The McShay Show - The Best NFL Draft Classes, Biggest Steals, Boom or Bust Picks, and More

Episode Date: April 26, 2026

Welcome to The McShay Show! Todd and Steve are back for a 2026 draft recap featuring superlatives, biggest steals, boom-or-bust picks, and more. Check out TheRinger.com/McShay to read Todd’s detailed prospect evaluations, and subscribe to The McShay Report for access to his favorite selection for all 32 teams. 0:00 Welcome to The McShay Show! 3:20 Best in draft20:50 Boom or bust29:05 See the vision39:10 Take the phone away52:40 Most interesting position group1:00:05 Glass eaters1:04:15 2027 QB sweepstakes1:09:30 Day 3 pick who will make the most impact1:13:20 The McShay Show scoreboard1:20:50 Final Thoughts on the 2026 NFL draftThe 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, Conor Nevins, and Daniel ComerSocial: Abou Kamara Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 2026 NFL draft is in the books. We've had a full day to digest it all. Before I let Mench go off to see fish and start noodling a little bit, man, we're going to break the whole thing down for you. And by the way, there's only 362 days until the 27 NFL draft. You good, Munch? I'm good, man. Tuck roll of my favorite beat, please.

We get a lot to get to you today, and I'm excited. It's always tough, right, because you sit there and we're going through every single pick, We're talking about the traits and we're talking about the 40 times. And we're talking about the character and the medical. And then you sit down on Sunday and kind of have this day. And after Saturday, after the drive, like you have this 24-hour period where you go back and you're like, oh, they got this. Oh, they address this need. Ooh, they still have a need to fill.

Yeah. Like, what were they thinking here? And then you start texting some GMs in the league and kind of getting some feedback on what they were thinking. And this is our opportunity to provide everyone with kind of. Where we stand on how some teams did, on certain picks that we think are going to be great, what the vision is for certain picks. Even might talk about taking the phone away of certain people in the decision making. You're listening to The McSheae Show presented by Fanduel. The NFL draft may be behind us, but Fandual still has everything you need to get ready for the upcoming NFL season.

Because Fandul has all kinds of bets, from who's going to win the Super Bowl, to who's going to the playoffs, to who's going to win rookie of the year. which I'm keeping my eye on. So if you don't already have it, make sure to download the Fandual Sportsbook app today. FanDuel, play your game. 21 plus select states 18 plus D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. Call 1-888-78-777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut in certain areas of the draft.

So this is a fun one, and it's going to be all-inclusive. We're not going to go through every single team, every single pick. We did it last year. It was, I mean, it was all-inclusive. Didn't feel like a fun show. This one's going to be a fun show. So appreciate everyone being here. If you want to follow along, please go to the website,

the ringer.com slash McShay to get all these scouting reports, right? And then the newsletter, the McShay report. You can go there, the ringer.com slash McShay. access the newsletter or you can Google it, the McShay report and subscribe. We have a full breakdown. Best favorite picks for all 32 teams, a lot of good information in there. And just letting you know right now, the 2027 way too early mock draft is already in the works and it will come out midweek. So be prepared for that.

And if you don't subscribe, you can't get it. So that's the best I can offer to you. Let's start off the top, man. Best in draft. We're going to have a category for all these things. Best in draft. And you can take it anywhere you want, but I think let's focus here on the teams.

And what impressed you most? And was there someone that stood out or a team that stood out with what they got in their hall or the value? However you want to take it. I love what the Cleveland Browns did. I thought general manager, Andrew Barry, was outstanding. We identified a plan for them going into the draft. That plan was trade back. get an offensive tackle,

take a wide receiver with your second pick in the first round. What do they do? They trade back, they pick up a third and a fifth, they end up getting the best tackle in the draft two I didn't think would be there, which is Spencer Fano out of Utah. And then they get Casey Concepcionial

and the receiver out of Texas A&M with the second pick in the first round. Plan executed. I'm not sure it could have gone any better. And then you wake up on day two, and Denzel Boston from Washington. Oh, what it somehow falls to you. What a dream.

So you take him. You wisely understand that this player has fallen to you. You take him. Receivers, one of their biggest needs going into the draft. If these two players hit, like, I think they can hit. I'm high on these two players. You have turned a weakness into a strength. You now have Denzel Boston.

You have Jerry Judy and you have Casey Concepcion weapons. I couldn't. The first three picks, home runs. Then you're sitting there and you're waiting and you're waiting. And all of a sudden you're realizing that Toledo safety, Emmanuel McNeill Warren, who some people thought could have been a first round. We were more comfortable with him in the second round.

But still, this is the late second round. He falls to you. He starts falling. You trade up and you go get the player. They do it again in the third round. They see that Austin Barber, another tackle, is falling. They trade up and they get him. Now you have addressed two of your most important needs with five picks.

I love what they did. And then you go to day two. And two of my favorite picks, I mean day three. Two of my favorite picks on day three. Joe Royer, the Cincinnati tight end, who averaged around 15 yards per catch last year

who I think is really undervalued. You pair him, he's a great compliment to Harold Fanon who you got last year. Weapons. You have more weapons. And then they get my guy, Tailing Green,

who I thought it might be a top hunter pick. They get him in the sixth round. Yeah. And Brown's fans, I get it. I got some heat about my Dylan Gabriel comment.

I think Dylan Gabriel is a nice player who could develop into a backup. I think the third round was way too early. Tailing Green in the sixth round, you talk about taking hacks? This is a player that has a unique skill set. This is a guy that can run, I mean, it's just he could be a difference maker

at the quarterback position someday. That's a great time to take a hack on a guy like Tailing Green. You're looking at it top to bottom. I mean, I just addressing need, finding value, understanding the board, all of it. And I don't want to sit here and go back and evaluate every draft. I thought about this morning as I was writing, going through the newsletter, right, and going through favorite picks and trying to really provide some substance for our subscribers in the McShay report. Am I crazy to make this statement?

This statement I actually think I believe in. I want to do a little bit more research, but I have never, and we've been doing this for 26 years, the Browns obviously had their franchise ripped away from them, they came back, the expansion draft and everything else. I don't know if I've ever felt more promising, had more of a promising feeling coming off of an NFL draft than I do right in this moment about the Cleveland Browns. Now, I'm not saying everything. We'll see about Todd Munkin as a head coach.

I have a lot of promise in that area. And the quarterback situation, is it going to be Shador Sanders? Is he going to take that next step? Are they just getting everything ready to go pluck and insert one of the quarterbacks from that great 2027 class? it appears as we sit here today. But from a personnel standpoint, man, I don't remember looking at a roster and thinking,

oh, they're actually heading in the right direction. You know what some of that is, is what they did last year. I know. They got Mason Graham. They got Carson Swessinger. They really did a good job on the defensive side of the ball. And then again, Fanon, now you're starting to feel like, whoa, these guys might know what they're doing here.

And we're stacking some weapons. We're stacking some offensive lines. So I don't know. And then looking forward to, you know, we'll see. I know there's a lot of Shador fans out there and he'll have an opportunity to, again, if he does it, great. But you're looking forward? Do you think you can get a quarterback in 27? And I hope people, when I say it's either Shador takes that next step or it's 2027, it sounds like I'm being flipping with it.

I'm not. I'm actually not. Shador, Gabriel, it didn't matter who was in there last year. They didn't have the cast. So you can't truly evaluate a quarterback. until you have the pieces around him, right? Yep. Like, Baker Mayfield's a pretty good NFL quarterback.

Didn't have, didn't have from all different aspects of it, didn't have the, so this is the first time, like Johnny Mansell and Brady Quinn and Baker and, like, it's just like, great, yeah, they failed and they don't have, because they didn't have the supporting cast. Now, part of that is ownership staying in its lane. Part of that is the right general manager and the draft picks and the free agent move. Part of that is just the players on the field. Part of it is coaching. I haven't felt like they have, they've had more pieces coming together.

I'm not saying they're together today. But like this, you can actually, actually evaluate Shador this year. You couldn't last year. So there's that part of it. And then if you, if it's not Shador after 2026, you're setting yourself up to actually be able to evaluate the quarterback. bringing in 2027. And that's an awesome feeling if I'm a Browns fan. Because it's been despair for so long.

All right, I'm going to transition. This is the only time, Mench. How many teams did you take? Is it only time Mention? Was it seven teams? This is the only time Mench that I'm going to veer off course, so bear with. Pick one team. My one team for Best

in Draft is five teams. So, I'm going to rip through this quickly. There's two ways that I evaluate the draft. There's two ways that I think a sane person evaluates the draft. The first way is, like, guys that will make an impact. What was the haul? How much better is this organization today than it was yesterday?

The second way that you have to evaluate it, and this is like, this is the appreciation. This is the art of the draft. This is when texting with GMs in the last 24 hours, like, yo, I saw what you did. Like, yeah, yeah. That part of it is teams that, like, maybe they didn't have the capital coming in. but they exploited what they had in terms of the capital, and they maximized it. So the two teams that I thought, in addition to the Browns, that were best in draft from, like, impact players that right away, this roster is just a lot better. And I thought the dolphins, I didn't put in this list, I thought that they got a lot of great players.

And I thought you made a great point on our show. The character level, as you're building from the studs up, they did a great job with John Eric Sullivan and his first. draft with Jeff Halfley. But the Raiders and the Jets were the two teams were waking up after the three days of the draft, the seven rounds. I think that their rosters are Mo better, are just the amount of talent that they brought in. The obvious is Fernando Mendoza, right? But then I broke it down offense versus defense.

On the offensive side, you've got Mendoza. They brought in Trey Zune, the third from Texas. A&M, who's a versatile lineman, which I think will help them as they're figuring out their best five and getting depth. Mike Washington to help take the load off of Ashton Genty, because this is about 2027, folks. This isn't about making a playoff run in 2026. Let's not rip off all the, you know, let's not tear the tires apart. Let's keep some tread on the tires, is what I'm trying to say. And Mike Washington will help in that regard with his explosive speed and his ability to catch the ball.

Then Malik Benson in the sixth round. I thought that was a great value pick for a player. We've got a quarterback who can drive it down the field. I'm going to say it's not Stafford. It's not Mahomes, but he's got a good arm and can drive it vertically. Let's give him some speed, okay, in Malik Benson, who can be a number four receiver but can be a vertical slot. The defensive side, though, man, and we've talked about historically the organizations

that get their quarterback, what they immediately pivot to is the defensive side. side because that quarterback can't make up for the sins of the other 10 guys on the defensive side. He can on the offensive side. So we better get great. Let's get a defense that's going to get the ball back to our quarterback that we're building around. Tray Dan Stukes is an absolute, like, just ball magnet, our guy, and he's versatile. Keirond Crawford's going to be one of the guys up front with Max Crosby all of a sudden who's back and they didn't expect to have him back with all the moves that they wind up making. So you add Crawford, who's going to be one of the guys who's going to pressure quarterbacks

to put the ball up for Stoakes to go back and get it. Oh, by the way, Jermott McCoy, the most talented cover corner in the draft, and I recognize the knee injury, and it may not be a second contract, but for four years we got this guy who, if he plays to the level of 2024, he might be the best man-to-man, press man cover corner in the draft. Dalton Johnson's an underrated safety. People didn't know about him, but teams in the league had him right around where they took, which was in the fifth round, the 10th pick.

And then Hezekiah Massis from California is another good cornerback, just adding depth that they got with the 35th pick in the fifth round. You added the fact that they brought in Quiti Pai, Walker, Nicobie Dean, and Terran Johnson is a nickelback option. All of a sudden, this defense has got a lot of depth. And they've got some difference makers. They're not there yet, but this is a much better offense. I mean, offense and defense, much better roster than it was coming in.

Then you got the Jets. That haul, man, and they moved up, you know, from, what, 33 to 30 to 30, to get back in the first round for three first rounders. David Bailey, obviously, the past rush, like, you know what he is as a pass rusher. Kenyon Sadiq, now with a two-tight-end option they have from Mason Taylor a year ago. I like that. That gives Frank Reich some, like, flexibility. This is a league that's going to 13 personnel, one back, three tight ends.

Not all the time, but you've got to be able to line that up. If you've been watching Sean McVeigh, I mean, this is what? The league is, it's a copycat league, and they've had a great success with it. Then Omar Cooper, Jr., Indiana wide receiver. Some people thought he could go, you know, 16 to 25. He's there on the board of 30. They said, let's go get him. He's our guy.

Contact balance, toughness, aggressiveness. big catches, big moments, contested catches. He's a guy that when they insert their quarterback next year, Arch Manning, Dante Moore, they're going to now have they have some weapons, right? Yeah. Garrett Wilson, Omar Cooper Jr., the two tight ends we just spoke of. And then DeAngelo Ponce, I get it, he's undersized, but he's one of the toughest sons of guns in the world. I had talked to many NFL teams, and it was the same report coming out.

I heard that Darren Moji said the same thing, the general manager from the Jets. When you talk to, one of the things you ask when you talk to these players, whether it's the 15 minutes at the combine, 30 visit, wherever it is that you're meeting with these players, who's the best, who's the toughest that you went up against? Whether it's a tackle for edge rusher or a defensive tackle, you're an interior offensive lineman. If it's a cornerback, it's a wide receiver. If it's a cornerback. So you ask all the top receivers, who's the toughest guy you want up against? Who's a guy you don't want to face again? All said DeAngelo Pontz, if they had faced him.

So you get all of that. And then Darrell Jackson, who, I get it. It's up and down. And we got to figure out a way to keep the pads down. But if we keep him in a rotation, keep him fresh, he's a difference maker. Town's a player. So those, and then even Vijay Payne in the seventh round. And there's some reasons he fell to the seventh round.

But at the end of the day, a guy is a difference maker. He's an enforcer, an impactful, you know. depth player. I said he was the closest thing to Eamon Worry in this draft. Nick Eamon Worry, the Seattle safety. So... Not Eamon Worry, but the closest thing. So those are the three, and if you add Miami four,

that I think wound up, like, in terms of just impact players, guys from the draft, their biggest halls. The Browns, the Raiders, the Jets, and you can throw Miami in there. Here's the value. This is the fun part to me. Okay. These teams didn't have the capital. that others did.

But there are three teams that I went, and I spent... You're still going on the best in draft. Yes, sir. Oh, my God. These three teams. I spent too much... It was like now 11 o'clock versus like sound asleep. You're hopefully, you know, sound asleep.

And I'm going through... You're your own worst enemy. I'm going through our board. Panthers, Dan Morgan. Phenominal job with value. Monroe Freeling, 19th pick, and knowing your roster long term and what you need. Ikea Kwanah and the situation there.

Great pick. Lee Hunter at Pick 49 was right around where you should get him, right? Love that pick. But probably a little bit of a value there. Chris Brasel, there's maturity questions, and is he fully developed? But Chris Brasel and the third, we thought he was going to be a second round pick. Sam Heck, Center, Kansas State. We had him top 100, match.

He went 143. Zaki Wheatley, we had it 120. He went 151. Top to bottom. top to bottom. I thought they did a phenomenal job. Yeah. While addressing needs, by the way.

I mean, they needed a receiver. I mean, they knew what they were doing. So that was one of the teams. I thought, how about the Colts? Chris Ballard, we talked to with the Combine. Yeah. I was texting him this morning. Like, man, like, it came together.

They needed a linebacker. They got two. But it wasn't about need. C.J. Allen, we had at 45. He went at 53. AJ Halsey at safety, we had at 68. He went 78. Jalen Farmer, we had at 75 in the top 100. They got him at 113. Bryce Betcher, we had at 117, 135.

Seth McGowan, we had at 222. We went 236, perfect spot to take a characterist guy who's got a lot of talent. Yes, a lot of talent. And so they kind of, like, down the middle, from guard to safety to linebacker, they got stronger down the middle and even running back. Then the commanders. And they didn't give up any more capital to do it. Like that's important.

I actually said in going into the draft, they kind of have to take their medicine. They can't afford with what's coming in next year to start using 27 to fix what happened. No, they moved back at one point, actually. You can't do it. And then the last team I was really impressed with Adam Peters, commanders.

Round one, Sunny Stiles, like that's just fall. falls in your lap, I get it, but, you know, I say it all the time, man. I don't believe in luck. That's why it's McShay 13. I don't believe in any of that. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity, and Peters was absolutely prepared when the opportunity presented itself, and it did. Patience, sit back, wait, sunny styles, and number three player on our board gets to him at seven. Antonio Williams, we had him at 56 overall.

This guy's, if he's not the best, he's the second best route runner in this class. and I think with the quarterback, I think he has got an opportunity. He was a third round pick. We had in 56, he goes 71. Joshua Josephs, we had 93. He went 146. That's a surprise.

Edge rusher. They need depth there. Ketron Allen even, we had 126. For what he is, he's a power back, right? Yeah. And now you got, you brought in Tampa Bay, Arizona State, Roshan White, right? Yep.

Who catches the ball and does all those different. this guy's just pounded between the tackles. Even Matt Galvin, the Michigan State Center that they drafted at 294, we had at 208. So top to bottom, those were the teams that I thought value-wise, and I'm out. You don't want to get any more? It's so hard, man, to spend all year long and to look at all this stuff. And I could have gone five more teams. I know.

I know you could have. So what? So we got to nine teams out of 32, or not even. We got to like seven teams out of 32. but it's important to distinguish, because any jagoff, as Pittsburgh people would say, can look at it, but they got the best players. Yeah, well, they came in with the best capital.

So I also want to give a nod to the teams that didn't have the same capital, but maximize what they had. Fair. All right, next up, here we go. I will color within the lines, mostly from now on. Boom or bust? It can be a player. It can be whatever you use.

want boom or bust or team what's your boom or bust from this year's draft i mean it's got to be kaleb banks going 18th overall to the minnesota vikings and can i love the pick i could love the pick right and still recognize the risk yeah love the pick i think he's great for what they do i think he can play anywhere along the the front there nose tackle defense ven whatever you want to use him in that in that defense and the tape is outrageous it's so good he is just throwing guys around i thought he had a slow start to the senior bowl, and then he really turned it on. He's some of the concerns there. If you're an optimist, you like that Dr. Waldrop, I don't know who that is, but I'm sure he's

a top of his feet. A fine doctor. Yeah, I'm sure he's elite. He's fine. He's cleared him and said that the banks will be ready to go in June, and that's great. He is a 6-foot-6-327-pound man who has a history of foot injuries at this point. But he's got 35-inch arms. He's got 35-inch arms.

He's got 35 inches. He ran a 504. On a broken foot. And a 32-inch vertical. On a broken foot. The foot was broken at that point. You're still jumping 32 inches. I understand, man.

And that's why I love it. What do you think your vertical would be right now? Seven? I think I'd be... I mean, I'll go with 12 for me. No, it's like credit card hops. Yeah, I don't know where to get mean. That being said, I love the chance.

I know it's early. I know it's early. but I love it because we've been talking about this player the whole lead-up because you get, it's so hard not to be excited about it when you look at the tools and you look at the tape and you look at what he can do

if he stays healthy, man, and we're talking about boom. Talk about boom, but there's a reason he gets to 18. I really think this player could have been a top-10 player if he doesn't have the durability issues. If he's able to show what he can do last year. I think he'd be a top-10 player.

But it's boom or bust, man. He is the definition of this kind of player. I feel like the interior, defensive linemen like this, boom more than they bust. Okay. At different positions, I feel like it's not always that. How many times have we talked about this interior defensive line? He's got everything.

And then you get to the league, like, of course he's great. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Of course he's great. No, that was a risk, but if it hits. And Brian Flores, I think he's going to, yeah. I'm excited about it, but I get the risk. My boomer busts is the Bengals, and this is not new.

I respect him. I'm the guy who... She went with a team. I did. And I'm not going to go through a long breakdown. I'm not that creative. Well, you sent your notes so that we didn't repeat last night, and I looked at it, and you took the one player I would take.

So I was like, let me get creative. I should have known. I should have known with you. Ty Simpson. Ty Simpson is sitting there for you. That's why I didn't take them. You don't think that's a boom or bust? Not at all.

Really? A Hall of Fame quarterback sitting there for the next year or two as you develop the guy. But if he doesn't develop, you use a 12-pick on a quarterback that didn't. Don't you drag down Ty Simpson- We'll talk about it later then. I didn't know you're going to bring him up. It feels like everyone's got spilt milk over the Ty Simpson. I'm not, man.

I'm just saying that I recognize it. Take your medicine for a few days, everyone. Do you don't recognize that's a boom- I'm done with the victory laps, but don't push me. Ty Simpson, boom, or bust? It's a classic boomer bust. This is typical Bengals. And I'm, like, I'm the guy who, like, it's late in the yellow.

I'm running through. I'm running through, and I've seen, I catch the red before, but I'm going, you know me. I've driven you back and forth from Manhattan Beach to the studio every day. And you know how, so, like, I don't mind risk. I'm not an incriminate at you, but yellow is being generous. But there were four picks, man, early first four rounds. They didn't have a first round pick. Their first four, I think there's their first four picks.

There's an element of risk in all, like boom or bust. Let's work backwards front. 40th pick of the fourth round. You know, like as a scout, you get to put the red star player for the player that you're pounding the table for. You believe in this guy. He's going to outplay where he's drafted, the character, all those things. There's going to be a certain color star for the player like this. Colby Young, 40th pick.

of the fourth round, is that, yeah, 40th pick of the fourth round. So late 40th, essentially a fifth round pick. Right. Wide receiver out of Georgia. He would have gotten that star from me because I've watched Colby Young when he's right and he's so much different than any other receiver you would have gotten on day three of this draft physically and the talent-wise. But it's always something.

There's some maturity. It could be a handful. Like all of that, right? But at Georgia, like, I don't know. You know, when you got a feeling about a guy he's going to get to, like George Pickens, right? Right. There's more meat on the bone with this guy

than what we saw college production-wise. It's about getting him in and getting them focused. And for whatever reason, Cincinnati seems to do a pretty good job of those guys. To bring him in, like, it's like, you know, you get in there as hunger games, compete, and may the best man win. May the odds be in your favor. It won't shock me if Colby Young becomes an impactful

number four receiver behind the, yeah. Yeah. Maybe number three at some point. Like, I'm telling you this guy can play. He's the guy, I've just had this feeling about him. Why aren't more people talking about him? Because he's a big dude who can break tackles. He can get the open downfield.

Colby Young, but there's absolutely risk. Go earlier in the fourth round. Pick 28 of that round. Connor Lou, center. I promise you, he's the most talented center in this draft. And Logan Jones went in the late second. He's a damn good player and he deserved to go there. But Connor Liu, if he had finished the season and wasn't coming off the torn ACL that happened in October of this past year, 2025, in the game against Missouri,

I think there's a really good chance that he would have been the first center off the board. Yeah, I agree. I don't know if he would have been, but it would be way more of a conversation. But I don't have the doctor's name like you, but I'm sure he has a fine doctor as well. Recovery is ahead of schedule. Like to hear it, reports indicate he should be ready for camp in July. And if that's the case, that fourth round pick that has a little bit of like, yeah, is it going to be ready to put?

That could wind up being a steal. I'm telling you like a second round value in the middle of the fourth round, later fourth round. Then you go to the third round. I don't even want to put risk on this, but Ticario Davis, like the ups and downs and the transfer, and which guy am I getting? But he is a tall, long levered, scheme fit for that defense. A guy who's got talent.

We talked about him two years ago. He's tracking towards first round pick. They get him the eighth pick in the third round. He started seven games this past year with the Huskies, but then he had the hamstring injury. So there is that element of the risk, and can we get the most out of them? But if they do, you're getting another first round.

I'm talking about three guys that are impactful players. It can be his first, second round type talent. that fell. And then there's Cassius Howell. And it's the short arms, even shorter than Ruben Bain. And we know, you know, these guys, double-digit sacks are just not, they have not happened for two decades plus for a guy with the short of arms. And there's some external stuff there, too. I'm not going to, I'm not going to lie, but it's not anything that I feel that concerned about if I'm going to be honest with you, too. And so getting him with the ninth pick in the second round, I see it. And I told you, when I was done with my tape study and didn't know exactly

what the arm length was and some of the other stuff. I was like, I'm putting him up there with Messador. Yeah. Best pass rushers in this class. Oh, and by the way, he can turn and run in coverage. So that's my boomer bus. It's the Bengals draft, but I actually am leaning on the side of boom with all four of those guys.

All right, next up. This is a fun one. Connor came up with this. I like this. I like this one. This is a thinking one, too. See the vision. See the vision. What's your choice for you see the vision with a pick or team or whatever it is.

Where do you see the vision? At first, maybe you glanced at this and you're like, well, how, and now you take a minute and you, you know, you think through it, look through the roster, look at the coordinators, whatever it is. Do you tell me where you see the vision? Dallas third round pick, Jason Barham. I think we are, we like the player. It wasn't like, I already thought it was good value where they got him.

To get him in the third round, I was like, oh, that's a good pick. And then I started really digging in about what he, Christian Parker, the new defense coordinator, can do with this kind of guy. And what's interesting about Barham is I think he's, think about how Arvel Reese was used or projected coming out of Ohio State that he was going to be an edge. And now he might play on the inside next to Tramon Emmons with the Giants and they'll work him in different ways. Jayshon Barham, last year, played mostly on the edge, kind of projected as an edge.

That's what we thought he was. Earlier in his career, he played off the ball. He played more Staps off ball linebacker than he did as an edge. that's what Dallas is going to use him as. They're going to play him on the inside as an inside linebacker, but it's really exciting for me is you're getting, first of all, you're getting inside linebacker who's 6'3 and a half, 240 pounds with 34 plus inch arms.

I mean, he's got really violent hands. He can get off blocks. As a run defender, that's great. But what's fascinating to me is the ability to drop into coverage and his upside is a pass rush and his ability to get off the quarterback, get out for the quarterback. And the reason I say that is Christian Parker's a Vic Vanjillo guy. and they're going to run simulated pressures.

A simulated pressure is something that looks like a blitz, but only four are coming, and you don't know which four are dropping, I mean, you don't know which four are coming, and who's dropping, and J. Sean Barram. Perfect. Perfect skill set for that. He comes, you're in trouble,

he can come from anywhere. He can rush from depth. He can walk up into A-gap. He can come off the edge. He's going to be a problem. And I just really want to quickly hit on this, too, because when you think about them getting Caleb Downs, you're like, oh, he's a first round safety.

Caleb Down is one of the best players are like, you know, like division, blah, blah, blah. The vision for Caleb Downs from Christian Parker, have you heard Christian Parker talk about DeJohn Cooper from Philadelphia and about what his number one trade is, how quickly he processes. Yeah. He has, Parker says something called BrainWorks. Does brain work?

Brain works. Caleb Downs is tailor-made to play nickel in this system because of his versatility, because of his intelligence, and looking back at it and hearing Parker talk about some of the guys a former DB coach, talking about some of the Nichols. And he's one of the brightest young minds that people don't know in the industry, and the defensive side. Talking about some of the Nichols, he's coach, man. It's like, oh, my God, it was Caleb Downs all the way.

It kind of reminds me a little bit, and I'm not going to try to put too much on him here. But I get the same vibes when we were young in this industry of Christian Parker as, like, Bill Belichick, Nick Saban, the defensive backs. seeing the whole picture, right? And those were, like, the roots of them and then developing the defensive coordinator and all of a sudden coordinator goes to head coach? You should hear him in interviews, man.

That's what I'm saying. He's not, like, he's not, like, deflecting and being vague. He's not, like, this is what they do in this. He started talking about San Francisco's game. He's like, this is how it's a little different than us, and that's how we can build. I was like, man, this guy just, like, wants to talk ball. He knows all.

When I listen to him, I'm like, oh, he's smarter than me, and that sucks. Oh, yeah. 100%, man. It's not even close. I like that. And honestly, feeding off of it, I see the vision with the Giants. And you mentioned Reese there.

I see the vision with the Giants' first two picks, and I appreciate the hell out of the fact that, first of all, it felt like a more of a united front than maybe the vibe was coming out of New York, the Giants building. And some of the rumors and whispers with Joe Shane, the GM, is this is his last time in Harbaugh, who's making the decisions and how much. It felt very united with John and Joe. But more importantly, their first two picks, I'll remind everyone, is Arvel Reese, right?

Arvel Reese falls to them at five, the Ohio State linebacker conversion. And I'll remind everyone, too, Arvel Reese was a one-year starter at Ohio State. We'd known for like three years that this guy is like next, right? but it was this year did he finally crack the lineup because the year before, national championship team, there's eight guys that wind up getting drafted, so he cracks the lineup this past year in 2025,

and the defense is actually better. And he starts off and playing more off-ball linebacker than Edge, and Matt Patricia's like, all right, I've got to kind of integrate him. I think it was like maybe like the Illinois game. There was a couple games where you start seeing more and more and he finishes the season with like 300-plus snaps at Edge. Yeah. So when they draft him, they're like,

huh, I thought he was an edge. We worked out at the Combine as a linebacker. He played both linebacker and Edge. And now they're drafting another edge, but then we just drafted Abdul Carter, and we just, and we got Brian Burns, and we drafted Cape Mon Tibado, and we trade in Tibado.

And to hear the United Front, but then also the plan for these guys, right away, it was like, like, you don't have to speculate. Arvel Reese is our Will Linebacker. We're plugging them right in that, Michael McFadden spot, right into the Will linebacker. We're plugging him right in

next to Tremaine Edmonds, who we brought in the offseason from Chicago. But we're going to make him a nightmare for you opposing offenses because we're going to blitz them in the A, in the B, in the C, in the D gap, and then we're going to turn them loose off the edge, and then occasionally we're going to drop them in coverage, just like you're talking about with Philly. These are players that are now being

valued in the NFL because of the skill set. And everyone says, whether it's NASCAR or positionless defense, like however you want to frame. it within the frame work of your defense. Coordinators love these guys. Because offenses are doing a lot of different things, and they're getting all these three- Jaylon Walker last year.

Jalen Walker, yes. You know, these are, this is a developing skill set slash players slash role. And this guy's bigger and more powerful to Jalen Walker, and he ran in the four-fours. Yes. And he jumped through the roof. Yeah.

So just to hear right away where it was like, What I didn't want to hear is, yeah, we're going to bring him in, and we're going to see how we're going to fit him. It was like, no, he's our will linebacker right away, and we're going to blitz the hell out of him, then we're going to drop him, and you're not going to know where he's going or what he's doing. I thought that was pretty cool. Now, we'll get back to this later. We're going to need an interior defensive line with Dexter Lawrence leaving and already need it. At some point. However, then the other part of it is Maui Noah, who, by the way, there was a scenario in which Maui Noah would have been the fifth overall.

And they were perfectly clear about that. Like these are players that we viewed in the top five in this year's class. And the reports coming out of the building prior to the draft were that that's kind of how they viewed it. And I think the Jordan Tyson stuff was if you could get to 10, right? But the fallback was, and there was a very, it was very easy. Fernando Mendoza goes one. David Bailey goes two. Team trades in and takes Arvel Reese.

Sunny Stile, I mean, Arvel Reese, and Jeremiah Love goes forward to Tennessee. That's like, it's like 50-50 that happened. Yeah. Like that close that almost happened. Arizona just didn't, the phone wasn't ringing. So they get Reese there and they may have taken Maui Noah, but then they get Maui Noah at 10. Because Cleveland passes on him and goes with Spencer Fano,

who's a better fit for what they want to do with Todd Munkin with some of that outside wide zone stuff. Yep. And they get Maui Noah, and right away. This guy started 42 games Maui Noah did at Miami at right tackle. And so you think, well, we drafted him at 10. Definitely playing him at tackle, right? He's 6'6, he's 335 pounds.

He's got almost an 81-inch wing. Okay? No, we're starting to guard. We got Germaine and Luminore at right tackle. What's his name? Most importantly, John Michael Schmidt, at center, and we got Luminore at right tackle, and now we got 81 inches of wingspan. It's about time.

We start valuing interior offensive line. In the middle. And so we're building a wall. Forget the run game, which is critical. But in addition to, that's a big-ass wall you've got to get around to get to our quarterback, Jackson Dart. And I just love the vision they shared with us and making it more clear exactly how they're going to utilize them. And I think it's awesome. I agree.

I love it. And I like that that, you know, 10 is not, when we talked about Maui, I know maybe going a little bit earlier. And I was like, if you're Arizona and you're drafting a guard, I don't really love that pick. Tan's a great place.

That's not too early for a guard, man. That's a good place to take a guard and with a guy who could develop in where I tackle. This episode is brought to you by men's warehouse. On the lookout for new clothes, it doesn't have to feel overwhelming. Just check out men's warehouse.

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the men's warehouse experts can guide you while their on-site tailors guarantee your clothes fit your body perfectly. Men's warehouse has over 600 locations nationwide. They are here and need. nearby when you're ready to love the way you look. All right. Next up is take the phone away.

I don't like this one. I know you don't. Because you are my cautious guy. And I, it's catchy. Take the phone away is insinuating like, don't let him make a decision. Like, let's, it's not necessarily to that extreme. We're just saying, like, these are maybe the picks or the decisions or whatever it was that we're, that, We were scratching our head or we're not sure exactly what the rationale was or we're questioning the value or maybe seeing the board or understanding it.

But I'll throw it to you with take the phone away. I feel like we should have a, we should have some like a ring tone to this. Take the phone away. Where would you go with this? I thought Miami did a lot of nice stuff. I thought they had a really good night overall. I don't think taking Caleb Douglas with the 11th pick in the third round makes a lot of sense to me. I get the profile of receiver you're looking for.

Caleb Douglas is 6 foot 3 and a half, and he's got 439 speed, and he averaged 15.7 yards per catch. You're looking for a guy who's like a bigger-bodied guy. You can take the top off the coverage. I understand that profile. Here's some of the other receivers still available at that prick. Chris Brazzled's second is a 6-4 receiver with a 4-3740, and he averaged 16.4 yards per catch.

Bryce Lance is a 6-foot-4 receiver with 4-34 speed, and he averaged 21.2 yards per catch. I know it's FCS. That's a huge, huge number. Ted Hurst ran on the four-fours, but he's a vertical threat, and I think a much better overall receiver. I get looking for a bigger guy who can take the top off. Caleb Douglas wasn't in the same category as those guys,

and I think it was just too early. I thought they got Chris Bell after this. I think Chris Bell's a better pick than Caleb Douglas was. Yeah, I don't disagree. I just love the rest of the rest of it. their draft so much that it's like, I know give a pass there. That's why I don't want to take the phone away from him. Yeah, I would never want to take the phone

away from this guy. He killed it. He killed it. But this was one where I was, it was a head scratcher, though. Um, let's dig in here for a minute, right? Let's dig in. James Gladstone is considered, like, as we like to say, he's wicked smart, you know, from where we come

from. And it's, it's well known. The general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars. And there's a blend of new age scouting that I appreciate. There's a blend of analytics with tape evaluation, even down to like their buzzwords for their scouting. They don't, they've reduced it in an effort to advance scouting in terms of like, if you go to scout a player, my understanding is there's like maybe, I don't know

how many words, words or phrases, like 150 words or phrases that you can utilize. and they, over time, they, they, uh, and then he comes from the Rams. And obviously I have a believe in less need and what they're doing there. And, and I believe that James Gladstone is absolutely equipped to run an organization. I'm not even questioning that. I also want to, like, say this, I have strong opinions and strong beliefs because I believe in our process and our scouting evaluation. I don't for a second ever pretend to have all the answers.

Every time I have a conversation, whether it's a college head coach or a college general manager now. A coach in the league, a scout in the league, a general manager in the league, I learned something, man. Yeah. And so I'm always open to new and different and blending all of it. And every one of these GMs has had to blend their roots and even talking to Elliot Wolf, who's the son of Ron Wolf, and talking about like, yeah, we factor in some analytics with certain things that we do. But we're driven more by the, you know, the old school and the, and the process in our grading scale. Everyone's got their thing and I'm here for all of it. There's, I promise you, there's no one way to do this right. If there was, we'd all be doing it,

okay? But with Gladstone, it's just, it's interesting to me. I guess my biggest takeaway would be he came in hot last year, right? And he traded up from five to two. And I get that. And you come from an organization where it's like, F them picks and like, let's get. And so, and what if we're drafting Shohei Hattani, right? And early returns aren't awesome. And we had an injury with Travis Hunter. And now it's like we're going to play a more corner and we're still going to play wide receiver. We'll see how that plays out.

I'm not passing judgment on anything yet. But they gave away this year's first for it, right? And it is part of a package that required more to move up those. three spots. Then you come into this year, you don't have a first. You're picking at 56. I don't, like, get out of here with the consensus picks. I read all this stuff on social media. Like, if you're relying on consensus picks, how about you just go do your job? There's no such thing as a consensus pick for me, and I know for everyone in the league. Now, where consensus pick can be helpful, and I don't know that, I don't think someone's going to a consensus board on

the internet, the consensus is they, we've talked to general managers. They point blank said, dating back to Bill Pollian, that we, yeah, we identify the people who get the best information and we take that and we put it into a little system and it spits out our consensus. So I think people who don't know what's going on in the league have a misconception, misconception of what this consensus thing is. They don't give a fuck about consensus when it comes to their draft board. They only care about where are players coming off the board

if we take the smartest people who are getting the best information, understand the market. And each round is its own market, and each position is its own market. When are the runs going to happen? At the end of the day, let's simplify this thing. I want this player. Where can I get this player?

All of this work pre-draft is done. All this specific work, the consensus boards, the mock drafts, all that. Find the smartest people get the best information. You go to the huddle report.com, and they can tell you the best mock drafts and the best top 100 boards every year. Let's pluck out the best of those guys,

ladies and gentlemen, and put them all into a thing and figure out our consensus for what we trust. So I say all of that with, I don't care about a consensus board. I look at where I rank a player, and I know historically our board, board is, like the last five years, it's the best that's out there.

84.8, we average out of 100 players who are picked. So I would trust that board. I'm not saying we're perfect. We miss on guys just as much as the teams in the league do, and we hit on certain guys, and it's all fine. The trouble I have with, and Gladstone came out and talked about this, Nate Borchurcher, Nate Borchurcher, the tight end that they drafted from Texas A&M, he's a good player. I get it.

The league's going to 13 personnel. That's what James is sharing with people. And there was going to be a tight-end run. And we told you where the tight-end run was going to be. And in fact, we were probably 8, 10 picks late on where it was going to start. But we told you the range where it was going to happen. We told you the wide receiver is going to go in the first round. There's only going to be a few in the second.

And then there was going to be a bunch in the third. And I'll get to that in a little bit. We kind of had a really good feel. If you study this, you do. And I know like DJ has a good feel. And Kite probably has a good feel. Like people who do this full time all year, like, and have gotten good at and have good sources in the league,

you combine all that information, and you can figure out kind of where the runs are going to happen. So he's relying on some of that to figure out the runs, and he did a great job with that. He took at 56 a tight end, and that's where that run was happening. My problem is, I went off of our board, and we had him in day three.

and then I talk to teams because I'm not going to come on here and I'm not going to do this. The consensus I got from teams because I'm texting people and I'm trying to figure out. Before I come on here, I'm not going to say it just because I didn't evaluate the same way. I want to make sure consensus was fourth, fifth round with Bore Kirchur. Okay? So we're taking them at 56. That's the only issue I have here. Albert Regis, I loved Albert Regis.

Loved him. I watched his tape. And Oniadam, the other. of Tyler Oenadem. I actually liked Regis more, but recognizes more upside, so I knew that Oneidem was going to wind up going a little bit earlier, and he did. But Albert Regis at 81, you didn't have to take him. Even I, who self, I knew that I was higher on Regis than most people.

I just appreciated the hell out of the way he played with discipline and all that stuff. I didn't have him in, I'm just outside the top 100, they take him at 81. That's fine. Okay, I can live with that. Jalen Hoski's 251 on our board some teams had 6th they took him to pick 100

Yeah So and it keeps going from Wesley Wilson That was a good pick 157 that's about where he was going to go 119 is where we had him CJ Williams though the wide receiver undrafted free agent

talking to teams yeah with UDF UDFA UFA UFA Um Zach Durphy Edge 233 on our board teams yeah

7th late Parker Hughes lineback. So I say all of this I'm not I promise you I'm not railing on James Gladstone. All I'm saying is he's going to wind up being the smartest guy in the room. He's going to be

one of the smart guys that we're always he's doing it different. He's doing it his way and my gosh he's nailing it. And if that happens, awesome, I'm here for it. You know I like less need a lot and this is this guy like I'm like I'm for it. he's taking a risk.

And honestly, go get them, man. Do it your way. Yeah. I'm not here cracking on it. I'm just saying there is an element to it, though, where it's like I get getting your guy, but maybe figure out where you can get your guy and be comfortable that you're going to get your guy. That's my only slight here. But I'm fascinated.

I can't wait to see how this works out. Yeah, but if you look at it from the Rams standpoint, like there's a reason the Rams didn't take Pooka Naku. in the first round. And they got Pooka Nukua late because they identified that this player would be there. And they believe, I firmly believe that they thought he was going to turn into what he turned into. And the Rams do some of this. They don't, they don't win all the value chart drafts every year.

They don't. But it's more controlled. It's more controlled. Right. You know, they joked about this whole straight is going to. This feels like I'm going to make my mark and I'm going to show you. and I hope he does. And he might.

I promise you. There was another team I was going to get to. I just, yeah, I think the 49ers could have done the same, could have done a little bit better job. I can't begin to explain to you the level of respect I have for John Lynch. I'm not cutting at it. I'm just saying, I think that we could all agree. Like, stribling and Halton, great picks. Yeah.

Get out of here with the stribling. Yeah. Get out of here with the stribling. If you're going to make comments and cut at somebody that has one of those 32 seats in the league, you better know what the fuck you're talking about. And to say that Stripling was going the next 5-10 picks, man. So like, get out of here. I tried to, I trialed everyone.

The two guys that were going earlier than everyone thought was Stoog, were Stooges from Arizona, trade-ed stucs. And we saw him go early. And then also, Dejohn Stribling from Ole Miss wide receiver. Hot. like sizzling hot coming into the draft. That's so hot right now. It's so hot right now, Zoolander. But Kaelin Black, who we loved.

Love. We were on the high end of taking them at 904. 204 is where we had them. I talked to some people. They thought like fifth was about the spot. So maybe take him in the fourth. Carver Willis, Jaden Dugger. Enrique Cruz is fine.

he had four catches in 16 games last year. Yeah. And it doesn't mean he can't do it in the NFL, but this is a profile of a player that you're going to take a little later. Yeah. And they've just, the hard part with the running back stuff is like Joe Williams in the fourth in 2017, Trace Serman in the third and 21.

22 was Tyrian Davis Price, Isaac Arendo in 2024 in the fourth, Jordan James in the fifth last year, and now Kaelin Black in the third. That's a lot of third to fifth round picks that, haven't panned out. So we'll see. And I hope, and I, we, I love Jordan James,

and I love Kaelan Black. I really do. James I didn't have a problem with last year at all. Like I got that, but that's right where they should have taken them. This one feels a little early, but only time will tell. All right, next up. I can chill now.

Yeah, we'll see. You'll get worked up in a minute. Interesting position group. What was the interesting position group to you? It's, it was tight end. I mean, it's funny because you wrote up a lot of the tight ends, and then I was peeking over your shoulder because that's one of my favorite positions that I'm always into it.

But listen, 22 tight ends drafted. It wasn't as good at the top. I get that, you know, one first rounder. I understand all of that. And then Stowers, Eli Stowers from Van der Milton, didn't go until late 22nd in the second round. So, like, it wasn't top heavy. But 22 tight ends is the most since 2002.

Tells you something, doesn't it? 2002. It tells you a couple of things, right? Like it tells you, one, this class was very deep, but the more importantly thing the thing that you're talking about is how much teams are valuing them. You've talked about just the 13 sets, the 12, like people are using tight ends and people are going to get, you can get into the weeds about this. Is it really 13 personnel if that tight ends lining up in the slot and I get all of that?

I don't, I'm not really here for that right now. I'm telling you that these players are valued. These players that are, I think, versatile, can play in the slot, can block in line, can do all of the, these different things for you. And we're seeing that the mirror image of that on the defensive side of the ball where a guy like Caleb Downs is a nickel is so important. Or Cooper DeGine is so important as a nickel because you're trying to find guys that match up in there. This is where the game is going, these versatile pieces at tight end and at safety. That's why nickels are valued so much. So here we see it. It's in the number of 22. Not only that, the dolphins, browns,

Ravens, Broncos, and Jaguars all drafted two. All of them looked at it and said, we're going to go and get tight ends. You know, the Brown's got one last year. They didn't care. They're still going to go and get two this year because they like this class so much. It was, you know, outside of Bo Kurcher going to Jacksonville, it wasn't that crazy in terms of,

I saw a lot of reaches that people thought the Titans were reaching, and I get it. I wouldn't have had him come off the board the exact same way. But it was still, it still went Sadiq's hours like we expected in the beginning. And maybe you didn't, identify Marlon Klein for Michigan as a top five tight end. This guy did. McShay did. We knew that he was a top five going into this. We both really liked him. Max Claire went after that.

Like Sam Rosh, another guy that were really high on. So I didn't think there was as much reach as some other people thought. I just thought it was a really deep class. And it proved to be a really deep class. It did. Honestly, the past catchers were a big theme because both the tight ends and the wide receivers. And this, we talked a lot about this wasn't, we didn't have. Calvin Johnson or some of the Jamar Chase recently. We didn't, it's not, it's not those class. It's not, it wasn't that class where you have the elite guy and we'll have that class next year with Jeremiah Smith, right? As we're getting ready, preparing, go back this afternoon and write up this.

First overall. 2027, way too early. Sorry, Arch. Sorry, Arch. First overall. But we recognized the depth, man. And it was a pick your flavor when you got past the first, you know. You know, first round, even in the, honestly,

throughout, it was pick your flavor. Because we had big, big physical X's. We had, we had Z slots. We had some, some guys that look like X's, but really are going to be Z's with vertical speed, like the Brazels at four three speed, right? Bryce Lance, Tray Lance's younger brother. Ted Hurst, so we had some guys that look like X's tall,

but they're not the physical guys. They're verticals, put them at Z. We had slots. We had guys like Omar Cooper Jr. who's played slot and played outside. Antonio, Inside Outside. Casey Concepcion. We had a lot of different kinds.

I was fascinated by the wide receivers, and I feel like we had it pretty good. We thought five to six in the first round, and it turned out to be five, right? With Carnell Tate, Jordan Tyson, Mackay Lemon, Casey Concepcion, and Omar Cooper Jr. With the Jets trading back into 30 to get him. Then we knew that there was like some wild card element to the second. round. Would Zachariah Branch be a second rounder or some of the medical and the size? Would Chris Brasel so intoxicating with talent? But like some of the maturity stuff, is he there? You know, some of the reports came out or else I wouldn't, I didn't mention it until reports

came out everywhere else, okay? So who's going to be in? And then Jeremy Bernard, such a good fit for West Coast offense. DeJohn Stribling, such a good fit for that kind of offense. So it was about flavor there, but only three of them came off the board. And Denzel Boston, who we thought could be one of those six, winds up falling a little bit, with stribling going a few picks before, six picks before him, right? But what I find fascinating is nine of them went in the third round. Crazy. Crazy.

Out of 36 picks, that's 25%. It's kicked off with Antonio Williams from Clemson going to the commanders at pick seven. 31. Three picks later is Malachi Fields from Notre Dame going to the Giants. One pick later, Caleb Douglas shocked us, right? But went to the dolphins. Munch covered that already. Then to Zach Branch from Georgia stays home, goes to the Falcons. Hopefully you can mend some fences with the local police department around there. Why aren't you laughing, Munch? That was four picks later.

That took me a second, man. One pick later after Zacharii Branch. I'm surprised. I didn't know that Jacoby Lane would wind up in the third. It wasn't my, but I get it. And the Ravens took him out of USC. Chris Brousel, who I mentioned, 6-4, 4-3 speed. Yeah.

Show some ability to get in and out of breaks. He's got some upside there. He goes to the Panthers. I love that pick for Dan Morgan. Buccaneers get Ted Hurst. Love that pick. Let's get baked some guys. He can drive it, man.

Xavier on Thomas. Very surprising to me. But he was second fastest receiver, third fastest player at the combine, I believe. it was from LSU. Goes to the Bears at 89 and the 94, Chris Bell, who I thought could actually go in the second. I had a schedule coming off the ACL tear in surgery.

I mentioned, I took, like, there's some maturity stuff. There's some stuff on tape, but you're like, come on, man, like, give me some more as a blocker, give me some more consistency. Your route running is, so you're like a four-year player, why aren't the road's great? But then you watch him catch the ball against Miami and slice through a defense

and rip off that four-three speed that we think he has. And it's like, Yep, he can... That too can play. And the Dolphins got him as well. So that 17, with that nine in the third round, 17 is tied for the most. And we talked about this a month leading up to the draft. Tied for the most ever in the common draft error for wide receivers to go in the first three rounds with 2020, 2020, and 2007.

Pretty remarkable. From a class that we watched in the summer, we're like, I'm not sure, man. Yeah. There's a bunch of good guys, but I'm not sure. We'll take the next step. It wasn't like these guys weren't on our radar. Tyson going to be healthy. Denzel Boston going to take the next step.

And then middle of the season. Jeremy Bernard is... Mikey Lemon kids pretty good. Yeah, it started to grow. All right. Next up. I've got a lot of categories. Oh, Glass Eater.

Yeah, I thought you're going to skip it. This one's for MENCH. I'm not skipping anything. I thought you might skip it. Last year we did two hours and 20 minutes. If we go an hour and 20 today, that's fine. Glass Eaters, who is it for you? We got.

First of all, I want everyone to understand what the glass eaters. These are like the road graders. These are the tough guys. These are the guys that you want playing along your offensive line who if you're in a brawl and an alley, these guys are the first ones

that step to the front and take care of their boys. The Menches. No, no, definitely not. Anyone who played with me knows I wasn't that guy. Anyways. The Joe Douglases.

Yeah, yeah. Everyone's going to get that. Houston Offensive Guard, Keelan Rutledge, is the runaway winner. He is the, he is at the top. But he also got to mention Detroit offensive tackle Blake Miller can be a real prick. Real prick. Baltimore offensive guard, Vega. I, uh, Yawane. I can't do it, man. Also can be a real prick. These guys are violent, mean block to the echo of the whistle. They will get under your skin with the way they play. And I would be remiss if I didn't give my honorable mention to my

favorite player in the draft, apparently. Pittsburgh offensive guard slash offensive tackle. Jennings Dunker who is not afraid to mix it up himself. These are the guys, these are the glass eaters in the class. These are the guys that, like, if you got them, you know you've got someone in that offensive line room who's going to accept nothing less than protecting your quarterback and opening up running lanes. They are going to be physical and they're going to go hard every single snap. I feel like you're stereotyping.

Why? Why does it have to be an offensive line? I mean, there aren't glass eaters at other positions? It didn't have to. to be. I mean, I understood that and I actually thought about it. I'll give you another offensive line. Kianti Scott, by the way, I thought about. Travis Burke from Memphis is a glass eater.

Okay, here we go. That's an offensive tackle. You're out of your realm, but go ahead. 117 overall, Chargers. Love the player. Yeah, yeah, I do. I love it. I love players. He's got some mean. He's got a decent amount of pricking. Yeah, yeah. Okay. My glass eater, though, would be, and I'll give you another honorable mention first.

Why can't a wide receiver be a glass eater? I knew you were going to do this. Go ahead. Denzel Boston. I know. I love him. Have you seen some of the hits he takes with that quarterback with all due to respect? He's an awesome athlete, Williams.

Yeah. DeMond Williams. Yep. Off target. Can be off target. Can lay you out. You've seen some of those hits over the middle he took, popped back up. No problem first time.

Yep. Glass eater. My glass eater in this class is Will Kesar. Okay. Angelopon's, by the way, we'd have a... He doesn't want to successfully block you, wants to break your face. Did you see him at the combine? By the way, I have one category for the offensive lineman, and you have to...

I gave you one Travis Burke from Memphis. He's now... I know, but now you want to be like, who's no charges? He's probably right down the road right now. Tell me about Czmerich. Joe Ortiz and the gang. Tell me about Czmeric. You see him hit the sled at the combine?

Yes. I thought he's going to hurt something. Yes, he's mentally... He's that guy, yeah. Yeah, mentally ill. in all the great ways. In the best ways, yes. That's a glass eater, man.

Yeah. Miami gets a glass eater in the third round. That's why he went as early as he did. That's why a guy who doesn't catch the ball that much. He actually can catch the ball well. Yeah. But a guy who doesn't catch the ball much when it was a third round pick to the Miami Dolphins. We've got all sorts of needs, but it tells you what they want to be.

And we're going to have the third. This is Slowick, man. We're going to have that 13 personnel. Yeah. This is like, this is Shanahan and McVey. We're going to line up all sorts of things. How many tight ends do the Rams out? Like 70.

Right? It's not even funny. Like they haven't seen a tight end they don't love. So that's why he was, they valued him enough. Even no he's like not, yeah, security blanket here and there. But as a pass catcher, he's not going to offer anywhere close to what the 87th pick in the draft. But because he wants to break your face and break that sled, he's going to be, he's worth 87 to us. All right, 2027 QB sweepstakes as we prepare to leave here and go to the hotel and kind of rip into some of the needs left and rip through the 2027 mock draft.

Which team did it occur to you as we're watching this 2026 draft play out like 2027 sweepstakes is starting? Well, it's interesting to me because I think the jets are clearly the team. You're going to talk about the jets? The QB the QB sweepstakes. Yeah, sure. So I think the Jets are clearly the team. I don't want to act like I don't think that's the case. I'm going to let him explain it.

I think the Browns are interesting because of the same things you talked about a little bit earlier. They actually now are in position to evaluate their quarterback room and see whether or not the guy is there. And if he's not there, then they know what they need to do. And one other interesting thing is that Andrew Barry is a flurry of traits. And your head must be, like your head might be spinning as a Browns fan about what he exactly did. but when the dust settled, he walked out of there with two fourth round picks for next year.

And I know that's not a second first round pick. I understand that. I understand where that is. It's not nothing. Picking up more capital, putting him in a position, we'll see what else he does.

That stood out to me. I think you're on to something. So he had two fourth round picks from next year while he was moving up to get players. It was hard to get a pick from anyone. I'm telling you, Andrew Brary had that out of a hell of a weekend. He did.

And I hope people recognize, like other teams around the league were protecting the 2027 picks. And he's getting them. He's prying him loose, yeah. Family heirlooms. And then when he moved up, he was picking up picks that he had from this year. He wasn't using capital from next year. Yeah, the Jets, like, I don't think we have to spend a lot of time on it.

I don't think that they've even been, yes, they spent a fourth round pick on Kade Klubnick, and yes, it was a little bit confounding because it was Klubnick. But you come to find out all the Nussmine. and his durability stuff and some of the other quarterbacks went a little bit later. But that's to be, like, Clubnick is going to be a backup for a long time, and they want to get started on the development of him. Maybe get him a couple games he plays this year. He's got talent, but he's not future.

He's just, he didn't show anything this year that would lead you to believe he's the future of the Jets plans. I think we all know that. I'm stating the obvious. What also is obvious, and it's become, I knew this a long time ago, but it's become public that that trade for Quinn and Williams was the offer was a first this year, 2026 and a second next year, and they had to negotiate. No, we want your 27 first so that they could then get a third first round pick. They have three first round picks next year, right?

and they did a great, I started the show off talking about the Jets and what they've done. They are absolutely building towards 2027 and pluck insert that quarterback, whether it's Arch Manning, whether it's Dante Moore. And anything less than that, I think, depending on how it all plays out next year. Maybe CJ Carr becomes the enviable one. Maybe it's Brandon Sorosby. Brandon Sorosby. Sam Levitt.

Lenore Sellers, your guy. So whichever quarterback that is, there's going to be enough at the top. Like in 2024, when we had six of them going 12 picks, it's probably going to be something pretty similar next year. So they're setting all this up and they're trying to get the roster right for when they do insert that they're ready to hit the ground running, right? The fascinating part is Aaron Glenn, as any good coach would, but Aaron Glenn wants to win now. now and they're bringing in enough talent to win a few games, but how many games do they win? You know, and that balance.

I also was told, like, they were going to bring in a veteran that will win them enough games so that they don't lose the job and lose the fan base and everything, so that there's enough positive energy and things going on, but not enough games that we're not in striking distance with those three picks. Strange place to be in, man. And you don't want to keep players how to lose. You don't want to do it.

Well, that's the thing is, and I don't want to get a long thing on this, you can't in the NFL unless you physically remove players from the field or you've just depleted your roster in a way. You can't tank because there isn't a coach in the world and much, much, much, much more importantly, every tape, every game is a tape and every tape is a part of the puzzle or picture for me getting another contract. So the 50 third man on the roster or the first. Every tape I put out there is part of the picture of me.

And players talk about that all the time. They are highly aware of that. You only get 17 of them. Yep. So I'm certainly not going to take one 17th of my opportunity to get a better contract, whether it's here or the next place. So it's going to be fascinating to watch that. All right.

Next. Who's the day three pick in your opinion if you had to pick all of them? Yep. There were, what, 100 picks? So of the 157 picks on day three, if you had to target one guy who's going to make the biggest impact in 2027, who's it going to be? 2026, who's it going to be? Give me fourth round pick, Bryce Lance for the Northern Orleans Saints. Love it.

They took Jordan Tyson in the first round, and you might be like, oh, they already got a guy. He's going to get all these targets. He's going to get all this workload. And they had Crystal Lave coming back. Hopefully, I don't know what the blood clot situation is, but hopefully Crystal Lave is going to be great. and ready to go. They're going to get all these targets. How is Bryce Lance going to make an impact? Well, two ways, I think. One, they had such a dire need of wide receiver that I think he's wide receiver three coming out of camp. And he's going to get a lot of run as wide receiver three. And he's going to

be the guy that they used to stretch the field. He's going to be the vertical threat. And you've got a quarterback and Tyler Shuck, who has the arm strength to get him the ball. So I think he can make an impact, even if he doesn't have as many touches or targets, what he can do with those touches and targets is, I mean, he can generate significant production off that. And I don't want to look at this is just a statistical thing. It's not just about how many catches he has. It's not about how many yards, how many touchdowns he has. What does he do when he's on the field?

You want to load up the box against the run? Good luck if he runs by your corner. Because you can't have it both ways. So you're going to want to play more two high looks. And if you do that and you have him stretching the field, you have elite route runners and Tyson Olivae. Both of those guys are awesome route runners

and now you're giving them more space to work in. I think that impact can't be underrated for a guy in the fourth round, late fourth round, I love the pick and I think he's going to make an immediate impact. I'm with you, man. I thought that it was an awesome pick, especially with the quarterback that can drive it down the field and extend to allow.

I think that's going to work out. I'm going to go to the race. and I'm actually going to, I'm going to take a chance here. I'm going to go with Elijah Surratt, the wide receiver from Indiana, okay? And I'm doing so knowing that 35 picks earlier, when they picked him at 15, 15 in the fourth round. He was the 15th pick of the fourth round. I recognized, I think it was 35 picks earlier.

They took Jacoby Lane, who I touched on earlier. I think you're going to get more out of Surat this year than you are out of Jacoby Lane. and I get Lane is bigger. Lanes does some good things. I think Sarat is what Surrott is, and I don't think the ceiling is enormous, but I think he's going to step. This guy's a pro, man.

He's got a high floor. He's got a high floor, and he's been, he's bounced around. He's a veteran. He's got battles under his belt. He's the guy who's watching tape on NFL players and making sure that we, you know, Fernando, we got to do the back shoulder fade the same way.

that Aaron Rogers and Devante Adams do it. And he perfects it with Mendoza. He's going to come in, and yeah, like, Lamar needs different weapons, and Lamar's got Zay Flowers, and he's got Tess Walker, hopefully takes the next step, and he's got Rashad Bateman, who is what he is. I think he's going to wind up coming in and way out playing, and I get it, possession receiver, perimeter possession receiver, that's where he does his work.

I think he could wind up being a big part of what ball. Baltimore does offensively. And I'm not talking 80 plus catches. I'm not talking at, you know, 800 receiving yards. But I'm talking like 50, 60 catches as a fourth round pick, which is pretty darn impactful. I could just, I just think he's ready. I think he's ready. So that's the guy I'm going with, taking a little risk. All right, TMS scoreboard, the McShay Show scoreboard. We took some hacks at some things and picks and people. Not really, but if you had to grade yourself if you had to give the one pat on the back

and then one like, son of a gun. What would it be? My pat on the back is Arizona State offensive tackle Maxia and Achor. First round pick all day. All day. I've been saying that all along. People who were like, no, he's the second round. And get out of here if you're going to tell him,

oh, but man, shift the Eagles didn't do him dirty. If Howie didn't do Pittsburgh dirty, McCoy Lemon would have been the pick at Pittsburgh at 21. Then he would have been. He would have gone. He was going. no matter what. I think that he has some things to clean up.

I think he has some things to work on, like all rookie offensive linemen coming in. I don't think he's nearly as raw as some people think. And I also think he's kind of a prick. I think he'd show that at the senior ball, how competitive he was and how physically he was. Now I'm going to go another offensive lineman as my... There's some things I might want to look back on this

and maybe tweak how I'm approaching evaluating. And that's Caden Proctor, the Alabama offensive tackle, who went to Miami. Here's the thing about Cain Proctor. I stand by what my concerns are. Tape is inconsistent. Oh, it is. I do worry about the weight.

But you know what? It's a traits thing. The good Lord only makes a few. And he does. And at that point in the draft, he was the third offensive. If he was the first offensive tackle, I would not be, this would not be a pick I'd be talking about. Because I do not think he's the first offensive tackle in this class. I don't think he deserved to be in that conversation.

But he was the third offensive tackle off the board. And he didn't go in the top 10. and you're talking about a player who is an experienced SEC player, and yeah, I'm concerned about the weight, but I went back and I looked at him at the pro day. For a guy who's that heavy, cares that weight pretty well, man. He does.

So maybe he's stopped, you know, the body type is just as important as the number. If they can unlock him, if they can get him to manage his weight, if they can clean up the technique, that's going to look at 3-9, you got to play at 350. You can't do it.

His tape at 350 is a lot different than his tape at 3-90. But if they can figure it out and he can figure it out, that's going to look like a great pick. Yeah. I'll stick with the quarterbacks because it's what what bugs me. And I think I've done enough victory lap on Ty Simpson. But it was hard, man. It was hard to trust that tape and to recognize 15 starts and undersized and play declining and all the things. And every insider and everyone in the league and even talking to people in the league myself, like, yeah, second rounder, you know. And to hang on, but stay rational about it and not be out of control. Like Mendoza is absolutely the first overall pick. But to recognize that there will be people that recognize what he can do, that was hard. What?

I agree with you. And I'm like all the way through, but it baffled me that you don't think he's boom or bust. If you miss on this guy, this is a guy, and here's why I'm going to say the number one reason I think he's boom or bust starts. you are terrified of guys who have that few starts. No, I understand that, but let me explain something to you. I get... Here we go. No, no, I do...

I want to actually have a rational conversation with you. I do get your point, and I do get the people's point who are saying, well, you could have drafted this player, you could have gotten that player, and that does exist. But what also exists is in this league, and you could argue in sports, in American sports, There's no more important position than that. No question.

I have watched Rick Spielman put together some of the best rosters in the league, and they couldn't get the quarterback right. We watched a good friend of ours, Joe Douglas, put together a pretty damn good roster, couldn't get the quarterback right. Yep. And so when you have an opportunity, and then let's flip it,

and let's go to Green Bay, and getting out ahead and pissing off the starting quarterback, from Brett Farve to Aaron Roger, you know, when you get an opportunity and you identify a guy that you think can be the next guy and your head coach and your GM are actually in lockstep, as I explained to you, and I think people have come around to that. And you, and you recognize what does this young man need more than anything, even though he was a practice player for three years and went up against Nick Sabin's defenses

and had one near start. You'd love to get him on the field, but he's probably not ready. So now we get him in the room. We get him in training camp, and yes, the practice opportunities are not ideal. But when he goes to start in a couple years or a year, yeah, in a couple, few years, this is literally, and we've said this for, I've said this for months now, this situation is literally the best situation that ever could have. There is not one other organization, one other coach, one other quarterback in front of him.

There's nobody better. There's no situation better than the one he fell into in the ramps. So as a general manager who's in charge of this organization and its personnel and keeping, you know, and the F them picks was to win a Super Bowl, and they've gone out and been aggressive and done that, and they gave away one of their two first round picks to make sure their secondary was taken care of. They don't have a lot of holes. And if I can take care of the next decade of this franchise, if I hit on this, that's why you do it. I agree with everything you just said.

And I love that you had the balls to back it up. And I love all that. But the definition of a boom or bust is a guy who might not work out or could be a franchise quarterback that would win Super Bowls for you. And that's what this kid is. Yeah, you're talking about Caleb Banks back in the beginning of this show. Yes. And I'm like, can we chill on that?

You know, and we're talking about like three guys with injuries and character stuff with the Bengals. like, no question this is a massive boom or bust pick. And I hope it's a boom, man. Oh, me too, obviously. And I love that you were, you had the ball to, like, come out and say it when you did. Cole Payton would be my, but I'm not even worried about it. Okay, here we go. This is the beauty.

I knew this is how you're going to handle this. This is how you're going to handle it. It's not how I planned on handling it. But I thought Cole Payton was going to go higher, and he went in the fifth. I thought it was going to be I thought there was a chance second I thought it was going to be third and he went in the fifth

and the quarterback market was wild and different and that's fine too but for two of my guys at the quarterback position to land in the spots that they landed in like this Philadelphia

situation's perfect it reeks of like kind of like Jalen Hurts situation and I'm not saying it's going to land that way but in the meantime you can utilize them in some different ways

yeah You know who you are? Who? You go in an interview when someone's like, what's your bigness, weakness? And you're like,

sometimes I try it too hard. That's who you are. You can't even admit that maybe you missed on a guy or here's what you've got to tweak or any of that. I missed on where he was going to be drafted because I was stubborn.

Yes, I missed on Colpaint. However. All right, last word. Last word. Just a few things I want to run through. because I think, I don't know, if you follow this, I find it interesting. A&M had the most players taken, brought to the Combine. Ohio State for the second year in a row had the most players drafted from their program

with 11 in the 26th NFL draft. That was, again, the same. How hard that is to do? Crazy. To do it back to back to back. Like, you're losing players. That's the old Alabama stuff. And Georgia was that for a couple years.

Speaking of Alabama, Alabama and Texas A&M followed up with 10 players each. I think my Goddard's got it going on Texas A&M now? There were four that were tied with nine. Can you guess any of them? Four that were tied with nine. No, I don't know. No, I don't want to say any of it. I don't want to do that.

I'm not playing your game. Well, think about the college football playoff. Miami? Yep, that was one of them. Indiana? Actually, only three of them. Indiana actually didn't. No.

Go hit me. Texas Tech. Ah, I wish I'd guess that one. Yep. And the other one is kind of damning, if we're going to be honest. Clemson had nine players drafted. That's interesting. Yeah.

Another thing I want to bring up. We almost went with, but when we got clearance to use the tape, It was kind of later than when it was all happening. But one of the true amazing stories this year in the draft. And I was, I remember UR. Bernard has never played a down-of-football. He's at the NFL's HBCU showcase. I, it kind of went viral. Everyone was talking about.

Here you watch it. This man, that's like a, that's like Marvel stuff, man. I want you to watch this human being. He has never played football in his life. Was it Nigeria, is he from? I'm not sure. I don't know. Yes, from Nigeria. I mean, we've got a little tightness.

We're going to work through it. Let me give you the measurables on this cap. 604-4. That means, 6.4 and a half, 306 pounds. He's got 11-inch hands, almost 36-inch arm length. Okay? You know what he ran? The average guy, let me just give perspective,

the average guy who has that kind of measurable combination, is probably at best, like the best, the best, is like a 493. Most of them are 5.1 to 5.1 to 5.3. He ran a 4-63 40-yard dash. That is insane. And you're watching him here and you're like, well, he's got a little tightness and all that. I want to remind you he's 6.4.5, 306 pounds. Dude's going to play on the line somewhere.

Okay? And he's never played football. So he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. They're just asking him, run that way, run that way. The guys that you see at the Combine have played football there, probably since they were nine years old or younger, and have been training for three months, somewhere in Florida or Arizona or California,

getting ready to do that exact drill, the way that scouts want to see that drilled. They just like, here's the field. Run that way, run that way. Absolutely spectacular. We want to thank Lance Zerline. By the way, Lance, congratulations. Congratulations, brother.

Killed it. Killed your mock draft. I think the top one. Like, awesome job. Great. Lance is one of the great guys. And then Mark Delgarian, sorry, Mark Delgarian gave us access to this. And honestly, I think it's an awesome thing.

The HBCU, the NFL's HBCU showcase. Like, there can't be enough opportunities out there. And we see, like, whether they go to, like, the AF, you know, all these different leagues and to see players, like, if you're out there, you're out there, you're, you're, you're, you're You're going to be found, but sometimes it takes a long time to find certain guys. So the fact that the Eagles... I told you was going to be them. You did.

You know why? Why? Because they turned Jordan Milato from an Australian rugby player and they're one of the best left tackles. They know what they're doing here. They turn one of the best left tackles in the league. Stout coming back? I don't think he's coming back. If not, I think this could be a defensive line, man.

I think it might be a defensive guy. Either way. I give credit to the Eagles, but I also give credit to everyone involved. The fact that this young man gets this opportunity. and has never played organized football. I remember Zeke Ansa, the stories at BYU when he came over. I believe it was Nigeria as well. He came over from Africa and he, like the stories of having to like help him put on his shoulder pads like, he didn't know how would you.

I wouldn't know how to go. How about how he putting some faith in his coaching stuff? Major. How about like, you know, understanding that people always say like you don't develop players in the NFL. That's bullshit. it. Like put some faith in your coaching staff to take a guy who's that raw and turn him into something. Yeah. I had a couple other last words. That's a perfect way to end. It is. All right. We appreciate it. Again, the website, if you want to fall as you're getting ready for the 2027 mock draft and really still reviewing this draft that just happened.

And check out the website. It's the ringer.com slash McShay. There you will find a tab for the newsletter. It's called the McShay Report. please subscribe. We're actually going out to dinner tonight and we're coming up with a content plan and how we can provide more exclusive content for you. We're working on all sorts of things to keep leveling up. And it's going to start with these the 32 teams, best player available. Best pick. 32 teams, favorite picks.

Just finish that up. And we're going to have the mock draft coming out in the middle of the week. I believe it's on Wednesday, but we'll see. And we'll check out at McShay 13 and at You Good Mench. You can get all the updates of what's going on. But again, it's the ringer.com slash McShay. And you can find everything there. And the McShay report is where you're going to get all the premium content.

And it will be, it starts off with the review. And it goes to the way too early mock draft. Any final words, man, wrapping it up. It's been an unbelievable run. It's been a good year. I can't wait for next year. It's going to be wild. It's going to be great.

What do you think? When I threw that at Bill on the air, besides in the background with Tucker and Dan and Connor, all audibly groaning that I would do that to Bill. Your greatest strength can also be your biggest weakness. A thousand percent. I love the... He was intrigued.

I love the ambition and the push. He was intrigued. The execution. Bill Simmons was intrigued. I got two takeaways. If you guys didn't watch it, I just threw it right up. I'm like, Bill, White House lawn, 27.

Could be the best draft ever. Maybe the best quarterback class ever. Like, Netflix, Spotify, the ringer, big set, let's do it. And he was intrigued by where is it? Talk to me about, you know. And then, but the second takeaway I had was he is, he is unbelievably skilled at, like, deflected. Like, that left turn he took, you know? But, yeah, so we're all fired up for the 2027 draft, and it starts with the mock draft this.

this midweek. METs not just for today, but for the entire 2026 draft season. Five stars, brother. Thanks, man. You too. 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-migh-My-Reset. Call 1-888-8-8-9-777-7-7-7-7. or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. Or visit MD gambling help.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helplinema.

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