck gets selected with all of his experience. Where does he go, Arizona? Now, I had mocked Arizona to jump into the first round to try to get Ty Simpson. They're one of those teams like the Jets who didn't address quarterback until later, but that needed a quarterback, need a quarterback this year and ongoing. I like this position for Carson Beck. First of all, Beck played really well last year from Miami,

and that was coming off of that injury, his last year at Georgia, where we didn't really know how well he would be able to throw the football. And he did a really nice job for them, leading them all the way to the national championship game right on the doorstep of winning the national championship. By all accounts, he matured. There was some talk about him being a bit immature in his first few years at Georgia. He definitely matured, I think, to some extent, in his last year at Miami.

But now he's in a great position. Why is he in a great position? That organization hasn't won a long time. Yeah, but look at the weapons he has on offense. That offense all of a sudden looks scary. I mean, I'll raise my hand. I'd love to be the quarterback of that offense. You've got Marvin Harrison, Jr., with, I think, a better opportunity to succeed if he's

got a better quarterback and stay healthy. He's got Trey McBride at Tide End, who almost was the NFL's catch leader last year. And he's got Jeremiah Love, who they selected with the third overall pick in the draft. Love is terrific. He's a great threat out of the backfield catching it. So Beck went to a solid spot right there with the Arizona Cardinals. I really I really liked that pick and that selection for him. What's up, Clatshow fans?

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That's coming up next Monday. Can't wait for that episode. But right now, my top 10 prospects for next year. There's going to be some guys that I left out. Try to get them in, but there's only 10 spots. At number 10, I hope he can duplicate what he was able to do last year at Ole Miss and more specifically what he was able to do late last year in their playoff run. Trinidad Chambliss, the quarterback at Ole Miss.

He's so dynamic as a player. He spent last year becoming the leader that I don't think anyone anticipated he would become. he's dynamic as a passer. I thought if he came out, there would have been a chance he was a first round draft pick in this draft, but obviously he wanted to go back.

He had the eligibility struggle, and he's going to be back at Ole Miss. The knock is going to be his size. He's listed at six foot, but, you know, there's other guys that have succeeded at that size, and in particular with his ability to move. So he's number 10.

Number nine, C.J. Carr, the quarterback at Notre Dame. He's going to be going into his second season, so he's going to be getting a lot more starts, obviously. He's riding 10-game win streak. He got thrown into the fire early against Miami and Texas A&M. They lose those two ball games, close games. I tell you, those were great games, great games.

But C.J. Carr, he had his struggles at times, and he threw some interception. But again, he was a first-year player. He's got the ability. I love the way that he throws the football. He's got the stature. He's got the pedigree. And I think he's easily a guy that can play himself into that top 10. Number eight, the wide receiver who just transferred to Texas, Cam Coleman.

Cam Coleman, I think, could have a monster season at Texas. And if they're going to be the team that some believe they can be, he's going to need to do that. They were not great at wide receiver a year ago. But now he's out there. He's six, three, 200 pounds. He's an explosive athlete. He can run, man. At a high school, he was right there with Jeremiah Smith.

He was the number two wide receiver in the class. I thought he was stuck in a bit of a bad situation at Auburn. He had five different quarterback start in his two seasons there. And now he gets to play with Arch and in Sark's offense. And Sark knows how to isolate and get a guy like Cam Coleman opportunities and touches. And he's going to do that. I think he'd have a monster year and he could easily be a top 10 player in next year's draft. I'll stay with the Texas Longhorns here.

Second Texas Longhorn in my top seven on the edge, Colin Simmons. Hell of a player. He is so good. 6-3-2-45, pass-rushing threat off the edge, 21 sacks already in just two seasons. Colin Simmons is going to be a really good player, and he's clearly a guy that will be on the radar for a top 10 selection next year. Stay on the edge. Remember, quarterbacks, edge players, wide receivers, these are the guys that get value. At number six, I'll stay on the edge and go with Dylan Stewart at South Carolina. 6-5-245 going into his junior year now at South Carolina. He was a freshman All-American in 2024.

He backed it up with a huge year last year as a sophomore. I view him a little bit more as a do-it-all type edge player over Simmons. So that's why he got the nod over Simmons. Stewart, I think, is terrific. And again, value, positional value. That's why he's in my top 10. Now we get into the top five. First tackle, Jordan Seton transferred from Colorado to LSU.

five star out of high school, going to play for Coach Prime where he started for two years at Colorado. They never materialized from an offensive line perspective. It was not his problem. It wasn't his fault. Now he goes to LSU, and I think he could have a big year for Lane Kiffin.

And if he does, he could easily be a top 10 pick. All right. Number four, this is where I'll go with Arch. Arch Manning from Texas. He reminds me a little bit of not in his production yet, but maybe like a poor man's art, Andrew Luck, Arch does.

So he can throw it downfield. He's big and he's way faster and more mobile than you would anticipate. Now, I know that he didn't have a great year. And certainly that first start against Ohio State did not go the way that he wanted. I don't know if he was fully healthy early in the year. I know that they didn't run the football nearly as effective as they needed to for a first year quarterback. They certainly didn't protect him very well, but he can make the throws down the field. And, guys, he's a manning.

Like, let's not overthink this. An organization is going to look at him and they're going to see, I think, a better year. And year two as a starter. He's going to get that second year as a starter. And he played really good down the stretch. He turned the corner. He had, what, 20 total TDs and two turnover. over his last six games.

In the bowl game, he had 220 yards passing and 155 rushing with four touchdowns against Michigan. So, like, he played a lot better late in the season. Everyone decided that he was bad. And he's not. This guy is a really good player, and he's a manning. He's a manning. They brought in some guys in the portal.

They've got Hollywood Smothers running back, Relique Brown from Arizona State. I think they'll run it better. I think they've got better players on the outside and Arch is going to be just fine. At number three, I'll go with Dante Moore, the quarterback at Oregon. I thought he would have been the number two overall picking this year's draft, but he decided to stay at Oregon. I thought he had a good enough year. He's got good command, great stature. He throws it well.

He's athletic. He's smart. He loves football. Will Stein and I had conversations about the way that he prepares. He prepares like a pro. They're going to be really good. They might be my number one overall team and my post-spring. top 25. They've got a lot of returning depth in particular on defense. They were young at the

running back position. They've got good wide receivers. This is going to be a very good football team. He's going to have a big year and he's going to certainly be in the running for one of the top picks in next year's draft. So Dante Moore is going to be number three. At number two, I just can't, I can't put this guy any lower. Leonard Moore at Notre Dame, the corner. Unanimous All-American as a sophomore last year. He was a fresh. All-American in 2024. He's 6-1-95. Jeremiah Smith was asked at one point, who's the toughest corner he faced? And this was back in December. And he said, Leonard Moore. Leonard Moore can play. And again, you get a corner with that length and his ability and coverage. And NFL teams will be

all over him. So Leonard Moore is my number two player on my big board, way too early big board. And you all know who number one is. And it's the guy just referenced. And it's Jeremiah Smith. So my number one overall prospect is Jeremiah Smith. He'll be number one prospect on everyone's board. The only reason he wouldn't go number one next year would be quarterback need at the top and we'll see where those quarterbacks go. 6-3, 223 pounds. He's lit up college football since the moment he stepped on the field.

He's got over 2,500 yards and 29 total touchdowns in just 29 games. He's an absolute monster. the last time a wide receiver went in the top three of the draft with 2007, it was Calvin Johnson. He went second to Detroit. This guy, again, pending quarterback need will be selected as the first position player off the board. Mark it down. Okay, here's some guys that did not make it and they're all quarterbacks. Next year has been talked about as a really deep quarterback draft.

And it could be. It could be. Now, word to the wise, it doesn't always pan out. So we always say this. We always talk about next year being a great quarterback draft. Every single year I've covered the draft is always by, hey, next year's quarterbacks. They're really good. But we don't know.

We don't know. Some of these guys are not going to have great seasons. Some of these guys will. And some of these guys that didn't make my top 10 might be the top overall pick because we've seen that time and time again. You go back to Baker Mayfield or Kyler Murray or Joe Burrow, Fernando Mendoza. These are all guys that work themselves into a position to become the number one overall pick in the draft. Yeah. And they weren't there to begin. They weren't on anybody's way too early

top 10 board, you know, the previous spring. So who are those quarterbacks? Well, Julian San at Ohio State, he could have a monster year. I think his size might knock him a little bit, but we know he's efficient. He's accurate, probably the most accurate quarterback in college football, at least by the numbers last year. Brennan Sorsby goes down to Texas Tech. He could have a big year and he could light it up and be that guy. Jaden, my avid, USC, I'm telling USC is a dark horse next year. This is a very good football team because they're finally better on the offensive and defensive line. Mayava is a terrific player at the quarterback position. He could play himself into the top five easily. Darien Mince at Miami could do the same thing.

Mintz is really talented. He's the guy that could play himself in. Lenora Sellers at South Carolina. We know about his talent. Josh Hoover at Indiana. I mean, what if he goes out there and has a Fernando year? He could be the top pick in the draft. No doubt. No doubt. So again, Those are the names you're looking at as potential guys that could, could play themselves into that position. But this is why everyone's talking about such a deep quarterback draft. I don't think that there was any guys that I was missing there. No, I don't think that there was any guys that was missing. Man, it's going to be a good year.

It'll be a good year in next year's draft. And the quarterback position might be littered all over the first round, pending how those guys obviously play next season. Okay, speaking of next season, I've got my post-spring top 25 coming straight at you next Monday. If you have not subscribed to the program, you need to do that. Go subscribe on YouTube. And if you have not followed us on social media,

I don't know what you're doing. We've got all that content out there in shorter form at Joel Clatshow, wherever you like to social media. So go and do that as well. Can't wait for next week. Again, post-spring top 25 coming straight at you. you next Monday. Enjoy your week, everybody.