The Ringer NFL Show - The Perfect Mock Draft: Picks 1 to 16

Episode Date: April 20, 2026

Sheil starts the pod by giving his instant reactions to the blockbuster trade that sent DT Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals. He's then joined by The Ringer’s own Steven Ruiz, Diante Lee, and Austin Gayle, who get together to implement the first part of a big group mock of the moves they think each NFL team will make (including trades) on day one of the 2026 draft. (00:00) The perfect mock draft: Picks 1 to 16 (00:47)Dexter Lawrence II traded to the Cincinnati Bengals(10:06) No. 1 Las Vegas Raiders(14:02) No. 2 New York Jets(21:14) No. 3 Arizona Cardinals(23:00) No. 4 Tennessee Titans(27:22) No. 5 New York Giants(31:22) No. 6 Cleveland Browns(33:29) No. 7 Washington Commanders(38:41) No. 8 Cleveland Browns(41:12) No. 9 Kansas City Chiefs(45:09) No. 10 Cincinnati Bengals(47:24) No. 11 New York Giants(50:20) No. 12 Dallas Cowboys(55:57) No. 13 Los Angeles Rams(58:44) No. 14 Baltimore Ravens(01:00:59) No. 15 Tampa Bay Bucs(01:06:48) No. 16 New York Jets The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Host: Sheil KapadiaGuests: Diante Lee, Steven Ruiz, and Austin GayleProducer: Chris SuttonVideo Editor: Stefano SanchezProduction Supervision: Conor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopowell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Ringer NFL show. I'm your host, Shield Capadia. This week, we have a two-part mock draft for you. Today, we're doing picks one through 16. We've got the squad here, Austin, Gail, Deonti Lee, and Stephen Ruiz from the Ringer. We divided up the pick, so we'll go through the first 16 today

and then the second 16 on the next episode. This is what we think will happen, not what we think should happen. Let's take a break. We come back. We get to Picks 1 through 16. quick, before we get into the mock draft, we recorded that before the Bengals traded the 10th overall pick to the Giants for Dexter Lauren. So I just wanted to share some thoughts on that trade before we get started here with the mock. Let's start with the Bengals side of this because I think that's actually the more interesting side.

I mean, this feels like a boom or bust move for them. It feels very unbengals-like, you know? They're clearly feeling a sense of urgency with Joe Burrow and Zach Taylor and this court. that, hey, we got to improve this defense quickly. We tried kind of doing it, the slow build through the draft and changing coordinators. That hasn't worked. We got to add some players here. So the bust case would be that they're giving up the 10th overall pick, which is just

a valued asset where you're foregoing the chance at a very good young player on a rookie contract for a 29-year-old defensive tackle who is coming off of a down year. I mean, Dexter Lawrence had a half a sack last year in 17 games with the Giants. I know he was double-teamed. I know he's playing through injuries, but still, I mean, even if you look at the pressures, it wasn't even fluky. You look at the pressures. He ranked 28th among defensive tackles in pressure.

So like there's a chance you're getting some version of the player we saw last year. There's a chance you're getting a declining player. And if that is the outcome, this trade ends up being a flat out disaster, full stop. So that's the bust case for this. Now, the boom case for this is that Dexter Lawrence was a top five defensive tackle in the NFL the previous three seasons. It's not like he was a one-year wonder. I mean, he was a game wrecker from 2022 to 2024, one of the most disruptive defensive linemen in all of football. And so if the Bengals are getting that guy, now he's their best defensive player.

And he's a guy who can actually change the shape, change the identity of their defense. So Bengals are in win now mode. I think that's obvious. The offense is good enough to win with Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, T. Higgins. The defense has been desperate for talent, like I said earlier. They've made moves in free agency. They added Boy A. Mafei.

They added Jonathan Allen. They added safety Brian Cook from the Chiefs. They're trying to add these vets, try to piece it together. And so if you plug in that previous version of Dexter Lawrence, you can, I think, justify a trade like this. So ultimately, you know, we have to go on the record. would I have done the trade, would I have not done the trade? I think if I were in their building,

I don't think I would have been comfortable with the risk here, given the compensation, but I wouldn't have been like, we can't do this. Stop, I'm taking the phone away. I wouldn't go that far with it. I understand it. I think there's a realistic scenario where Dexter Lawrence is a key addition that helps get Cincinnati to the Super Bowl in the next few years.

And I think if you're a Bengals fan, you're ecstatic because you're like, man, let me just go watch that 2022 to 2024, We've been dying for talented defensive linemen on this roster just to build a defense that's like the 20th best in the NFL. That might be good enough to actually get you to the Super Bowl. So if you're a Bengals fan and you're excited, I totally get it. Giant side of this. I actually think it's a little confusing from the giant side because on the one hand, I do think they maximize compensation. You know, we talked about Lawrence and what he would net in the trade in previous episodes.

And I don't think any of us. I know I didn't think he would get the 10th overall pick given the season he had last year. Now, having said that, if we zoom out a little bit, before last season, if you would have asked me, hey, Sheel, Dexter Lawrence or Quinnon Williams, who has more trade value? I would have said Dexter Lawrence, you know, going into 2025. Quinn and Williams, meanwhile, got a first and a second in that trade, the Jets and the Cowboys. So I thought Lawrence was the better player until last year when he didn't play. as well. So having said that, I still think, just as of last week, getting the 10th overall

pick for a player coming off of a down season. I think that's good work by the Giants. The part that's a little more confusing is the contract here, because Dexter Lawrence's demands didn't really seem outlandish. You know, Adam Schaefter reported over the weekend that it's a one-year, $28 million extension. And I think if the Giants thought that last season's performance was an anomaly, they would bring Lawrence back. with that extent. I mean, that's not a big commitment to make. I think you would make that commitment if you're the Giants and you like the player and you thought he could be a big part of your future. So that part makes me a little nervous if I'm a Bengals fan? That wait a minute,

why did the Giants just want to sign him to this contract extension rather than trade him here? So even though it doesn't seem like a great group, you know, great top 10 class of prospects, It's never a bad idea to build through the draft, try to get quality starters on rookie contracts. That's a smart way to build in the NFL, and the Giants now have two top 10 picks. They also have some talent at premium positions already on the roster, wide receiver, edge, offensive tackle.

They've got good players at those positions, and they're obviously hoping that Jackson Dart can make the leap. So now it's just like, who are the elite players you can try to add, you can take a swing on with those two top 10 picks? So I think it's smart to try to build that way, build the right way with John Harbaugh and add those young players. So that's how I see the trade again. When you listen to the mock we're about to do here, that was before that trade was made. So keep that in mind.

All right. Let's get to the mock draft. All right. We are back here on the Ringer NFL show. First time ever on Netflix, as far as I'm concerned, is we got a quad box going on because we have divided up these teams. We each have eight picks here, and we're going to nail this draft. That's the exercise. It's not, oh, they should do this.

It's not, I kind of think this. It's we're going 32 for 32. Austin, who are the people who, you know, generally are bragging about their accuracy? Are we coming at Trigger? Are we coming at someone else? You know, they think they're the mock draft kings. But now there's a new sheriff in town. I mean, I think Josh Norris of Underdog is still victory lapping, like a mock draft from like 2023.

I do think mock draft accuracy is not something I'm personally shooting for. I kind of like doing this exercise as what I would do. But in terms of pure predictions, I feel like Schrager does a really good job. But then at the end, when you do these mock draft accuracy contest, it's usually some random guy that ends up getting it right because so much ends up happening on the draft, especially this year where everyone's kind of suggesting, which we'll see that there's going to be a ton of trades in the first round,

which obviously just screws everything up. I like shield asking for names. Yeah, I was not saying. He's like, you want me to put some... I'm going to start slamming people on blue sky? Listen, I feel emboldened because I got you guys behind me. You know, I feel like now I have the crew. I'm not just here by myself.

But Deonté, how about 30 seconds in? Austin's already, you know, ripping the exercise. He doesn't want to do it for accuracy. The whole lot, though, we said the purpose is for accuracy, and he's already going off the board saying he just wants to do who he thinks they should. A four-person mock draft where teams are going to be split between two people and we're going for accuracy. Okay, okay.

I'm here for it. So let's give a shot. All right, Deante Ruiz, your team players. I know you're going to be aiming for accuracy here. All right, so that's what we did. We split it up. We are allowed to propose and accept trades here. Okay?

So you can trade picks. You can offer to trade up when somebody else is on the clock here. Can you trade with yourself? Was also a question that Austin brought up about five seconds before we started recording. And we said you can trade with yourself, but the other three people, There's got to be majority rules, and they've got to approve the trade so that you can't have any hijinks there. So really, this is all you need. You don't need to watch the draft on Thursday night.

You don't need to follow along. We are telling you exactly what's going to happen. The most accurate mock draft in the podcasting space right here. All right, Ruiz. Can I throw an additional bylaw in there for the rear NFL mock draft league? No haggling on the trades. Can I throw that in there? It's first impression, yay or nay.

No haggling here. Interesting. Ruiz, how do we feel about that? No negotiations. Just you have to say yes or no to the trade. Yeah, I'm for it, sure. We don't want to get this podcast going too long. All right. I like that.

That way you don't come in with some Bobo offer. You know, you're starting low. No, it's not that. Here's the offer. Yes or no. All right, Dea, I'm with you on that one. I'm sure there are many other issues we didn't think about. But you know what?

I cannot wait to see how this goes off the rails. Let's see how it goes. All right. We just went. We're going one, two, three, four, and then we're taking turns. Ruiz, you get the first overall pick, the Las Vegas Raiders, and I'll admit, I gave you this pick because I want to get your thoughts on record on the pod about potentially the first quarterback taken, if that is their direction.

You're going. Go ahead. You're up here with the Raiders. Can I trade this pick to the Panthers? I guess a fan? I mean, I'll take anything. I don't think for Nino-Mendoza. I have the Panthers that I'm telling you.

rejecting any offer outright, just to spite you. All right, all right. I'll keep pounding then. I'm going to go with Fernando Mendoza. I know it's an out there pick. It's going against consensus. No, I just think this is a no-brainer. I think he fits the system, which has been a conversation.

I know people have gotten hung up on the RPO thing and how much RPO Indiana, even though if you compare it to other past first round prospects, it's right in line with that. But I do think that he has a trait that you can hang your hat on. And that's what you're always looking for as a first round pick. and I think his accuracy outside of the numbers. I know Deonté hit on this in his article. He can put the ball wherever he wants. And I've seen a ton of comps.

I think Deontes was Sam Bratford. I've seen Matt Ryan. I've seen Kirk Cousins. To me, he gives me a little bit of Joe Burrow vibes. I think that control outside. And for me, that's not as big of a compliment as it might be from some other people who hold Joe Burrow in very high regard. I think he's a very, very good quarterback.

And I think that's the ceiling for Fernando Mendoza. why you don't get terribly excited about him. You don't see him becoming a Mahomes or Herbert, Lamar Jackson, a Josh Allen type, who could just carry an offense with his overwhelming physical ability. But that control outside the numbers, I think, is something that you can build an offense around. Just because an offense can't provide that for someone.

And I know there are question marks about how he attacks the middle of the field just because he never really had to do it at Indiana. But I think the Shanahan system, which is going to be running in Las Vegas, does that for him. And he's bringing something else to the table. All right, Austin, you've got the Raiders hat on. Ruiz telling you, don't get maybe overly excited because he might only be Joe Burrow.

How are you feeling about that? Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow on the field and a Christian missionary off the field, I think is exactly what this team needs in Instant City. Unless woke. Joe Burrow, is that what you're saying without saying it? I do think that people don't know that Clint Kubiak for Christmas last year

about every single player on the Seahawks of Bible. and then now you're bringing in Fernando Mendoza. This might be the team that is closest to God of any team in the NFL. And when you bring that to Las Vegas, this is the first round quarterback the Raiders have drafted since Jamarcus Russell. First number one overall pick since Jamarcus Russell. Couldn't be more opposite in terms of what the off-field commitments are going to be to being the best football player possible.

We've seen that in Indiana. I think we're going to see that in the NFL. I think the Raiders have done a very good job of trying to the best of their ability to insulate him coming in, signing Kurt Cousins to essentially a one-year $20 million deal that they're only really paying half of. bringing in Tyler Linderbaum at center, hoping that Colton Miller is going to be healthy at left tackle.

You need a healthy Brock Bowers. I still think in this draft, they need to figure out how they can bring in a big-bodied back-shoulder type at receiver because you know that's one of Fernando Mendoza's best throws. You need that in his bag for year one, but you just don't have that with their current receiving courts. A lot of number three guys is Trey Tucker, it's Jalen Naylor. That's not enough, Jack Bess.

They need to go find a big-bodied guy, not Deonté Thornton, who did not pan out last year, the fifth-round rookie, but someone else in this draft that I think can unlock that for him. but I love Mendoza. I've been kind of locked in. I already have the jersey. I'm ready to go. Mendoza's my guy.

Wait, do you actually already have the jersey? Oh, yeah. Me and my boy, number 15, he's worn 15 since high school. You're not on this, are you? Like, he's worn 15 the whole way through. He's going to wear 15. I'm certainly not on it.

No, I didn't know. Okay, no one else who he doesn't have to buy that from anyone. Austin's got, now is that Kubei anecdote, true? He bought everyone a Bible? Google, Google, Google, Google, and you're going to see that he bought everyone on this. What if they weren't, you know,

maybe of the Christian faith? that was a maybe you want to just some light reading. That hasn't stopped the Christians before, I think. That's a good point. All right. We're moving on. We can't lean into this? Can we bring out of Dave?

How would Al Davis think about this? Good question. That is a good question there, Ruiz. All right. Number two, we've already had the line of the draft there from Austin with his last comment. All right. The New York Jets are up at two. This is where we think the draft really starts Austin.

the smoke screens, the rumors, the scheme fits, are you buying any of them? Who are the New York Jets taking with the number two overall pick? There has been a flood of David Bailey, the Texas Tech Edge smoke here at number two. And all of the rationale that I've seen in these brief mock draft blurbs is that he's kind of a ready-to-go prospect right now, this wide-nine speed rusher that, you know, Deonté, you said on the latest ringer NFL show,

like you feel most likely of the guys without knowing landing spot, could come in and get you eight sacks. And I think a lot of that smoke maybe even is coming from inside the building because they ultimately don't trust Aaron Glenn and this brand new coaching staff to develop a player that the league is ultimately split on where he's even going to play in the NFL. However, if I'm making this decision and I'm not making this decision with Aaron Glenn or even this current coaching staff in mine, I'm going,

Arvel Reese, no matter what, because I ultimately feel like David Bailey, what he is right now is not worth the bet at number two overall. and I was going to ask you, Deontay or even Stephen, too, like how does Bailey rank against other top five edge rushers in previous draft classes like Abdul Carter, Will Anderson, who just got paid fat today on a three-year, $150 million extension,

or even that group in 2022, Trayvon Walker, Kavon, Tibodow, Aidan Hutchinson. Is David Bailey above any of those guys? Because you're taking him at number two overall. He starts to enter that group and that expectation kind of comes right away. Yeah, yeah, I think that's a great question. It kind of reminds me, I know these are totally

different prospects in both regards, but it reminds me of the 2014 draft when you had Clowny and you had Cleo Mac at the top of the draft and there was a lot to talk about how they compared to each other and there was the same question marks with Khalil Mac because he was an offball linebacker at Buffalo. He was clearly his

high ceiling position for him was edge rusher and that's what I see in Reese and that and for me the conversation is let's take the guy with the highest ceiling because I think it is about the bet at number two and you're not drafting a guy for what he is right now and that's a mistake that I think we see teams make a lot of times in the first 10 picks of the draft.

And that would be the mistake here. But I'm with you. I think he fits in with that group probably around. I don't remember how many names you name, but I would put him below Hutchinson, who I think is kind of the barometer for that type of pick. Yeah, I mean, I'm probably putting him below Abdul Carter. You're definitely putting him below William Anderson as a prospect. You're putting him below Trayvon Walker. You're putting him below Aidan Hutchinson. It's like Kavon-Tibon-Tibato range is where you start to say, okay, that's where David Bailer comes to show up. And it's like, you're going to take that guy, number two overall, when it's so clear that this team is designed

looking at 2027 and when they're going to bring in a quarterback and when they're going to fire, like when they're going to move on from this kind of current situation, I just think it makes way more sense, not just to bet on the higher upside player, but ultimately, I think a player that, like, right away, you talk about what David Bailey can do right away. I think Arvel Reese right away is a very good linebacker. And I don't think the Jets have that right now either.

And like, okay, you bring in Bailey, he's rushing opposite of Will McDonald's because you just traded Jermain Johnson away for Devon Dre-Swed. Is that really going to work with a retooled secondary, like six new starters on defense? I just don't think it will. I think they're ultimately going to be disappointed by Bailey if they're expecting him to be this contributor right away

in a defense that I think is very much in flux and going to have a bunch of new starters and a defensive coordinator who's now calling plays, who wasn't last year, definitely playing for his job or coaching for his job. It's just not a good situation either way, and that's why I'm mostly just taking the higher upside player with Arvel Reese, I think makes the most sense. Yeah, I think one of the things with Bailey,

one quick thing is you can overcomplicate the run defense thing, just because of how college football teams and defenses defend the run. But he doesn't have that edge destruction thing that you saw with Will Anderson at Alabama and you've seen it really blow up at the NFL level. And I think that's the dream when you're drafting a guy like Bailey.

And I just don't see anything there to make me think that that's going to develop in his game. Yeah, Ruiz, to your point about drafting for what a guy is now versus the future. I mean, Reese is also, what, two or three years younger than David Bailey? where if you can kind of get there in your head and be like, what's Arval Reese going to look like in two years

compared to what maybe David Bailey looks like now. I think Reese is the pick. Swing for the fences, swing for the high ceiling. There's multiple ways, like you said, Austin, that he can be an all-pro player. You know, maybe if he is an all-pro off-ball linebacker, that's not a bad outcome. And maybe he is one of those guys,

like you mentioned, Khalil Mack. And, you know, I wouldn't put anyone in Michael Parsons category. But obviously, a guy who maybe they just hadn't shown it in college or been a full-time edge player in college, but then they get to the NFL. I know they're just so athletic, they're just so talented that they're able to pick it up. And now you have one of the more valuable players in the league

at a premium position. So I think there are multiple ways for him to succeed. So I like the pick, Arvel Reese at number two to the New York Jets. Now we go to Arizona. Deontay is up with the third overall pick here. Mendoza and Arvel Reese off the board, DeAante. Who do you got? Well, first of all, this pick is open for business.

So if there's anybody lurking out there that would like to, you know, maybe get their hands on David Bailey or Sunny Stiles or Colonel Tate, if you're worried about somebody else, drafting them before you're available, it's there. And I'm guessing by everybody's reaction, nobody wants to give up. Silence or not. I'm thinking about it. I'm honestly thinking about it. I have the Chief's pick.

And they have a need at Edge Rush, and I don't think they've ever had this during the of Holmes. Maybe I'm forgetting some of a truly explosive pass rusher that you could count on on third down. But I'm not willing to give up what I would have to give up. I'm looking at the Houston Arizona trade, the Will Anderson trade a couple of years back. And it's just too steep for me. I'm not giving up a second round picture. No, I will say. I think it's a weird draft in that trading up is not, I think we're going to look at some of the compensation for what it takes to trade up

in this draft versus some of those other drafts. And you're going to be like, oh, they didn't have to give up nearly as much. Like you said, as the Texan there just because I think there's going to be more teams wanting to move down than teams wanting to move up here. So, you know, if you had an offer, and maybe in your head, you're saying it might be a low ball offer, offer. But you know what? I don't know that Montiastin Ford is like the, you know, brightish GM. I'm just, you know, I'm going to give him a call. Jeez. God of Lord.

And maybe he's going to get a little greedy and say he wants to take it, Ruiz. So if you have it, you know, something in mind that you want to throw his way, feel free to do that. Otherwise, the Cardinals are on the clock. They're going to have to make a picky. only eight minutes this year. Only eight minutes. So you got to be moving quickly. I'm not, I'm not going to take advantage of a low IQ person,

apparently according to Sheel. I'm going to let him rock. Okay. All right. She was really coming for next on this spot. I do think this is a tough spot for Arizona. I know Deonti you're going to make a pick because I think they want to add offensive line or they want to add

offensive line at three. But I think the more we've looked at this tackle class, which is like a bunch of right tackles that could be guards, and then some guys that could be left tackle if they get a lot better in the NFL, like Lomu and Freeling, I think it's hard to say, hey, we're picking this guy.

This is the best offensive tackle or best offensive line in this draft, and we're going to take him at three because I don't think there's that confidence in the evaluations for Maui Noa out of Miami or Fano out of Utah. And I think it's a tough spot for them. I think they will be like you are, DeAte,

looking to trade down. Now, who knows if Bostonport can pull it off and do the math for it according to shield, but we'll see. All right, Deontay, you're up. No trade offers come in. who are the Cardinals going with? I do think that for me,

the reason why you have to shop this pick if you're Arizona is because the guy that you would ultimately end up taking here is probably going to be available later on in the draft, right? Later on in the first half of the first round. And I think that for this team, if you're not committed to maybe reaching

on a quarterback in the first round, you would like to have multiple bites at the apple, right? You want to get multiple guys that are going to have a five-year timeline because you are going to be engaging in a long rebuild. And for me, I think the biggest priority here is going to be rebuilding

the trenches. I think I noted in one of my earlier mock drafts, and just in the way I look at this draft in general through Arizona's lens, that you have to fix some mistakes that cost you, Kyler Murray's tenure here. And I think that the offensive line is the first place to start. So I'm going with Spencer Fenno, right? I think that in terms of run blocking, I think in terms of athletic ability, I think in terms of maybe having enough inside outside flex, where if it doesn't work, you're not totally overcommitted to him at tackle. You might be able to kick him inside and be able to get a pro bowl level player out of them here. I think that there are other guys that I can maybe reach for that I like better personally

to try to fit an outright tackle. But if I'm just taking the whole body of work based on what's coming out of college right now, I think that Spencer Fennell is probably your best bet at right tackle to stick at right tackle. Takes him over. Francis Maui Noah, the Miami offensive tackle. So already a little upset pick on the board, the most accurate mock draft in the podcasting space. Just a reminder, I'll mention that 14 more times throughout the course of this. All right. So they go Spencer Funno at number three, and now I'm up with the Tennessee Titans

at number four. I'm looking at the big board here. The spreadsheet, the first name, there is Notre Dame running back Jeremiah Love. Are the Titans going to do it? Do I, again, this isn't me. I've been on the record with my thoughts on whether I would go that route here in the top five. This is do I think they're going to do it. And I actually don't think they're going to do it. I don't think they're taking Jeremiah Love with the fourth overall pick. I think in this situation, they go David Bailey, the edge rusher from Texas Tech. They said, listen, Dave, we got, we paid 19 million for Wondell Robinson for you in free agency.

All right. You got what you wanted there. We now have to build up. this defense more. Robert Sala has a proven track record. Let's get him in an edge rusher. Now you pair him with Jeffrey Simmons, some of the other guys on that defensive line, some of the corners we signed in Free Agency. And now all of a sudden we have a pretty interesting defense here if David Bailey hit. So I've got David Bailey, Edge, Texas Tech going in this spot. Ruiz, do you think Titans fans, if this is the pick? Are they booing? Are they excited? Is there a fight between the nerds and the

traditionalists. How is this pick received in Titansland? I think you have to like it. I don't think they're going to like it on draft night. I think Love is the sexier name, and it's easier to sell Jersey and get excited about that. But I think during the season, he's going to have production that you could point to

and be like, all right, we made a productive first round pick with our first pick of this new regime. So I like the pick, and I wouldn't go running back there. And it's not like, oh, running backs don't matter type of thing. I think loves the type of running back that do take a chance on in the top 10. but for the Titans, when you have a wide receiver, a quarterback that you want to build around,

I think it's going to be hard to take a running back there, look back at it a year from now, because I don't think the Titans' offense going to be that great, and then be like, all right, you had a young ascending quarterback and used a number three pick on a running back that doesn't make a lot of sense.

I think that's the pick that could get you in trouble, whereas Bailey is a safe pick at number three. Also, you know, the Titans, they just like to backstab and get the owner's ear every year so you can be like, you know, the GM, their Borgonzi can be like, I didn't want to take David Bailey, but Sala, he came in. Have you seen that guy? I'm not

going to tell him no, that I'm not taking the player he wants. So that's why I took David Billy. So if he busts, you already have an out. This is how you have to think as a GM. What politics are you going to be able to play to get in the owners here to save your job? Your play would be that I'm afraid of the defensive coordinator. I mean, maybe.

He did turn to kill a guy. That's right. That's right. That's right. It's reasonable. It's a reasonable excuse to have in your pocket there. All right, let's take a break. We come back and we get to the New York Giants at number five. The Ringer NFL show is brought to you by Fandul. Did you guys know that you can bet on the NFL draft with Fanduel? That's right. You can bet on everything, including which team will draft which player over unders on draft positions, what position a team takes first,

and of course, who's going number one overall? Basically, if it's draft related, you can probably bet on it. So if you want the chance to turn your mock draft into some real cash, Fandual is your place to get in on the action. Open up the Fandual app. You're officially on the clock. 21 plus in select states or 18 plus in D.C., Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-800-Gampbellar. Call 1-888-7-8-9-77 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. All right, we're back on the ring of NFL show. All right, Ruiz. You're back up. John Harbaugh locks Joe Shane out of the building here, and who does he pick with this selection? Ruiz, while you're thinking about it, there's a call from a 305 area code on the line.

Miami is calling and they're going to offer you 1130 and a fifth round pick for number five overall. Wow, 1130 and a fifth round pick. So you'll have two first round picks here. You'll have a fifth rounder. you're moving down six spots, not a Bobo offer from the Miami Dolphins and John Eric Sullivan and Deontalee and whoever else we're pretending

is making this call right now. John Harbaugh, what does he say to this offer? Here's my thought and this would be really weird coming from Harbaugh. I can make this trade, which I think is a good trade and I'm willing to make it.

You have to take it. But then I would have to come up with new analysis for my new pick and I already had this all written out on Google. You have to be a willing to say, I'm definitely taking it. Because I know there's been smoke with wide receiver,

the Giants at number five, which I understand. And I know Tyson has been the guy that I think Peter Schroger threw that out there. But I think it's too high for a receiver here. And the guy that I really want, I think it's too high for him, maybe a couple spots too high. So I'll take that deal.

So I have the number 11 pick now in 30th. All right, Ruiz now has 11 for the Miami Dolphins there. And well, we'll figure out who's picking where. when we get to those picks. You know, there's a lot of moving parts here. But Deonti, you make the selection now for the Miami Dolphins. Who did you trade up for to get to number five? I'm keeping a guy who was playing in the stadium right here in Miami.

We're going to go with Ruben Bain Jr. I need to start rebuilding through the trenches. I understand he's got outlier arm size. But if I'm Jeff Halfley here, I'm going to say that athletic ability, what he does in terms of being a pass rusher, how he plays the run. I can employ this guy so many different. ways to be our lead pass rusher and really start building up this team the way that we need to. So big move for me. Obviously, I think Miami could have used that pair of first round picks

to address multiple positions. But in a draft that doesn't have a lot of blue chip talent, I don't know if what's going to fall to 30 is something I'm actually interested in. Say, let's go ahead and bring Ruben Bain Jr. in who I know is going to be a good football player. So you can normally up from 11 to 5, you, according to the Jimmy Johnson valuation chart, got completely bodied in the trade up. You lost a ton of value on that because It was like the number five. An additional first round pick, basically. Yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot.

For a guy and Ruben Bain, who I really like, who was going to be someone that I have the Ravens pick at 14, like if he started to slip a little, I think making some calls and figuring out if I can make sure I get Ruben Bain, he was the name that I was looking for. But to trade up and get him at five, kind of like, it's just like the ultimate confidence in Bain. I wonder if on actual draft night,

I know Schill, this is the most accurate mock draft ever. But especially with the latest stuff and, you know, us finding out about the, the driving incident in 2024. Like, is this going to be a player with the outlier arm length? Some of this all fields are just now coming up, even though the NFL is treating it as a quote-unquote matter handled. And everyone knew about it, which is great to hear.

I think I would just be really shocked if a team came all the way up that big to go get Bain after what we've seen and kind of like what we've heard. Like there's been rumors that he might fall outside the top 20. I'm really interested where Bain falls. I think Miami, it makes sense. The trade-ups a lot. But, yeah, I'm interested to see what Bain Stock ultimately is. Because I actually think I would be shocked if he is in the top.

five. I would definitely be shocked if someone's trading up to go get him in the top five. Are you a Jimmy Johnson draft chart guy? No. Seriously, big a shock at the box so far. What year is this, Austin? I thought you're a background. I mean, unbelievable. Embarrassing moment for Austin right there.

I'm a Fitzgerald Spielberger trade value chart guy. Shout out Brad Spielberg, Spielberger, one of former crow worker. But on the tab I have pulled up and I don't want to just kind of make this live changes now, I accidentally had the Jimmy Johnson one up. It's close. They're correlated. So we're just going to stick with it. All right.

I think that what Stephen brings up is fair. I was not, excuse me. I think what Austin brings up here is fair. I think that for me, again, it comes back to what's going to be available at 11 and what's going to be available at 30, right? Yeah. Like, chances are, if you're Miami, you might be sitting with Keldrick Falk, who I think that from a developmental timeline perspective would work with Miami because they're not in a

rush to win right now. But I don't know if you want to look up when it's fifth-year option time. And you're not sure if Keldrick Falk has actually developed into the kind of pass-rush you need. And then again, at 30, whatever wide receipts, is left over, whatever right tackle might be left over, might not actually be a good fit for what you're trying to build. So again, a big move.

I think ultimately you would like for this to have been for maybe David Bailey, if he would have been available here. But I don't want to sit back and let all of my surefire edge rushers not be on the board by the time I get to 11. All right. I like it. Ruben Bain Jr. goes to the Miami Dolphins at number five.

Next up, the Cleveland Browns at number six. They've got two first round picks. This is Austin. and as he looks at his Jimmy Johnson trade value chart, he gets a call. Okay. It's Mickey Loomis.

Yo, A.B. What's up, my friend? Yeah, doing well. Okay, sorry, we only have eight minutes. We'll cut out the small talk here. I'm offering you a trade. I'd like to get up to six. I'd like to jump the Washington commanders.

I will give you 8 and 73 for 6 and 146. So you're moving down two spots. You get a third rounder number 73. You throw me 146, a fifth rounder back. You only have to move down two spots. I go up. I get to get the guy I want. What do you think?

My gut reaction is no. I want more value and I'd probably haggle you for more picks, but... Not part of the exercise. No haggling. I'll let it fly. I'll let it fly. I'll take it. I'll come down a couple spots, pick up the extra third.

I'd probably push for 2027 capital. If there was haggling loud, I know for some reason, Ruiz was like, we can't do that. But I guess I'll take it. You didn't have to tell them the truth there. I was totally fine with just letting this fall totally over whoies the shoulders. I'd haggle for more capital. This doesn't work for me on the Jimmy Johnson chart, just letting you know. But I'm going to let it go through just since you're prep for it.

What conference USA pass rusher did you trade up for, Mickey? No, not this year. We're going tried and true, the Ohio State University. We are drafting Carnell Tate, the wide receiver. We wanted to pair with Chris O'L. Lave with our young quarterback and Kellynne Moore. And we thought, you know what? The commanders might want him at seven.

So we felt like, you know, some people could say, why didn't you just sit back at eight and take him? We felt like the commanders might take him at seven. And we wanted to be aggressive. We didn't want to miss out on our guy. So we're moving up to number six and taking Carnell Tate, the New Orleans Saints. All right.

That puts Deontay back on the clock with the Washington commanders. at number seven. I mean, if I'm their brain trust right now, I am throwing pencils and everything else against the wall because I have my fingers crossed that one of these addressers will be available. If not, I was hoping that Carnel Tate would slip here. So that way I didn't get slammed

from a positional value standpoint. But my hand is kind of forced here. I'm going to go with Jeremiah Love. That's the best player on the board right now. The one who I think gives me the most immediate impact based on the players that are available. I'm going to trust that the money we spent on defense ends up bearing good results.

And we're going to cross our fingers and hope that having Jeremiah Love and Jane Daniels in the background makes us the most dynamic rushing attack in the NFL for the next three to five years. And that if Daniel stays healthy, we can get ourselves back in the playoff picture. It would be fun. If we're talking about most fun destinations, I think, in the top 10 for Jeremiah Love, Ruiz, I feel like the commanders have to be up there, right? Yeah, yeah.

And I really, I'm not opposed to taking a running back here, just because I think that where see the league is going, is looking for these explosive backs that can just hit a home run at any time. He's like a true... What is it in baseball? The true three outcomes or whatever? No, the three outcomes or whatever.

I think he's one of those guys. I don't worry about like success rate or yards per carry, which I know obviously that wasn't a concern with him at Notre Dame, but I think it might be at the NFL level just because he is like a home run hitter who seeks out those plays.

But you've got to figure out new ways to get explosive plays and defenses are making it so much harder with the two high safeties and all the quarters coverage. And this is how you do it. I think this is the market inefficiency that teams are looking for now

is finding this explosive back. We saw Jemir Gibbs basically carried the Lions' offense at times last year when they couldn't generate explosive plays. And I would like to see the Jane and Daniels love backfield. I think that would be great. I love a read option combination like we saw with Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry. I think that's one way to generate some explosive plays

that you can't get out of your past. game. Although I am curious with their new offensive coordinator, you know, are they moving to more under center and play action type stuff? Like, we just kind of don't know with David Blau what that scheme is going to look like. They moved away from, like, if they still had Cliff Kingsbury,

then you could like, you know, everything you're saying, it's like, yeah, I can picture it. They wanted to do some of this stuff anyway. Maybe they still do a lot of that stuff. But the commander scheme, I feel like, really on both sides of the ball, but on offense specifically, is one of the mysteries that we probably won't have answers to until the

summer there. All right, Jeremiah, I love to the Washington commanders at number seven. That puts Austin back on the clock at number eight. He took the trade at number six, moved down, and now the Cleveland Browns have picked number eight. I got to say, I'm moving fast and furious to update these spreadsheets. Make sure I don't mess anything up. So, Austin, if you need to buy a little time, feel free here. Here's, I'm getting a call, and it's coming from inside the house. I also have the Bengals number 10 overall pick. And I think. I think the Bengals in this spot with Cleveland at eight, bangles at 10,

they want to jump ahead of Kansas City, which I think Kansas City is in a similar spot to Cincinnati in that. They might just take the best defensive player available. If it's styles, if it's downs, Mansour Delane or Montsor Delane. So getting ahead, they only need to give up,

according to the Jimmy Johnson chart, like 200 points in value, which like a 2027 third gets that done. I know that you guys have to approve that. How do we feel about going from 10 to 8, 2027 third round pick? I'm using the Madden trade logic and franchise. To grade mine, actually.

The bar is red. Not interested. Okay, to the three-man panel, before we approve or disapprove this, we do have to take it to a... I think the compensation, I don't have a big issue with 10 to 8, a 20, 27-third. Interdivisional. Well, no, I don't care about that either. I think that's overrated, too.

Yeah, have confidence in your own abilities. Don't be afraid of the... You know, what are you afraid of? You're afraid of the Browns that they're going to make you look bad? They tried to jump Blacko to the Bengals last year. They're interested. That's a good point. I would say this, though,

the Bengals, I believe, have made, like, one trade in the last three years. This is not their thing at all. This is not their thing at all. I don't know if we need to take that into account or not for this exercise. Deonté, are you approving or disapproving of this trade since Austin? He's trading with himself here. I'm disapproving because I'm going to take over while we're taking shots at people who run franchises. I don't view.

I think Bobbred sitting in the office like, oh, all this trade stuff is too much to think about. I don't have time for this. Okay? Yeah. I see number 10. I like number 10. Easy for me to think about.

I'm saying no here. And I'm just going to take what's available to me, man. You're telling me I'm going to pay more for a rookie. I'm not going up so I can pay more money to a football player. That's not my deal. We're going to sit at 10 and make the pick here. He doesn't have enough minutes on his phones and negotiate a trade properly. Ruiz.

So are you also disableness? approving of this one. Yeah, because I'm trying to sabotage Austin. What the hell is going on? I'm trying to win the draft. I thought this was going to get approved immediately. Okay, well, I guess I'm sticking put or staying put with Cleveland here at 8. And now, I think that their offseason was interesting.

When we were in Indy, I asked Andrew Barry about the offensive line, right, all five started from last year, essentially on expiring contracts. And they have not brought a lot of those guys back. The only guy they re-signed is Tevin Jenkins, who is especially, I think it's pick to start at right guard for them. But no Wyatt Taylor, no Joel Petonio. They're going to bring DeWan Jones, the Ohio State left tackle. That's like 6'8, 375 pounds.

He's finished all three seasons of his career on the Injure Reserve. Most recently, he had a torn LCL and a hamstring evulsion. Do you guys know what a hamstring of volion is? Off the bone, baby. Off the bone. Completely out of the bone. So their left tackle has been hurt every year he's been in. He's 6'8, 375 pounds.

He's a former fourth round pick. Then they brought in Zion Johnson over from the Chargers, who Chargers fans hated Zion Johnson. and I don't know if I love the money that they gave him. They're also replacing at center. They're bringing in Elton Jenkins. I like Elton Jenkins at center. And then their right guard's going to be Tevin Jenkins,

and they traded for Titus Howard. In this spot, part of me thinks just keep throwing resources at the offensive line, keep figuring out who's going to work there. And maybe you bring in Francis Maui Noah, the Miami tackle that's gotten all the ways part. But then I also see three who I feel are really, really talented defensive prospects, and Sunny Stiles is here, Mansoor Delane is here, and also Caleb Downs. part of me thinks instead of kind of forcing offensive line

where I feel like there is a pressing need, I'd rather just go defense. I think I'm going to take Caleb Downs in this spot. I think Caleb Downs, and I know they have an embarrassment of riches in the secondary. I know that defense is very good,

but one piece that they're not going to have this year that they've had for the previous few years is Jim Schwartz's defense coordinator. I think bringing in Downs and just taking kind of like best player available in this spot. I wanted to come down, right? And be at number 10 and then maybe reassess what's going to be there. But I don't think forcing offensive line

in this spot makes sense. I think downs shouldn't slide. outside the top 10. And I think if he's on the board for the Chiefs, he's on the board for the Cincinnati Bengals, they're going to be strongly considering him. So I'm taking Downs at 8. All right.

Caleb Downs, the safety. I think it universally looked at as one of the best overall players in this entire draft. So he goes to Cleveland there at number 8, which brings up maybe the most intriguing team picking in the top 10 here.

And that's the Kansas City Chiefs at number 9. When's the next time they might? might be picking in the top 10 with a Patrick Mahomes-led team. It might never happen again. It might, but it might never happen again. Ruiz, what direction are you going in here with the chiefs at number nine, one of their two first-round picks?

Now I feel like I'm going to let you down because you build it. It's kind of a boring pick, but I'm going to go with it anyway. It's kind of a no-brainer pick after the McDuffie trade. I don't go Monsore Delane, just because I think they need a quarterback one. The one reason why I think this might not end up being the pick is they seem to have a lot of confidence in their ability to develop secondary players and their coaching staff to do that.

But it's hard to pass up on a guy who I think is this polish and this smooth in terms of movement skills. And if you combine that with great coaching, I think you can easily replace a player like McDuffin. I think he could be an upgrade over McDuffington because he is more comfortable playing outside. I just think the chiefs are going to

rest on the fact that they have Mahomes. they have Andy Reid, they got Kenneth Walker, who's going to add another element to their offense. I think they're content with their offense, even though that's what we're doing the most fretting about over the last couple of years. But I think the lack of defensive talent, the talent train over the last couple of years,

has just been tremendous. And it's been kind of an undercover story, but I think when you start to restock that talent, I think we can get back to where they were. When they won the Super Bowl, what was it, two years ago, the year after they traded Tyree Kill, where we had those same questions about the offense, but the defense was good enough to make up for it.

So this is crazy because we are through the ninth pick, and unless I miss something, which is entirely possible, sunny styles. No sunny styles yet. Still on the board. Francis Maui Noah still on the board, two guys that could potentially go in the top five. And Deontay, the chiefs pass on a wide receiver. So they're not intrigued by Jordan Tyson. Maybe they're intrigued, but they don't go with a wide receiver, Jordan Tyson, or any of the other guys. they go with a cornerback in Monsour de Ley.

Well, I mean, we were joking about the Bengals and their history with not making trades. And I do think it's important to consider that when you're making picks as well. And, like, Jordan Tyson probably wouldn't be on Kansas City's board because they don't use our early picks on guys that have health concerns that just hasn't been a thing. Character concerns, they're good. Bring us all those guys. But if you got a bulky need, we want nothing to do with you. Yeah, if we're not sure if you're going to give us all 17 games, we might not want you on the roster.

right? So I think that Ticka Mansour Delane is a nice high floor pick for Kansas City. I was kind of curious as to whether or not that might be a Celtic Falk spot if you're going to take more of a ceiling swing, right, in terms of getting another edge rusher who can play with power, who might have, if you can develop it,

enough quick switch and some versatility to play inside or out. I might have been a little bit fascinated in that, but I think that Delane would be a great fit for what we know Steve Spagnolo wants to do defensively. And I think Brett Beech needs a safe pick. I mean, I think over the last couple years, a lot of people have been posts and screenshots of their draft history from pro football reference.

It's kind of ugly. It's bleak. I think people have said this before, but it might be one of the least discussed like first round picks of all time, the Kansas State edge that they took, Felix Anacude, Ouma. He changed his name at some point. Like I think that they're comfortable at 9. I think taking, I think they're going to be in a really good spot to take the best defensive player available and feel really good about it. If Bain falls to nine, if Downs is here, if Stiles is here, obviously Montser-Nohan. I think that that's what they want to do. And I think honestly, it's what they should do.

When you go back to what Ruiz was saying, a big reason why they're able to have so much money on the offensive side of the ball, what's the success they have with Holmes, Tyree and Kelsey and all these guys, the offensive line is because on defense, they're hitting a ton of picks. They had a ton of guys on rookie contracts

that are delivering plus play. George Carloftus. McDuffie was there for a time. I mean, Ligerius Sneed, you know, the corner that just signed with, or they just signed with the Rams I'm blanking on right now. But they've done a really good job at bringing in defensive players

and maximizing value on those rookie contract. It's a big shout out. to Steve Bagnol. If they're sitting here and Delane's on the board and Stiles is on the board, I think that's like a dream spot for them. I know some people have them kind of going up. I think if you want a defensive player and you're drafting at nine, unless the Bengals make a jump, which we know they don't,

I think it's a really good spot to just stay put and take the best guy there. All right. Number 10, the Cincinnati Bengals, they tried to move up. Roger Goodell said, I don't approve of this. You cannot move up to number eight. So the Bengals are on the clock here now, Austin. got the Bengals, but before they make their pick, you get a little call. Now, I know he said the Bengals don't trade, but that's not going to stop Jerry Jones from at least calling and saying,

hello there, Duke Tobin or whoever is running the draft room. It's Jerry. We want to move up from 12 to 10. You only have to move down two spots. And I'm going to give you our third round pick number 92 in exchange for moving down two spots. What do you say? No thank you. We'll take Sunny Stiles. But appreciate you calling and we're going to sprint the card in. If Sunny Stiles falls to 10, I don't even think they blink. It's immediate.

It's exactly what they need. They started two rookie linebackers last year in Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight weren't what they needed. I think that if Downs is here, they're going to consider downs. I think they'll consider Delane. Like I said, I think they're very similar to the Chiefs and that they want to kind of take the best defensive player available. And if Stiles is here, well, I think some people think he's like a

top three player in this draft, it's a no-brainer who, regardless who's calling, throwing around third-round picks and stuff to come down. I think Stiles at 10, I mean, every Bengals fan is dreaming about that at night. I think it's exactly what they want. I think Bengals fans before, you know, they listened to this, probably thought best case scenario was Caleb Downton, and they never even thought that Sunny Stiles was a possibility. So now I think we maybe got their hopes up with our mock here. And Sunny Stiles falling to them at number 10. I'm with you. I think that would be a very, very exciting pick for this. Cincinnati Bengals, maybe the face of a defense that hopefully isn't terrible once again next year.

All right. Austin, back to back. First time we've had this so far, I think. Maybe not. I can't remember what happened 20 minutes ago. But Austin, you've now got the New York Giants. You traded back from number five to number 11. Now, John Harbaugh, what's your move?

What are you doing here? No, I didn't trade back from five to 11. I thought that was the United States. Ruiz. I'm confused. Ruiz. I'm confused. I'm confused.

I was like, do I have to speak? That's right. It was inevitable. We got out of the top 10 without this. I would consider that a success. I mean, I'm also running the pickup. Like I said, there's been smoke with Tyson to the Giants at number five, and we get him here after trading down.

I think that's a huge win for the Giants. I'm going to take Jordan Tyson. Wow. Jordan Tyson, the wide receiver from Arizona State. I would have rather had Cardinal Tate here. I think he compliments Malik neighbors more in this case. And I think when you have like a catch-and-run receiving. receiver and explosive playmaker like

Malik Neighbors who can kind of catch a slant and take it for 70 yards. You want a big body who can win downfield to complement them. And that's why I would rather have had Tate at number five. I would have probably taken Caleb Downs, but this is a huge win for them. I think they're getting all of the,

they're included in all the draft winners articles after this. Yeah, I think that there's some redundancy there and skill sets between Neighbors and Tyson. I mean, Neighbors just has a little bit more juice than Tyson does, especially after the catch. But ultimately, I think the best use of someone like Tyson would be as a Stefan Diggs-esque, you can move him inside, give him those option routes, allow him to go create

space underneath. He can be a chain mover for you if you do want to use neighbors more as your vertical stretch guy or more of your manufactured touch guy, you know, try to take a screen and go score on a glorified punt return and then send that guy deep on a post. I like that kind of mix. I do still think ultimately to kind of unlock all this, it would need a bigger receiver or maybe a running back that's dynamic enough to create the explosive plays to force defenses to play 101 coverage out on the perimeter. But ultimately, I think the Dexon Dart just needs more guys to throw to, right? And this would be a guy who could fit in and be an upgrade maybe over Wondell Robinson

who departed for Tennessee. They have no wide receivers on the roster besides neighbors beyond 2026. Like they have, yeah, they got to get some wide receivers. Jordan Tyson goes to the Giants at 11. Cowboys up at 12. I've got the Cowboys. Is the phone ringing because Francis...

No, that's tonight is in Jerry Jones's ears, actually. Francis Maui Noah still on the board. Is there a team out there that says, man, we didn't think we were going to get a chance at him, but he's still available at 12. The Cowboys are saying we are fielding offers

because our offensive line is in good shape and we usually like to do best player available, but we can't be drafting. a tackle right here because we like where we're at with our tackles. Am I getting any calls for this pick? Ruiz, it looks like you've got your hand up. I'm thinking about calling with the, I have the Lions pick. I'm thinking about calling here.

Okay. I think I ultimately decide not to because I think there are more holes on this roster than maybe people think just because of what they were two years ago and what we thought they were going to be after like the first half of last year. I think the Rams could also be a team, but they're picking right below them. That could do one of those, just move up one spot just to get their guy

and make sure that nobody else jumps them. If Maui is still here. But ultimately, I'm going to pass. I'm sorry, Jerry. All right. Jerry can't get a deal done just like free agency. You know, he feels like he's in it, but he can't seal the deal on any of those.

So the Cowboys have to pick, and they end up going with Jermad McCoy, the quarterback from Tennessee. I say, let's build up. that secondary a little bit. We're debating here maybe between secondary player and past rusher, but ultimately we like McCoy a lot coming off that injury in 2024, but arguably the best corner in this draft if he can play to his 2024 tape.

And so the Dallas Cowboys at 12 take Germod McCoy. So there you go. I feel like if you're Christian Parker when you were interviewing for this gig and they gave you this gig, you're coming in and saying, I want to get my Quignon Mitchell. and if there is any cornerback in this class that could ultimately end up playing like a Coyon-Mitchell playing tight coverage and ability to be able to match up

with number one wide receivers and still might have some upside in terms of ball skills. I actually think that McCoy is coming in a little bit higher in terms of like his grade of playing the ball in the air than Coyon-Mitchell did leaving the Mac. So I do like this pick for them. And you still have number 20

so you can go address your safety room. You can go add, you know, maybe best player available if you really want to supercharge your offense. there might be a potential to do that as well. But I love McCoy playing in what's going to be, you know, a very Vic Fangio-esque defense for Dallas here. I like that comp for McCoy. I wanted to ask this when you did take Delane at the Chiefs.

Compare those two players if you're looking at just McCoy's 2024 tape and then looking at Delaine in 2025. And then do you have Deonté a good comp for Delane? Because I think something that keeps bumping when I like want to comp him to players is he has 30-inch arms. And anything. 30 or below is it's very hard to find corners that stick on the outside with that short of arms. And people have thrown like the Stingley comp around, which I think is kind of insane for Delane.

To me, that's Helmand scouting. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think that a stingly comp would definitely be Helmut scouting there because he is an LSU guy. I've kind of been hung up with trying to find a clean comp for Delane because he's not, he doesn't necessarily play small, right? Like I actually kind of like his physicality dealing with wide receivers on the outside. I like his tackling ability. I think there's some inside outside flex.

So maybe I guess you would say the absolute best version of him is maybe something like Chris Harris, right? A guy who can start out in his career, play a little outside, you know you're going to get the physicality. I think he is a relatively high IQ football player. You just might not get that, you know, true blue number one lockdown corner,

but you can do a lot for you. I think I'm going to steal this from Dominique Foster so I was listening to yesterday actually on the Mina Kime show who was talking about your mom, McCoy potentially being like a Stefan Gilmore type of corner. right because he can play tight coverage and i think when you think about quignon mitchell i think he's in a very similar you know type of um type of consideration there as a number

one corner but there's really i think that again this comes down to like floor versus ceiling if you take the best of what you saw from jermott mccoy at tennessee a couple of seasons ago you think about how he played against ryan williams and alabama you get that pick in the end zone you show off your speed you show off your ability to play the ball in the air you're dealing with the physical wide receiver and you're right there step for step that's the kind of stuff that does make you a highly, highly considered cornerback prospect. And if it had not been for the ACL injury, I think he would have been number one corner on this board with a bullet, right?

So I think outside of just trying to project whether or not his health is going to be maintained after this ACL injury, everything from a tape perspective is exactly what you want to see from a number one corner. All right. Jermad McCoy to the Cowboys with the 12th overall pick. Let's take one more break. We come back. Ruiz is on the clock with the Lost Angeles Rams. All right, we're back here on the Ringer NFL show.

Rams, another very interesting team because they are, I don't know if they're still Super Bowl favorites, but they're certainly among the one top one or two. Where do they go, Ruiz, with the 13th overall pick here? I desperately want to trade down here. Do I have any takers at all? Now we know. All right, so the guy, just to go over kind of who's available here,

Francis Maui, Noah is available, Monroe Freeling's available, Kenyon Sadiq is available Keldrick Falk Vega Venga Yawane also available So those are some of the key guys still available

You know I look at Yawane And I feel like if that's a player A team covets This would be the spot to trade up Because the Ravens are at number 14 They potentially could be in play For Yonay I don't know if there's a team

That would trade up For a guard there I'm looking at the picks I have And I don't think I'm trading up here with any of my picks. Deontay Austin, do you have an offer? Listen, this looks like it's a buyer's market where McVeigh and Sneeter calling saying, please, somebody move up so you might not have to give up that much. Do you have any interest, or are we going to force them to make the pick? One of the trade-up teams I had is the Ravens

at 14, and I don't think I need to come up to 13 to make sure I get my guy. But I guess I'm hoping no one trades up and gets my guy. So I mean, I guess I'm considering it, but I think I'll stay put. That does happen, the one-up trade to make sure no one else trades up for your guy, Deonté. But you got anything else here for us? I mean, the nearest team for me is the Bucks. I actually love how this board is falling right now from Tampa Bay because I'm really focused on getting the best player available. And if you're like the Panthers or the Eagles, again, because there are some offensive linemen who are falling. The wide receivers are falling right now.

I don't think that there's really any urgency to go make a move at Los Angeles. All right, Ruiz. Sorry. You got to make a pick. Who do you have at number 13? I'll just go Maui Noah then. I think that the Rams just continue to lean into building up that offensive line and getting it bigger and stronger and being able to run the football.

I was looking. I wanted Sadiq because I wanted to do that annual thing where we pair Sean McVeigh with a dynamic tight end. And I wanted to stay down and drive up. Yeah, this is the Bleacher Report graphic. This is too rich for him, in my opinion. I do like him as a player. I'm intrigued by him at least. Yeah, so I'll go boring and take the tackle.

That's great, though, for the Rams. I mean, because Maui Noah, you know, you think maybe he can slide in and play guard if he needs to. So it just feels like he's a player who's going to help them in multiple ways, both in the short term and the long term there. If he were to somehow fall to this spot, I think a lot of us are thinking, all right, wide receiver, tight end for the Rams at this spot.

But I think that's a good one. If Maui Noah falls, you might just have to take them. I think Yohane is a possibility for them, too. I think that kind of in the same vein. as the Maui Noah pick, but 13th for guard. I don't know. Quiet as kept. I mean, Los Angeles had one of the most efficient rushing attacks

that we had ever seen last year. You didn't get the expulsiveness, but they were just absolutely able to mash teams in between the tackles. Maui Noa makes that a super strength. And if the priority is to make sure the Matthew Stafford stays clean enough to get through four months of football

and get to January and February healthy, this would be the best way to do so as you want to backstop any potential problem. with Stafford by having the strongest run game and a fluid, you know, I think a guy who still has some space to grow as a pass protector, but the footwork is fine. I think it's just really more of a timing and kind of details oriented thing for Maui Noah to continue to improve upon.

It is entirely possible that he never has to move in the guard. And if you're the Rams and you can think Maui Noah at right tackle, we keep wearing McClendon around, right? We don't necessarily have to worry about his market booming. So that way, if Maui Noah doesn't work and we kick him inside, we still have another right tackle right behind them that we can play as a starter. So I think that that works out in most of the market. multiple ways for L.A.

I'm dumb. I could have just trade it with myself with the lions and the rams. I wouldn't have approved it. I wouldn't know what I was in. Too late. I'm dumber than Monty Austin. All right.

We need to chill. I think he's a very smart GM actually. Here we go. Me too. You know, I've always, yeah, said that that franchise is in great shape right now, I would say the Arizona Cardinals. All right, 14.

You know what? Austin Ford had that great first draft where, you know, it's like, all right, He's doing some good things. He gave up Will Anderson. Well, you're right. See, you're making my point for me.

All right. 14 Baltimore Ravens. Austin, you're up. Who are you going with here? I wanted Maui Noah. I think he falls to the Ravens at 14. I think it would be another kind of sprint the card in situation,

kind of like with Sunny Stiles and Cincinnati. I feel like my board is coming out nicely for the teams I have. But I think the player that is kind of circled for them is Banga, Yuane, the Penn State Guard. they know last year it was a problem on the interior with Daniel Falet and they had Linderbom but it still wasn't enough and now you don't have Linderbom we don't really know who their center is going to be it could be a competition between Danny Pinter and some guy I have not heard of but they and then the other guard is Andrew Voorhees who they were working with last year and he was

not up to stuff either so I think they need upgrade the entire interior like they don't have a solution in center I think both guards spots are interesting they brought back John Simpson who'd spend time with New York and the Raiders. I think John Simpson is a good pickup for them, but I still think they need another guard. They definitely need to help out the interior. And if Vanga Oanae is here and the other tackles are off the board, like I think they'd love if Fano fell to the spot or Maui Noah felt to the spot and they could go maybe take a swing at tackle guys that have like this tackle guard convert. But I think Banga Yuanay is another guy that they want to bring in at this spot. And if he's there, I think they do it. That's tough for the other guy who you hadn't heard of

where he couldn't reach the prominence of Danny Pinter there. You know, like Pinter. Everybody knows Pinter, but man, this other guy, you know, we don't really know. Let me look at his name. That was rude. That was rude. Corey Bullock. Have you guys heard of Corey Bullock? I can't say that I have.

Undrafted free agent from 2024. And he's like, according to Our Lads, which is the depth chart standard on the internet is slated in to start. I think Pinter will contribute or compete for it. But they need help on the interior. I think they might even be looking at center on day two, day three. I think we could steal that corner, you know, to ruin that. And then Ruiz's the point. I'm coming after everyone today.

Why are we just giving that up to our lads? You know, we can't update some debt charts. We look at these things every day. We're reading stuff. That's your new job. I'm just saying. You'll be the job you want to do. Is that like your dream job?

You know, that was a we. That was a let's maybe pass this on to somebody else. I'm just saying, listen, that corner is available. You know, our lads does a great job. But, you know, no one said we can't have another depth chart system out there. All right, Deontay. 15. The Tampa Bay Bucks.

You said you like how the board is shaping up for them. Who are the bucks taking? at 50. See, to me, this is like one of those instances or if you're doing a mock draft and you come by Tampa Bay, you have to really kind of debate what would you do versus what Jason Light's history, what the draft has been. And to me, I think if you look early in his tenure, all the things that worked out well in the top 100 was him drafting huge human beings, right? Like that's always kind of been his thing. He wants big size guys. He likes to draft in the trenches early. And I think over the last couple of years when they've been trying to pluck very targeted holes, especially on. defense and go for guys who had production coming right out of college. You think about Yaya Diabi. You think about some of those tweeter guys, Logan Hall, coming in. Some of the tweener guys, I feel like they've struggled with a little bit more. I'm going to take a guy who's big, but does still have a tweener skill set and hopefully

I can kind of split the baby here with Keldrick Fall. So that's going to be my pick here as an edge rusher. I think there's a high ceiling for him to grow into. Do you have a comp for Keldrick Fall? I feel like these are the types of edges that I, I, I have a blind spot for these guys. Yeah, I don't really know, like, these, like, these, like, kind of traditional, like, three, four end types

that don't really ever play three, four end anymore. You know, I'm always kind of leaning towards guys that can really, really peel the edge. So Falk, I feel like he's always this guy, like, yeah, he's like a ball of clay, he's huge, and a team that can figure it out. But I also feel like he's also the same kind of player in these drafts where you wake up two years from now.

I was like, oh, yep, we haven't figured him out. It hasn't worked out. Like, he's this big, freaky athlete, all these tools, but we just haven't done it. And he's a younger player, right? I think he's not going to be 21 until after the season begins. Yeah. So he's an interesting investment.

And I think I wouldn't be surprised, like, if it takes a while for him to pan out. But it's one of those players where these are multi-million dollar businesses. I would just hire someone where, like, you are, this coach is just you work with him. Like, you are working with him all the time because we need to figure out, if we're going to take him in the top 15, we need to figure out how this is going to work down the road. And it's just not worth, like, throwing him into the rotation and seeing how it goes. You kind of actually need to, like, bring an assistant in and kind of invest in, like, actually developing him into something.

I think the hope is that you get something like Eric Armstead out of him at his peak. I think the concern is you look at Tyree Wilson, right? And he's obviously had some injury. He had some industry stuff with the split that really kind of stunted his development. But he was very similar, right? At Texas Tech, Tyree Wilson looked great when he could jump to snap and get hands on you early. He was very disruptive in the run game. The problem was that in those pure past situations, you didn't see a detailed plan.

You didn't see a great get-off thing. You didn't see a guy who could work secondary moves who was a high effort rusher where he could continue to close the pocket even if guys were attached to him. I think that's probably the concern I have with Falk is that there are some snaps. You're going to get a handful of snaps with him

because he is a huge guy where it does look very Tyree Wilson-esque as a pass rusher. And then you watch him against the run and you see the length and you see the athletic ability and I think you want to believe wholeheartedly that he is just one good year

development away from turning into those old school, like you said, three, four defensive end, ideal size, body type guys. It is within his body type. I just don't know if you're going to access it early because he is stepping into the lead so young. Isn't that why you have a defensive head coach like Todd Bowles? I think that's a vote of confidence for Todd Bowles,

who has been on the hot seat for maybe the last two years. But if I can pick one coach to develop Falk, I think it might be him because I think, one, he's a system fit for a system that I think, I don't want to use the word outdated. I do think it's like behind the times from the modern defenses we see. I think it could still be effective

when the talent is there. I don't think that the Bucks have had that talent and we've seen Bowles' defense kind of fall off and be able to be picked on, especially by these scheme gurus, the under center, the play action guys, the Mick Bays, the Shanahan's of the world. But I think this would be

the ultimate vote of confidence for Todd Bowles who I think needs one right now. I think if it doesn't work out for Bulls, I could see him having a generation Spagnolo-esque defensive coordinator run. Because I think part of the reason he's been on the hot seat is because he's hired offensive coordinators really well. Like Dave Tenales has proven,

he can figure things out and raise the floor for a Bryce Young-led offense, no offense, Stephen. And then letting Liam Cohen leaves, and it's like automatically he's one of the top five most coveted coaches in the NFL because of what he can do offensively. I think Bowls, there's always going to be this limitation. It's like, you have to hire a top-flight offensive play caller every year because you're stuck at head coach

and these guys are going to consistently look for these new opportunities probably earlier than people are even expecting them to. I think we're seeing that with David Blow is now an offense coordinator. Sean Mannion is now an offensive coordinator. You're going to start getting earlier and earlier on these offensive play callers. As long as Bowles is the head coach, even the best guys he hires are there and it's going to be one and duns. And I think, I don't know, I almost feel like Bowles' best skill set is like leading a defense

and capping that side and it's not the time management and all this stuff. And if it doesn't work out and he's not the head coach in Tampa moving forward, I think he'd be a dynamite defense coordinator. And if he's settled into that spot, I think teams would be really. happy about that. You definitely get more out of him as a developer if he's a defensive coordinator because he's not spinning as many plates. And I think that's one

area where he shined in these early years with the Bucks when Bruce Ariens was the head coach and he was that assistant coach. I could see him having like a Vance Joseph like go up like to follow your point. Vance Joseph didn't seem to be a very good head coach who could manage the defense as well. We saw him in Arizona where he didn't have that much

talent but you give him the pieces and you put him in Denver and I think he similar to to bowls, there was question marks about how modern his defense defenses were. I remember that week one game where he had Isaiah Simmons guarding covering Travis Kelsey like

one-on-one. It was just like two and he's playing base defense against the chiefs. It was just a disaster. But you think about him, you're like, oh, like he's incompetent, but then put him in the right spot and give him the right pieces to develop. And now we're like, oh, he's one of the best D.C.s in the league. All right. Keldrick Falk

to the Tampa Bay box. I've got the 16th pick. I'll be honest. I was looking at Keldrick Falk thinking, oh, that'll be a nice dad Falk and Arvel Reese to the New York Jets because I've got the Jets, but Falk goes off the board. And now I think it becomes a pretty sort of tough call here for the Jets because the way this has transpired, the offensive tackles are slipping a little bit. There are some wide receivers available that they could take.

But I think Jets fans probably wondered, hey, would Jordan Tyson maybe be available there at 16? And he's not. So I'm looking at my best available. and I think maybe, I don't know if this is a surprise or not, I'm going to go O-line and go Caden Proctor here. So I know you got tackled on the team. We're going to switch him to guard. We're going to have some insurance at tackle

so that when we draft Arch Manning next year, we can say, Arch, we have loaded up on the offensive line. You're going to be protected here. You don't need to force your way out of the New York Jets. but I actually think the way this unfolded, this is a very difficult pick, I think, for the New York Jets here, Deontay. I'm right there with you.

I think you would have loved for Jordan Tyson to be here, right? I think that he's the kind of guy you can take a high ceiling type of shot on, even if he does have some hamstring issues. The skill set is just something that this offense desperately needs. And then the rest of the wide receivers on the board, I just don't know if they have enough juice to be exciting or an exciting additions to this offense. You can maybe make an argument for Casey Concepcion,

but I don't know if you want to bring in a guy who has drops issues for a roster that already has 80 Mitchell on it, right? Like you probably want somebody who could be, who could work underneath, be a little bit more dependable. And then that just becomes a question of, did you want a Mackay Lemon, where you're going to take a shot on Kenyon Sadiq here? But I like the idea of bringing Caden Proctor in to address the interior and really to kind of compete with Dylan Parham for that left guard spot, maybe. All right, Ruiz. You're up. Detroit Lions number 17.

Who are you going with? I don't really like the spot here for Detroit. I would try to trade down it. Do I have any takers for a trade down? My board is looking too good right now for me to come up if I'm Carolina or Philly. Deontah, you've got the Eagles now. Is there a...

Oh, you know the Howie Roseman, Kenyon Sadiq, itch is starting to set in here. You've got to be looking at Minnesota and saying, if he gets to 18, he's definitely not going to be on the board. by the time that we get there. But ultimately, I think the priority here is to have Elaine Johnson Air Apparent or to have an A.J. Brown replacement. So we're going to hang back.

All right. Thanks to everyone for listening to the first part of our two-part mock draft exercise. We'll come back and do picks 17 to 32. In the next episode, appreciate Christopher Sutton for producing Stefano Sanchez on video and additional production supervision from Connor Nevins and Arjuna Rahm Gopal. I'm Sheila Capadio. We'll talk to you next time. the ringer NFL show.

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