0:02

Eagles Entertainment with

0:06

the Can't Pick in the NFL Draft,

0:09

the Philadelphi Eagle Swect. You're

0:12

listening to the Journey to the Draft podcast.

0:15

Welcome to the Journey the Draft Podcast, presented

0:17

by Life Brand. I'm your host Fran Duffy, and the new

0:19

league year is here in the NFL twenty twenty

0:22

three officially underway, but the draft process

0:24

still rolls on, and we're going to talk through

0:26

some draft prospects here pick six with Greg

0:29

Kosel. We're gonna cover three different positions,

0:31

a couple of blue chip prospects here, Jalen

0:33

Carter potential top ten pick, Miles Murphy

0:35

from Clemson potential top ten pick, a

0:37

handful of others. Will cover that with

0:39

Greg in Pick six. After that, we've got

0:42

Draft Buzz where Ben Fennel and I we're gonna

0:44

talk through how free agency and that the start

0:46

of the new league year, can it has impacted, what

0:48

could happen with the draft market. We'll cover that with

0:51

Ben. We'll talk through a new mock draft from Fox

0:53

Sports. We've got a couple other big items

0:55

as well that our news worthies. We'll cover all

0:57

that with Ben, and then we've got a question from you at

0:59

home in our draft mail bag. We'll hit

1:01

that at the end of the show, which always

1:04

allows me to segue into the fact that, Hey, if you want to

1:06

throw us your support, or if you have a question,

1:08

a comment, a mock draft, a set

1:10

of player rankings, whatever it is that you want us to address,

1:13

go on a Apple podcast. Leave it there in the comment

1:15

section. We will answer your question, we will break

1:17

down your mock draft, we will separate your rankings,

1:20

we will do whatever you want. Just go leave it there with

1:22

a review five stars would be greatly appreciated

1:24

there on the Apple podcast page or wherever

1:26

you get your podcast. That's it. Let's get

1:28

into Pick six. It's time now, and welcome in Greg co Sell.

1:33

Now it's time for Pick six. All

1:37

right, back for another segment of Pick six. My friend

1:39

Greg Cosel from NFL Films. You can follow him

1:41

on Twitter at Greg co Sell. Greg, we've

1:43

got six more players to dive into here

1:46

in this draft class you've been grinding away at

1:48

your desk. I'm excited to get your thoughts on some of these guys.

1:51

Yeah, you know, it's there's a

1:53

lot of guys frand as you know, Yeah, and

1:56

Unfortunately, it's not like you can take care of, you

1:58

know, ten guys in a day, you know you Sometimes

2:01

I just wish I could, but it doesn't quite happen. Away.

2:04

For your sake, I hope you haven't heard anybody

2:06

say like, oh, it's only forty days until the draft

2:09

anytime, rely, because every time I hear that, like

2:11

a chill goes down my spine that I just

2:13

have not gotten enough work done yet. But you

2:17

know, it's funny, every day I take note of the date,

2:19

and that's how my just like, I'm sure for

2:21

you, that's the way my world is working

2:23

out. Oh it's more sixteenth

2:25

guy, that's one day closer to the draft. You know, That's

2:28

that's the way my mind's working these days. Yeah,

2:30

it's like, oh, oh great, we're four or five weeks

2:33

away. Understanding. I'm so excited

2:35

by that. But that said, let's

2:37

get into some of these notes on these players. We'll

2:39

start along the defensive line. You and I haven't taught

2:41

a ton of defensive lineman yet. This is a widely

2:44

considered to be a a talent

2:46

rich position here in this draft,

2:48

and we'll start. Let's go with the headliner. This

2:51

is the guy that's obviously in the news just because of the Pro

2:53

Day this week. Obviously he's got some

2:55

some issues away from the field that are in

2:58

the process of being cleared up. But Jalen

3:00

Carter, the defensive tackle from the University

3:02

of Georgia, a guy that has been

3:04

the discussion is what the top player in

3:07

this draft class? And I want to get your thoughts.

3:09

Obviously you're going to focus in on the film.

3:11

There's there's other things to take in mind here,

3:13

But based solely off what you've seen from tape,

3:15

what do you see from Jalen Carter? I

3:17

think if you're basing it solely on tape, you see

3:19

a pretty high level prospect. I mean, he's

3:22

he's got athleticism,

3:25

he's got quickness, he's got

3:27

explosiveness. He plays with strength,

3:29

he plays with power. We've seen examples

3:32

as you have where he literally just

3:34

throws away interior offensive

3:36

linemen and those are usually the guys

3:38

that way more. You

3:40

know, we've seen him dominate

3:43

as a one gap player where he

3:45

lines up as a three technique,

3:47

you know, just outside an offensive

3:49

guard. And his ability to penetrate

3:52

and play with elite first

3:54

step quickness in short area explosiveness.

3:57

It's pretty high level. You know, as I mentioned,

3:59

we see him just with strong, violent,

4:01

heavy hands, control and display

4:04

interior offensive lineman only three hundred

4:06

and twenty pounds, So

4:08

the tape is really really positive.

4:11

Now, the only thing I would say is I

4:13

think that his special plays are truly

4:16

special. If you wanted a nitpick,

4:18

you could argue that there are times

4:20

where you don't see that as much

4:23

as you would like, given what his at

4:25

traits and attributes are. I

4:27

did notice this particular season because

4:30

I watched him in twenty twenty one as well, that

4:32

as the season progressed, over the last

4:34

six seven games, he played far more snaps

4:37

than he did earlier in the season. There

4:39

were games later in the season he played

4:41

upwards of fifty snaps. He ended

4:43

up averaging thirty two snaps per game,

4:46

but over the last five six games he

4:48

really played far more snaps, which

4:50

was really a positive. You

4:52

know, there's specific plays that pop into my head

4:54

as we're talking. I remember in

4:56

the twenty twenty two match up with Florida,

4:59

he just drove back offensive guard

5:01

o Cyrus Torrence, who people are talking

5:03

about as a you know, potential top forty

5:05

type pick. At guard. He just drove

5:07

him back into the pocket with strength

5:10

and power on an inside pass for us, you

5:12

know, as if Torrance was one hundred ninety

5:14

pounds, you know, high school junior. So you

5:16

see those kinds of plays with Carter. And

5:19

that's the thing. I mean you said you said

5:21

a one word there, multiple times you

5:23

said dominate or dominant, right, And I think

5:25

when you look at Jalen Carter, you know at

5:28

six to three, he came into three twenty three at

5:30

the at the at the Pro Day, but he's been

5:32

around, you know, like three ten, three oh five, three

5:34

o eight. He's been in that range for the most

5:36

part of when he's been playing. And this guy has been

5:39

dominant in every sense of the word. Run game, pass

5:41

game has been outstanding. And I think the big thing

5:43

that stands out is, you know, the last year

5:45

he was the first guy off the bench, right, you know, you had

5:48

join Davis DeVante why as the

5:50

starters they were two first round picks, uh

5:52

and Carter came in off the bench and his numbers

5:55

were crazy and everyone said, oh, well, can he

5:57

keep that level of productivity up when

6:00

the snap counts go up? And as you mentioned, not

6:02

only did his role change going into this year,

6:04

but as the season went on, his snap

6:06

counts continued to rise and he continued

6:08

to be extremely productive. Look

6:11

only three sacks on the year, but this is

6:13

a guy that consistently was being

6:15

showing the ability to win at the snap of the football, get

6:18

into the backfield, impact plays, extremely

6:20

disruptive both against the past and against

6:22

the run. Now everything else just kind of has to get

6:25

sorted out. And obviously, look, these other

6:27

things potentially can impact

6:29

on the field stats moving forward, right like that that

6:31

stuff, there's no question of that. But since

6:33

you and I don't have that information, we

6:36

can only go off of what we see, and what we see

6:38

is the tape is a dominant player. You know.

6:40

It's interesting you mentioned last year with Jordan

6:42

Davison and Devunda Wyatt, and

6:45

I watched last year probably George's

6:47

tape three

6:49

times because they had guys I

6:51

think it was eight, And I know you do the same thing

6:54

because you can't watch six guys at one time, you

6:56

know, So I probably watched seven or eight

6:58

games three times, you know. And

7:01

he was the guy, even though he was not coming

7:03

out a year ago, who stood out the

7:05

most. Um And it's funny

7:07

because and we'll be getting to this in two years,

7:09

but you watched their tape now and number

7:11

thirteen, the true freshman, Michael Williams

7:14

stands out the most. It's

7:18

a never ending cycle. We

7:20

always hit these teams. We're where that will

7:22

happen. But um, no, Jalen Carter. I

7:25

was glad you were able to kind of get through his tape and um

7:27

really kind of share some of your notes because he is a

7:29

really fun tape to be able to go

7:31

back study. Well, let's

7:33

go into the SEC and continue in the

7:35

SEC. Another player that has really stood

7:38

out to you. I know, I'm pretty sure you did him last summer as

7:40

well, right, Greg? Not? Actually I

7:42

did not? Not? Okay, all right, Well this is Jacquel

7:44

and Roy, the defensive tackle from LSU.

7:47

UM. He was in some mock drafts over the summer. Greg,

7:49

he was a guy that some people were talking about his potential

7:51

first round pick. Like Carter, was kind

7:53

of like a spot player last year and took

7:56

on more of a full time role this year. So I'm

7:58

wanted to get your thoughts on on Roy and how

8:00

he's come along here in twenty twenty two. Yeah,

8:02

he played far and away the most snaps this year

8:04

that he's played in his career at LSU,

8:07

So he was really kind of a full time player

8:09

this year. And to be honest with your friend, he was one

8:11

of my fun watches because I knew nothing about him

8:13

other than the name, you know, and that fact that I did

8:15

see him on some lists, you know, But

8:18

other than that, I didn't really know much about him

8:20

at all. I really think

8:22

he's got a great

8:24

array of traits. I mean, he's a plus

8:27

athlete. He's got light feed, he's got quickness,

8:30

he can play and confine space with strength.

8:33

I mean, as I watched him

8:35

because LSU was one of those teams that played

8:37

multiple fronts, as you know, I thought

8:39

he showed he could be effective as a two gap

8:41

DE tackle, controlling and displacing

8:44

old alignment. I thought he could be a one gap

8:46

d tackle, penetrating into gaps. He's

8:49

got powered through his hips and his core. He

8:52

jarred olignment, interior alignment

8:54

with his arm extension. I think

8:56

there's a lot to be mined there As

8:58

a pass rusher. I think he has enough

9:01

movement and enlighten ess

9:03

to his movement that he can become a good pass

9:05

rusher. And to me, given

9:07

that he only had one year playing you

9:09

know, approximately seven hundred snaps, I

9:12

think that he's an ascending prospect. Who

9:14

can you know, we might be talking about him

9:16

in three years down the road as a three

9:18

down d tackle that

9:21

is, you know, is a really good player. But I think

9:23

at this point he's still developing. But

9:25

I think it's all there on tape. So

9:29

I think what's interesting within tier defensive lineman

9:31

is now, especially with all the different multiple fronts

9:34

that teams are using. You know, ms aren't necessarily

9:36

purely all right, we're gonna play a four three overfront.

9:38

Here's our shade, here's our three tech. That's

9:40

how we're lining up down after down after down. Those

9:42

teams are fewer and far between now, and so when you're looking

9:45

at your tackles, you almost have to put them in some different

9:47

buckets, like, okay, there are some guys that are just

9:49

pure shades, that are pure three

9:51

techniques. But now it feels like a lot

9:53

of teams you're you're kind of looking for that combo skill

9:55

set. Are you a guy that can line up as as a

9:57

three technique and as a four eye? Are you guy that

10:00

line up as a three and us as a knows how

10:02

do you kind of view Roy. Does he have that positional

10:04

versatility? How do you think that he can be utilized

10:06

for a team that wants to deploy multiple

10:08

fronts. I think he can absolutely

10:11

be utilized that way. The one thing

10:13

that you know when you watch tape sometimes

10:15

as you know, how a player is deployed

10:17

by the coaching staff tells you a lot. And

10:20

he played on third down, okay,

10:22

and that third and long, by the way, so

10:24

that tells you because they obviously

10:27

had other pass rushers. They have Ojolari,

10:29

really good edge player, Gay

10:31

who's not quite a great edge player, but

10:33

certainly he played, you know, on third down at

10:35

times. Among other players who were not coming

10:38

out this year. You know, LSU does

10:40

get players as we all are. This kid Mason Smith

10:42

there, Greg who played early in the year and then got

10:44

hurt, who we will be talking about next year.

10:46

Yeah, I remember the name, but I wasn't watching

10:48

him in detail obvious, But

10:51

but Roy played on third and long

10:53

and often they played him. They

10:55

played a three man front often and he lined

10:58

up as the zero technique over the offensive

11:00

center. Now he didn't do that all the time on third

11:02

down but he did quite a bit. So

11:05

the fact that they played him on third down

11:07

both as a zero technique and as a

11:09

three technique four eye tells you

11:12

that they believe he's a good pass rusher,

11:14

because you don't play your bad pass

11:16

rushers on third and long. So you

11:19

know that. That also told me besides

11:21

the film, which I thought was very impressive, as

11:23

I said that, Hey, this guy's

11:25

got pass rush traits and he's only going

11:28

to get better with those traits. No,

11:30

he's a really interesting study, and I'm

11:33

glad to hear that you do like him because I think he's a guy that's kind

11:35

of getting slept on a little bit with this interior

11:37

defensive line degree. You mentioned

11:39

one of his teammates there, and he's the next guy I wanted to ask you about

11:42

bj Ojalarium. His brother is Ziz

11:44

Ojalari, a top forty pick by the New

11:46

York Giants. He's just now finished his second

11:48

year in the NFL. BJ

11:51

He's a he's a sleek, slender

11:53

rusher, more of a speed like high side guy.

11:56

It should to kind of get your thoughts on him, because I did him

11:58

over the summer end from the fall as well. Yeah,

12:00

and you know, one of a couple of things stood out

12:02

to me right away. Number One, he really comes off the field

12:04

man, so he plays almost every snap,

12:07

and that to me in and of itself,

12:09

is impressive. You know, you don't see that

12:11

with a lot of guys. And the

12:13

other thing that stood out to me, and maybe

12:16

you see it differently, but I thought, I

12:19

thought he played the run really competitively.

12:21

You know, he's not a big guy and his body

12:24

type is not such that he's necessarily

12:26

just going to stand people up. But

12:28

I thought he played highly competitively

12:31

against the run. He battled and competed.

12:33

I thought his effort was there. I thought

12:35

they were snaps he played stronger than his size.

12:38

Now we know that ultimately he'll be

12:40

drafted based on the fact that he can rush the quarterback.

12:44

You know, he's over six two ways close

12:46

to two fifty, just like his brother,

12:48

has tremendous arm length, short

12:51

and long, yeah, no question, yeah, really

12:53

long arms, you

12:55

know, and I think that, you

12:58

know, he's a sudden explosive athlete. One

13:00

of the things I think he does need to

13:02

work on. I think there were

13:04

many times where he looked really good rushing

13:06

the quarterback, where he said, wow, Look at the quickness,

13:08

Look at the birds, look look at the moves. He

13:10

showed some really good spin moves. He

13:13

can bend. I think he has to finish

13:15

better. I think that

13:17

he seems to get close and you're

13:19

really excited by just what I said.

13:21

You know, the way in which he moves, but

13:24

he I think he needs to finish

13:26

when he gets near the quarterback thirty

13:29

hits, which is a really good number over the course of his career, especially

13:31

considering he's only got twenty four starts

13:33

sixteen and a half sacks. To your point,

13:36

that ratio a little bit thrown off there, but

13:39

I think he actually took a big jump as a run

13:41

defender this year. That was one of my issues coming

13:43

into the season. But to your point, I thought this

13:45

year we saw a lot of strides in that area,

13:47

and I'm glad he became a much more, much

13:50

more reliable three down player. He did

13:53

play a lot of snaps last year as a true

13:55

sophomore, but this year as a junior, I thought

13:57

he was much more impactful against

13:59

the run as three down player, and I think that will be

14:01

big for him moving forward to the NFL.

14:03

I really like guys with this body type that you mentioned,

14:05

like a little bit shorter but really

14:07

long. Yeah, because he doesn't have a huge strike

14:09

zone for offensive tackles to be able to get, but

14:12

he's got that length to to maintain that separation

14:14

that makes it even tougher for guys to be able to get their

14:16

hands on. Yeah. And when they played Georgia,

14:19

you know, he just had some really dominating pass

14:21

rush snaps against Roderick Jones. You have

14:23

a player that a lot of people are talking about. I

14:25

didn't particularly think he was that good a pass

14:28

protector, but I guess others

14:30

do. But but he had some really strong

14:32

snaps against him rushing the quarterback. All

14:35

right, Well, let's go to another player here. We talked

14:37

about Jalen Carter at the top, and Carter is

14:39

a guy that certainly is going to be on

14:41

the table as a top ten, top fifteen type

14:43

selection at the very least here in this class.

14:46

Another guy who was being talked about in that same

14:48

vein Miles Murphy from Clemson,

14:50

the defensive vent another true junior

14:52

here. Built differently than Ojolari

14:55

for sure, Jolari, you know, six two, just under two

14:57

fifty. Miles Murphy a much different

14:59

Bodi what did you see from Miles Murphy

15:01

over the course of your film? Start? Yeah, you know, now, Murphy

15:03

is a guy I watched in detail last summer

15:05

from twenty twenty one, so I had a pretty

15:08

good foundation of Murphy,

15:11

and I thought he improved this year. You know,

15:13

the numbers are not, you know, great.

15:16

You don't look at his sack numbers and go,

15:18

wow, this guy's unbelievable. First

15:21

of all, he looks the part. I

15:23

mean, you know, when you start looking at at

15:26

you know, his size and his just his

15:28

overall build, you kind of go, wow, this this

15:30

guy really, you know, he's a

15:32

defensive end. I thought

15:35

when I watched him in twenty twenty one, I

15:38

thought he was a little stiff and straight line.

15:41

Didn't think he was really loose hipped. I

15:43

didn't see him that way this

15:45

year. I thought he showed much more

15:48

bend and flexibility as an edge pass rusher,

15:50

and I thought you saw some motorcycle

15:52

lean where he cleared the arc with

15:55

some burst and some speed and change

15:57

of direction and redirect when demanded.

16:00

So again, putting aside numbers,

16:02

I just thought as a pass rusher he

16:05

was. He just saw some some advancement

16:07

and refinement from twenty

16:10

twenty one to twenty twenty two. Yeah,

16:12

to your point, you know, when I when I study him in the fall,

16:14

are in the summer rather, Um, you know a couple of names

16:16

I wrote down where Quentin Copele's Shalek

16:19

Calhoun, like, you know, kind of like bigger

16:21

defensive ends that you know, we're a little bit

16:23

stiff. But I agree. I mean when you watch him

16:25

for a guy, who's I mean, damn, he's he's he came

16:27

in just under two seventy at the combine.

16:29

He's kind of like a level of smoothness to him

16:32

as an athlete that's pretty impressive. And

16:34

so I think that's what gets people really

16:36

excited about what he could be is that, you know, for

16:38

a bigger guy, Um, he does have some

16:40

athleticism that can get you excited. I mean, fourteen

16:42

and a half sacks the last two seasons has

16:45

shown the ability to be a quality three

16:47

down player at a young age. He'll be a twenty one year

16:49

old rookie. So I think there's a there are reasons to

16:51

be excited about Miles Murphy from a trade

16:53

standpoint, for sure. Yeah, I mean I

16:55

think and I think

16:57

there's a sense without knowing that kid,

17:00

obviously, I think there's a sense that he could

17:02

still be ascending, that he still could be getting

17:04

better, you know. And you know, I mentioned

17:07

that I saw him as a four to three d n but with

17:09

so many teams playing these five two fronts,

17:11

when you look at someone like a Josh Sweat with

17:13

the Eagles, could you see Murphy you

17:15

know, lining up in that kind of role, you

17:18

know, for a team that you know plays a five

17:20

two front. And then of course when

17:22

you go to your pass restaurant if

17:24

it's four down, he would you know, likely line

17:26

up as an age rusher. But I

17:28

just thought that there was meaningful improvement

17:31

in the way in which he played, separate

17:33

from numbers and statistics. Yeah,

17:35

that's the thing is that when you you know, when you

17:37

watch them go into their multiple fronts there, uh,

17:39

you know, he was mainly like a five or seven tech

17:41

no in there even fronts, But as soon

17:43

as they went to like some of those bare looks, he kicked

17:46

in size as a four eye or as a three

17:48

So that position. Yeah, he's

17:50

done it, and he's been pretty good at it. He's almost

17:52

two seventies, so he can do that. No,

17:54

no question, and so that's one of the things that's really attractive

17:57

about Miles Murphy. Let's now go to the

17:59

running back position, and we've done a bunch of backs

18:01

already, but we've got a couple that we haven't hit on yet.

18:03

One of them could be an early Day two pick, and that's

18:05

Devin A. Chain from Texas A and M. Certainly

18:08

one of the more dynamic athletes had all the skill

18:10

skill position players spots here, Greg,

18:13

interesting to get your thoughts on a chain. Yeah,

18:15

Devin A Chain is really kind of an interesting

18:17

watch. I did him last summer, by the way,

18:20

and then of course I did him again this year. We knew

18:22

we'd run fast. He's a track guy. I mean he ran

18:24

a four to three two. We knew that was going to happen. You

18:27

know, he's five eight and a half one eighty eight. So

18:30

that's the rub. Yeah, exactly,

18:33

a good way to say it. But you know, he's electric,

18:35

he's explosive. He's a very good

18:37

receiver. You know, you saw the receiving traits

18:39

more so a year ago. But

18:42

those traits are there that that's a function of how

18:44

the offense look. Texas A and M did not have

18:46

a very good year. Offensively, they had, you

18:48

know, a bit of a revolving door a quarterback.

18:51

So that's that has nothing to do with his

18:53

receiving traits. He's a very good

18:55

receiver who can split from the formation

18:57

and run a variety of routes.

18:59

So he can do that. Um, but

19:01

he's got sudden quick feet. He

19:04

can run with velocity, he can run with explosiveness.

19:06

Um. You know he's an odd runner to

19:09

me, Frandon that you to me. He's not naturally

19:11

shifty or elusive in the sense that he's

19:13

smooth. But he can change

19:15

direction, yes, and

19:19

he does it in kind of a different way. He

19:22

can stop and start and explode.

19:24

He can re accelerate with the best

19:26

of them. Um, you know when he's sort

19:28

of a darter or a slasher. He's got

19:31

really good contact balance for a guy thatways

19:33

one hundred and eighty eight pounds. He does not go

19:35

down easy. He finishes runs.

19:38

Um. I know you've

19:40

watched quite a bit of him as well. He

19:42

became kind of a fun guy to watch for me

19:44

because he's kind of different. But I really

19:46

like his tape a lot. It's

19:49

funny you say that because one of his teammates last

19:51

year at the combine, so twenty twenty two, you

19:53

know, we were just talking about a chain and you know he said

19:55

that, Um, you know, people see his small

19:58

how small he is. They see a small stat sure,

20:00

but he's a powerful back, like you need more

20:02

than one guy to take him down. You see the

20:04

speed he's got obviously, but um, you know, and

20:06

that's that's one of those like, oh he's short, not

20:08

small. Now he undred eighty eight pounds

20:11

and I think that that is going to be the

20:13

you know, a question for a lot of teams is what

20:15

role can this guy play in the NFL?

20:17

Is he going to you know, he had two hundred carries

20:20

this year for Texas A and M are you going to realistically

20:22

put that put that on this guy in the NFL?

20:25

And if not, what is he for you? Is

20:27

he you know, a change of pace guy that's going to

20:29

touch it? Uh, you know ten to twelve times on

20:31

any given week, both run in pass

20:34

um. I guess what how do you view his role moving

20:36

to the league. Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, you

20:38

know, ken depending on the team and scheme,

20:41

that's what it comes down to. In other words, think

20:43

of the chargers, And of course they'll have a different offense

20:45

this year with Kellen Moore, but with the previous

20:47

coordinator. Can you see Devin eh

20:49

Chain B and Austin Ekel are kind of back who

20:52

had about two hundred carries? You know, he was

20:54

their primary back, their number one back,

20:56

but not a feature back in the strict sense.

20:58

So can you think of a guy like gate Chain getting

21:01

one hundred eighty one hundred and ninety carries as

21:03

a quote unquote number one back depending

21:05

on what the scheme is. We all

21:08

know he's not getting two hundred and seventy carries. That's

21:10

not happening. So

21:13

if that's not the case, is

21:15

he a second back, but a

21:17

back that you know, you can

21:19

give multiple possessions throughout a

21:21

game two? In other words, you know, let's say

21:23

you have a number one back, but you know, if

21:25

you could, let's say, get eleven twelve possessions,

21:28

maybe eight, Chain plays three

21:30

full possessions, you know, and whatever

21:32

that turns out to be in terms of carries and

21:35

past targets, that's what it turns out to be. But

21:37

could he be that guy? You know? I think

21:40

to me those are kind of the two ways in

21:42

which he could be used. Let's

21:44

get to another back who saw an expanded

21:46

role as honestly was hoping for an

21:48

even more expanded role in the SEC this year,

21:50

and that's Zach Evans for All All Miss. He transferred

21:53

in from TCU. We talked about this player

21:55

earlier this week with Dane in our running back preview,

21:57

but um, Greg, I'm interested to get your thoughts on Evans,

22:00

who again came in from TCU. He had ninety

22:02

two carries for the horn Frocks in twenty one and

22:05

had just about one hundred and fifty touches this

22:07

year. For all Miss, I was hoping for a little bit more,

22:09

but got unseated by a true

22:11

freshman there midway through the year. But Zach

22:13

Evans a talented, talented runner. Yeah,

22:16

he was the first five star recruit in the history

22:18

of TCU, and then

22:20

of course he transferred. And

22:23

you know I watched him last summer. I watched

22:25

all of his carries at TCU because, as you

22:28

said, I think it was ninety six something along those lines.

22:30

Yeah, and I watched pretty much almost

22:32

all of his carries this year. You know, you

22:36

know, this guy's pretty explosive fan. I

22:38

mean, he's a little straight line,

22:40

you know. I mean, I would say he's more

22:42

linear than laterally shifty. He's

22:45

a little long legged, which you know impacts

22:47

your ability to really cut sharply

22:50

laterally. But he is explosive.

22:53

He's got really good vision in the open

22:55

field. He defeats angles. Once

22:57

he gets past the first level of the defense,

23:00

he can run away from people. I

23:02

think he needs work on his patients and his tempo.

23:05

In the zone run game, I think he just hits

23:07

everything. Ye So you know,

23:09

I don't think that he has a great feel for

23:11

the for pace and for his blocking

23:13

scheme and had the defense changes,

23:16

you know after the snap of the ball with the gap fluidity.

23:19

But you know, you're dealing with a guy that

23:21

has outstanding straight line speed.

23:25

He's physical. He has really good

23:27

contact balance, which sometimes mitigates

23:30

his lack of lateral juice. You

23:34

know, I'm not sure exactly what he is

23:36

in the NFL. He way two o two at the combine.

23:39

But this guy is a big playback,

23:42

and you know how the league thinks in terms of

23:44

big plays. Everybody wants it and he

23:46

can give it to you. I mean, his ability

23:48

to take it to the house is a special trade

23:51

and he brings that can I throw

23:53

a name at you one? It actually

23:55

came to me as I was watching him why for my final

23:57

time preparing for the episode earlier the

24:00

week. Do you remember Nil Davis coming out of Arkansas?

24:03

Yeah? I do. Yeah,

24:05

he kind of remembered because Nil Davis coming

24:07

out of Arkansas a few years back. This was a couple

24:09

of a few years after Darren McFadden, and he was kind

24:12

of modeled his game a little bit after McFadden where

24:14

he was kind of like a um you know, like

24:16

a thickly built, an explosive, like straight

24:18

line, hard charging runner. Uh. And

24:20

I kind of feel like that could be Zach Evans

24:22

now Davis kind of bounced around a little

24:25

bit. Um, yeah, it could could be that guy. Like, you

24:27

know, could he be even like an Alex Collins

24:29

I'm sticking sticking with the Arkansas team, Like he could

24:31

be like that kind of runner as well. Um, you know,

24:33

Alex Collins says, you know, he's had a

24:36

decent career in the NFL. Yeah,

24:38

I think he's more explosive than those guys. Uh.

24:41

I mean you know, again, he didn't he didn't run

24:43

at the day, right Yea, But

24:45

forty times kind of irrelevant when you watch his tape,

24:48

This guy he just beats angles.

24:50

You've watched, got you, I mean, he

24:53

is really an explosive back. Um,

24:55

you know, he's a hard

24:57

guy to figure. My sense is that he's

25:00

certainly not going to translate early in his career

25:02

as a quote unquote number one back, but

25:05

his explosiveness and big playability will

25:07

get him early carries as a

25:09

complimentary type piece. Now

25:12

what's your thought. Do you think down the road

25:14

he could possess the trades to develop into

25:17

you know, a number one back depending on team

25:19

and scheme. No question, he's got three down

25:21

skill set all day. It's just a matter of like we haven't

25:23

since we haven't seen it in college for

25:26

two different programs, and just like gives you, like

25:28

plants dot seat of doubt that's hard to unseat

25:31

of in terms of whether he can do it in the league.

25:34

Yeah, he did catch the ball more

25:36

in twenty twenty one at TCU, So

25:38

you did see that. And in fact, he was detached

25:41

from the formation in empty sets in twenty

25:43

twenty one at TCU, So we have seen

25:45

him catch the ball. You know he can

25:48

do that. You know, so as

25:50

you said he does have a three down skill set, But

25:53

this guy's fascinating to me because you know how the league

25:55

thinks this guy can take it to the house. Now

26:00

it's time for draft buzz. All

26:05

right, let's not transition to draft buzz as I welcome in

26:07

Ben Fennal. Great stuff there from Craig Cosell. Ben,

26:09

Before we get into some of our draft

26:12

centric stuff. The new league here is upon

26:14

us, and I want to ask you, as we've seen

26:16

now just a long, long,

26:19

long list of free agent moves,

26:21

players that have been released, players that have been

26:23

traded, a bunch of moves here. We don't need

26:25

to like spend too much time on each of these, but I want to get the

26:27

five biggest moves that you think impact

26:30

Round one of the draft the most as we sit here

26:32

on Thursday, March sixteenth, And obviously

26:34

there's a lot that still can happen here that

26:37

can impact the first round. But what's the

26:39

first one that comes to mind here when in terms

26:41

of imp round one. That's a fun exercide.

26:43

Instead of going through a team by team, position position

26:46

going through them all, we'll be out here for three hours, so

26:48

let's save our podcast. QC heres some

26:50

time this afternoon, but right now

26:52

we got to go right to the tackle market. I think

26:54

the Bengals taken Orlando Brown this morning,

26:57

and the Chief's going with Juwan Taylor even

26:59

you know, Glinchie to Denver, Andre Dillard

27:02

to Tennessee starts to clear up

27:04

a lot of the tackle landing places that we

27:06

had kind of pegged in the middle to end of the round

27:08

one. So I think that leaves these

27:10

teams a little bit more flexible. And

27:13

we had just spoken last week about the Anton

27:15

Harrison's and Darnell Wrights and Dawan

27:18

Jones is potentially getting thrusted up

27:20

in the end of round one. This picture

27:22

kind of changes things now that the Bengals in

27:25

Chiefs and some of those late round one teams have

27:27

their tackle, have their high dollar pass

27:29

protector, Suddenly I'm not pegging

27:31

those tackles into those spots. So I think those moves,

27:34

particularly first and foremost Bran probably

27:36

effect round one the most. Would

27:38

you mentioned that the Andre Dillard contract, Like

27:40

when I saw that, I was like, that's kind

27:43

of like that's starter money I

27:45

don't like. And that's when you look at mock

27:47

drafts like, um, I mean, everybody

27:49

just has been penciling in tackle tackle

27:51

tackle, tackle tackle for Tennessee. I

27:54

don't know that you necessarily can do that now unless

27:56

you think that you're gonna move that player over to right tackle.

27:59

Yeah. I think it really opens up the conversation

28:01

for the first round. And you have to weigh

28:03

some of the free agent market with the draft

28:05

prospects, and if you're looking for starters, some

28:08

of these guys on the free agent market plugged

28:10

in those spots that you needed. The mcglinchey's, the

28:12

Dillards of the world, and you're comparing them too,

28:15

the young players coming out in college. It's kind

28:17

of an open market, you know, finding

28:19

ways to plug your roster. And I think a

28:21

lot of these teams taken tackles really

28:23

makes some of the tackles in Round one the landing

28:25

spots a little more tough. All right, let's

28:28

go to the next one. Which one comes up to my next

28:30

Well, it's probably gonna be David Montgomery going

28:32

to the Lions. And I know there's some other landscape

28:35

of running backs that have been settled with the franchise

28:37

backs and Pollard and Barkley and Jacobs

28:39

and Rashad Penny coming here. To Philadelphia,

28:42

but in particularly David Montgomery,

28:44

I think going to the Lions, that was kind of

28:46

a designer, sexy pick for maybe a Bijon

28:48

Robinson, a team that had two first

28:51

round picks, a team that loves to run the ball

28:53

looking for that, you know, rob into

28:55

the DeAndre Swift batman, or at

28:57

least to replace Jamal Williams to their law

29:00

some free agency. David Montgomery, all

29:02

intense, I think round one running back is out

29:05

of the discussion for the Detroit line. So this

29:07

absolutely I think settles some first round

29:09

conversation. Yep, that's a really

29:11

really good point. I think that definitely removes them

29:14

from the running back discussion there with

29:16

that toy was at the twenty six pick, twenty fifth

29:18

pick, wherever they've got there at the back end of

29:21

round one. What about number three? All right, I'm

29:23

gonna hit you with the two pack here, two teams specific

29:25

landings, and I think that's Geno Smith recommitting

29:28

to the Seattle Seahawks and vice versa. I

29:30

think that makes that landing spot for a quarterback

29:33

in round one probably not

29:35

going to happen, although you know, if an Anthony

29:37

Richardson falls in their lap, could they maybe add

29:39

him to the depth chart and sit them for a year or

29:41

two. I don't see that being very likely,

29:44

So I think Gino really clears up

29:46

some of the positional fits for

29:48

the Seattle Seahawks in the top ten. Conversely,

29:51

the back half a Round one, how about the Giants

29:53

trading for Darren Waller, a team

29:55

that now you can pare him with the second year

29:57

player Daniel Bellinger. And I think that

30:00

fifth overall on the back end of round one,

30:02

that was kind of a sexy spot for maybe a Dalton

30:04

king Coat. Yeah, maybe one of these

30:07

stretch you know, vertical seam,

30:09

you know, tight end. So I think the Giants locking

30:11

up that, you know, pass game tight end. That

30:14

just makes the positional projection for the

30:16

Giants a little bit clearer. W

30:19

R next to wide receiver next to the New York

30:21

Giants. You feel pretty good about making that

30:23

coffee. They could use a cover corner

30:26

out there. They use a Trenton Simpson a cover linebacker,

30:28

so well, maybe it's clearing up a little bit.

30:30

There's still some murkiness, dude. I love

30:33

the Trent and Simpson fit with New York.

30:35

I think that is a great, great fit in

30:37

wink Martindell scheme. I was interested to see what Seattle

30:39

does if, like a quarterback does fall to them

30:41

at five that they love, Like, Um, do you feel

30:44

that you can make that move? I think you look at the

30:46

Geno Smith contract after year

30:48

one. Yeah, Like you can probably make

30:50

a move there if you really want to. So I think that would be fascinating

30:53

to watch. Um, yeah, what's I don't number

30:55

four in your list? Um, it's

30:57

gotta be the corners you know here Philadelphia

30:59

add you know, James Bradberry and Darius

31:01

slay Back on the outside. I think

31:03

that clears up maybe that you

31:06

know, intent for them to go after a corner

31:08

with the tenth pick there. I think that was a popular

31:10

landing spot. I think it makes them a little bit more flexible.

31:12

We know Howie Roseman likes to go into the draft

31:15

ready to play a game, which makes it really

31:17

tough to kind of project positionally where

31:20

this team's gonna go. That's good problems to have,

31:22

But solidifying the corners on the outside,

31:25

maybe at ten, the Devin Witherspoon Christian

31:27

gonzales Is won't be in play

31:29

there, they could go elsewhere. Same thing kind of

31:31

with Dallas them trading for Stefan Gilmour

31:33

pairing with Trayvon Diggs. I think a lot of people

31:36

had pressed corner plugged into there in

31:38

the end of round one or middle end of round one

31:40

where Dallas was picking. I think that kind

31:42

of makes them want to go elsewhere. So I

31:44

think adding some of these free agent signings

31:46

are suddenly making those round one mocks

31:48

a little tougher to peg. Yeah,

31:50

that's a good one. It'll be interesting see just

31:52

how early the corners come off the board, typically

31:55

as early as number six to Detroit. That's

31:58

like the first time you'll see a Christian Gonzalez

32:00

or Devin Witherspoon. Will

32:02

that happen? I mean the Detroit lines, they go out

32:04

and they get Cam Sutton, they give him starting

32:06

money, right, so you have Sutton paired with Akuda.

32:09

Doesn't feel like you would probably add a number

32:11

six overall pick to the secondary there

32:13

in that manner. So though, that'll be fascinat to just

32:16

how that the veteran market affects

32:18

the cornerback market in the draft. Let's go

32:20

down to number five, last one, all right, last

32:22

thing. I love some of the linebacker signings around

32:24

the NFL Jamine Pratt going back, Dremade

32:27

Edmonds and t J. Edwards going to Chicago,

32:29

Kaiser White joining Nick Rawlis

32:31

and Jonathan Gann and his old coaches in Philly and

32:33

Arizona. However, fran, I

32:35

don't know if any of these linebacker signings

32:38

really affect round one, you

32:40

know, and I think, you know, trying to project

32:42

what linebackers are going to be coveted in around

32:45

one. Outside of maybe Trenton Simpson,

32:47

I don't know if Jack Campbell is going to work his way in

32:49

there. It seems like the Drew Sanders, you

32:51

know, love Round one kind of came

32:54

and went. So I think while there's some high

32:56

dollar linebackers being signed around the NFL,

32:59

I'm not sure really going to affect round one,

33:01

and I think there's some other ones a point two as well. I

33:03

mean Hardgrave taken big money to San

33:05

Francisco. Well, they have no first round

33:07

pick, so I don't see any effect there. Jesse

33:09

Bates big money to Atlanta. Atlanta

33:11

wasn't considering a dB or safety at

33:14

the eighth overall pick. So even though there's

33:16

some big signings around there around the NFL,

33:18

and there's some good signings and some needed signings,

33:20

some big dollar signings. Not everyone's

33:23

going to affect Round one as well. So my fifth

33:25

one year. Even though there's some big ones, round

33:27

one I think is still

33:30

a little bit up in the air for certain teams. Yeah,

33:33

a green light at linebacker for sure. Like

33:35

you mentioned at the top there, I'll be interesting to see just

33:38

who exactly comes off the board at

33:40

that position. I want to

33:42

ask you, because Dana and I did our running back preview earlier

33:44

this week for all of our listeners, have you missed that? Make sure you go check

33:46

that out earlier in the feed. So I'll

33:48

want to ask you real quick, go just one running back question. You

33:51

get your pick of all the guys on day

33:53

two. Really, essentially, I'm taking like Bejan

33:55

Robinson and Jamire Gibbs out of this equation. One

33:58

running back doesn't Schemac now stick.

34:00

You don't know what your backfield looks like, you know,

34:02

whatever it is. Who are you taking a Why you got

34:04

one running back to take what you move in the league. That's

34:06

tough, fran I have such a close grade on zach

34:09

Scharbonay and Taja Spears, and I

34:11

was hoping you're going to steer me to some water, like

34:13

you need an early down back up now you can

34:15

use a well rounded third down back or a you

34:18

know, multi purpose back. I

34:20

have a tough time picking between the two of those. So it

34:22

would definitely depend on my roster landscape.

34:24

It would definitely depend on what type of running scheme

34:27

I'm you know, deploying out there. But

34:29

Zach Scharbonay, Taja Spears,

34:32

I see either of them sitting with the fortieth

34:34

or fiftieth pick. They

34:36

could be excellent additions to nearly every

34:38

offense. I think Zach Sharboney is gonna be one of

34:40

the premier between the tackles runners that

34:42

has a little bit more open field juice than people

34:45

think. And Taja Spears is a star in the

34:47

making, just a matter of what team covets

34:49

him versus the draft valuation.

34:51

But two really good players, and I see Day

34:53

two backs going out all over the place.

34:56

Can I ask you about Devin ah Chain. We just talked about him

34:58

in the last segment with Craig and I was going to up, Yeah,

35:00

well that's what I think. It's It's interesting because,

35:03

um, you know when you when you look at a chain, yeah, like

35:05

electric electric. He is a so

35:07

dynamic as an athlete. But you know, a thought

35:09

size I think people rightfully will bring

35:11

up, like, are what is going to his role

35:14

going to be in the NFL? What is your

35:16

thought in terms of how you utilize a Devina

35:18

chain moving in the league. Well, I

35:20

think an early down role or excuse me, an early

35:22

role in his career. You know, could just be a

35:24

third down back, a guy you want to get in space

35:27

using the past game misdirection,

35:29

you know, change of pace type of things. I

35:31

could see very secure offenses

35:34

and secure minds and secure organizations

35:38

adding him to the to the meal. You

35:40

know, a team like Chiefs and Andy Reid

35:42

or maybe Zach Taylor adding him to compliment

35:44

a Joe Mixon who they just lost a smajp

35:47

Rid in free agency. I know, a different type of back, but

35:49

a much more complimentative back to a

35:51

Joe Mixon. So I could see him going to

35:53

a team that already has a complete offense

35:56

that isn't looking for a bell cow. They're

35:58

just looking for a little razzle dazzle in offense,

36:00

a little bit of a playmaker. So could just

36:02

you know, be a third down back to start,

36:04

actually went through an exercise and watch all

36:06

his pass game targets this morning. I just want

36:08

to see how they were featuring him, how well he caught

36:11

the ball, how often he had to get himself

36:13

open, and then how often he was making defenders

36:15

miss after the catch. It's

36:18

a little interesting study. I don't want to

36:20

dive all the way into that, but I think early

36:22

in his career being a third down back, and

36:24

I could see him going right to a contending team. So

36:27

you're, as you mentioned, you're in your offosite

36:29

films at NFL Films over in South Jersey.

36:32

You're working on a lot of packages that will

36:34

air in the NFL Network Draft broadcast.

36:36

So you're grinding through the film. You're watching a lot of tape

36:39

over the last week since we last

36:41

spoke. Who's the most fun tape that you've studied?

36:43

Why? You're doing a bunch of different projects. Some guys

36:45

you're watching for fun. You're seeing pro day workouts

36:47

roll in, so a lot of different pathways you could

36:49

take here too, your most fun tape in the last week?

36:52

All right, So I really dove into

36:54

Evan hole at Northwestern over the past

36:56

week. Here's the one that ran every drill down

36:58

into the end zone at the Combine and was at the Senior

37:00

Bowl. Really nice week. I don't feel he got

37:03

enough buzz. This guy's had a prolific

37:05

career at Northwestern, seemingly just keeps

37:07

getting overlooked as far as conversation

37:09

over Shaan Slad or looking him paved lanes

37:11

up Peter Skronski while there's a running back running

37:14

for a thousand yards every year back there. He catches

37:16

a football well, he's smart. He tested

37:19

really well at five ten two eleven

37:21

ran four four's thirty seven inch vertical,

37:23

really good drills. He's a good kid.

37:26

When you watch him on third down, you get excited about

37:28

all his pass game contributions, and

37:30

then just watch him pre snap. Brand This guy's

37:32

one of the more active pre snap communicators

37:34

I've ever studied, always calling out Blitzer's

37:37

calling out his protection assignments, usually

37:39

with two hands as well, which tells me

37:42

a lot of duel reads. He's pointing to a guy inside

37:44

and outside, very square on contact.

37:47

He's really tough to bring down. He meet Jack

37:50

Campbell looks silly year after year in the open

37:52

field. He's a lot of fun and a guy. Just

37:54

I just don't think he's getting enough attention. He

37:56

is in this class really interesting running back.

37:58

I could see him being one of the early Day

38:01

three backs off the board, and then by

38:03

the time we had October November, everybody's saying,

38:05

how did he get to Day three? Just like Isaiah

38:07

Pacheco type. Seems like there's one of those

38:10

every year. Put me down for Evan Hole in

38:12

one little peak to the future as I've been

38:14

plugging in some data for twenty twenty four.

38:17

Man, these linebackers Barrett Carter at Clemson,

38:19

Abdul Carter at Penn State looks like Michael

38:21

Parsons frant I kid, you not wears

38:24

number eleven, look six three, two forty

38:26

five rushes the passer Cedri Gray

38:28

at North Carolina looks like he was built

38:30

in a lab. There are some exciting, exciting

38:33

linebackers down the road in college football.

38:35

So Evan Hole in this class really exciting.

38:38

And then just peeking down the road next year, Hey,

38:40

Ebbs and flows of draft class is kind

38:42

of a down year for linebackers. It's about

38:44

to rock it up through your ceilings next year,

38:46

and I just wanted to plug in some info. Barrett

38:49

Carter, Abdul Carter, Penn State Cedric

38:51

Gray North Carolina, on top of obviously

38:54

Jeremiah Trotter junior and Leah Meikenberg.

38:56

Really fun linebacker class coming up. Yes see,

38:59

I wasn't expected us to go down this path, and

39:01

here we are talking about twenty twenty four line. You want

39:03

to talk about some fun tape, you know, Watch that clip

39:05

of Barrett Carter I put up on Twitter two days ago

39:07

him hurtling a running back on the way to the quarterback.

39:10

A lot of clips like that, So some fun

39:12

players in college football. Yeah, speaking

39:14

ahead a long time listeners know

39:16

that you get sick of the draft class for that current

39:18

year and like the first week of February, so you're

39:21

always like itching the lecoc ahead. So

39:23

no surprise that you're willing to bring these guys up here

39:26

in the middle of March. Um real quick. I probably should

39:28

have asked this like towards the top when we're I went through

39:30

those five free agent moves. But obviously

39:32

another big thing that's happening or here this

39:34

week, high anticipation of

39:36

an Aaron Rodgers trade, probably to the New

39:39

York Jets US. This trade will

39:41

likely end up with the Packers having two

39:43

first round picks in the top fifteen they're

39:45

owning potentially the New York Jets. Is the way that it's

39:47

looking right now, based off the way they operate,

39:49

How do you envision those two picks being used? Because you know

39:51

it's funny, um just again, looking at mock drafts

39:54

the way the way that I do, it feels like everybody's

39:56

like putting It's just like Michael Mayer, Michael Mayer, Michael

39:58

Mayer, Michael Mayer, every single mock draft

40:00

for the Green Bay Packers, and it's like, oh, I

40:02

don't know, Like, yeah, I guess they could go Michael Mara,

40:05

but they feel like no one really knows like what to

40:07

do with the Green Bay Packers, and especially

40:09

considering that it probably

40:11

isn't going to be Aaron Rodgers there. So I was sure to

40:13

get if they hit were to have two picks in the top fifteen,

40:15

like, how do you envision this franchise

40:17

utilizing those two assets? I

40:20

mean, I could say I don't know, like eight different

40:23

ways in this conversation, honest

40:25

with you, Frank, because I don't know what the compensation

40:27

is going to be. The Jets do not want to give up a

40:29

first rounder this year because They're

40:31

obviously a contending team. They're going full

40:34

throttle to compete, so it's like, don't strip

40:36

us from our capital and ability to compete.

40:38

They get this quarterback. So I think

40:40

that if they don't get that first rounder the

40:42

Green Bay in return for this year, they

40:44

want the Jets to then take on more of Rogers's

40:47

contract. And there's not a battle of money right

40:49

now. So let's say they do end up

40:51

with two first round picks this year. Again,

40:54

I have no idea where this team wants to

40:56

go. I have no clue, and I think

40:58

that's one of the premier teams and really

41:00

not being able to anticipate

41:03

where they go in the draft. You could see them

41:05

going for the trenches and adding some old line

41:07

to tackle the future, you know, adding some edge

41:09

rushers to you know, look

41:11

down the road with can see some receiver

41:14

needs, dB needs. They might be replacing

41:16

three secondary members this offseason.

41:19

Can use that why tight end and then

41:21

all you know, all intense fran I

41:23

could see them trading out too. You know, Michael

41:26

Mayer is probably not worth the thirteenth of the fifteenth

41:28

pick. You'll probably get him, you know, twenty

41:30

picks later in a similar type of player similar

41:33

other positions we had mentioned. So I

41:35

have no idea, Fran and I think that's what makes

41:37

them one of the more exciting teams. And

41:40

just when a team like that passes

41:42

on a player, you think they might

41:44

circle back and trade up and go get that player,

41:46

you know, four picks later, they do some weird stuff

41:48

on draft Day. They're one of the more unpredictable

41:50

teams. And

41:52

because of that, I've kind of set up a lot of this landscape

41:55

that we're going through with Aaron Rodgers because of that unpredictability.

41:58

So I studied this team

42:00

pretty uh at in depth, as you know,

42:02

and I could very confidently

42:05

say I have no idea. Yeah, that's the

42:07

thing, like and honestly I don't. I don't

42:09

blame them first, you know, sticking their their

42:12

their feet in the grin in the sand here and saying like yeah,

42:14

like we're not you're if you're not giving us a first drop

42:16

pick this year, like we're not making this trade. Like I

42:18

think that that they are perfectly within the rights to

42:20

say that they have plenty of leverage there um

42:23

to be able to hold that ground. It'll be fascinating

42:25

to watch over these next couple of weeks. Fascinating

42:27

is a kind way to put it. Infuriating probably

42:30

another way another word I could use as well. But

42:32

we'll see exactly what happens here with

42:34

these two teams and with quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

42:37

Uh. Speaking of the draft and mock

42:39

drafts, we'll get into our mock draft round up

42:41

here with free agency underwear

42:43

the new league here here. Uh, the amount

42:45

of mock drafts just kind of dwindled

42:48

because everybody's like going to a free agency. But did

42:50

find a good one here, a new one, a new set

42:52

of authors here. Dave Hellman and Carmen Vitali

42:55

h two former team employees. Dave

42:57

Helman with the Dallas Cowboys, Carmen Vitali down

42:59

with the bu They are both now with Fox Sports.

43:01

They did a dual knock draft together, and

43:04

so we're gonna outbreak it down. Let's go to the top

43:06

five here, the Carolina Panthers selecting quarterbacks

43:08

CJ. Stroud from Ohio State. Quarterback

43:10

Bryce Young going number two to the Houston Texans.

43:13

Will Anderson the only non quarterback to go

43:15

in this top five. He goes number three to Arizona.

43:17

Will Levis goes number four to the Indianapolis

43:19

Colts, and Anthony Richardson goes

43:22

number five to the Seattle Seahawks.

43:24

Then four quarterbacks in the top five. I

43:26

think I think that's the first time ever

43:28

that that would happen, and it's I mean, certainly within

43:30

the realm of possibilities here with this class.

43:32

Yeah. Absolutely, I think a lot of people are looking at

43:34

the defensive player. Arizona is gonna cove it if

43:37

someone's gonna come up and take that number three

43:39

overall spot love CJ. Stroud

43:41

to Carolina, Will

43:43

Levis going to the Indianapolis Colts,

43:45

and then that Seattle pick there.

43:47

You know, Anthony Richardson, if they're sitting there at

43:49

five, do you take him and put them on ice

43:52

and let Gino run the show for a year maybe

43:54

two years? You know, I think that number

43:56

five spot's gonna be really interesting as well. If they

43:58

don't want a quarterback in

44:00

a yard sales sign up to say, if you want Anthony Richardson,

44:02

come get him. He's his years. Both taking yeah

44:05

to your to the point you made about Geno earlier,

44:07

It's like, uh, let's say the Colts take Richardson

44:10

instead of Levis and it's Levice that falls

44:12

to Seattle. To Seattle say Okay, we're

44:14

gonna go in a different direction. We're gonna trade down, or we're gonna

44:16

take a position player. Um. You know, I

44:18

think that that kind of changes things in terms

44:20

of how these quarterbacks come off the board. And obviously

44:23

it all starts at number one and based

44:25

off reports. I mean, we've seen conflicting reports

44:27

just since. I mean it's been less than a week since the

44:29

Panthers traded up to number one. You'll

44:31

see some reports there it's Anthony Richardson

44:34

versus c J. Straub. You'll see another one with c.

44:36

J. Stroud versus Bryce Young. Um, they've

44:38

been rumored about Will Levis. There have been rumors

44:41

about Will Levis going to the Panthers.

44:43

Uh, David Pepper being in love with

44:45

Will Levis since the fall, right, So I

44:47

think that that's gonna be fascinating to see

44:49

just how this all plays out. Yeah, and just

44:51

to be fair, we love Dave and Carmen. This

44:53

mock was done Tuesday at about three o'clock.

44:56

Guys. Yeah, so a lot has happened

44:58

since then. There's doctor afts of obviously,

45:00

like you said, taking a bit of a back seat this week.

45:02

It's a little tough to find one. We lay love

45:04

anytime draft analysts do some content,

45:07

especially Dave and Carmen. So we're breaking it

45:09

down. But it was about seventy two

45:11

hours ago at this point, so we're about to dive

45:13

into the Eagles pick here, which certainly the

45:15

narrative has changed a little bit, so we're not

45:17

trying to bury it this mock draft, but it just

45:19

highlights some of the picks and talk about it. Well, it's

45:21

a perfect segue because you know, as you mentioned, you

45:24

get into number ten and the Eagles picking here,

45:26

they select Oregon corner Christian Gonzalez.

45:28

And here's the blurb. I can't even remember where the

45:30

Eagles were at Tuesday at three o'clock. You know they

45:32

have Bradbury at that point. Was Slay an Eagle?

45:34

Was he not an Eagle? Is he back with the Eagles? Well,

45:37

here's the blur. Was It's a bit of a projection,

45:39

but an easy one to believe. The Eagles are reportedly allowing

45:42

Darius Slade to explore a trade. That's where we're at

45:44

Tuesday afternoon, which makes sense

45:46

giving his advanced age. Had his cop pit If

45:48

Philly is able to deal him, why not immediately replaced

45:51

him with one of the best corners in this draft. That's the

45:53

benefit of finagling your way to an extra

45:55

first round pick. So Ben,

45:57

obviously this Slay stuff is outdated, but

46:00

Christian Gonzalz has become a pretty popular

46:02

player for mock drafters. The Eagles at ten. I

46:05

think that even with the the

46:07

the addition of both of those guys,

46:09

are I should say, not not even the addition, but

46:11

keeping both Darius Slay and James Bradbury

46:13

in Philadelphia. We've seen this organization

46:16

do this before, and we gotta go back aways,

46:18

but you gotta go back to two thousand and three when

46:20

they had Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor and they

46:22

selected Lido Shephard and Sheldon Brown and

46:26

to start off that draft in two thousand and three.

46:28

So it wouldn't be crazy to say, like, Okay,

46:30

you go out and you take a corner like Christian Gonzalz

46:33

a number ten. But as as you mentioned, as we talked about

46:35

earlier, I'm interested to see when these the win

46:37

that run on corner starts here in this class.

46:40

You know, I really feel like they're gonna

46:42

stick to their board in this draft, they're gonna be

46:44

ready to play a game going into draft weekend

46:46

and trust their board and rankings and whoever

46:49

is there at ten and at thirty and

46:51

whoever else, they're gonna very comfortably

46:53

just take those players. Whether it's an edge,

46:56

whether it's a corner. Even if they sign

46:58

a Bradberry and a Darius Slay, the

47:00

level of prospect the Christian Zalis does

47:02

not come out every year, you still take

47:05

him because that's a high level prospect

47:07

in a premier position that you

47:09

will reap the benefits at some point, whether

47:12

it's a season or down the road. So yeah,

47:14

you know the same thing with that drusher you signed back

47:16

a Brandon Graham. Yeah, you have Derek Barnett

47:18

still, you have a Son Reddick, you have Josh

47:21

Sweat. That's four defensive ends. Well,

47:23

if Tyree Wilson is sitting there at ten and he's number

47:25

one on their board, they're gonna sprint that up to the

47:27

podium, even if they have guys in

47:30

those spots. Those are good problems that have And

47:32

when we talk about being ready to play a game

47:34

on draft weekend, this is the luxuries

47:36

that you get off of that. Trust your board and

47:39

just start adding good players to the roster and don't

47:41

worry about when you play them and where you

47:43

play them. Well, let's play the game of

47:45

who are the players are going off the board in

47:47

this area? At number seven, the Las Vegas Raiders

47:50

select Georgia defensive tackle Jalen

47:52

Carter. At number eight, the Atlanta Falcon select

47:54

pass rusher Tyree Wilson from Texas

47:56

Tech. At number nine, the Chicago Bear select

47:59

offensive tackle Peters Kronsky from

48:01

Northwestern. You had the Eagles pick at ten,

48:03

followed by number eleven, the Tennessee Titans taking

48:06

wide receiver Quentin Johnson from TCU.

48:08

The Nolan Smith pick here number twelve, So

48:10

the Houston Texas we talked about that last week. I could really

48:12

see that happening for Houston there. And

48:14

then the New York Jets at number thirteen to selecting

48:17

Utah tight end Dalton Kincade.

48:20

Yeah, that's a good one. That is an interesting one

48:22

for sure, just kind of building up around a quarterback

48:24

that you may potentially have there

48:27

in New York. So Ben

48:29

I would ask this question as we sit here Thursday,

48:31

March sixteenth. Obviously there's been a lot written,

48:33

there's been a lot of talked about about Jalen Carter, the defensive

48:36

tackle from Georgia, and you look

48:38

at Tyree Wilson, a guy that you know. Daniel

48:40

Jeremiah just a few weeks ago said some teams

48:42

have higher grades on him than Will Anderson.

48:45

Who goes first, as in your opinion, Obviously

48:48

there's a lot that's got to be decided here, But Jalen

48:51

Carter or Tyree Wilson who goes off the board first

48:53

in what five six weeks? I

48:55

think it's Jalen Carter. And I think his

48:57

his play and his film in high level

49:00

football, you just can't deny that.

49:02

And I think, you know, once he kind of settles his personal

49:05

life and the off the field things, I

49:07

think the tape and his football DNA will

49:09

come back to earth. I'm actually a little

49:11

bit down on Tyree Wilson

49:13

compared to consensus, So

49:16

this maybe isn't a fair question to me, as

49:18

I don't think Tyree is quite the

49:20

level of prospect I think he's

49:22

being billed as. I don't

49:24

have him as a top ten type of prospect

49:26

in this draft, last draft,

49:29

or the draft before. Really interesting player.

49:31

I think a little bit more raw than people think.

49:33

Certainly, some really impressive length and tools

49:36

you can't teach. So there's gonna be a lot of defensive

49:38

line coaches just salivating you get their hands

49:40

on this type of player. But right

49:43

now, I think Jalen Carter first off the board.

49:45

All right, let's go to the next eagle

49:47

selection here, all the way up at number thirty, Iowa

49:50

state pass rusher Will McDonald

49:52

is the pick here from Dave and Carmen.

49:54

Here's the blur from those guys. Philly has been to the

49:57

Super Bowl twice since twenty seventeen, and both

49:59

of those squads featured wave upon wave of

50:01

quality pass rushers. Hassan Reddick and Josh

50:03

Sweat are a great start, but even though Brandon Graham

50:05

just resigned, he can't do this forever. McDonald's

50:08

athleticism will allow him to contribute early

50:10

while he develops into a more complete player.

50:12

So that is the blurb from Dave and Carmen.

50:15

Ben, what are your thoughts on Will McDonald

50:17

as we sit here in late March

50:19

mid March. Yeah, an exciting, explosive,

50:22

loose long pass rusher that I

50:24

could absolutely see going into the back

50:26

end of round one, potentially to one

50:29

of those teams we're just talking about, you

50:31

know, previously looking to be attack a

50:33

tackle landing spot, like the Chiefs and the Bengals

50:36

all of a sudden they addressed a free agency.

50:39

The edges could be thrust it up guys like

50:41

Will McDonald, guys like Derek Hall, guys

50:43

like Bjo Jelari, which after

50:45

that first eight to ten edges

50:48

kind of a drop off. Same theme with tackles,

50:50

there's about six to seven starting caliber

50:52

tackles and then a big drop off. So I see

50:55

all those types of prospects getting thrusted

50:57

up. Will McDonald again going

50:59

to a team that has four defensive ends

51:01

signed on the roster, that's okay,

51:03

get high level players onto this

51:06

team. This may be a tackle spot

51:08

for Philly. You know, if a Darnell Wright or

51:10

Anton Harrison in that same conversation

51:12

about tackles now not having landing

51:14

spots, Billy's always willing to go

51:16

back to the trenches. It's one of the safer moves.

51:18

And as we know, it's paid off

51:20

huge here for having a little bit of

51:22

forward thinking and it's kind

51:25

of the name of the game here at Gonzalez, Will McDonald

51:27

or elsewhere. These are good problems to

51:29

have. Yeah. I mean, this kid's really

51:32

really long and super explosive.

51:34

He's got flexibility, he's got trades,

51:36

no question. It's about continuing to develop

51:38

and refine his skill set as a

51:40

rusher. But you could have been to the building and

51:42

kind of work from him from there. He doesn't have to be leaned

51:44

on right away to be an every down guy. That's not

51:46

what you're looking out there with Will McDonald

51:49

in that selection. Let's now go to the players

51:51

that are go off the board in that area. At number

51:53

twenty six, the Dallas Cowboys selecting cornerback

51:55

Deonte Banks. That was before the

51:58

trade that Dallas made there twenty Evan

52:00

Buffalo selecting linebacker Trent Simpson,

52:02

the linebacker from Clemson. At twenty eight, the

52:04

Cincinnati Bengal selecting tackle Anton Harrison,

52:07

the New Orleans Saints at twenty nine, selecting defensive

52:09

lineman Brian Braze, and then at thirty one,

52:11

the Kansas City Chiefs selecting the speedy receiver

52:14

Jalen Hyatt from Tennessee. So, Ben,

52:16

of those six picks, which one makes

52:18

the most sense in your mind as we sit here at

52:20

this point in the process. You know, In that same conversation,

52:23

we had Devin A. Shane, you know, going

52:25

to a contending team. That's kind of the Jail and

52:27

Hyatt pick there, you know, adding a speeds to receiver

52:30

to a complete offense a contending team.

52:32

It's really just an accent piece. And I

52:34

think I could definitely see that, and honestly,

52:36

the very same way I can talk myself into Jail

52:39

and Hyatt at thirty one, I could talk

52:41

myself into Devin Shane at thirty one to

52:43

the Kansas City Chiefs. You know, there's me that

52:45

type of pick, and going through these other picks

52:48

here, I mean Anton Harrison tackle Bengals,

52:50

just gotta tackle Yante Bengs going

52:53

to Dallas. It is traded for Stefan Gilmore.

52:55

So obviously the news

52:57

cycles has expired this mock

52:59

a little bit. But Trenton Simpson

53:02

to the Bills, well they just lost a Tremaine Edmonds

53:04

in free agency, so that one fits a little bit more appropriately.

53:07

So yeah, we take it as we go here, Dave

53:09

and Carmen, Yeah, exactly right. I think that's

53:11

why trying to do it this week is a is a tough

53:13

process. So hats off to them for trying

53:15

to pull it off from me. I do like the Trent

53:17

Simpson fit there for Buffalo. You lose Train

53:20

Tremide Edmonds, a really long, athletic

53:22

linebacker. Certainly it was a little bit raw

53:24

coming out of Virginia Tech. And I think you look

53:26

at Simpson, it's got a very very similar profile.

53:29

I kind of like that fit. I think it would check a lot

53:32

of boxes there for Buffalo. I think that pick

53:34

makes a lot of sense. I could certainly still see that happening

53:36

here just a few weeks from now. What

53:39

was your favorite player team fit in this mock

53:41

draft? If you look at all thirty one picks. I love

53:43

seeing Scaronski you go to Chicago. I just think

53:45

that Northwestern outside, you

53:47

know, crappy field, bad weather type

53:49

of attitude're gonna fit out there, just like

53:52

great fit for the Ryan Pooles era. They

53:54

obviously can use some inside outside offensive

53:56

line help. Not sure where you're playing them. The other

53:58

one, frand Michael Mayer to the Jacksonville

54:00

Jaguars, love them adding a high

54:03

level why tight end a pair of Evan Ingram.

54:05

We know what Doug Peterson can do with those types

54:07

of players and multi tight end packages

54:10

and let me ask you a question. If Michael

54:12

Mayer ended up with the exact career

54:14

of a Brent Sellek, is that

54:16

a win if

54:19

it's in the top twenty um

54:25

and we know obviously

54:27

that stuff in the statue like Travis

54:30

Kelsey, but a damn tough

54:32

why tight end in this league for a long time?

54:34

Yeah, I think that. Here's what I would say.

54:37

I think that people on the outside would

54:39

say that it probably was not a win. Like

54:41

if you would like ask like a national pundit or like

54:43

a local writer front writer from the Bills in uh,

54:46

you know, twenty thirty, they would say like, oh, yeah,

54:48

that was a bad pick. But then if you asked like local

54:51

people, people that are here in the city and watch that player

54:53

year after year after year, you would say, oh,

54:55

yeah, that was worth it. I think that would be I think that would

54:57

probably be the answer. Yeah, I

54:59

think. And you probably have a slightly different view

55:01

on Brent. We were very appreciative of his

55:04

eleven years in the NFL, and

55:06

that's the type of player I think you're getting and maybe

55:08

won't wow fans and maybe leave your

55:10

fantasy teams a little disappointed on

55:12

a week to week basis. But I'm

55:14

telling you of the film watchers are gonna go watch him on Monday

55:17

mornings and be like, look at him pin down this d

55:19

N one on one in the run game, or looking him catch

55:21

this ball off play action or contest to grab

55:23

on third down. Probably not going to

55:25

be the Dalton kin K type. What if he's

55:27

a Selk, I'll take it for

55:30

me. You know which one I loved. I really loved m Brian

55:32

Branch, the Alabama safety going to the

55:34

Minnesota Vikings at number twenty three because

55:37

everyone's, you know, everyone in their mother is giving Minnesota

55:40

a corner and it's a corner, corner corner that that secondary

55:42

was brutal last year, but no one's really talking

55:44

about safety with them. And I think when you look

55:46

at Branch, certainly he's got that flexibility you can play

55:49

in the slot and do a lot there. But

55:51

I think back to, you know, because a new defensive

55:53

coordinated there is Brian Flores previously

55:55

with the head coach of the Miami Dolphins

55:58

and orchestrated an outstanding defense there

56:00

and a pick that he just made recently in the top fifty

56:02

that has paid huge dividends for that defense.

56:05

Javon Holland coming out of Oregon, and Holland

56:07

was similar to Branch in terms of usage. They

56:09

were different body types, but both guys

56:11

were deep players that also did

56:13

an outstanding job in the slot. How you know,

56:16

we're playmakers in the back end in the secondary,

56:18

and I think that you might see a little bit of that same

56:20

kind of usage there when you look at Brian Branch

56:23

and what Javon Holland was able to offer Brian

56:25

Flores in Miami, I think that Branch could do

56:27

the same thing in this Minnesota defense. Yeah,

56:30

absolutely, And unfortunately Minnesota

56:32

just went out and signed a Byron Murphy there at Nicol

56:35

which maybe you know Murky's up this selection,

56:37

but they're definitely revamping the back end

56:39

in Minnesota, and you could probably put the linebacker

56:42

conversation in with that. You know, obviously Eric

56:44

Kendricks they just let go, you

56:46

know, partying ways there. But Lewis sign

56:49

is obviously going to come off that major injury. On the

56:51

back end, they need to get smarter,

56:53

they need to get faster, they need to get more

56:56

playmaking in the middle of the field there. So

56:58

I could definitely see them going after Brian

57:00

Branch even with the Byron Murphy

57:02

signing. I think they just need a complete

57:05

overhaul in that kind of back seven. They want

57:07

to get smarter players out there, and Brian

57:09

Branch I think it's gonna be a great addition to

57:11

any team, but particularly a type of Flora's

57:14

type of defense. Now

57:18

it's time to hear from you the fans in

57:20

the draft mail back. All

57:24

right, it's a great stuff there from Ben and from Greg.

57:26

Let's now get to a question here from our Apple

57:29

podcast page. And again that is the number one

57:31

way to reach us. If you will have a question, a

57:33

mock draft, player rankings, whatever it is you

57:35

want us to break down or answer, go leave it there

57:37

in the comment box and we'll get to it here. On an

57:39

upcoming episode, TJM zero

57:42

one two to eighty seven left a five

57:44

star review, saying, fran I love the show.

57:46

I know some may question the logic of the Eagles

57:48

taking another wide receiver in the first

57:51

round. However, I think an exception should

57:53

be made for Jackson Smith and Jigba. He'd

57:55

be the perfect slot guy to pair with a J. Brown

57:57

and DeVante Smith and in my opinion, take

58:00

offense to new levels. Offense is how you win

58:02

in today's NFL and giving Jalen Hurts

58:04

the best wide receiver group in the league seems

58:06

smart to me. Could you see the Eagles taking

58:08

JSN at number ten? Thank

58:10

you so t JM there, here's what I would

58:13

say, Uh yeah, it's

58:14

it's it is it off the table? Now it's not off

58:16

the table. I think anytime you're talking about a player

58:18

of Jackson Smith and Jigba's caliber, um, you

58:21

know you're always going to have those discussions and say,

58:23

all right, well, how can this guy help us? This

58:25

is a guy that can separate at will. He's

58:27

done an outstanding job whenever he's been on the field.

58:29

He was hampered by an ankle injury for the majority

58:32

of this season and then had to kind of shut

58:34

it down towards the end. But when you look at Smith

58:36

and Jigba going back to last year, is a true sophomore

58:38

when he was an All American, was one of the

58:40

most productive players in college football. This

58:42

is a guy that never puts the ball on the ground and he knows

58:44

how to get open. And those are two great starting

58:46

points for a wide receiver. Separate and

58:49

catch it. And that's what Smith and Jigba

58:51

can do at a very high level. He's not the

58:53

most explosive pass catcher, the fastest

58:56

guy you're ever going to see. But you know, we talked about

58:58

this at the combine. I remember L and I watching

59:00

that workout and just being kind of awe

59:02

struck by what we saw. I think when you look at

59:04

Smith and Jigba, this guy has longtime

59:07

NFL pro written all over him. I

59:09

think then you start getting into like resource management

59:11

and things like that, it's like, okay, yeah, as

59:13

Jackson Smith and Jigba worth the number ten

59:16

pick in the draft, you could certainly make that argument,

59:18

would you rather have a defensive

59:20

lineman, an offensive lineman, a corner,

59:23

a safety, well, whatever a position you want to

59:25

insert there, and say, would you rather have a blue

59:27

chip player from that position? And

59:29

then with whatever wide receiver you can get at

59:31

number thirty or you know, in the second

59:33

round or however you want to slot that. Those

59:35

are the conversations that decision makers

59:37

are having with their scouting staffs right

59:40

now, this week, next week, the week

59:42

after the week after that. Those are the conversations

59:44

that are being had as you kind of see how the

59:46

draft board is starting to fall and you get

59:48

a sense of the valuation of all these

59:51

players, all the different buzz, all the different things, all

59:53

the information being shared at pro days,

59:55

on the trail, over the next couple of weeks,

59:57

over the next couple of months. I think that's really

1:00:00

where you get a sense of Okay, would you rather have

1:00:02

Jackson Smith and Jigba at ten or would you

1:00:04

rather have insert wide receiver here at

1:00:06

number thirty with whoever we are able to get

1:00:08

at number ten? So could

1:00:10

you could I rule it out? No, you don't rule out

1:00:12

anything, but I think when you look at you

1:00:15

know the level of player. Yes, he's certainly capable

1:00:17

of going that high in the draft. So TJM

1:00:20

really appreciate the feedback. Thanks so much for

1:00:22

the five star review. Thanks so much for the question. For anybody

1:00:24

out there that once their question answered, head on over

1:00:26

to our Apple podcast page leave it there in the comment

1:00:29

box. We will get to it in an upcoming episode

1:00:31

next week Here on the Journey of the Draft podcast presented

1:00:33

by Life Brand Dane and I, we are going to be breaking

1:00:36

down the defensive back so

1:00:38

corners and safeties. Next week we'll have another

1:00:40

blueprint segment as well, but we

1:00:42

got a lot of great feedback to this past week with Chicago

1:00:45

Bears with Dan Durkin. Really

1:00:47

appreciate it, Dan for joining us here this week.

1:00:49

We'll have Greg and Ben back next week as

1:00:51

well. Right here on the Journey of the Draft podcast

1:00:53

presented by Life Brand