0:00

Hey everybody, I wish I could be there

0:03

with y'all. I know Field's doing a great

0:05

job and Field, my friend, what a year

0:07

it's been and we're all excited everybody about

0:09

this draft. Most fascinating NFL draft I've ever

0:12

been associated with. I've been doing this thing

0:14

for 46 years and it's why, the reason

0:16

why is because of the intrigue early. We

0:18

know number one Caleb Williams, Jane Daniels we

0:20

think, you know Drake May, but then three,

0:23

four, five and six. Where does JJ McCarthy,

0:25

quarterback Michigan end up? What happens with Michael

0:27

Pinnock's junior quarterback Washington? Does he go to

0:29

the Raiders? Does somebody trade back in to

0:31

the late first round to get him? Where does

0:33

Michael Pinnock's junior end up? That would give you

0:35

five quarterbacks in the first round of this bow.

0:37

Knicks get into the first round as well to

0:39

make it six. How many offensive players go in

0:41

this draft? A record would be past 19. So

0:45

we had 19 was the record. Can we get

0:47

to 2021? I think we can. You think about

0:49

Laot two, Lot two. What a great pass rusher

0:51

he is out of UCLA. Where does he go?

0:53

He had the neck injury at Washington. Does he

0:56

drop into the mid-late first round and if he

0:58

does he becomes a steal at that point? Cooper

1:00

Dijon. My final favorite guys out of Iowa.

1:02

Cornerback can be a great safety. All he

1:04

does is not let anybody get behind him.

1:06

Three picks sixes in 2022 had the injury

1:08

late, but he had a great workout a

1:10

couple weeks ago. Cooper Dijon. I think the

1:12

best overall defensive back in this draft. Where

1:14

does he come off the board? Where does

1:16

Keyon Coleman, wide receiver, Florida State go ran

1:18

four, six, one, right? Everybody said if he

1:20

ran four, five, five, he's a first round

1:22

pick, but he played like a first round

1:24

pick. Where does he come off the board?

1:26

How many offensive tackles going round one? What

1:28

did teams do that are a

1:31

desperate situation for offensive linemen? The Dallas Cowboys,

1:33

they stay where they are. They try

1:35

to move up. They use their first

1:37

and second round pick. I'm coming back to

1:39

Cowboys on offensive linemen to help Dak

1:41

Prescott out. That offensive lineman has two

1:43

studs and three question marks, right? They

1:45

also have a need at running back. Use

1:48

another receiver. Need a defensive tackle and

1:50

an off-ball linebacker. Dallas Cowboys, this is

1:52

a critical draft to maintain their position as

1:54

a playoff slash Super Bowl contender or

1:56

fade back to where they don't even

1:58

make the playoffs. The Arizona Cardinals have

2:00

a ton of picks, a lot of picks

2:02

in the first four rounds. Critical draft them

2:04

get that big time wide receiver early and

2:06

add to that personnel base moving forward. Washington

2:09

as well as Green Bay. Green Bay has

2:11

a lot of picks. Watch out for the

2:13

Packers. They are a team that went a

2:15

long way with Jordan Love caught fire. When

2:17

Thanksgiving ends Alliance League them that upset right

2:19

had that bad throw late right in the

2:21

49er game, but had a

2:23

great finish. Great second half. They can build

2:25

on that and Jordan Love keeps improving keeps

2:28

ascending as a star in the making. The

2:30

Green Bay Packers faced on this draft could be

2:32

a Super Bowl team to watch for next year.

2:34

So I thought that just sit back, relax and

2:36

enjoy field will take you home. Had a great

2:38

time doing the first draft podcast all year. We're

2:40

gonna wrap it up one Monday with our grade

2:43

show gonna be a lot of fun. Enjoy the

2:45

most fascinating NFL draft in the history of this

2:47

league. All right, look at this crap. By the

2:49

way, way to know the audience. Kipre talking about

2:51

Jordan Love in front of a bunch. Well, not

2:53

a bunch, but certainly a lot of Lions fans.

2:56

Welcome to first draft presented

2:59

by Mercedes Benz. And thank you all for being here.

3:01

It is great to see so many people turn out

3:03

for this. We can't wait for the draft over the

3:05

next three days here. I am Field

3:08

Yates, and that's the least important part of

3:10

this panel right now because I am joined

3:12

by two mega. Is that even close to

3:14

enough to describe the stardom of Mina time?

3:17

Yeah. And

3:19

Laura Rutledge effortlessly

3:22

talented. I don't know

3:24

why they agreed to do this show with me, but I'm very grateful

3:26

for you guys being here. How was the trip in? How are you

3:28

guys feeling about the draft right now? This is the

3:30

highlight of my day, honestly. I mean, we did NFL

3:32

live earlier, but be with you two and all of

3:34

you. This is really what I've been hoping for all

3:36

day long. Great to be here. Um, I

3:39

have a confession. This is the first time I've

3:41

ever been in Detroit. Really? I'm

3:45

really excited. So your early scouting

3:47

report on the city of Detroit. Yes. Uh,

3:50

well, I just got here. So but so far

3:52

so good. I mean, we

3:54

had some pizza backstage. That was

3:56

incredible. Pizza. Thanks for helping make this show

3:58

possible. We judge things by the food. So that's

4:00

a really good compliment coming from us. Yeah. So

4:02

far so good on the food front, which is

4:04

excellent to know. You know, obviously the three of

4:07

us have been talking about the draft a ton

4:09

over the past month, but it really goes back

4:11

even further than that. Like the draft process really

4:13

starts probably next week for 2025, which is simultaneously

4:16

like sort of a sad thought, but kind of daunting

4:18

at the same time. So I'm going to bury that

4:21

for the moment. But as we get ready for the

4:23

next three days, if I have hard to ask you

4:25

guys, like, what are you most looking forward to? Whether

4:27

it's a certain player coming off of the board, whether

4:30

it's the atmosphere dealer's choice, what

4:32

comes to mind? I'll start with you then, Mina. Well,

4:34

obviously pick 29. Hey, the

4:38

only one that matters. No,

4:40

I am actually very excited and curious to

4:42

see what Detroit does. Of course. Did you

4:44

see Dan Campbell's comments today on radio? No.

4:46

What did he say? Basically said they're not

4:48

picking tomorrow night. He said, essentially, he said,

4:50

Hey, if there's a deal that's there for

4:52

the taken, we'll listen. And we have to

4:54

have one of our guys available, which that's,

4:58

there we go. Whatever Dan says. Now that's not

5:00

exactly the most gracious way to be a host

5:02

city by trading out of your pick. It seemed

5:04

like a bad idea until they extended a Monron

5:06

Pines soil today. Now they can do whatever they

5:08

want. Yeah,

5:10

I think, I think we can all agree

5:13

in Brad. We trust here in Detroit given

5:15

his recent track record. Um, but as I

5:17

almost fall off, no, I think, uh,

5:19

to answer your question, what I'm really looking forward to. Um,

5:22

I'm very curious to see obviously what happens

5:25

at the quarterbacks at the top of the

5:27

draft, whether they actually do go one, two,

5:29

three as many expect. Uh, and then perhaps,

5:31

and this to me is maybe the most

5:33

interesting question of the first round, what

5:36

happens? I get there's a local angle here. What happens

5:38

with J.C. McCarthy? Uh, because he

5:40

is perhaps the most talked about player

5:42

going into the draft, given that he

5:44

could be drafted at so

5:46

many different spots. You could see multiple teams

5:49

going up to get him. You could see

5:51

the giant sticking and taking him at six.

5:53

You could see him falling. I don't feel

5:55

like anyone has a perfectly good handle on

5:57

what's gonna happen. I have a confession. I

5:59

was going back because I was having a conversation

6:01

with someone towards the end of the

6:03

NFL regular season and I said I'm going to call

6:05

my shot right now before it gets popular. Jaden Daniels

6:08

is going to go before Drake May in the 2024

6:10

NFL Draft. Trust

6:12

me there are a lot of shots that I've missed but I

6:14

feel pretty good about that one and then someone said what do

6:16

you think about J.J. McCarthy and I actually described him as a

6:18

quagmire and I realized the dorkiest person

6:21

of life to ever use the word

6:23

quagmire in text so that was immediately

6:25

deleted. He

6:28

certainly is a mystery so Laura what would be the thing you're looking

6:30

forward to the most? Yeah I

6:32

mean there's so many things and this is kind

6:34

of what Mina is saying with the quarterback but

6:36

I just think the Patriots pick at three is

6:38

completely fascinating because depending on what

6:40

happens we think it's we know it's going to

6:43

be Caleb Williams right I'm not like breaking any news

6:45

we just we're pretty sure. Don't spoil the

6:47

draft. And then

6:49

Jaden Daniels at two we think but

6:51

I mean I don't know what if something crazy

6:53

happens and Drake May ends up going to the

6:56

commanders and then Jaden Daniels is there and then

6:58

there's just like this run on everyone's trying to

7:00

get to three to get Jaden because he's so

7:02

dynamic and I don't think that's going to happen

7:04

because I think Daniels goes to but either way

7:06

the Patriots are in such a unique spot. If

7:08

I were them I would go ahead and draft

7:11

Drake May knowing you're going to sit him behind

7:14

our favorite backup quarterback Jacobi Brissett

7:16

who will be the. I love him. Wow.

7:19

That's awesome. Thank you. He's

7:22

great. But but no

7:24

I think it could be for the Patriots the

7:26

right thing to do but then you've got to

7:28

find a way to surround him with some talent.

7:31

I think he's an incredible player with so much

7:33

upside but they don't have the pieces yet for

7:35

him to be featured that way. I keep thinking to

7:37

myself the Patriots if they do take Drake May tomorrow

7:39

night the opening line from the press

7:41

conference it should actually be the owner Robert Kraft

7:43

because obviously he can set the sort of the

7:45

expectation for the fan base should be we

7:48

love Drake May but buckle up for a

7:50

long year fans because they to your point

7:52

it's just the roster right now just relative

7:54

to the other teams that are probably looking

7:56

for a quarterback early just feels a lot

7:58

different. good

8:00

infrastructure in place, obviously the Bears at the

8:03

top, the commanders with the at least a

8:05

solid starting wide receiver duo. But

8:07

back to Jaden Daniels here for Laura. Laura is

8:09

the the queen of college football. She travels

8:12

every SEC city. Got

8:15

at least one out of agreement over here. I

8:18

will rely on Mel because Mel has great

8:20

historical reference points for the past 46 drafts,

8:22

but he was talking about how this rise

8:24

for Jaden is the only thing he can

8:27

kind of compare it to is Joe Burrow,

8:29

obviously same school. That's I guess

8:31

more coincidence than anything else. But when did you know

8:33

that Jaden Daniels was special? Because he may have entered

8:35

the season as a, I'm gonna use the

8:37

air quotes, a fourth round pick. Right,

8:39

you know I think I think what

8:41

I really thought he was special was pretty

8:43

early on in the season because LSU was

8:45

struggling especially defensively. Offensively they looked like world

8:48

beaters and we thought you know they could

8:50

win the national championship. I still think that

8:52

with that offense. We'll see

8:54

where these guys get drafted to even the receivers.

8:57

But the way that he

8:59

handled himself, we knew that the talent was there. I

9:01

actually did a couple of his games all the way

9:03

back to Arizona State and you would see some of

9:05

the flashes when I did Thursday night football. Yeah. And

9:07

we'd be like wow but he wasn't that consistent and

9:10

there were some things he needed to work on. But

9:12

one of the interesting things when we started to realize

9:14

he really was a true star which is very early

9:17

on in the season. I would say maybe week two

9:19

even. We had a conversation

9:21

with Brian Kelly on SEC Nation and we were

9:23

asking him like what does he think

9:25

about his quarterback and he's like I want him to

9:27

actually do more. I want him to take more risk.

9:30

In the SEC against those defenses to say that you

9:32

want your quarterback when you know the defense that you

9:34

have on your team isn't worth much

9:36

and you're saying no no no risk it. That's

9:38

how good you are. They felt like they had

9:40

such faith in him and I

9:43

think it all started to kind of compound

9:45

on itself and you realize wow he's incredibly

9:47

special. But the funny thing was even in

9:49

the Heisman conversation all that it took a

9:51

little while I think for people to say

9:53

oh yeah he could be the number two

9:55

pick in the draft or maybe even the number one pick depending

9:58

on who you at that that's not going to happen tomorrow. night

10:00

but there are people that think the skill set

10:02

is there and I think when you talk to

10:04

him and this is gonna be really cool for

10:06

commanders fans if he doesn't

10:08

end up going there he's

10:11

really thoughtful he is a incredibly

10:13

smart person but he's also an

10:15

extremely hard worker and he holds

10:17

himself to a very high standard

10:19

so back to Brian Kelly's comments

10:22

they felt like Jaden was

10:24

so he is not that he was worried

10:26

about making a mistake but he was so

10:28

worried about affecting the team negatively that he

10:30

wasn't all the time showing what he could

10:32

do I think there's so much untapped there

10:34

still that that hopefully you'll see the commanders

10:36

get out of him or whoever gets

10:38

him in the draft I feel a responsibility to

10:40

talk about something that we've mentioned as we were sitting

10:42

downstairs just prior to this which is that Jaden

10:45

Daniels played head-to-head against Justin Herbert in college which

10:47

I don't know if that's more remarkable because I

10:50

feel like Justin Herbert's been in the NFL for

10:52

a long time or if it just speaks to

10:54

how young he was a 17 year

10:56

old true freshman starting quarterback the first ever in

10:59

Arizona State history so Jaden Daniels had two separate

11:01

very impressive careers I mean we can talk about

11:03

you know who whether he should go to or

11:05

whether it should be Drake May we've had that

11:08

debate a million times on various ESPN platforms

11:10

of course on NFL live watch it every

11:12

Monday through Friday on 4 p.m. Eastern time

11:14

it's gonna be great two hours tomorrow

11:16

two hours for the next two days

11:18

the world wants more of Laura and

11:20

Mina and swagoo and RC and Dan

11:23

became well all right there

11:25

we go hey we want to get you by

11:27

the set we like you over there yeah there

11:30

we go but you know

11:32

just thinking about like what I

11:34

have believed and you made if you disagree please let

11:37

me know I have believed one thing about Jaden now

11:39

you're obviously searching for the upside of these players right

11:41

but we all agree that both he and Drake May

11:43

have a ton of upside I believe that he has

11:45

a higher floor though for Drake May because the minute

11:47

he enters your program and maybe that's as simple as

11:49

the fact that he's got three more years of college

11:51

starting experience but do you agree that the skill set

11:53

that he brings to the table just

11:55

presents in an eight challenge that is less

11:58

dependent upon the receivers and the offensive line,

12:00

like the way he changes the numbers of your offense

12:02

and the opposing defense, gives me faith that Washington will

12:04

be an improved offense even if they don't do anything

12:06

else the rest of the way to address the offensive

12:09

line. Yeah, no doubt. The dual threat

12:11

ability really impacts defenses, talking about Jaden Daniels,

12:13

in ways that don't show up in the

12:15

box score even when he doesn't run the

12:17

football because there's a linebacker spying, you're creating

12:20

voids in zone coverage. There's often,

12:22

you know, we love Malik neighbors who's the

12:24

speed wide receiver who will undoubtedly be one

12:26

of the first three receivers taken in the

12:28

draft. Part of the reason we

12:30

love him is because he's running into wide open

12:32

space. Part of the reason he's running into wide

12:34

open space is because second level defenders are worried

12:36

about Jaden Daniels keeping the football. It helps to

12:38

run game as well. It influences the type

12:40

of coverages he can play. Defenses

12:42

are afraid to turn their backs on him and

12:44

play man coverage because if you do, he will

12:47

punish you. That said, Drake May

12:49

is also an incredible scrambler. I actually

12:51

think it's like an underappreciated part of

12:53

his game and I think one advantage

12:55

he does have over Daniels is he

12:57

big. Like Josh

12:59

Allen size big and that

13:02

is going to translate at the next level for sure. Drake,

13:05

of course, one of four boys. Can you imagine

13:07

him, like I just can't imagine that household growing

13:09

up. One of them had to be the least

13:11

athletic one. It was like, hey, the kid who

13:13

only could walk on at North Carolina to play

13:15

basketball was the unathletic one, right? A

13:18

Florida baseball player, obviously

13:21

basketball, national champions.

13:25

I don't know what's in those genes, but they're

13:27

pretty good. It's working out pretty well. And Drake's

13:29

the baby of the family. I've

13:32

also seen a lot of golf videos from Drake recently.

13:34

That kid might have a career playing golf as opposed

13:36

to football. So football does not work out. He could

13:38

be the next Tony Romo as far as his golf

13:40

interest beyond that. Part of the reason why I love

13:42

doing first draft with Mel is that we

13:44

try not to spend all day every day talking

13:47

about the things that are happening at the very

13:49

top. As we all know, there's

13:51

certainly lots of interest in Chicago, maybe not so

13:53

much in this crowd, but in general and

13:55

Caleb Williams talk. So let's start. All

13:58

right. There you go. I'm

14:00

surprised. Do you have security with you or no?

14:02

Okay. Good. I want to make sure we keep

14:04

the peace for a couple of Bears fans that

14:06

I see here. So let's like think beyond like

14:08

the obvious, let's not grab the low hanging fruit

14:10

for a moment here. Is there a team that

14:13

sort of intrigues you most moving

14:15

past the obvious candidates? I'll

14:18

offer my team just to be selfish here

14:20

for a moment. It's the Bills at 28

14:23

because I think about the possibilities. Sorry.

14:25

Is there? I was

14:27

going to say like isn't Buffalo like Detroit

14:29

East like it's not that far, isn't it?

14:32

Oh, Chicago.

14:35

Oh, Chicago doesn't like Buffalo either. All

14:39

right. Well, I thought Buffalo was like everybody's favorite. I

14:41

feel like they're like almost mirror images

14:43

and fan bases of like the passion.

14:46

I think of them as amongst the best fan bases in the NFL.

14:48

Like patience has paid off for the Lions

14:50

and the Bears. Good now. It's really fun.

14:52

Yeah, but I think about the Bills because

14:54

they have such a dramatic need at wide

14:56

receiver after the trade of Staphon Diggs, but

14:59

they're clearly comfortable with it, right? I mean, they were the

15:01

ones decided to move on from a guy who had four

15:03

hundred and forty six catches over the past four years. There's

15:06

definitely ways in which a great receiver falls in their lap

15:08

of pick number 28, but the

15:11

window is not closing obviously, but there's still

15:13

there was there's a responsibility, right? Like to your quarterback,

15:15

you really think you can look Josh Allen in the

15:17

eye and say, hey, you know what, Josh, going into

15:19

this next year, Curtis Samuel's your go-to guy and Mack

15:21

Holland is going to play a lot as well. That's

15:23

a team that comes to mind for me in the

15:25

back half of the draft that I'm like, I just

15:27

have my eyes on them. Respect. Kalisha

15:29

care though. Yeah, sorry. I forgot. Yeah,

15:31

I'll go with a different team. I

15:34

see my man in a Bengals jersey. I

15:36

think the Bengals are really interesting at 18, especially

15:38

this is not the best for you, but

15:40

with the news that Trey Hendrickson the star

15:42

pass rusher might want to trade. We'll see

15:44

how much of that is smoke

15:46

and real. You never know what trade requests,

15:49

you know, usually just involves money, but I

15:51

will be curious to see if that influences

15:53

their draft process at all because at 18,

15:57

they could go in. I already thought they could go in

15:59

a number of directions. offensive line, defensive line,

16:01

pass catcher, all on the table for Cincinnati

16:03

at 18. Fun one. I'm

16:05

gonna kind of give two here. One is selfish, so I'll

16:08

do that secondly, but I'm interested to see what the Chiefs

16:10

do. I know that's, whatever, they

16:12

win this, I know, I know. But

16:14

there were so many needs on that team, even

16:16

when they won the Super Bowl, there's a nat

16:18

here. That was a

16:20

nat sent by some of you who don't

16:22

like the Chiefs, and that's okay, I deserve

16:24

that, but I just think it'll be really

16:26

interesting. They've at times drafted well, despite having

16:28

all this success and being later in the

16:31

first round, obviously. I'll

16:33

be interested to see if there's a wide receiver there, or

16:36

if they try to get creative. My

16:38

other one is the Falcons, I'm from

16:40

Atlanta. And that's too high up,

16:42

that's too high up. No, that's fine, hey, that's

16:44

not one or two, which is where most of

16:46

our real estate has been. But, like, do

16:49

they go defense? We were talking about this the other

16:51

day, and I think it's really interesting at eight, so.

16:55

I'm not exactly sure as a Falcons person what

16:57

I want them to do, but I would say

17:00

at this point, potentially Dallas Benner. It's wild

17:02

though, because if they don't take, everyone

17:04

assumes they'll take a defensive player, if

17:06

they trade out, we could see the

17:08

first draft in NFL history, where the

17:10

first 10 players are all offensive, which

17:12

is bananas. Certainly feels like that's in play. I do have

17:14

to ask you as a follow up on the Falcons. So

17:17

for the past three years, when they've had picks, four,

17:19

eight, and eight, they have five passing in a quarterback,

17:21

and I'm not here to tell

17:23

you that the quarterbacks that I was suggesting for them

17:26

at those picks have necessarily become home runs. You would

17:28

think that at some point, you'd at least try to

17:30

take that swing. There's been some

17:32

murmurs, and I don't know how legitimate

17:34

they are or are not, about them taking a quarterback in

17:37

the first round. What would your reaction be? I know the

17:39

draft is great because we get to see it live, but

17:42

what is the honest answer? The non-TV

17:44

version of what you would be thinking? I would actually

17:46

be excited, because I would say, okay, there's a plan

17:48

there. I mean, it depends on who it would be,

17:50

right? You know it wouldn't be one of those top three, like,

17:53

is Bo Nix there? He should be. You

17:56

would think Michael Pinnix Jr. would be there. That's a little

17:58

high to take both of those players. I

18:00

think somebody's already gone up and gotten JJ McCarthy

18:02

by that point. So I Don't

18:06

know if they if they like traded back and got

18:08

one that wouldn't make sense But yeah, if they if

18:10

they ended up taking when I'd be excited about it,

18:12

I would say okay cool Like we have somebody for

18:14

the future That's like

18:16

a very responsible answer by you by the way Like as I

18:18

know it like the venom I see I love

18:20

this part of the track too is like fans and

18:22

I understand this I would I have been that same

18:24

boat myself is like what are we doing? Trump picked

18:27

to satisfy our biggest need right like we need to

18:29

fill that hole because this is one of the 32

18:31

best players Ostensibly in the entire country that is available

18:33

for us to draft that we are up against the

18:35

clock here in a few moments So we're gonna make

18:37

sure that we wrap this up in a timely manner.

18:39

What just for part one to be very clear Favorite

18:42

player regardless of criteria I mean

18:45

player to watch player that you've enjoyed being

18:47

around that you think you think will

18:49

be taking tomorrow night Someone coming tomorrow tomorrow night. Yeah,

18:51

you know what? You know what whatever I'll

18:53

give it tomorrow night and then I'll give a deep

18:55

deep cut I guess not tomorrow night likely

18:58

My favorite player to watch is live to lot to

19:00

the past rusher out of UCLA Who

19:02

he could land with a number of

19:05

y'all's teams and honestly you should be

19:07

stoked because that guy's

19:09

bag of past rush moves is Enormous

19:13

he looks so pro ready to me. He's

19:15

a technician. He's so fun to watch He

19:17

just gets at the quarterback at

19:19

a rate that frankly I is pretty remarkable

19:22

compared to most past rushing prospects And then

19:24

my later round pick I do sense there

19:26

are some Michigan fans in here On

19:38

thing but he is like if five-hour energy was

19:40

a player That

19:42

dude flies around like an absolute psychopath

19:45

I would want him on my NFL

19:47

team blitzing the quarterback just wrecking souls.

19:49

I think he's so awesome I

19:52

get to claim him because I'm from the state of

19:54

Massachusetts. We've had like five good players ever Play

19:57

high school football, Massachusetts. So yeah, I've never

19:59

met You probably want to pick that

20:01

up a line of a three people, but

20:03

I love you too Mikey Laura your answer

20:06

before I say goodbye Okay, J.C. Latham. I

20:08

just love and and he calls me

20:10

bigger than the three of us combined like

20:12

me exactly He calls

20:14

himself the trench king which is so him like

20:16

he wanted He wanted a nickname for himself and

20:18

it came from actually Dion being primetime and all

20:20

that But listen, there are some things that are

20:22

unrefinsel about his game I think he's got so

20:25

much potential and and really could end up being

20:27

one of the best to ever do it if

20:29

he Reaches all that potential and then I

20:31

got to throw one another one out there and I promise

20:33

we're not just like doing this For the Michigan fans. I

20:35

love Blake Coram Like

20:43

Blake Coram watching him play field

20:45

level is Unbelievable the power

20:47

with which he plays it's almost like

20:49

he's just willing himself forward I haven't seen

20:52

many at that position play the way that he

20:54

does I'm like rooting for

20:56

somehow the Chargers. I mean they they

20:58

need they need running bags I am

21:00

NOT dismissing it as high as pick 37. Come on Surprise

21:04

me Jim Harbaugh loves Blake Coram

21:06

like probably kids. Yeah, I deserve

21:08

at least so I'm sure

21:10

you all do what's good reason That's right.

21:13

Oh, I just learned that All

21:15

right. Well, I need to send both Mina and Laura

21:17

off right now the first overall picks I need to

21:19

act as far as I'm concerned these two talents right

21:21

here, but give it up Hi,

21:26

this is ESPN Mike Greenberg and ESPN bet

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21:56

right, so you guys get me for the rest of the show by myself.

21:58

Sorry for the letdown. I I'm kidding. I

22:01

am kidding. We are moving

22:03

on to the next duo. And

22:05

if you love the NFL Draft, if you love

22:07

anything related to football, if you just love good,

22:09

thoughtful discourse in general, I'm about to bring two

22:11

very smart people onto the stage with me right

22:13

now. So if they can hear me. Uh-oh.

22:16

As we get up for more drinks, that's allowed. Please

22:19

welcome NFL Draft analyst

22:21

for ESPN Matt Miller and all

22:24

things football, and it's just life in general,

22:26

Dominique Foxworth to the stage. So

22:30

I see at least one of Dom's former teams

22:33

in the, in the, I saw a Ravens

22:35

jersey somewhere, Broncos. We got any Broncos? We got

22:37

all we got. No Falcons. No, we got a

22:40

Falcons right here. We got two Falcons. Oh,

22:43

there we go. All right. Wow.

22:45

Wow. There we go. I love

22:47

that. Eight-year NFL vendors. How you guys

22:49

doing? How's the trip to Detroit been so far? I

22:51

asked Mina and Laura the same question. She mostly judged

22:53

it based off of the food, which I

22:55

think is a very reasonable way to judge.

22:57

I'm sick cold. Cold, cold. My first day

22:59

in Detroit has been cold. Yeah.

23:02

For you guys, I'm not

23:04

that tough. So this is

23:06

cold. Man. Hold on.

23:09

There you go. That makes more sense. Do you guys

23:11

play indoors though? Field

23:16

gave you a layup and

23:18

you fumbled it. We had

23:21

tried again. How has your

23:23

time been in Detroit? It's

23:25

been amazing. The weather's been

23:27

perfect. The food's perfect. The people

23:29

are great. Women. Yeah. Intelligent

23:31

and beautiful. Right. The

23:36

men cool as. Great.

23:41

You took the words right out of my mouth. I was just going

23:43

to say that earlier, but Mina and Laura talked for so long that

23:45

I didn't have quite enough time. Pizza's

23:48

fantastic. Hey, Jets Pizza? Terrific.

23:50

This eight-corner pizza? Out of control.

23:52

Good. Why do you guys like hot

23:54

dogs so much though? That's weird. I feel

23:58

like there's every... I'm shocked,

24:00

a lot of hot dogs, everywhere I go they

24:02

sell hot dogs. Really? I didn't know

24:04

this. Is that regional? I didn't know that.

24:06

Oh, Coney dogs. Okay. Okay.

24:10

Okay. I just learned that. I'm

24:12

learning a lot. I'm an adult male and I eat

24:14

no goddamn hot dog. All

24:16

right, so we're going to cover a lot of ground here. We're

24:19

going to do a little game. It's going to

24:21

be, we're going to manufacture debate. The first time

24:23

in the history of ESPN that anybody has manufactured

24:25

debate as part of our programming. So

24:28

here we go. We're going to throw two prospects

24:30

out there. I'm going to let each one of these men

24:32

take a side. We did not assign the side. We said

24:34

we're going to figure it out on the fly. So it's

24:36

possible you guys agree, but we're going to make you disagree

24:38

because that's how this game works. Let's

24:41

call this our face off. Turn to the top. Jayden

24:43

Daniels, Drake May. I know which

24:46

case Matt Miller wants to make it his core. Do you

24:48

want to make the Drake May case then? Absolutely.

24:50

Thank you, Foxy. I would love team

24:52

players. There we go. All right, so you'll

24:54

start us off then, Drake May, who we think could be the third

24:56

overall pick, but if you were the commanders, why would you take him

24:58

number two overall? He's six,

25:01

five, 230 pounds,

25:03

rocket arm, and white. When

25:08

did we stop believing in the white quarterback? It's

25:11

confusing to me. No,

25:13

seriously, I mean, I think Drake May, the

25:16

knock against Drake May is a bit of

25:18

risk-taking and that sort of stuff, as if

25:20

Jayden Daniels doesn't – like, his risks are

25:22

different. He throws his body indiscriminately into defensive

25:25

players. That is a risk also, and he's

25:27

not built like someone who can do it.

25:30

He's not a Josh Allen guy. So

25:32

I think there's risk in both of

25:34

these guys. I was joking, obviously, about

25:36

my reasoning, but I do think that

25:38

the switch came out of nowhere. It

25:42

felt like, to me at least, it

25:45

was Caleb and Drake May and then

25:47

everyone else. And that's because Jayden Daniels

25:49

– like, this is first year being good.

25:53

At least at this level, right? And he was great. Best

25:55

player in college, football, yeah. I understand the

25:57

excitement. Heisman, trophy winner. So either way –

25:59

It makes sense to me, but I do

26:01

feel comfortable with the body of work from

26:04

Drake May has been longer and also impressive

26:07

I think he just described Josh Allen and passed it off his

26:09

track Rocket

26:11

arm is that I tell a lie. Yeah,

26:13

that would be the way to go. I

26:15

would say that Jayden Daniels Experienced

26:17

he was the best player in college football last year He

26:19

was also the most improved player in college football last year

26:22

two straight years of over a thousand yards rushing

26:24

in the SEC He doesn't turn the ball over

26:26

that is a big part of his game, but

26:28

even going back to Arizona State He doesn't throw

26:30

interceptions and if we're gonna throw out the player

26:32

comparisons, which that's my job. Damn it. Don't take

26:34

my job King right

26:36

that's bad by milk. I'm exactly if milk ever

26:38

calls you it you could put it on your

26:40

business card Absolutely when I see Jayden Daniels can

26:42

be a Lamar Jackson type player in the NFL the

26:45

speed is there Yeah, I mean there are times he

26:47

gets ragdolled by Florida State But he got smarter and

26:49

I would say this you're gonna get harder and hit

26:51

harder in the SEC than you ever will in the

26:54

NFL They're gonna protect quarterbacks a

26:56

lot better. So I think Jayden Daniels

26:58

Especially knowing I have Terry McClorn, Johan

27:00

Dodson and a not great offensive line

27:02

I want the guy who can move

27:04

and make plays as opposed to Drake

27:06

May who's not good under pressure Let me ask

27:09

the audience a question just sort of show on

27:11

a shore hand Just like you can whatever nod

27:13

your head in an agreement or disagreement here Do

27:15

you feel like the draft process might be a

27:17

little bit too long? The pre draft process? Okay

27:21

So I that was actually good. So we kind of

27:23

got both sides. I think from entertainment purpose. I think

27:25

for our network Great, right? I mean we have something

27:27

to talk about during an otherwise lean time of the

27:30

NFL calendar I do wonder sometimes

27:32

though if our quarterback evaluations are influenced by

27:34

the overthinking of yeah, right? Absolutely. Like Drake

27:38

any of these guys could boss right? They can all

27:40

become you know, the best player in the history of

27:42

the NFL But they can all also be you know

27:44

backups in two years That's that's inherent to to making

27:46

the transition from the college of the pro ranks I

27:48

do wonder sometimes if we tend to overthink it and

27:50

you know, we've all I think we

27:52

absolutely do overthink that the Player

27:55

evaluation, but if you've like listen to

27:57

me talk about the draft on my

27:59

pocket or any of the shows that I've

28:01

been on, I think one of the important things that

28:04

we underestimate and underappreciate is how

28:06

important the situation is. So

28:09

I will feel more confident about

28:11

projecting how good these players are gonna be

28:14

based on where they end up. And there

28:16

are a lot of quarterback thirsty teams that

28:18

are going to draft quarterbacks, and those quarterbacks

28:20

aren't gonna have successful careers, not in my

28:22

view at least, not because they aren't good,

28:24

but because quarterback is such a dependent position

28:26

you need receivers, you need protection, and you

28:29

need a coach who's smart enough to put

28:31

you in positions to have success. So I

28:33

think that it reminded me when you were

28:35

talking about the receivers that Washington has, that

28:37

does feel like a better situation than

28:39

most, considering how highly they'll be drafted. To your point,

28:41

this is why you should read my article next week

28:44

about the top 100 picks in the draft, where I

28:46

get to do that, I get to look at it

28:48

after the fact and say, oh wait, this is a

28:50

really good landing spot for this player, yeah top 100.

28:53

The first game to be over the lion's snake, first of all.

28:57

Now I just think it's an important point to make about

28:59

the process because I do, and we

29:01

all have a lot of, it was hard for, it's

29:03

hard to make the counterpoint to Drake May, the guys

29:05

at Star, but I do feel like every year, this

29:07

happened at CJ's Trout last year, where it kind of

29:09

was like the bloom was off the rose by the

29:11

time pick two was submitted, and he had the greatest

29:13

season for a rookie quarterback, maybe in the history of

29:15

the NFL. All right, so move on to the next

29:18

debate here, and I know which, I'm

29:20

gonna have you make the Malik Nabors case. Malik Nabors

29:22

and Marvin Harrison Jr., this is a reasonable case you

29:25

can make, what would it be and why? Mine

29:27

would be I want the faster player, I want

29:29

the guy who dominates after the catch. If there's

29:31

a hole to Marvin Harrison Jr.'s game, it is

29:34

that he is a little bit static on the

29:36

outside, Malik Nabors can play inside, outside, we've seen

29:38

the production from the slot, four,

29:40

three, three speed, I mean he has afterburners

29:42

after the catch. If there is a Jalen

29:45

Waddle in this draft, it is

29:47

Malik Nabors, or if you wanna go crazy, if

29:49

there's a Tyreek Hill, a lot of people forget,

29:51

one of the great things about Tyreek is how

29:53

he's built, he can go up again, corners who

29:55

look like this, and just body them because he's

29:58

a very physical 200 pounds. Neighbors,

30:00

that was not disrespectful. I love this guy. Neighbors,

30:04

just 200 pounds, you know? He's

30:07

built like a running back. And so, I think

30:09

in the NFL where we don't have a lot

30:12

of great quarterback play, the guy that can get

30:14

open fast on the perimeter and then make something

30:16

happen in space is important. I was

30:18

thinking about answering you, but then I realized where I was. You

30:21

can do the OH call yourself. We

30:26

got one. We got one back there. One Brave Soul. Is

30:28

that a Zeke jersey, by the way? Nice.

30:31

All right. That's a Zeke fan.

30:33

All right, so you get the Marvin Harrison

30:35

Jr. take that. This is easy. Yeah, this

30:37

is the layup of all layups. I appreciate

30:40

that you gave me this one. Thank you.

30:42

So, there's one player in this draft that

30:44

I would bet everything I had on. And

30:46

I don't feel confident about any player projections

30:49

other than this one. He

30:51

has everything. I know you had to make

30:53

the argument that there's something better about neighbors.

30:57

And a lot of people have been saying that. There

30:59

is one receiver in the past, I don't know, 10

31:01

years that I think has been as good as

31:05

Marvin Harrison Jr. coming out. And all the things

31:07

that you see about him, like your argument that

31:09

neighbors is a faster player. We don't know that

31:11

that's true. Marvin refused to

31:13

run to 40 because it's too damn good

31:15

to waste his time doing that foolishness. We

31:17

all know Marvin Harrison is going to be

31:20

the best receiver in this draft. And

31:22

I think it's pretty fair to project that he

31:24

is probably the best player in

31:26

this draft. Certainly, he's up there. If you

31:28

throw away positional value, darn good chance he

31:30

is the best player in the draft. All

31:33

right, the Jets picket number 10 for right

31:35

now. A lot of people debating. Do they

31:37

go offensive tackle or offensive linemen in general?

31:39

Or should they take a Brock Bowers type

31:41

player? Somebody that's not an offensive lineman versus

31:43

an offensive lineman, which side do you take?

31:45

Yeah, I can be honest about the

31:48

mistakes that I've made in the draft in the past. And

31:50

one of them was I argued

31:52

that the Bengals should have gone

31:54

with a tackle instead of Jamar

31:56

Chase. However, I'm not

31:58

too smart to not... repeat those

32:00

mistakes. Get a damn tackle.

32:02

Your quarterback is 100, and

32:05

your tackles are also equally as old.

32:07

They need a tackle. And there's a lot of

32:09

good tackles in this draft. I understand you could

32:11

wait until later in the draft to get a

32:13

tackle, but I don't think drafting a receiver, or

32:15

excuse me, drafting a tight end at 10 is

32:19

as smart for this team that's trying to make a

32:21

run for the championship. And there is depth at the

32:23

offensive tackles, but I'm worried for the Jets though, that

32:25

by the time we get to the third round, that

32:27

depth, that well is gone. Right. So

32:30

you get to make the Brock Bowers. I can make that case. They

32:32

have a 100 year old quarterback. They

32:34

have two 33 year old tackles. No team

32:37

in maybe the history of the NFL has

32:39

been more all in on one season than

32:41

the 2024 New York Jets. They

32:44

will all be fired if this doesn't work. A

32:46

backup tackle ain't helping this year. So you better

32:48

go get some help for Aaron Rodgers. You want

32:50

the ball to come out a little bit faster.

32:53

Brock Bowers can be that safety valve

32:55

over the middle. He could be your

32:57

Sam LaPorter type impact. And

32:59

if Mike Williams gets hurt again, and

33:02

Mike Williams has been hurt a lot, you're going

33:04

to need someone other than Garrett Wilson who can

33:06

get the ball. We saw that last year. It

33:08

wasn't just Rodgers. It wasn't just the offensive line.

33:11

The wide receiver room fell apart. So having a

33:13

Brock Bowers in there would give me a lot

33:15

of confidence in the past game. By the way,

33:17

Tamir Gibbs, Sam LaPorter, Brian Branch, all in one

33:19

draft. Yeah. Brian

33:22

Branch. Sheesh. I feel like Brian Branch. The

33:24

crowds was already cheering about the time I

33:26

said Brian Branch. And it's going to get

33:28

there. Jack Campbell will be a better player

33:30

than his show this past season. So he'll get there. I like

33:32

the optimism. All right, last one here on the player debates. Better

33:36

corner. And I'll start here, Matt. That's probably rude

33:38

to the former corner. No, you're good. Yeah. Quinnyon

33:41

Mitchell or Taryon Arnold. Man, I thought we were

33:43

going to talk Cooper Jean. I was ready. Oh,

33:45

I was ready. Oh, yeah. No, no. Other

33:47

corner to be entered into the debate. No, I

33:49

will go Taryon Arnold from Alabama. But I do

33:52

think this is really close. And it is like

33:54

the neighbors Harrison debate where you're arguing two players,

33:57

they say position, but they're very, very different. And

33:59

I think we'll... Arnold, you're getting someone who's physical.

34:01

He had six interceptions in college. He's a former

34:03

safety, so we know he will hit you in

34:05

the run game. And I would say there is

34:07

no better defensive back coach ever

34:09

than Nick Saban. If you can start for Nick

34:11

Saban, I feel pretty good about you. So I

34:14

will go tear down Arnold. Yeah,

34:16

Quiño Mitchell, I think, hasn't had

34:18

as much high-level competition. So it's

34:20

easy to knock him. I know they had issues

34:22

with seeing him in press coverage. He

34:24

didn't do much of that at Toledo, but apparently

34:27

those questions were answered at the senior

34:29

ball. But I think

34:32

this is a little bit of personal bias. He's

34:35

fast as hell. And playing corner, speed

34:37

matters. And one of the concerns I

34:40

have about Terry on Arnold, who ran

34:42

a 4-5-1, I think, is at the

34:44

next level, they get real grabby when

34:46

you can't run. And those penalties will come. So

34:48

I feel a little bit safer with Quiño Mitchell,

34:50

but to be completely honest with you, I feel

34:52

like cornerback, despite the fact that I played it,

34:55

you would think that I'd be able to project

34:57

it pretty well. It's really, really hard to project.

34:59

I can think back to a couple times that

35:01

I was so wrong about prospects

35:03

that I thought were like

35:05

Shore Fire, Hall of Fame, Love Town.

35:08

Remember Justin Gilbert? I thought Justin Gilbert

35:10

was the future of the cornerback position.

35:12

My Justin Gilbert is Jeff Akuta. I

35:14

still refuse to accept that. Oh, in

35:16

Detroit? Oh. I know, I know.

35:19

I thought, I'm with you. I

35:22

thought he was gonna be great. I

35:24

just knew that he was gonna be

35:26

great, hasn't worked out. There

35:28

we go. Toledo's in the house. All right,

35:31

I will quickly interject and just, I'll

35:33

break the tie. And choose a third

35:36

quarter. Cooper DeGenee, four, four,

35:38

six feet tall, excellent man-to-man coverage.

35:41

And he's white. Yes. There

35:43

we go. We've established that part of the

35:45

criteria for scouting players, right? That

35:47

joke works better when I do it. It's

35:50

real uncomfortable when you do it. Just to

35:53

cover my man, cover my man field, my

35:56

G8's back, I'll have you know that we had

35:58

a good conversation about Cooper DeGenee. He's

36:00

kind of a pioneer. So as you

36:03

know, there are no white cornerbacks in

36:05

football. And it's

36:07

absurd to suggest that white people can't

36:09

play corner. So we are we are

36:11

rooting for for the Rosa Parks of

36:14

defensive backs. Yeah, Cooper

36:16

DeGene. We want him

36:18

to ball out. And I also think that

36:21

we've noticed we've noticed in the league

36:24

in the last few years, like Tron

36:26

Johnson and Trent McDuffie, like

36:28

the flexibility, positional flexibility is important at

36:30

that position. And I think Cooper is

36:32

probably despite the fact that Terry on

36:34

Josh played safety. I think Cooper is

36:36

the most attractive player when you're thinking

36:38

about someone who could be comfortable in

36:41

a slot, safety and outside. So his

36:43

positional flexibility I think as I think

36:45

I might want to take Cooper before

36:47

I took these other guys because I

36:49

feel more confident that I'll find somewhere

36:51

where he can work. If you don't reuse the Rosa

36:53

Parks of cornerbacks in football. That was great. I

36:56

mean, that's just way too good to not reuse it some. I've

36:58

just been trying to figure out how to play or comp him

37:00

to Julian Edelwein. I can't figure it out. Can't do it. Can't

37:02

do it. All right. So let's wrap up with

37:04

a couple of things before we get to some of our great questions

37:07

here from this excellent, excellent audience. We have this wide

37:09

receiver class. Matt, I'll lean on you in this one

37:11

because you've been doing this as a

37:13

profession for what have this is what, 12, 13? Yeah,

37:16

12, 13 years. And it's

37:18

great to have Matt who's did it

37:20

forever, a police report. And then his own endeavor. And

37:22

now he's been to the ESPN killing it for what, this

37:24

is fourth draft? Fourth draft. Fourth draft. You

37:27

got to know my resume. This is great. I

37:29

studied before this. But we've been talking about this

37:31

wide receiver class a ton. How

37:33

good do you really believe it is? Like sometimes we

37:35

get caught up in the moment. We say this guy's

37:37

the best or this group of players is the best.

37:39

Does this actually stand above all other

37:42

wide receiver classes that you've scouted in this role? I

37:44

think it does. And the big reason for that is

37:46

what we have at the top. So I've never seen

37:48

a draft class with three wide receivers who are this

37:50

good. We've probably seen classes that are

37:53

this deep. We'll see six or seven receivers

37:55

come off the board tomorrow night. That's

37:57

about right. But it's the fact that. We

38:00

have Marvin Harrison Jr. We have Malik neighbors.

38:02

We have Roma Dunsey, who is my favorite

38:04

player in the entire draft. They would be

38:07

a number one wide receiver in almost every

38:09

draft, outside of the one with

38:11

Jamar Chase, where he was just such an exceptional

38:13

talent. Last year, these guys would

38:15

have been the first receiver, and it wouldn't have

38:18

been close, in my opinion. So it is truly

38:20

special. I think we have to provide a little

38:22

better context when we say, this is the best

38:24

receiver class ever. Well, what we mean by that

38:27

is it's the top-heaviest wide receiver class ever. And

38:29

it is a really, really good one. I think

38:31

that'll be reflected in how fast we see them fly

38:33

off the board. Yeah, I think it's

38:35

deep, too. Like you mentioned there, and I know

38:37

to each their own, I'm really high on Troy

38:40

Franklin right now. I think there are players later

38:42

in this draft that have potential to be true

38:44

number ones if they get in the right situation.

38:46

So yeah, this is, I think it's

38:48

not an over-estimation to say that this is the

38:50

best receiver draft that we've had in a long

38:53

time. We'll see how they all pan out, though.

38:55

And I think people also need to remind themselves

38:57

that like, your evaluation of a class, it's so

38:59

easy for us to look back on classes and

39:01

say like, wow, that 2014 wide receiver class was

39:04

incredible. This evaluation is also based off

39:06

how we see it going into the draft. They're

39:08

gallaging that not all these guys are going to

39:10

hit. And by the way, they're going to be

39:12

players drafted on day three at wide receiver that

39:14

become absolute stars. Maybe you have the next Amman-Rasaint

39:16

Brown somewhere in this year's draft class. It's

39:21

a nice pull. You know, what was that? Okay,

39:24

there we go. All right. Yeah, it's hard to

39:26

find yourself in Amman-Rasaint every year. So, but maybe

39:28

some team feels like there is a diamond in

39:30

the rough in the fourth round. Let's talk about

39:32

the second round. You mentioned Troy Franklin name, I

39:35

think probably here's his name. Probably goes in the

39:37

second round. Is there a second round prospect or

39:39

prospects that each of you says to yourself? All

39:41

right. I'm all in on that guy. Just a

39:43

receiver or overall. Whole board. I promise that I'm

39:45

not playing to the crowd. I am the biggest

39:47

junior Colson fan, the linebacker from Michigan. And

39:51

I went to the Michigan Pro Day, got to

39:53

talk to him. He's a fantastic young man. He

39:55

just to me exemplifies what a modern linebacker

39:57

should be. You have the running chase ability.

39:59

the toughness. I think he's a better Nick

40:01

Bolton, in my opinion. And Nick's a great player.

40:04

So if you're getting a better version of that,

40:07

that would be my day two. If I'm in a

40:09

front office, I'm finding a way to get him on

40:11

my team. I happen to see Wink Martindale, the new

40:13

University of Michigan defensive coordinator, by the way. I'm sure

40:15

you guys are fired up about that one. And he

40:17

said he was just talking about some prospects, and he

40:20

loves Junior Colson. And that guy knows

40:22

defense. I like Brayden Fisk, which is

40:24

a surprising one. And watching him on

40:26

tape, it seemed he was

40:28

wrecking more plays than I anticipated for someone at that level.

40:31

So I think he's going to end up in second round.

40:34

And I think he's a defensive tackle from Florida State. I

40:36

think he'll end up in the second round. And I think

40:38

he'll be a name that gets bounced around as someone who

40:40

is potentially near the top

40:42

of the league at that position. We

40:44

had to do a recent notebook. Matt, Jordan, Reed,

40:47

and I, and we were filling in our potential

40:49

surprise first round pick. And my answer was Fisk.

40:51

Might not happen, because he's an older guy. He's

40:54

24 already. But get used to

40:56

that, by the way, in the draft, at least

40:58

for the older players. And also with NIL money,

41:00

guys are inclined to stick around for

41:03

an extra year, because the opportunity cost is different. You

41:05

might be offered a million bucks to stay for an

41:07

extra year. And that might be enough to justify improving

41:09

your draft sock from a third

41:11

round pick to maybe a late first round pick. Jayden

41:13

Daniels, you go from day three to the top three

41:15

of roll. Let's wrap

41:17

up this portion of the show. Before we say

41:19

goodbye to the audio audience, and then we get

41:21

into the Q&A. With favorite prospects,

41:23

you mentioned you alluded to Roma Dunes Day. So if

41:26

you want to expand on that when you can, or

41:28

you can throw somebody else or others out there. And

41:30

then as many as you guys want, one or 100, somewhere

41:33

in between. You want to

41:35

go first? I mean, Olu Fishano from

41:37

Penn State. He's a DC guy,

41:39

which is where I'm from. He's

41:42

a basketball guy at heart, which it

41:45

shows in his footwork. He's a tackle. I think

41:47

he's someone who, right now, I guess

41:49

it depends on who you look at. He might be the top

41:52

tackle, or Joe Alt, who is 6' 9". He

41:55

could be good at basketball. I was going to say, he

41:57

might be a basketball guy, too. But anytime I'm always. always

42:00

kind of in awe at

42:02

the big tackles who are incredible athletes and he's

42:04

one of them stands out to me who has

42:06

footwork and technique beyond his years and I think

42:09

he's going to be a solid left tackle. Get

42:11

used to hearing this whenever he hears his name

42:13

called tomorrow night. He protected

42:15

for Kayla Williams in college. He was

42:17

a teammate for Kayla Williams like that's the one fact

42:20

that has to be repeated three thousand times within

42:22

the first ten minutes of him finding a new team. Yeah

42:25

so I said Roma Dinsay is my favorite player

42:27

so I'll go defense and you know

42:29

this field. I love Byron Murphy from

42:31

Texas. I think there were times he was at, I

42:33

mean he was at the plate nose tackle so that

42:35

Tavandre Sweat could play in the three technique position in

42:37

their four to five defense and at

42:39

six foot three hundred ten pounds he held the

42:41

nose no problem but when he was allowed to

42:44

rush the quarterback he did a great job of

42:46

it so I see him as someone that could

42:48

be that Justin Matabike is my player comp for

42:50

him. They could be like a double digit sack

42:52

performer. His first up quickness is great. His strength

42:55

to control linemen at the point of attack is

42:57

fantastic so don't be shocked if he's the first

42:59

defender off the board tomorrow night. My mock draft

43:01

came out today. Yours comes out tomorrow morning. I

43:03

can't wait to read it. Yeah. And

43:05

Adam has four more hours to alter it. I think I see.

43:07

Right. I know. I don't know

43:09

if Ben is Ben here. Yeah. Ben

43:11

sitting there. I see you guys are

43:14

wondering. And they're probably like don't you dare. Ben's

43:16

like don't you dare. I feel like we should ask

43:18

you these same questions. I know right. Who's

43:21

your guy? Prospect Jalen Polk. Wide

43:23

receiver from Washington. It's a good one. And you

43:25

know this is such a deep wide receiver class. He

43:27

could be maybe like the 12th receiver off

43:30

the board as an aside. If he's there at 60,

43:32

60. Is that where

43:34

the lines pick? 59, 60. Are

43:36

you guys used to the fact like you guys are

43:38

going to have to take some five hour energy shots

43:40

tomorrow before the draft. Like usually it's like 8 30.

43:42

It's like all right. We're good. We took

43:44

our pick. You know let's go get fired up up in a

43:47

school or something. Different dynamic. Yeah. We

43:49

love school. We do. But Jalen

43:51

Polk wide receiver from Washington. It's hard to say

43:53

you know when the guy might be the 10th

43:55

11th 12th players in a position drafted. You're

43:58

sort of it feels a little bit ironic to call him

44:00

your favorite prospect. We get enamored by the highlight reels

44:02

and those are certainly important and they do carry some

44:04

value as well, but I have made

44:06

the comparison for Jalen Polk to like an old

44:08

school post player in the NBA. There's like zero

44:10

sizzle, zero flash, he just gets buckets, right? Like

44:13

he just makes contested catches frequently, he's got excellent

44:15

body control. His speed is going to be probably

44:17

the reason why he drops. He ran a four,

44:19

five, two at the 40, but if you go

44:21

look at the rest of the combine testing measurements

44:23

and agility drills, like they were all pretty much

44:26

in line with some of the guys like he

44:28

was close to Roma doomsday in a handful of

44:30

those and we think Rome might be a top six picks tomorrow

44:32

night. So I got a lot of

44:34

love for Jalen Polk, probably one of my favorite players

44:36

to study in the entire draft. What were the

44:38

other questions as well? Second round player? I guess that

44:41

would hit both of them right there. Peyton

44:44

Wilson from North Carolina State, another linebacker

44:46

that I don't know the

44:48

range. Hardest part I think of draft prognosticating

44:50

beyond like just getting the analysis correct

44:52

is when a player's got a serious

44:54

injury, like history, you just have no

44:57

idea like Peyton Wilson go 120th, which

44:59

would be a Saturday night, you know, Friday night

45:01

and I'd say, Oh, okay, well, maybe that knee

45:03

and that shoulder really that bad, but if you're

45:05

looking for a linebacker who plays his hair on

45:08

fire, who does everything, he's got six sacks last

45:10

year at a million tackles, won the Bednaric award,

45:12

which is given to the best defensive player in

45:14

college football. He's 24, it will be 24 soon.

45:17

So he's older with an injury history that could

45:19

push him down, but his 443 speed at

45:22

the combine was the kind of speed that adds up with the

45:24

way that he plays the game. Yeah, kind of like Jack Campbell,

45:27

longer, taller guy that

45:29

just erases passing lanes and

45:32

a three down impact. There aren't that

45:34

many quality inside linebackers coming out routinely.

45:36

And it's interesting because I feel like

45:38

there was a time when we devalued

45:40

the inside linebacker position, but it feels

45:42

like because they are being hunted

45:44

so often that we need more like athletic

45:47

inside linebackers. So if he turns Peyton turns

45:49

out to be a special player, I think

45:51

it could be a huge impact if the

45:53

injuries aren't as much of concern. You think

45:55

about like Philadelphia and how they've changed their

45:58

ways this offseason. Philly would never. Spend

46:00

that a running back and then they made take one Barkley

46:03

They gave him the richest contract for running back in

46:05

like three off seasons like Philly who

46:07

has notoriously been you know frugal at

46:09

The linebacker spot like what if they took a

46:11

player like junior Colson or Peyton Wilson in the

46:13

second round on Friday night? Wouldn't stun me you

46:15

brought up injury which made me think of lat

46:18

to the pass rusher Which like if we're gonna

46:20

talk about injuries? Yeah Like I think him and

46:22

panics are the guys that jump to mind where

46:24

it's like Injuries really impacting them and if the

46:26

injury weren't there the conversation around them would be

46:28

different Yeah, totally. There's a chance that let me

46:30

lot if you tell me he goes a lot

46:33

to it to the Falcons But would be a reunion

46:35

with his Former head

46:37

coach in Washington Jimmy Lake rise

46:40

up indeed or he could go 24th and I'd say

46:42

okay You know like if that that neck is scary

46:44

enough to push him down the board happened with Jalen

46:46

Phillips Right out of the Dolphins three years ago. It

46:49

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better because it has to be all

47:57

right. We're not going anywhere. We have

47:59

time for a Q&A and I

48:01

believe we had some questions that were

48:03

submitted already. We'll see how we do

48:05

here, but Jackson, thank you. Yep. Yep.

48:09

So we have a few questions from the audience here and what we're

48:11

going to do is I'm going to say someone's name and what you

48:13

talked about. You raise your hand and I will come find you. All

48:16

right. So we have Brian to you as a question about

48:18

the Lions. Where's Brian? Oh man.

48:20

There we go, Brian. What's up guys? How

48:22

you doing? Welcome to Detroit. Thank

48:25

you for having us. I got two for one at

48:27

that school. And of all the Lions off season moves,

48:29

which was your favorite? Got to be boring and say

48:31

the two that took place today. I mean, I was

48:33

going to say,

48:35

yeah, you're two. I mean, I don't know, two

48:38

of your three best players. Maybe your two best

48:40

players, maybe Aiden and Jared also in that conversation.

48:42

Anytime like that's the beauty this weekend, right? Like

48:44

the goal for the next three days is for

48:46

32 NFL teams to find I'm on Ross, St.

48:49

Brown and Penne's school, right? Guys at the top

48:51

of the board, you got to nail them and

48:53

they nailed Penne, obviously. And then I'm

48:55

on Rahm and that's a day three pick. You don't

48:57

expect all of them to work out like that, but that's

48:59

the competitive advantage that you gain through the draft on the

49:02

week on day three is if you nail them, it's

49:04

I mean, that is unbelievably

49:06

valuable to the rest of the roster. Absolutely. Couldn't

49:08

agree more. And this one, this is pending the

49:10

staple, which I know we're hearing it might move

49:12

back. They might move off. But if they say,

49:14

but what position do you think the Lions should

49:16

take in the first round? I think we should

49:18

go wide receiver. Tell me why I'm right or

49:20

wrong. Want to go around the horn here? Yeah.

49:22

You want to start? Start us off. I

49:25

think defensive line. I think you have a chance

49:27

to build something great. You have Aiden, who's fantastic.

49:29

You have a Lee McNeil, who's a great young

49:32

player. I think in, especially in the NFC North,

49:34

you have that chance to build something that

49:36

is that gives you an obvious strength

49:38

over the other teams. How

49:40

about local guy, Darius Robinson from a zoo who

49:42

would be inside or outside player 290 pounds. He

49:46

could play on the edge. You can play as a

49:48

three technique. I think having that, that flexibility on the

49:50

D line would be great for them. Yeah. You

49:52

can never have too many corners. I was yelling at, but my feeling, my

49:56

feeling is more in line with what you said,

49:58

because I think their D line. was essentially,

50:00

or that pass rush was essentially Aiden

50:02

Hutchinson. And you can't survive that way

50:05

in football. You're gonna need to be able to

50:07

take some of the pressure off of him, which

50:09

may make him an even better player. And I

50:11

think that could be an impactful position for you

50:13

guys, where you can change games because you have

50:15

another pass rusher opposite him, or even right next

50:18

to him at D-TACL. I throw a wide receiver

50:20

in the conversation as well, just because, and I

50:22

hate to bring up source object, but you know,

50:24

just the difference between playing in the

50:26

big game and not is just catching passes, right?

50:28

We can relitigate that fourth down

50:30

decision a million times, but you catch the ball

50:32

and everybody's praising Dan Campbell and calling him the

50:35

smartest man in all of football. That's

50:37

right, damn right we do. But interior offensive

50:40

lines, feel like there's a sneakier need, obviously

50:42

losing Jonah Jackson was part of that. But

50:44

also, Frank Ragnow, he's unbelievable,

50:47

but the

50:49

body has taken the toll. At some point you gotta

50:52

be mindful of preparing for the future beyond guys like

50:54

that who have been through so much. We

50:57

do love Frank. All right, next one. Next question

50:59

we got from Jason Kim, wants to ask a question

51:01

about the Chiefs. I'm

51:06

a Ravens fan. Okay. But

51:09

my question is, what

51:11

will take the rest of the AFC

51:13

West to dethrone the

51:15

division title from them? They gotta stop making,

51:18

my belief on the AFC West is like, I

51:20

feel like so much over the past few years

51:23

has been trying to do it all in one-off season,

51:25

right? Like the Raiders a few years ago, signed

51:28

Jimmy Garoppolo, that might have been the year after, but it

51:30

was like, trade for Devontae Adams, and then

51:32

give Chandler Jones a ton of money. Like

51:35

I'm okay with, obviously I love signing Max Crosby

51:37

to a long-term deal, but it feels like teams

51:39

have tried so hard, the Broncos laughs last season,

51:41

spend a ton of money in free agency. Like

51:43

the Chargers have a chance because they have Justin

51:45

Herbert, but it just feels like

51:47

everybody's trying to make it happen overnight when it's

51:49

like methodically, it might take two or three years,

51:51

but obviously Tom Brady, the party, the Lincoln was

51:54

a big part of this as well, but

51:57

Buffalo realized at some point, if we're ever gonna

51:59

replace the Patriots. It's going to take some

52:01

time. And what they are now, compared to where they

52:03

were at the beginning of Josh Allen's career, is a

52:05

different story. Yeah, and I think the key there is

52:07

to build a team, instead of looking

52:09

at, hey, let's trade for Devontae Adams. Now we

52:11

can go compete with the Chiefs. No, you can't,

52:13

because you're still bad at these

52:16

other spots. You still have Derek Carr and quarterback.

52:18

So you're still deficient in those areas. So I

52:20

think that's the thing, is you have to build

52:22

a team. And then you

52:24

also just have to get lucky to some degree. But

52:27

I think to that point, and I've argued this, every

52:29

team in the AFC has to look at this draft

52:31

of, how are we going to catch Kansas City? And

52:33

if you're Buffalo and you're not taking chances to get

52:35

up there with Kansas City, or if you're Cincinnati and

52:38

you're not swinging the bat to try to impact players,

52:40

now's the time. Don't get cute and

52:43

say, let's hold all of our draft picks. Be aggressive. Go

52:45

get a player that you think could put you over the

52:47

top. Raiders come to the 29th and the 17th. Yeah,

52:49

I don't think that. I'm long gone. Yeah,

52:51

I don't think so. I

52:54

don't think that I could add too

52:56

much to what you guys were saying there. The

52:58

only thing I would say is that you could

53:00

take a page out of the Chiefs book and

53:02

that you have to be flexible. I think a

53:04

lot of times teams have an idea of the

53:06

team that they want to build and not the

53:08

players that are available and the players that they

53:10

have. So being flexible scheme wise, all the players

53:12

in NFL are good. You can be

53:14

competitive in any game if the scheme that you

53:17

implement fits the players that you have. All right,

53:19

next question we got from Mikey. Who has a

53:21

pick about this year's draft class? I got a

53:23

fantasy question for you guys. All right. Now

53:26

we're talking about field and fantasy focused football. Thank

53:28

you for listening. Can't wait for the season to

53:30

get rolling again. Who do you guys think will

53:32

be the number one pick out of this class?

53:35

I have fantasy football. I think it'll end up

53:37

being Marvin Harrison Jr. Because I think Marvin Harrison

53:39

Jr. has the best chance to go to where

53:41

I currently expect him to go, which is Arizona.

53:44

And I don't have a great feel on Roma Dunes Day,

53:46

not where he'll land just because I don't think it'll be

53:48

one of those first four picks. I think Malik neighbors could

53:51

end up with the Giants at six. And

53:53

that is a scary

53:56

situation. They haven't had a 1,000

53:58

yard receiver since OBJ, which was a very, very scary situation. was like

54:00

half a dozen years ago. The only other rookie that

54:02

I'll offer up that could be interesting, I mean obviously

54:04

if Brock Bowers lands in the right spot, that could

54:06

be very interesting. But whoever the

54:09

Cowboys draft at running back has a great

54:11

shot to have a massive role right away.

54:13

And I thought it was, like

54:15

this was, like that was cute by Mike McCarthy to

54:17

downplay the possibilities that are back and have an instant

54:20

impact. I think it was yesterday, the day before at

54:22

their presser. But if it take a second round running

54:24

back, a third round running back, there's no shortage of

54:26

names even in what is not a great running back

54:28

draft class that could have a great

54:30

impact because right now, and things could change at any

54:32

moment, it's the fitness running back backfield

54:35

in the Turner NFL. Yeah, not a

54:37

big Royce Freeman believer, Field Yates isn't.

54:39

You're absolutely right. Sorry. And I think

54:41

to expand that question, for

54:43

dynasty leagues, I still think Caleb Williams is the

54:46

guy. I know the year

54:48

one stats for quarterbacks is never super

54:50

great in terms of fantasy, but I would buy long on

54:52

Caleb Williams. I know there are a lot of other quarterbacks

54:54

in this class, a lot of great wide receivers, but Caleb's

54:57

the guy. And they do have a good setup. You

54:59

want fantasy talk? Nah. I

55:02

mean, you guys nailed it. I think it's

55:04

hard to project that type of safety from

55:06

Maryland. It's hard to project that

55:08

type of performance without knowing where the player is

55:10

going to end up. So if you don't have

55:12

a quarterback, receivers are not going to put up

55:14

big numbers. That's what makes Marvin interesting, is whether

55:16

you love Kyler Murray. He's helped

55:18

wide receivers have great seasons, even if they

55:20

haven't had a total star like Marvin Harrison

55:23

Jr. would be. All right, we got one

55:25

more question. This one is, apologies if I'm

55:27

saying the name wrong, Jackie. Like

55:30

I need a microphone. This is cute. No,

55:32

you don't. I know, right? It

55:34

carries, right? OK, so I'm

55:37

going to try to calm down because I'm not a big

55:39

Caleb Williams fan, because I'm not very fond of

55:41

how he acted during the draft. But we're going to like

55:43

when we were trying to run our fun. OK, yeah.

55:45

OK, the combine. I'm not very fond of that. All

55:48

right. So we're going to talk about JJ McCarthy,

55:50

somebody who's a little more down to earth. OK, all

55:52

right. Yeah. Am I from Detroit? Yes.

55:54

Yes. OK, so I'm going to work

55:56

for Michigan. Yeah. I mean,

55:58

Nattychamps, of course, right? Yeah. So

56:00

JJ McCarthy, where do we

56:02

think the best fit is going to be for him?

56:05

We know with his mindset and everything

56:07

that he's capable of, I feel like a lot of teams

56:09

aren't thinking about that. Okay, so can we all

56:11

agree the best, seemingly most realistic landing spot

56:14

is Minnesota? They're not going to like to

56:16

hear this. Yeah, but that's what it is.

56:18

Yeah, I say like keep the Michigan hat

56:20

on for a second. The

56:22

Lions hat can go back on in a

56:24

few moments, but you know, Minnesota just screams

56:26

good opportunity for whichever quarterback they land, whether

56:28

it wouldn't be Kayla Williams, whether it was

56:30

somehow Jaden Daniels all the way down to,

56:32

you know, Bo Nicks, the sixth ranked quarterback

56:34

in a lot of people's eyes. Just

56:37

because they've got two capable offensive tackles, they've got

56:39

two very good wide receivers, they've got an excellent tight

56:41

end. Aaron Jones now in the backfield.

56:43

Kevin O'Connell, who I think, you know, I think

56:45

is a very good solid offensive mind. That's

56:48

the answer on JJ. And you were

56:50

talking earlier, Dominique was about how like, you

56:52

know, projecting player like, you know, the fit

56:54

matters so much. The minute, probably

56:56

not after they're picked, but after the first

56:59

round ends tomorrow night, like my evaluation or

57:01

like my outlook for Drake May

57:03

versus JJ McCarthy versus Michael Pinnock Jr. versus Bo Nicks,

57:05

if they all go in the first round is going

57:07

to be a whole lot clearer. Because

57:09

again, not to pick on the Patriots again, but like that's

57:12

going to be a long road ahead there. So if JJ

57:14

goes to New England at three, it's going to take some

57:16

time for him to. Yeah, but

57:18

if he goes to Minnesota, 11 or

57:20

otherwise, I'm thinking to myself, it's

57:23

a smooth road for whomever the Viking strap

57:25

because the infrastructure that's in place is fantastic.

57:27

Yeah, I agree with you there. They

57:29

don't have much of a defense, though. It's getting better

57:31

and it's well coached, but that's you guys score a

57:34

lot of points. Yeah, that's true. That's true. But I

57:36

am a Brian Flores, Mitch. Yeah. Follow up. I'm

57:41

trying to help you. You

57:45

can you can buy real meat. You don't

57:47

have to. You don't have to eat hot

57:49

dogs. There's

57:54

more for you. I'll leave all the coney dog for

57:56

you. Bye.

58:00

The name hiring of I could increase got a

58:02

jets Me? that's what you said do. I

58:05

while we will take a moment to thank

58:07

all of you for coming out that I

58:09

to make it as a very special evening

58:11

on the eve of the Nfl draft for

58:13

Dominic Foxworth, Matt Miller floor Routledge Assad's I

58:16

have the J. Feel

58:18

like I do you for

58:21

watching first represented.