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tune in. And don't forget, you

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can always read my work on

1:00

espn.com. I'll have a story up

1:02

soon, whether it's Thursday or Friday,

1:05

about the commander's choices at number two,

1:07

Jaden Daniels, Drake May, or J.J. McCarthy.

1:11

Maybe. Anyway, I have them ranked

1:13

in the order that based on talking to people

1:15

around the league, that I think it would look

1:17

like. One other

1:19

note along those lines that Jaden Daniels

1:21

will be visiting the commanders next week.

1:23

He'll arrive in town Monday night,

1:26

and then he'll be at the facility

1:28

on Tuesday. And then Drake May arrives

1:30

on Tuesday night, and will be at

1:32

the facility on Wednesday. Those visits are

1:34

key. They will

1:36

not make up their minds. They may have a lien, but

1:39

they're not going to make up their minds until they get

1:41

through these visits. And they don't have to make up their

1:43

mind before they get through

1:45

these visits. These visits are crucial

1:48

in this whole process. Anyway, so there

1:50

you go. Now, today I'm

1:52

joined by Eric at home, who

1:54

writes for NFL media. So his

1:56

work appears on nfl.com. He analyzes

1:58

the... draft, there's power

2:01

rankings throughout the NFL season and

2:03

I wanted to bring them on. I've known Eric

2:05

for a long time. He worked for Pope Football

2:07

Weekly, he's analyzed the draft for many years and

2:09

does a really good job. So I

2:11

wanted to bring him on to talk about

2:14

the non-quarterback choices because I hear from a

2:16

few of you and I'm with you. I

2:18

want to know more than just about the

2:20

quarterbacks. I will keep talking about

2:22

the quarterbacks because the draft is two weeks

2:24

away and this is an important choice for

2:27

the organization but they can remake

2:29

their organization by having a really good

2:31

draft in the first couple rounds with

2:33

all those picks. I wanted to bring

2:35

Eric on, he has a top 100

2:38

list and he puts a lot of

2:40

work into and so I wanted to get some

2:42

stuff from him and also some maybe possible mid

2:44

to late round gems that he thinks might

2:48

be a good pick for whether it's for the commanders or someone

2:50

else. Yes, we do talk a

2:52

little bit about the quarterbacks because it is

2:55

required at this point to do that

2:57

but it's very very heavy on the

3:00

non-quarterback aspect of the

3:02

draft so figured

3:04

a good chance to talk about that and again we'll get

3:06

back to the other stuff because I have a few more

3:08

guests coming on who will be talking about quarterbacks over the

3:10

next two weeks. Anyway, here

3:13

you go. Here's my conversation with Eric at

3:15

home from NFL media. Your

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Home Depot. How doers get more done. Well

3:49

Eric, first of all it's good to see you again. It's

3:51

been a while so for people listening I

3:53

used to do I used to do some work

3:55

for Pro Football Weekly. Eric would always talk to

3:57

Pro Football Weekly. Eric was...

4:00

Always probably the publication. I think I

4:02

most enjoyed doing stuff for because you

4:04

guys were you keep sliding everybody over

4:06

there Was so good to deal with

4:08

but I miss that I miss that.

4:10

Yeah, it was those are the

4:12

the good old days, right? I mean, obviously the internet

4:14

was Coming

4:16

into fruition and the print products were were

4:19

being phased out But there were there were

4:21

so many people who wrote us and said

4:23

I don't care I'm riding till

4:25

the the wheels go off. And so

4:27

we had very loyal supporters We had

4:29

great correspondence of which you were one

4:31

and always enjoyed our chats and enjoy

4:33

them now Before

4:37

we get started tell people where they can find you

4:39

and get all your work. Yeah, I'm

4:41

an NFL media now I'm in jumping

4:43

into I almost done with my full

4:45

second year there I do power rankings

4:47

are kind of my main focus during

4:49

the season draft becomes, you know December

4:51

January is really when I pivot full-time

4:54

to to draft stuff and it's over

4:56

at NFL comm you'll

4:59

see the podcast for the the power

5:01

rankings during the season doing some draft

5:03

hits here and there and plenty of

5:05

stuff going up before Before

5:07

and after April 25th that is so

5:10

I want to talk to you about the non quarterbacks

5:12

We'll probably get it. I'm gonna touch on quarterbacks later

5:14

because I think by law I'm

5:16

required to ask a couple questions about quarter

5:19

course But I do think

5:21

that there's a lot of us who are quarterbacked

5:23

out in Washington Just because like it's

5:25

been such a heavy focus for a long time

5:27

So I do want to start with one of

5:29

the things you had an article recently on NFL

5:31

comm about nine teams that really have To hit

5:34

in this draft and of course Washington. I think

5:36

was fourth on your list just what

5:38

you know Explain I think for

5:41

any watch events, but like explain your

5:43

rationale there and how how can this

5:45

draft help them? Revitalize

5:47

the franchise. Yeah, first of

5:49

all, it was pairing it down from 32 teams to

5:51

nine I didn't have a set

5:53

number right? I tried to sort of rank them

5:55

a little bit and put them in tears and

5:57

Washington ended up being in that in that top

6:00

group and nine felt like a good number, right?

6:02

I like a good odd number, but obviously

6:05

it's been, you know, kind of swab

6:07

the decks and refresh everything and start

6:10

from scratch in a lot of ways.

6:12

And that process has already begun, you know,

6:14

you and I were talking off air about

6:16

some of the nice maybe lower level, but

6:19

impressive moves that the

6:22

new regime has started off with. And

6:24

I really did feel like this roster needed

6:26

a foundation and a starting point. So they're

6:28

off to a good start. I might've put

6:31

them higher on the list had they

6:33

been a little more quiet during free

6:35

agency, but getting that

6:37

kind of that baseline in there was important.

6:39

I felt, but such

6:42

key positions, I feel like hang in

6:44

the balance right now, offensive tackle, pass

6:46

rusher and oh yeah, quarterback among them.

6:48

I could even argue,

6:51

you know, corner wide receiver. So, I mean,

6:54

like, if you said those are the five most important

6:56

positions on a football field, I don't know that I

6:58

would argue with you, you know? So that

7:01

alone, I think gives you an idea of

7:04

the great, you've, you've

7:06

filled out the bottom third of the

7:08

roster, the middle portion maybe isn't too

7:10

bad, but now we start have to

7:12

adding high priority

7:14

positions and high talent

7:16

players. So, you know,

7:18

that, that alone, along with, three

7:22

guys in the power

7:24

seats, they haven't really worked together.

7:26

Dan Quinn and Cliff Kingsbury and

7:28

Adam Peters and, you know,

7:31

how will this arrange marriage work? Sometimes

7:33

that first draft, there's that process is

7:35

a feeling out thing. So all

7:37

those factors and where they sit in the draft

7:39

and the number of picks they have in the

7:41

top hundred, 110 slots, I mean,

7:44

that, you know, you could argue they were, you know, they should

7:46

have been higher on the list. And to

7:49

be, I, I, because I, I think you can make a

7:51

case for a couple things up there, but I could have

7:53

made a case like, especially for them with so many picks

7:55

in the top 100. And like

7:57

you said, you know, they need a left tackle, they need

7:59

a quarterback. back, an edge rusher

8:01

and a cornerback and even a receiver.

8:04

Like those are all spots

8:06

in this draft in that top

8:08

100 that it feels like you could

8:10

find a good player at in my right or wrong

8:12

on that. Absolutely. In fact, that

8:15

was one of the rationales in the back of

8:17

my head for maybe not having them at the

8:19

top of the list because it does seem to

8:21

kind of line up pretty nicely for them. I

8:23

mean, you know, of those positions,

8:25

I don't know that you would, you would

8:27

venture to say that any of them are

8:29

quote unquote week in this, in

8:32

this draft class, there's, there's at least depth

8:34

and or high end talent. And I think

8:36

it at, you know, at least three or four

8:38

of them, if not all of them. So yeah,

8:40

I think that part of it plus having solved some,

8:43

you know, checked off a lot of smaller boxes

8:45

along the way, puts them in a very good position.

8:47

And I'm excited to see what they do. I mean,

8:49

obviously, like you said, it does start out with the

8:52

quarterback pick and the assumed

8:54

quarterback pick, and that'll be the

8:56

big headline from Thursday. But do

8:58

they entertain trading into the backend of,

9:02

of round one, if one of those great tackles

9:04

is there, you know, if there's a pass rusher

9:06

who lingers, is that an option for them? I

9:08

know they picked fairly early on Friday, but you

9:11

know, they may not be done Friday or

9:13

Thursday night if after the, the, the pick

9:15

at two. And that's the other thing too,

9:17

I was going to ask you, and this

9:19

is a hard thing to predict. Yeah. But

9:22

then it's going to depend on when does

9:24

the run on tackles start and

9:26

who, who needs So for you,

9:28

where's this, if they wanted to trade up,

9:31

they want to get a guy who can come in

9:33

day one and be a starting left tackle in this

9:35

league, first of all, who do you like, but also

9:37

where would, where would they have to get into the

9:39

first couple of questions? Could they find

9:41

that guy in the second round? If not, where do you have to

9:44

go into the first round to get them? Yeah.

9:46

I think the offensive linemen are most

9:48

likely to start coming off the board.

9:50

I suppose it could happen as early

9:52

as number five, uh, with the chargers,

9:54

depending on what they do. And then

9:56

it probably starts at Tennessee at seven,

9:58

if not, Uh, The get

10:00

off me? If both those teams pass on a

10:02

tackle, then all of sudden I think that's when

10:04

the conversations. You.

10:06

Know that we're talking about right now might

10:09

start happening whether it's in Washington or some

10:11

other team where you say. A. This

10:13

thing started a little bit later could

10:15

one of those first round towns. Be.

10:18

Pushed into the late twenties right

10:20

now. You. Know it with

10:22

so many teams. In. That

10:24

middle part of of round one I think.

10:26

Looking for offensive line help whether it's. You

10:29

know, Seattle, Cincinnati. Ah, I certainly can

10:31

see the Raiders doing it if they

10:33

don't draft a quarterback on and on.

10:35

A mini good his list. About that

10:37

at least half a dozen teams that

10:39

now cowboys. Certainly the offensive line would

10:42

be a pic. So. I

10:44

think. If. You

10:46

get ahead of thousand Twenty Four. like

10:48

if you're thinking about trading up young

10:50

you may have to go that high.

10:52

For small it's a division rival. Second

10:54

of all arm there a couple teams

10:57

in that range that may want to

10:59

trade down depending on who picks in

11:01

on the the Miami Philly for to

11:03

think who's twenty third the Minnesota now

11:05

they have pick Some of them may

11:07

want to move down and and that

11:09

could are of open up some possibilities.

11:11

Now it also depends on whether you

11:13

consider. You. Know

11:15

let's say Ill or Troy

11:18

fatwa know from Washington some

11:20

have my guard. In

11:22

I I fix a good my shot a

11:25

tackle. I think some teams are willing to

11:27

do that. Jordan Morgan from Arizona kind of

11:29

a borderline for second rounder he might fall

11:31

into that category. To and there a couple

11:33

others who some teams may view them as

11:36

a guard, others as a tackle self. Again,

11:39

Not knowing how all thirty two

11:41

teams define these guys. I

11:44

think you could see aid Office of Lime

11:46

and go in the first round. I mean,

11:48

which is a big number? It's twenty five

11:50

percent. Seven would be a more realistic number,

11:52

but. You. know it wouldn't shock

11:54

me either way so who is there a

11:56

couple guys in the second round that he

11:58

would say like This guy's there

12:00

a second round. It's a really good pick Yeah

12:04

at offensive line you mean it's tackle in

12:06

particular Tackle in

12:08

particular. Yeah, I'm just kind of scanning my list here.

12:11

See that's the problem. I feel like on my

12:14

The top 100 list that just went

12:17

live minutes before we spoke It's

12:20

a little bit of a I have guards like Cooper

12:22

BB. I don't think you really want to play him

12:25

attack I guess you could but Morgan

12:27

I mentioned he's my number 33

12:30

player I want to say overall so that's kind of

12:32

right in that neighborhood You

12:34

know might just like the length for

12:36

some teams to safely protect them to

12:39

tackle Well

12:41

in that area it's a little bit tough In

12:44

fact boy, I'm kind of looking at my list

12:46

and that's a little bit of a wasteland in

12:49

that area So that's why the trade-up option may

12:51

exist or maybe have to be discussed

12:53

given that they have what I

12:55

think five picks on day two, so, you know

12:59

Could you use them all? Absolutely might you be

13:01

willing to part with two to get one

13:03

higher pick? I think it

13:05

comes up because there is seemingly

13:08

a drop-off after that that first kind

13:10

of lump of Players

13:12

of that position now, let me just kind of look through

13:14

my list a little bit more and see

13:17

if there's anybody else. I Sue

13:21

a Mataya from from BYU Kingsley

13:23

Sue Matias an interesting one I'm

13:26

not as high on him as other people are

13:29

Patrick Paul I think the same thing at Houston

13:31

I think I see him more as a third

13:33

round pick than a second rounder But other teams

13:35

may have a little higher grade on them But

13:37

the interesting name for day two that I've heard

13:39

more recently than than I had Previously

13:42

in draft season was Blake Fisher from

13:44

Notre Dame who came in

13:46

as a higher rated recruit than Joe

13:49

all Even though all

13:51

had the bloodlines and all that Fisher I

13:53

think I'd love to see him dominate a little

13:55

bit more but I can see the appeal. I

13:57

think he just You know

14:00

He's got the length, he could play tackle.

14:03

I don't think he's a elite

14:05

finisher, but I think he's certainly

14:09

got the goods to play either

14:11

right or left tackle in

14:14

the NFL, and he might

14:16

be an option as well. So what

14:18

would be, if you're looking for their

14:20

early in the second round, what area

14:22

do you think might be a better,

14:24

might provide better value? Now again, because

14:26

clearly they want to get a left

14:28

tackle, but you also, we both

14:31

know when you force picks, you get into

14:33

trouble. So is there a better value, do

14:35

you think, in those early second

14:37

round picks at another position? Yeah,

14:40

I think edge rusher might be a little bit

14:42

more appealing because there could be some, you know,

14:45

hard to project exactly where some of these

14:47

guys will go. Like, I mean, I think

14:49

Liatu Latu is most likely a first round

14:52

pick, but he could linger to the second

14:54

round. I've said, you know, there's some Ryan

14:56

Kerrigan to his game. I don't think he's

14:58

exactly that, but I mean, I wouldn't be

15:00

shocked if he has a good career if

15:02

the health holds up. So if

15:04

teams are concerned about his health long term,

15:06

maybe he drops hard to know how

15:08

all 32 view him. You

15:11

know, Marshawn Neeland was the guy that I

15:13

mentioned in my most underrated, we had a

15:16

little round table. I, you

15:18

know, he's kind of grown on me as

15:20

the process has gone on. I think I

15:22

have as my 40 something overall prospect, but,

15:24

you know, wouldn't, it wouldn't shock me at

15:26

all if he goes, you know,

15:28

somewhere in round two, but it may be even ahead of

15:31

that spot. So, you

15:33

know, I mean, a pretty good looking kid,

15:35

maybe not the longest guy in the world,

15:37

but has some good bulk to him. And

15:39

it is a just really instinctive football player.

15:41

I kind of like him. So, uh, Neeland's

15:44

an option. You know, Darius

15:46

Robinson from Missouri would be another one who

15:48

is, he's a little bit

15:50

of a tweener and tackle, but he's

15:52

also a little bit of a first,

15:55

second round, uh, trickier projection

15:57

as far as where he might go, but somewhere

15:59

between 20. and 45, I think. And

16:02

a couple guys from Penn State around there too,

16:04

possibly. Yeah, Adisa Isaac is another one I like.

16:06

I mean, I think Chop will go first round,

16:08

but I'm not 100% sure, but I

16:10

feel pretty good, and he will. So he's

16:12

either a trade up candidate or a really

16:14

cross your fingers guy. But Adisa Isaac should

16:16

be there, I

16:18

mean, in the second round, I would

16:20

imagine. And he's a high character player,

16:23

typical Penn State athlete, very gifted, maybe

16:25

not quite as, you know, bursty explosive

16:27

is what we've seen from some of

16:29

their edges. But, you know,

16:31

I would, I dare say that he's, at

16:34

least on par with a lot of the guys

16:37

they've produced. Then the other two spots, corner and

16:39

receiver. Receiver, we know, this

16:41

is, it's been, one

16:43

good draft of another for that position. How

16:45

deep is corner though? Where do you, if you want

16:47

to get a guy that can challenge to start, where

16:50

do you gotta go get him? Yeah, that's a

16:52

good question. I mean, I see a player like

16:54

Max Melton from Rutgers

16:56

and say, I think

16:59

he's a day two pick. Maybe he sneaks into

17:01

round one, I suppose it's possible. I think he's

17:03

more likely a second or a third round pick.

17:06

And I think he's starting caliber.

17:08

He's not super long, he's under six foot.

17:11

The arm length is just below 32. So

17:13

it's, you know, 31 or something like that,

17:15

but he's played inside, he's played outside, he's

17:18

got some versatility. You

17:21

know, I think he is a starting caliber

17:23

player on day two, depending on what kind

17:25

of system you run. TJ Tampa might be

17:27

a little bit to

17:29

a manual Forbes-y style wise, but you

17:31

know, maybe he could fit it. You

17:33

know, if you like those long limbs

17:35

corners and that sort of thing. And

17:38

it's Rake Straw from Mizzou. Got

17:41

hurt late in the season, has missed

17:43

a big chunk of the pre-draft process.

17:45

I think there were some people who thought if

17:48

he could run well, he could sneak in around

17:50

one. Now he's more likely a day two guy.

17:52

So yeah, I mean, I think

17:54

we'll probably end up getting four

17:57

or five corners in round one.

18:00

I had to guess. And then I would say another

18:02

12 or so in day

18:04

two, 10

18:08

to 12 in day two, somewhere around there.

18:11

And there's

18:13

some decent options out there. Besides

18:15

Melton, another guy like is Kamari

18:18

Lassiter from Georgia. Mike

18:20

Sane was still probably an inside guy.

18:23

I mean, he's very thin. But

18:26

you heard Harbaugh rave

18:29

about him, the other coaches at Michigan. He

18:31

was a very popular player in the locker

18:33

room. So instinctive. I like

18:35

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18:37

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20:51

backslash con.

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www.theadventurepark.com backslash

20:58

con. How

21:03

about Miss Bula? I

21:06

think it's, yeah. How many rounds

21:08

can you go, because these guys don't

21:10

need right now a number one with McCloy and

21:12

they have dots. I still think dots and can

21:14

develop a little bit more, but they're going to

21:17

need more players there. So where is

21:19

a good spot to get them and how deep can

21:21

it go to get a starting quality receiver?

21:24

Definitely deeper than last year, at least I feel so.

21:26

You know, in more talent at the top for that

21:28

matter. Last year was like the one year where we

21:31

didn't really seem to have that incredible group.

21:33

But yeah,

21:35

again, I'm thinking probably somewhere in

21:38

the order of five, six wide

21:40

receivers in round one, you know,

21:42

definitely four. But I think

21:45

we get at least the fifth one in there. And then

21:48

the second and third round, I really feel like

21:50

that is going to be like the happy hunting

21:53

for receivers. And I mean,

21:55

everyone from, you know, I mean,

21:57

like we're kind of digging guys like key on call.

22:00

for running the 4-6 at the combine, but,

22:03

man, he's an animal out there. I think he's

22:05

going to be really good. Ricky

22:07

Pearsall, better

22:09

quarterback accuracy. Might have been a guaranteed

22:11

a first-round pick. Xavier Worthy, Blaze is

22:13

a combine 40 record and

22:16

may not get in the first. So

22:18

that kind of gives you a picture,

22:20

I think, of there's all different shapes

22:22

and sizes. Everybody from, you know, Malik

22:24

Washington, kind of a tiny little water

22:26

bug guy up to Johnny Wilson, sort

22:29

of a, I

22:31

don't know that he's a day two pick,

22:33

but the idea being this massive, almost tight-end-like

22:35

figure. So I

22:37

really think that's that depth is going

22:39

to stretch into day three. So

22:42

by even in round four, I think you're going

22:44

to, you know, maybe there's not a puka-nakua this

22:46

year, which is kind of the irony last year's

22:48

class not being that great, but there's, I would

22:50

venture to say there's at least going to be

22:53

half a dozen day three receivers who

22:55

do something in this league and

22:57

become, you know, semi-reliable contributors. Did

22:59

you like Emmanuel Forbes last year?

23:04

I liked aspects of them. I know

23:06

the weight was obviously a big hang-up.

23:08

It's like historically thin.

23:10

And it was

23:12

almost like people had, you

23:14

know, used the Devontae Smith as an example. Well,

23:17

hey, look, if you're a receiver and you're that

23:19

size and you can thrive, why can't you do

23:21

it at corner? I don't think it's the

23:23

same thing. But

23:26

I did love the college production.

23:28

You know, obviously the length and the competitiveness

23:30

seemed to be there. Was

23:34

he probably miscast in some ways last

23:36

season? Yeah. Was

23:38

he, you know, being asked to cover A.J. Brown,

23:40

man up, I don't know that I would do

23:42

that with him, but that's just me. So

23:45

I think there's

23:48

an interesting player in there if they can, you

23:51

know, really drill down and figure

23:53

out whether his strengths

23:55

match up with what Dan wants to

23:58

do defensively. And I suspect that's a good thing. they'll

24:00

better use him than the staff did last

24:03

year, whether he's a first round pick going

24:06

forward or not. I don't know. But I'll be curious because

24:08

they're going to play a lot more man, some pressure man

24:10

that we'll see how he handles it. And, you know, he's

24:12

going to have a chance to do it. What

24:15

have you thought it like? I know Adam Peters has not

24:17

been in this position, but what have

24:19

you heard about him over the years as far as

24:21

like his, you know, his drafting ability

24:24

or his knowledge or whatever? Yeah,

24:27

I mean, I think he's regarded as a

24:29

really keen evaluator and I think he kind

24:31

of turned down some interview opportunities before. So

24:33

obviously, you know, maybe not to the extent

24:35

of a George Payton or somebody like that.

24:37

I mean, where his name had been in

24:40

the cycle for five, six, seven years of

24:42

GM, you know, hiring portions and all that.

24:44

But, you know, his name had been

24:46

out there for a while and we were always

24:48

under the impression that he was going to be

24:50

picky with the spot he selected.

24:52

You know, it's interesting, obviously, that he's

24:55

going to a place that was

24:58

more of a tear down and that he could

25:00

kind of put his stamp on, I think, you

25:02

know, as opposed to a team

25:04

that is sort of needing a

25:06

little sprucing here and there and then, you

25:08

know, close to competing. So I don't think

25:10

most people around the league viewed this job

25:12

as, you know, a microwave

25:15

dinner, right? This is going to take some time.

25:18

But at the same time, you know, like

25:20

Bill Parcel has always wanted those situations because

25:22

he wanted to be able to build

25:24

the roster 1 to 90 the

25:27

way he wanted it. And I think there's probably

25:29

a little bit of that from

25:32

the GM perspective for Peters. So

25:34

obviously there were a lot of cooks in

25:36

the kitchen in San Francisco, which is interesting

25:38

too. And they've had other guys go on

25:40

to, you know, be promoted

25:43

and get jobs elsewhere as well. You

25:46

know, it's always hard to know exactly who should

25:48

get the credit for this and who should get

25:51

the blame for that. Because,

25:53

you know, you hear, oh, that was, you

25:55

know, that was Shanahan's

25:58

guy or, you know, this. This

26:00

was the GM's pick. And

26:02

so, you know, it's difficult,

26:05

but I know his reputation has always been

26:07

pretty strong. I think the rule of thumb

26:09

is if it's wrong, it's somebody else's guy.

26:11

Of course. Yeah, always.

26:13

Yeah. But like I do know

26:15

in talking to some people out there, like, you know, he

26:17

was really he was a key

26:19

evaluator in the

26:21

later the third to seventh round type. Yeah.

26:24

So that's like Fred Warner, Drake, Greenlaw,

26:27

Kittle, Purdy. So

26:29

who are some guys maybe are there

26:32

some do you have some late round

26:34

gem possibilities that you really like, like,

26:37

and day three, like, the team gets

26:39

this guy, I'm really intrigued by him.

26:42

Yeah, let's see. I mean, that's a good question.

26:45

I'll kind of look at the bottom of my top

26:48

100 list because oftentimes, you know, I might

26:50

be higher on somebody. Jalen

26:52

McMillan, the receiver, we were talking about wide

26:55

receivers. I know, again, it's not probably the

26:57

biggest need, but with Samuel gone, you probably

26:59

have that that third slot open. He's not

27:01

that right. I mean, Malachi Corley might be

27:04

more like that.

27:06

But I think he's probably gone before

27:08

round four. So McMillan

27:10

is kind of that borderline day two,

27:12

day three guy. But yeah, I

27:14

have him in my 70s. I don't remember exactly

27:16

where and I felt like he's the kind

27:18

of the perfect connective piece in

27:21

a receiving group. He can be your number one

27:23

on, you know, one or

27:25

two Sundays a year. He

27:27

can be the guy who contributes even if

27:30

he only has three catches for 25 yards.

27:34

You know, he has some punt returnability as

27:36

well. I like him as

27:38

a slot, but he could play outside as well.

27:41

You know, he's really interested in me and

27:43

I think he's going to make his mark

27:45

somewhere as long as he's not, if not

27:48

too much as expected of him or, you

27:50

know, he's or not too little for that

27:52

matter. He's kind of buried. So that's one

27:54

interesting one. Mason McCormick, the guard out of

27:56

South Dakota State, you know,

27:58

I go to the combine. and now and

28:01

watch the workouts, watch the times and all that.

28:03

And maybe it only

28:05

really changes my perspective for a

28:08

dozen guys or, you know, a few, it's

28:10

not the biggest number ever. You're, you're expecting

28:12

him to be in a range, but he

28:14

tested very, very well. He

28:16

moved extremely well in the O-line drills.

28:19

You know, if you're just looking at him and

28:21

not knowing anything about him, you'd assume he went

28:23

to a big 10 school or an SCC school.

28:25

And that may be size wise, but still athleticism

28:28

and moving and just the, he

28:31

looked clean. That's what I thought. So I

28:34

don't know exactly how teams view him as far

28:36

as where he'll go in the draft,

28:38

but fourth frown could be a

28:41

spot for him. So that that's definitely one

28:43

there. Um, I'm

28:46

trying to think of somebody else in the, in the

28:49

kind of the. Kieran

28:52

Amagagi, the, the Yale offensive

28:54

tackle is another tricky

28:56

one to project because he missed all

28:58

but four games last year and another

29:01

player, small school guy who if

29:03

you saw him on the Yale practice field,

29:06

you would think, who is that guy? Right? He

29:08

would stand out from the crowd. When you watch

29:10

the games, it's almost hilarious to see the size

29:13

difference between him and some of the defensive linemen

29:15

he goes up against. But I, you

29:18

know, he's got something that can't be taught. I

29:20

wish he had been healthy and been able to

29:23

do more in the pre-draft process than he

29:25

has so far. I think he's got a

29:27

workout coming up soon. Um,

29:29

but this is somebody who has been talked about as a

29:32

possible top 50, top 75 pick

29:35

prior to all that, like before the season

29:37

scouts were on him. Now

29:40

we don't know where to, I don't, at least I

29:42

don't have a great feel for where he'll go, how

29:44

early do you take that kind of risk? But

29:47

again, the length is outstanding has

29:49

that like probably

29:52

year one red shirt type

29:54

thing, but, but, but I could see him

29:56

by the end of the year or being a swing

29:58

tackle possibly, and then by. the end of his

30:00

rookie year being, you know, at least in a spot

30:03

to possibly start. Like if they're out of contention, you

30:05

got three or four games at the end of the

30:07

year, you say, all right, let's make him our left

30:09

tackle. That's the kind

30:11

of guy that makes sense to me for that spot

30:14

of the draft. And like with

30:16

this team, they are, this is year one of

30:18

the regime. So you can take guys like that

30:20

in there. Amen. Well, because even if, you know,

30:22

if the guys are left tackle, right tackle, Andrew

30:25

Wiley's at right tackle, struggled last year. So

30:27

you're going to need, may want to do

30:29

something with him, whether now or whenever just

30:31

to, to improve. So there are, there's a lot

30:33

of ways I think they can go in this

30:35

draft to work. Now, this is

30:37

the quarterback portion. So if I saw

30:40

it right on your last mock, you

30:43

had JJ McCarthy coming here.

30:45

I did. Yeah. I got, I got to

30:48

clear the air on this one, but go

30:50

ahead, please. No, no, go ahead. I like

30:52

the reaction to that. Go ahead. I

30:55

mean, people are basically laughing at

30:57

me like that's not going to happen. And

30:59

I don't think it probably will, you know,

31:01

after, especially after talking to some people after

31:04

that, but I'm telling you, there's some real buzz with

31:06

him. And I, and I mean, it's not obviously anyone

31:08

who's followed, you know, the last sort

31:11

of month or what have you, I mean, does

31:13

he go to the giants at six? Does he go

31:15

to the Patriots at three? Is it a trade up

31:17

team? Who knows? Right. But he's going

31:21

somewhere in the top 10. Um,

31:25

it did feel like Washington had done a lot of

31:27

work on him and not that they weren't going to

31:29

do, you know, they were going to put their diligence

31:31

in on all these guys, and I know it's been

31:33

a tight ship that Adam

31:35

and his run there, haven't been a lot of

31:37

leaks. This is a good thing, right? Obviously compared

31:40

to the regimes,

31:43

not necessarily for us, but for the

31:45

football aspect of it. Yes. And I,

31:48

you know, I, I just thought, look, he's. Yeah.

31:51

Let's have some fun with this, right? Could he go there?

31:53

Possibly. But I would say Jayden

31:55

Daniels feels like the most likely fit there. I

31:58

don't know. know that I say that

32:01

with great authority, but I say that with with more

32:03

of a gut instinct than

32:05

anything else. But yeah, I could, I

32:08

give McCarthy about a 12% chance and

32:10

I'd give, uh, Jaden maybe

32:12

like a 50% chance or something like that. I

32:14

would probably be right there with you. In fact,

32:16

I had to write a story for espn.com. Basically

32:20

it was like here are their choices and ranking

32:22

it, putting him in order of how coaches saw

32:24

it when you talk to him and more

32:26

often than not, they're going to say, Jaden,

32:29

but I don't know like how much money

32:31

is anybody putting down on that? I don't

32:33

know, but that certainly, you know,

32:35

seems, has been the feeling that

32:37

you get. But I,

32:40

the only feeling that matters is the one

32:42

in Ashburn. And I'm not sure what

32:44

they're feeling is that this, I have, you know, you

32:46

hear things, but like nothing that you can report because

32:49

it's not necessarily it's too, it's

32:52

too, some of it is too outdated. The,

32:54

what you're hearing like, Oh, I talked to

32:56

so-and-so, I talked to people early in the

32:58

year and they'd say one name, then you'd

33:00

hear someone else. So where they talk so-and-so

33:02

during the season, they'd say another. And

33:05

you know, so that's why we're in

33:07

this spot. So yeah. I

33:10

mean, and also sometimes the information that

33:12

just, I've reminded myself of this every

33:14

single year, you know,

33:16

the information you get from, let's

33:18

say, uh,

33:21

mid March till mid April often is

33:24

the heart of lying season. But right before that at

33:26

the combine, I felt like I, when I look back

33:28

and I say, where did I go wrong in my

33:30

mock draft? What did I miss on? What did I,

33:32

what did I forget? And

33:35

it was all the stuff that I had heard

33:37

at the combine. I feel like I just need

33:39

to write these things down. Like, okay, this team

33:41

is going with this guy, you know, and obviously

33:43

you can call around and do your reporting after

33:45

that, but, uh, it just

33:47

sort of feels like the stuff you

33:50

hear prior to the combine depends and

33:52

probably not as accurate. But that week

33:54

can, can often bear some, some real

33:56

truths that end up coming out. to

34:00

get to meet these guys in person. Yeah.

34:02

You can start to see, especially a quarterback, is

34:05

this guy a leader or not? Is this a guy

34:07

that we can work with or not? And that's why

34:09

they have the, I guess, the top 30 visits

34:13

next week with May and Daniels, which will

34:15

be key. But so

34:18

that's why, I'm guessing that that's probably

34:20

why you're going to start to hear

34:22

more and more about those guys at

34:24

the combine. It's a natural feeding frenzy

34:26

for information with that stuff. But yeah.

34:29

What separates for you, what would

34:31

separate these quarterbacks at the top? And

34:34

when people tell you or if they tell

34:36

you they think it'll be Daniels, what

34:38

do they use as a separator for him? Yeah,

34:41

that's a great question. Obviously, I think his

34:43

running skills, while

34:48

not Lamar Jackson-like, I mean, he

34:50

still ran for 1,200 yards or whatever it was

34:52

last year, I don't know the number. But

34:55

he was explosive. I don't think he's as elusive

34:57

as Lamar. He's fast, though. Having

35:00

to defend those wide receivers at LSU

35:03

and deal with the run

35:05

game was a chore for a lot of teams.

35:07

So I think the

35:10

running ability and the deep passing ability kind

35:13

of give him a floor as a prospect. It's

35:17

hard to picture him being bad unless

35:20

he suddenly becomes turnover prone. And he really

35:22

hasn't been in his career. I mean, he's

35:24

had the one year where he had 10

35:26

interceptions, everything else has been less. The

35:30

amount of throws, the frequency have gone up

35:32

and his interceptions have stayed low the last

35:34

couple of years. So that

35:36

alone, I mean, obviously, his injuries

35:38

could be another factor. He's a thinly

35:41

built guy. You always worry about

35:43

that a little bit. He's

35:45

not going to have the same clean looks he

35:47

did in the LSU offense. But I obviously

35:51

can see that he's got some poise. He's

35:53

got some moxie, for sure. Went

35:56

through some tough times at Arizona State.

35:58

But. you know, if you're

36:01

hearing the rumors that obviously Antonio Pierce would love

36:03

to get him again, he was on that staff

36:05

at ASU, then, you know,

36:07

you have to imagine he acquitted himself well in

36:09

a leadership capacity because things weren't always going well

36:11

from 2019 to 2021 at Arizona State. So, and

36:16

you know, LSU coaching change, he had to

36:19

fight for his job, that shows some mental

36:21

toughness, they didn't just hand it to

36:23

him just because of the transfer portal and NIL and

36:25

all that. He had earned it, whether

36:27

it was a nominal battle or not, I don't

36:29

know, but, you know,

36:31

I mean, there was just something fascinating

36:34

about him and he's supposed to be

36:36

a tough worker as well. But

36:39

he's also a little bit

36:41

in that dangerous

36:44

comparison. But like in the Zach Wilson comparison

36:46

in that, I don't think he came into the

36:48

season viewed as a first round pick. So

36:50

there is a little bit of a Johnny-Come-Lately

36:53

quality to him. It doesn't really bother me

36:55

that much, but... And you can make the

36:57

case Joe Burrow is exactly that same guy

36:59

too. Same thing, right. And

37:01

he's Burrow's age, 24. I mean, when we

37:03

first started this process, my

37:05

thinking was, like we were

37:07

talking about, they're the kind of team that

37:10

can draft a project tackle. Well, they can

37:12

draft a younger quarterback too. That's why I

37:14

assumed Drake May, especially Airaid

37:17

system, Cliff coming in, felt like

37:19

that made the most sense. So

37:22

I guess I'm talking out of both

37:24

sides of my mouth, but when you hear people

37:27

around the league and other teams say, Jaden is

37:29

probably their guy, you got to

37:31

listen. Right. And that's where I'm at

37:33

too, because that is what you hear more

37:36

often than not. And there's

37:38

some who really like him a decent amount

37:40

more than the other. Like

37:42

I think there are some people it's Caleb

37:44

and Jaden. And then for others it might

37:46

be, it's so crazy, but

37:49

that's why it's

37:51

kind of interesting and why it's such a

37:54

big deal for them to get it right. Because if you do,

37:57

they could set this franchise up. You

38:00

can come out of these first two rounds with

38:02

a quarterback and a left tackle. If

38:04

you do that, like if

38:07

you or the other guys are just okay

38:09

contributors, you have set yourself up. Yeah,

38:13

absolutely. I mean, I think about last year,

38:15

obviously with Houston, now they took

38:17

a more dramatic approach with the high picks

38:19

there, but you get Stroud, who's

38:22

going to be your franchise guy for

38:24

however long. And you

38:26

have Willie Anderson as the

38:28

next pick and arguably one

38:30

of their defensive standouts right

38:34

away as a rookie. That

38:37

was a home run draft. And then you add

38:39

a tank Dell in round five. Like if Washington

38:41

can have that kind of a draft, I

38:43

mean, where we look back and

38:46

say, wow, that was a narrative

38:48

changer, a franchise shifter. That's

38:50

obviously the dream. And

38:54

yet the reason I have all four

38:56

of those teams seeking quarterbacks at

38:59

the top or teams likely to

39:01

draft quarterback, some of my nine teams

39:03

that can't screw this thing up story. The

39:07

guy who drafts the dud is automatically

39:09

put on the fire in the hot seat. So

39:12

there's so much pressure around these quarterback

39:15

picks. Yeah. And Adam Peters

39:17

is your first pick in Washington, most pressure, no pressure,

39:19

just get it right. So anyway. Just

39:21

get it right. So

39:24

Eric, thank you very much. I kept you longer than

39:26

I think I told you I would. So I love

39:28

the insight. Oh, good. Appreciate the work and all that.

39:30

So thanks a lot for coming on. My

39:33

pleasure. Talk to you soon, man. That's

39:39

it for this episode. Thanks to Eric for joining

39:41

me. And by the way, you can follow him

39:43

on Twitter. He's at Eric at home. E

39:45

R I C underscore, then capital

39:48

EDH, H L M. Give him a follow on

39:50

Twitter or X or whatever you want to call

39:52

it. I guess it's actually days. Anyway,

39:54

thanks to Eric for joining me. Thank

39:56

you as always for tuning in. I'll be back

39:58

on Friday with another episode. Peace be

40:00

upon you.