The Kevin Sheehan Show - Cooley "Film" On Conerly Jr.

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

Kevin opened the show with his thoughts on Washington's first-round pick, Josh Conerly Jr, Oregon tackle. He previewed tonight's opportunities for the Commanders' 2nd round pick as well. Chris Cooley jumped on with a "Film Breakdown" of Conerly Jr. Go to zbiotics.com/SHEEHAN and use SHEEHAN at checkout for 15% off any first time orders of ZBiotics probiotics.Goldbelly.com, code sheehan, for free shipping and 20% off your first order of food from around the US.  Go To WindowNation.com. Buy 4 windows, get 4 free!Betting on sports? Go to www.mybookie.ag. Use code KEVINDC for a bonus! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Cliffland made a note in my office. When I wasn't in there, I stepped out. And there's just like a note on my desk.

Take the tackle from Oregon. Well, the offensive coordinator was happy last night when the commissioner stood at the podium and announced Josh Connerly Jr. Tackle, Oregon. as Washington's first round pick at number 29 overall. That was Adam Peters with the guys on the team's website and YouTube page telling the story of Cliff Kingsbury, making his preference known to the general manager. He got his man, and I think the organization got the guy that they really wanted.

The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Window Nation 86690 Nation, WindowNation.com if you need new windows. Mention my name. They'll come out and give you a free in-home estimate. So last night after the selection, I called Cooley and I said, are you up? He said, yes, I am up. I said, do you want to do some film breakdown on Washington's selection? I'm not even sure he knew that the draft was going on.

And he said, yes. and he did a film breakdown on Josh Connerly Jr. And you're going to hear that coming up in the next segment. And, you know, one of the reasons that I reached out to Chris to ask him to do that is something that I've talked about before, and I'll mention again here. I'll do respect to, you know, fans and even people like me, evaluating offensive linemen is the hardest thing for people who haven't played the game,

people who haven't coached the game, people who haven't worked as a scout in the game to evaluate. You know, I'm not knocking the people that take a swing at it and look at the measurables and look at comps from previous years. But it's really, really hard. When I hear, you know, a fan or even somebody in the media standing on a table and screaming, this is the guy, this tackle or this guard or this center is who they need, I'm skeptical that it really comes from any sort of expert level analysis. I think sometimes it's somebody else's analysis that maybe they believe in, which is fine. But I just don't think most of us have the ability to evaluate offensive linemen in particular.

It's a very complex position. It's often system-driven. It's coached differently. It's played differently in college than it is at the NFL. level. The splits are sometimes different. The hashes are different. The game is different. And I just, look, it's me. This may just be me, but it's

the hardest position for me to generate the most honest of enthusiasm for, you know, tackle, guard, or center. You know, we don't really know what we're talking about when it comes to quarterback, running back, or receiver either. But at least we can be a little bit more passionate about our views because those positions are easier for fans to kind of see in terms of whether or not the player is good. But look, it's not going to stop me from telling you what I think of the player,

but I'm going to bring somebody on that can really evaluate what he is as a player and how he will fit at the NFL level. Look, the guys that do this for a living when it comes to the draft, not even specifically talking about just offensive line, but they get it wrong 65 to 70% of the time. I mean, general managers who get paid millions in their front office cohorts who get paid a lot of money, they are really good at their job when they hit on 38 to 40% of their draft choices. is a weird business. It's weird in many ways that we've become so obsessed with it. Because, yes, foundations of teams are built through the draft, but you really don't have any idea in the moment which of the players are going to be the 35% to 40% if you're lucky contributors. You would guess more times than not that it's your early round pick.

but it doesn't always work out that way. And look, in this draft, because there was, you know, a massive kind of super, you know, narrow, top-heavy group, followed by a very large group of players that were considered to be almost the same or not that much of a difference, it made sort of the evaluation and the mock drafting difficult. in this particular year. Adam Peters actually spoke to that.

He said, you'll hear him right now, I'll play this for you. He said it was basically one of the most unpredictable draft nights that he had ever been a part of. This was like the most uncertainty. I've been in positions where we've picked later in the drafts, and this was really uncertain in terms of who was where. And so I didn't know, really, nobody really knew what was going on. You can see by, we look at all the months.

mock drafts and they were all over the place, you know, from the last few months. And so, like, we had a handful of guys that we really liked at that spot. But Josh was the top dog. Unpredictable, uncertain for sure last night. You heard Adam Peters refer to, you know, mock drafts and that they were all over the place. I think some people are surprised to hear general managers refer to mock drafts in utilizing mock drafts. I remember, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago asking Charlie Casserly about mock drafts, and he said they use them a lot, especially the guys that they deemed to be credible,

guys that had intel, because they didn't have necessarily the intel on other teams that some of those guys that were doing mock drafts did. So they used them all the time to kind of mock out the draft themselves, to know what they would be dealing with when they got to their pick. So imagine last night a very unpredictable uncertain draft, in part because of something that we've talked about for a while, and that is that after, you know, Cam Ward and Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter and maybe Ashton Genty and another player or two, everybody had been talking about how there was a pool of 50 to 60 players that they had no idea where they would go. They knew that they were the next 50 to 60 best players, but it would come down to teams.

evaluation and preference. And the rest of the first round, a lot of those guys were mocked in the first round, but not necessarily to the places in which they got selected. So it was tough for Adam Peters and company to kind of plan this thing out and know what would be available at 29. Look, Josh Connerley Jr., I don't think I mentioned him once over the last several days or last few weeks.

I did not discount the possibility that offensive line would be the pick in the first round. But I was really referring to players that I knew they liked, like Tyler Booker, the guard from Alabama, who went to Dallas at number 12. You know, guys like that, I think we mentioned Donovan Jackson, you know, a guy from Ohio State who ended up getting picked by Minnesota at 24. I didn't think that offensive line was off the table, but I did think that a guy that played exclusively at left tackle would be off the table. And I think that's probably the reason we didn't spend a lot of time talking about Josh Connerly. But again, you know, we didn't spend a lot of times talking specifics about offensive line players in general for the reasons already discussed. but let me just say, I like the pick.

I'm fine with the pick. They invested in protecting their number one asset, Jaden Daniels. They invested in a trench position. We've been talking about the trenches since the loss of Philadelphia. They had to get better on defense. They had to get bigger, better, and stronger in the trenches. This guy, you know, after reading a lot about him, this guy is super athletic.

Mike Tice, who was a long-time coach, head coach in Minnesota, O-line coach in multiple spots, offensive coordinator in multiple spots. By the way, ex-terp quarterback, yes, quarterback, even though he played tight end in the NFL. He had Connerly as the best offensive lineman in the draft. This is a former NFL player and a former O-Line coach talking about Josh Connerly, Jr. Here's what he said. Number one, offensive linemen in this draft, for me, again, I don't do it full-time like everybody else does. I was given this special assignment, so I'm doing this special assignment.

Family favor. I didn't get a chance to look it up, but whoever is an O-Line coach at Oregon has done a tremendous. tremendous job. This kid plays with great technique in all areas of the game. Pass sets, run the game, out in space, footwork, down blocks, hand usage. This guy has a lot of traits. When you have that many good traits, you're a first half of the first round for it player. Because he has so many good traits that to me makes this guy a premier offensive tackle in this year's draft. I really like this player. That was from a podcast that he was on.

Actually, his son's podcast. You heard him make reference to that, his son, Nate. Look, when it comes to a player like this and a position like this, I'm looking for people like Mike Tice to weigh in. I was reading and listening and watching a lot of the follow-up to this player because, again, I didn't have a strong opinion one way or the other. And I would say that most of it was positive. We'll see what Cooley says coming up. But most of it was positive.

You know, I heard some people say they would have preferred Josh Simmons, the Ohio State tackle instead of Connerley Jr. Josh Simmons missed a significant portion of the season with a torn Patella. So there was an injury concern there. I'm fine with this. He's big. He's athletic. This is a fit from a scheme standpoint in that Cliff likes to, you know, get quick game going, get screens going.

This is a guy, you know, that played at Oregon with Dan Lannning. You know, lots of, you know, quick game with Dylan Gabriel this year. This is a guy that's played in the Big Ten and went up against Abdul Carter, went up against, you know, my guy that I'd love to see pick tonight at 61, JT2E Maloowal, from Ohio State. And he did very well against Carter in particular. This guy was very productive as a pass blocker at Oregon. Remember, they played in a much more physical.

league this year, a much more trenches-style league this year in the Big Ten. They weren't in the Pact 12 this year. Oregon was playing in the Big Ten, and they were in the Big Ten championship game, and they won it in their first year, hanging 45 on Penn State's defense in the Big Ten title game, a game in which Connerley was outstanding in against Abdul-Carter. You know, time will tell on all of these picks. You have to give it time. You know, last year's class, you know, there's no jury

that's come in on that class yet, other than Jaden Daniels and maybe Mikey Sanris still. You know, one of the things that, you know, occurred to me when they made this pick was number one. He's not going to play left tackle, obviously. They've got Laramie Tunsell at left tackle.

They'll probably play him at right tackle, but he can play guard. One of the questions I'll ask Chris, does he see him as a right tackle or as a guard? Adam Peters actually weighed in on what he's expecting from Josh Connerly, Jr. And why they decided to go O-line when defense was a bit more of a priority most people thought going in. You can never have too many of those guys. And we have great competition up front.

We have a really, really strong O-line, which I'm really proud of I've really pumped up about. and, you know, we're trying to protect your most valuable asset, you know, and what's cool about Josh is he can play left tackle, which he played in college. We got a left tackle, so we're good there. But he can play guard. He can play right tackle. So he probably can play center if we really wanted him to. So he can play anywhere.

So, you know, we get a chance to play our best five. We have a great competition there, and, you know, he can grow into that position for years to come. So I know many of you are not thrilled with this pick. from many of you on radio. I've read many of your tweets and emails, and you just think that defense should have been the priority because it was the weakness on the team last year. And this was a draft that was rich in defensive ends, edges, in corners. And you would have preferred Donovan Azaruko or Mike Green or Maxwell Hirsten, somebody to help out the defense, especially after

they traded for Laramie Tunsell, and by the way, you were underwhelmed with what they did defensively in free agency. Not all of you were against this pick. In fact, I would say 60-40 for the pick, but man, I heard from the 40% that hated it. And here's what I would say to you. Number one is this. O-line was not a deep position in this draft. O-line was top-heavy, eight-frey. offensive linemen were taken in the first round, five tackles, three guards.

Whereas corner and defensive end edge and wide receiver and running back were deep positions or thought to be deep positions in this draft. So they can still, they still have four picks left and maybe they'll add more. There are still two days left, a night and a day left in this draft. They can still add the players that you would have preferred they had taken in the first round. I loved Mike Green. They were not going to take Mike Green. They were clear red flags that everybody in the league passed on.

Azaruko, I liked as a pass rusher, but he's a pass rusher only. You need a run stopper, too. So that's number one, just kind of the depth of the positions in the draft. Number two is this. It's hard to criticize, for me anyway, investing in O-line, especially right now with the quarterback you have and in the division you're playing. where Philadelphia's got a pass rush. Dallas has a pass rush, and the Giants have a pass rush.

How about Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, Kavon Tibado, and now Abdul Carter? You've got to protect that quarterback. And also, I would say, you've got a situation where Alighredi and Wiley, they're on borrowed time here. You know, you may be upset that Brandon Coleman wasn't the left tackle answer. they had to trade for Tunsell, may not be the right tackle answer. We may have learned that last night, but he was an outstanding guard at TCU, and the future really is an offensive line that was going to need another piece to it. So you have Connerley Jr., and you've got Tunsell manning the outside. You've got Cosmey when he comes back along with Coleman at Guard, and you've got Biotto Schitt Center.

And I would add, down the road, Tunsell's 30 years old, down the road, Tunsel gets a little long in the tooth at 33, 34 years old, maybe Connerley Jr. after four years of playing right tackle, becomes your left tackle. It's just hard to really knock in the spot they're in with the quarterback they have and the division they're in, investment into their offensive line. I'm okay with what they're doing. I'm very, very curious about what they'll do tonight. And I have a few ideas on that. But before I get to that, I wanted to play one more Adam Peter soundbite. The idea that trading back was actually a possibility last night. Here's what he said.

Yeah, we got a ton of calls. Excuse me, when we're on the clock. We got calls throughout the week, just preliminating. calls like we talked about earlier in the week in our presser. And then we got a ton of calls leading up to that. And what we had discussed beforehand is really if he was on the board, we weren't going to trade back. And so there was an opportunity to train back with a few other teams.

It wasn't very far, but in our minds it was not worth even risking, missing on him. That last part of what he said about not needing to go back far at all. in a tradeback opportunity. I wonder if it was Kansas City that was interested in trading up two spots. They were at 31. Washington was at 29. Now, they did end up swapping spots with Philadelphia, and they took Josh Simmons from Ohio State lineman.

I wonder if the chiefs were one of those teams looking to get up to 29. I actually do believe that if they had traded back, they would have lost Connerley Jr. Also, let me just add, if you take Adam Peters at his word that there were opportunities, plural, to trade back and pick up an additional pick or two in a draft in which they only have five and they didn't do it, you have to conclude that they really, really wanted this player. Doesn't mean that if there was a player taken earlier that wasn't on the board at 29, they wouldn't have considered.

But they really wanted this player if there were opportunities on the clock for them to trade back and pick up additional picks or at least an additional pick. Anyway. All right, let's get to tonight and what they do here on night two. And let's just assume that they take a player at 61

and that they don't add picks by going back and they don't trade up. So there's going to be a lot available here for them. you know, at defensive end edge. Some of the players that we talked about as possibilities in the first round. Mike Green, I don't know what's going to happen to him, but it would certainly appear as if he's off a lot of boards. I would assume as Iraqu's gone, I would assume Scorton's gone.

But I would think that Olodejo from UCLA might still be available at 61, Landon Jackson from Arkansas, a player that I really like at 61. and then the player that I'm really enamored with, and I would love to see in a Washington uniform next year, Ohio State, defensive end, JT, Tui Molo. I just think that he is a big game player. He's an all-around player, and I think you put him in day one,

and he gets sacks, and he stops the run, and he makes big plays. So you're going to have some options, I think, at defensive end. At corner, don't be surprised if Benjamin Morris, is available at 61 and they make that pick. I think they like the player. I think they love the kid. He's had two hip surgeries.

The guy that I love, Darian Porter from Iowa State, 6-3, longest arms of the corners in the draft, and the third highest relative athletic score in the entire draft. That's what we have found through, you know, last year's draft and even last night with Connerley Jr., having a really good rass, really good relative athletic score for an offensive lineman. Darian Porter has the third best in the draft. This guy's 6'3, long-armed, and can play. What is the issue? The issue is what I talked about yesterday. He just started to play

corner after all of these years in college. Why, I don't know. He was a phenomenal special teams player. He's got five block kicks in his career, four blocked punts and a blocked field goal. I really like Darien Porter a lot. I think he'll be there at 61. Let's go to wide receiver. There will be options for Washington. I think Jalen Noel from Iowa State, the guy that I talked about yesterday, Kyle Williams,

will be there at 61, I would think. I think he's going to be a star in the NFL. Or, you know, worst case, a significant contributor on an NFL team. He is just unbelievable as a route runner and creating space at almost any position. Outside, inside doesn't matter. Running backs are going to be a lot of options. Travian Henderson, I think will be gone. After that, who knows what the order is?

Could a Judkins be there at 61? Could it Caleb Johnson be there at 61? Could my guy Damien Martinez be there at 61? I think he would be. A DJ Giddens, a Devon Neal, probably at 61, but you can get a running back on Saturday, too, a Bayshall Tootin from Virginia Tech, perhaps. Tight end? Is that out of the question completely? If Mason Taylor drops to 61, if a royal from Miami drops to 61, there's going to be options. Here's what I don't think they'll do tonight

at 61. I don't think you'll get another offensive lineman selected at 61. That would send many of you into an absolute tizzy. You would not be happy, I don't think. I wouldn't be happy, honestly, if they took an offensive lineman at 61. But could an offensive lineman be the best player on the board at 61? Probably not. Probably not at this point. So be happy about that.

All right. Time for Cooley next after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment of the show is brought to you by Window Nation, 86690 Nation or WindowNation.com if you need new windows. Right now, buy four, get four free with no money down, no payments and no interest charged for two years. So you won't pay anything until the year 2027 all the while getting the benefits of good looking windows in your home and windows that save you on your heating and air conditioning bills. 86690 Nation, windownation.com. my name, they'll come out and give you a free, no obligation estimate. You can shop the deal if you want. You're not going to work with a better company. You're not going to get a better product installed, and you're not going to get a better deal right now. 86690 Nation, windonation.com. As promised, jumping on with me right now, because I put them to work late last night and early this

morning, is Cooley, who has looked at and done a film breakdown on job. Josh Connerly, Jr., Washington's first round pick. Let me just mention, I did have to, I don't know if I was reminding you or informing you that Washington had traded about a month and a half ago for Laramie Tunsell, who is penciled in as they're starting left tackle for hopefully several years to come because he's certainly a good one. By the way, what was your reaction to that? Did you know that they had traded for Tunsell when I told you last night?

or not? Absolutely, I knew. You did? Yeah. Okay. What did you? I have four or five weird feeds that come up and send me update. I can give us a Hogghaven.

Okay. Yeah, that's a good update. Comes up on my phone. I get random news. I didn't delve into it, but I saw that it was a deal. What did you think of that trade then? Because I didn't reach out to you to have you on to discuss the trade. I don't think I did.

Maybe I'm sitting here. Let's be real honest. I saw that they traded for Laramie Tunsel. Yeah. And you explained that to me, and you explained what they gave up, but I really didn't look into it. So I don't know what I think about it. Well, what did you think about the player from years ago when you evaluated it? Laramette Consell?

Yeah. Let me tell him was a stud. Stud? Yeah, he'll be a solid player for him. Okay. All right. Let's get to Josh Connerly, Jr. What did you think?

I really like Josh Connerley. I think it's big time. I think it's really interesting what they do with them, and I'm sure that they have a plan. Because I understand you take whatever you think is best available, but you don't take a left tackle if you just acquired a left tackle. So I'm assuming he's a right tackle for him. Right.

But the kid is huge. I mean, he's 6, 5, 310. He's unbelievably athletic, and shows when you watch him on film, but he runs a 5.040 pretty much, 34-5-inch bird. That's big bird. an offensive lineman.

Three four and a half? Yeah. For a 310-pound man? Athletic. That's huge. So he's an athlete, and you would assume somebody that's an athlete like that should be able to flip sides. It really isn't.

I just can't. I understand it's a big deal, but as somebody that flip sides every other play, I know. I don't quite understand why it's such a big deal. If you're an athlete, go play on the other side. It shouldn't be that. that tough. So he is. He's an incredible athlete. The first thing that jumps off the page to me with him is his footwork. And when I watch him in the run game, especially when they run at him,

like their front side zone towards him, they run that zone plate towards him. And he's got to stretch and overtake a defensive end who's wider. He does a really good job with it. He can push out with width, continue to get good inside arm punch, and extend the hole so the back has a cut lane. You're not, when you're doing that as a tackle outside, the back's almost never going to get outside of you. So your job is to stretch the defensive end as wide as possible, so there's a cutback inside of that or all the way back.

And I think when you watch Connolly does a phenomenal job of this, and the biggest start is his feet. He is athletic. He's very quick. He can move incredibly well, but the feet get him going. He doesn't take fall steps. He doesn't take missteps. He's technically sound in his footwork.

And I was really impressed with that. It's the exact same for him on the back set of run plays when he's got to cut off a defensive tackle inside of him. I think he does an exceptional job going the other way away from him, which is to his right. So if you're evaluating can the guy step and move to his right, yeah. So he could block open zone on the right side in theory, right? Good footwork to the right, good footwork to the left, should be able to block on the right side or the left side. Just consider the new back side to the front side.

I think he does a really good job on angles with the run plays away. He understands the angle of attack where you have to get to a guy. And some guys really struggle with that. You take too sharp of an angle and then you're trying to square up to get in front of somebody and all of a sudden they're cross your face and in front of you on the other side. I think he has a good understanding of angles probably a stud in geometry man um

not my best subject by the way I was a good math student not geometry wasn't my thing I bet it was your thing I bet you were good at geometry I don't remember like 13 we had geometry yeah so a while

what else he's good with angles he likes a quick set like a jump set against a lot of speed pass rushers. And in that, you envision an offensive lineman in a dropback doing that big kick-backward step. That's hilarious if somebody that doesn't know football tries to do in a bar. Right. That big one kick your outside foot back far, slide your inside foot.

And we'll get to that. But he likes to get hands-on guys quick. And I'm impressed with this quite a bit. because he has the ability to then run with speed with speed rushers. So he'll get hands on. And a lot of times when you get hands on like that, they get to the edge a little bit. You've created a short pocket. And if they're able to get around the backside edge, then you're in trouble.

But he's able to open up and run with those guys. He has good mirror skills. He can mirror a pass rusher up to 7, 8, 9 yards and create that deeper pocket, giving the quarterback an opportunity to step up in the pocket. That to me, I think that with some of the front-side run-game stuff and his ability to quick-set is pretty awesome. That's a first-round guy that can do that stuff. The athleticism to be able to accomplish those things are a third of the tackles in the league, half the tackles at best in the league.

Can functionally quick-set and run with guys and open-side stretches on. He does them both well. when you are in when he is in a deep set situation i think it's really sound a lot of tackles will deep set and they'll start to kick and they'll open their outside hip up and you don't want to do that you want to say square to the line of scrimmage he does a good job of keeping his body square to the line of scrimmage until he makes contact and then they'll open up a little bit but he's really square and he creates a problem for those rushers they can't come underneath as well.

And it's a wide angle for them to get around the corner. So he sets himself up well with that. He has good patience with his hands in past game. A lot of times, offensive linemen want to lead their hands out or reach their hands out for guys, which makes their body lean over, and then they're susceptible to anything a pass rusher wants to do.

He has good posture. He waits. He times his punch up well and does a good job with his hand punch. I think he's really effective with that. He sees Twitter. and edge blitzes really well. And again, going back to the last thing I just said, where he's able to stay square,

he's able to keep good vision with things like that. He's not turned so he can go back the other way. So when you get twist brushers or blitzers off the edge or inside, he's able to pick those things up. So one, good square set, two, good vision, good understanding of where he's got to go, and ability to get there with speed. All those things are massive positives. And you watch the kid and watch him against Abdul Carter, who went left third from Penn State,

watched him against Ohio State. And against big-time players, he's a big-time player. He doesn't struggle when he gets to a different level of pass rusher, which makes him a first round pick. You know, you'd look at a lot of guys and say, hey, they're great when they play Oregon State and good when they play UCLA, which, by the way, the conference thing messes me up anyway. Yeah, right. They're in the big ten.

They were in the big ten. He's great against Maryland, and he was a stud against Rutgers. Now, he's big time against Penn State. He was huge against Ohio State, and he's still functionally doing the same things. He's in no way overwhelmed by talent. I mean, again, that makes him a first round pick. So the positives are incredibly positive. I think on the upside, on the ceiling side with this kid,

his athleticism, his current fundamental basis of where he's at is not a, we really, this guy's good, but we got to teach him a lot. I don't think he technically he's pretty sound. Athletically, he's completely there. He's got all the physical still set. On the negative side, which there's not a ton, man, his block sustain is not phenomenal. He's got a good punch when he gets into guys, but his ability to sustain. and keep on blocks is not there yet.

And sometimes that's just an attitude deal. Sometimes I'm just going to finish this dude off. He gets the blocked where it needs to be, and then he says, okay, I did it. I have no idea what he actually says, but his ability to sustain blocks for an extended period of time is not 100% there. He's got good hands, but once he loses contact, he doesn't always stay with contact. He's got such a big body that it's hard sometimes for them to get around and we get in front of him. This isn't a massive glaring issue. It's a checkmark on film, job done.

I think some guys just have this nasty streak. Trent Williams would be a good example. This is nasty streak where the job's done when I finish you on the ground. That's not necessarily our guy here. The only real concern I have is him getting pushed around a little bit. sometimes he's high, and when a defensive end or detackle gets hands inside of him, they can push the pocket, and they can push him back more than you think. And, you know, I thought of it like this.

You could think maybe he's weak. He's not a strong enough dude. He didn't do the bench press at the combine. The only reason you don't do that is the linemen is you can't get 20. but I don't know if it's necessarily that and I'm going to give you my comp to what I feel like this is at times you ever you're playing defense in a basketball game

and you got someone squared up and they start to back you down to the hoop and you feel like you're playing good defense and they turn around and shoot and all of a sudden you realize the hoops right there like how do you get like I don't feel like we went eight feet towards the hoop here like you did to me that one time in your backyard Yes.

Yeah. It's somewhat like that. You're trying to hold your ground without fouling. Yeah. Right. Well, I feel like that's the exact same thing. I don't know if he's really weak. He's massive.

But he gets moved backwards more than you'd like. And sometimes this isn't the run game as well. He's not overly physical in any way. And he's always got his feet. His feet are always moving. And sometimes you just like him to set hard and anchor his back foot. And just, And so I don't know, he gets on his heels a little bit as his feet start to move and he's kind of chopping his feet.

He doesn't finish fully with his hands. And that is a concern and that is a weakness that he has in a five-step dropback or a longer developing pathway that he's getting pushed into the lap of the quarterback. It's something that he will need to work on is his ability to sustain a direct way. direct bull rush in the past game and keep his chest down in the run game, keep his hat down. So he's moving forward instead of getting pushed backwards into gaps. Last couple things. I think this goes hand in hand with this. I think he could just use his hips better when he punches.

A lot of times he's got a little bit of forward leave. Think about his ass kind of bent outwards and he's punching his hands. Man, if he'd bring his ass and hips forward as he punches, I think he'd be a lot more effective with his punch. I don't love his ability to get up to linebackers and second-level players. And I think this is also something that can be taught and learned. And this is also maybe something that is taught at Oregon. He's always in that weird, like, shuffle step.

It's like a duck walk almost. Like you wipe your feet and you just got your feet. I saw what you did there, the duck walk at Oregon. Yeah, you kind of just. Yeah, that is fun. sometimes when you come off a first level block in double-team situations, you've got to go up to backers in the second level. You just open up and run.

I mean, it's not a full stead sprint, but you've got to open up your strad a little bit and attack that angle. So I said he's really good on angles on the front level, right at the line of scrimmage. I don't think he's phenomenal getting up to backers. Again, this could be the way they're coach him in the run game. Last thing, at times he'll get confident on his quick sets and he'll overset. It's not his deep set.

It's that quick jump on him. Jump quick, get your hands on him. He has a tendency at times to jump a little bit wider. And in those situations, that's where he gets that up and then underrush. And he can give up and underrush and get beat in those situations. So, again, that's an easily fixable, coachful thing. It's just the track of where you're jump setting. I think the positives glaringly outweigh any negatives.

I think all these negatives are incredibly minimal. You work on whatever it takes to not get pushed back the way he does, and the rest of them are easily teachable things. And to me, he's an outstanding athlete with an unbelievable upside. It's an athletic tackle that they're getting. And, you know, in the Tunsel situation, you think about it, you can move back to left tackle if anything happens with Tunsel. he can move back to left tackle in two or three years.

I think the kid can play everywhere. I don't think he's a guard. Okay, I was going to ask you about that. I don't see him as, I don't necessarily see him as an interior player. And in part, I think his skill set on the edge is too valuable. End up using him on the inside. Got it. Combine that with the fact that he's able to get bold a little bit.

I like my inside guys to be a little bit stouter. I think he remains outside. I would expect that he would play right tackle. Who knows? You never know what happens when they get into practice and what need ends up being. But I think the goal would probably be to have him outside. All right, I have a couple of questions for you just in follow-up,

and I will get to those right after these words from a few of our sponsors. This segment of the show is brought to you by MyBooky. Go to mybooky.orgie. and use my promo code, Kevin D.C. MyBooky will give you a cash bonus when you sign up, but you've got to use my promo code as described. Kevin D.C. And if there's something already written in the promo code section,

and I know that happens every once in a while, just erase it and write Kevin D.C. My bookie's got plenty of draft props still available and all of the NBA and NHL playoff action that you are looking for. MyBooky.ag promo code, Kevin, D.C. All right, a couple of quick questions for you, and then I'll let you run. I appreciate this, as you know. So Cliff Kingsbury put a note on Adam Peters desk, apparently saying,

Oregon tackle, please, meaning he really wanted Josh Connerly to be the pick. You know, Kingsbury has a lot of quick game, a lot of screens, traditional screens, bubble screens, etc. I'm assuming that Kingsbury really liked Connerly Jr. Because of the athleticism and because this guy's going to be phenomenal in space and in their past game, their line of scrimmage pass game in particular. Yeah, he can run. He can absolutely run.

I don't see any real concern with. Actually, I see a lot of positives in that. But again, he's going to have to open up and run. screens are a little bit different than second level block, so you have to run. Yeah, I think he could be big time on the screen. All right. One last thing that I want to ask you, or just get clarity on. This team struggled to run the football, especially with running backs down the stretch.

And I want to find out from you, based on something you said, what you really believe about Connerly Jr. As a run blocker, because you suggested that maybe he's not, you know, super strong, that he, struggles getting to second levels, to double teams. Is that from you sort of a way of saying or implying that you don't think that his strength anyway is as a run blocker? No, I don't agree with that. Sorry, I'm sorry. I think he's an outstanding run blocker on the first level.

And I think in one-on-one situations, he can do a tremendous job in the run game. I actually seem as an incredibly effective run blocker. I think that you could improve by him getting to the second level. But in that aspect, I think some of that's a coachable situation for him. No, I think it's a big time. Dude, I love the pick. I mean, you get Jane Daniels, and you see exactly what he is through the year.

You got to go protect it. You've got to give him an opportunity to stay safe. My man, they went out and did it. But whatever other need you have, this is the one. one thing that you have, the quarterback is the one thing that you have to have, and you have to protect, and you have to have continued to play for an extended period of time. The franchise guy has got to be your guy, and as a young player, protected. All right, well done. I know you got to run much appreciated that was incredibly helpful and great. I'll talk to you later.

Have a good one, bud. Chris Cooley, everybody. I'm not even sure that he knew that the NFL draft was happening last night when I called him. but so sweet of him to do that for us. And he had just gotten back from Hawaii too, so his internal clock was all messed up. But much appreciated. He's the best. And I will try definitely to get him to evaluate their other picks from tonight and tomorrow.

And we'll try to do that over the next week or two. He said he would be up for doing that. All right, that is it. I will be back on Monday unless something dramatic happens. If they're just picking players over the weekend, we'll wait until Monday. If they make some sort of massive trade, like they send their second rounder and next year's second to Cincinnati for Trey Hendrickson, I don't think that's going to happen. But if it were to happen, because I do think that Cincinnati taking the edge rusher means they may be more open. to trading Trey Hendrickson. We'll see. But that's it, unless, again, something major happens. Talk to you on Monday.