The McShay Show - A 2027 Draft Primer: The Best Position Groups, Prospects, and Names to Know

Episode Date: May 25, 2026

Welcome back to The McShay Show! Today, the guys are giving an early primer on the 2027 draft class. They discuss generational prospects, the best position groups, player comps, and more. (00:00) Welcome to The McShay Show! (00:45) 2027 Draft Primer and Summer Scouting (03:50) Top 2027 prospects you need to know(21:50) Who are the best non-QB prospects in the 2027 class?(25:55) What's the strongest offensive position group?(31:25) Is there a standout OL? (34:45) Historical comparisons for this EDGE class(37:50) Projecting this cornerback class(42:20) What's the strongest defensive position group?The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines.Host: Todd McShayGuests: Steve MuenchProducers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, and Daniel ComerSocial: Abou Kamara Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Under promise over deliver. It's the best way to go about things, right? We're not going to overhype the 2027 draft. We're just not going to do it here on this show. There's 339 days until the NFL draft. It's just to stay calm, everyone. Mance, you good? I'm great, man.

Roll that beat, talk. Here for the next 11 months, man, is this is the greatest draft in the history of the NFL. the common era. There's a chance to be a historic quarterback class. There's Jeremiah Smith. There's stars everywhere. Colin Simmons. I mean, like, but we're just going to keep a level head about it all.

I don't even know why we shouldn't even do this show today, right? It's probably just going to be an average draft class. Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusives. The price is right fortune pick. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly.

If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor. Free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Hey y'all. It's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if, like what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old.

You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.ca. Wayfair, every style, every home. But you got to admit, you're a little excited, right? I'm a lot excited. I'm a little surprised by this to take.

I thought we were going to get carried away. It's okay to get carried away a little bit. Well, I want to say, well, everyone else is zagging. You know, I want to make sure that everyone doesn't come on here. Here we go again. McShay's overhyping. He's the hype machine. So on brand for you.

It is on brand for me to overhype things because I just get excited because I love what we do. I love our job. And when you go through two years with really good players, certain positions being strong the last couple of years, especially like edge rusher and offensive tackles flying off the board. But it just hasn't had that feel like going back to 24. right? And going back to 2021 and even elements of 2022. And now we get 2027 coming up and we all know what it is. And it's going to culminate on the White House lawn in the nation's capital with what could be like one of the greatest draft weekends in the history of the NFL draft. Right.

Today, today we're going to talk about all the other positions besides quarterback. Thursday we're going to come back and we're going to do a deep dive into the quarterbacks before you and I. Take a little bit of a minute. And then also while we're taking a minute, family relaxation, get started. We already have gotten started on evaluations. And as we get closer to the season start, we're going to have all of the information to share with you. Everything we've studied on tape, scouting reports, it's going to be in the McShea report, the newsletter. It's going to be on the website, our baby, the database we're going to continue to build.

And that's at the ringer.com slash McShay. and you can go on that page and find the McShea report and subscribe. So there's a lot to get excited about. But I do think it's important to keep perspective and also share that we haven't dug in as deep as we certainly will have by August and even more so by next April. So this is kind of for me.

We just finished the mailbag last week. We've done a lot of post draft shows for 2026. Let's give a primer today. Quarterback, Sons quarterback, as Webben Yama is going off. in the NBA and everyone's, you know, his French. He's unbelievable.

French background. He's unbelievable. I took French in high school. So Sons quarterbacks today, without quarterbacks, as quarterback, as side, we are going to run through, what are we excited about? Who are the players you need to know? This is a fun show. Because what happens is, let's peel it back just real briefly.

What happens is we all kind of know the top guys, right, coming into this year. But then, as we share. before the way too early mock draft, send out some texts to some, to people we have relationships within the league. Who are, give me, let's go through some positions and just like, who are the top guys that, you know, based off of what you guys have already started looking at, right?

And then we talked to maybe the senior bowl, East West Shrine, like, who are the guys in your list? And then what's happening right now, actually, and I think the meetings are getting ready to wrap up. Then the nationalist and the blasto list will start to come out because of the scouts. And listen, these grades are given by, I don't want to say entry level, but by one scout who's typically less experienced than maybe the, you know, certainly the college director of GM and all those, and probably less experienced than like the guy who's handling the SEC is his area and all that. So the grades don't really matter, but they have meetings, the national group and the Bledso group, and they try to come up with this list, just so scouts have this when they go into schools,

their area during the fall and can can kind of check all the boxes off get all the background information watch the tape and so we're privy to those and then we start expanding our list so before we even get that portion of the information and start to expand our list we already have a list that you and I have created but talking to NFL teams and based off of our tape study that's like I don't know like three I've got probably three or 400 deep right so let's talk folks through today who are the top guys or at least the names to know at each position and we'll come back on Thursday and we'll really dive into the quarterbacks. Okay. So with that said, let's start it running back, okay? And let's just, let's dive in. Five names you need to know.

And I'm not saying that these are the top five players at the position, but these are the five guys that I believe you need to know and Mench would agree and we kind of talk through each of these positions. Mark Fletcher, a lot of people in the league. You remember Dan, even talking to Dan Morgan offline, really surprised that he went back to school after the season he had, right? But he's back at Miami, which he loves and adores, and he's trying to make another run. And by the way, he looked at their roster. Miami, like, put them on the short list for me, like three teams in the nation, most likely to win the national championship. They're that talented this year with Dario coming into quarterback. So Mark Fletcher,

L.J. Martin's just kind of my guy. I just love his one style, big physical bruiser. Jaden Ba'J. and Ba'a, Jaden Baugh, just like the shiftingness. We complained all fall. How are they not giving the ball more to Baugh, right? At Florida. C.J. Baxter, you'll remember that name from Texas. Dealt with some injuries.

He's transferred to Kentucky with Will Stein. And then Jamal Haynes, you'll also remember that name. He was at Michigan, now at Georgia Tech. And we'll keep an eye on all. those guys. I don't know if there's anyone you want to add there or someone you're like that didn't even include Lacey. Lacey

at Ole Miss. Right? Nate Fraser, Georgia, Maud Hardy in Missouri. I think when you start saying Radley off the more names. And I would have put Amad Hardy on there and let's, I'm glad you mentioned his name for Missouri. In a lot of people's minds

if he's not the top back in the class, he's the top two or three at running back, right? coming off a monster year for Missouri, bowling ball type runner. He's not on that watch list, if you will, because obviously coming off the tragic shooting incident, and we're still kind of a waiting word on what the 2020-six season is going to look like for him.

So he would absolutely be on that list otherwise. I think big picture here, this is going to be a better running back class than we just saw in 26. I think there's more talent and more depth here. That would be my takeaway when you start rattling off all these names. I totally agree. Don't know.

We'll find out. Is it as good as the 2020-2020 class or is it somewhere in between? Next up, wide receiver. This group's exciting, man. I'm trying to temper my enthusiasm, try to stay rational today. But Jeremiah Smith is one of one in the entire class. If you said you can draft the best player from this draft right now, including quarterback, just the best player.

Jeremiah Smith. But then you've got Cam Coleman and his talent going from Auburn where they couldn't get him the football the way that a talent like that should be able to, you know, get the football down the field and those sorts of things to Texas with Arch Manning. And you got Deuce Robinson who looks like a sleek, tight end playing wide receiver, what, six foot six, 220, 225, something like that mentioned? Yep. T.J. Moore. And I loved Antonio Williams with T. Moore was the best receiver. And you still have Westco at Clemson as well. So there's TJ Moore.

And I should mention with Cam Coleman, they still have Ryan Wingo. You know? And he's one of the five most physically gifted. Now can he develop and become that consistent player for Archon, Texas this year? And then Ryan Coleman Williams, everyone remembers. His name was Ryan Williams coming into Alabama. And it was Jeremiah Smith and Ryan Williams, It's 1A, 1B in that recruiting class.

And he had a monster year for Alabama, that huge Georgia game, all of it. But he struggled last year with confidence, catching the ball in traffic, all sorts of things. Talk out of Tuscaloosa is kind of refound himself and primed for a big year this year. We're here for it. Anything else in the receivers?

What Nick Harbor out of South Carolina is, continues to be fascinating, does not belong on the top five list. But when you're looking at frame and speed and natural ability, I really thought he was going to progress more last year. And he did flash at times. You see his ability to take the top off the coverage. Is he finally going to start realizing that just massive upside?

He's a guy that right now, I think, is a top 10 receiver maybe in this class, maybe top 15, but a guy could go either way. He could shoot upboards or, might be, you know, he's just, he's a talented kid, but he's not a, he's a better athlete. He's a fourth round pick or something. Yeah. Right. He could go either way, man.

And then Charlie Becker Jr. from Indiana is another guy to keep an eye on because I think he's, he's an interesting cat. Yeah. And with, uh, was it Nick Marsh there as well, the transfering in from, from Michigan State. I also like Josh Hoover comes in, but go. Yeah, sorry. No, but listen, bud, listen. Mario Craver's not on that list from Texas A&M.

Yeah. He in conception. own were like 1A, 1B, right? I mentioned Brian Westco, but Brian Westcoe could have a monster year, Clemson. Jace Brown from LSU, you talk to people in the league. They think he's going to explode this year in Lane Kiffin's offense. Isaiah Satania. Dionne Burks, you know, I like him.

I think he was underutilized. I didn't think they had the quarterback with the injury last year to get him to football or the last two years. But Satania stepped up, and he's a four-three guy. and explosive after the catch. That's why he was so important with a quarterback that couldn't drive the ball down the field and mater with the thumb injury.

There's another name that I'm missing. I think. Maybe that's it. Oh, Eric Singleton. One guy that we text before the way too early mock draft, let me pull it up right now. I printed out the text. Head Singleton is the fourth receiver in this class.

Behind Jeremiah Smith, Jeremiah Smith, Coleman, Robinson from Florida State, and Singleton. Wow. So this, that wide receiver group, whereas last year it was like, there's a lot of good players. Right. I'm not sure any of these guys are elite. And a couple and a few of them kind of separated, right, as the season went on with Tate taking that next step.

And Jordan Tyson and obviously all the first round guys that we talked about for Concepcion having the year that he did. Here we go into a year where it's like there's tons of talent. And I just know there's going to be at least five of these receivers that we're talking about in the first round. I could see it getting as high as seven, you know? Yeah. All right. Next up is tight end. We can rip through this fast.

It's not as deep a group. Tradez Green from LSU, tall, long, linear frame. Love, love, love, trade as green. I know you do. Here's a name that was interesting to me when reaching out to teams in the league. I had one guy text back and say that Carter Jr. Terrence Carter Jr. from Texas Tech was number one tight end and where they are.

I viewed him as potentially the number one tight end one in this class. So keep an eye on. Yeah. And obviously we're going to find out a lot about Brendan Sorsby in that situation. But Carter is a player that in league circles, people are expecting to have this breakthrough, not breakthrough, but like take a massive leap in. pushed to be the number one tight end off the board in 2027.

Lucky from Georgia. Lawson Lucky from Georgia. Now Oscar Delp is gone. The tight ends, it can go one of two ways with Georgia tight ends. Either, you know, you Brock Bowers and you're the focal point, or they're spreading the ball around to so many different weapons

that you just feel like that they're going to maybe become better pros than college players. But Lucky's on that list. I thought it was interesting. Garrett Oakley is another name from Kansas State that was a, couple different people from the league mentioned him. And then the one who you see in the media, and understandably so,

I've seen several, several times, whether it's top five lists or first round mocks, way too early mocks, Jamari Johnson from Oregon, expecting, you know, we saw,

we saw, was it Ferguson two years ago, this past year, Sadiq, and a little bit of a role. Yeah. Jamari's next up. And we saw the flashes on tape, but he certainly needs to play that way.

So those would be the five guys that I would highlight at tight end. Offensive line. Want to take us through these, Munch? Jordan Seton is the transfer from Colorado. You like him. He has the potential to be different. I mean, we'll get into this a little bit more later on. But I think he, in terms of talent and physicality,

I mean, both the way he moves and his power, Jordan Seaton is a different kind of dude. I think he probably would have been the first offensive tackle drafted in this class. I think he's in the 2026 draft. He's awesome. Trevor Goosby has been, it feels like he's been at Texas forever, only because he played early when they had all the injuries in front of him.

Good player. Excited to see if you can take the next step. Then you got Blake Frazier. from Michigan. Austin Searveld from Ohio State. Another guy who's just going to be, he is churned into a better player than I thought he was going to be earlier in his career because I didn't think he was an elite athlete,

but a very solid player. And then you have Colin Sadler, the guard from Clemson. Okay. So that kind of rounds out the offensive positions. Again, we'll be back on Thursday to really dive deeper into the quarterbacks. Let's go to the edge position on the defensive side. This group is exciting. Dylan Stewart, and we'll just do edge and interior defensive line.

Dylan Stewart and Colin Simmons are the two guys for me. And I'll let you take it from there. But these are two dynamic, explosive edges that have played ball for two straight years, came in and made massive impacts as freshmen, and we've seen the growth in development. But now it's time, right? Now it's time to become Miles Garrett or a Bosa brother. that kind of impact in their final year.

And I'm fully expecting those guys to be, to be two of the biggest impact defensive players in the entire country this next college football season. I know the next guy on the list. The next two guys on the list are really mensch guys. So I'll let you take it from here. I'm going to say the next three, really. And these guys might not be, these are the names that I think you need to know.

I mean, if you're looking at a tier of defensive line, Ahmad Motton Jr. from Miami's going to be a guy who's going to be a guy who's going to be up there as maybe the best in this class. That's a name to keep in mind. I love Amari Washington. And maybe he needs to be a little more consistent, but there are very few human beings that are his size

and move as well as he does. And when the tape is good, it is outstanding. I think he has a chance to be the top off defense attack on this class. I think people are worried about consistency. I expect him to have a monster year. That Oregon defensive line is really good. So keep an eye on Amari

Washington. Will Health is the guy from, he transferred from Purdue to Clemson last year and was their most productive defensive lineman. I mean, I thought he's more productive than, I mean, I thought he was better than T.J. Parker at times. Peter Woods was on that defensive line. You look at all those guys that they had and Will Helt

was a guy that kept jumping out on tape. He is a taller guy. He's kind of got, you know, he's got that longer, leaner frame, but he can get after the quarterback, relentless motor and a guy I really like. And then again, I'm going to take a guy that maybe is a little farther down people's list.

But AJ Holmes Jr. from Texas Tech, when Skylar Gilhauer got hurt last year, AJ Holmes Jr. came in and got a lot more run, and I was blown away with how disruptive this guy is. I think he's got high upside as a pass rusher. I think he can make a lot of plays in the backfield. He's another name that I think you absolutely have to keep an eye on. Someone who's maybe not being as mentioned as much as some of the other defensive tackles in this class, which, by the way,

distant tiered defensive line class. There's a lot of other positions that people are going to talk. about, but this interior defensive line class has a chance to be outstanding as well. Keep an eye on E.J. Holmes. If I'm someone who's like in who does this for a living or a scout listening like, I'm looking at this list and be like, yeah, like those guys, but like how did you, how did you cut it off at five? Right.

Like interior defensive line. I had Tompkins from USC. Devin Tompkins from. He's at Alabama now, by the way. USC now Alabama. Exactly. Yes. had him

one guy in the league that I trusted all over the stuff had him as number two behind Washington from Oregon so and then David Didn't even mention Damon Wilson going from Missouri to Miami Well Damon Wilson could wind up being like

Don't be shocked if he's fighting off Colin Simmons and and Stuart Dylan Stewart to be one of the top two edge rushes off the board but sticking with interior defensive light David Stone's a name that comes up when you talk to people in the league Yeah. Will Eccles from, from Ole Miss.

The other guy from Texas Tech, Ibiro, or Beiro Ogba. Yep. Matine is his first name. Dan, I'm sure, has got the pronunciation, and he'll rip that up for us. Bear Alexander's another guy, USC, transferred to Oregon. So there's a lot of interior guys.

And by the way, Edge, I had one guy from a team when I said, you know, give me your top three, top five for each year. they had Kenyatta Jackson from Ohio State is the number one edge okay one of the more interesting players to keep an eye on this year because I think he's got a chance to make a massive leap no yes and now I should mention that you know kind of old school NFL I'm not throwing in Simmons and Stewart their underclassmen you know so but of the of the senior guys uh that canyatta Jackson was was number one and you and you mentioned uh damon wilson too so and even lubin from louisville

Like there's just a lot of names. Anthony Smith, Minnesota, there's a lot of it. This defensive line class is good, man. Really good, but it's going to be overshadowed by the quarterbacks and the receivers. There's no question about it. All right. Linebacker, you want to take this or you want me to run with it? It's a pretty good class.

I'll rip through it quickly. Rishin Biles from Texas. You got Kingston, Villiamu, Asa from Notre Dame. I think he's a good player. I think he could be the first. I think it's really between him and Biles going into the year. But Kip Lewis at Oklahoma, I really like. Witt Weeks at LSU.

Arian Carter, keep a name on Arian Carter from Tennessee. That meme, if you're a draft fan, may be familiar because Arian Carter declared for the draft and then decided to go back for, decided to go back to school for another year. Super talented player. He's a name to keep an eye on. All right, let's transition to the secondary cornerbacks.

Leonard Moore. So here's how I would say it. We mixed them up, that we did the corners and the safety together. We can break it up if you want to. No, no, that's fine. No, no, we'll roll with it.

You see the list there. Leonard Moore, Jair Hill from Michigan, who we need to see more of, but the talent is absolutely there. Jalani McDonald from Texas, DJ McKinney, Notre Dame, and Coy Perich from Oregon. Let's transition.

Let's start. And there's some questions that we want to get to here. right. But let me start this off by saying quarterbacks aside and there could be, I don't know, I would say really good chance a minimum of six quarterbacks in the first round like we had in 2024. I can envision more. Who are the best players in this draft?

It's Jeremiah Smith. It's Leonard Moore from Notre Dame the cornerback. We're talking about generational type town. Like with Moore, it's like Sertan. Stingley, you know, like he's in that category. And then I would say the two edges in Stewart and Simmons if they continue to elevate. Like those four players,

while we just listed a bunch of great players at all the other positions. This draft is freaking loaded. The Stewart for Simmons thing is really interesting to me because you put Stewart ahead of Simmons and I would have thought, no way. And then I went back and watched a little more of Dylan Stewart and I was like, geez.

Then you watch Simmons. You're like, uh, yeah, Stewart closes in a, in a way that I, I'm having a hard time like finding a comment for how well that dude closes. I mean,

he gets there in a hurry. It is, when you're watching first step quickness, it is, it's jarring how explosive that dude is. So let's get to some questions, right? almost almost mailbag style but but these are questions that after dan listening to us and looking up the

looking at the the list and i want to rip through these give me a the non quarterback on offensive side now okay give me the non-quarterback non-jeremiah smith player that will be a top 10 pick i'm going back to jordan seat and the offensive tackle who transferred from colorado to to lSU and i'm I just think, you know, he got a guy who's listed at 6-5, 330 pounds who moves like a much leaner man, like a much lighter guy. I don't think there's a run scheme that he won't fit well in because I think he's got the power to move guys off the ball and man in gap schemes. I think he can be an effective zone blocker. He can just absolutely erase guys in space all the tools to be an elite pass blocker. I don't think he's as refined or polished as maybe some other offensive tackle prospects have been in the past.

but he's got another year. I'm interested to see what Lane Kiffin and his staff can do with him. If he can unlock it all, I think he's going to be, I mean, it's going to be interesting to see where all these quarterbacks go, but I would think Jordan Seaton is absolutely a top 10 pick. Yeah, he absolutely could grow into that. There's no question. I'm going to go with Cam Coleman.

I can't argue with this, man. I know. And listen, there's some other guys, and if Cam has just an average year or if Wingo steps up and somehow becomes the good. But the 6-3, over 200 pounds,

the speed, the ability, he is just so physically gifted, Coleman is. And now he goes from Aubrey. I just can't wait to see it unleashed. Like a tiger in the wild. Like get him off a leash and let him roll with Arch Manning. Steve Sarkesian,

Colin plays and dialing it up. I just I envision this year for Cam Coleman where it's like yeah we know Jeremiah Smith's one but like how big of that might be the conversation and it sounds ludicrous right now but it also could be where well Cam didn't do it at Auburn he did it and he was really good but in Texas he still like never quite got to the you know so this is the opportunity

that is presented to him in Austin this fall is is one that I'm, I'm here for, man. I'm pumped to see how it plays out. All right. Best position group on offense. If quarterback, how often does that happen? I overthought it. And I'm like, listen, it's quarterback, right?

And I think your note was quarterback, not even close. And I'm going to be a little defensive here because I was like, I think there is, I really like the wide receiver class, especially because of what you just said. I think you have two. I mean, Jeremiah Smith is generational. Like I feel comfortable saying that. I don't like hyperbole.

I feel really comfortable saying that Jeremiah Smith is a generational prospect at wide receiver. Yeah, I think he's like Calvin Johnson level. Yes, he's that level of a guy. And again, I don't like doing that. I don't like to be like, we just started this show by saying

we're not going to go and whatever. That's how highly we feel about Jeremiah Smith. Like we just, we feel that that's true and we're not going on on a limb by saying it. So starting there, that's, you know, like that's your jumping off point for this wide receiver class. And then you're going into Cam Coleman, who I think can absolutely step onto the field in the NFL as a rookie and be a team's number one wide receiver. No questions asked.

Let's go. And then there's a lot of guys who I'm just excited to see what they do this year. Does TJ Moore, TJ Moore, talent for days? Can he turn the corner and develop into a guy? Ryan Wingo is another guy I want to look at. and can he turn the corner and be like all these names, Brian Westco, Charlie Becker, Nick Harbor, the talent. We're going to have to wait and see how this all unfolds.

And if some of these guys fall back or do they take the opportunity, but the potential of this wide receiver class is exciting. That being said, and I'll let you, I'll let you talk about the quarterback class. But that being said, let's, you know, let's not lose the plot here, man. Like, let's not get mixed, mixed up here. It's the quarterback class. Yeah, it is. Right.

Yeah, of course it is. But also, like, I'm glad that you continue to shed light on the fact that this is the, yeah, this is a wide receiver group that has a chance to be absolutely special. What is it, 1983? Let's go back to 83. All right. 1983 was considered the best quarterback class ever, right? And that was Marina, not in this, Elway, Blackledge. Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Ken O'Brien, Dan Marino, all first round picks, six of them, right?

Yep. And then you come all the way back. 2020 was a hell of a class. And I remember covering that at ESPN and like, you know, how good is this class? Remember, Tuaua was considered, like, especially coming into his last year at Alabama, but had the injury. I was at the, I was covering the game on the sideline. I was probably 12 yards away from Tua when he had that hip injury.

against Missouri. So that kind of, you know, started the questions about durability and holding up. But Joe Burrow was the number one overall pick after that just like legendary 2019 season. Undefeated run. That LSU team was awesome. Awesome.

It was awesome. So much fun. Yeah. One of the most fun teams to watch. Yeah, with Orgeron is perfect that he was the head coach. Yeah. Just unbelievable. The cigars.

It was just, yeah. I loved it all. But don't forget, Justin Herbert was the sixth overall pick. And Jordan Love was, he was the 26th pit. Jalen Hertz goes in the second round. Right. So that was a really good group. And then obviously kind of the closest thing we've had to that six quarterbacks,

what I just mentioned in 1983, was 2024, where we had Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Drake May is the top three pitch. and then three more quarterbacks were drafted in the next, with nine picks, six in the top 12. That was Michael Pennix was a little bit surprising. It's J.J. McCarthy right after him and, and Bo Nix. And, you know, all things considered, it looks like it's not dissimilar.

Like, Todd Blackledge is a very good friend of mine. But, like, you go back to Tony Easton and Blackledge, like they weren't all the level of hits that you wanted them to be. but it's still considered one of the greatest classes of all time. So that's kind of the comp with this quarterback class. And I'm just going to list the names quickly and we'll move on. So it's rare, rare. But go ahead.

Rare. I'm talking about three, like 40 years, like twice and 40 years. We've had something like that. Archmanning, Dante Moore, Lenora Sellers, C.J. Carr, Julian Sane, Sam Levitt, transferred into LSU. Prinidad Chambliss, coming back to Ole Miss, Darian Mensa from Duke to Miami, Josh Hoover to Indiana.

We've seen what that's happened. Drew Mestamaker from North Texas to Oklahoma State. Oh, and by the way, you got a couple guys playing out in the West Coast. Nico Iamaliava, who some scouts are still like, don't overlook him, and Jaden Maiva, Maya from USC. And John Mateer coming back. Let's see what he has to say about things with his thumb, having an offseason to recover.

So this class, that's why the excitement is there. But I think we're pointing out today, it's not just the quarterback group. All right, next question. Offensive line names to know. And I think the bigger question is, and I think you've covered it a lot, but basically take it where you want with the offensive line. But they were asked, the question was, do we have a Joe Alt in this? Because I feel like every year we do this, right, with the offensive line.

Like, it's a good group, but there's no job. go alts in here, you know? Yeah. Are we going to, at the end of the year, say there's a Joe Alt? And if, and otherwise, like, are there other names that could, could pop up that could become, become, like, a top 10 pick that maybe we weren't talking about coming into the year? Because remember last year, we knew about Fano and Lomu, right? Yep.

Did we know about, did we, we knew, I, I, I forewarned. on Blake Miller. We knew about Katie Proctor. We knew about Caden Proctor. So we had those four guys. Who else? Who else in my miss? Monroe Freeling kind of popped.

He was a guy that was late. But he hadn't started. He only started 18 games in his career. We knew there was talent. But so is there someone on this list? Maybe they could pop up or is there Joel? How do you want to take it anywhere you want? I will say this.

He's not Joe Alt, but a guy to keep an eye on because I thought he had a really disappointing season at Auburn last year. and is one year at Auburn is now Florida State is Xavier Chaplin because he's absolutely massive and he's got great length

and he moves well and if he can bounce back from the tape wasn't really that good last year but if he can bounce back with Florida State this year he's a guy that keep an eye on who could shoot up boards Joel's tough for me man because he's just so the thing that for me

for Joel was like Jeremy Bernard last year but kind of a boring dude. It was just when you watched his tape at Notre Dame, it was you know, rinse, you know, wash, rinse, repeat. Like it was just get your hands inside, locked down, good

base. He was just so freaking consistent. And then on top of that, he was obviously a very naturally gifted guy. And I don't see anyone in this class who's as refined as Joe Alt was coming out. But Jordan Seaton, I'll go back to it again. I'm just, I'm going to keep

pounding this name. Because, the tape is probably flashier than what alt was. Like when you see Jordan Seaton can finish guys as a run blocker and he can recover really well when he gets into the spots because he moves so well. If he can get again, take the next step. We don't know if there's going to be a Joel.

Right now I don't feel comfortable saying that. I don't know if Joe Alco going to his last year, I would have said that either. But that being said, if he can, if Jordan Seaten can unlock all of the hand placement and playing with good body control, then watch out.

Um, one, one name I'm going to throw out there for, for people. Can you tell I like Seton, by the way? Yeah, it's getting a little nauseating and we're, we're in May. It's going to be a long year. Scumbags, write, write this name down. You ready? Jacarius Peak, South Carolina, 6'4 plus 300 pounds. Got into practice against a pretty good one in Dylan Stewart for a little while.

Yeah. That's a name. Talking to people in the league, Jacarius Peak is a name that, that, that you're, you're going to start to hear more and more as we get into the fall. All right, defensive side. How does this, how's the top of this edge group compare to top edge prospects in recent years? I mentioned the bosses. I mentioned Miles Garrett.

Chase Young was obviously, you know, he's had a windy road as an NFL player, but I remember coming out. It was like, oh, yeah, he's, Chase Young is in that, in that category, you know, talent-wise. What are you thought? What are your thoughts when you hear that question? I, you know, Miles Garrett's a different planet to me. He is a different kind of cat.

I mean, the Bose is awesome, so don't get me wrong too, but Miles Garrett's a different kind of a person. I will say this. Like the thing that jumped out to me is, you know, three edges were drafted in the top five of the,

in 2022. And that won't happen again this year because of the quarterback class. I think they're just going to push some of those guys down. That's just going to be the case. And then Jeremiah Smith. So that won't happen again. But this group has a chance to be as good as that group. And of course, I didn't write down their names. I'll look that up in a second. But when you look at Dylan Stewart and when you look at Colin Simmons, those are two guys that I think are top 10 talents going into this year. And you only need a Damon Wilson to get there to now you have three in the top 10. Again,

where they go is going to be interesting because there's so much talent. at the top of this draft. So to me, like, there are, there are at least two guys that are up there in the conversation of these elite edge guys, and there could be more coming. Yeah. I mean, we mentioned one of them in Damon Wilson, right?

And I don't want to go and do a historic, I wrote down some notes of, like, the historical edge groups and the depth and all that. Like, we don't have to go there today. I don't want to bore people. But the Damon Wilson guy is very intriguing to me, because what I saw on tape with him in Missouri, and I want to remind people,

now you get to go work. What did Akeem Messador do when he got with Jason Taylor at Miami? Yeah. I mean, it got healthy and just turned it on, man. Right? And Uiunga Lale is another guy, Mateo Uiungalalai at Edge for Oregon. I don't think we even mentioned him before.

Yeah. And we talked about Kenyatta Jackson. Like, this could be three years in a row where we're like, whether it's first and second, rounds combined or first three rounds combined, like where we could be pushing, pushing, tying, or exceeding, you know,

records for edge rushers drafted at certain points in the first three rounds. So I'm fired up about this group, and those are a lot of the names. Next question. I'm just going to really quickly, because I mentioned it. I will say it was Trayvon Walker, Aidan Hutchinson, and Kvon-Tibodeau

were the three that win the top five in 2022. Just wanted to put a bow on that a little bit. I know. Yeah, good. We won't get too much historically. No, I like it. I just, I felt like you had a really good answer and I didn't want to start like anything you can do.

I can do better. How good is the cornerback class, in your opinion? Well, again, what's your jumping off point? And your jumping off point is Leonard Moore from Notre Dame. So that right there is, I mean, we talked about, you talked about Stingley is maybe in the sauce conversation. Those guys were both, again, 2022, last goes. Those guys are top five picks.

Well, let's look at those classes. Yeah. Because here's my question. Is this going to be 2021, the year before? Remember that was Certan and Caleb Farley, where there's a gap, but we really like Farley, but like Certan was on a different planet? Or is this going to be a class where it's, you know, we got sauce or so we got. or so we got stingly, but we also get sauce.

Right. Oh, and by the way, later in the round, if you can't get one of those two guys, get Trent McDuffie. Right. So which group is this going to be? Is this 2021 or 2022? Because I look at this class, and it's very obvious that Leonard Moore is, he's the closest thing we've had since a stingling or even a sauce or a CERT.

he's in that group. And I feel like it's kind of been overlooked nationally, and I'm glad to shed some light on it today. Like, I just said, like, Jeremiah Smith, he might be the second best player in this draft ahead of those two edge rushers we just talked about. But then you got a bunch of dudes. And you can, well, we don't have the top.

That's fine. Jair Hill is a name that people are talking about. I think he's one of the most polarizing guys. I think he will be one of the most polarizing guys. Talent for days. I haven't really drilled in on the 2020. tape, but I remember going back and watching the 24 tape and thinking, what are we talking about here?

I totally agree. Not good enough to be in this conversation. So has he taken the next step? I can promise you this, though. One of the texts I got back. I know. People had go ahead. Jair Hill ranked ahead of Leonard Moore.

So that's why I brought up the conversation. Is this, is this Stingley and Sauce with a Trent McDuffie thrown in as the consolation prize? which is the hell of a consolation, brus. Or is this Farley gap to Cirtan, you know? Yeah. But then there's other guys, I'm telling you, there's other guys that, that keep an eye on DJ McKinney going from Colorado to Notre Dame.

Keep an eye opposite Leonard Moore. I think he's going to get some balls thrown his way. He is a talented cat, 6-2-180. DJ McKinney is a guy to keep an eye on it. as a guy who climb up boards and be in that conversation, I think. Jvion Cole is another name. I'm pulling up my phone right now just to remind me of some of the text. Jvion Cole from Arizona is another name.

Remember that Jed Fish had basically is funding the NFL with big defensive backs, right? I think he's, I think he's a 6-2 guy. Zeke Berry's the other Michigan corner. Kelly Jones. You know, like Kiper, I remember last year, being like, Kelly Jones. Yeah. Top 25.

Look at me. Bryce Pollock, Texas Tech, Ellis Robinson the 4th from Georgia, OJ.J. Frederick Jr., Miami. There are probably, if you pulled all the NFL teams

and people we talked to, before we go deep dive into all these, there were, I would say, combined nine names that kind of indicated could all be in the running to be first, like, maybe for, yeah, they're all potential, like, have the potential to rise to first round or elevate within first round status. And so, which tells me we're going to have,

we're going to have a lot of dudes, you know, like even Marshall from Andrew Marshall from Nebraska, Jamari Sharp from Indiana, uh, Anton Hampton, Anton Hampton, remember Clemson. Yes. So are you ready to go 20, 22, or are you still thinking 21? I think it's going to be 2022. That's why I brought this whole conversation up. I really do. I think you're getting carried away. You try to stay calm and now you're just getting,

you're getting carried away. All right. Next question in the defensive side. It might be our last one, right? Strongest position group on defense. I'm going edge. I, but we just had this corner conversation. I think they're right there. And then interior defensive line, by the way,

sneaky right there. But I went edge. I'm going edge. This past year we had four defensive backs in the first round. 2025 we had three. Okay. 2024, we had three. 2023, we had three.

2022, we had seven. So I'm kind of looking at this class. 2021, we had five. I forgot about, J.C. Horn went ahead of Patrick Sartan. I forgot about that. to see horn is a pretty good player that that i get what you're saying though right um it's funny revisionist history and even in my own yeah uh six one in in honest six one in 20 20 and it was a bad group akuta c j henders not a bad group but damon arnett like um not what you would expect so

seven for defensive backs as a whole in the last almost decade you know, is kind of the standard barrier for, well, yeah, even 2018 is six and 2017 is eight. 2017. Oh, this is Jamal. I remember this guy. Obviously, Jamal Adams, Marshawn Latimore, Malik Hooker, Marlon Humphrey, Adory Jackson, turn out to be a good group.

Gary and Conley, Gibral, Peppers, Tradevius, White. That was a really good group. Yep. So maybe it's 2017 and 2022. the standard bearers. I think this, we're going to look back on this, this defensive back class and say that there, it's up there with those groups.

Not maybe not better, maybe not quite as good, but it's kind of up there in the last decade. So you're going corner is what you're saying. I'm, yeah, why not? Why not? I'm going to take the, I'm going to take the fan dual odds on the,

and obviously it has, We've seen more edge rushers get drafted in the first round than we have corners. But if we're going to do it based off of historically as the bar, I think that this group is going to wind up when it's all said and done. But it's going to be hard to get guys in the first round when you got maybe seven receivers, maybe seven quarterbacks. There's only 32 picks in this mock. I don't, again, we're not getting carried away.

This second round, the talent that goes in the second round in 2027 is going to be insane. The teams are going to be getting dudes, dudes, like well after the first night. All right. There's a lot more in-depth information in the newsletter to the McShea report. Go to the ringer.com slash McShay for our database, all of our scouting reports. Look back 2026. Now we're starting to fuel this thing up in the next couple months for 2027. But you can subscribe to the McShay report there and get all of our premium content.

So we're doing a deeper dive on this. We're back on Thursday with quarterback's match, as always, five stars. Thanks, ma'am. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler or 1-800-My reset. Call 1-888-78-9-77777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut.

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