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

Episode Date: April 20, 2026

Just days before the NFL Draft begins on Thursday, Joel Klatt reveals his final Mock Draft of the season. He reveals a surprise team selecting Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love inside the Top 10 and has Ohio State Safety Caleb Downs landing with a team with a Buckeye connection. After shaking up the draft with the Dexter Lawrence trade, the New York Giants grab a playmaker on each side of the ball. Klatt also projects multiple trades to come in the First Round including the Dallas Cowboys trading up to grab a defensive playmaker and another team making a move to draft Alabama's Ty Simpson to be their QB of the future. He has the Chiefs addressing major needs as Kansas City looks to bounce back and make another Super Bowl run with Patrick Mahomes. 0:00-:38 Intro:39-1:31 Las Vegas Raiders1:32-3:02 New York Jets3:03-4:56 Arizona Cardinals4:57-5:54 Tennessee Titans5:55-7:30 NY Giants7:31-8:18 Cleveland Browns8:19-9:17 Washington Commanders9:18-10:24 New Orleans Saints10:25-11:47 Kansas City Chiefs11:48-12:48 NY Giants12:49-14:30 Miami Dolphins14:31-16:28 Dallas Cowboys16:29-18:15 Los Angeles Rams18:16-19:15 Baltimore Ravens19:16-20:30 Tampa Bay Buccaneers20:31-22:08 New York Jets22:09-22:53 Detroit Lions22:54-24:13 Dallas Cowboys (Trade from MIN)24:14-25:41 Carolina Panthers25:42-26:05 Minnesota Vikings (Trade from DAL)26:06-27:21 Pittsburgh Steelers27:22-28:00 Los Angeles Chargers28:01-29:01 Philadelphia Eagles29:92-29:47 Cleveland Browns29:48-30:22 Chicago Bears30:23-32:21 Buffalo Bills32:22-33:03 San Francisco 49ers33:04-33:58 Houston Texans33:59-35:01 Houston Texans35:02-35:44 Miami Dolphins35:45-36:46 New England Patriots36:47-38:53 Seattle Seahawks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's mock draft 3.0 and I'm diving right into it. Guys, I can't get out of my head. And I've gotten a little bit of intel. That's what happens every single year with the Ravens. They wait, they sit tight, and they get best player available all the times. You talk about a guy that does not have much tread off of his tires. He was a backup. Yet he still scored all those touchdowns.

Hey, welcome into the program. I'm Joel Cloud. This is a Joel Cloud show. We are brought to you by Graduate by Hilton. We thank them for their support. And we're finally here. It's draft week. So let's give you my last mock draft.

of the process. That's right. It's mock draft 3.0 and I'm diving right into it. So here we go. Pick number one. It is the Vegas Raiders and we knew exactly what they were going to do a month ago and we know exactly what they're going to do right now. It's Fernando Mendoza, quarterback of Indiana and he's headed to the Raiders. Like I said, we've known this pick. And I actually really love what they've done around Mendoza. Obviously, you've got Gentie from last year. Brock Bowers is there. I love those pieces from just a weapon standpoint. But now you've got Tyler Linden bomb. I love that. Colton Miller is going to be back after missing the majority of last season with that angle injury. So all of a sudden, to me at least, like the Raiders have some juice. And I know

they've got the number one overall pick, but they're not in as dire straits as let's say like the Jets or the Dolphins that need everything on their roster. So from from my seat, this is about as good of a situation as a number one quarterback could go to. And that's for Nana Mendoza with the Raiders. And number two, this is as we know where the draft draft really starts with the Jets because there's some intrigue. And I think they're going to be trying to decide right here between Arvel Reese, David Bailey, and Sunny Stiles. I think that's the conversation right now.

And here's the thing. And I just mentioned this when I was talking about the Raiders. You know, the Jets are probably not going to be that competitive next year. So this is a building for the future type of mentality. They've got a ton of draft capital over the next couple of years and specifically next year. So they can draft somebody. I think with a higher upside that they don't need to be great right now. Now, I think every one of these guys can come in and produce right away,

but I would still be drafting on upside. And if you're drafting on upside at number two between those three players, I think that you have to take Arvel Reese. So that's going to be my pick here at number two is Rvel Reese from Ohio State. I think he has the potential to be a defensive player of the year type guy. He's a Micah Parsons-esque, versatile hybrid player that can play the second level. He can play the edge. He can blitz. He can cover. You do all those things. And yet he's only started one year. So again, you know that you're betting on the upside of a guy that I think, again, could be highly impactful in his career in the NFL.

And you don't need him to be great day one, but you can have him be great year, two, year, three, year four when I think he could be an absolute monster in this league. So the Jets take Arvel Reese and that's when it gets really interesting because now the dominoes start to fall. The Cardinals up at three are a really interesting selection because most people believe that they would just be looking to shore up the edge. And you know what? They probably could and probably will, but, but, guys, I can't get out of my head just this little thought. And I've gotten a little bit of intel around the Cardinals really loving Jeremiah love. Now, we know that they also like Ty Simpson. This is too rich for Ty Simpson.

If they're going to do something for Ty Simpson, it's going to be at the back end of the first round. They're going to take their opening pick in the second round and try to do something to get up into the first and get Ty Simpson under a first round contract. This is not that spot. But with that in mind, how about Jeremiah Love right here to the Cardinals? That's going to be my biggest change up right here. I think that the Cardinals would entertain trade. options, but ultimately a lot of people believe that Love is the best football player, non-quarterback in the draft, and they can get them here at three.

So they're going to think of value. I know it's a running back at three, but don't think of it that way because it's really about offensive production at three. You're going to get a back that can take it between the tackles. He can hit home runs outside of the tackles, and he can be your best slot receiver right away. So to me, I think that that could be interesting. And again, just a little bit of a change-up.

truth be told, I recorded a version of this mock 3.0 before the Giants trade. And so I'm having to do this over again. This is a re-record of a show. And actually, I had gotten a little bit better intel. And so this is a change up from the mock that you will never see that will never see the lie the day. This is a little bit of a change up at three. But Jeremiah loved the Cardinals at three. Okay, the Titans at four.

This might also surprise a few people, but I do believe that there might be some movement on the Titans' offensive line with their current offensive linemen. If that's the case, they will be, unfortunately, creating a need for themselves on the offensive line, and they will be filling it in this draft, which I think is with I think the best offensive linemen. And that's Francis Maui Noah from Miami. So now Maui Noah goes and blocks for his former, a former college teammate, KM Ward, at Tennessee. A lot of people will be talking about Jeremiah Love here. But remember, I just threw a little bombshell out to you about Jeremiah, I love at three. And now you've got potentially some offensive line need for the Titans. And Maui Noah fits that.

He's very good. As we know, he can own the line of scrimmage. And he pairs up with his college quarterback Cam Ward there at four with the Titans. Now the Giants at five. Again, what are the giants doing now? Okay, so the Dexter Lawrence trade happens. Now they've got five and ten. Are they trying to package up in order to trade further up?

I don't know about that. I do know that they really love one of these offensive players in this draft. I think that they're moving around trying to position themselves into a place where they can target and go draft Jordan Tyson. Now, I don't think they're going to have to do that at five, although they might, although they might. Because, again, I know that they really like him. But in this scenario, in particular with those changeups, like we've seen like Jeremiah, Love to the Cardinals, Frances Maui Noah to the Tennessee Titans, all of a sudden, the best pure pass rusher in the draft is available.

And we know that the Giants have won a Super Bowl because they've stockpiled pass rushers. See, I don't believe this is one of those positions where you can say, oh, you know what, we're good with pass rushers. We don't need anymore. I know it's not a specific need for the Giants. but if you can get the best pure pass rusher in the draft and become even more dominant in that area, I think that you do that. So David Bailey from Texas Tech is going to be my pick at five with the Giants.

Maybe they'll think about Sunny Stiles right here, although I've been told that they're not in on Sunny Stiles. I know that they're in on Jordan Tyson. For me, five is a little rich right now, but don't put it past them to go Jordan Tyson at five. Okay, this is again going to be a very intriguing pick. I'm going to go with David Bailey from Texas Tech because you can never have enough pass rushers. and you can still target a guy like Tyson with the 10th pick, which I'll be doing here in a little bit. At number six, the Browns, we've talked a lot about this Browns pick, and in particular, their specific need at left tackle.

The guy that I think fills that, even though he wasn't specifically a left tackle in either of the last two years, is Spencer Fano from Utah. Remember, Fano has left tackle in his background. He played at his first year at Utah, and so he's played a full year at left tackle in college football. It just so happened that he moved because of K. Caleb Lomu from Utah, also probably a first round draft pick, and he move over a right tackle. Fano loves football. He's a great teammate. He's a great leader. He's great in the room. This is a guy that can be the cornerstone up front. You need protection, help. They've solidified

that offensive line. Now you can solidify the left tackle spot, at least in my eyes. So Spencer Fano goes to the Browns right there on the offensive line. Number seven, the commanders. The commanders, I think they're going to look at this draft board and they're going to see sunny styles and just say like, you mean to tell me we can get a modern version of Fred Warner, a green dot, great leader, a hybrid potential player that's great on the blitz. He can play second level. He's got safety in his background. He played his first year as a starter at Ohio State as a safety. I think he's as good as anybody in the draft defensively, along with Reese and downs. all three on the same college defense is just like crazy to me. But styles is fantastic. And the commanders need that. Okay. And the commanders are a team that have to solidify that side of the football.

And candidly, they need to book it. So here's the thing. You're building with mainstays and pillars of your organization. Well, styles can be a pillar of your organization. He can be on your billboard on the defensive side. There's no doubt about it. So I love styles right there to the commanders. Saints at eight.

I love this idea. DJ, Daniel Jeremiah in an episode right here of the Joel Clat Show, we had a great collab with him. If you have not watched that, go back in the YouTube channel. We've got it. It's our previous episode. DJ and I talked at length about players, their comps, all these different things. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel and you can listen to that podcast. He compared Carnell Tate from Ohio State to a former Ohio Statewide receiver, Chris Olave.

It just so happens. I think there's a chance to pair those two together. I wonder if New Orleans would think about Caleb Downs here. Remember, Brandon Staley is now their defensive coordinator. And Staley was with the chargers and they had Derwin James. I think that there's some comparisons there with Downs and Derwin James. But remember, Downs is not quite the size of Derwin James. And again, you can get Tyler Shuck a weapon on the outside.

I think Tate's the best overall wide receiver in the draft. He's great downfield. He's a smooth mover. This guy has overcome a lot. He's mature. He's a leader. He's technically sound. And we know Ohio State receivers going to the league.

What do they do? They excel. And so I think the Saints taking Carnal Tate makes a lot of sense. At nine with the Chiefs, we know they've got to replenish that secondary and more specifically the corner position. I think they can do that right here. Hasn't been a corner taken yet. I guess you could think about giving Patrick Mahomes a weapon on the outside. And this is why maybe this is maybe why the Giants might have to take Jordan Tyson at five. Maybe they're thinking to themselves if Tyson gets to the Chiefs at nine. he'll be off the board and they'll give Mahomes another weapon on the outside because Tyson is highly thought of with his remember his brother is a first round NBA player you know he's got these incredible athletic jeans he's great at the catch point he's he's rocketing up draft boards in particular as his workout has gone well he worked out after some of those injuries so don't be surprised if Tyson goes five because I think the Giants would be looking at the chiefs and saying of themselves we've got to get ahead of the chiefs if this happens as a I was talking about.

Maybe the chiefs would take Tyson. I'm going to leave him on the board. I'm going to take him at 10 with the Giants. And I'm going to go Mansour Delane. It's too big of a need for them. And granted, I know that they like to develop secondary players and maybe they won't go after the top corner in the draft. But I do think it's an area of need.

I think that they've got to address that and they can do it right here at 9 with Mansour Delane from LSU, who I think is a very good player. They still, by the way, have that 29th pick and they can address other things on their roster. So now the Giants are back on the clock at 10. Whole reason we're re-recording this. Again, if you're just joining us right now, I had a totally different mock draft 3.0,

all recorded, ready to go, ready to be released on Monday of the draft, and bang, giants execute that monster trade. And now they get this pick from the Bengals, Dexter Lawrence gone. Here they are drafting at 10, after drafting at 5, just a few picks ago. If you're just joining us,

I just gave them David Bailey from Texas Tech at 5, and they are targeting and want Jordan Tyson. They may take him at five. In my mock right now, he's still available at 10. That might not be the case come Thursday night. But if he is, they would take him at 10. So Jordan Tyson to the Giants right here. Again, Tyson has had some injury history,

but he's got these great athletic bloodlines, and teams are really falling in love with him. And he's rising up draft boards as we get closer and closer to the draft in Pittsburgh. So don't be surprised if the Giants take Jordan Tyson. I'm giving Tyson to the Giants right here at number 10. All right. Now we go to 11. I think there's a really interesting fit right here because here you have Jeff Hapley,

the brand new head coach of the Miami Dolphins, coaching a team that desperately needs talent everywhere. They've got that giant cap hit from Tua. We don't expect them to be great right away, but we can't expect them to just continue to stockpile good players starters. They've got seven picks in the first 94. They can take the best player available. And this scenario, at number 11, the best player available is Caleb Downs.

Oh, by the way, Jeff Hathley's, I won't say first job. But when he came back to college football in 2019, who hired him? Ryan Day at Ohio State hired him away. They had worked together in the NFL. Ryan Day gets the job as Urban Meyer stepped down. Day gets Justin Fields out of the transfer portal and he's got to hire a defensive coordinator. and at that point he hires Jeff Hathley. Remember they had had some trouble in day's first year,

if I'm not mistaken, or in the previous season, or maybe it was the next year after. No, they struggled defensive coordinator after Hapley. They hired Hapley and he was very creative. He loves those hybrid style players. That 2019 defense for Ohio State, they had three corners on the field a lot of the time, one safety, Fuller was a safety.

Sean Wade was a corner. They moved him into kind of the slot. It was very creative. So what I'm trying to say is like, I think he's going to want just versatile hybrid players that are best available. That's Caleb Downs. He's also going to know everything he needs to know about Caleb Downs because he's got a great relationship with Ryan Day. This pick for me makes a lot of sense. So Downs to the Dolphins at 11.

We got there. It was a roundabout, but we got there. Now always an interesting pick as the Cowboys are selecting. Now, granted, they've been a little bit overshadowed now with the Giants making this huge trade and going in to get two picks in the top 10. But here are the Cowboys, two picks in the first round. This one at number 12. Now, I think that they've got two needs. They've got to work on the secondary and they've got to work on edge.

Both of those things are impacting the same thing, which is past defense. You can do that two ways. You can get to the quarterback and make your secondary players better because they don't have to cover as long or you get better players than the secondary. I think they could do both in this draft in the first round. And this pick at 12, if it works out this way, there's a guy there with just an incredible motor and a guy that I'm higher on than some in the NFL. Some in the NFL are down on Ruben Bain.

I'm going to give them to the Cowboys right here. They're down on Ruben Bain and it's not because of that off the field incident that we heard about last week. It's more because of the short arms. Let me describe why it's a problem to have the short arms that Ruben Bain does. It comes down to the style of play that Bain uses. You see, he's a power rusher. He uses motor and power and he has to get into the interior of the

offensive tackle. Well, when that happens, you have to have arms to push away and extend and get separation. If you can't get separation and that offensive alignment can just grab you like a forklift, now you can't go anywhere. Okay. So that's why long arms are important for a power rusher, not as important for a speed rusher as they are for a power rusher. Baines more of a power guy. He plays on effort, chasing down the backside, plays great against the run. That all being said less of a concern for me because turn on the tape. Just turn on the tape and he's a dominant player on the edge and that could absolutely impact to the positive the past defense for the Dallas Cowboys. So I'm going to go Ruben Bain off the edge from Miami to the Cowboys right here

at 12. Now the Rams are on the clock. Okay. So the Rams, I do think that there is a chance that the Rams really love Carnell Tate and might try to move up to get him. Don't be. alarmed or surprised if that happens. So just throwing that out there. I think that the Rams really love Carnell Tate. I also think that they would like Mackay Lemon. And the reason is, is because you've got puka, you've got Devante, but you don't know exactly what you're going to get out of Devante. Let's face it. Last

year for Devante, all those touchdowns, that's kind of icing on the cake, right? I mean, with how old he is. What is he now? Year 13, he's going to be turning 34 at the end of the year. I don't know how much you're going to get out of him. By the way, Matt Stafford is not the youngest guy in the world. So you've got to shove your chips in the middle of the table. They did that on the defensive side and kind of fixed the corner position.

Their defense was not good enough. And we saw that in the games against Seattle. But now you can also improve your offense. Mackay Lemon has incredible spatial awareness. And he can own the middle of the field. I think about him in a Sean McVeigh offense. and it gets me excited because he's the exact type of player that McVeigh could do a lot of damage with and Stafford could do a lot of damage with.

Cup-esque, even in terms of his awareness and his ability to work over the middle of the field. And he's also so aggressive and just a dog at the catch point, man. This guy is one of the tougher wide receivers in the draft because he is not scared of anything over the middle of the field. And I love that about him. Love that about him. He's also good with the ball in his hands after the catch. So push the chips in the middle of the table.

Give Stafford another weapon. Mackay Lemon to the Rams at 13. But again, don't be surprised if they make some moves and try to go up and get Carnell Tate in this first round. Ravens at 14. This, of course, is going to happen. This is the most Ravens pick of all time.

Maybe not of all time, but certainly just like everyone's going to be like, of course, of course this happens. They run to the podium and they take Ioane from Penn State. The best offensive linemen in the draft, even though he's just on the interior, he's the nastiest offensive line in the draft, and he's immediately going to help somebody out and play for 12 years.

And you're like, of course, the Ravens get him. That's what happens every single year with the Ravens. They wait, they sit tight, and they get best player available all the time. And it just so happens to coincide with a nice area of need, right? We don't want Lamar to be running around for his life all the time. You can solidify the offensive line, solidify the run game, solidify the toughness and nastiness of the brand of football

that the Ravens like to play with the best, nastiest, offensive linemen in the draft. And I mean that in a nice way. So Juana is going to be the pick there, the guard from Penn State at 14 to the Rams. Buck selecting at 15. I thought about a wide receiver here to go with a mecca, a Buka. Remember, they lost Mike Evans to free agency. He's had the 49ers. But they also have a huge need at edge.

And, you know, this is a deep edge draft. and there are guys that are still on the board. I'm going to go with Bain's teammate from Miami, Akeem Mezzador, right here at 15 to the Bucks. He showed he can play inside and outside, and he can do that unselfishly. So he's played for six years in college football. He's already going to be 25 of the time camp starts.

I know that could be a bit of a red flag, but he's mature and he's unselfish. There have been times in his career. They asked him to move down to the interior, and he did that, and he did that and played pretty well. And now he moved to the outside and had a heck of a year, opposite Bain. Now, he had more sacks and more production than Bain last season, partly because a lot of the focal point of those passing protection schemes were directed

towards Rubin Bain. And he got the benefit of that on the opposite side. Truth be told, though, you still got to go do it. And this is a guy that plays hard. Again, he's unselfish. I like this pick for the Buccaneers. They need edge. He's not far from the Buccaneers right there, Tampa to Miami. And so Mezidor from the Hurricanes goes to the Buccaneers. Okay. So, 16, the Jets. Now the Jets are on the clock. Okay, so I told you earlier in this first round with that second pick that they need to think about potential because no one's, I mean, really considering them a contender next year. But if they drafts right with all these picks that they have, they've got three first round picks next year, they've got all this capital.

If you draft correctly, then you're going to have as good of a roster as anybody. and a young cheap roster here in two and three years. So with that being said, there's a player still on the board right here at 16 that I think last year would have been a top 10 player, but he wasn't eligible. Then in January, he hurts his knee. Would have been the top corner in the draft if he wasn't injured, lost the entire year, Jamad McCoy from Tennessee.

McCoy worked out at his pro day. He ran sub 4-4. He has been showing in workouts that he is back from that ACL that he suffered last, suffered last January. I know he didn't play at all last year, but remember the only reason he didn't come out in the draft last year is he wasn't eligible. So now he's three years removed from high school. He can be in the NFL draft and I think he's one of the better, if not the best corner in the draft. So now you're talking about what? Again, potential. So you get Reese and Jermad McCoy? I would sign me up for that if I'm the Jets. I think that that would work out

really well. And again, they've got all that capital moving forward, three first round picks next year. Maybe they fall in love with somebody and move up. But if you came out of there, if you're the New York Jets, with Rvel Reese and Jermad McCoy, I would feel really good about what they did in this draft. 17, the Lions. Left tackle, Taylor Decker, he was released in the offseason. He wanted to trade. Means that they have a long-term need at that position. I've been told Caden Proctor will not get past the Lions. If he's available, they will take him. The left tackle from Alabama is going to be out there. And I think the lions are going to take him and that's a good fit for them.

He fits their mentality. He's been a five-star player since his time in high school in Iowa, committed to Iowa, late change to Alabama, transferred to Iowa after Nick Saban left and decided like, nope, this ain't for me. I want to go back to Tuscaloom. We went back to Alabama, started all three years. He's got the size and athleticism. If he continues to develop, he can be a very good player.

So 17, the Lions go with Caden Proctor. At 18, here we go. I need to get a little creative. and so I'm going to execute a draft day trade right here. At 18, the Vikings are on the clock. The Vikings need safeties. And there's two guys available. And I think that they would be fine with either one,

Dylan Thineman or Emmanuel McNeil Warren. But here's the deal. Two picks later, the Dallas Cowboys are sitting there at 20. I think they really like Dylan Thineman from Oregon. And they love his versatility, his instincts, his leadership ability. So I think Dallas believes that they don't want to roll the dice and allow the Vikings to make this pick. If the Vikings would be good with either one, the Dallas just jumps them.

So they come up from 20 to 18. They swap those picks, maybe some obviously compensation later in the draft. And Dylan Thedeman would be the pick to the Dallas Cowboys at 18. So I like that. DJ dropped a great nugget in our last episode that the Cowboys DB coach, Derek Ainsley, was that Alabama with former Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh LaPoy, who coached Thenam in this past year and raved about him. So those ties, they always mean something in the draft process,

and that could mean something here. So Dallas at 18 picks Dylan Thinemann in the safety from Oregon. At 18, the Panthers are on the clock. And listen, I thought that Bryce Young showed some real development this last year. Now, we know that they've got some problems on the offensive line because of the injuries late last year, but their problems aren't long term on the offensive line. So they address that in free agency, some signings there to sure up what's happening in front of

Bryce Underwood. They got Tedderoa McMillan. He was really good, offensive rookie of the year. Like this is a playmaker on the outside. And now you can go out there and solve a red zone problem. You got a shorter quarterback and in the red zone. What do you need? You need mismatches.

So you got Ted McMillan on the outside. Why not give him someone on the inside? How about Kenyon Sadiq from Oregon? Kenyon Sadeek would be perfect here to the Panthers because he can improve their run game because he's such a great blocker in line. And he's a terrific mismatch in particular in the red zone when he flexes out. He's fast. We saw that at the combine. Electric speed. He's athletic. But Dan Lanning always raved about what he did as a blocker. In fact, when I was covering the game against Northwestern, Oregon Northwestern earlier this year, I was raving in our meetings with Dan

landing about Kenyon Sadeek and what I was seeing from him on the outside as a tied end. And Dan stopped me he said, Joel, what you got to do is go watch is cut up as a blocker. I did that and I was completely impressed to the point where during the game against Northwestern, you can go back and check this out. We did a whole package on, you know, a production package of just him blocking. That's how impressed I was. So I love that. Kenyon Sadiq 19 to the Panthers.

Now the Vikings, remember, have fallen back to 20. So now they're selecting at 20 from that earlier trade with Dallas and they're going to take a safety so it's Emmanuel McNeill Warren. So Dallas took Thineman. Vikings can go after the next safety on the board. It's Emmanuel McNeil Warren. I really love his ball production. This guy forces fumbles.

He's constantly there. His instincts are good. And I think the Vikings would be happy with him right there at 20. That brings up the Steelers at 21. They acquired Michael Pittman from the Colts in a trade to pair with D.K. Metcalf. But I do think that there might be some news possibly. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there's some Aaron Rogers news.

before the draft. The draft is in Pittsburgh. That would be cool. And then Pittsburgh gives Aaron Rogers something he's always desperately wanted, which is a first round wide receiver. Maybe this is just like too whimsical of me or like two utopian, but I'm going to give them Omar Cooper from Indiana. I love Omar Cooper. You know that. Obviously called that game against Penn State. Did he get his foot down? Yes, he did. Gus. That was a sensational catch. But it's more than that. This guy is a great leader. He started his career at Indiana. He was not one of these transfers with Kurt Signetti. And he stayed there and developed into a terrific slot receiver,

tough with the football in his hands after the catch. In fact, one of the great, or not great, but one of the better yards after catch, ball carrier after the catch, wide receivers in this draft. He's very good in that case. He's got good body control. Like I said, a hard worker. And I like the idea of just giving Aaron Rogers everything that he needs to go out there and try to have success.

to Omar Cooper to the Steelers at 21. Chargers up at 22. They need help on the edge. Kaleel Mack is back for one more year, but they need a more long-term answer at that position. So I'm going to go, T.J. Parker from Clemson. Coming into the season,

a lot of us thought that Parker was going to be a top 10 pick. Didn't end up panning out because his production was down. Candidly, everyone at Clemson, their production was down. That was terrible. Remember who picked them to win the national championship? Yeah, I do too. I do too.

Parker's a talent. to player. I think he could reach that potential. They want to play with a run front and then hard edges. That's their whole defensive philosophy under Jim Harbaugh, and he does that for them. So now the Eagles are up at 23. I think they'll certainly think about an edge player here, maybe even a wide receiver. Remember, most of us expect A.J. Brown to be dealt after that June 1 date for salary cap reasons. They would save around 20 million in cap hits if he's moved. But they also can draft their heir apparent to Lane Johnson. Remember, Lane Johnson likely only going to play one more year.

And so they need some sort of long-term answer up front. And this is a team that needs to be strong up front because of the way they're built overall. They've got to have a good offensive line in front of Hertz, run the football well, in front of Sequin. So I'm going to go with what I feel like is a really good, solid, safe pick up front. It's Blake Miller from Clemson. He's been a workout warrior ever since he grew up in Ohio, thought he was going to be a buck guy.

Ended up loving Clemson, went down there, played a ton of football for Dabo. And Blake Miller would solidify that long-term answer for Lane Johnson with the Eagles at 23. Browns at 24. Remember, I gave them Spencer Fano up top with the sixth pick. So now they can look at wide receivers. They've got a big need at wide receiver. Denzel Boston is a big framed, solid red zone wide receiver and a good target for a guy like Shador. Because remember, Shadour likes to create.

So he doesn't necessarily want to be just a point guard. He wants to create a little bit. You know he's going to extend the play. And then he needs big body receivers that can go win 50-50 contested situations. That's exactly Denzel Boston. So I'm going to go Denzel Boston from Washington. And he's going to go to the Browns. Now the Browns with their first two picks in this draft,

both in the first round, are going to get offensive line help with Spencer Fano and wide receiver help with Denzel Boston. I think they would be happy with those two picks. at 25 the bears are on the clock. Okay, so the bears would love to grab one of those safeties that just went. They're not available in this mock. So they can go grab a left tackle. Why not get Monroe Freeling from Georgia?

He's a good pure left tackle, played there all last year, started half the season the year before. He's a tough player who came in. This is a guy that I really like. I think Monroe Freeling can be a solid, maybe not a great, but a solid offensive lineman. This draft is littered with starters. Freeling is one of those. and why not give Caleb Williams more protection up front? I think that that would be a solid pick for the Bayers.

I wanted to get to this one because this one's a really fun one. So the bills at 26. So here's the thing about the bills. This is a perfect trade partner with somebody who wants to jump back into the first round because the bills don't have a second round pick. So they can stockpile some ammunition for later and get some more picks rather than taking something right here where they don't really need anything. And there's teams that are wanting to jump back in, namely the team I mentioned earlier.

in this mock draft who wants to jump back in and get a quarterback under a first round rookie deal, the Cardinals want to jump back in. This is their place. This is their opportunity. They trade back in at 26 with the bills and they take Ty Simpson from Alabama. Now, I'm a big fan of Ty Simpson. I don't think he's going in the top 10 because I think there's some questions twofold about his overall stature and size and his lack of experience. He's only a one-year starter. Listen, his size for me is less of a concern because you see all the throws that he makes. He makes big throws outside the numbers and down the fields. He's got impeccable timing. He's an anticipatory thrower. He's the son of a coach. He knows what it's like.

His dad has been the head coach of what Tennessee Martin for 20 years. So that guy has been in the locker room for 20 years. He knows what it looks like to be a leader to be tough. And he proved that last year in particular in the playoff when he was able to lead his team on the road from a deficit to beat Oklahoma. Like he can do that. So I'm a big fan of Ty Simpson. I think he slips to right here, though. Obviously, the bigger concern I have is the experience. One year starters in college don't have a ton of success in the NFL. I've said it time and time again. If you're going to win a Super Bowl, the average college career of every single Super Bowl winner in this century, in this century, is on average over 30 starts and well over a thousand passing attempts. Well, Simpson doesn't

have that. Okay, so he's going to need to develop and really rely on that background with his dad being a coach. But he goes to the Cardinals and then they would come away with Jeremiah Love and Ty Simpson and there would be a lot of excitement in the desert around Arizona. All right, now the 49ers at 27. They've got to figure out a succession plan for Trent Williams. Turns 38 this summer. If the Eagles need a long-term plan for Lane Johnson, then the 49ers absolutely need a long-term plan for Trent Williams. And I think they get that with the left tackle from Utah. I mentioned them a little bit earlier. Caleb Lomu goes to the 49ers. It would be the second Utah offensive lineman. Kudos to Jim Harding. He was Utah's offensive line coach, and he's

very good. He is very good. They got a couple of first rounders in this draft. He did go with Kyle Whittingham and he's now the offensive line coach at Michigan. So Jim Harding, a tip of the cap, two first rounders in this draft. This one, Caleb Lomu to the 49ers at 27. The Texans will be drafting at 28. Now they could look at left tackle here or just offensive tackle in general, but they could also go defensive tackle. If you're looking at their defense, which was excellent, one of the best in the league last year, one area where they could solidify,

maybe not use help, but like solidify, is the interior of the defensive line. I don't have a defensive tackle off the board at this point, so I'm going to go with Caden McDonald's from Ohio State. Saw a lot of him last year. Matt Patricia used him in very unique ways. Moved him around that defensive line. He played odd.

He played even, which means head up on the center and out there on the guard. and he constantly provided knockback and production in the backfield. Go watch the tape against Washington. He was a one-man wrecking crew in the backfield constantly in that game on the road. So Caden McDonald further solidifies what is already a genuine strength for the Texans, which is their defense, by making them even better in the interior of that defensive line. At 29, the chiefs are on the clock. Okay, so they got Mansour Delane at number nine.

Now the chiefs can address some other need. I think that edge comes to mind. We know that they love to develop, and we've seen them do that successfully under Spags on the defensive side. And there's a guy out there with a ton of potential that just needs to develop and he's on the edge. I'm talking about Keldrick Folk from Auburn. Now, Keldrick Folk is 6-6-270 pounds. He's got all the athleticism in the world. And yet he never, not one year, led Auburn and TFLs or sacks.

Like, what's going on? Needs development. Needs polish. where's the place for that? Kansas City. Kansas City. So now they get Mansour de Lane to solidify the corner position. They got him in the top 10 with a ninth pick.

And now at 29, you can take a little bit of a flyer and rely on the development of your organization and take what could be one of the better pass rushers in this draft and get them all the way down at 29. Great value. Great value. And you get an edge that could be a great edge in a first round rookie deal. That's very, very enticing. 30, the Dolphins. Remember this pick came from the Broncos.

They need talent all over the place. I already have them ticking Caleb Downs. They have Jeff Hathley, who's got a secondary background as a defensive coach. I think they further solidify the back end. Maybe I don't feel great about this pick, but I do feel great about this player. Chris Johnson from San Diego State, the corner, I really love him. He's a riser from the non-power floor. Teams like him.

He's tall. He's athletic. He's got a lot of production. And this more than anything else, I don't know if this is a great fit, but I do know that Chris Johnson should be in the first round. I wanted to mock him in the first round. Dolphins need everything. So that's why he landed with the dolphins, truth be told.

31, the Patriots. Many people think that A.J. Brown could end up here after June 1st. They also signed Romeo Dobbs from the Packers. So I don't think that there's as much need on the wide receiver front as some thought at the beginning of this process. So why not go on the edge and get Cassius Howl from Texas A&M? He was a stand-up boundary edge in the 3-4, and he was dumb. for large stretches of the season. One of the things that's impacting his value here as we get closer to the draft is he did not have a great game against Miami in the playoff.

So he went away against Francis Maui Noah and that dominant offensive line and didn't have a great impactful game in that game. Now, having said that, what is the reason? Partly because he's got short arms just like the Miami defensive end, Ruben Bain. Howell uses a little bit more speed than Bain does. I'm less concerned with that. but I think Hal is a guy that has developed into an incredible pass rusher and he can help the Patriots right there on the edge. So again, as they solidify the wider seat position with guys from the league, now they can go to the draft and they can get an edge player in Cassius Hal. And then 32, the Seahawks.

Some people might think that this is a little early to be drafting a running back that was a backup in college. But here's the thing. Seattle has to get a running back like DJ told us in the last episode, which was fantastic. Go watch it. Go subscribe to the show. But not only that, after Judarian Price, there really isn't another starter at the running back position in this draft. Okay, so it falls off a cliff as far as the projections of running backs. They're stuck here.

I think that Seattle has to draft Judarian Price. And they better hope no one jumps them to get Judarian Price because with Sharbonay trying to come back, you know, nursing a bit of an injury and coming back and trying to become healthy, they need to replace Kenneth Walker, who's now with the Chiefs. So I think Judarian Price from Notre Dame, listen, this guy is phenomenal. He's also going to help in the kick return game. He's versatile and he can hit home runs. You talk about a guy that does not have much tread off of his tires. He was a backup.

So he didn't get many carries. And yet he still scored all those touchdowns, a home run threat, a threat, excuse me. Thank you for listening. I know, again, this was a re-record after the Giants ended up executing that trade and having two picks in the top 10. So thank you to the Joel Klat's staff. Man, you guys are working overtime. Kat, thank you very much. Niles, thank you for jumping in. Steve, thanks for everything you're doing here.

An impromptu recording as we're trying to get the best and most complete and most accurate information to you because we respect you on this week that you're excited about. I'm excited about the NFL draft is finally here. If you haven't subscribed to the show, please do so. Hit subscribe down below. You can hit notifications. You'll know when all of our stuff drops. And then if you're on social media, wherever you like to social media, we'd love it if you gave us a follow because all of our content lives on social media in shorter form. All right. So we're going to be back next week, next week on Monday with our draft recap show. So look for that. That's coming up after we get these three days of NFL draft.

And I'm sure there's going to be a lot to talk about. Enjoy your week. Enjoy the draft. We'll see you on Thursday, everybody.