The Ringer NFL Show - Lamar Jackson Re-Signs Long Term With the Ravens and Biggest Takeaways From the First Round of the 2023 NFL Draft

Episode Date: April 28, 2023

Nora and Steven discuss their biggest takeaways from the first round of the draft. However, they start with the news of Lamar Jackson signing a massive five-year extension with the Baltimore Ravens. They also cover the Ravens’ draft performance on night one, when they added another offensive weapon for Lamar (1:45). They discuss the Texans trading up to get an additional pick in the top three (9:25), Kentucky quarterback Will Levis sliding out of the first round, the Falcons and Lions drafting running backs early (35:30), the Eagles having another great draft (43:35), and much more. Hosts: Nora Princiotti and Steven Ruiz Producer: Isaiah Blakely Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Musical Elements: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, everyone, it's Ariel Hawani, and I wanted to let you know that each and every week, I'm part of a great program called The Ringer MMA Show. I hosted alongside two absolutely brilliant minds. Their names, Chuck Mendenhall and Pizzie Carroll, and every Thursday, a new episode drops where we preview the weekend in mixed martial arts and react to all the biggest news. Plus, after every UFC pay-per-view, we give you a post-fight show. So this is what you have to do. Just follow the Ringer M-M-M-A show on your Spotify app.

So you don't miss an episode. We'll talk to you then. Hello and welcome to the Ringer NFL show. I'm Norr Pinciotti. I am here on Draft Night with Stephen Ruiz, Stephen, round one in the books. How are you doing? We were talking about it before we started recording.

We were promised a dumb draft. We got a dumb draft. And a dumb draft is the best kind of draft. It was weird. It was eaglesy. There was good stuff. stuff all around. I really had fun. We had a round one of surprises of quarterback storylines. You really can't ask for more than that. Definitely some unexpected stuff in here and a lot to go through.

We're going to kind of just break down sort of the five biggest storylines from the night, although I guess I should say the day, because we actually have to start with a story that did not take place during the draft, but breaking news that we got this afternoon, which is that Lamar Jackson is a raven, you know, forevermore, or for at least five years during which they're going to pay him $260 million. Lamar is now the highest paid player in the NFL. They got all of that worked out, all happy feelings in Baltimore. And then pick 23 rolls around and they add zay flowers to the mix, which I thought was a really,

really exciting draft pick. Stephen, you are sort of our Lamar Jackson correspondent, I think. So how is this day been for you? I'm sure just a whirlwind of emotions. How are you feeling? I feel like the world is normal again. Like everything makes sense again. Lamar Jackson finally got the money he deserved.

I mean, a good deal for the Ravens. for Lamar Jackson. I don't know. We haven't seen like the structure of the deal yet. We don't know how much of that 180, whatever million is actually guaranteed. But it seems like he made out just fine without an agent, which is also a nice happy ending to this.

Because, I mean, it would have been sad to see like Lamar get taken advantage of. But I don't think that happened. Yeah, no, totally. It's sort of interesting because for all of the, you know, this dragged out for so long and it was such a big story and he asked for a trade. And there were so many sort of dramatic tension moments and points when it didn't just seem like this got really messy. It did. This was so complicated and sometimes I think nerve-wracking negotiation and situation for the people involved.

But the thing that's a little bit interesting to me is that at the end of the day, the quarterback market is doing what it always does, which, is moving incrementally upwards with new deals that are very good for the players who sign them, but don't necessarily like shift a paradigm in the way that maybe at one point Lamar was hoping to with something that would have been a more fully guaranteed deal in the manner of what Deshaun Watson got. What ended up happening was he got Jalen Hertz's deal plus $5 million, which is a really, really, really strong contract. And then, yeah, you factor in that he's probably pocketing an extra, you know,

$5 million or something off of that, depending on what he's paying the people who do advise him. Just by saving agents fees. So I think all in all, a relatively happy ending, especially when you combine it with the fact that this offense looks like it's turning into something that we haven't seen when Lamar's been in Baltimore. What do you think about the Zayflowers pick? I really like it. I think it's another type of receiver to go. I think he compliments O'Dell Beckham.

And I think O'Dell Beckham compliments Rashad Bateman. And then you have Mark Andrews in the middle of it. Now we're going to get to see Lamar in a real passing game for the first time since Louisville. Really, we're going to get to see 11 personnel, three receivers on the field. No more Patrick Ricard. Like Patrick Ricard tweeted out like, this offense is going to be scary. Buddy, I hope you're not on the field for it. You're not going to be part of it.

Yeah, I hope you're excited to watch it. Get ready for Las Vegas. You're getting traded to the Raiders, buddy. You play with Jimmy G. But no, it's going to be fun to see what Todd Monkin puts together. He has air raid roots. He has, he's been in college offenses. He's designed successful downfield passing offenses in Tampa Bay with James Winston.

I'm really excited. This is a team that I think has a chance to win in the AFC. I think they're a Super Bowl contender. If Lamar stays healthy. Last year, when he was healthy, it was the best version we've ever seen of him. Even going back to 2019 when he won MVP, and now he has the best array of talent around him in terms of skill position players. We've always wanted to see them prioritize the passing game a little bit more, and it's been hard because of the personnel. But it seems like the Monkin hire and embracing that style of offense has sort of allowed the front office to make.

to get some players there, to make some investments through the draft financially with Odell. It's not necessarily an excuse for not having done it sooner, but it does show you how those things kind of go hand in hand. And it makes me more confident that they're really going to embrace some changes to what they do stylistically on offense. And I'm excited to watch the Ravens. I'm really pumped to watch the Ravens this fall. I agree with you. there's a really high ceiling on that team.

The AFC is hard. That's going to be a gauntlet. There's going to be some good teams that do not make the playoffs. Meanwhile, the NFC is, we got to like, it's just getting to the point where we have to do something about this. Right, about competitive balance in the NFC, especially after the draft the Eagles just had. Seriously.

It's getting ridiculous. Like I think we like we can put together a team and win like the NFC South right now. I don't know. It's going to be bad. Like there's going to be just a wretched team playing on Saturday of Wildcard weekend. And none of us are going to be happy about it. So like slot receiver. Are you playing quarterback?

Who's who's QB one? No, I'm not playing quarterback. I'm saying on the sideline. It's Danny Kelly. I feel like he has the size. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I like that. I like that. I would like to take on the Patrick Ricard roll and just stay as far away from it as possible. All in all, good day for Baltimore. They don't pick again until number 86. But I think Eric DeCost has got to feel like he put in a good day's work

and everyone seems pretty happy over there. Yeah, especially with like how that defense ended the season. They almost won that Bengals game with Tyler Huntley. If Huntley doesn't fumble at the goal line, they win that game. And it's because of the defense. So I think their defense is already in a good spot. You don't really have to worry about adding to it.

I think it's going to be fine. And then we've talked about the offense. And Lamar in space is, Lamar gets to be in play in space. One of the greatest space players we've ever seen finally gets to play in space. I really think this team is like, they put it together.

This was a good off season. And it looked bad at the beginning. Yeah, it really is remarkable how much they have like completely changed the narrative. And I actually don't think that it's sort of patched together with duct tape, right? It's a five-year deal. It's a long-term commitment. He really got paid and they've done meaningful things offensively. Your point about the defense, too, is a good one because they changed so much after they did the deal for Roquan Smith.

And that really opened up what they were able to do. I would imagine it gets even better with an off season, right? Like where they can continue to integrate that. Again, they can add more in the later rounds too. But it would have been really upsetting if we'd gone into 2023 with just this like weird, bad Lamar lists or like angry Lamar Ravens team. And I'm glad that we don't have to do that. Yeah. another team that made a move at quarterback,

the Houston Texans who were smoke screening all along, apparently, and at the number two slot, they just went ahead and took CJ Stroud. Do you think that they were just planning on doing this all along? Or was this somehow like a sudden, we're worried about Will Levis's toe injury? Like,

you think happened here? Because it seems like this was what this was the first major surprise. I've never seen the Kevin Costner movie, the draft movie, but I've heard of the plot. Yeah, and it sounds like the Texans basically did what Kevin Costner did in that draft. Like, yeah, they got the best of both worlds. I think they paid a little too much to do it, but I really think Demico Ryan's wanted Will Anderson Jr. And I think like the ownership side, the front office side wanted a quarterback. And everyone's happy. And that's all that matters.

The Texans are so early in this rebuild process that I don't really think it matters giving up picks. You just got to acquire fundamental players. And I think they got two fundamental players. I do not agree. I think it matters a lot because the Texans are so early in this rebuild thing that, so they took CJ Stroud at two and then they traded up with Arizona to number three to take Will Anderson.

in the process, they gave up the number 12 pick, 33, and a first rounder in 2024. Yeah, that was a little much. I'm not sure I've seen clarity on whether or not that's their first rounder or if it's the Browns, but it doesn't matter. Either way, that could be like very easily a top five pick. I guess it depends on how you feel about these two players. Like, CJ Stroud, I'm not the highest on CJ Stroud,

but if you're willing to pick him number two, I'm assuming the Texans think he's like a franchise player. And then Will Anderson, I am high on Will Anderson. I think he's a blue chip player. And he's one of the few blue chip talents in this draft and they got one. So I mean, I never like trading up. Yeah. And like Stroud is is I'm proud of them for taking Stroud.

And again, maybe I'm being manipulated here and they were planning to do it all along. But all of the reports about, well, maybe they just won't take a quarterback at two. Maybe they can wait till. 12. It's fine. It was all so concerning that I'm proud of them for just doing the smart thing, doing the right thing, drafting a quarterback with the second pick. I like Will Anderson too. Better be good. That guy better be a really good football player because you just, there is more randomness and more luck and more difficulty to protect how players are going to pan out. than any of us liked to admit.

And you gave up a first round pick next year. Like, the Texans are going to be bad. Does Nick Casario not think they're going to be bad? I honestly don't think they think like CJ Stroud. I mean, I wouldn't have taken Stroud with that pick. I wouldn't have made the trade up. But I do understand like the need to add blue chip talent because they just don't have any. And at the end of the day, you have to like sell tickets.

have to sell your fans on something. And if you're not going to win a Super Bowl, maybe that's, that's the short-term goal is building up some goodwill with that fan base because I don't think they have it. And they need it. So I don't know. That's the only way I can justify it. I don't agree with it, but they got two very good players that you could be optimistic about. But after, I mean, there were impact players that they could have been optimistic about available at pick number 12 or after pick number 12. just it's just a little it's it's

it's a little bit reckless to me and I don't like to see a team in the phase that the Texans are in being reckless but again it's a weird phase it's a weird phase they're in but I don't I don't know what else to say it's the Texans like did you expect

crazy eyes he gets this crazy eyes where it looks like he hasn't slept in nine weeks I'm just a little bit like oh buddy like what are we doing here um I I feel a little bit, I'm impressed at how well it does seem like they smoke screen the stuff with C.J. Stroud, not only because I feel like I fell for it, but it seems like other teams did too. Diana Rossini reported that the Titans were trying to work a trade to number three instead of the Texans. but when Houston picked C.J. Stroud at two,

the Titans had made an offer to Arizona and pulled it. Presumably because they were interested in Stroud and didn't think that he would go to Houston, it does make me wonder sort of what they thought about what they thought Indianapolis wanted to do. Who they, so if they wanted to take Stroud there, if they thought that that Houston would have taken Levis or what the interteam information brokering was like there.

But it's not just us that they fooled. It seems like they did a pretty good job of disguising this around the week. And that's always fun. I love subterfuge. So, you know, I guess you can get away with trading up for an edge rusher and giving up a first round pick. that might be an incredibly valuable pick if you can. He just better be Von Miller. That's what I had in my notes.

Yeah, that's not good. That's like not a good thing to do. You don't ever want to turn in a draft card and be like, this guy better be Von Miller or this pick is going to be bad because most of the time he's not going to be von Miller. But all the best to Will Anderson. Tamiko Ryan deserves to have, you know, a real blue chip talent that he can can,

bring along and coach and I wish them the best. It's a treat for Domeco. Yeah. And again, he deserves it. We love Domeco Ryans. Someone who did not have a great draft night. Will Levis falls out of the first round because sale reliable lied to us. No, sale reliable, maybe he meant the first or the second round.

First pick of the second round. No, he said the panthers. No, because he said the panthers. Panthers don't have the same. I mean, maybe he was Pittsburgh, another P word. I don't know. Sale reliable. Sale unreliable more like it. Boom. Hate that guy. How dare he. What did you think about? I was pretty shocked by this. It's surprising me that Hendon Hooker didn't go in the first round either, but particularly Levis, who we got to see all the green room, sad, weird, awkward shots of him sitting there

with his family. Did you feel like you saw this coming at all or had any rhyme or reason to what was going on with Levis? No, no. I had no idea he was going to slide this far. I thought he would go as high as three, maybe even two. There's talk of that. But apparently, like, there's concern about his toe, which was an issue throughout

the season. he was apparently playing he was getting injections before games so that makes it a little more understandable and but it's hard to reconcile that like a toe injury which levis says is fine levis says he's going to be fine there's apparently some disagreement a disagreement between what he thinks and what team doctors think but there's a lot of talk about like henden hooker or there was a lot of talk about hendon hooker going in the first round and he's coming off a torn ACL a major knee surgery. So I don't know. It's, it's tough to reconcile those things. I don't know if that is really the reason for the slide or the NFL just wasn't as high on him as I guess insiders made us believe.

But he's a big, strong quarterback who throws the ball a million miles. Like that guy usually goes in the first round. Usually they love that guy. And he has experience in a pro style offense. He's called plays. He's been in the McVeigh offense, which is like basically the NFL offense at this point. It must be the toe. Or the NFL hates, suddenly hates jacked people. There's a war on musculature. This is,

this is like the, all the like super conservative websites talking about like the, the softening of American men. There's a crisis. It's gotten Will Levis to fall out of the first round. A 510, 190 pound quarterback when first,

overall. Maybe you're on to something there. Wow. Wow. Makes you think just asking questions. Stay woke, people. The other question that that it poses to me is just are there a lot of teams that think they don't need quarterbacks that maybe we might look at them and go, are you so sure about that? Because we can talk about this too, but, you know, the lions, the Seahawks, even the Raiders, teams that had high picks. The bucks. Commanders. A lot of these teams that I think we've spent a lot of time talking about going,

you're in position. And in some cases, particularly Seattle and Detroit, they had high picks that because the teams are good, it seems unlikely they'll be drafting in, you know, five or six overall anytime soon. It made it seem pretty enticing. the idea that they could maybe end up with one of the top quarterbacks.

Obviously, all of those teams passed on that opportunity in some way, shape, or form. Seattle at five, you know, Richardson did not fall to them. And maybe if they'd had that opportunity, this would be a slightly different conversation.

But in general, even the Vikings, it just seems like a lot of those teams said, oh, no, it's okay. We don't need to deal with this right now. regardless of what you think about Will Levis in particular, and obviously the toe is sort of an outside factor that we don't have perfect clarity on in terms of how far apart are the opinions between some team doctors and what Will Levis says. What is the actual, you know, how bad is it?

Regardless of what you think about Will Levis, I am curious how we look back on all of those decisions by those teams to, not take a quarterback when they could have. Just given who's on the roster now. In Seattle. How dare you bring up Seattle? Are you a- No, see something nice. I was supposed to say something nice.

Seattle, I'm not really mad about it. I mean, again, like, if it would be a different conversation if they had a shot at Anthony Richardson, it just didn't work out that way. I think that was always going to be the nature of the number five slot. It was it was either you get to take a quarterback or you get to take whoever, you know, one of the most impactful defensive players. And they got to take Devin Witherspoon. I would

imagine they're super happy with that. He's a little bit smaller than the sort of prototypical Pete Carroll Seahawks cornerback, but super, super aggressive player. I mean, Danny Kelly always says that he plays like a maniac. It's hard for me to think about what seems more sea hockey and Pete Carley than that. So that's great. And then they come back at 20 and take Jackson Smith and Jigba, which seems super fun as a compliment to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Gino being like one of the big winners of the draft is awesome to me because he's done more than some other quarterbacks, Jared Goff, who we can talk about in a second. And I have no problem. with them saying, yeah, no, let's let's invest around him because it fell that way and see how far we can take this.

I think that's, that makes sense for what they're doing. I think in some other cases, some of the teams that were further down the board, but then in particular, when you look at what the lions did, I think they missed an opportunity, even if it's Will Levis. Like, we know how the Jared Goff story. ends. And if you're not going to focus on premium positions, then like, what are we doing here? But I like the G, I like the Gino thing. I love what they, I love what Seattle did. So you're not a genosuppressant person. You're confirming that. No, I'm not a Gino suppressant person. Yeah,

there are a couple of people out there that, that don't want to see Gino succeed. But it is interesting because the lines pick third in the second round. So the lines will have another. at this. And I don't think they can afford to pass it up. And two spots after them, it gets really interesting because the Rams pick. And the Rams, not only are, might be in the need of a quarterback in the next few years, but you have the Liam Cohen connection. He was the offensive coordinator there last year. The year before that, he obviously coach Will Levis at Kentucky. They ran the same system. Perfect fit. Like onboarding would be, wouldn't take much time. I think that's, that's a spot.

If he gets past the Lions at 34, I would not be surprised at the Rams run that pickup. And I mean, obviously Stafford's health is such a big question. They do not, unless something with like John Wolford has changed that I've missed, I believe they do not have a backup quarterback on their roster right now. So that would be really, really interesting, especially because I think that would come as a bit of a surprise because no one expected Levis to still be here at,

this point. If he didn't go to the Rams, the Seahawks are right after them, the Raiders, even the Saints and then the Titans, like, it's hard to, it's hard to imagine the slide would continue very far into the second round just because you have quite a big cluster of quarterback needy teams there, plus there's always, you know, between now and whenever the Steelers get on the clock with 32. teams can make whatever calls if somebody wanted to trade up and get him. But it's still, I mean, that's probably the biggest surprise of round one. And obviously, you always feel, I always feel half bad for the guy who's sitting there getting all of the camera shots and then half like, well, this is better TV than if this wasn't happening.

So I'm mean, but. It's the Darren Rovell. I feel bad for Will Levis, but this is tremendous content. He did. You dare and revel best. It's also, I feel bad saying this, but like, he doesn't, he doesn't look, like, Will Levis's vibe does not inspire sympathy. No.

No. I'm sure he's a very nice man, but, like, he's doing weird stuff with bananas and putting mayonnaise in his coffee and, like, everyone is just so blonde. Just like, I don't. know, man. Again, I'm being very harsh. All love to Will Elvis. I'm very sorry. You're going to have a great career. And then we'll have to see where Hendon Hooker goes too, but some opportunities for teams to keep going quarterback. Should we talk a little bit more about the Seahawks? Let's do it. What do you think of, do you want to talk about Witherspoon or JSN? Let's talk about Witherspoon.

I really like this pick. I know he's undersized and you don't usually see undersized corners go that high, but I like the fit with Tariq Wulin. I like having different body types, different play styles at cornerback. That's something like Pete Carroll didn't have during the first Legion of Boom. They had two big guys. They had Richard Sherman. They had Brandon Browner. And I feel like this gives them a little more flexibility.

And I think it allows Pete Carroll to be a little more diverse with his defense. So I really like that pick a lot. Wasn't part of why it was the Legion of Boom was because they were all so big. So I don't know. Yeah. Maybe this, we have to come up with a different nickname. Yeah, it's not Legion of Boom. Yeah, you can't be like 5'9 and be calling yourself a Legion of.

It's like Legion of. Wush. We'll workshop. Yeah, yeah. Go back to the drawing board. Scratch that. We can just cut this part out. But yeah, it was, I thought that they were going to go defensive line if it wasn't.

Right. A quarterback there. But, you know. that's such a part of Pete Carroll's history as a coach there is coaching those D.Bs. So I thought it was a great pick too. And that was sort of a missing piece for them. Just getting all the pieces to fit together on defense for them was so variable last year. And if the offense feels pretty stable,

with a full off season with Gino and picking up where they left off last year. It'll be interesting to watch what they do with that defense next year. They've talked about all of this stuff where they want to play like free safeties sometimes. Like it's coming into picture sort of what they want to do. It's going to be a really, really interesting unit. I don't quite feel like I've wrapped my head around what they're trying. But they're starting to have a lot of interesting pieces. is and it can be pretty cool.

Yeah. And I think JSN like provides that same type of versatility on the other side of the ball. You have D.K. Metcalf, the big deep threat on the outside. You have Tyler Lockett, the small deep threat on on the outside. Now you have a guy that can get open. And I think that's what they didn't have last year. They didn't have a guy that you can rely on to win a route like five to 10 yards downfield and move the change on third and seven. DK's not that. Tyler Lockett, he's too small. He's not going to win those contested catches. JSN is a guy that just gets open. I think he said that in his press conference.

That's what he does best. He gets open and that's something they needed. That's something Gino Smith needed. It's funny because it couches a little bit against, I'm sorry for what I'm going to say. If there's any sort of regression from Gino, which I'm not predicting. But Gino started last year playing really, really well. and then kept adding, like, already really well and efficiently and in a really good version of what he'd sort of historically been as a quarterback.

And then he started adding these layers of a little bit more mobility and a little bit more downfield passing. And hopefully all of that continues to be a part of his game. I have no good reason to think that it wouldn't be, but because historically that hadn't been as much in his toolbag, if he does end up over a longer period of time emphasizing shorter, middle of the field, that stuff, J.S.N's a great receiver for that. Like he's going to be open over the middle.

He's going to be just really, really savvy in those short and intermediate spaces. and that combination, you know, the old Gino can thrive with that. So I love that pick. I thought that they might end up trading out of 20 just because it did seem like the start to that wide receiver run that it wound up being. But the Seahawks staying put and doing that is really cool. And if they're going to stick with him there, they should do this. They should keep adding layers to the offense. and they should, you know, they shouldn't just prioritize defense just because they were so good offensively last year.

So they seem like, and they have more premium picks too. But they and the Lions were those teams where it was like, oh, they've got so much. We might come out around one being like, what awesome drafts. Detroit's draft was a little bit more questionable to me. So I think the Seahawks are like a big winner. The Seahawks and the Eagles maybe. but I love their draft. Yeah.

And I think JSN is going to contribute right away. I think he's the type of player that doesn't need a huge runway to catch up to the NFL. I think Witherspoon might take some time. Rookie Corners to always have problems willing notwithstanding. But JSN is a player that I think is going to help them. And the NFC is wide open. Like we were talking about, the NFC is wide open. Outside of Philadelphia, Seattle,

depending on what happens with San Francisco at quarterback, which is always a question with them. Seattle might be the second best team in the NFC or the third best team. Dallas is probably better than them right now. But like San Francisco, they were competing with them in the three games that they played last year. So I mean, go for it. Seattle. This is they have a chance. As long as you get into playoffs, you have a chance in this NFC. They'll be really fun to watch. There's a bunch of teams that are going to be really exciting to watch next season, which we can talk about. But first, I want to tell you that we are supported by YouTube and YouTube TV, the new home. of NFL Sunday ticket. So if you're going to be watching NFL Sunday ticket, you're going to be watching on YouTube

and YouTube TV. So now's your chance to catch their lowest full season price. Get $100 off when you sign up at YouTube.com slash ringer NFL. And we've seen some things in the draft already that are getting us excited for this year's NFL season. So Stephen, I'm wondering which four teams you're most excited to watch on NFL Sunday ticket this year. I'm pretty sure Seattle's going to be one of them.

But give me four others because on NFL Sunday ticket, you can stream up to four games at once so you won't miss a thing. Who would be another three teams in that four team display? One we've already covered the Ravens. I just think this is going to be so fun to watch. No matter how well the offense performs, I just think watching it come together, watching Lamar in an offense. We've never seen him in at the NFL level. We've never seen him in what I would call a prototypical. NFL offense. Usually there's three receivers on the fields for an offense. And I think he finally

gets to play in that. I think we're going to see a different, a different style of quarterbacking from him this year. Another one, I was going to say the Lions, but now the Lions have kind of lost their luster after the, after the first round. But I still think there's a lot to, to look forward to. They still have a great offensive line. James Williams when he comes back, it's been a bad couple of weeks for them. But James and Williams when he comes back. They're in real danger of getting their like football nerd favorite team card revoked. It's not good. But like they're drafting a lot of running backs,

but positional value does not matter when you're watching the NFL on Sunday. Like what I'm enjoying Sunday ticket, I'm not thinking about positional value. So I will enjoy the Lions offense. The Chargers, the Chargers. I like the Chargers. They have Justin Herbert. They gave him a downfield threat finally in Quentin Johnson.

So the Chargers are another team. All right. Tell the truth, though, how happy. Quinn Johnson runs like about a four, five. He's sort of like Mike Williams. How happy were you with that pick? No, yeah, but I think he's a playbaker. I think he plays a different style.

I think he could do more after the catch. So I think there is a lot of overlap, but I do think he brings a different element that I think Justin Herbert is going to be able to take advantage of. It's always exciting to watch the Chargers. Exciting or horrific. But again, when you can watch four teams at once, you don't have to worry so much about, you know, being being let down by weirdly stagnant offense. But Callan Moore, the sky's the limit.

I'd throw, look, well, we're throwing positional value out the window. I'd throw the Falcons in there. I mean, again, the value's not perfect. But adding Bejan Robinson to that offense, I think seems really exciting. And the Eagles who had a great draft. So lots and lots of teams. Thanks to NFL Sunday ticket on YouTube and YouTube TV for sponsoring this segment. If you're as into football as we are, it's time to sign up for NFL Sunday ticket on YouTube and YouTube TV so you can watch it all go down this fall.

Check out your favorite teams out of market Sunday afternoon games and stream up to four games at once with Multiview exclusively on YouTube and YouTube TV. Get $100 off when you sign up today at YouTube.com slash ringer NFL. Terms and embargoes apply. offer ends on June 6th, no refunds, device restrictions apply. All right, let's talk a little bit about the Falcons, Bejohn Robinson, a little bit about the Lions, because another thing that happened tonight is that two running backs went to the top 12 of the draft, Bejohn number eight to Atlanta, and then Jemir Gibbs, one of the biggest surprises at number 12 to Detroit.

Atlanta first. I don't want to have the running back conversation. They're probably leaving money on the table. It's fine. It's not our money. I mean, I don't want to say it doesn't matter. We know it matters because at a certain point, no matter how good Bijan ends up being,

there's a world in which if you have a great pass pressure, you're saving yourself $30 million or $20 million or whatever and you're just not doing that with a running back. That said, this is going to be fun. Atlanta does not care about positional value and their offense could be really, really exciting. And we are going to learn a lot about Desmond Ritter pretty quickly. So I'm excited to watch the Falcons positional value be damned.

I feel like everyone just accepted the fact that they were going to take. Yeah. Like, come on. And it's Arthur Smith. Like, they just don't care. Yeah. Shame on you if you didn't, if you didn't think they were going to do this. But I agree with you.

It's fun. He has a billion dollars. Like, do you think he's going to care if something's a little bit of a, you know, you're not maximizing your return on something? Right. It's a little bit of a vanity pick. But that's fine when you have a billion dollars. And I think that this offense is going to look good.

And here's the problem usually with the running back picks, or at least the last high profile one, which I, I think it was Sequin Barclay. The Giants offense just stunk. So it was very obvious that that was a bad pick. I don't think that's going to be the case with the Falcons. I think they're going to score a lot of points. And I think Robinson is going to play a big role in that.

And it's going to look more like the Todd Gurley draft pick, which no one was complaining about the Todd Gurley pick like four years into that. No one started complaining until he got injured. So I don't know. I don't think it's going to look like a terrible pick like it does right now in, say, two years. Five years from now, we might be looking back and being like, why did you take like Nolan Smith or somebody like that? But for right now, they're the Falcons. Who cares? Like, what were they going to do with that pick? Well, the other thing is that they are going to, you know, he will,

he will get a lot of use. And it's not enough to completely flip the value discussion. But part of this is obviously Joe Shane and Brian Daibble didn't make the Seque won pick but I'll just use the Giants now as an example there's a little bit of attention in that

that style of offense I mean think about what the bills have looked like they hate running the ball and now the Giants obviously because they have Sequan and because Daniel Jones is not Josh Allen have leaned into that more but you're still coming from a system that doesn't, that wants to be passing the ball.

The Falcons don't want to pass the ball. The Falcons would love nothing more than to just give Bijran 30 carries a game. Like, they will use him in a way that is not going to even out the value conversation, but maximizes what value he can provide. And in a draft class that people weren't super, super psyched about, you can't make the math look pretty on it, but the football's going to be fun. So no complaints here.

Yeah, but we do have a lot of complaints about the Lions. Which brings us to, yeah, exactly. So running back investments by the Detroit Lions in recent days, weeks, months. $18 million to David Montgomery. They have DeAndre Swift on the Ross. And then now the 12th overall pick on Jemir Gibbs, great player, but just not a high value position and not something that they really needed. And then we couple that with the fact that later on in the first round, they took Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell. So two non-premium positions.

What are you guys doing? Dan and Brad. I can't explain it. Like, it's, it's Dan Campbell pushing the, the meathead bit a little too far for me. Like, you guys built the offensive line.

You built this running game that was working with basically spare parts at running back. Jamal Williams was like, he obviously had a great year last year, but he was available when the lines got him. You don't need running backs to take advantage of that offensive line. I think it was, a misstep not only just based on positional value, but the fact that they passed up on a

quarterback to do it. Like, say what you want about Will Levis. I think even if he wasn't a good player, you'd get more out of him on his rookie deal than you are going to get out of Gibbs, who is an undersized running back with the 12th overall pick, like an undersized running back at a position of attrition, a position where players have a hard time staying healthy and you take an undersized player. This has a very good chance of backfiring in a hurry. I'm starting to wonder, like, I'm starting to have all these, all of these questions about what, what pieces of the LA philosophy Brad Holmes actually brought because the hallmark of how they build that team is a huge emphasis on premium positions and positional value. Um, another piece of,

of their recent front office philosophy has been Jared Goff's not it. And it seems like Brad has taken the opposite tack. He missed that part. He got out of there before they came to that conclusion. When he left, the Rams are like, Jared Goff is great. And then he leaves and they're like, okay, let's get rid of Goff. Let's put him off on that guy.

That roster is still in good shape. And look, they could do some stuff. tomorrow and Sunday to sort of balance the scales a little bit. So I don't want to be too harsh because obviously a lot of things have gone right there. But yeah, the bit seems to have come to life in a bit in a way that's a little bit scary.

We've created a monster. Jack Campbell sounds like he's like a draft pick from like 1965. You don't draft Jacks. Like a little slow. You don't draft Jacks in the first round. That's my rule. That's, that's, that's my positional value. Who is the last, who's, who's, who's the NFL's last great Jack? I don't even know, like Jack Youngblood. Isn't that a name? I think that's a combination of names. That works. That

works. Jack Campbell. It is really like he sounds, he sounds like you, the leader of a ragtime band or something. Sorry, this poor guy. Again, wish you well. We can wrap up, but you want to talk about the Eagles a little bit before we go. I feel like we have to. Like what happens when you draft actually exciting defensive players? All from Georgia.

They're just rebuilding the Georgia defense. I think Roger Goodell needs to step in and force them to draft Stets in Bennett. Just to throw the vibe. off a little. The vibes are too good. We need to take the vibes down. Forrest then with draft Stetson. That would be really funny. You just yeah, you can't, you can't go halfway. Quarterback factory. It's back on. They're going to beat Alabama. It's going to be really exciting. But, you know, as much as we kid, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith's looking pretty good. Howie, howie, how he's done it again. I don't know how they always do this. But

But I actually kind of do, which is just that they saw a great college defense and went, let's draft all of those players. I want that. And they're like restocking positions. They're getting this great value in both of these spots. But they also have backups for when Brandon Graham retires, when Fletcher Cox retires. Fletcher Cox was talking about retiring this offseason. Yeah, all those guys are in their 30s.

offseason. So even if they're only playing bit parts next year, in two years, they can just step right in. You have cheap replacements. Howie Roseman is the best GM in the NFL. The thing that's funny about it is that the only thing that can get in the way of him doing this is just another team doing it, which seems like the type of thing that would happen because the players are really good. And yet no one else does it. It's just like, oh, Nolan Smith is falling to the Eagles. Duh, of course. But anybody else could have done it.

I mean, the same thing happened with Carter. And obviously the off the field stuff is significant there. But it does, they're just, there are always those teams. Philly, I think the Ravens kind of fall into this category too. You just, you finish the draft going, well, that made sense. And they didn't take Jack Campbell. So they sure didn't. I'm sorry.

Jack Campbell does not deserve to be. He's a very good football player. It's just a weird pick at 20. He does not deserve to be catching the number of strays that he's catching right now. But it's Brad Holmes's fault. So don't blame me. But yeah, I mean, the Eagles, what do you say about the NFC at this point? It just seems like it's the Eagles to win or the Eagles to lose.

And there isn't a team close to them right now. And the gap got wider tonight, which is amazing. considering where they were in the season, what they had going into the draft, to come out with two of maybe the top 15 players, maybe top 10, depending on how you feel about Nolan Smith, just another masterclass.

And I think this offseason, this was the off season they needed the last time they went to the Super Bowl. And I will say that we were having the same conversations about their draft then. Like, Andre Dillard looked like a great left tackle and he fell to them. And he was going to replace

Jason Peters. It's the same narrative. But these guys, I think, are better than Andre Dillard. And the film was there and they were, they reviewed as top 10 picks all along. And they got them at valuable spots. They had the best night. Like, even better than Gino Smith, even better than, even better than Anthony Richardson, are the Colts getting Anthony Richardson to fall to them. They had the best night.

And they're a team that didn't need a good night. The Colts, the Colts just kind of lucked out, right? I mean, I think Richardson there is, is really. really, really great for them. I was worried about them just because of the possibility that whatever was happening at two and three, it just seemed like there was at least something in play where either they would get goaded into having to move up or they would wind up with just sort of the last of the four and be forced to take someone. It seems like they were genuinely really, really excited about Richardson.

I think seeing him, seeing what he can do with Shane Steichen is really, really exciting. And that all seems to have worked out really well. But it just sort of fell, fell that way. And they lucked out. It feels like, I don't know, it always seems like the Eagles have like pulled off a heist or something. They're like the new Patriots,

where every time the Patriots made a move, you're like, oh, what's Belichick up to now? What does he know that we don't know? And that's what the Eagles are. I also want to give a shout out to, shadow GM Kyler Murray, by the way. He got his man.

He did get his man. And he traded backup, but he essentially traded down to do it. He moved down three picks and he picked up a first round, first round pick next year. And he picked up a third round in this year's draft. Great, great, great, great first draft for GM, Kyler Murray.

He's killing. Yeah, I mean, I've got to wonder if Montihausport is, is feeling a little bit of feeling that very new, seat getting a little bit warm with Kyler waiting in the wings. He's having to give up draft picks because he called Jonathan Gannon at an inappropriate time. I mean, they're making deals with the Eagles. It's all,

I don't know. I don't know. Seems like you've got a GM in waiting sitting right there. Just make a trades. It's getting Parrish Johnson. It's all good stuff. I'm happy for Kyler. You mentioned that the Eagles are like the new Patriots. I do have to say kind of vintage Belichick performance.

Or honestly, not vintage because we're not mad about whatever he did. But trades down kind of screws the jets in the process because the Steelers are able to come up and take Broderick Jones jumping in front of the Jets who wanted to tackle. And then they wind up with Christian Gonzalez, who, just seems like a great fit for them. Pretty good day for Bill or Nike or whoever's at the control is there. Didn't fall for the Will Levis trap. He could have taken Will Levis there. Yeah, I really think that was a good draft for them.

And they needed one too. It's been a while since we've looked at a first round pick of the Patriots and been like, oh yeah, that's a no-brainer. And I think Christian Gonzalez, I thought he was the best corner in the draft. I think he is definitely the best fit for New England based on size and plays. in play type. He's a man cover corner. He's long. He's big. He's athletic. He's, he's, he's aggressive. That's a perfect fit. I think Bill Belichick is going to turn him into a superstar. I love Witherspoon, but I'm glad that, like, I wouldn't have, if, if the situation had been

reversed and say Gonzalez is off the board, because I think most people had those two as corner one and corner two in some order. Right. I wouldn't have been as psyched about Witherspoon for them, even though I think he's great, but they just don't need another kind of slight corner. Yeah. And I do think that some of the concerns, even though they're mild because Gonzalez is great, but some of the concerns about like a little bit of tackling and a little bit of just like, is he overaggressive and a little bit undisciplined. That's, that's stuff that where coaching really matters.

And the size is there, the traits are there. So they had a, you know, wasn't like an eagle. draft or anything, but pretty good draft in New England. Good stuff. Belichick's back. I'm not ready to say that yet. He's awake. He finally woke up. He woke up from a slumber. Somebody woke Bill up. Anything else we should cover before we get out of here and get ready for round two? No, we got we got GM Kyler, executive of the year. Bryce Young, we didn't talk about Bryce Young. Should we talk about the top pick? I've talked myself into it. I've talked myself into it.

It was a good pick. Oh. It was a smart pick. And I think he's in good hands and with that coaching staff. I think the offense of line is going to protect him. As long as he stays healthy, I don't think the Panthers are going to regret this. This was a good day for Panthers fans. What changed your mind?

Was it just all that that, you know, all of those heartwarming packages on TV, see everybody hugging. You see everybody happy? No, I wrote an article about him. And I was like, I talked. myself into it was like my it was like my own island episode and I I was on Bryce Young Island by the end of it did you see how many people were in the Panthers draft room yes too many I'm like kind of surprised they didn't let you in there the pick would not have been

Bryce Young if I was led in there I just said I talked myself into it but I would have I no one was leaving that room unless it was Anthony Richardson on that ticket well and I know you've always said that if you got an hour alone with an NFL owner you could come away with a million dollars like it really seemed like they were giving out passes pretty, pretty liberally to that space. I don't know, Stephen, this might have been a missed opportunity. Next year. Next year. I'll do the, I'll do the podcast from the Panthers War Room next year.

I did notice that I think it was on David Tepper's computer in the line of monitors that they had. There was a sign that said happy birthday mom, which was very cute. The handwriting was very bad. Are you saying that whoever wrote that did not pass the S2 cognition test? Well, I'm, I, it, it implied that it was, it was on David Depper's computer. So I was like, is this David Depper's handwriting? It's really messy. But maybe I have messy handwriting.

I feel like I'm really mean on this podcast. So like the way that I feel right now, it's going to turn out that, that some sweet child, like, wrote a note and it just happened to be on that computer. But where my mind went was David T. Stephen Tepper has poor penmanship. The name of that sweet child, Bryce Young. This has been the ringer NFL show. I'm Nora Prizziati. He's Stephen Reeves.

We will be back on Saturday after the draft is all wrapped up. Shield Capadio will be joining us for that show. That'll be a lot of fun. Thank you, as always, to Isaiah Blakely for production on this episode. And to Connor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgapal for additional production supervision.