The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Joel Klatt’s 2026 Mock Draft 2.0

Episode Date: March 16, 2026

Following the NFL Combine and a wild Free Agency period, Joel Klatt is back for his 2nd Mock Draft of the season as prospects make their moves up and down the board and teams have a clearer view of their Draft needs. Klatt projects Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love to be the highest drafted Running Back since Saquon Barkley. Ohio State Linebacker Sonny Styles makes a big jump inside the Top 10 following his incredible Combine workout. With 2 First Round picks, the Dallas Cowboys select a potential All-Pro and take a calculated risk on another high-upside prospect. He also projects the Rams and MVP Matthew Stafford to add a new target to an already explosive offense.Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/KLATT10Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount 0:00-1:21 Intro1:22-1:46 Joel Klatt’s 2026 mock draft 2.01:47-3:04 Las Vegas Raiders3:05-4:10 New York Jets4:11-4:51 Arizona Cardinals4:52-6:16 Tennessee Titans6:17-8:31 New York Giants8:32-10:21 Cleveland Browns10:22-11:34 Washington Commanders11:35-13:07 New Orleans Saints13:08-13:57 Kansas City Chiefs13:57-15:23 Cincinnati Bengals15:24-16:52 Miami Dolphins16:53-18:22 Dallas Cowboys18:23-20:39 Los Angeles Rams20:40-22:38 Baltimore Ravens22:39-23:29 Tampa Bay Buccaneers23:30-25:27 New York Jets25:58-26:19 Detroit Lions26:20-27:09 Minnesota Vikings27:10-27:59 Carolina Panthers28:00-31:02 Dallas Cowboys31:03-32:35 Pittsburgh Steelers32:36-33:42 Los Angeles Chargers33:43-35:00 Philadelphia Eagles35:01-36:39 Cleveland Browns36:40-37:36 Chicago Bears37:37-38:40 Buffalo Bills38:41-39:34 San Francisco 49ers39:35-40:33 Houston Texans40:34-41:28 Kansas City Chiefs41:29-43:19 Denver Broncos43:20-44:12 New England Patriots44:13-46:25 Seattle Seahawks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mock draft 2.0 coming straight at you. I don't think that there's any bigger riser after the combine than Sunny Stiles. This guy is 8 million miles per hour on every single snap. Jerry, take Caleb Downs. You will not regret it. I got to tell you, like, I'm not a huge conspiracy theory guy, but boy, this worked out really well for the Ravens. A day like today is why we love college football. Hey, welcome into the program.

This is Joel Clad Show. I'm Joel Clatt. This show is brought to you by graduate by Hilton, and we thank them for their support as always. Welcome into the program. We've got a big show for you here today. It is mock draft 2.0 time here. Post-combine, post-free agency.

We've got a better idea of what all these teams need in the National Football League. So we're going to go through and we're going to give them some players here in the first round. Mock draft 2.0 coming straight at you. Just remember if you have not subscribed on the YouTube channel, go ahead and do that. You can hit the notification button as well.

and then follow us wherever you like to social media. We are there at Joel Clatio. Out there, you can get all of our content in shorter form. All right, here we go. We roll forward towards the NFL draft, and here we go. Combine was electric, by the way. These guys all running great times. We saw a great bunch of athletes,

and then free agency has been wild, obviously highlighted by the Max Crosby trade, and then, no, it's not going to go down, and, you know, we're the Ravens being coy in that one. Probably they saved a lot of drugs, draft capital and still signed Trey Hendrickson. So here we go. Number one is the Raiders.

They still have that first pick, obviously, and the Raiders are going to go with Fernando Mendoza. I think we all kind of know that. Fernando Mendoza is going to be a great fit for the Raiders, I believe, in particular with the way that they're headed from a coaching standpoint, an offensive philosophy standpoint. They went out and paid top dollar for some free agents, pro bowler center, Tyler Linderbaum.

I think he's one of the best in the National Football League. he's up there for the rookie QB. They made him the highest paid interior linemen in the NFL. You're building up that O line for Mendoza and for Ashton Gentie. Remember, they got Brock Bowers. All of a sudden, I kind of like what the Raiders are going to look like. I know that it hasn't been a lot of success over the last couple of years, but I think that they've got something.

And in particular with a guy like this who plays great in crunch time. Remember, his best, it comes forward when his best is required. That's his greatest trait. We saw it against Iowa. We saw it against Oregon. We saw it against Penn State. I will never forget calling that game. We saw it in the Big Ten championship.

And then we saw it down the stretch, and more specifically in that championship game with that run on fourth down. This guy is a winner. He just went 16 and 0, won the Heisman trophy, and I think he's the perfect pick for Vegas right there at number one. All right, so now we're at the number two pick

and the Jets are on the clock. And I think this is kind of where the draft starts, to be honest, because we don't really know where the Jets are going. but there's a player on the board that all fall has reminded me of Micah Parsons, and that is Arvel Reese from Ohio State. Arvel Reese is a sensational player, and I know he is just scratching the surface. Listen, this is a guy that played really as a starter for one year

and was just learning how to play on the edge. He can play at the second level. He can play on the edge. He is an excellent pass rusher, whether he's rushing from the interior or on the edge on the outside. He's got bend, he's got athleticism, he's got explosiveness. If Sonny Stiles didn't do just like absolute crazy, wild things at the combine, we would have been talking about Arvel Reese's combine.

So this is a guy with tremendous upside. I believe in his career, he could be a candidate for defensive player of the year. I think he's that impactful. And so I don't think that the Jets can pass up R.Vell Reese at number two. So he goes right there to the Jets at number two. All right. So now we go to number three with the Arizona Cardinals. And I opted to go offensive linemen in 1.0.

And here I'm going to switch gears here. I'm going to go edge rusher for the Arizona Cardinals. So I'm going to take David Bailey from Texas Tech. A lot of hype around David Bailey and rightly so. In the draft circles, I think that this guy is a game wrecker on the edge. He had a tremendous year in his one year at Texas Tech. He was absolutely phenomenal. Bailey led the power for in sacks,

tackles for loss last season, and the Cardinals need help in a lot of different areas, but certainly taking a player like Bailey is going to help that organization out. Then we go to number four with the Tennessee Titans. And all right, this is when it gets really interesting because here's the deal. We've talked a lot over the last few years about positional value and specifically, like, how valuable is a running back? Well, wouldn't you agree with me that ever since we saw Sequan, Christian McA and then followed up by Bijon Robinson and Jemir Gibbs.

We've seen that these teams that take a chance and maybe draft a running back before conventional wisdom would tell them to draft a running back, it's worked out. Don't you think all of those teams are happy with those selections? Absolutely. And Tennessee is going to be thrilled with Jeremiah Love from Notre Dame. I think that's a great pick here. Brian Dayball is in to run the offense. He gets a dynamic piece to surround Cam Ward.

with Love can run it and catch it. That's the mold of all of those guys that I just mentioned that have done a marvelous job over the last few years in the National Football League. And we've seen these running backs get taken in spots that maybe are a little high. This would be the first running back selected in the top five since Sequam Barkley. But I got to tell you, this guy is a home run hitter. I got to know him a little bit at the Doke Walker Award ceremony down in Dallas here late in January. And I tell you, he wants to be.

great. He wants to go into the league and be the focal point of an offense, and I think he can be that at Tennessee. And that brings up the Giants at five. I tell you, the five spot and the six spot are interesting, because here's the deal. I wanted to give the Giants Caleb Downs. I think he is a Harbaugh defender. I think he's perfect for Harbaugh. He fits the mold of all those smart, versatile safeties that the Ravens have had for years. Hamilton, Ed Reed, so on and so forth. And yet there is a thought prevailing right now within some of the organizations that Downs might just be a little small.

And yeah, that's true. He's small compared to Hamilton. But I think it would be a mistake not to draft him. Having said that, I don't think that they're going to go in that direction. So why not give the Giants another pass catcher on the outside? and specifically a guy that really fits with Jackson Dart. Jackson Dart wants to sling it down the field. And Carnell Tate is my number one wide receiver on the board, and he also happens to excel down the field in particular in 50-50 situations. So Carnell Tate is going to be the pick here for me at number five.

Neighbors is coming off of that ACL. Adding Tate would lessen the burden on him. Neighbors set a rookie record by averaging 11 targets per game in 2024. and so maybe you don't have the volume out there to neighbors and he can stay more healthy. And they lost Wondell Robinson to free agency. So I think that the Giants can give Jackson Dart a threat here on the offensive side and in particular a guy that really fits with Jackson Dart. And here's the thing.

And you're going to see this as I move forward in this mock draft 2.0 is that I think it's not just about, oh, who's the better player at that position? You know, because I think there's going to be some debate between Mackay Lemon and Carnell Tate, but I think it's really about fit and it's, it's about personnel fit. It's not just philosophy or system, but it's also like, what does your quarterback do well? And what would he thrive with? We saw that with Jackson Smith and Jigba and Sam Darnold in Seattle this year. All the sudden, those two clicked, all right? The same can be said here for Tate and Jackson Dart. I think that that's a great marriage. It's a great fit. So Cornell Tate to the Giants at five.

Okay, six. The Browns. Oh, man. That brings us to the Browns. All right, here's the problem. And this, to be honest, so when you're doing these mock drafts, full transparency, it's a puzzle.

And you really want to be getting value with just overall ability, you know, kind of a big board style value. But you also have to be fitting a position of need. Now, the Browns, they've got a hole at left tackle. And all the best offensive linemen in this draft are really right tackles.

And there's a guy that is starting to inch up big boards and he has had a really good process. And he was a left tackle. I think that the Browns might take Monroe Freeling from Georgia. He is a prototypical left tackle and that is a very specific position of need. as the process goes on, I don't think it's a big reach. Now, will it shock some people if Monroe Freeling is the first overall

offensive linemen on the board? Yes, yes, it would. But it's too hard for me. Listen, they've been very active. They brought in three starters on the O line where they re-signed another. Their hole is on the left tackle spot. I don't think Francis Maui Noah and Spencer Fano are great fits here, even though I would rate them higher as prospects because they're really right tackles. So I'm going to go freeling at six to the Browns,

knowing that the Browns have another pick in the first round, and they can maybe address another position, maybe a skill position later in the first, which they might do here later in this Mach 2.0. So that's really the first surprising one. And full transparency, that was the hardest selection doing this process. And finally, I just landed on the fact that

I don't think it's a reach on ability, and it's certainly a position of need. and now we move to number seven with the Washington commanders. I'm going to go with Sunny Stiles here. I don't think that there's any bigger riser after the combine than Sunny Stiles. Listen, he was widely considered a first round pick anyways, probably top half of the first round.

I'm just going to put him inside of the top 10 here at number seven. Stiles put on a show at the combine. He surges into the top 10. He's 6, 5, 245 pounds. Remember, he's got a safety background. He started for a year at Ohio State at safety. So he's got lots of athleticism in the open. field. He's a great leader. He can be the captain of your defense. He can be the green dot player,

handle the communication, and he's also unbelievable. So like this is a good fit for the commanders. Washington was last in the league in total defense, and you get a guy that can be the center piece, the focal point of a defense, a real leader out there. And like I said, his versatility is off the charts, stemming back to that history where he was a safety in his first year starting at Ohio State. Still a young guy, by the way. He came in, started right away. He came in, started right away. He's a very young player with still an incredibly high upside. That goes to number eight now. Now the Saints are on the board.

And here's the deal with the Saints. They went out and improved their run game. They got Trevor E.T.N from Jacksonville. They got Left Guard, David Edwards from Buffalo. So they're solidifying some of those parts of their offense. With both the Saints and the Chiefs signing free agent running backs, they had to figure, and it happens to be the example here, that Jeremiah Love would not be available.

So I think that they can go out and get Tyler Shuck a really solid weapon to go and pair with Chris Olavay. So I'm going to go Mackay Lemon from USC. Lemon is a great space player. I don't think that there's a player in this draft that has the feel for space that Mackay Lemon does. He operates in the middle of the field as well as anybody. He did so well for USC and that mold. This is a guy that just understands football. He understands coverage.

He understands the green grass rules. understands how to manipulate his own route structure in order to give his quarterback a better opportunity to complete the ball. And then he's really good with the football once it's in his hands. So Mackay Lemon to the Saints, really love that pick. And I think he's going to be a sensational player in the National Football League. Again, the league is kind of transitioning a little bit. You know, it used to be that you had to have that big body wide receiver.

But remember, the quarterbacks in the league have kind of transitioned to a more college-oriented quarterback where you're going to have more point guards. you're going to want short area quickness, get the ball out of your hand. This is why we've seen guys like Jackson Smith and Jigba really thrive. And we've seen that for a number of years here in the league. Okay, now we go to number nine with the Kansas City Chiefs. It's odd to see them picking inside of the top 10, but here they are. They have a glaring need at the cornerback spot.

They signed Kenneth Walker, the running back from Seattle. Travis Kelsey is coming back. They surround Mahomes with those two pieces. and now all of a sudden they trade Trent McDuffie, Seattle, or excuse me, the Rams give him a giant contract, and they lost Jalen Watson the other corner also to the Rams. They've got to take a corner. Good thing for them.

Top corner on the board, still there. Mansour Delane from LSU goes to the chiefs right here at number nine. This is too obvious. I think it's a great positional fit. It's also great value because I think he's the top corner in the draft, and you can get him here at nine and fill a clear hole right there. on the outside of the defense.

Now the Bengals are up. The Bengals and the Browns were hard for me. I look up and they've had this Trey Henderson saga going on for a while. They went out. They gave Boyer Maffe 20 million per year to fill that hole. I look at this and I can't get over what I saw in the college football playoff. And here's the deal. I don't think anybody in the NFL

will ever say to themselves, we just have too many pass rushers. I don't think that's a thing. And if Ruben Bain is there with the film that he produced, in particular in the playoffs, I kind of like Ruben Bain to the Cincinnati Bengals. Depth at Edge, again,

you're never going to complain with guys that can get after the passer, play hard. Ruben Bain, here's my favorite part about Ruben Bain's game, is that he's not just a, hey, we have them behind him. the sticks, now I'll play hard and try to get a quarterback pressure. This guy is 8 million miles per hour on every single snap. I do not care about his arm length. Not one bit.

Watch him play. Turn on the tape. He is a football playing Jesse. The guy gets after it. He plays great against the run. You improve your defense with Ruben Bain on the edge, and I like Ruben Bain to the Bengals right there at 10. Now we go to 11, and here's the deal. You might be thinking to yourself like, okay, there's some really good offensive linemen on the board. And the dolphins, let's be candid about this. They need help everywhere. And their cap issues are enormous. They released Tua and his $99 million cap hit.

Oh my goodness. They've been shedding contracts this offseason. Tyree Kill, Bradley Chubb. They were both released. They traded Mika Fitzpatrick. They brought in Malik Willis to be their quarterback. They have a need at right tackle and a guy right down the road that excelled at right tackle. And you talk about great playoff tape like Bain, his teammate, Francis Maui Noah,

great playoff tape, great playoff tape. There's this idea that he's just a run grader and he's not a great pass protector. I don't buy into that. I think he can develop into a great pass protector. people believe that he's not maybe athletic enough or has enough side to side movement, lateral movement to be a left tackle. I don't totally buy into that. But hey, listen, you put him at right tackle.

I think he can flourish right away. And again, he's right there. He's right down the road. And so Francis Maui Noah to the Miami Dolphins. And again, Miami needs all sorts of help. This is a great value. He would be the best player on the board. And he fits a position of need.

And by the way, he's cheap. and they need cheap players. All right, number 12, Cowboys. I'm going to stick with exactly what I did in the mock draft 1.0. Because as you go through this, I want Caleb Downs to go earlier than this. And I think that he is good enough to go earlier than this. But I think he lands with the Cowboys. Downs is sensational.

I got to tell you. Like, they gave up the most points in the league a year ago, and they could have a ready-made leader that falls into their laps, and he's one of the more versatile players that I've seen on defense and college football in a long time. I know that there's some concerns about his size, but guys, guys, again, like, can we get away from the measuring stick and just turn on the tape? Watch him play the game of football. The entire defense at Ohio State was built around Caleb Downs. He was a five-star player, goes to Alabama, he was immediately an all-SCC caliber player,

led the Crimson Tide and tackles as a true freshman. Then he transfers to Ohio State the centerpiece of a defense that wins the national championship. And then he was the centerpiece of a defense that led the nation in defense. Don't overthink it. And maybe you might be thinking to yourself like, don't the Cowboys always overthink it? Yeah, they do. But this is just too obvious. Like, hey, Jerry, take Caleb Downs.

You will not regret it. And again, your defense needs some help. they've got another pick later in this round at 20, and I think they can continue to bolster their roster. That goes to now 13. Rams from Atlanta. Rams have been aggressive, man, this past week. So their past defense obviously gotten a lot better.

They acquired Trent McDuffey. They signed Jalen Watson, both from Kansas City. Not a bad idea when you face JSN, by the way, two or three times a year for the foreseeable future. He torched that secondary every time that they played. Devante Adams, by the way, getting a little bit older. Year 13 will be turning 34 at the end of the year. And what he excelled at was red zone targets, touchdown targets.

Matt Stafford is not going to play forever. The reigning MVP still has a lot of juice left, at least in my estimation. And there's a player. And man, I just, I love the thought of Sean McVeigh having Kenyon Sadiq, the tight end from Oregon on his roster. Because he's so versatile. He's a great blocker, but he's also incredibly athletic. And a tight end is always a quarterback's best friend.

When you get into the red zone, you get to those targets headed towards the end zone. And if Adams is going to be a little bit long in the tooth and get a little older, now all of a sudden you have another target in there to capture the middle of the field. His athleticism is off the charts. He works hard in the run game. Great leader. I loved talking with the coaching staff at Oregon about Kenyon Sadiq. And one of the things that Dan Laning immediately said,

and he stressed in our meeting before the game that we called against Northwestern, was like, yeah, hey, Sadieke is amazing. But he said, Joel, like, make sure you go back and watch the cut-up tape of him just as a blocker. And so I did. And it was impressive, man. This guy gets after it. He's not just a good blocker. I think he can be a great blocker.

What does that do? Well, it gives you so much versatility as an, offensive play caller. You can sit in there, keep tight ends on the field, and you can run the football well. You can get to that play action game, which is what they thrive in under Sean McVeigh. And Sadiq becomes a really valuable target. So for Sadiq at 13, he's rising up draft boards. I think there's good value. I think that this is a good fit with the play caller and the quarterback. So Sadiq at 13 to the Rams, that's one of my favorite picks here of this mock 2.0. Ravens are up. A week ago, this looked like it was going to the Raiders. But now the

the Ravens sitting here, I got to tell you, like, I'm not a huge conspiracy theory guy, but boy, this worked out really well for the Ravens, right? Like, they were going to have to give up two firsts for Max Crosby, and then all of a sudden they're looking out there and they're like, hold on a second. So we can get Hendrickson and keep those two first round picks, and all we have to do is say that Crosby's knee is not quite ready? I mean, a touch nefarious, a touch, a touch. Not going to go there, but I just went there, I guess.

Some questions about maybe the offensive line. And I love Spencer Fano. I think Spencer Fano is a good fit for the Ravens, giving Lamar Jackson more help in front of him, never a bad idea. And I think Fano is a really, really good player. Now, he could slide to this point. Now, he could get selected before this.

There's no doubt. I think he's good enough. I think what hurts him in this process is generally speaking, late before the draft, GM's head coaches, decision makers in the NFL will go to a specific game, and generally they will go to a match-up game. It's not enough to just dominate lesser competition.

They will go and say, like, okay, how did he play when he played against the best players that he played against, all year. That was easily the game against Texas Tech when he had to block a guy like David Bailey, who I've already selected in this draft. Fano was not great in that game against David Bailey and Texas Tech, and Utah struggled offensively because of it. I think that would be a reason where he would fall to here, but you would still feel like there's good value if you're the Ravens at 14. So Spencer Fano at 14 to the Baltimore Ravens. Bucks are up. Bucks lost a couple

longtime veterans, Mike Evans, Jamil Dean, both on the outside. One of wide receiver, one a corner. They still have a need at edge. I like that. I like that direction. How about Keldrick Falk from Auburn, right here to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

I think Falk is a really good player. Great athlete, a ton of upside, long. He's 6'6, 275 pounds. I think he's a good fit here. I think we're only seeing just the beginning of what he could potentially turn into down the road. I think that this guy is a versatile pass rusher on your defensive front, and he fits with Tampa Bay. So Keldrick Folk fills an edge need right here at 15.

16, the Jets, this one's from the Colts, so their second pick in the first round. Now, the Jets, I still think they need a quarterback. I know that they signed Gino Smith, but come on, like, that's not a long-term answer. He'll be 36 in the fall coming off of a rough season. I don't think that this is something that they're like, okay, we're set. And with two picks in the first, you know, I can't get Ty Simpson out of my head. And Ty Simpson, here's my knock on Ty Simpson. It's actually not his size because he makes great throws outside of the numbers and down the field.

that's what I would be concerned with with a small quarterback is like, hey, can you make those throws? He makes those throws. Just again, go to the tape. Get off of the measuring stick. Go to the tape. He makes incredible throws. He's played big and big moments on the road against George on the road against Oklahoma in the playoff. I know he didn't play his best in some other games, and they were somewhat, if not completely quarterback-centric at Alabama, which was a little bit strange to see.

But they were. The Jets acquired this pick in the Soss Gardner trade. They also get Indy's first round pick next year. They've got a ton of draft capital. Therefore, they can take a bit of a flyer here, and they don't have to play them right away. So the knock for me, I'm sorry, I didn't even get to the knock. It's not his size.

It's his lack of experience. I'd love to see him have more starts. I talk about it all the time. These guys that have success in the NFL, they've got a ton of starts under their belt from college. He doesn't have that. But with Gino, he doesn't have to start right away. So then you can get him some experience.

on the roster as a backup. Now, do you want a first rounder to backup? Yeah, maybe not. But again, you've got all that draft capital. So that's where I landed on Ty Simpson. I think that developing him for a year behind Gino could really serve them well. They can build their roster with some of these other picks that they've got in the next couple of years. Lions is 17.

Also a tough pick. I didn't love this. It appears that all pro Penae Soule is going to make the switch from right tackle to left tackle. Taylor Decker requested a trade and then was released. They signed Borum from Miami, but that's not a long-term fix. I think Blake Miller, the offensive tackle from Clemson, makes a lot of sense here. I'm going to go with Blake Miller. I think he's a really good player.

A lot of these Clemson guys, and we'll see more of them here at the back end of the first round, I think they got hurt because of the high expectations that Clemson had, and then they fell short of that. By the way, those high expectations really started, well, maybe not started, but we've bought in right here. I had them preseason winning the national championship. Nice pick, Clatt. Nice pick. Miller's got a ton of experience. He started all four years

at right tackle, plug and play in there for Detroit, so Miller to the Lions at 17. 18th pick, the Vikings. Minnesota has a huge need now at defensive tackle. They released their two starters from last year, Jonathan Allen

and Javon Hargrave. In order to free up cap space, they had to do that. I get it, right? That's the business of the sport. Now they can draft a replacement, and he's going to be much cheaper. Peter Woods from Clemson. So here we go with the Clemson guys. It's Blake Miller at 17 and then Peter Woods at 18. He's a talented guy.

When in the last year, I thought he was going to be a top 10 pick at the beginning of the year, but again, they fell short of expectations. So now I feel like if you just evaluated and you look at his entire body of work, you would feel like this is a good value and a very strong. specific need for the Vikings. So I like Peter Woods. I think he's a really good player and he can help them at 18. At 19, the Panthers are on the board and they lost their starting left tackle Aquano to that rupture, rupture Patelor tendon in the playoffs when they lost to the Rams. He's likely to miss the season. I like the idea of surrounding Bryce Young with talent. And that talent

doesn't have to be on the outside. They also need to protect him up front. How about Caden Proctor from Alabama. Proctor, if he's there at 19, this would feel like very good value. Proctor is an athletic left tackle, despite being 6, 7, 350 pounds. You know, who knows? Maybe he gets selected all the way up there like with the Brown's pick, and it's not Freeling, but it's Proctor. I don't know, but if he's here at 19, I really like the idea of giving Bryce Young

more protection up front, so Caden Proctor at 19 to the Panthers. Now the Cowboys are on the clock for their second pick here in this first round. It's number 20. This one was from Green Bay. Dallas, I have them taking Caleb Downs. Love that pick. Don't overthink it. Now, the second pick in the first round,

the defense was not good at all. And in particular, the past defense, guess what? There's this player. And he's coming off of injury. He didn't play a lot last year. if he was healthy and working out, you could make a strong argument

that he would be in the conversation with Mansour Delane as the top corner in the draft. He did not work out of the combine. He is going to work out at his pro day. Pending that workout, watch out for Jermad McCoy from Tennessee. If all of a sudden, Dallas came out of the first round, after doing what they did in past defense a year ago,

and they came out of the first round with Caleb Downs, who I think is the best defender in the draft overall, overall, and a guy that they could get at 20 that you could, in theory, say is the top corner in the draft. That would be incredible. I think that would be, listen, if this is what happens, I think Dallas would win the first round of the draft, you know, all those draft grades right after.

If he's back to himself after the injury, it's an ACL, if he's back and he has a good workout, man, like, watch out, watch out. Because again, that is great value as he slipped because of the injury. They can get him at 20, pair him with downs. Now you've got this young secondary that could be one of the better secondaries in the league in the next couple of years. So watch out for that from the Cowboys. I really love that pick. I really love that pick. What's up, Clatch Show fans?

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Okay, so there's a guy left on the board that I'm just like, I know he's not going to be available here. Like, come on, Clat, like put the pieces together. What are we doing? And yet, in this mock, he's available. And he's right down the road. Steelers acquired Michael Pittman from the Colts. he pairs up with DJ Metcalf. If Vanya Yoenya is on the board,

they should run to the podium and take him. Play to Penn State. Best interior offensive linemen in the draft. And I don't think that's even close. So again, is he here at 21? Probably not. But man, I love that pick for the Steelers. I mean love that pick.

nasty athletic tough really good player look at a move if you're watching youtube right now pin state always did some really creative things with him where they would put him in motion you'd crack back on the interior defensive lineman it was a sight to see man they would do it in a short yardage you're watching it right now again on youtube if you're not on youtube i suggest go there you can hit that subscribe subscribe button and you get all these episodes and the video production wham just hitting the ucLA bruins sorry bruins fans sorry you see your guy get absolutely laid out. Ewanio right here to the Steelers. They lost their left guard, Isaac, Sayamalu, to free agency to Arizona. This would be a plug and play fit. I love this idea of

Vanya staying in-state and going to Pittsburgh. Is he going to be available? I don't know. I don't know. But I think it would be cool if he was. All right, 22, the Chargers. All right, this is a philosophy pick. I know Jesse Minter is not there, but Chris O'Leary, their new defensive coordinator is right in that Mentor tree. He's not going to, he's not going to go wholesale change philosophically or schematically from what they've done defensively on that side. One of their principles, and Jim used to talk about this with us all the time when he was the head coach of Michigan, and we met with him so many times.

He would always start, always start with, you've got to build a run wall. Before you can do anything defensively, you've got to build a run wall. Then you can produce hard edges. Then you can have hybrid players run at the second level and cover corners on the outside, but it always starts with a run wall so that you can get the opponent into obvious passing situations. They can do that right here with Lee Hunter from Texas Tech. I think this is a great fit. Lee Hunter had a really solid season and his one year at Texas Tech. He's only 6-3, but he's 320 pounds. I think this is a philosophical fit. It's a schematic fit. And this is a guy that

I think is a very, very good player. So Lee Hunter to the Chargers at 22. The Eagles are up at 23. All right. So here's what's going on with the Eagles. They've drafted so well. They're a victim of their own success because now all these guys are itching for contracts and they can't pay them all. And we've seen that. So Howie Roseman is going to have to find a way to thread this needle where they're keeping who they want to keep and yet getting younger and cheaper elsewhere in particular on their defense. They lost some talent over there in particular in the defense of Front Seven in free agency.

They lost Jalen Phillips, Nikobi Dean. They've got several players due for extensions, including Jordan Davis. They just made him the highest paid nose tackle in the NFL. Guys coming down the road for contracts include Jalen Carter, Quinyon Mitchell, and Cooper DeJon. All right. So I don't think they're going to be able to pay everybody. I think they go back to that defensive front seven and they load up on a guy that I really loved, in particular with the way that he played down the stretch, really all year,

but certainly down the stretch in a run to the national championship game, Hakeem Mesidor from Miami. That makes sense for me. That makes sense for me because they're a film-based organization. They draft guys that produce, that play hard, that are really good, effective players in the front seven. That was Mesador. He was terrific on that playoff run for Miami. And so I like Philadelphia taking Mesodore at 23.

24. Oh, this is also a really fun pick. I love this pick. Okay, remember, what was it? Six, I think it was. Like, I could not figure out the left-tax. issue for the Browns at six. I wanted to give them a wide receiver, but in my mock, Tate was already off the board in the previous pick with the Giants. Okay, so what do we need to do?

You need to get a threat on the outside here. So you got the left tackle and Freeling earlier in the first round, and now at 24, what do you need? You need a threat. There's a guy that I've really loved covering, certainly, and he has been rising up draft. boards during this process. And again, go to the film, man, the film is so good. Omar Cooper from Indiana. I think Omar Cooper would be a really good fit here. They have a need at wide receiver. Cooper has been really great in this process. I've loved his tape. He's really good in short area. He can create space. He catches the bowl well in traffic. He's got great body control. There's the play. Again, you got to get to YouTube. There was the play. He got the foot back down.

you know, Gus and I are losing our minds in the booth. Here it is again in slow motion. He rises, he goes up. Is the foot coming down? Is the foot coming down? Yes, it is in. I mean, it's an insane catch. And because of that, like this guy knows how to play.

I like giving the Browns a threat on the outside. And again, he's very good with the ball in his hands. I thought he was the best in the Big Ten with the ball in his hands post catch. So Browns go Omar Cooper right there. All right, 25. Bears are up. I think the Bears would have loved a guy like Omar Cooper. look at them and they traded away DJ more. They got a second round pickback from Buffalo.

They can grab a replacement right here on the outside. How about Jordan Tyson from Arizona State? I like that. Jordan Tyson is a big body guy. I love him. You can team him up with Roman Moodoozy and Colson Loveland for Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson's offense. I like the idea of big targets for Caleb Williams because you remember,

Caleb is going to improvise. He played within the structure of the offense better than he has in his career. this last year. It's why he flourished. But he's always still going to improvise, even in that playoff game, he's making incredible plays outside of the pocket. Well, when that happens, I think the guys that really make a lot of sense are big body guys. Colson Loveland, big body, Roma Dunesay. He's a bigger player. He can body people up. Then you've got Jordan Tyson as well. I think that's a good fit. Jordan Tyson to the Bears, they're at 25. All right, 26 with the bills. So they get DJ Moore from Chicago, less of a priority here on the

outside at wide receiver for Josh Allen, and they've got a new defensive coordinator. So Jim Linnard is a guy that I've always loved. I think he is a really, really smart guy, and he values smart secondary players that can run, be versatile, and a guy that ran as well as anybody in the combine is Dylan Thineman, the safety from Oregon. I know what you're going to say. It's like, oh, we get it, Joel. Jim Leonard, the defensive coordinator, is going to get like a version of himself.

Yeah, I get it. I get it. And yeah, it does make too much sense. And that's why I gave them Dylan Theeman, right? I think that this is a really good player. Dan Lending loved him. I think he's a versatile guy. He's willing to stick his nose in there. He can make plays. He can anticipate. And I think him with Leonard is a good fit there on the defensive side for the bills at 26. Some interesting picks here now down the stretch of the first round. The 49ers are up at 27. They brought in Mike Evans to add to the receiver group. I think it's basically a one-year deal. It's kind of disguised as a three-year deal with the guaranteed money. I think they need to start figuring out what they're doing on the offensive line post-Trent Williams. I think this is an issue. So for me, this is a lineman pick, and you do still have some value with the way that this is played out here in 2.0. Caleb Lomu from Utah still on the board, great spot right there. They need that.

Lomo would be the second Utah tackle off the board in the first round. really good player, strong, and these Utah offensive linemen, they're ready to play. They develop them really well at the University of Utah, and Jim Harding, their offensive line coach has done a great job. He's now at Michigan with Kyle Whittingham on their coaching staff, but Lomu here to San Francisco at 27. I think that could be an interesting pick. 28.

Okay, so a little bit of a run-on offensive lineman because the Texans would be sitting there, and they would love to take Caleb Lomu. Maybe they would move up a pick to do that. But then you've got, I think, maybe one more guy. that I think would not raise eyebrows if he was taken in the first round. I think he's talented enough. Max, Ian Achor. Max Ian Achor is a really good player from Arizona State.

Riser through this process. He's had a very good process. Texans traded for running back David Montgomery from Detroit. They added the right tackle, Braden Smith from the Colts. It's really a one-year deal based on the guaranteed money. They have ursery at least. left tackle in their second round, they can continue to build on the offensive line. There's one thing that we realized watching the Texans is that they don't need defensive help

and you need to give Stroud offensive help. I think he needs that in the form of protection. Ian Ochoer is the guy that I would take there at 28. 29 Chiefs back on the clock. All right. So the Chiefs traded cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Rams promptly made him the highest paid corner in football. Earlier, I have them taken Mansour to Lane.

he would be the top corner in the draft there in the top 10. And now you're sitting here and you can continue to bolster that secondary after all of those exits. I like that opportunity for them. Remember, they address the offense and free agency with Kenneth Walker. So you go defense here. Emmanuel McNeil Warren, the safety from Toledo. I really love his game. He can inject more talent into that defense, youth, as well as a cheap contract.

I mean, let's face it, that's where Kansas City is at right now. And he certainly can help them where they need to be helped. He's a cheap version, and I think he's a really good player there at 29. Emmanuel McNeil Warren from Toledo to the Chiefs. 30 with the Broncos. Okay, this is a fun one because I had CJ Allen in my first mock, and yet the Broncos decided to sign their linebackers. Sternod, Singleton, both free agents, they signed those guys.

I think they need more juice on the offensive side of the ball. You have to remember now. I'm from Denver. I watch all the Bronco games. And I really love Knicks. And yet there's something about the Knicks Cortland Sutton match and fit that is just not quite there. I think Sutton is a really good player. But Knicks is a point card.

And short area quickness is where I think. he would thrive with the target that could give him that. Since they don't technically need this linebacker anymore, even though I thought that they were going to in Mach 1.0, here, there's a guy that ran really well at the combine. He can provide some of that short area quickness, and here's the deal. He's not just a slot player. He can also play outside.

I'm talking about KC. Concepcion from Texas A&M. I thought about Denzel Boston here, but there's too much similarity with Corton Sutland. Like I said, that model wide receiver has not quite gelled with Knicks. No, it's not bad, but it hasn't quite gelled. Remember, I go back to this fit, and player position, player wide receiver fit matters. That's why I gave Jackson DART, Cornell Tate. That's why Sam Darnold flourished with Jackson Smith and Jigba and vice versa.

So Concepcion would give the Broncos a guy that really fits what Bo Nix would be strong at. So I like that pick. They need some more juice on that offensive side. Davis Webb comes in as offensive coordinator. So Broncos take a wide receiver there at 30. Now we got the two Super Bowl teams, the Patriots at 31. They made a run at Alex Pearson Free Agency, but he went back to Indianapolis. They went out and signed Romeo Dobbs from Green Bay on the outside.

So there's less of a wide receiver need with this pick. I wouldn't be surprised if they grabbed one later in the draft. But here, I think that there's some value, and you get a little bit of a run here on Aggies, because I've got Concepcion going at 30, and I'm going to go Cassius Howell on the edge right here at 31 to New England. Again, Howell's gotten this knock for short arms. Just watch his tape, man. The guy was one of the more productive pass rushers in all of college football in a tough league. So Howell, for me, makes a lot of sense with the Patriots,

and in particular with Vrable, who is going to like a guy like. Hal. So howl to the Patriots at 31. And that brings us to the Super Bowl champs, the Seahawks at 32. Lost some key pieces off of their title winning team. Kenneth Walker, of course, gone. Buya Maffe, Rick Wollin, Kobe Bryant off the defense. They're going to be trying to reload in this draft. John Schneider has always done a really good job in the draft. He's one of the more successful evaluators in the National Football League. And there's some great value right here with a guy that can play on the edge. And T.J. Parker from Clemson. Again, another Clemson player probably has more value than this,

but because they fell short of expectations, you can grab him here. I really like that pick right here. He's a talented player. He could be, I think, a steal at this point for a team that can plug him in and provide some more electricity for that defense. I really love that defense. You get another guy that can impact the quarterback. Remember, they still have to deal with Stafford now. They still have to deal with Stafford. That was the Super Bowl. The NFC Championship was the Super Bowl, and you can make a strong argument with how solid San Francisco is, maybe outside of Philly and, I don't know, maybe another team of the NFC, but it's like the NFC West is where the strength of the NFC is.

And if you're going to have to sit there and you're going to have to face Kyle Shanahan's offense and you're going to have to face Sean McVe's offense, and you're going to have to face these types of players like Stafford, why not have another pass rusher? So I like that right there, T.J. Parker, last pick in the draft, or excuse me, in the first round, 32 to the Seahawks. Hey, remember, subscribe to the show over on YouTube. Share this with a friend if you like what you've heard. Leave a comment down below. I'd love to see or hear from you, what picks you liked, what picks you did not like. Then get over to social media if you want to and follow us on social media. Yes, I'm wearing a hat. It's in the studio. I'm just going to close with this.

I had some Mose surgery on my head to show you. Yeah, yeah. So I had to shave my head, got the bandages up there. And rather than you staring at my bandages, I just let you stare at this beautiful Rose Bowl cap. By the way, not for sale. Sorry, I know all the comments are like, hey, give me a Rose Bowl hat. Not for sale. These are special. Hey, thanks for joining us. We'll be back next week with more content here on the Joel Clashow.

Until then, have a great week.