The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Deion Sanders’ commitment to Colorado & Klatt’s Top 10 Defensive Players in the NFL Draft

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

FOX Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt reacts to the news that Deion Sanders has reached a 5-year extension with Colorado. Klatt breaks down why making Coach Prime one of the highest paid coaches in the sport is actually a bargain deal for Colorado. He also lays out the reasons why Colorado makes sense for Sanders and what they offer that most programs wouldn’t. Klatt also considers the newly available head coach opening at Stanford and whether that is a program that can get back to the glory days with Jim Harbaugh and David Shaw under new GM Andrew Luck. He wraps up the show by ranking his Top 10 Defensive Players in the NFL Draft including players like Penn State's Abdul Carter, Michigan's Will Johnson and Colorado's Travis Hunter. 0:00-2:02 Intro 2:03-14:30 Deion Sanders signs an extension with Colorado 14:31-21:17 Stanford is searching for a new coach 21:18-21:38 Joel Klatt’s top defensive players 21:39-22:29 Kenneth Grant 22:30-23:33 Mike Green 23:34-24:17 Jihaad Campbell 24:18-25:20 Mykel Williams 25:21-26:18 Jahdae Barron 26:19-27:03 Jalon Walker 27:04-29:30 Will Johnson 29:31-31:14 Mason Graham 31:15-32:34 Travis Hunter 32:35-34:38 Abdul Carter 34:39-38:21 Potential steals Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I think that people from the outside love to take shots at Dion and talk about that this program isn't legitimate and there's no sustainability. And the sustainability is right here. It's right here. And now Colorado has annied up and done their part. College football has never been better. Interest has never been higher. I believe that we are at the dawn of the golden age of college football.

Hey, welcome into the program, everybody. I'm Joel Clatt. This is the Joel Clatt Show. And we are brought to you by Hampton by Hilton. We thank them for their support as always. We've got a pack show for you this evening. I guess you might be listening to this, I guess, in the morning. So welcome.

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You can follow me personally, by the way. I've got a personal account on X as well as IG at Joel underscore clad on IG at Joel Klat on X. Okay, here's what I want to get into today. Some college football news, I thought this would just be a heavy draft season, but a couple of big coaching announcements in the last week. One, Dionne Sanders signs a huge exception. extension with Colorado. So he got five years, $54 million. My thoughts on that. Troy Taylor,

let go by Stanford and new GM, Andrew Luck. And so Stanford's in the business of hiring a new football coach. I'll have my thoughts on that. And then I do want to continue to march through kind of some of this draft content. So I am going to give you my top 10 defenders as I see them kind of big board style, my top 10 defenders for the 2025 NFL draft. That's all coming up right now. Let's start with the big news out of Boulder that Dion Sanders gets a massive extension from the Buffaloes. Five years, $54 million ties him to see you through now 2029. Obviously, this offseason has been, there's been a lot of talk and speculation about Dion's future and where that future was going to be. Some flirtations, whether it was just specifically from the NFL side or even from Coach Prime's side himself.

There was definitely some rumor swirling about Dallas and other locations. This contract extension has been talked about for a long time and they settle and they end up signing. And you know what? Good for Coach Prime because he deserves this in a lot of ways. And I'm going to run down this because I think that they're going to be, as there is with everything with Dion Sanders, there's going to be polar opposite opinions. And let's just try to lay the facts on the table here. Now, I think most people can do that.

And they can do that in a smart and educated way. And so I want to appeal to those folks out there and those college football fans who understand the value of a quality coach and what that quality coach can do not only for the program, but for the entirety of the institution. So this deal is going to pay him 10.8 million on average over the course of the next five years. That puts him, by the way, at number four in all of college football, which is quite static. because the only three guys ahead of him, as you're watching on YouTube, Kirby Smart, Ryan Day, and Davosweeney, those are the only three guys that have national championships in college football, just above Steve Sarkesian. So Dion now firmly in the top five in all of college football as far as pay goes. Now, you might be thinking to yourself like, wow, isn't that a little bit steep?

Well, I think with Dion, it's not just what he's bringing to the field. and I'm going to run through a little bit of that because think about what's happened just in the last year. All right? Just in the last year, Colorado has gone from a one-win team to a relevant team to a nine-win team and a top 25 finisher. Two years after going 1 in 11,

Travis Hunter wins the Heisman trophy, the highest award you can possibly win in our sport. They flipped a five-star quarterback, Ju-Ju-Louis, signed one of the top transfer quarterbacks and Caden Salter. Marshall Falk is now the running back coach. Byron Leftwich is now an assistant. Dion is a top five-paid coach in the sport. Like the momentum for Colorado right now is palpable and good for them. So the commitment level from the program side and Rick George and everybody backing that program is quite,

staggering compared to what it has been over its history. Because remember now, I went there, I know this place is history. I've been sitting in those north stands since the mid-80s when my dad took me to my first game. And Colorado has never been a place that was rich with resources. Now, I think it's rich with tradition and with history. And I love that history as an alum and someone that put on that black and gold uniform. But we were never a place that just had resources or could just pay people to keep them, whether it was assistant coaches or just raise money for buildings and facilities. So everything done at Colorado has to be done. It's hard. It's tedious. There isn't just a giant donor there like there is in other locations.

And yet, Dion comes in and he's changed that. And he's changed that because of all the things that he's done, both on the field and off. I touched on what happened just on the field right there. but think about what's happened off the field in Colorado. I'm going to read some of these statistics, and these are quite staggering, okay? So you just had a record number of applicants overall for 2024 fall semester. That was up 20% from the year before. There was an 18% increase in applications from out-of-state students.

So just with that alone, you're getting a much better quality student and you can get more out-of-state students, which is going to be better for the bottom line of the institution. I will argue that even though this seems like a giant, giant contract, it's actually totally worth it for Colorado and for all of those other schools that we're looking at that are paying their coach millions and millions of dollars. All right.

Applications from black and African-American students up 50%. You've got football ticket sales went from 13 million before Dion got there to 31 million in year number one. Don't have the numbers yet for year number two. Home football games brought a combined $93.9 million in direct economic impact for the city of Boulder, and there was $146.5 million in regional economic impact. That's staggering. So the entire region is benefiting from the way.

wave of momentum that Coach Prime has created on the field. And that is now being rewarded. And this is a great move for Colorado because of that. And if you're trying to knock him, I would just say that like this, it's very rare that someone comes in and does what he's been able to do and coach a team and lead a team and lead a program that was basically irrelevant and had been irrelevant for about two decades, which is sad for me to say, but still the truth. But it was overall an irrelevant place. And then he led them in his second year, they're in the top 25 and he's got a Heisman trophy winner. He's only the second coach in the last 25 years to inherit a Power 5 conference team with one win and turn them into a top 25 team in the second year. The only other guy to do that was

Lou Holtz at South Carolina. Like, I'm just, I think it's worth it. I think he's worth it. All right. And Colorado is a place that I think that he can continue to have success. And I think that he will continue to have success. And like I said, I love the momentum that he's, while everyone is whining and crying about Dion and there are too many detractors, certainly. If you just look at what's gone on on the field and what's going on off the field at the institution, this is 100% worth it. This is a football team that just posted its highest GPA ever in the history of the program at 3.0.

Recruiting continues to get even better. And now it can take off because other schools can't just sit there and say like, well, we don't know if Dion's going to be there or not. Yes, we do. He's a top five paid coach in the entirety of the sport. We know exactly where he's going to be. Look at the staff. You sit down with a kid now in a recruit. You're a DB.

You get to come play for Dion Sanders. If you have a defensive lineman, you get to come play for buyer. or excuse me, Warren Sapp, if you're a quarterback, you get to come and get tutelage from Byron Leftwich. If you're a running back, you get to come and you get to play for Marshall Falk. That's really good. I think that people from the outside love to take shots at Dion and talk about that this program isn't legitimate and there's no sustainability. And the sustainability is right here. It's right here. And now Colorado has antied up and done their part. Now, they're going to continue to, and I hope they're going to continue to ante up because they're going to need to continue to support the NIL, which that's really now become the lifeblood of a program and the way that you accumulate talent.

I think the bigger question now is, like, we understand why Colorado would want him. And all of those things that I just ran down, like, those are fairly obvious. And I think everybody can get behind those. So then the question is, is like, well, why would Dion want to stay there? Why would he want to stay there? Why does it make sense for Dion to stay with the buffs rather than go to another program or even go to the National Football League? Well, I do think I have an answer for that. I think, number one, Colorado is a place that has given him the keys fully and completely.

And this contract signifies that, but it's not just the financial keys. It's also the culture keys. He can and has done whatever he wants with that program. And that's not the case at every single program. even maybe even his alma mater or other big programs. You can go to a quote-unquote like more blue blood college football program. Okay, that's fine. You go there and then you're going to fight internally the fights if you want to change the uniforms

or do something a little bit differently or a different way. Dion has come into Colorado and it's like, hey, man, do whatever you want to do. This is his program at this point. And from Dion's standpoint, I think that that's attractive. I really do. And I think it's been smart from Rick George and those in charge. to allow him that latitude to turn this program into what he wants it to be. This is his program.

It has his fingerprint on it. And that's attractive from his standpoint. Okay, so that's one reason why he would want to stay at Colorado. I think just from the power for dynamic, some might say, like, well, wouldn't you want to be in the SEC or the Big Ten? Maybe. Maybe. And I would just say like this is quite a commitment from a school that's not in those conferences that doesn't have that revenue share and it doesn't have that projected revenue share over the course of this contract. This is a staggering level of commitment from Colorado. So would you want to go there?

Well, they just put them in the top five as far as resources in terms of paying him. And if they're going to do that, then you pay the assistant coaches. So like the resources are there or at least they. signals that they're there where he doesn't need to jump to a bigger conference. And then the last one about the NFL, I just don't think that Dion would want to go to the NFL, nor he would feel cold to the NFL. I've sat with him several times. And in all of those conversations, I'll talk to him about this.

I'm like, okay, like, what are your plans? What do you want to do? Would you go to the NFL? And he's like, I can't mentor young men at the NFL level like I can here at the college level. I think he's a fabulous college football coach. I think that he does an incredible job, an incredible job, getting young men to start thinking about excellence in every area of their life and not just on the football field, thinking about winning in every area of their life and not just the football field. And you see that with the standards that they have with how they treat

people, how they're approaching their academics, which the evidence is. and their GPA as a team. So all of those things. And you can't really do that at the NFL level. It's much more transactions-based. Now, maybe it's getting that way with NIL, but you still have this ability to mentor these young men. You know, they're shapeable clay, if you will.

And I think that that's attractive to him. So those are the reasons that I think he would want to stay at Colorado. But all in all, I think this is a great move and no-brainer from the Colorado perspective. I think it's a good move for Dion. He gets to be at a place that he clearly likes and wants to be. And now he can go focus on creating a program that can go win on the top level. And remember now, we're in a period where we're about to get a playoff change

that's going to define the path and define that path towards a playoff berth. And you would only have to be in like the top four, the Big 12, to play a game, a meaningful game at the end of the season for the right to go to the college football playoff. Well, that's an attractive deal. Okay, so can you be in the top four in the Big 12 with Dion Sanders and a top five salary in college football? Yeah, the answer is yes. And so from that standpoint, I think it's a really good fit.

All right, let's move to Stanford. The timing of this sucks for Stanford. Troy Taylor, after a couple of different investigations, if you haven't heard about it, has been fired. Allegations and investigations into improper bullying and behavior, mainly. towards female staffers throughout the athletic department. Needless to say, they've had a couple of investigations. They now have a new general manager and Andrew Luck. And it was Andrew Luck who actually made the public statement after letting Troy go. So that statement, you know, tells me that this is Andrew Luck's program. And now he will be tasked with going and finding the next headman for the Cardinal.

And the question becomes, at least for me, is how good of a job is the Stanford job? Let me start with this. Andrew Luck makes this a quality job. Any coach would have to at least sit there and think to themselves, do I want to go work at Stanford for Andrew? And the answer would at least have to be like, yeah, that sounds pretty good. We know there are hurdles with Stanford. We know they are there.

The academics, that's a hurdle. how they get kids admitted into class prior to actually getting them signed as a player, that's an issue. NIL is an issue there. Playing in the ACC from the West Coast is an issue. Again, the best thing that they have going for them is Andrew Luck. I do think that the resources are there from an alumni perspective. If they wanted to support that football program and get those things going from a monetary standpoint, it's there. it's just that like you go to a game at Stanford and there's not a lot of passionate support. I think people like Stanford football.

Some might even love Stanford football. But there's a difference when you go to a place where it's like it means everything to them. You know, at Stanford it doesn't always feel like that. Now, the timing of this is not great. Okay. they're going to hope to land a coach, and we're sitting here now headed into April. We're about to watch the Masters. This is not the hiring coach time of year.

And the only solace that I would take if I was Andrew Luck is that others have done this and succeeded. And I think that this is a great model to look at, and you might have to look at a guy like this, But Kansas did this with Lance Leipold. And what was that? Spring of 2021 and Les Miles. He had been investigated for some of those inappropriate type behavior things. And you've got unfortunate timing. And then all of a sudden Kansas hires Lipold.

And here we go. Kansas is a pretty good football program right now. And that turned out to be a very good hire. So can Stanford do that? I think the answer is yes because I believe in Andrew Luck. And what Andrew is going to be trying to do is recreate this pocket of time in which they hired Jim Harbaugh. And Jim Harbaugh turned them into a top 10 really perennial program for the better part of a decade, which in hindsight is staggering. It's staggering what Jim was able to build at Stanford and then what he left for David Shaw, who continued the excellence for a number of years.

Harbaugh went there, and they had won one game the year before, and on his way out, in his fourth and final year, they were 12 and 1 and won the Orange Bowl. So, like, can it happen? Yes, it can happen. I think that we would all, let me just give you, like, three different examples. Colorado is 1 and 11.

They're the most irrelevant program in college football. They hire Deion Sanders, and within two years, they have a head coach that's a top five paid coach in the sport, and they've won a Heisman trophy and finished in the top 25. If you were to ask me before the hiring of Deon Sanders, like, is it feasible for those things to happen at Colorado? I would have said no. And it happened.

Okay, let me take you back to COVID. It's 2020. And COVID apparently runs through the Michigan football team. and Michigan having a terrible COVID-shortened year has to cancel the game against Ohio State. This is coming off of a series of games against Ohio State where they were not very competitive. And I had conversations with a guy who works right here on this podcast. And is my right-hand man, Steve Owens. And we had legitimate conversations about, is Michigan ever going to beat Ohio State?

Are they ever going to do it? because it sure didn't feel that way at that point. And then you fast forward, they just won a national championship two years ago. Stanford was a one-win program, and Jim Harbaugh comes in from the University of San Diego, and within four years they're 12 and won. They've got Heisman runners up, and they're winning the Orange Bowl. Okay, so, like, this notion of like, well, can it ever happen again at Stanford? Yes, yes.

And what do all of those things have in common? a great head coach. So if you get the head coach right, it can happen. This is a people business. This is a people business. And for Stanford, they've got to go out there and find that guy. Andrew Look is going to have to not only find his next Jim Harbaugh. It doesn't have to be exactly like Jim or the style that Jim played,

but he's got to find a guy that can do what Jim did. He's got to find a guy like what Dion is doing at color. Colorado. Bill Snyder did at Kansas State. Gary Barnett did at Northwestern. You got to have somebody that is the thermostat and not the thermometer. And that analogy, as you know, like the thermostat turns everybody into their temperature versus the thermometer just tells you what temperature is in the room. So you've got to have somebody with that type of passion. Andrew Luck, I think, is a guy that can do this as a general general manager, and he's not only going to need to find a coach that can do this, but he's going to need to find a player like himself.

And they're probably going to have to pay him a lot of money in NIL. And then once you do those two things, guess what? You can turn it around. You can turn it around. Okay, let's get to the top 10 defenders as I see them for the 2025 NFL draft. I'm going to go 10 to 1, like I always do with all of these lists. I like this list a lot. I think that it's, I think it's a good draft defensively.

And you can see that depth in the top 10. At number 10, I'm going to go with Kenneth Grant, the defensive tackle at Michigan. I think he's going to be an excellent pro. He's young. He's huge. He is very athletic. And he's the guy that I can see just getting better and better and better. And maybe at the end of this, he could be the best defender from this draft 10 years from now.

he's got that type of upside. There's no doubt. Are there guys with more polished right now? Yeah. His teammate, Mason Graham, you're going to see him later in this list, is more polished right now. But Grant is an absolute specimen. I just remember him running down Ketron Allen in that 2024 game against Penn State. And he like hocks him down.

And I'm like, dude, this guy is 6, 4, 330 pounds and was a moving. He's strong. He's violent on the inside. So I really like Kenneth Grant. he's number 10. At number nine, I've got Mike Green on the edge from Marshall. Covered him in their game against Ohio State this last year. And I just remember talking with their coach, Coach Huff. Charles Huff was their coach. And I remember talking to him, and Charles Huff had spent some time in his coaching tenure at Alabama. And so we started talking

about Mike Green, and he said, oh, man, Mike Green could have started at Alabama, any of those Alabama teams. He's that good. He's that athletic and he's got that mentality. He works hard. He's one of our best practice players. He's twitchy. He gets after the quarterback. He's got great instincts. And so I'm going into the game and I'm thinking to myself, is he really that good? And then he showed that during the game. He was excellent against Ohio State. And that was even before Ohio State had some of their offensive line issues. So I was very impressed with him. And then he led the nation with 17 sacks. So I really like my green.

Maybe not the measurables that you would love, but he's certainly a guy that can be productive. At number eight, I've got Jehad Campbell, the linebacker at Alabama. Now, I think he could have had more production in college, but they moved him around a lot. He played on the inside as a linebacker. He can play outside as an edge player. It was basically wherever they needed him, which tells me that he's a smart player. And I remember talking with Kane Womack before that game. He was their defensive coordinator, and he did talk about Jihad Campbell and his ability to know and learn and perfect multiple positions.

Not easy to do. Originally, he came to Bama as an edge guy. He had to move inside and played it a little bit more this year. But Campbell is a really solid player. And so I've got him in my top 10. At number seven, I've got Mikel Williams. He's edge player from Georgia. So Mikel Williams, here's the thing.

I think he's got elite top end ability. I really do. He had a bit of an ankle injury, and I felt like that kept him from having his best year that he probably could have. If you go back in his career, he was maybe better early in his career. He was a freshman All-American.

He was highly recruited. His pro day was a little underwhelming. which is, I thought it would be better, to be honest with you. And when I saw some of those numbers, I was like, eh, that's not great. But when you turn on the film, and in particular games that you want to see him play well, like against Kelvin Banks from Texas, he plays well. Two sacks a piece in each of those Texas matchups. So when he was going against NFL guys across the line of scrimmage, he was productive.

So that's certainly a feather in his cap moving forward. All right. Number six, I've got from, speaking of Texas, Corner, Thorpe Award winner, Jade Barron. Now, Barron, I've covered him for quite a while. I really loved Texas's secondary. You remember a couple of years ago, their secondary had some weaknesses, and their past defense had some weaknesses, and they shored that up this last season. He was excellent.

He was a big reason why they were better against the pass. and that was a unit that was one of the only units to really slow down Ohio State's passing game, in particular in the playoffs. Then he goes out there and he runs a 4-3-940, and I'm like, you bet, man. Give me Jaday Barron all day long. Really good in coverage. He's tough. He was a good leader for them. And he's certainly a guy that's going to be really good in the locker room as well.

So he's number six. All right, number five. Jalen Walker, linebacker at Georgia. I got him at number five. He can play traditional linebacker. He can pop out and play over on the edge. He destroyed Texas in that first meeting. That defense from Georgia played so well down in Austin.

That was been a fun tape to watch. He had three sacks. That was against Kelvin Banks and all those experienced offensive linemen. He's been dealing with some injuries as well. So he's had a quad. he's going to have to do a private workout because of that. So we didn't really get to see him wow in this entire process as a public, but I'm sure he's going to do that in private.

But a guy that I really believe in and I think he could be and will be a really great pro. Now, this one's a little bit more, I don't know, like what's the word, controversial. So you hear me mentioning about these injuries. And I know that the NFL decision makers have to, they have to weigh the injuries. And I understand that. Maybe I just, I mean, it's not my money, so I haven't been burned by it. But like, I look at when they were healthy. And I think to myself, man, that's tantalizing.

And that's why at number four, I've got a guy that has been slipping a little bit in this process because of his health. But Will Johnson, the corner at Michigan, I think that that's one of the reasons why his stock has dropped a little bit. Because when healthy, I think it's easy to put him in there as essentially the top corner in the draft. Maybe he and Travis Hunter right there. He's got incredible instincts. He's tough. He defends in zone well. He defends in man coverage well.

he's got terrific instincts. He beats the wide receiver to the spot several times. He did it in the Big Ten championship game when he was just a freshman against Purdue on the clip that you're seeing on YouTube right now. He did it to Marvin Harrison Jr. When he beat Marvin Harrison Jr. inside on the slant, intercepted that ball. That's the clip that you're seeing right now on YouTube. Excellent instincts and a really smart player.

He's long. He's got good bloodlines, but he's dealing. with turf toe. And I can just tell you from experience, like, turf toe is brutal. And it never goes away. And those of us that have dealt with turf toe know that you're never really yourself. So Will Johnson is there at four, but almost a bit of an asterisk just because of that. I also been dealing with a little bit of a hamstring throughout this process. But a hamstring I'm not worried about. You can get over the hamstring. The turf toe is. is a different beast, and hopefully he can get it healed,

and hopefully he can be at 100% because if he is, I think he could be one of the better corners in the NFL in a couple of years. Now we get into my top three defensive players, and truth be told, these are my top three players overall in the entire draft. Now, just, I'm going to rate them just as defenders, okay? in my top 50 players, my one and two will be flipped, but that's only because there's a certain player that you can't just look at one side of the football.

So that's going to preface that. At number three, though, it's not that player. It's Mason Graham, defensive tackle for Michigan. This guy is an incredible player. He's got probably the best balance, leverage, strength combination that I've seen in a defensive tackle in a long time. He is very athletic, although doesn't look it. He's tough. He almost single-handedly, I'll say this. He and Kenneth Grant basically beat Ohio State this last year. They were that

dominant on the interior. Mason Graham is an incredible player. He really is. He's got great hands. He was a heavyweight wrestling champ in the state of California before going out to Michigan. He produces a great pass rush from the interior. He can immediately come in and sure up your run defense. He does it all. And very rarely do you have a guy like that that plays on the interior. He destroyed the Buckeyes in that game. I mean, people are going to turn that film on and just be like, oh my gosh.

And they'll be right. They'll be right. He's a terrific player. He sees double teams constantly, destroys them. Doesn't matter to him. Again, combination of strength, leverage, instincts. It's really good, really good. At number two, I'm going to have Travis Hunter of the corner at Colorado.

If you look at him just as a corner, he's an elite corner. He's got great ball skills, and he's got everything that you would want to see. The play that he made in his first game as a buff, and you're seeing that one on YouTube right now, that interception inside the five-yard line against TCU was one of the best interceptions I've ever seen. He falls off of his man and he dives right in front of the football. And then you constantly see him in the right spot at the right time. You constantly see him being sticky in coverage. He's tough in coverage. I wish he was a little bit longer. And that's something that E.O. Manor again, Stanford, not this year, but last year, kind of took advantage of his size. But I look at this

guy and I'm just like, he's a dog. The fumble that he caused against Baylor, again, willing to stick his head in there, make tackles, make plays constantly around the football, he's going to be a total game changer. He not only has elite wide receiver skills, but he brings those same ball skills to the opposite side of the football as a defensive back. So just as a corner, he's a top 10 corner or top 10 defender in this draft, and I've got him at number two. And at number one is Abdul Carter, the edge player at Penn State.

Hey, Abdul Carter is such a good player. Love watching him play. I actually called his very first game that he ever played at Penn State, at least. And I remember talking with James Franklin about Abdul Carter and his recruiting process. And he was like, yeah, I mean, we gave number 11 to this kid because we know he's going to be a great player. And then he turned out to be a great player. It just so happened, though. That was the lead up to his career.

I'm doing that opener against Penn State. And the first snap that he got in the game, he got a targeting. call. Literally his first snap in college football for Penn State, he got a targeting call, and he had to leave the game against Purdue. What a stupid rule. We need to blow that rule up and never bring it back. He moved from linebacker to defensive end this last year, and he did it so naturally and fluidly that it, in a lot of ways, almost shocked me. Led the nation with 23 and a half tackles for loss. He was dominant against Notre Dame. And he wasn't even fully healthy. Basically with one arm, he goes out there.

He has seven quarterback pressures, a sack and three run stops against Notre Dame in that college football playoff game. They really should have won that game. Does have a bit of a foot issue right now, kind of a stress fracture deal. It's kept him from working out in this process. But trust me, when I tell you, he's an athletic freak. He's 6'3, he's 250 pounds. and this guy is going to immediately make any defense that he's on better. And again, his versatility, I don't want to put the Micah comp on him just yet. But what Dallas does moving Micah around, you can do with Abdul Carter, he's that versatile.

You can back him off and play him in nickel. You can rush him in a two-point stance from the interior. You can put him on the edge. He can be dominant from every one of those areas on the field. and that's why he's my top defensive player in this draft. Now, every one of these lists, I always think it's fun to think of guys that aren't in the top five or aren't in the top 10. And I start to think about like late round steals. And I want to throw out some names for you guys that I think could be really good later in the rounds.

And you know that I love blueprints. You know that I love like overall philosophy of teams, how to build it. team. And you know that, like, I look for threads and see in similarities between teams that win championships. And I talked a lot about the ways that Ohio State this year and Michigan last year were similar with older players, veteran players, veteran talent, and they all came back for a common cause. And then, you know, that same sort of theme started to pop up because I was like, Ohio State was the best defense in college football. Are they going to have a first round defender?

Probably not. Probably not. I think Tyleek Williams might get selected in the second. Maybe Jack Sawyer in the second. Maybe J.T. Tuimolo out in the second. But like Michigan before them, who didn't have their first defender come off the board until pick like, what was it, 49, I think it was.

Chris Jenkins, their defensive attack then pick 50 to the commanders. It was Mikey Sainer still. So, like, those were the first defenders off of the Michigan defense. That was the best defense in the country. And they won the national championship. So I started thinking to myself, like, man, you got some great value picks with that Michigan defense. You're probably going to get some great value picks with this Ohio State defense as well.

And that's 100 percent the case. 100 percent the case. And there are two guys that I think are going to be day three draft picks. I know they hope that they're day two picks, but I do think that they're day two picks. but I do think that they're going to be day three picks. And both of these guys, I've met them. I've talked to them a lot. I've talked to their coaches a lot.

And I think they're going to be really great pros for a lot of different reasons. Lathen Ransom, Cody Simon. Teams are going to love those guys. They're going to come in there. Lathen has overcome horrific injuries and made himself into a really great player. Cody Simon is going to come in there. And by the way, every time that we went to Ohio State and we talk, with defensive coaches, and we talked with coaches and teammates. Everybody always mentioned

Cody Simon, Cody Simon, Cody Simon. He was like de facto heartbeat of the team, an unsung hero of the team, and he will be that in the NFL as well. He's going to go in there, and he's immediately going to be a hardworking guy that's very smart that will play specials that gets on the field and makes place. That's exactly what you want, in particular from a later round guy. So Cody, Simon, Lathen, Ransom. Those are names that you would want to keep your eye on late in the draft if your team is looking for someone that can contribute and possibly make that roster. All right, that'll do it for this week's Joel Clashio. Next week, I'll have my top 50 players available. So I will run down my big board. Top 50 players available coming at you next Monday on the Joel Clash show. But before then, make sure to subscribe to the channel. Make sure to invite a friend. Subscribe to the channel. Love your feedback.

Leave us a comment, please. If you would, then go follow us on social media at Joel Glat Show. And I tell you what, until then, enjoy your week. Have a great week with the ones you love. And we'll be back next Monday with that top 50 list.