The Ringer NFL Show - 2021 NFL Draft Awards | Big Board

Episode Date: May 2, 2021

'The Ringer Fantasy Football Show' hosts Danny Heifetz and Danny Kelly give out NFL draft awards, such as the best draft award (0:45), the smokescreen award (21:08), the how did that guy fall award (25:06), and more. Check out The Ringer’s NFL Draft Team Grades. Follow ‘The Ringer Fantasy Football’. Hosts: Danny Heifetz and Danny Kelly Production Assistant: Isaiah Blakely Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome to the Ringer NFL show. My name is Danny Haifitz. I am joined by my marathoning co-host, Danny Kelly, who has just been giving out draft grades nonstop for the last, I don't even know, 72 hours. It's 8 a.m. this morning, so we're on like 10 hours here. The draft is over,

mercifully. Who had the best draft? What team? This one's tough. So there's a couple contenders, and I think one of them that is fascinating to me because I really did not think that I was going to end up liking this team's draft this weekend because,

I mean, let's face it, like it's a bunch of football guys, but the Detroit Lions, had a really good draft, I think, because... Wow. Well, first of all, it was the most on-brand draft. I could possibly imagine.

You know, we spent the last few months talking about Dan Campbell, eating hunks out of people. What is it? Taking hunks out of people? Eating knecaps? Taking bites out of kneecaps? It was biting hunks out of their opponent. Taking hunks out of guys.

I don't know if you said eating. I don't know if you said they would bite and chew and small. Are they consuming these hunks? Okay. Regardless, it was just the most on-brand draft. I could imagine. They got Penae Sewell in the first round, pick seven overall. They turn around.

They got Levi-on-Wuzrique from Washington, who I think is a very tough physical, you know, like aggressive, defensive tackle. He came out afterwards and had like this classic quote that was circulating and basically about how he just, he likes to make offensive linemen feel like shit. Did he say I like fucking people up? Isn't that what he said? Yeah.

So he's great. They turned around. They took a second straight defensive tackle. Lee McNeil from NC State, who is a freak athlete at defensive tackle in the third round. They grabbed Ifiatu Melafonwu in the third round also. And he's sort of, I would say he fits the mold quite the same, but he has really good size, really good length. And then Amon Ra, St. Brown in the fourth, Derek Barnes from Purdue in the fourth.

St. Brown, to me, is like a physical. He's like a bully in the red zone. he's, you know, he's literally the son of Mr. Universe, like a Mr. Universe from the 1980s. Yeah, they're like the LeVar Ball family of the NFL is the St. Brown family. Didn't he, didn't Amonra St. Brown write the letter to get the governor, Governor Newson, the governor of California, seeing like, please let the Pack 12 play football. Oh, he might have.

It wouldn't surprise me. I don't remember hearing that, but, I mean, it sounds right. Regardless, like, if you look at just the overall character of their draft, it's a kneecap, bite a kneecaf, take a hunk out of a dude type draft. I think it lays the foundation for what they're trying to do. I think it was actually probably the right move for them to not. I'm going to get on some teams for not taking Justin Fields. I think it might have been actually the right move for them to, like, set the foundation,

start to build a better roster and get themselves in a position to take a quarterback before they throw a guy like him out into the wolves. I think it just, to me, like I can get behind their decision making, especially the fact they took Sewell, who is an elite offensive tackle. So I don't know. I just love their draft. I think it's really good. Even their final pick,

Jamar Jefferson from Morgan State's kind of an interesting pick. So the Lions did great. So you can see all of DKs, drafts, grades, everything, everything on every player you're really interested in. NFL draft.orgher.com. Check those out. You can see the grades and you can, well, it's a yell at him, but you're not going to yell because they're all right.

What other teams do you think did really well? So I'm going to talk about the Jaguars because, And let's bring Isaiah in here too because he was surprised He was surprised I had them here And I think if you look around This definitely isn't the consensus I might get some pushback on this

But I don't know I look at the Jaguar's draft I really like it obviously Trevor Lawrence is a huge huge anchor And carries a lot of weight with that But Isaiah why should I not like their draft Yeah, Isaiah you're a Jacks fan Yes I just felt like

After the Lawrence pick Obviously that's a great pick but like ETN's not a need. Like I just, I felt like they made picks like ETN. I didn't think after picking C.J. Henderson last year, top of the second round, you go corner, especially after you sign Shaquille Griffin. I felt like, and Walker Little hasn't played football in like two years.

It's just like Andre Sisko tore his ACL last year. It's like there's so many question marks I felt like in every pick, either a question mark or it doesn't feel a direct need. when they have plenty of needs on that defense, they found a way to pick the guys that aren't massive needs, I felt like, and that's my problem. Like, Tyson Campbell could be good. He also could be playing the slot this year,

and it's like they need a D-line. They need help in the lineback before. Like, they just have other needs that are bigger than what they got there. Wait, you said Urban Myers said ETS might be the third downback? Yeah. Oh, that's like the first down running. It's just coach speak. He's not going to be like that.

So here's my, here would be a, rebuttal, I think that's all very valid and it's true. Like this is a Trent Balkey draft. Like they had a couple guys who were like injured, you know, like whatever. To me, this is a upside draft for a lot of these guys. ETN has the upside to be an elite running back. I don't love the value and I don't like they don't have that need, obviously, especially a year after they got such elite production from an undrafted free agent running back.

However, he brings the speed element that very few backs have. So I think I can at least talk myself. into it because of what he can do in the passing game. I think Tyson Campbell has elite potential. I think Walker Little could end up being, this is a big, it's sort of a big swing because, like you said, he hasn't played. He opted out of 2020. He only played one game in 2019.

So he literally hasn't played since like, like significant snap since 2018. However, he was a five-star recruit. He's big. He's athletic. And if you go on the tape, he definitely like has a few rough outings. I think he played like against Notre Dame. He just didn't look very good. but like overall, I think the upside is there.

Everything we heard about in the in the pre-draft process was he came in like really good shape and like looked really good and all the workouts and all that stuff. So I think it's a swing for the fences, but he could be an elite right tackle, I think, for them. Cisco, yeah, I get the, he's coming off an injury. But again, he is one of these guys that flies around, makes plays, super energetic, has ball skills, all that stuff. J. Tufele from USC, I think he was supposed to be like a second or third rounder. he fell to all the way to pick 106.

I think that was a good, good value. And then they got a few guys later in the rounds. Like Jordan Smith, I do you got a good value late? I think like, like you said, Jordan Smith, I think could end up being a good pick. That's another upside guy. Luke Farrell is an atrocious pick, and I can't be convinced otherwise, a 29-year-old tight end with Brevin Jordan on the board. He's an excuse.

He's not 29. He's not 29. So this was actually something that was going around. He's only 23. There's another guy, I think, of baseball. Jesus Christ. I was scared. Yeah, he's not 29.

I thought he was 29. Then they also got, they got Jalen Camp from Georgia Tech who I think is very fascinating. He's like Uber athletic guy. He's a free. And then they also got a few undrafted free agents that are really interesting. No, no,

no, they're not. None of the draft free agents are interesting. Dylan Moses. Hifett, shut your trap. They are. No, I'm just,

but like, look, bottom line, we have to include Trevor Lawrence in this draft class, right? Like, they got the best quarterback prospect in like 10 years. Does that not count for anything? Did that part, right?

I like how I'm trying to like convince it. You're defending it. The fan is the exact opposite. Everyone's like, why did you give my team a plus? It's an A plus. And this is like, I've never even heard of this. Like the fans are harder out of the analysts. Okay.

So it's completely ridiculous. All right. Thank you, Isaiah. So I actually, I can't remember that happening ever. So let's get, we're going to give it a couple words. here for draft night. So the lions get best draft. Jags, apparently the Jags fans disagree. We're also

going to give here the let's try this again award. We're going to give that one to the New York Jets because I believe they're like the first team in 40 or 50 years to use two top three picks on a quarterback in the same four year span. Clean slate. DeK, what do you think? How do you think

this one went for the Jets? Because obviously they approach this differently than Sam Darnold. So they took Zach Wilson's second. How do you think the rest of this class came out for them? So they would actually be on my short list of other teams that I think actually knocked it out of park in terms of their overall draft. Zach Wilson pick, I think, is a solid pick. He wasn't my top ranked quarterback at that spot.

I would have preferred Justin Fields, but we've talked this nauseam. We don't have to talk about it anymore. He's their pick. And I think he raises number one. He raises the floor for them. I think he absolutely raises the ceiling to elite levels if he really pans out and fits perfectly in this offense that they're bringing in. I think going and getting Elijah Verit Tucker,

I didn't love the value of trading two third rounders to go up and get him, but I think putting him in that offensive line next to Mackay Beckton or wherever he ends up on the offensive line. I think is great because honestly, getting Zach Wilson an offensive line that's going to protect him, given passing lanes is so crucial. So that is like the process I could pick nits with, but at the same time,

I think it's absolutely crucial that they have a good offense line. So that makes total sense to me. You mentioned the past protection. Joe Douglas, the GM of the Jets, has taken two first round offensive linemen in the last two years. That is the same amount of offensive linemen that Jets drafted in the first round

in the rest of the 21st century combined. So, yeah, I mean, I think that's the perfect point because, yeah, it just makes so much sense. So I love that. And then I love Elijah Moore. They picked in the second round. He was one of my favorite receivers coming in here. I think he's, he's,

a big time playmaker for them. He's a little bit small, stature-wise, but he plays big, he's physical, he can run after the catch, he has great hands, all that stuff.

They didn't reach on a running back and ended up picking Michael Carter out of North Carolina in the fourth round. I thought that was an excellent value. Then they took a different Michael Carter in the fifth round. They have two Michael Carter's in this draft, which is hilarious. So Robert Sala,

the Jets coach, said that they took Michael Carter, the running back in the fourth round, and then ESPN started playing the B-roll footage of Michael Carter the safety from Duke. The wrong one.

The Jets' draft room looked around like, holy shit, did we hit in the wrong card? Like, did we put the wrong name on the thing? And then a round later, they drafted Michael Carter anyway, again. That is funny.

Yeah. I don't know if that's ever happened where a team has drafted two guys in the same name. The Packers have an Amari Rogers and an Aaron Rogers. That too, A. Rogers. The other one is Josh Allen,

the Bill's quarterback, went, what was it, seventh in the 2018 draft, and then a different Josh Allen also went seventh in the 2019 draft. That will probably never happen again. There's a Lamar Jackson, who's a cornerback also. We do the fantasy show. I did a fantasy baseball. I once traded Jose A. Reyes, who was like a Mets,

single-lake prospect straight up for like Jimmy Rollins and then six. That's not here nor there. So for the Jets offense, again, I just want to linger here. For Adam Gase, the Jets ranked dead last in total yards in back two. back seasons. They ranked deadlasts in yards per play in back to back seasons. They were the first team in 40 years to do that. Are you optimistic about this Jets offense and this Jets team being good? Yes, I am. And I'm becoming more and more optimistic because like honestly earlier in the process before free agency, all this stuff, I'm looking at the Jets and they're and all indications are

they're going to take Jack Wilson. I'm like, this is not a great landing spot for him. Like I'm a little bit worried about him. The Jets history obviously is a big factor, but also just, I mean, you said it, they've been a really bad team with a really bad roster for a long time, but they went out and got Corey Davis. Denzo Mims is coming back in his second season. I still am very bullish on what he could do in the NFL. You know, their offensive line is growing and getting better. They obviously added to it. And then, you know, maybe we can get back on the Herndon trade, but I think trained, but I think also just overall bringing in a new system, bringing in the Shanahan style scheme.

We don't know exactly what's going to look like with Lafleur. But I think overall, I'm bullish. I'm excited what this is going to do. I don't think they're going to be like lighting the world on fire in year one or whatever. But I'm pretty confident they're not going to be like the worst offense in the NFL again. And so that's definitely a big improvement. If they are and they get four first. If they use their first four picks and they're still the worst offense, the NFL, maybe we're

too mean about Adam Gays. All right. So the Jets get the Let's try this again award. But we're going to give another. Let's try this again, again, award to the Chicago Bears. Because now you've got Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy who are the same, well, Ryan Pace is the same GM that traded up for Trubisky.

So this time now they're doing it again. They're running it back. They traded up for Justin Fields. There's two conversations here. There's one about how the Bears are going to do. There's also about this front office and trust in it. But I want to stick to the Bears for this season again. How do you feel about how the Bears did for this draft to turn around this team?

So most of the Bears. the time, and I'm sure you've heard me say this, but I definitely subscribe to the volume drafting style. Like, don't have overconfidence in who you're going to pick and trade back, accumulate more picks, make more picks, all that stuff. Like, generally speaking, I very much subscribe to that. The draft is dart throwing you want a lot of darts. Right. However, in this case, I'm a big fan of what they did because I have overconfidence in myself, I guess, because I really like Justin Fields and Tevin Jenkins. They trade out for Justin. confident, but you're just right.

Right. Totally. No, but I think in this case, though, it makes a lot of sense for them to target these specific players, especially Justin Fields. Go up and get him, put him into your offense. They did all the song and dance about how, oh, yeah, Andy Dalton is still a starter, but like whatever. We'll see.

I don't think that's going to last very long. And then obviously, just like what the Jets have done, you got to surround him with some talent. I was, like I told you on the Friday show, or the Thursday show, I should say, I was not super excited to see Justin Fields land in Chicago. I mean, like, when it comes to landing spots, it was not the most enticing to me. However, what they've done,

they go and add Tevin Jingitz, who I had as a first round talent. You know, they traded up for them, so they had to give up some stuff, but I think that's a smart move. It improves their offensive line. It gives Justin Fields a very important piece.

I think, you know, and then they added a few interesting guys later in the draft. Like I'd like Khalil Herbert, the running back. He'll be a backup running back there, like depth guide. Dad's Newsom is interesting from North Carolina. Um, you know, the rest of their draft didn't like blow me away, but I think just getting Fields and Jenkins, who I had both as elite first round talents, um, Jenkins more in the back end, but Fields like was literally my number two guy. So I'm very excited about what they can do. Um, getting him in there with Allen Robinson, David Montgomery, like if they're going to be running some of the, some of the schemes like we've seen in Kansas City. Obviously, Nagy comes from Kansas City. He has not been able to run to offense. He wants to run with the quarterbacks they have.

have in Chicago. I'm hoping that he can kind of get things going. It might not be like an immediate thing where Fields looks awesome right away, but I just think overall, like he elevates that offense so much and gives them the potential to be really good down the line. So the Bears, when they did the Trubisky trade, they traded two thirds and a fourth to move up one spot.

They traded three years later. They traded a fourth for Nick Fold. Now they traded a first, a fourth, end of fifth for fields to just to move up. That is nine draft picks they've used on quarterback. in the last four years. So they better get this right, basically. And on that note,

yeah, half the fun of the draft is looking back at past drafts and being like, how'd they do this? What is the most fun version of this has been like the Bears, wow, the Bears, six tribisky from homes.

What is the version of that for this year? Like, what, who is the team at most at risk of we look back at and like, why the hell did you not take this quarterback? Right. So I think it's going to be the Broncos passing up on Justin Fields.

And again, I've already given you my Justin Fields spiel. Love the guy. I think he's going to be a really good pro. My Justin Spiels. My Justin Schfields. That's hard to say. But yeah, no, I think like you look at the Broncos draft and I like a lot of the players they took.

Like honestly, I think they did a great job at the draft. However, at the end of the day, they're trying to keep pace with the chiefs. They're trying to beat the chiefs. They're trying to be thrown the chiefs. Yep. And you pass over a quarterback to take a quarterback to take a. corner when you have Drew Locke and Teddy Bridgewater on your roster. Yeah.

Like to me, that is the most obvious version of like, we're going to look back on this. Not even maybe in two years, maybe in like a year and just be like, what the fuck were they thinking? Now, I'm going to say this. I'm going to say this before we get into it. If they end up getting Aaron Rogers, which is like sort of this other whole wrinkle, then I'll take it back. But right now, I'm just saying like, man, this could be a decision they look back on and be

like, we really mess that. at. So let's get to the Rogers thing in a second. But the most generous thing I'll say for the Broncos, they're both dark blue and orange, so I also confuse them in my head sometimes. But like, the most generous thing you can say

for what the Broncos did is that Drew Locke, maybe they still believe in him. And he had a shoulder injury to his throwing shoulder last year. And that would try to excuse why he was, you know, statistically like one of the absolute worst quarterbacks in football last year. Like just absolutely, I think it was

dead last and completion percentage and all the other normal stats, advanced stats, none of them are kind. He was awful, but maybe he's healthy another year in the offense, blub, you know,

all that stuff. Bridgewater's competent, but it's hard to, it's hard to justify. I mean, basically it feels as bad, then they're right, and it feels as good,

then they're screwed. With that said, the Rogers thing, I mean, it's funny because at one hand, I feel like Aaron Rogers kind of dominated the whole draft, even though nothing happened.

He just seemed like pretty toasted at the Kentucky Derby. But I don't think he gets traded, to be honest with you. I'm curious if you disagree. My read in the situation is like, I feel like they're going to dig it and I feel like he shows up. That's my gut feeling right now. I know all the reports we're hearing are like,

he says he won't go back. He says he won't go back. I kind of need to see it, honestly. Like apparently he wants Brian Gutakunz, the GM fired. I feel like he plays. It just seems unfathomable to me that like he will just like not go. Yeah. I don't know, you know, look, I'm not a psychologist. I don't know Aaron Rogers, but the guy doesn't talk to his family. You think he's going to all of a sudden just like go and make up with this front office and people he doesn't fucking know or like, he's not related to by blood. He knows him obviously, but it sounds like he hates everybody in that front office. The exact report was he hates him in the front office for a variety of reasons.

Right. Not just the contract. He just hates them personally. No, I think it's like, so Charles Robinson from Yahoo had a report today, I think it's Saturday, saying basically he wants the GM to get fired. Like basically he's saying him or me. Like he's falling out with the GM, good to cuntz. And that's it. Like he's not coming back if that guy's still there, basically is what he's saying. And this is from someone in Rogers camp according to Robinson. So we'll see.

I mean, right now it's posturing. But, you know, to me, I'm like, I kind of lean that he's not going to play. Like, he's not going to play for the Packers anymore unless something major happens. Obviously, everything with the Deshawn Watson situation is completely changed. And I don't know if he ever plays in the NFL again. But before that happened, this was the trade. That was the situation. Sean Watson was tweeting himself.

That kind of made me believe because he was saying it from his own mouth or, you know, tweeting. If Aaron Rogers starts kind of saying stuff about the, not through other sources. Channels. But until he actually kind of puts it out there, I think that I'm going to lean it. But the second he says, yeah, no, I don't want to play. Then I'll be like, wow.

Okay. But we have plenty of time to talk about that. So that's not going anywhere. So let's stick to the draft for right now. I kind of want to just the smokescreen award for the 49ers, actually not taking match. This is great. So what do you make of the Niners draft?

Obviously, we thought they take. might take Mac Jones. They take Trey Lance. I mean, what do you make of how they, how they did this weekend? I mean, it's a good draft.

I think they did a really good job. I'm a fan of what they did. I still think, so basically number one, I think it gives, from my perspective, they got a lot of goodwill by not taking Mac Jones.

Like I was just a little bit worried that was going to be reality. I didn't think it was the smart move. In a vacuum, them taking Mac Jones at 12 would have been fine, but they gave two first round picks to trade up to number three. And then you take Mac Jones.

Like to me, that sounded like lunacy. And so the fact that they took Trey Lance earned me some confidence. Or they earned some of my confidence, you know, based on that. I think Trey Lansing in his own right is a risky pick. We've talked about this again, ad nauseum, a very limited amount of attempts in his college career, a very limited amount of games in his college career. He's hardly ever been playing from behind in his college career. All these things, massive, massive red flags, typically with any quarterback.

However, in the Shanahan scheme, with the Shanahan at Offensive Coordinator, I'm confident that he can coach him up, get him to a place where he's going to be a very good quarterback. I think he's a good runner, all that stuff. So end of the day, I like the pick. I think it's a good pick. And I think what they did later in the draft, I think, is very smart. They got Aaron Banks from Notre Dame in the second round, you know, add to their offensive line. They got another guy, Jalen Moore, in the fifth round. They added two really good running backs in my mind, Trey Sermen and the third, who was very very,

underrated coming into the draft basically because he kind of was like he kicked around he started at oklahoma ended up at ohio state um but i think he has potential to be very good and then elijah mitchell from louisiana al affid who's just really fast and like kind of fits the mold for the 49ers running backs um overall like to me what they did was they built on their their their philosophy on their strength and they're on their foundation and they did exactly what i think a 49ers team would do so i i liked what they did. So the Niners say they're probably going to keep Jimmy Garapolo around. The reality is most first round quarterbacks play early now. This is not, I mean, Mahomes setting for a year is the exception. Most people now, they play relatively early as a rookie.

But Tray Lance is not most first round quarterback. So do you think that Tray Lance, like, do you think that Niners hold on to Jimmy G and Jimmy G's the starter in week one and we go from there? Or do you think that Trey Lance could play in the NFL in week one after playing one college football game last season. Right. It's tough. I'd lean that they will do what they have been saying and roll with Garapolo, at least, to start the season. If Garapolo falters, if things start going poorly, that's when you make the change. Now, they are very good, obviously, at hiding their intentions because, like, I mean,

Trey Lance was definitely in the conversation, but like, we all thought it was going to be Mac Jones, or at least most of us thought that it was going to be Mac Jones, including myself. And I ended up putting him in my mock draft, Mac Jones. And I'm really bummed about that because I was very much open to the idea of Trey Lansson. I think, and I'm going to blame it on you. You kind of talked me out of it. Yeah, I did. You can blame that.

That's neither here nor there. Look, I also gave you the Kentucky Derby winner. So like, you know what? Whatever. Yeah, it's evens out. It evens out. Good call, by the way. That was awesome.

I'm thrilled about it. But, yeah. but yeah I mean like so again it's very hard to predict what they're going to do they obviously are very good at keeping things under tabs and dude do they do the

the Tyrion lanister thing where they kind of like planted different information and different people to see what leaked or what I don't know I don't know that would be fascinated by that yeah okay so Jimmy G. probably plays so the other thing with like drafts is you look at

drafts just kind of pull up a draft from past years. And you always look and you're like, how did this guy fall so far? Who is the guy this year that we will look back at and like, how the hell did this dude fall and like end up, you know, in the second, fourth, whatever round? Yeah. So I would say there's two guys that really stood out to me as is when we're sitting there on day two and I was like, man, how is this guy not been chosen yet? The first is Jeremiah Ousukormo from Notre Dame, linebacker slash safety, who ended up going 52nd overall to Cleveland. I had of number nine. of my board. And I know that I wasn't alone in sort of my love for him as a player. I think he's,

he's like maybe a draft Twitter favorite or whatever, but super explosive guy flies around, really, really fun to watch. But the question was always going to be. And I was very aware of this. And I discussed this in the past, like his fit and finding a team that will know exactly what they want to do with him was going to be a big question mark. And it turned out to be a much bigger question mark than I could have even imagined. I thought maybe you'd fall towards the end of the first round or something, but he fell in all the way into the mid-second round. And so that was a big surprise, but I'm glad to land in Cleveland. That was a team I'd connected to him before the draft, actually, I think at 26 or

wherever they picked in the first round. And so I think that makes a lot sense. You know, the good defense gets a little bit better. But that one was really surprising, and I'll be very interested to see, like, how he's deployed, how they use him. If he ends up being as good as I thought he was going to be as good as I think he's going to be. But, yeah, imagine in two years, if we look back.

And like this guy's everywhere. He's flying around. He's making plays. Blah, blah, blah. Like, how the hell do you fall the second round? The second guy that I want to talk about, and he's been a favorite of mine in the pre-draft process, Terrace Marshall from LSU.

He ended up falling to 59 and he went to Carolina. And a couple guys, in fact, the Seahawks and the Rams passed up on him, which I thought was very surprising. They ended up taking Dwayne Eskridge and Tutu Atwell and said, we'll talk about those guys later. I want to bring up them later. But he ended up, yeah, fall. in quite a bit. And I think it had to do with everything that we were hearing throughout this

process was it was, he was flagged for knee and ankle issues, I believe, that like kind of go back to high school. So it was more of a medical thing than a talent thing. But I thought he had first round talent. And so he lands with Joe Brady in Carolina, his old college offensive coordinator. And I think this is going to be so much fun. Well, not just any offensive coordinator. The offensive coordinator for the best offense in college football history, the LSU 2019 team. Right. He scored 13 touchdowns that year. And, you know, he got hurt part way through the season, but he was like a huge, huge part of that. And so I think they've got big plans for him there. I'm sure Brady, you know, knows how to use him, knows how to deploy him in that offense. I think

this is going to be a much better offense. And hopefully that can be enough to, you know, sort of help Sam Darnold, you know, sort of save his career and keep his career going. So, yeah, so I thought, I thought that one was surprising and a little bit of a bummer because I was just, just so high on him before, but I do believe it was mostly medical related. Yeah, I mean, I think that, I mean, that was a huge storyline coming in is like the teams were dissatisfied with the medical information and that a lot of the guys with medical issues that, you know, fell further than normal because they had incomplete information on them all. So the Giants actually picked up a team like, a guy like that too, Aziza Arjolari.

And I want to talk about the Giants. Yeah. I'm giving Dave Gettleman the award for the guy who didn't like, didn't really drink in college. And then now it's just like absolutely going. as an adult and he's just like going on every week. This is like, wow, drinking's great. It's like trading down guys. Have you like this is so sick.

Gettelman, yeah, Gettoman is the guy who tries weed when he's 30 years old and he's like, music is awesome. Anyway, yeah, no, I think it's funny because, yeah, like we bullied him basically into trading down.

Yeah, he never traded down in his career and now he's just doing it every day. How many, do you know how many draft picks he made in this time? He was like eight years or something worth of draft picks. It's a ton of drafts. He'd been in a gym since like, 2011, 2012, literally had never traded down, rarely traded.

And so they traded down in the first and picked up the Bears first next year, a third, a fourth, and then they traded down again in the second round. And then they got the player they're going to get anyway, which is Azizio. Ocelari, which is like a really good pick, one of the best pick of the whole second round. And he fell because of knee issues, but he led the SEC in sacks. So amazing. He's really good. So, I mean, as a giant said, I'm pretty thrilled about this.

Can you, like, just throw. Yeah. I'm not like Isaiah. I'm happy. I'm like, I would like you to keep me happy with these, the Giants. I'm not going to poo-poo. I'm not going to poo-poo it. Tony,

Tony wouldn't have been my first choice there, but I love what they did. So they took the Florida receiver in the first round. Yeah, and I think he's a, he's a boomer bust, high upside, sort of maybe lower, floor than you want type guy, but he's definitely a playmaker. You know, he's definitely exciting. He's explosive. And honestly, he's not like anybody they have in that offense. So I can talk myself into it.

It makes sense. I already have. And it. Yeah. And so it's going to be fun to watch. But yeah, they traded down. They got a first round pick out of it. So now they have two firsts in 2022, which is huge. And then O'Dulari, who he was my second ranked pass rusher.

Obviously, like you said, he fell because teams, I think, had flagged his knee as is potentially problematic, like his durability long term, all that. But he's very close. He's 20 years old. He's 20. Yeah. So, I mean, hell of a draft. I'm going to pull up the Giants draft here because I'm, I actually liked a lot of their picks.

So I'm going to go through it here. Aaron Robinson, very good pick, I thought, in the third round. Like, he could come in there and play. He's almost 24, though. Oh, you speak in my language. This is like the Seahawks draft. They drafted two, like, old dudes. Like, they had three picks and two of them were almost, one of them was 24.

Isn't it where the giant's third rounder is four years older than the second rounder? That is kind of bizarre. So, yeah. No, I love the draft. I thought they did a really good job. I mean, that's always been the thing, too, though. Like Gettleman, like you've mentioned this, he's good at identifying talent. He just has no concept of value.

No, for the first time, he's Lucille Blue. He did both. He had, he identified value. And, you know, he understood or, and he, I think he picked a good player. So, yeah, it was a good draft. So the one thing I want to shout out Gettleman for, and there's so many things here, there's whether they will three years from now regret trading out of the Justin Fields pick. There's, you know, Kader's, is Jason Garrett going to actually like get to, you know,

do anything with this creative offense, Daniel Jones, but we have a lot of all season to talk about Giants. The one thing I want to shout out Gettleman for is that they have to make the playoffs to sure he will be fired. Like almost,

it's really, really going to be hard for them to, they have to have a winning record. And a lot of times when you're a GM on the hot seat, those GMs in that situation start trading up and throwing money around free agency and they trade up and they're like, look, if I give away the future first

and the team isn't good, I don't care. It's not my problem anymore. I will be fired. Dave Gettleman has done the opposite. Dave Gettelman has trading back and stashing assets into a draft that if this season doesn't go well, he might not even be the GM around to make these picks. So that is a stewardship of the franchise that I actually really appreciate because not

every team always goes that way. Are we pro Gettelman? Are we turning pro Gettelman here? The bar, it's one of those situations where the bar was so low that now it's kind of like a all you that just keeps pissing in the house and then like just has a great streak. And it's like, wow. Like it's like it's kind of the bare minimum. But like you know what?

I'm back in. I don't know. Okay. Let's get to the head scratchers here. I think this is the we don't pay attention to mock drafts award to the Las Vegas for haters. Oh my gosh. They did it again. They did it again.

Every first round pick they've had has been a reach. Has it not? Yes. And I think it would be remiss not to say a perceived reach because obviously we don't know what, what is on those teams draft boards. We don't know what information they're getting. But I think the important thing is they don't seem to care, really. I think Mayock even said something about this.

Like he doesn't really pay attention to mock drafts, like literally. And so maybe he doesn't have a good grasp on like where players are supposed to go or where they're going to go or if he can trade back and still pick up a guy. That's ridiculous. Okay. Dude, that's ridiculous. Here's this. So the Raiders had this passive, aggressive ass tweet that was like.

So Daniel Jeremiah, the NFL network analyst, like, shredded them on. I don't know if this was in response to him or someone else. The Raiders tweeted out, regardless of what any air quotes, draft expert said, GM, Mike Mayock and Coach Gruden saw a starting right tackle in Alex Leatherwood. Dude, can we talk about how Mike Mayock before he was the Raiders GM did mock draft expertise that was his job? And they're putting air quotes, well, we don't care what mock draft expert says Mike Mayock was a draft expert. Before Daniel Jeremiah was a draft expert, before Daniel Jeremiah was NFL network. Mike Mayak had that job. Daniel Jeremiah got it because Mike

Mayak left for the Raiders. How are the Raiders making fun of this? The irony is I think DJ was working for the Raiders probably when Mayok was doing NFL stuff. For the Ravens, I should say. This is like if the Giants hired me and then I was in their front office and then next year you shredded the ring and I was like, well, I don't care what the NFL show people say. What do they know anyway? It's like, dude, you did that. That is what you were doing. Holy cow.

Okay. That was funny. Hey, I will say, though, like, in defense of the Raiders, you know, they didn't do that. I don't think Mayock did that tweet. No, sorry. Yeah, let me be 100% clear that Mike Mayock did not tweet that. Like, the Raiders social media, like, like Mike Mayak had nothing to do with that tweet. Although Mark Davis obviously had some really weird freaking tweets that he was dictating.

We won't go into that. Yeah. So I was going to say, with regard to the Raiders, though, you know, they did, I think there was a pretty strong perceived reach on Leatherwood. However, they got Trevin Merrig in the second round, pick 42 or 43. And that, to me, is a nice value, very nice value. Yeah. So in my mind, like, and honestly, people are saying this and it's very fascinating because I'm sure this has happened, this happened multiple times in this draft probably.

But like, literally if the Raiders had just taken Trevin Merig at 17 and then Leatherwood at 43, we probably wouldn't be talking about it. You know what I mean? It would be like, oh, that's maybe a bit high for Merig, but I get it. Now, doesn't that speak to how weird this draft was? and the lack of group think relative to other years. The Giants have the same thing where if they had taken Oja Lari at 11

and Caderas Tony in the second round, a lot of people would not have thought that was crazy. Just like Caderer's Tony. Like, oh, a little bit of reaching the first, good value in the second. It kind of speaks to how weird this draft was. You don't usually see that. Yeah, yeah.

And I think that it goes to, like you mentioned, the medical things definitely factor in, the lack of group thinking, the lack of communication. Like, we're not going to combine. We're not talking to everybody. We're not going to pro.

days and people are talking to everybody and getting a better consensus on where players are going to go. I came into the draft. You know, I did the top 100 and I was scouring mock drafts and things like that, trying to make sure I didn't have anybody outside of my top 100 that might go in the first round. And that's like, you know, that would be a huge discrepancy, obviously, like, you know, having a guy that's not in my top 100 go in the first round.

And I wanted to make sure I wasn't like missing anybody and sort of, you know, trying to just do my double checks and things like that. And I ended up brighting up a few guys extra just in case like, you know, we had a surprise first rounder. But I think it was definitely one of those situations where we did not really know exactly what teams were going to do. And there was going to be, I thought there would be a wild first rounder. There really wasn't a wild first runner in my mind.

I mean, Alex Leather was good. I want to be clear about that. He's a good player. I was hoping the Giants would get him in the second. Okay. Yeah. Let's look at. So three quarter, there was like a little miniature run on quarterbacks.

Kyle Trask, I think it was the last pick of the second round. And then very quickly, then he went to the Bucks. And then Kellyn Monde, the A&M quarterback, went to the Vikings. And then Davis Mills, the Stanford dude, went to Houston. So just a quick thing here. This is probably meaningless because for all the talk about Russell Wilson, the reality is, this is from Kevin Sefer, DSPN, of the past 36 quarterbacks drafted in the second and third rounds, only four made the pro bowl.

So like the odds of these dudes contribute anything are pretty low. Having said that, which of these guys do you think has the best chance to, not play, but like the best chance to be good. Well,

I mean, I think both count. Like, you have to be able to play in order to be good. Fair. I think, kind of.

If I look at this list, I'm not as high on Mond as a lot of people. I think a lot of people would probably say Mond and say he has the, he has the most potential. He did start. I think he was a four-year starter.

He threw a whole bunch of passes in college. He has every record in Texas A&M, like every single record. Total touchdowns he's tied to Johnny Mansell, but he beat Manzell like every other category. Yeah, so I mean, I think a lot of people would probably say Mon, but to me when I watched him, I didn't think his accuracy was very good. And I didn't think he just looked robotic a little bit to me. Like, I don't know. He definitely has the tools.

But I would be, I think I would go out on limb here and say Davis Mills would have maybe the best chance. Number one, I think he's in the best situation. And that's a, that's a relative term because, you know, the Houston Texans are not a good situation right now to be. But it does sound like Deshaun Watson has played his last snap in Houston. And so they don't have a starting quarterback. Like Tyrod Taylor is the quote unquote starter until we find out anything else. And I think Davis Mills has, you know, decent tools, at least to work with to develop.

He's a former five-star guy. I know that's like sort of a cliche now to talk about because like that's basically the reason he got drafted. But teams love that stuff. Teams love the pedigree. They love the rankings in like what you were in high school. He was like this big time high school recruit. I believe he was the number one pro style quarterback in the country when he came out. So I think there's there's something there.

He only had 11 games in college. You only had 11 starts in college. You know, his numbers weren't great. But like there's a combination of like multiple tools there that I think you could work with. So like I would say Mills. But like none of these guys to me, I'm very confident are going to do anything. Yeah, I think, I mean, Mills definitely has the best chance to, like, play this season probably, barring injury, but, um, right, right.

Something always happens to Tarad Taylor anytime he gets a chance to start. I mean, in Browns, he was the start of, I had a baker, and then he got a concussion, and then there was that, like, the doctor's pregame injection thing gone wrong, and then Herbert took over. Jesus. So I feel like something always happens to the poor guy, so I can see Davis Mills playing. Okay, let's get away from the Texans who are the dumpster fire of all dumpster fires. Go good teams, actually. What Super Bowl contender improved the most this weekend? So, yeah, that's a good question. This one's interesting.

And I think, so the way that you framed it, too, is you said what Super Bowl contender improved the most. And I would say the Chiefs did. And it's kind of, it's kind of cheating a little bit because they traded their first round pick for a starting left tackle, which I don't think they, they did not think they were going to be able to get a guy like Orlando Brown at the end, at the back end, of the first round. In fact, actually, by the way,

Leatherwood was a guy I'd been mocking to the chiefs a couple of times because I thought maybe they'd grab him and have him plug him in at right tackle or left tackle or whatever. But I mean, I look at their draft. It's not like super flashy, but I think it's just solid. They got, you know, if you count it this way, they got Orlando Brown. But even if you don't count that,

I still think it was a pretty solid draft. They got Nick Bolton in the second. He's this rangy sort of instinctive downhill line. linebacker. They got Creed Humphrey at Center, who I think will be... What a name. Unbelievable. Creed Humphrey. Super athletic experience. I think he'll end up being a good long-term starter for them at center. They got an athletic tight end and Noah Gray. I actually, and I like their receiver pick a lot. He was sort of one of my favorite sleepers coming in. And I comped him to Sammy

Watkins, actually. Stylistically, obviously, not the same type of prospect Sammy Watkins was coming into the NFL. More like who Sammy Watkins is now. But Cornell Powell from Clemson to me is a big physical guy. I mean, if you saw him at his pro day, he ran his 40 and did all his drills without a shirt on. He looks like AJ Brown. Like he's huge and ripped. Athletic guy can win above the rim.

He, you know, he's a, he was a former four-star guy who basically didn't do jack shit until this last season. So he, there's, analytically speaking, he's not good. He's not a strong prospect. but I thought he looked solid this past year. Word on, you know, word in scouting reports, I saw it Dan Brugler talking about this from the athletic. He basically was very lauded for his change in work ethic

and the way he practiced and everything. He basically like turned a corner this last year. So there is this hope to me in my mind that maybe he was just immature or just not quite all there. His first couple years at Clemson and he kind of figured it out and he's an ascending type player. So he's an interesting one to me in the first. fifth round and then Trace Smith from Tennessee in the sixth round is like he's a former five-star

guy big-time recruit who went to Tennessee he had but he had blood clots in his lungs and so there's a very scary medical condition that was a big part of the reason that he fell he did get cleared to play football again but I think teams you know obviously had that in mind he fell but he has a talent to be a starter so I look at that that hall that they got and I like it a lot And honestly, the other thing is like, it's just, you know, you look around at the other top teams, I think, in the NFL that we'd say the top teams from last year. And none of the teams really stand out to me on what they did in the draft. So I think this is probably the best of the bunch. I would say maybe you could throw in the Packers.

You could throw in the bills. But overall, I think the chiefs did the best job. I mean, look, at the end of the day, Patrick Mahomes ran for his life in the Super Bowl and was Herculane and trying to do things alone. but the reality is he was pressure 29 times. I think that's the most on record in a Super Bowl. It was basically the best game, regular season or playoffs. It was the best, or sorry, the second best game for a four-man pass rush of the last 10 years by in terms of just how much pressure the bucks got before dudes.

So if you're saying that they got Orlando Brown and this Jay Smith's doing the sixth round and then maybe a starting center in the second round, I mean, I see what you're saying. A good role playing, a good role-playing receiver who I think will probably contribute it pretty early because they don't have a deep receiver group right now. So yeah, I think it was a good draft. It's true. So I do want to ask you real quick about the bills. I thought the bill I like what the bills did. They don't have any needs, but they do

need pass rusher. They get Greg Rousseau from Miami, who very limited sample size, but he dominated in that sample size. They get Carlos Basham Jr. Did you not like what the bills did? No, I did like what they did. I didn't like dislike what they did. I just think yeah, I mean, they got two

of my higher ranked edge rushers. And I think that's obviously a very good job. Carlos Basham in the second round, 601, especially to me, is a good pick. But I think overall, just like, you know, they're picking at the end of every round. They got Spencer Brown,

who's a very interesting developmental tackle. But I've not seen, like, a ton of guys that are going to, like, come in and contribute from day one. I think Rousseau and Basham are good picks. And then Brown has the potential to be a good pick down the line. So it's like, it wasn't, like, a bad draft, necessarily, like, at all. But sort of just, you know,

one of those, like, hit it down the fair. way and feel good about it type. Got to get on the fairway. I played a, I played golf with Kevin Clark the other day, and that was all that matter. You got to get it on the fairway. Okay. We're going to give it some more words here. Husband of the year.

Matt Ruhle, Panthers. Okay. Did you see Matt Ruhl's wife, Julie, texts Matt Ruhl, please take Chuba Hubbard. And then 10 minutes later, they took Chuba Hubbard, the running back from Oklahoma State. Like, did you just like, okay? I can't believe that. What? What?

Why did she do it? Well, first of all, why did she like, do you know why she likes Hubbard? I don't. I have not spoken to her yet. So I don't know. Okay. All right. Well, let me know if you talk to her.

All right. Yeah, I thought that was absolutely hilarious. So Matt Ruhl, husband of the year. Hubbard, by the way, that's, I like that pick, though, for them because that's like a good backup for CMC. Yeah, it's nice. Yeah, I mean, you need a good one. Okay. So, DK.

I want to know who won the draft. I'm going to throw out a couple candidates and then I want your candidates. Yeah. the guy who proposed to his girlfriend on stage. I did not see this. Did she say yes? Oh my, you've been so deep in the world.

You haven't seen this? You've just great and draught. Dude, the Chief's like fifth round pick or whatever. This guy comes out. And like, he announces the pick. It's one of those picks you liked for the Chiefs.

And then he's like, to quote my favorite, our favorite, like he quotes Deadpool. And it's like, you're, you're my missing jigsaw piece and your curvy edges like,

complete me and then gets on a knee and freaking proposes to his girlfriend. I definitely miss that. That's a great. I anyway, that guy is a Canada win. By the way, the stage, the stage at Cleveland, just throw out, let's throw out Cleveland as a winner. Oh, Cleveland is a winner? That looked really beautiful.

I've never been to Cleveland, but it looked beautiful. It was a good stage. Yeah, right on the water. The other guy went Cole Van Lannin. This is a sixth round pick for the Packers who was from Green Bay. Like the, then there's only like,

there's like five guys in the league who are from Green Bay, which is a pretty big deal. And Green Bay only has like, like, what is it, a hundred that? Like fewer than 100,000 people, I think.

But he got drafted to the Packers. He lives 15 minutes from Lambeau Field. The best part, though, the part that's hilarious is that he got the call from the GM, Brian Gutikun's the guy that Aaron Rogers wants to get fired. And it's a not, it's like the 9-10 area code,

which is like, Green Bay. So this guy, Cole, the guy who getting picked, he thought it was like a robocall. His iPhone said scam likely. So he thought that he almost didn't answer it, but he's like, oh, whatever. I guess it's going to be like the, you know, oh, your lease said your car's expiring. And he picks it up. And it's like, hey, you want to be a Green Bay Packer? I always thought this was a, I love the stories of where guys are when they get drafted. Like I was like, you know, on the pot or I was doing something or whatever. But I have a question. if they can't get a hold of the guy,

does that mean they just go to their next one? Or what do they do? No, they just take the guy if they can't get him on the phone. Oh, who was the, oh my God, the other story like that's so funny is Devin McCordy, when the Patriots drafted Devin McCordy, he was like in the bathroom. So Jason McCordy just picked up and talked to Belichick.

Pretended to be him. He just pretended to be Devin and talked to him. I love that. Oh, my God. That's great. Other winners, Aaron Rogers, at the Kentucky Derby. Just looked like he had a good time.

Hell of a hat. Yeah, that was great. That was funny. There's some very good memes going around for that. Other than those, who do you think are like some candidates for like who won the draft? So I wouldn't call these real winners necessarily. I got a couple here.

Number one, content creators. Was this the most chaotic draft ever? I mean, I know that we haven't been covering the draft for as long as a lot of people, but I feel like the day of the draft was insane. There was Aaron Rogers news news. Tim Tebow was in the news cycle. I don't want to get hyperbolic. Last year was the most chaotic draft ever

because it was on Zoom. And honestly, that was like the first mega event that was on Zoom like post-pandemic or during the pandemic. I think that this year was, I mean, there were eight quarterbacks taken in the first three rounds. I believe that's the most ever.

It was 13, 14 offensive tackles in the first three rounds. So this was like among the most offensive drafts ever. But it did feel like the Rogers News was the biggest day of NFL news somehow even bigger than Brady leaving because the Brady thing was the slow trickle also wasn't even the biggest sports news

because like March madness had been canceled. The Brady news, the timing of the Brady shift was so strange that in an odd way, Aaron Rogers wanting out of Green Bay suddenly felt like the biggest NFL news in years. Yes, all I know is by the time of the draft started on Thursday afternoon, I was like exhausted.

And like the draft was just started. It was crazy day. So it was like, what the hell? hell it was a weird day the other the other winner i was going to throw out here tiny human beings let's let's shouts to small people because in the second round rondale more got picked by the cardinals 49 he's 5 foot seven he is like 190 pounds so he's not small he's he's short so short people i guess but two to at well is tiny he's 150 pounds and he was picked in the second round also at number 57 by the rounds, which I think is a very fascinating pick.

And then obviously, Devante Smith. Devante Smith, yes, that's a great one, 170 pounds. He was a top 10 pick. And 100, no, he's probably more like 155. What did he weigh? 155 pounds or something ridiculous. He listed at 170, but he's actually 166. Okay, yeah.

Yeah, so Devante Smith. I forgot about him. Big one. And then also, Dwayne Eskridge for the Seahawks was a second round pick, 24, 56th overall, I should say. And he's like, he's 5 foot 8, 190 pounds too. So I was just like, number one, like, it's kind of funny just because like it's hard to imagine guys that size playing in the NFL. But it's also, I think, instructive of where the NFL is going, basically that especially at the receiver position and maybe corner too.

But size is not as big of a factor as it used to be. Like NFL was spending premium picks first pick, top 10 pick on Devante Smith and then top 60 picks on these 100. 55 pound receivers like 2 2 atwell 5 foot 7 receiver rondo more uh i think it's indicative of like where the NFL going is going basically space game um you know getting guys in space the hits are not nearly as big anymore you don't have to like be this big monstrosity to like take hits over the middle um i don't know i just thought that was interesting and and i feel like we poo poohed this idea that these tiny receivers could get taken high and if i was one of the people that was doing i thought at well would fall i thought he'd probably be more like a fifth or

six-rounder. He was a second-round pick. Same with Duane Eskridge. I was not very pleased when the Seahawks picked him because I thought he was going to fall much further than that. But yeah, I mean, it's like he's a small dude. And then obviously, Ron Dale Moore, small guy. I don't know. I just thought it was very interesting. And maybe this is like a sea change in the way the NFL is like looking at receivers. It was a hell of a weekend. It was a hell of a draft. I still think the winner is the guy who proposed on stage. But you know what? Small people, short people, they can be winners too. Okay. There we go. D. D. K.K., thank you. so much. I one more thing, which is, I want you to go to bed, my guy. Please get some sleep.

I mean, drink a beer. Do that. Maybe like six. Thank you, TK. Thank you for listening. Thank you for producers. Isaiah Blakely and Arjuna Ramgapel. Isaiah, maybe you'll get over the draft stuff soon. It's probably good. You got Trevor Lawrence. Maybe don't complain, dude. All right, thank you for listening. We'll be back at the Ringgo NFL show next week. Thank you.