The Right Time with Bomani Jones - Nate Tice revisits the 2011 NFL Draft: How Cam Newton, J.J. Watt, and Richard Sherman changed the NFL forever | 04.21

Episode Date: April 21, 2026

It’s TIME MACHINE TUESDAY on The Right Time with Bomani Jones – we’re going back 15 years to the 2011 NFL Draft, a class that might be the best of all time.They break down Why this was THE Cam Newton draft – and why you’d still take Cam No. 1 overall in a redraft How Cam single-handedly dragged the Panthers’ franchise to relevance and changed how the NFL thinks about QBs Von Miller vs. JJ Watt and what “game-wrecking” really looks like Julio Jones vs. A.J. Green – who had the more Hall of Fame–worthy career,  Tyron Smith and Jonathan Ogden as “alien” offensive tackle athletes Patrick Peterson vs. Richard Sherman, Revis Island, and why corner is a young man’s job Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wave. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the right time, a wave original. My name is Beaumani Jones. Thanks for listening wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for watching us on YouTube. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater.

It is Time Machine Tuesday. We are looking back on the 2011 NFL draft, 15 years out from it, joining us from Yahoo Sports. you got my man Nate Tice. What's going on, sir? This might be a little too late for our usual discussions. We usually like to end about 2000. When the NFL still had sub 32 teams.

This is correct. Is our usual discussions. 31, 30, 30, 29, 28. That's our comfort zone. No, happy to be here. Great to see it, dude. Yeah, no, man. This time we're going to talk about some dudes who are actually still in the league.

Yeah. But we are talking about the 2011 draft. And there's an argument to be made. The 2011 draft is maybe the best one ever. We'll talk about that a little bit later in the show. But I want to start with, and I don't know if you remember it this way, because as I recall, I think you were still in college when this draft went down. But for me, this is as many great players as are on this draft.

And I think that they may end with somewhere around seven or eight guys who end up in the Hall of Fame. And that is not including the guy that I think this draft is really about, which is Cam Newton. This was the Cam Newton draft. And I remember when the draft came around, and I think it would be difficult to explain to somebody younger what a revolutionary prospect Cam Newton was, but also the fact that the year before Sam Bradford had been the number one overall pick.

And that was the first time that the league really leaned in on a spread quarterback being the number one overall pick. Like that was, that's how fresh the idea was about a quarterback who did not play in a professional style offense. the idea of taking somebody that high. We're even with Sam Bratford. We were like, hey, guys, I don't know. Sam Bradford, quite a sys kept,

was a good NFL quarterback. But it was kind of a, hey, we don't know about that. We get to Cam Newton, one season superstar, running a high school offense. But I remember myself when that draft came around. I was like, but I mean, who else are you going to take if you don't take Cam Newton? Like, who are the guys that you're going to talk about? And I say that in one part to say that's somewhat of a laughable statement because I said,

I think there'll be seven or eight guys for this draft that'll go in the Hall of Fame. And on the other hand, if you do this draft again, you're taking Cam Newton number one, period. Yes, an MVP quarterback. That's the goal of the draft. And you nailed it. Full on carry to franchise. Yes, yes. Full on carried a franchise for seven or eight years.

was that's the other thing is even that MVP year, which now gets washed away in history because everyone remembers the Broncos game more than anything. That team was garbage. I mean, the defense was good, but Ted Ginn was probably his best receiver, if I remember correctly. You know, he had some, you know,

Olson and everything. The old line was solid, but it wasn't like, like a whole bunch of world beaters on that offense. Kim Newton, though, that year at Auburn, we were the same class in high school. And, you know, he goes to Florida, when Florida was it, you know, sit behind Tebow.

He was next in line. Him and another guy in my class, John Brantley. John Brantley. Yes, who threw one of the prettiest spirals I've ever seen in my life. Chris Leak and John Brantley, two Florida Q's. But then it was so rare. He goes Juko, they win. Again, go transfers to Auburn.

And right away, they're like, yeah, this is the dude. And even at that time with Mileson getting there, or Mileson being the coordinator and everything, calling plays, that was kind of rare to be like, oh, yeah, the Jucco guy is it if that makes sense like that right that quick he was on his third school yeah usually that's like ah the last chance he's going to be competing for this other spot you know we have another guy that we like that's been sitting here and it was so i remember i want to say it was a sports illustrator article i read in that spring and they're like yep cam newton's the guy what it should be exciting

what he does in this offense okay but it was like wow that was quick juco guy transfer that quick and they're just giving it to him okay and then you saw why you saw he was the entire offense catching touchdowns the comeback against alabama I mean, just anything you can think of. Like just even his teammates on defense are getting drafted because of him. Nick Fairley goes in the top 15 because Cam Newton's leading them to the championship game. It is a force of nature. And like you said, even though there's a lot of guys and we're going to get into a lot of defensive guys too,

this is the goal of the draft and he was worth it to win that MVP. I know the tail in his career then end up, but that's because the Panthers were garbage before and after him. And yeah, that's it. Cam Newton was a force of nature. So there is an eye test for quarterbacks, certainly, right? Like you and I, we're both still holding on on that last little bit of Anthony Richardson stock, right? But the reason is. I got one flower of Anthony Richardson Island.

But it's just like, look at the dude, right? Like, like, you don't have to explain it too much. But I bring that up to say there aren't that many quarterbacks that are an off of the bus we got him. Correct. Right? Like just simply looking at the dude, get off the bus,

and you say that he's the quarterback, oh, okay, John Elway, who I think is the number one eye test quarterback that there has ever been. And I've said that on Twitter and people have come back with Aaron Rogers. No, sir. No, no, no.

We're talking about something completely different here. He was so big and the throws look so easy and he could run and everything else where it's just like, oh, no, no, no, no. like I we're taking it. I don't need to see anything else that's going on. Give me that guy. Dan Marino might have ultimately been a better NFL quarterback.

There's a legitimate argument team success no matter what it happened to be. But John Elway, who was kind of the college, the NFL Cam Newton from college, like I will carry whoever it is to this place. But when you saw that guy, you're like, oh, him. Yes. Cam was that. Yep. Except way bigger. he didn't have the natural throwing motion that Elway did.

But in that draft, it's like, I don't think it was any way possible that you were ever going to set your eyes on that guy and know that he can throw at all. And you didn't take him. Again, they were running a basically a high school offense. And the NFL said, with character concerns, right, that were not. entirely unfounded. Like, it wasn't like I think he, we're not talking about Aaron Hernandez red flags, but there were some like, hey, I don't know if this guy might need to grow up a little bit, right?

Like, those things were there. Whatever, dog. We'll show him how to do stuff and it cannot be for God. He threw 400 yards in his first game in the NFL. And none of us saw this. If Andrew Luck had been in that draft, as we had expected he was going to be, Andrew Luck would have been the number one pick in that draft. Yes.

but Cam Newton was a number one pick gracious. Not by default, basically. It wasn't some quarterback thing. No, I'm glad you said the all bus team, though. Like that's exactly. I saw him in the NFL and I went to camp with camp in high school. And even then, I'm a tall guy. I'm 6'5.

You know, like then I was really skinny. But even then it was like, this dude looks like one of the Vikings. He's picking up the football to throw it. You know, I didn't, I knew of guys at some of these camps. But it was just one of those things where I was like, God, dang. And, you know, he's always talking the whole time. And he's just there on it.

And then I saw him in the NFL. And like you said, I grew up around Dante Colpe. Yes. And I put Cam above that as far as looking the part. Like they, he's built. Well, he looks like a new part. Because like Cam Newton is much bigger than John Elway, who by the way, was a big Cam Newton fan.

And if somehow Cam Newton has slipped the number two, John Elway would have made the selection himself. felt his height threshold. He was all about those tall quarterbacks. Reminds me a lot of myself. That people who listen to this show, no, that's the thing. Those, all those player GMs,

the great player GMs, you know, kind of reminds me a lot of myself. Yep. That will be the one, but that was, he was that guy in that draft. And then just little did we know that after him would just be a slew

and run of Hall of Famers. But I would say on that right, fast, I almost, I almost went past it too quickly. But I don't think people properly appreciate what it was for Cam Newton to be Cam Newton with the Panthers and turn that team into what it was, right? Like my favorite moment ever still in his first game, he threw an interception and went to tackle Darrell Washington, who was a real live pro bow linebacker. And Darrell Washington slid like he was the quarterback and Cam Newton was the linebacker.

Like, he didn't look like there was like, this was before they would, people wear whatever number they wanted. The idea that this dude was wearing number one was preposterous. That too. That's him. Where Steve Smith was, it was not great,

as I recall. Steve Goodlat Ship. Then he sees this big motherfucker show up and he's like, oh, okay, well, maybe we'll see what we can do. Camp throws for like 4,000 yards. Yep. His, his rookie year.

Now, it was a weird year. And ran for a dozen touchdowns, if I remember correctly. Yeah. Right. I think it was 14. I think he ran for that year. Now, it was a weird year

with spiked offensive number. because it was coming off a lockout, like all of those things to be in the case. However, this is a rookie quarterback that was coming off of a lockout. He was the guy. They wouldn't do it again any other way. It's the most relevant the franchise that ever consistently been because it's never, they've been bad at stretches. But overall, the 30 years of Carolina Panthers football,

it's been pretty charred when you think about it. They started great and then they tapered off for a while. Yes. Then we got the del on. And they get it back. And then they tapered off again. And then the can't, I mean, But even now, it's like last year of making the playoffs, they were with a losing record.

And it was all the hoopla about like, we're hosting a playoff game for the first time in a decade. And it's like, that's kind of how dire it's been, even when Cam was there. And Cam was getting beat up. Remember the Broncos game in 2016? Yeah. Super Bowl rematch. And that's the thing, too, is that was he a perfect? I'm glad he brought the throwing motion.

Was it perfect? No. But again, he was such a force of nature and knew that quarterback stuff a little better than he got credit for. as far as just like he wasn't just a pure athlete like we consider some of these guys like he actually had some quarterback to him um and and also me he was such a force of nature when that that the NFL was so rigid right before he came in and then rg three came in and then and then you saw shanahan with rg three in washington also mike shula was who's as traditional as it gets goes i i got to get this guy to work because he's special.

What's going to pistol? Let's do basically wing T stuff so we can just open up everything else. And it worked. That's how good he was. Even if that's quote unquote simplistic compared to what the NFL was doing, that that's what he was. I mean, look, you mentioned it. He was 90th, 89th percentile height, for quarterbacks,

97th percentile weight. He had a 97th percentile broad jump, a 91st percentile 40-yard dash. And this is quarterbacks ever. So it's not like weight adjusted or anything. If I just look at athletes, not even narrowing down just quarterbacks, the athlete that he's most like, this is Cam Newton is Randy Gregory. Who's an incredible athlete at defensive eat? Evan Ingram, Tucker Kraft, like these tight ends, edges, freaky guys too. And he was playing quarterback.

I'm glad he brought up his first game because I think that was such a statement because of the questions that he had. I mean, even going through that draft year, it was Cam, it was Gabbard, who got drafted. Jake Locker was supposed to be the dude. And then our guy, Christian Ponder snuck in there. But it wasn't the ESPN magazine and it was those three. It was Gabbert, Cam, and Locker, I think, did it like if they had a cover. And that was like those were the three. It was the cover of Sports Illustrated and it was something like the toughest decision ever, right?

Or, you know, it was some hyperbolic thing. Now, to be fair to Sports Illustrated, it looks very clearly now that I understand the game a little bit better. They were hoping to get a cover story with Cam Newton. And Cam Newton did not give them the access. It did not give them a photo shoot. And so they kind of had to cull together a shot out of that, right? So they took file photos and put the three quarterbacks on there. And look, man, white people are not a complex species when it comes to these things.

They knew that you could throw it out there. Some people would legitimately entertain it. Because people did legitimately entertain it. There were the people saying you should take Blaine Gabbard over Cam Newton. Not necessarily you should take Blaine Gabbard number one, but they used to take Blaine Gabbard who was not as good in college as Chase. Daniel was at the same school and the same offense. But people had taught themselves into that one.

Jake Locker, who I was all about, he was one of those where the more you saw him, the less you liked him. Yes. As a freshman, he's the ultimate athlete playing quarterback. Yes. Incredible athlete. Incredible. Big.

He built like a tight end, but then couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. And then we watched, I got early exposure to him in college because we played in the Rose Bowl. So we're watching a bunch of Pac-10 at the time, Pac-10 film. And so we watched a lot of Washington. And I'm watching, I'm like, this is supposed to, even in college, I was like, this is supposed to be the guy that, like, everyone's been hyping up. Like he couldn't hit a pass. Anything past 10 yards.

But I'm with you. After his freshman year, especially because he was a big recruit, goes to Washington. That's when Washington was God awful. And he was, but he just never got better. But truly supposed to be a great guy,

but all that. But you're not lying, though. Like, I remember Gabbert's still getting hype the month of the draft. The month of the draft leading up to it. I remember reading stuff. I remember watching stuff. And again,

I was in college, but I was still checking in on the stuff. and my dad was with teams. And I remember Gabbard was still getting like, well, I don't know. Some teams still like Gabbard over Cam Newton because he, you know, functions more like an NFL quarterback. It's like, really? And that Mizzou offense where he's eight yards deep in the shotgun?

Like, I don't know about that guys. But yeah, that was still a discussion. And I think Bond Miller was kind of considered the surest thing more than anything because he got so much hype. But even he had a couple qualms at the end there. But, man, I just really think that it was just by the end, the discussion. on that it's soft and so much how we look at quarterbacks because of that just a little run of guys in my little generation there cam rg3 russ russell wilson like just kind of like what the prerequisites are not just like scheme or not just like uh you know traits and everything but also what offenses they ran

because like even like mike vick when he came into the league virginia tech was running a pretty i'm going to say pro style but there's more pro style to it than spread it out zone read every play it was just kind of a hybrid kind of thing and even he didn't have as many questions I thought that Cam did when he came into the league. And again, I was younger, but I still remember these kind of discussions about it. But when you look back and you see, oh, yeah, we can work with this. 99th percentile athlete playing quarterback. One of the greatest athletes and greatest size guys I've ever seen with one of the biggest arms I've ever seen, even if it's not perfect.

I think, yeah, the right decision was in the end. In a way, he got Josh Allen in here, right? In a way, Josh Allen got Anthony Richardson in here. And not that Josh and Josh Allen and Cam Newton. were the same college quarterbacks, but they weren't. But it was the same. Oh, no, I'll, I'll try. Yeah.

Like, think about even if this night in the first round, like, all the Tom Savage's and the likes that people were like, oh, yeah, no, no, no, no, I'll give that a run. Yeah, the greatest college football player ever. Yeah, no, no, no, I'll give that a run. And then after him, by the way, this is where this draft gets to be fun. Yeah. There are enough great players in this draft that you have legitimate who's better discussions of like multiple players at similar positions

or like of similar calibers at premium positions in the NFL. Like so let's talk briefly about the guys who showed, I don't even know if flashes is the right way to put it, but edge rushers from this draft who were really good, but are not in the discussion for being like the top two pass rushers. like Alton Smith, who had more sacks in his first two years than any other player in NFL history at the time, as I recall. And just winds up being another guy.

If he was normal. Right. Right. But Robert Quinn, a really, really good player that was in this draft. 102 sacks. Who once had 20 sacks in a season. Ryan Carrey. 12 sacks.

Yeah. Right. Ryan, Ryan Carrig. Really good player that's there. However, neither of them is J.J. Watt or. um, Von Miller. Right.

And like, that's where we get to. It's like this draft lets you say who you got, Von Miller or why and why being a more, I guess what is more of an interior Russia than Bob Miller was, but even still like, we're talking guys of similar, similar caliber here where Bob Miller,

Super Bowl MVP, Von Miller. Yes. Truly, truly game wrecking defensive guys. Truly guys that you have to account for every single play. And if you don't, you're dead.

And there's two of those guys. And there's still this class, this draft class had five guys with 100 or more career sacks. And that's not including Ryan Carrigan, Cameron Hayward, Alden Smith, which we just talked about. Drell Casey was in this class.

Cam Jordan. Yeah, Cam Jordan. Yeah, Cam Jordan had 130, he has 103 two career sacks. Yeah, like there's an argument about which cam do you take out of the,

and not after the quarterback can. Oh, no. Yeah, there's three. three camps in this class that are they're worthy of this like right i'm glad you brought ryan carrigan was dominant in the big 10 goes pick 16 makes four pro bowls and he's like yeah 16 was fair in this class because there's just so much talent like that could have gone above him he was a force um no i'm goddy brought just in houston because he was a and he got knocked because of weed stuff um and that that was a whole thing like too because but then he gets in the league also the oldest

looking 22 year old you'll ever see in your life when he got drafted. He's looked like he's 48 since he's been he's been drafted. George's always got a couple of those, man. Like George's got a lot of them old souls. Really too. Some in the water down there.

Yeah, man. Yeah, you know, maybe it's the, you know, the nods from all them driving so fast, you know, just makes the ages, you know, adds a couple wrinkles when you're cranking it up going 120. No, JJ, and I play with JJ, and JJ was, I mean,

right away the first time ever my j j wott i transferred to wisconsin he transferred to wisconsin too he was a tightette right at uh central michigan i believe and he comes in we we had a shoot around it was like the first week i was there in the summer and we did like a little oh we're gonna do like a little basketball challenge the whole team comes out all right shoot around what final thing and he does his thing but then he started rebounding for everybody and then so he's just sitting there i think he was in flip flops i remember backwards hat i think flip flops he rebounds one of my balls and then he just flat foot's dunks it in flip-flops at 6-6-290 pounds and I was just like I remember that's one of my coaches I was like there I go that's JJ you know I'm saying okay interesting

he goes he starts that year and it was like a redshirt sophomore year we had a guy named o'brien Schofield who was probably a little bit better at that time and then that's what's crazy it was like oh jj's nice he's good and then he comes around we played Ohio state the senior his junior year we were the same class but he came out early and he gets three sacks, gets Terrell Pryor, absolutely dominates the entire game. And also I see him starting to get hyped up as a first round guy. I was like, I could see that. And he tests like one, that's another thing about JJ is I get the Captain America

stick and all that and what he, what he went about? Also one of the freakest athletes I've ever seen play football, period. And just also one of the smarter guys. But it was just so crazy to see him his rise going from like, oh, a pretty good college player. Oh, no, he's actually a freak. Oh, no, he's actually going in the first round. Oh, no.

he's actually going number 11 overall. Like Wade Phillips was like, please let me get this guy. Like crying. I think Rex Ryan, they took Wilkerson. Rex Ryan, I read the book,

Collision Low Crossers. And their coaches were just like channing JJ Watt because they wanted him to fall. Like Rex Ryan really wanted JJ. But it was just, if I thought he would be a real good pro, I didn't think he'd be this. And I was around him every day.

And I, and there's no disrespect to him. The fact that he became even better is insane because he was such a good college player already. But again, a guy that gets underrated for his freakiness. You see it sometimes, but man, he was unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable as a player. And if you want to see quarterback premium at action,

JJ Watt was drafted in between Blaine Gabbard and Christian Ponder. Those were the guys who like bookended him in this draft. Yeah, man. Like Christian Ponder going at 12, that's what I realized or, you know, I didn't realize it at the time. but it was a sign that NFL coaches really think that Jimbo Fisher is dog shit. Because on one level, it was, okay, well, maybe they think Jimbo does a good job of developing guys, and that's why they go draft them.

Or they feel like if they could do what they did in the offense that they were in, maybe they might be first round picks because it was E.J. Manuel went in the first round, like a couple years after this, and we couldn't really understand exactly what was going on there. and I just realized, oh, they are just rebuking him. That is the only explanation because Christian Ponder, Jake Locker, I understood. Blaine Gabbard, maybe. Christian Ponder, whose ideal was this?

I never saw it once. Like, there wasn't one college game where I was like, yeah, you know, I see getting a shot, like you said with Jake Locker. It's like, okay, those tools, man, he's supposed to be a great dude. Even when James came out, that actually worked in his favor, that he people were used that he could tolerate and handle Jimbo as a positive yeah all that stuff that was going around with James coming out and you know the crab legs all that stuff that was I remember being in scouting rooms and they go oh well he can handle Jimbo that I mean he's going to be able

to take NFL coaching legs no issue and they didn't mean it as a compliment they meant it more or compliment to Jimbo they meant more like no he can deal with bullshit and he's going to be fine once he gets the NFL that actually I still vividly remember that it wasn't like oh he can operate this pro offense and this wordy stuff. It was like, no, no, he can tolerate the mind games of Jimbo and all the stuff that he does. No, but the Ponder one, even then, God, I remember when I was a kid, or a kid, yeah, it was a kid in college. I remember Christian Ponder's a first round.

Well, you know, I guess the NFL teams know a little bit better than me. I'm just 21, you know, and even, but even that as a 21 year, I was like, I don't see this guy as anything more than like maybe Brad Johnson on the greatest day ever, another Florida State guy. Yeah, but yeah. though you know as the best day ever but that was that way out of the outcomes of what ponder actually could have been i mean but there's i forgot about mike pouncy pouncy was nice yeah how about this i just went me going i just went through for the defensive players we got 10 guys that we would

like pass rush was a little too broad i guess we'd just go with down lineman 10 of them who made pro bowls like like you threw jerell casey out there um who i think went from tennessee to USC like one of those but like, Drell Casey is like a four or five-time pro bowler and got lost in the shuffle of that which we are discussing. Yeah, 51 sacks, five pro bowls. Yeah. Like you said, Cam Jordan has 130-something sacks. And he's down the list of this class.

Cam Hayward has an on paper fairly unassailable Hall of Fame case. I don't know how much thought anybody has really given as to whether or not he is a Hall of Famer. I'm not saying that as a judgment. I'm just saying that at this point, there were so many guys that came out of this draft. By the way, Cam Hayward and Cam Jordan still playing for the teams that drafted them.

Yeah. And it's like when I say still playing, like playing. Yes. You know, like Hayward wasn't all pro two years ago. Yes. It was like playing not just playing snaps. Like, no, impacting the game. Like, and also just not missing any time.

Like, which is also a freaky thing in its own right. Right. And these are the other guys in the, draft. But coming up next, we got some more guys in the draft to talk about. And the question is, is this the greatest draft there ever was? You can predict the playoff action all the way to the finals with Fanduil predicts. All you have to do is sign up to get you a $25 bonus. Follow all the playoff dishes, swishes, wishes, wishes, and misses. Every move is a potential plot twist. Predict the spread, the total points, and even the game winning moments that make the playoffs.

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All right. We are back with Nate Tice. Another fun who's the best in this draft. D.Bs one, you kind of saw it coming from. forever that you saw it coming. He was a junior in high school. And the other one, you had to get proof of concept up. That first one would be Patrick Peterson. The second one would be Richard Sherman. These guys are the same draft. To me, Patrick Peterson is maybe the best athlete I've ever seen play quarter. Like that corner, that whole speed to power thing that people

talk about. Like, I feel like he is the physical embodiment of that concept. And then on the other side, you can say whatever you want about the scheme that they ran in Seattle and everything else, Richard Sherman got it done. Yes. And I agree with him on his outlook of and I turned it around. Like I tricked guys into throwing picks and I brought the ball back the other way. Richard is one of these. Well, he also, Richard Sherman led to more bad draft picks than one, probably any other player

because everyone tried to copy the Seahawks Legion of Boom for about eight years. And they just looked at Sherman and were like, Oh, long arms. Okay, let's go after everyone with long arms. He was like, well, he's kind of his own thing. Like, he truly is his own thing. Like, I've been struggling to find a historical comparison ever for Richard Sherman, not just like former receiver or anything, but just size wasn't his athleticism was his,

his ball skills. Like, you know, like his body control and ball skills as opposed to speed, twitch, all those other things. May convert a receiver. Conver receiver. That's right. While Patrick Peterson was, I agree with you, one of the freakiest corners ever watched. say him and probably Ramsey. Ramsey was kind of his own thing too.

But like, and Diaz Sanders right fast. Just have to throw that one out there. Yeah, him. But the thing is Diaz just wasn't nearly as big as these guys were. No. And even like Champ Bailey wasn't as big as these guys. Like,

yeah. Monster. Yeah. Yeah. Like Peterson's what, six two? All six two. I remember his long arms. I remember that.

And then also returns punts, which I also think is like a barometer for real athleticism. Like, if you're a. stud. I mean, I'm not saying anything new here, but if you're a stud position player and you're a dynamic returner, I treat your athleticism as something a little different. That's why there's the Randy Moss Award in college and it's for punt returners. You know, Dion returning, Patrick Peterson returning. Like those, okay, get our best player with a ball in his hands, even if he plays

corner. Yeah, Pearson was six foot. You've 219th, 99th percentile weight of all corners all time, 32 inch arms, 4-3-1-40 at 219 pounds. And this dude was returning punts and locking guys down in man coverage and playing for a garbage-ass franchise while doing it. There would no help around. I know they had some success when the Arians got there. But man, he's kind of a forgotten guy, maybe not amongst me, you and guys that watch around this time. But he's kind of starting to get lost a little bit, I've realized. because if this guy was a three-time all-pro, eight-time pro bowler, played over a decade.

Like, that's a Hall of Fame resume for a corner. It's a no-brainer to me. Yeah. And I don't think anyone treats him like that. They will once his time comes and everything. But like right now in this little window, I think he's kind of just getting lost a little bit in the shuffle of kind of like his strong guy. Like, I think pro ball count can get weird because like you throw a pro ball count at me about Jason Whitten. And I stand on my, I stand on my heel stronger than ever that that is not a Hall of Famer.

It's not. It's not. However, and the thing about corner is, corner is not a position where dudes rack up a bunch of pro bowls because that is a young man's job, right? Like there's a, there's a level at which you kind of got to get good and then your time to stay good before the physical fall off. The window is very short before you wind up going to safety or whatever it is. You are an eight-time pro bowler at corner. You were doing it. Yes. Period. Yes. Absolutely. Yeah, great point too. Like, because corners, too it's like usually takes it's a hard position to learn like as far as they adapt to the NFL usually it takes a year it's a year three position usually so if you're impacting it early

and then if you if you're a solid corner after 30 that's a miracle most guys once they hit 30 that thing drops off a cliff and so that's it's the Vince Carter theory it's the really good athletes age a lot better the real big guys they can become better role players as they get older but I agree with you like usually those peaks are two years you know and that's why even sherman being a tolerable like like even when we went to the 40 nires was like a solid player is because he became the old man at the y that just had great size and he was just like all right i'm just not going to get out of position even if some of these quick faster speedier guys are going to give you like they he couldn't tackle a slot guy save his life but his age well but peterson too i was there but think about this

think about this rap as derail revis was in the hall of fame at 38 yeah he got it that that that Wow. But is that like it felt like he had a short lifespan? Yeah. Like Roberto Colmente or something. You know, like, yeah. He got out. 30.

Yeah. Because yeah, he was at Pitt. Yeah. Oh, you just fucked me up right now. But he's, look, they should put a statue of him in front of the Players Association offices.

Nobody went in, got their money, got they ring and got the fuck out. Yep. Like Dorel Reeves did. And built a, got a nickname, got the respect.

perspective his peers. Rainy Moss is saying he's the best corner you ever went against. Like, you know, like that's enough for me. If he's, he went against Dion, he went against the guys. And he said, no, Derell Revis. That's the one guy. For Moss to say that, for Randy to say that, that's saying some. And then it gets an all-time nickname.

And then it's like, okay, and everyone's on the same page with the Revis too. Everyone's just like, yeah, yeah. Awesome player. Okay, move on. Strong like bull. That was the thing with him. Is that he's redirecting you. off snap and there's really nothing.

You can do it. Also, another college guy that returned punts. See, here we go. The best is there. So the other, also in the 2011 draft, I just want to say this quick because Ryan had posed this as a question. I'm curious what you think, because I don't think it's that close,

but it's the Julio Jones versus A.J. Green, Ray J. Green, to me, is a very good, not quite Hall of Fame receiver. And the hall can be weird about receivers and when they ultimately let them in. And Julio Jones has that weird, no touch, down thing. However, that boy is going to the Hall of Fame. Yeah, period. Yeah. And also in Hall of Fame, too, it's reputation. Like in Julio has that a little bit more than Green. I agree with

the Green is very good. It was very, had a nice little kind of four or five year kind of window where he was very, very good. Didn't make one, no first team all pros for a reason while Julio has two. But Julio has that kind of, I mean, it's, I don't want to knock Agent Green because he was great. But it's who he was played with Andy Dalton. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Shit, he might get in. Now that I think about it. I know because that will not. No,

all pros hurts. And there's a lot of receivers backing up right now. Like there's about to be, there's such a glut of those guys. But Julio had, again, like the 300 yard game or whatever he had against Carolina. Like he has those,

those games. He has the dunk over Luke Keakley, um, or he's high point over him. He even has like a play against, he has the play in the Super Bowl when they lost when he's on the sideline catch, what would have been the grace,

one of the greatest catches ever if they win. Um, he has, like just those, moments. Maybe it's the AJ Green banglesness of it, but Julio Jones has the falconess of it. Fair. Yeah. And Julio, Agent Green was hyped too. Like I, I, I'm, uh, ESPN did a next articles back in the day, you know, like, oh, these got, AJ Green got that over Julio when they're coming out of high school. But Julio always had that kind of just wait. Like his,

he plays as a true freshman for Nick Sabin. Nick Saban recruited him. He just held out his rings and says you either win one of these or you don't. Like there's all these like there's like mythology about Julio. And I think to me, whether that's a narrative thing, that to me and also just the force of nature moments is more hall of fame or caliber to me. So I think it's actually pretty easily I would say Julio over Aege Green as much as I love Adrian Green as well. Yeah, no, but it's still both of those guys in the top 10 of the same draft is kind of

nuts. That top 10 also had Tyron Smith in it. Basically, as long as you took a quarterback that didn't take a quarterback who wasn't Cam Newton. You was you was straight early in that draft. But Tyrant Smith is the one that offensive linemen talk about with just a reverence for the athleticism. All-timer.

And also played right tackle in college, drafted at 20, super young, signed one of the craziest pro deals ever with his extent. He signed like a nine-year deal, seven-year, eight-year deal, like an NHL contract or like a

Juan Soto contract. But truly, I mean, this guy was 320 and had abs. Like that was, I mean, there's not many offensive alignment that get the picture treatment. Like watch this guy work out. Oh my God, you know, usually get some defensive edge guys, maybe some tight ends, shirt off stuff.

You usually don't get the offense alignment shirt off clips and then they could back it up. Like he was, because his technique got so good, it's truly a one-of-one athlete at the position. I'm really right now, as we're talking about, I'm trying to think of someone that I would put over that as far as just athletic, like just like tier, I'm not tier, um,

um, traits and everything and also could play. It wasn't just like a lost cause tripping over himself, um, anti-immunos. Like I'm trying to just think who are some of these freaky, freaky all-time athletes. He had injury stuff and if he didn't,

he would be considered a hallfamer and he still would go into, oh my God, eat pro bowls. Yeah, he's going to get in. It's a question to win, but he's going to get in. Yeah.

Oh my God. He played 170 games. I mean, that's a ton. And I, and I know, there's no real offense alignment stats but longevity really does matter reputation everyone goes oh he was one of the greatest athletes that ever played offensive line uh multiple all time or

first team all pros played on the cowboys can't hurt yeah yeah he's gonna get in he he is i'm not just trying to even think there's subtle plays with him too like where he would like cut off a block um that like he would reach a guy that like no one else is even fathoming it like anytime i used to tweet clips about tyrant smith there's michaeler junior and my replies going like oh my God. Because it's just, again, offensive line play can be subtle, but that he made him like highlights, even outside the pancakes. Right. All the freaking stuff he did.

Well, let me tell you, also a guy like him when it comes down to the Hall of Fame process, he's the one where the writers start calling a former players. And they're like, so what do you think about blank? And they're like, oh, ho. Yeah. Well, up a chair, brother. Just wait you see that, that kick set. Wait, you see that.

Yeah, let me tell you about that. Yeah, it's like, no, no, no, you can't. You got to understand what we're talking about here, right? Right. That'll get you into Hall of Fame. Like so, for example, we're going to talk about this a little bit later when we do some like draft comparison. But like Jimbo covert is in the Hall of Fame with something like three or four Pro Bowls, right? Yeah. The resume is not there.

But clearly his peers were like, oh, no, no, no, no, no. That album was different. Great. Bo, that is, that's a perfect comparison because he was like a consider an all-time freak. And he had the pit stuff where they had that offensive line in the 80s. where he was the leader of that. He was the big recruit. He was a wrestler.

He did WWF stuff back in the day too. So he had that going for. And like another guy, he might be one of the other. I mean, the offensive lineman then way 280, but another old lineman with abs kind of thing. Right.

That's a great because he didn't have a super long career, but it was one of those very impactful careers. And everyone was just like, and everyone talks. And when I was working at Pitt, you brought up Tom Savage, which made me crack up because he was with the quarterbacks. We had a pit when I was there.

But when Jimbo, they still talk about Jimbo is just like the pinnacle. Like of all those players there, they're like, no, he's the Pitt guy right there as Jimbo. Yeah, they had to run. Pitt was like what Miami was before Miami was, like USC also. Like those are the ones they get lost.

But Pitt, there's really no explanation for why it is that Pitt just couldn't stay good, right? Like I don't have the great answer for how that happened because that area produced dudes. And they were like 1980s pit football was a thing, guys. I mean, they still Derell Revis. Sean McCoy. Like they still, Larry Fitzgerald,

they still had dudes. Oh, he, I mean, the old line, I think Damarino played with three. Bill Freilick. Yep. Mark May. I feel like there's one more. I'm blanking,

but he played with like three or four legit pro bowl offensive alignment. And then they had Tim Lewis. Oh, Russ Grimm. Russ Grim. Russ Grim. Yep. Hall of Famer.

Ricky Jackson. They had fucking Hugh Green, who was an all-time great college football player. He's a great enough. finalist as a defensive player if I remember correctly. They had some dudes. And my dad got recruited by Pitt. And what's his face?

Jackie Cheryl left, I believe. Yes. Yeah, he went Texas A&M. Texas A&M. And yeah, and I think that was the reason he didn't end up going.

But like that would like pit because the pit was the shit. I mean, Tony DeWesette. I mean, they, they claim national championships. They were playing Georgia where the rank second, like in the Sugar Bowl,

like all that stuff. Like, yeah. Beat him. beat him in that sugar bowl yes they were they were unbelievable it was cool the pit football history is pretty cool like if you ignore the 90s yeah yeah and you know the larry year was fun and then you know they kind of just they were talking they always were school though that even they wasn't winning a lot they always had a couple dudes always right like that was i mean even in the

90s you get sean gilbert as an example of a guy Antonio brian in the early 2000s like they always had to do by the way on this draft i just forgot about a guy i want to send a shot out to, I know it's going to sound crazy. But shout out to Andy Dalton, who if you think about it, all-time great productive second round pick. Like it was the Bengals shopping in the bargain bin and it put a ceiling on what they could do. But they immediately became playoff good when they drafted AJ Green and they let Andy Dalton play quarterback.

Like it actually worked out pretty well for them in some ways. They returned to credibility. The Andy Dalton tier. That's kind of what he was the king. That king of the, I mean, who is it now? It was Kirk Cousins for a little bit. Yeah. Like just whoever that kind of quarterback 16 to 19 range.

Yeah. Can you win with him or not? Yep. And Andy Donald was again, another guy that I have college experience with. We played TCU in the Rose Bowl. And he took a zone read for like, I don't think it was a score,

but like a first down. And I remember just being like, this asshole zone reading us. This guy shouldn't be doing the zone read against us. Because he was an okay athlete college wise. But no, he was awesome. I mean, those TCU teams were loaded too.

Yeah. That's when they were rolling. And that was before, you know, now they're in the bigger conferences and stuff. But, man, like he was the captain of that stuff or the leader of those teams. He had a nice, good career. And played right away, too. He did. That's they put him right, walked right out of Texas, right out of TCU to be like, he, you couldn't win with him.

But pretty good NFL career. Yeah. For a second round. Still going, by the way. Yep. We got signed by the Eagles, which I'm still saying, why did they do that? Is that a pandemic trade? This is this one right here?

Wendy, why are you doing that? What does that mean? Also, he, those Bengals teams were loaded. They were. They just had Andy Dalton, a quarterback. I feel like I just completely undercut my whole thing.

And then you said the downside of the Andy Dolnyard of quarterback. I just completely undercut my whole thing. Now, I was going to raise the question. And I think it's still a question because the depth of this draft was so impressive as to whether or not the 2011 draft is the greatest of all time. Like I think it probably winds up being seven. Hall of Famers, I think.

What are the ones do you have up there? Okay, so I don't have Cam going. I will say, not in order of greatness, but I'm just saying as I remember it. I think Richard Sherman's going to go in. We did not mention Jason Kelsey. I think he will go in,

though I think it'll take a while. I think he's going to go in. Von Miller's going to go. Patrick Peterson, Julio Jones, Tyron Smith, J.J. Watt. By the way, we didn't get to DeMarco Murray,

Washington champion. Cam Hayward, I think, will go in. That gets us to eight. And I think Cam Jordan's one of those who, if you give it long enough, he'll wind up going in. But I think eight is where I feel pretty steady about who's going to go in. Man. God, yeah. What are the classes are up there with this? Okay. So 83 has nine. We think about the quarterbacks, but I'm going to run through the full list. And I think it's in order. The, The way I'm reading this is in order of where they were drafted. John Elway, Eric Dickerson, Jim Bo Kover, Bruce Matthews, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Darrell Green,

the newly elected Roger Craig, and Richard Dent. Oh, Richard Dent, yeah, that's right. Formed Seah. Okay. that's a lot of guys and not even just including all the quarterbacks yeah man there's darrell green talking about athletes at the corner position all that hey town by the way a town by the way let me go ahead like a four three at 40 years old like you know like 40 playing at his size in the era in which he played playing corner and you know what else he did

return puns there we got i'm looking out for you have you seen that that that 30 30 Elway to Marino the the dog on that oh I know I I I'm a sucker for that even if you know there's always some biases with that but I I'm a sucker for that but cam Jordan 132 career sacks he's just below John Abraham Ricky Jackson Jared Allen John Randall he's right in that range like John Randall at 137 and a half different type of player I get it but Jared Allen I had 136 God John Abraham had 133 God he's he's he's a he's a one of those that you're going to look up and are like, oh, he's in the Hall of Fame, huh? Okay.

You know what I mean? Like somebody's just going to bring the case and then they'd be like, well, you know how many sex he had, right? Wow. Really? Oh, wow. That's how I just reacted to Johnny. John Abraham's one of those guys because I was such an NFC guy growing up that,

like Abraham was like, I didn't really realize what he was until he got to the Falcons. And then it was like, you know, his jet's career. I was just like, yeah, he's one of those four first round picks they had that year. Okay. Yes. And then he gets to the Falcons. Oh, oh, shoot. Okay.

It's kind of like when Khalil Mack went to the Bears. It was like, oh, that's what they've been hiding over there. The only startable player on that whole Raiders defense. And this is actually what he looks like. Okay. Man, no, but I mean, this is just fine. Just go through the names. But so he has, yeah, 132 career sacks.

Then, like, guys, man, he has more sacks than Jim Marshall. He has more sacks than Derek Thomas. Like 270 consecutive games. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Dwight Frini has more sex than. Robert, Robert Mathis. Yes.

How about Simian Rice? Do you think Simeon Rice is a Hall of Famer? I think he will. I think that there is a precedent for putting him in the All of Fame. I think he is on the, I think that he's on the line. If you go either way, I could understand it. But in a world where like Fred Dean has gone in and Kevin Green has gone in, why is, why was Simeon Rice, who was a revolutionary athlete, by the way?

He was way different than other guys that time period. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's kind of like the argument against him is like, I don't know if it feels that way, right? Like, that's, but. I mean, I think he comes down to a guy that would certainly qualify as a Hall of Fame player. You have to decide if he had a Hall of Fame career. And I think that he put up enough accolades plus a Super Bowl ring where you, on the way to which you watch him chasing Michael Vic down in the playoffs and you're like,

oh, okay. Let me throw another draft that, you know, 1996. Is that the receiver draft? It is the receiver draft, but only two of those receivers. like this is a depth draft because only two of those receivers, Marvin Harrison and Terrell Owens so far in the Hall of Fame.

But the Ravens drafted two Hall of Famers that year, Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis. Oh, that's a pretty, tackle athlete. We just talked about Jonathan Ogden's up there. Tyrant Smith, yes, that's another name.

Yeah, pretty good draft there for the Ravens. Brian Dawkins, Zach Thomas, and Adam Venetary. You also cannot forget that the 1989 draft, which is for basketball fans, analogous to the 1984 draft because the 89 draft has Troy Aitman, Barry Sanders, Derek Thomas, and Dionne. Dion for your top five picks.

Yeah. And then the other guy was the tackle for the Packers. Tony Mandurich. The incredible bulk. The incredible bulk. Tony Mandurich was the first guy that America looked at and was like, I know why he's that big. Okay.

Like, I'm pretty, I think I know. what the answer is. I know he went to Michigan. Packers did not. Yeah, I know he went to Michigan State, but I was like, man, he must be meeting with those Nebraska strength coaches. Yeah.

He's on that Tom Osborne strength program. Yeah, I wonder if he's ever been in the WWE. Yeah. But let me tell you what's wild about the 96 being the receiver draft that is interesting. Just about all of them panned out. Yep. Kishaw Johnson, but not necessarily Hall of Famers, right?

No, Heeshon Johnson, Terry Glenn, Eddie Kennes. Edison, Eric Moulds, Bobby Ingram, Musa Muhammad, Ammoni Tumor, Jermaine Lewis, Joe Horn. Like, those are all really good receivers. Joe Horn. Yeah, it was just, it just turned out

only a couple of them were like truly of the Hall of Fame caliber, but I don't think any of those teams, now, the, the Jets took Alex Van Dyke, whom I've never heard of. I don't think they were that happy. Brian Steele for the Chargers, I don't think they were that happy. but just about everybody that went shopping for a receiver

came back with something they could feel good about. Man, but even the other guys in that class, Zach Thomas was in this class, Brian Dawkins. So two kind of very, I don't want to use the word iconic, but maybe were players at that time period were, you know, they were the dudes. I mean, they really were.

Willie Anderson, who should be a homie. Teddy Bruske. Eddie George. I think George was in this draft. Yeah. Lawyer. Stephen Jackson. I mean, that's Stephen Davis.

I'm sorry, Stephen Dave. Oh, Stephen Davis. Even though another good name. Mike Allstott. John Runyon. John Runyon. Yes. God, there.

Hold on. Leroy Glover. Leroy Glover. Really good player. Yeah. Man, I'm glad you brought Stephen Davis. That bunch of memories just came back there. Yeah.

Shout out to Michael Westbrook. You remember that time. We even mentioned the number one pick. We mentioned, I think you already said. Yeah, Kishaw. Yeah, we mentioned Kishar. Yeah. 24-year-old receiver going number one.

Hey, look, Kisham was a good player. And it's funny that you mentioned that because Simeon Rice is in this draft. Simeon Rice, another one, yes. Kevin Hardy and Simeon. The top four of this draft was actually a really good top four. Kishon Johnson, Kevin Hardy, Simeon, Rice, and Jonathan Ogden. You could do worse. Tim Biakabatuka.

Yeah. Top 10 pick in this draft. Ricky Dudley, who I thought was going to be the greatest tied in in the history of mankind. Remember him. God, Ohio State, right? Yeah, he was a beast. He was. I'm glad he brought Muson Muhammad because,

I literally was watching, Muson Muhammad. I literally was watching his highlights last week because I was trying to find a comparison for Denzel Boston in this draft class from Washington. And Muson was who I kind of came to, was Muson Muhammad, which I think if you have that career, you're very happy with that. And he's just another one of these receivers because there's so many in this class. You know, because even the background of some of these guys, like Terrell Owens. Yeah.

Tennessee Chattanooga. You know, like that's not a very common spot to find a Hall of Famous. or like Marvin Harrison at Syracuse. You know, they were a lot better than, than what we would consider now, but still coming from there. Ogden was such a cool background with the discos throwing and all that. Like he was a track athlete.

And he's legitimately all of six, nine. Like he's truly NBA height and one of the greatest athletes to ever play tackle. The picture of Ogden playing at that little bitty super fancy private school and them poor children. having to try to deal and if you can find that picture they made even we taping this in enough advance

that they can put this onto YouTube if you look at that picture of Jonathan Ogden pulling on that play I personally would have gone down in a heat before he got anywhere near me he was and we're talking about all bus teams

like they're it's hard to to talk that like as long as you can't like you might get thrown off because he got a lot of dork in him yeah well that was his big knock was that he's two soft he was too soft he was too soft he was like it never came up yeah and yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

it was just always he was a locked in all pro that's how i remember him anyways yeah yeah yeah yeah that's yeah it's just like like i don't know if you ever had to get to the place you know what i mean like who's challenging him that point yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah just like okay but like look at how long my arms are like nobody you know nobody you know nobody gets anywhere near me i know i it's crazy Offense of grittiness, and this is a side, but with like offensive lineman, that's something that people overrate when they're scouting O'Liman is they think everything's like the blindside movie where the guy's getting pancake 20 yards off the field. It's like, you never see that. It's like good offense line play is so boring. And I think that's why people don't like to watch it.

I get it. But like the best guys are just run the guy by, run the guy by. It's like there's no, he's not even being challenged. And that's a very good thing. It's not all about the power bombs and the raw. rock bottoms that you can do on those guys because that doesn't really happen in the NFL. Sorry. Thank you for my little tangent there.

You're all good, man. So I do think I've decided. Second best draft, 1983 is number one. We'll see how this one all turns out. That's Nate Tice. Check him out Yahoo Sports covering the NFL. My brother, I appreciate you. Thanks for having me.

Always fun going down memory lane with you, Bo. Hey, man. I appreciate it. And ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the right time. We do this four days a week. Ryan Brumley handles everything behind the scenes. Thank you, sir. Hit the voicemail line. 3-2-3-5-9-6-7-67-67.

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