The McShay Show - Our Favorite Picks From Every Round of the 2025 NFL Draft

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

Welcome to The McShay Show! Todd and Steve close the door on the 2025 NFL draft with their favorite picks from every round. The guys talk best values, team-player fits, which late-round sleepers could wind up being stars at the next level, and more. (0:00) Welcome to The McShay Show! (1:02) Coming Up This Summer on The McShay Show(7:10) Our Favorite Picks From Every Round Revealed(8:03) Favorite 1st Round Picks: Jalon Walker (ATL #15)(9:50) Favorite 1st Round Picks: Jaxson Dart (NYG #25)(21:25) Favorite 2nd Round Picks: Shemar Turner (CHI #62)(25:23) Favorite 2nd Round Picks: Mike Green (BAL #59)(29:09) Favorite 3rd Round Picks: Jalen Milroe (SEA #92)(32:12) Favorite 3rd Round Picks: Jaylin Noel (HOU #79)(36:08) Favorite 4th Round Picks: Jalen Royals (KC #133)(38:55) Favorite 4th Round Picks: Gunnar Helm (TEN #120)(42:03) Favorite 5th Round Picks: Mitchell Evans (CAR #163)(45:25) Favorite 5th Round Picks: Bradyn Swinson (NE #146)(48:35) Favorite 6th Round Picks: Kain Medrano (WSH #205)(50:50) Favorite 6th Round Picks: Aeneas Peebles (BAL #210)(53:55) Favorite 7th Round Picks: Jacory Croskey-Merritt (WSH #245)(56:50) Favorite 7th Round Picks: Luke Lachey (HOU #255) The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Todd McShayGuest: Steve MuenchProducers: Tucker Tashjian, Mark Panik, Conor Nevins, and Daniel ComerSocial: Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Monday we turn the page. Monday we set sail. Monday we take this little pirate ship into territory, never explored before. Monday, we start an off-season program that will put other impostors out of business. Monday, we shove it down there. You get it.

But today's not Monday. And we're excited to put a bow on the 2025 NFL draft. It's the much anticipated, but never quite duplicated. edition of best picks by round. Just 343 days until the 2025 NFL draft, Mench, you good? I'm good, man. All right, calm me down, Tucker with some sweet music. Hey, Munch, let me ask you a few questions.

Here we go. Who puts their foot on the gas during the offseason? Us. Nobody else, though, right? Nobody else. I was going to say because it's us. Who in this industry decides, you know what? But it's May.

Let's do an Arch Manning breakdown. Let's actually watch the tape. Who does that in this industry? Nobody. Yeah. Who gives you a breakdown of every single potential QB1 during the off season and gets fans prepared truly with evaluations based off of the tape and really dives in deep this time of year?

Nobody. Nobody does it. And so when you're on a beach somewhere in July and you're like, I wonder what's going on with like the Clemson draft class. Why the hell do they have so much talent? Where can I find out is this like real or is this phony? You can come to us. When people are talking about Arch Manning in the 2026 draft and we're like we're right here.

We're going to provide all of it for people. I'm excited, man. I told you last show, right? After conversations, two conversations with you, Mensch, conversations with Dan, conversations with Tucker, conversations with the boss, Marissa. and eventually a plan started to formulate because we had a preliminary schedule for the offseason. We really wanted to deep dive into this past draft

and talk about rosters and talk about the NFL and how the effects. And we've done that. And we will continue to do this in the off season. We will have mailbags. We will take your questions. We will provide answers. There's, I have literally books of information. on the NFL draft.

I've got three of them lying right here, okay? Team stuff, roster breakdowns, three-year tallies, all of it. And obviously, all the player reports. We're going to continue to provide that in our mailbags and a couple special editions. But nobody, I looked, I spent the weekend. Okay. My kids were with their mother, Mother's Day weekend. I had a little bit of time.

Finally, like, decompressed a little bit, okay, from the 2025 draft. And I started thinking, like, what, what's our process after talking to you? And like, you're always my governor on this stuff. If people don't realize, let's just kind of take them behind. Like, I come out guns blazing. I'm screaming about Monday and pirate ships. Scared me. Yes.

And you are the, you know, you're the worst driver in the world, but you're the best co-pilot. You are the best co-pilot. Nobody else has attention. to detail like it's fair and i'm ranting and raven and cutting people off and honking the horn and all this and you're like hey you get in the right lane we get we got to exit 29b all right so we formulated this plan after a lot of like talks conversations i sat down i looked through everyone else's content from kuiper to jeremiah to all all to several other credible people who do it in this industry and a whole lot of buffoons okay

And I realize that our audience loves what we do, our process. They love the real. And that's why we're growing at the rate that we're growing. And so why stop? Why take the foot off the gas? Why veer to a different lane and just do the typical like, well, let's look at the today we're going to talk about the chiefs draft. And can they get back to the top?

You know, like, yeah, we can sprinkle that stuff in. And we got all the information. and we'll see what goes on in training camp and all that. But for the next three months, we're going to get you ready. We're going to get you ready as NFL draft fans. We're going to get you ready as college football fans. Everyone wants to know who are the prospects? Like, who's the top talent?

So we're going to do all of that. And here we are seven minutes into the show. And I haven't shut up about what's going on in the future, but I'm excited. It starts on Monday. So if you're watching this now, come take the ride with us. We were the lost, we're the lost ship at sea. everyone who's hoping that they would the coast guard would never find us you've never had a chance to do this man you've always had someone telling you where you need to be what you have to provide all that stuff

and you're obviously taking it very seriously about what you want to do with this you really want to put your stamp on this yeah so let's do it like yeah mother foes truly thought that they would never see this ship again. You're fired up today, man. Yeah. Yeah. You're feeling it. Yeah, October 22nd,

2024, we started this thing and we said we're going to be true to our process. You're either going to love us or you're going to hate us, but we're going to give you exactly what we do. And this is what mentioned I do. I failed to even mention this. The draft's over. We spent a little time, you know, taking a deep breath, like very little time, about a week. and then we review what just happened,

but then we dive right in. Like, I'm watching quarterbacks right now. And it's going to be on to tight ends. And I told you the tape is different now. It used to be where we had to watch it by college, because it was just more efficient time-wise. Now we don't. Now we've got these clips, the cut-ups,

the PFF Ultimate, the Caterpult video. And so now I'm going through positions. And as we go through those positions, we're going to do shows specifically tailored to provide information that's never, in this field, never in this space been provided before. And it starts on Monday. So enjoy this show. But get ready for Monday. I love it. We're the not fucking around crew. And Monday it starts again. All right. But as I said, today is not Monday. And I am excited about this, man. And you know what

was fun. Today we're going through all seven rounds and Mensch got to pick his, his players from each of the seven rounds. I picked mine separately. He sent me an email. I've got it right here. I literally like, glanced. I glanced. We, we didn't work in conjunction. Like, you get this. So it's just, it's our favorite picks. And favorite can mean anything. It can be value. It can be impact. It can be immediate impact. It could be long term. It could be any of those things. I'm going to let you kick things off. We're going to start in the first round. But the interest, I just want to mention off the top. The interesting thing about this exercise for me is I went through.

And as I was doing this, I'm like, there's a lot of guys that were interesting, you know, like in addition to, I'll mention some of those guys as we go. But of the first round picks, there were 32 of them. Of the first round picks, Mitch, what was your favorite pick in round one? I went with Jaylon Walker, the outside, the edge slash inside linebacker out of Georgia. went 15th to Atlanta. He was the fourth best player on my board. And I get it. Let me start off here.

I get it. 6-1-243. This is not your traditional edge. And I think it scared some teams away, right? You look at him and you're, I want to see a guy who's 6-3 or taller. I'd like to see him about 250, 255. I understand all of that. You might be concerned about whether is he a tweener or a hybrid.

But to me, he's a hybrid. And in this draft, where we don't have a ton of, blue chippers at the top of it. I'm looking for guys and get after the quarterback, and you're looking at a Falcons team that's 31st in sacks or worse in three of the last four seasons. And to get

what I think is the second best edge behind Abdul Carter from Penn State who went third overall to get him at 15. And then we've talked about this a lot. He's a culture changer. He's going to come into your locker room and he's going to get people's attention as a rookie. He will not behave like a rookie.

He's going to come in there, work his ass, off and expect the same from everyone else. You're getting that player at 15. I'm taking a chance, man. I get it. The frame is different. The snap allocation where he lined up, all of that stuff is a little bit different.

But I'm betting on this player and get that kind of a player in the middle of the first round. Man, I thought that was a home run. I also thought James Pierce would have been an interesting pick too because, again, they needed help on their pass rush. He's a really talented pass rusher. But the price was so steep that we're going to have to wait and see on that one with Walker sitting there at 15 and that player falls to you, man.

I mean, I just think that's, you know, it's my favorite pick of the first round. Yeah. Yeah, I've got no problem with that. I'm going to go with Jackson Dart, pick 25. I considered it. Do you remember when I was done watching the 161 play versus pressure? Mm-hmm. Breakdown of Dart when I came back and we came on the show right after that.

and I said to you, he reminds me of a certain player, the instincts, the ability to extend a poised, not the fastest, but like strong. I think so. Who was it? Was it hurts? No, Josh Allen. A lot of people did. Allen.

Yes. Remember I said, yes. And I, and I hesitated. And obviously, you got to put cavi off with all this stuff. And I was, I'm not saying he's Josh Allen. I'm still not saying he's Josh Allen. Right. But there were a lot of things in his game versus pressure.

When the bullets start to fly in and you just close your eyes and think about Josh Allen, it's like climbing the pocket, but then sliding horizontal with the line of scrimmage. The way they sense it and move. The way they sense it and move. Yeah. But it's always moving the offense forward. It's not a lot of retreating. I think of Rothlessberger, I think like retreating the side.

You know what I mean? Like kind of create his chaos. was controlled for him, but it was guys hanging from his legs. You know, right. With Josh Allen and similar kind of bill, like big, strong arm guys, and Rutherstberger used to be more mobile. Obviously, Josh is a whole different level. But with Allen, it's always climb, slide, chaos, but he's calm.

Run when you have to. Mm-hmm. Lower the shoulder when your coaches don't want you to, like all that stuff. I just saw a lot of that in him. and now all of a sudden Brian Dayball drafts him. And I have to assume during this process, he saw some of the glimpses, and Brian's not an idiot.

He, yeah, he doesn't have the arm that Josh Allen does. Not quite as fast maybe, but like pretty, pretty mobile. But there's some stuff there that worked with Josh and I that it's going to work with Jackson and I, right? I actually remember this interesting conversation now. Now flashing back, you talk to a bunch of different coaches and scouts and all that. I remember talking to him at Brian and Daibol in the Senior Bowl. And he has just started the process.

He's like, who do you like at these quarterbacks? I know you're probably a little bit further down the road, just got finished coaching the season, you know? And I said to him, I'm like, obviously I was like, you were just with Shadora, the East West Shrine, but I know he didn't play. And Cam Ward, I was like, you guys are picking it three. I don't I don't think necessarily you're taking him at three with a couple of the other players that could be on the board. Who knows how this process will play out? But again, the guy of all of them that I'd like to see you work with is Jackson Dart.

Obviously, it had like less than 0% of why they drafted him. And I'm sure he doesn't even remember the conversation. But I remember starting to watch his tape and thinking, if, Daibald and Jackson could get together. It would be best for both of them. And then the 25th pick in moving up to go get him had nothing to do with the third pick outside of the fact that they didn't get cute,

they didn't try to move down from three. They didn't overdraft Jackson Dart at three based off of the value board and what they knew and the information coming in from around the league. We all knew that Jackson Dart wasn't going with three. But there was some talk at one point that maybe Jackson Dark could go 10. So managing it was part of the reason why it's my favorite pick. In fact, they only gave up a compensatory.

It was their second of three of two third round picks to go move up and get him. And then the fact, and this is what I like most about it, like you've got, and I've said it 100 times, but you've got a head coach who is legitimately one of the handful of guys that can develop a quarterback and is like in the top tier of offensive minds in the coaching profession. Why is it taking this long? Why has it taken this long to allow him to go grocery shopping? Because he had success early on when he got there with Daniel Jones. It was the worst than they could have happened to them.

Yeah. They went to the playoffs with Daniel Jones and it was this, they thought they had it all figured out and it was the worst than it could have happened that early success. I really believe that. They would have scrapped it earlier. He would have gotten a, a, a chance earlier on. But let me ask you this.

Yeah. Did you consider taking, I considered this too. I just thought it was so early and people were going to think it's so simple. The Abdul Carter picket three for the Giants is also one of my favorite picks. And let me tell you why.

It's easy to look back now and be like, oh, they got him and Jackson Dart. Look, they could have misread that situation and all of a sudden, quarterbacks start flying off the board. Obviously, that didn't happen. Yeah. But imagine if you're the Giants

and all of a sudden you take Carter, you now are at risk for Jackson Dart not even being a chance to get him later on. Someone else could come up and get him. There was all kinds of rumors that this team might want him. You know, he might end up going to the Saints. All these quarterbacks could have come off the board and then you don't look great.

And the other thing is my favorite pick because this isn't just about Day Bowl. This is about who's pulling the trigger? They did the right thing. Joe Shane has been absolutely abused in this industry in the media and the people. public. And quite frankly, there were some things that, like, you know, he deserves. He earned some of it. He didn't earn all of it. It's usually the case, right?

Right. Anyone in any position of power in the public eye, right? And yeah, definitely. And the other thing to mention here, I will say this is there's still risk here. If Abdul Carter doesn't realize the tremendous upside that we all believe that he has and doesn't turn into the player that we all think he will turn into. And Shador Sanders shocks the world or another quarterback shocks the world. Jackson Dart doesn't end up playing. People are not going to look back on this draft and say they did the right thing. They're going to be upset that they didn't get their quarterback.

I'm just not. It's not. And Shador went in the fifth. And Shador is just not the fit for Brian. I get it. It's not as simple as saying that Abdul Carter was the easiest pick to make it three. There was pressure on them to get a quarterback. They did the right thing.

They read the board correctly. There was at least one human being in that building. that thought that they should take Shador at three. Right. I don't know. We'll never know. You know, everyone's going to guard that with their life and, and someone who comes out and says it to someone where it gets leaked,

maybe they have an agenda. You just never know, truly. But I heard from people who, I feel strongly that there was at least one human being in that building that was kind of nudging for Shador at three. So the other, the other one. And let me put a bow on Jackson Dart. Another part of the beauty of this situation, too, is they brought in Russell Wilson. They brought in James Winston.

If Jackson's ready, week one, they don't owe those two guys shit. They don't. It's true, though. No, no, it's true. They don't owe them anything. And they don't owe them a lot. And like they didn't pay him a lot of money. What was it?

10 million combined for those two. Okay. So they don't owe them money. They don't have a long relationship with them and, you know, to pay off past debts. But they also don't have to play. If Jackson's not ready to week 10 or if Jackson's not ready to week one of 2026, that's fine. So it's the perfect, we talk about Tom Brady and, you know, it's an age long thing, but Tom Brady planting the flag of college quarter.

are not ready in the programs they're in. And there are a lot of people in the league that I think it's a case by case basis. But my whole point in this is, yes, he's coming from a Lane Kiffin offense that made reads kind of easier and simplified things and had just a handful of concepts, but did it beautifully and did it with disguise. And it allowed him to make a lot of predetermines. And so if he's not ready, then they would make sense because he's got an adjustment to make. but if he is ready you can play him and if his instincts and his his awareness are line up with

with what the reports are of him on the board and his football intelligence i think he might be ready ready faster than than everyone thought the person all right here we go you listen this is what you do to me i'm supposed to be the move along guy we're like 21 minutes in we haven't gone through the first round but now my mind is going where my mind's going And you're going to be mad at me. You're not going to want to do this, but you're, you know,

it's the gambling side of it too. Give me the over under on the week of Jackson Dart, the starter of the New York Giants. Nine, week nine. Ooh. I think that's fair. I don't think that's crazy.

I don't think that's too early. Yeah. The way you were talking, I thought he's coming out of training camp and he was going to be the opening day started. Don't rule it out. Don't rule it out. But if I, you're sitting the line at nine.

If our, if our folk, good folks at Fanduel, who thank you for keeping our life. lights on and had a blast with them draft season. Didn't do it as this year as I thought. Last minute information, they kind of, but, yeah, another runner-up I wanted to mention here, Jod A Barron at 20 because Denver got their jokers in day two with R.J. Harvey

running back in the second round and the third round, your boy, Pat Bryant, who will get to in a little bit. But, you know, Sean did a great job in New Orleans. of allowing the organization, not allowing, but being just fine with the organization using early draft picks on defensive players. Let's be great on that side because I can't coach that side. I'll get the most, give me a second word, give me Michael Thomas here, sprinkle that in with a bunch of mid-round, get thirds and fifths. And so he, same thing here. And now you've got this defense, right? Like third in the NFL and points per game allowed. Okay.

Second in the NFL, second in the NFL in the NFL in yards per play allowed. Okay. Nobody throws Patrick Sturtansway. Nobody. Riley Moss is ascending. Okay. So big play opportunities are going to be there. And they're young, too.

You got Benito's young? They're young, man. And John, yes. And Jada Baron, final three seasons play 43 games. you racked up 202 tackles, 19 past breakups, nine interceptions, 18 tackles for loss, and two sacks. You know what? Like, you ever see the movie Michael Clayton?

Yeah, I love that movie. I absolutely love that movie. This defense just got better because Jada Barron now becomes the cleaner. Right. You know, he's the cleaner. He's the Michael Clayton of that defense. All right, move on. Round two, who you got?

Round two. Listen, this was the toughest round, I think. I mean, there was multiple choices to be made. You look at that second round, man, and there are players everywhere, and there are a bunch of good fits. I went with the guys towards the back end of round two. And it went with him because he was my guy.

I had him ranked 43rd. The Chicago Bears take him 62nd. And that is Shamar Turner, the defensive tackle out of Texas A&M. Look, defensive tackle is arguably their greatest need going into the draft, into the offseason at least. I know they signed Gritty Jarrett, but going to the off season at least,

they needed a defensive tackle bad. And I think being able to wait that long to get Shamar Turner, who already the early reports, and I get, taken it with a grain assault, I understand everyone loves their rookies and mini-camp and all that. But the new defense coordinator there,

Dennis Allen, has talked about how violent and aggressive this kid's style of play is and how well it's going to fit his scheme and the power and the quickness. And again, Shamar Turner, He was so, you played hurt. Just remember, he played hurt last year.

He was on basically a fractured leg. Look at his numbers and look at his tape from 2023 and look at that player. And to get him, again, I had him at 43rd overall. He went 62nd. That, I mean, I can make an argument for probably 15 players in that second round. That's great picks. Great picks. I mean, Trayvion Henderson, early second round going to the,

The Patriots, I love that one. I mean, there's pick after pick you could talk about. But I'm going to go with my guy, maybe not as big a name as some of the other guys, Shemar Turner, defense tackle from Texas A&M. It's funny you say that. I wrote down on my notes here. This is the Kiper round where I'm going to do my best impersonation of Kiper, because we would, producers would always be like, all right, pick, you know, one player

for this, one player, or give me your top five and you have five, A, 5B, 5, Z. Right. But this is my Kiper round. where I'm just crazy right because I like all right honorable mention one travion Henderson Josh McDaniels the way he uses running backs is in the passing game and the protecting it job like Trayvion Henderson is going to be a freaking monster for them and it's not going to take a ton of of snaps Luther Burden with the with Ben Johnson

okay Tyler shock the fact that we're going to go through this whole thing I think I've I've given so much on Tyler Shuck that he's gotten his due. But I love that pick for the Saints. And it may be the most important pick for the organization for a couple of years. We'll see if it works out. Elijah Arroyo falling to, what was it, 50 to Seattle? Trey Harris for the Chargers, your guy. Seattle also got Nick Eamon Worry early, early in the second.

say what you want about him. Great fit for Mike McDonald in that scheme. I mean, great fit for that scheme. Oh, huge. So, I mean, just another. There was one organization you wanted to go play for. It was there with him. Mm-hmm.

And then I didn't even on draft night. I'm going through them. I'm going through every pick of the draft as I'm preparing for this. I think you were off doing your ESPN. Dot com draft tracker. Critical work. Critical. baby girls need a new pair of shoes right is that right davis used to say at richmond that's right

uh oh mar norman lot man i never got to like i never got to take my flowers on that i was sitting in a room by myself screaming at people for two and a half hours omar norman lot the chief saw what i saw but all that's aside could you go with it's the only time i'll pull a kiper on you Uh, Mike Green, man. This is so Kuiper, you went with a Baltimore player. I know. And it's not the last time. I'm going to throw some love down to the crab cake region.

Mike Green led the FBS with 17 sacks last year. Okay, finished second with 22 and a half tackles for loss. He also had 84 tackles. Led the team with three force fumbles. Pass rush win rate was actually weirdly, eight among edge rushers in this year's class, but would have been second behind Jared verse last year, 22%. Okay.

Threatens with speed, but it's more this blistering change of direction and snap in his hands. He is ready to make an impact in the league. And he's a street fighter versus the run too, man. It's not just pass rush. He is a nasty son of a gun. A lot of teams passed on him because of the two accusations in the past.

He was, he brought it. Listen, Baltimore is equipped with a veteran locker room. Okay. Baltimore is not a big market like you would have here in Boston with the Patriots or New York with the Giants and Jets or some of the other markets. And they waited to pick 59 to do so to take him because when he went to, when he went to market speaking of markets he went to market at the combine and and got out ahead of the news and wanted to let everyone know these accusations had occurred in his past of sexual

assault and i'm not like i i can't stay far enough away from all this stuff except to let everyone know i'm like couldn't couldn't be more disgusted by it have a have a mother have a sister have a fiance and have a and have a beautiful daughter a lair so like i'm in the same boat as as most rational, normal human beings and men out there. But there was never an arrest. There was never a charge. But he brought it to market and it scared off a lot of organizations. And a lot of it, honestly, is PR and not wanting to have to deal with our first pick was this man who came out and told us a story.

But Eric DeCosta believes in his organization. They have earned the ability to make decisions. like this and get one of the top 20 players in the entire draft at a premium position at pick 59 and then I look at okay what's the situation you get Kyle van noi there he gets to learn from a season veteran Kyle van noi van nois 34 too and uh Odafei O way the the other edge rusher he just got his fifth year option exercised so like yeah they can tag him or he he could be up for free agency next year. Let's see how that all plays out.

But this is like vision looking ahead. And so when you have a minute and you sit back and you analyze this pick, yeah, it seems obvious. But like everything came together. And I just like, it's a combination of vision and understanding your roster and also understanding your market. I just, I can't imagine there are going to be any other players in the second round that have a chance to make a bigger impact.

in Mike Green. And trusting your vetting process, too. I mean, they, I mean, they know everything that we know. And they went through and made sure that they felt comfortable with what was going on. All right. Round three. Listen, Alabama quarterback running back, man, 14th and slip. Alabama quarterback, Jalen Milrow.

I just, listen, you may get your starting quarterback in the third round again. We've talked about this a lot. Jalen Milro has all the talent in the world. Best running quarterback in this draft by far. Great. deep ball thrower. Now you're going to figure out the rest of it. And that's a lot. It's a lot. It's a huge if. I understand that. But if you hit on on this player, your ability, and again, you signed Sam Donald to a three-year deal. It wasn't a five-year deal. It wasn't an eight-year deal.

It was a three-year deal. And you're hoping that he comes in and he can be what Gino was for you. And there's reason to believe he can do that. I'm a Sam Donald fan. But I love that lottery ticket at that point in the draft. I want in on that lottery ticket. I want a chance to bring in a player with that skill set and give him a chance to develop because what it means for you in terms of finding a, when you can find a quarterback at that area in the draft

and let's say he's a starter in three years, you still get two years of being able to build your roster around that. So I just think it's, and I mean, what's the ceiling here? Is Lamar Jackson the ceiling? That's crazy to think that he's going to turn into Lamar Jackson

based on the tape right now. And Lamar Jackson was better coming out of Louisville. I believe that. I really do believe that. Oh, yeah, yes, yes. And no matter what people might want to, you know, there was a lot of talk back then about whether Lamar Jackson was going to ever be a great quarterback. He was a better prospect coming out of Louisville.

He was. I agree. So to say that is, you know, it's saying something if you think he can get there. But if he can get there and you got that guy at that point in the draft, I'm taking that chance. I just, you know, I love that pick. I love Jordan Birch, by the way. Jordan Birch is my honorable mention. I've talked about this before.

He went 78 to Arizona. I was the 49th best player on the board. He's versatile defensive linemen. He can play outside linebacker in the scheme. He can play defensive end in the scheme. I love Jordan Birch. Yeah, it wasn't quite like round two, but there were certainly some honorable mentions here.

I'm telling you, man, every day we get closer to the start of week one in the NFL, the more I'm starting to think Pat Bryant may be. like my guy your guy i'm chicking myself for you and i'm excited for shan i'm there's i just get this sense i'm not saying michael thomas but i so feels like it a little bit right like that role maybe not that guy michael thomas is awesome but that role savone revel i love that pick uh dallas cowboys in that scheme with his length coming off the injury with no chance He falls that far. 76 overall.

I love that pick. I also with Caleb Johnson because of the fit. Thought he could go as high as the second round. Pittsburgh Steelers, Naji Harris, like all of it. But I went with Jalen Knoll. I guess that isn't a surprise. But I did a little bit of digging here, man. Jalen Knoll picks 79 overall to the Houston, Texas.

Okay. And I want, I've come on here and I've given every positive and negative and I've talked about my, my love affair with Jalen Knoll, right? Here's why this is the pick of the round for me. You ready? To sum it up, Noel is an explosive, reliable route running slot receiver. Fair? Okay.

Let's look at the history with C.J. Stroud, bud. Tank Dell in just 25 games the last two seasons targeted 157 times, okay? Average 14 yards per catch. So yes, Nico Collins is wonderful and all this. But Tank Dell 157 targets. Stroud loves sudden, reliable slot receivers that can get open over the middle of the field where he's comfortable throwing the football. All right?

A Mecca Buka. You know in 2022 he had nearly identical receiving numbers, production numbers as Marvin Harrison Jr. In 2020. He had a monster year in 2022. A nearly identical. And what is a Mecca? A reliable route running slot receiver.

Okay, let's go back a year before, 2021. They had two first round wide receivers. It's Garrett Wilson. It's Chris Olives. right stars top 10 picks or was a lave 10 or 11 or 12 whatever real early draft picks i think both top 10 you know who had 25 more catches and 600 more receiving yards than garret wilson do you know who had 30 more catches and 700 more receiving yards than chris olive top 10 draft picks you know who that was the slot receiver jackson smith and jigma ah

So we've got a history here. So this is Nick Casario knowing his personnel. This is Nick Cassario. 11. 11. Close. Yeah. Doing deep dives into what's going to bring out the best in my quarterback.

Okay. It's bisoned by Casario too. He may not have Jalen Knoll, that is, may not have a massive impact as a rookie. It's why I didn't pick him in when we did our, rookie impact stuff. I'm not sure that he will. You got, you got Nico, you got John Mechie, you got Christian Kirk, and you drafted Higgins earlier, Jaden Higgins, his teammate from Iowa State, okay? But Christian Kirk, in that slot role, has finished the last two seasons in the NFL on the IR, okay? Christian Kirk has only played 20 of 34 possible games the last two seasons.

he's turning 29 years old and he's now on his third team in the NFL okay so vision and understanding what what makes stroud the best version of himself that's what Nick Casario did with this pick right but not allowing a free and signing from preventing you from making your team better that's it vision you know you you get Kirk because you think he can play that role for you and then you're the way the draft you're sitting there and you're like, well, man, I never thought this kid was going to be here. And he could be a potential upgrade over Kirk, if not this year, maybe a year or two. Why wouldn't we take him here? You know, because we already signed a free agent because we already have depth there.

You cannot allow that to prevent you from making your team better. Is it making your team better? Then let's do it. All right, round four. Who do you got? I could not believe this guy was the ninth wide receiver on my board. And he went, it was the 18th wide receiver to come off. and that was Jalen Royals from Utah State.

The Kansas Chiefs get him in the fourth round. Again, take it with a grain of salt, but all the reports for Minicamp are, wow, this kid is going to play this year. And they're loaded, right? They got everyone. They got all these receivers. But I think there's a lot of bodies. And Jalen Royals has a chance to really stand out as a guy 4-4-2 speed.

And by the way, he tied for the quickest 10-yard split out of anyone at the combine, Not receivers, receivers, corners, anyone. 1-4-9. This kid is quick, 6-foot, 205 pounds, good frame. If he doesn't get hurt, I mean, he only played in seven years, seven games last year, seven years, only seven games last year. If he's not hurt, I don't know, I think he goes a lot earlier, to be honest to you. I think it must be somewhat of a concern about the durability because he was productive when he was healthy. I know it was only for two years, really, that he had a lot of production,

but he was productive over the last few years when he was healthy. I thought he was okay at the Senior Bowl. There were some people who didn't love him at the Senior Bowl. I thought he played better than some others did. To me, to get him that late was surprising to me. He is the same 10-yard split, so people understand, as Xavier Worthy, the guy they took last year out of Texas who broke the Combine record for the 40. He's exactly that same kind of quickness.

You're talking about a guy who's going to produce after the catch. Andy Reid's going to design plays. They're going to go into the lab. They're going to design all kinds of plays, go back to plays they know. They're going to pull up plays from BYU in 1920. They're going to do all of these things, and they're going to find a way to get the ball in his kids' hands,

and he is going to make things happen once he gets into space. I'm telling you, this was a surprise to me because I look at some of the other players, and I'm not going to get into this because I don't want to badmouth other players. I look some of the other receivers that went before him, and I'm like, what am I seeing? How in the world? And there's opportunity there, too, man. Like we're there's there's there's there's a lot of names there's a lot of names.

There's a lot of names, but there's also a lot of question marks with that. Right. Because you get Xavier worthy. Just doing it off the top of my head. Xavier worthy, uh, Rishi Rice, Smith Schuster. Okay. And, and we don't have to go through all the question marks there, but there are. Um, Sky Moore has not been the guy.

Right. And then it's look at it. You're like, oh, there's all this depth. But, uh, yeah. And he can play on the inside. or the outside so they can move him around a little bit. I think he's better in the slot, to be honest with you, but he can play outside.

I just, I look at that pick and I'm like, Kansas City does it again with where they're going to get this guy. I went with another pass catcher, Gunner Helm. I just, I liked him from week, like week two of the season against Michigan. Who is this guy? Where did he come from? Boy, I like it. He doesn't look like the fastest.

He's not the biggest. He's not the strongest. He's just like, he's just got football. ball like Jake Ferguson's the guy I always um compare him to yeah compare him to just like Jake Ferguson there was nothing about a measurable wiser that stood out and he fell in the draft but but to me gunner helm he didn't run well in the 40 like kind of looked at the combine like he got his hoof shot off shot off um and it turned out he had an injury but at the end of the day injury he's he looked like a slab of beef when you look at the picture of the ankle

man it was like how did not break that but on the field the guy knows how to get open and he makes plays and he does so in clutch moments he was the two things those hold on really quickly those are the two things i think about one him almost breaking his ankle trying to stop running his first combine his first 40 at the combine and the second is the touchdown catch that won the game against arizona state just a huge play in a big moment those are the two things right away that come to mind with gun around go ahead he was he was second on the team with 60 catches seven touchdowns only dropped two passes all of last year okay you know where i like him i think he's underrated is after the catch instinct smooth he he he's not like a guy by any stretch but he'll make that one

cut against the grain he kind of senses it so i look at this right for for tennessee you got a you've got a rookie quarterback coming in let's let's bring in pass catchers okay they did it they did it um i mean they did it in free agency they've got very veterans. They got Calvin Ridley from a year ago, obviously. They've got Tyler Lockett, they brought in. They've got Van Jefferson. That's all kind of short-term stuff. We're trying to build old, get old and grow old together. A little patchwork there. Yeah. Absolutely. So they drafted Eilch I. O. Manor, okay? They drafted Chimery D.K., my guy. Maybe Xavier Restrepo is an undrafted free agent. But now you get this tight end. Let's try.

Let's test drive them for a year. Let's see what we got. Because we get Chig O'Conquo and Josh Wiley. They combined for 80 catches last year. But you know what they did? They averaged nine yards per catch. There's just no difference making there. And I think Helm will level off as a number two.

And maybe it's another guy that they bring in eventually. But for now, he's got an opportunity to compete. So I just, I like Gunner Helman. I like the, the process of thinking is organizationally, Tennessee looking at it and saying, you know what, let's bring in a bunch of guys that are young now and let them kind of compete and see who weeds themselves out. Because this is a three-year deal.

This isn't necessarily a one-year deal. I like that approach. Yeah. All right. Round five. I'm going Mitchell Evans, the wide receiver. I mean, the tight end from Notre Dame ended up in Carolina. That's your guy.

163. Listen, he is, he's got a quicker, we're going to go on the 10-yard splits again. That's going to be my thing for the show, apparently. He's got a quicker 10-yard split than Harold Fanon Jr. Out of Bowling Green. I mean, I think people look at him as a big blocking tight-in, and that's just not accurate to me. I mean, he's a competitive blocker, and he's got a good frame, 6-5-258. He's a big kid, and he competes as a blocker.

But he's got more to, as a receiver. Before he tore his ACL two years ago, and he has had some problems staying healthy, most notably the ACL. But before he tore the ACL two years ago, I think he was trying to be a day two player. I think he was going to be, I actually had him in my top 100 because I just loved his tape so much. I put him in there as like 97th player on my board. That's how much I liked him. And when he started to get rolling early on in the 24th season, he was still coming back from the knee injury, he didn't really look like he was himself. And then he started to get rolling as the season progressed. And I'm looking at that roster, and they took St. Jatioz, Jatvian Sanders from Texas last year, who I

love but it is a receiving tight end he is a number two number three move tight end who plays a role for you it's a good point that's a really good make make an impact in that role you could have your start you could have got your starting tight end in the fifth round i really believe that now the concern is the durability because of the injuries you you wonder is this guy going to be able to hold up he's got to get stronger like a lot of these tight ends i think he's a competitive blocker he's got to get bigger and stronger and continue to get better in that area but i think carolina really might have found found their tight end won in the fifth round. That's how talented he is.

I'll say another guy that I really liked. There was the last pick of this round. The last pick of the fifth round was Tyler Barron, the edge out of Miami. The Jets took him. I think he's wildly underrated. Tennessee transfer led the team in tackles for loss in Sacks, and they weren't big numbers.

I think Sacks was five and a half. They weren't big numbers. But when you watch him on tape, he's a guy who gets after the quarterback and probably got pushed down the board because of the depth of the edge class. So, I mean, that guy at the end of the fifth, I mean, I was torn between the two. I just like Evan's situation a little bit better because, again, I think he could be tied in one.

Yeah, round five was in, there were some interesting players that kind of, I mean, the McShay special, Tyrion, Ingram Dawkins. I saw your list and I was like, how? How did he not, not take them? I know. I considered him, but hey, Vikings fans. You got a raw cat. I'm telling you, call me in, call me in 2026, and let's see where we are on TID. I also like Jaden Blue.

We talked about him, his fit in Dallas to Tony Pollard roll. I thought that was a really good pick. Marcus Bo, I didn't think he was going to fall to that spot. Probably he's going to be a guard, could be. We'll see what the Giants. They have time to develop him, get him stronger. I also really, as I started to look at this, it's fun to go back and look. I love that.

I love that Chris Paul pick by the Rams with that aggressive attacking defense with the cats that they got up front. And play them on special teams a little this year. Let's see what we got. See if you could develop a role. Maybe it's in nickel or dime, like whatever it is. I think that's going to be a good pick. But I ultimately went with Braden Swinson. I had a third round grade on this guy.

And I'm not ashamed to admit it. I get it. One year production had a breakout year, began the first three years at Oregon, had a breakout year this past year, 58 tackles in 13 games, 8 and a half sacks, 13 tackles for loss, a force a couple of fumbles. The thing with Braden Swenson is he's not great versus the run and may never be great versus the run.

But I think he can get to a level where he's effective if utilized properly. but he is a good pastor like for a guy that struggled to become the productive guy that he was this past year he's refined his hand usage like swipe the slap the the push pole the rip like he's he's got a lot of different tools in his bag the other thing too with him and i start to think about vrabel and kind of the versatility let's be multiple up front he the thing i wrote him down i don't I try to stay away from, he's a three, four outside linebacker who can drop a little bit.

This guy actually showed me some stuff on tape dropping in coverage, okay? I gave him a comp to Kyle Van Nuoy. Oh, I like that. That's a good comp. I like just like the refinement, not necessarily the workout numbers, all that stuff. Right.

Just like some guys are slippery and know how to get home and he knows how to get home. New England needs pass rushers, man. We talked about this formula. whether it's it's it's the Ravens with de costa whether it's howie roseman with the eagles bret vich with the with the uh chiefs uh green bay and what they've done you get a quarterback you better for you better figure out how to get closers pass rushers defense and this is the fifth round pick so i'm not saying this is the answer this is going to say but let's bring in guys bring in bodies and new england needs pass rushers desperately man yeah they brought in hand or

Harold Landry, but he was down to nine sacks last year. He's turning 29 years old. New England had no pass. You ready for this, Munch? You probably know. Big Pats fan. I don't know. You know there wasn't a single New England Patriot on that roster last year that had six sacks or more?

I did not know that. That's bad, though. That's fucking crazy. Yeah. Do you know how bad that is? It's pretty bad. Five. Five was the.

the most. Keon White was tied for team best with five. And you know the next up amongst returning players from last year in terms of sack number? And for any Jennings with two and a half. This guy's going to get a chance, man.

I think Swinson's got to... Yeah. He's going to be one of the steals of the late rounds. All right, round six. All right, there's only one answer here. Okay. And that's Devin Neal. The Saints taking Devin Neal out of Kansas. But we've talked, I've talked about him too much. There's a guy really, here's a guy that I really think that maybe people

are sleeping on. So I'm going to talk about a different player who I really like. And that's the UCLA running back, not named Swessinger. It's Kane Madrano. Linebacker. The linebacker from UCLA, who went to the commanders in the sixth round. And you look at this kid, he had the fastest 40 time of all the linebackers that ran at the combine. He crushed the combine. All around crushed the combine. He is. so fast you think about that speed he's a former wide receiver he went to ucla to play wide receiver he was going to be a wide out okay and then chip kelly walked up to him was like hey you know it's not really working out and what do you think about making the move changes ends up being a two-year

starter at linebacker ends up being a team captain kind of kid i mean you just kind of root for but add on to this there's two very interesting things about his landing spot for me he's got to get bigger but he's six foot three so you think he has the frame to add some weight but but know this who was the linebackers coach at UCLA in 22 and 23, Ken Norton, Jr. Who's the linebacker's coach for the commanders? Yeah. Ken Norton Jr.

They knew this kid. They know this kid. They knew when they drafted him who this kid was, what they can do with him. And one of the things, and this is the second point, that UCLA did with him was use him as a big nickel. So you're looking at a player now who could do special teams. he could carve out a role in situational packages as a big nickel early on.

And then if he could fill out that frame and develop into a starter, you have the heir apparent to Bobby Wagner, who apparently does not age, but at some point, at some point it might catch up to him and they might have to find another guy. It's up to all of us, Munch. You think about that kind of a player in the sixth round, late six round. You know him. You know what kind of player he is.

He's a team captain. He's an ascending player who's still getting, you know, he was that linebacker for most of his career UCLA, but didn't. He was a former wide receiver. Again, all the things that he can do for you. I look at that pick and I love that freaking pick. Yeah, those are good points. You did your work today.

I'm proud of you. Off season says who. I'm going with back to the Ravens, man. Anais Peoples defensive tackle from Virginia Tech, okay? Mm-hmm. I'll get back to the Ravens in a second. People spent 384 or 516 snaps in the B gap. That says a three technique.

Get on that outside shoulder of the guard, get upfield and penetrate. That's what he is. He's like that's his DNA. Yep. It's DNA. Explosive first step. Everything's moving. Feet are moving with the hands.

Athletic can get in the backfield disrupt. He's going to locate the football and change direction and come chase him. That's who he is. Okay. I didn't, I had this in my notes. And we didn't, we weren't sitting there. in the sixth round going pick by pick, but I never got to use this. You know, he had a pass rush win rate of 17.9.

I talked about Mike Green, how awesome he was at 22 as an edge rusher. You know how hard it is for, you don't find many defensive tackles that are past rush win rate in it. That's exceptional. And if it works out, again, vision by the Ravens and let's bring in depth and all these great organizations, let's stay ahead. He's not going to, like, I'm never. I'm not saying he's ever necessarily going to be a starter or like this high impact player.

But you know what we need as an organization? We just signed a big deal, a big deal with Madabweke, right? Let's get him some rest and some fresh legs so we can enjoy the fruits of that four or five year. What was it? Like 90 million? It was a lot of money. I just, it's little things like this when you go back and study each round of the draft and you see the vision and you're like, oh, I get with. And how about fucking Eric Dacosta, man?

This is a draft where we're seeing like, excuse me, fifth and sixth round. There's a lot of dudes, NIL, transfer portal, COVID hangover year. There's more depth than this class than ever before. What did they do? Like some other good organizations. They look, this is the Ravens six, the six round was their round.

They got a starting kicker. Tyler Loop. Lejante Western, the wide receiver from, from Colorado, who we talked about, by walking that wide receiver room, like, hmm, I can play. I can play with these cats. Two cornerbacks, Bilal Cone and Robert Longer Beam. I'll never say Longer Beam without laughing. He's a good player, though, man.

He's a good player. I was just looking for a name that no one would know. Right. You'd point out the fact that you were grinding on a random Thursday night watching Robert Longer Beam tape. It's just a great name. But they got Longer Beam Cone, Lejante Western Wide Receiver, the starting kicker,

and now some rotational depth with Peebles in the sixth round. Right. Nod. Nod. Yeah. All right. Seventh round. Here we go.

I'm staying with the commanders, man. I'm staying with them again. I'm going late seventh round. You get running back to Corey Kroski Merritt out of Arizona, really out of New Mexico. I would say that. He was at Arizona last year. He played for one game against his old school against New Mexico and then was ruled ineligible for the rest of the year.

The reporting is that even though, and I can't imagine how difficult that is for a player. You have finally worked your way up to an FBS level program. You're a talented player. You have a chance to showcase your skill set. And now you can't get on the field because of eligibility issues. The reporting is that he stayed engaged. The reporting is that he was a great teammate, that he was great in the building. I think that's a good sign.

East West Shrine game, wins the MVP. Doesn't get invited to the Combine, doesn't care. Coes works out. I mean, I think he was a hot name going into the draft. I'm not surprised he got drafted. I thought he might have gotten drafted earlier. But really what it comes down to, he was super productive in New Mexico in 2023. And I love the tape.

I love the tape. For a guy that runs with a narrow base, he changes directions really well. Some guys that's hard to do when you run with a narrow base. His feet, it's a magic show to me. I'm watching this guy. I'm not really understanding how he's doing how he's changing directions and speeds as well as he is and he is quick through the hole and then you look at that backfield austin heckler's getting older brian robinson is is a good i

don't think great back and you get crossy merit late in the seventh round i'll tell you it's hard it is hard to have we talk about this all the time you need picks it is hard to have a great draft with five picks or yeah five picks and the commanders got josh carnelly junior late in the first round guy we think could be a starting tackle. They got Ole Miss Corner, Trey Amos, late in the second round. They get one of our favorites, Jaylon Lane, they get the kid Camadrono,

who I just talk about, then they get Jacori-Grosky Merritt. They smoked this draft for a team, and I think especially on day three when they only had three picks. I mean, I think, you know, you want more, but I think the hit rate,

to me, looking at it now in their roster, that hit rate looks high for a team that only had five picks. I don't disagree. Yeah, again, it's just a deep group. I'm intrigued in round seven. There's two quarterbacks that I'm intrigued, not just because they're quarterbacks.

The situation they're in could not be more ideal for their skill set and for the people who will be developing them. Mike McDaniel with Quinn Ewers in Miami. Perfect fit. Curtis Rourke. Shanahan. Sneaky. Who cares about Brock Purr?

Mr. Orell. I'm just, like, just, I'm just going to be keeping an eye in next two, three years. Does anything come of it? Right. Okay? I also love Breschard Smith, SMU.

He's my, runner up. I love that in Kansas City, and you talked about that impact, too. But I went with Luke Lechay. Because at this point in the draft, when you get to the 6th, 7th round, I heard like Howie Rosem had a good clip.

Let's find guys that can be. starters. Let's go let's find guys that can be starters. Not saying they will be. We know the circumstances and why they're here, but let's go find some guys that can be, have the potential. Luke Lachet

tight end. Houston Texans. They had a really good draft. Luke Lichet, if Lichet wasn't, didn't get injured and it didn't set his career back at Iowa, I think he could have been a day two pick. Yeah. And the scheme too, by the way.

Remember, he's playing it. They just want to, they want to take the air out of the football. Yes. This is not a scheme where you're going to get the Oroyo kind of featured routes and targets or any of that stuff. He is, you better run block if you're going to play at Iowa, man. And like the ankle injury had surgery, it was set back, terrible quarterback play, scheme, all of it. And even if it wasn't for the medical and some of the concern, like, I still thought he could go like fourth, fifth. He went seventh late.

So obviously the medical set him back a little bit too. But this is a smart upside selection because you're talking about a six, five and a half guy who was tracking to potentially be a day two picket tight end, who has the ability that you see, who had a 35 inch vertical jump, by the way, Mench, tied for fourth in the tight ends, 10 foot broad jump, tied for six. Tyler Higbee was kind of the comp that I gave him when studying him on tape. You got some good comps today.

Thanks. He ran a 4-8. Unusual for you. Higby ran a 4-8 coming out of Western Kentucky. Knee injury cut his career short at Western Kentucky, but became like a reliable weapon, a decent move blocker for the Rams. Like, I just, I don't know. I think there's something there.

And look, Houston added competition. And it, yeah, I mean, I'll just be interested. I'll be interested to see how this plays out because I think he's got an opportunity to make that roster and actually making him. He averaged 14.2 yards per catch in 2022 before he got hurt. Lechay did. That's not an outrageous number, but that's a pretty damn good number.

Yeah. For a tight end. All right, that wraps it up. This was fun. Actually, it was more fun. I might have been more fun doing it and preparing, going through each round. There's so much stuff that inevitably any year you're going to miss out on something going on. And there's so many bullets flying.

And we're invading Rissillo's house. And it's raining as we're coming in and Mentz is trying to get a player. Orr-Sander just got drafted. We get Rissot in the corner eating a sandwich and we're trying to get everyone in place. So we miss some stuff along the way. Almost under an hour. Monday, Monday. You're excited.

I'm a little scared. I'm excited and scared. I get excited in life when the right thing lines up with the thing. You know what I mean? It's the right. It's what we do. It's who we are. And it also, I think, hey, we'll see.

It's going to be a stupid decision. Maybe we should talk to 2025 draft for two more months and then do a college football breakdown. Fuck that. We're doing our thing. And I think people are, I'm starting to get to, like, I know you guys, I know who's watching. I read the comments. We read the chats.

Keep in coming. This is what you want from us. Please. Thank you for watching on YouTube. I didn't do all that spiel today. Follow, click. Keep supporting us. We made some good decisions, some tough decisions.

It took a minute to decompress. But Monday, we're going to start this thing off the right way for 2026, getting ready for the college season. We're going to serve our fans, and we're going to do it the way that Mentioned I have been doing it for 25 years. We're getting back in the tape, and we're going to start doing stuff that no one has ever done before in this space. And we'll see you then. 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. Gambling problem?

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