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This week's Ozone podcast, and I'm

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pleased to be joined this week by Matt

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Miller of ESPN, who, in the last

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ten years has developed

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into one of the more respected draft

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analysts around. First

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of all, Matt, I appreciate you joining us.

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Yeah, of course, thank you for the kind words.

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Well, it's here, it's the truth. You've earned

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your way up and I'm very happy

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for you.

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Overall.

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The draft this year, I

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guess first question to a draft analyst

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is how strong is it top

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to bottom? One of the better ones? How would you assess

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it.

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One of the better ones, especially at the top. You know, I think

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it's a unique year in which there are

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ten or eleven really really good players,

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you know, guys who would be top ten picks

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in almost any draft of the last decade.

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What's also interesting is those.

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Players happen to come at your core foundational

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positions quarterback, wide receiver,

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left tackle. There's a pass rusher in there,

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there's a corner and there. So those are your

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you know, first five positions you want to check off when building

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a team, and that gives it a chance be an all time draft

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all times work. Absolutely, I think what is

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interesting on the other side of it is this

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is the shallowest draft pool that I've covered.

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I started doing this in twenty eleven.

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This is the shallowest pool of players because

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of the twenty twenty COVID year,

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because of a record low number

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of underclassmen during that time, only fifty four declared

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for the draft because of transfer portal

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and nil opportunity.

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So it is a really.

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Good draft at the top, where it

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does fall off kind of sharply, and I

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think we'll see a lot of Round five to six

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seven players where teams are going to

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have huge variances in terms

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of their grades on those.

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Players, and teams trying to trade out not being able

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to because nobody wants to get in. So you

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mentioned nil before we get deep into the

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Jaguars, you

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kind of mentioned how it's changed this year.

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Do you see any way that the changing

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dynamic of college football is going

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to change the draft or No.

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I don't know that it will change the framework

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of the draft or the idea of the draft.

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I don't know that we're ever going to see a players associations

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say Hey, the draft is collusion. We're not doing

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this, Samemore. It's too important to everyone. But

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I do think it has changed again just

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how many players are entering the draft pool every

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year and to where you know, if you're a player who

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maybe in the past you'd had a good college

2:14

season, you are eligible to enter the draft. Maybe

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you felt that pressure because of financial

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constraints, or maybe you're just ready. You know, I can remember

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being young and I was ready to have my own money, you know,

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so you're ready to make that jump now because

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of nil you can have those financial

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opportunities and continue to improve as

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a draft prospect. Jayden Daniels from LSU

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is a great example of that. Someone who would have been

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a third or fourth round pick last year

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is able to stay at LSU and improve

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his draft stock, win a Heisman Trophy, and

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now is in the running to be a top three pick.

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Got you.

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Strongest positions in this year's draft?

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You you mentioned that there is u, you

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know, a good balance at the top of

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premier positions. As you get

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on down, are there positions that are stronger

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maybe uh to at that spot?

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Yeah?

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No, absolutely So wide receiver is really

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really talented, and I feel like we could say that every year

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now. It's the amount of talent coming out of college

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at wide receivers is amazing. Corner

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as well, a really deep class this

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year and in most years. But I think when

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you get outside the first round, running

3:16

back is a really deep class, but it happens to be in

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rounds three and four. You know, linebacker,

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there's a lot of really good players. It happens to

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be in rounds three and four. So that's

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that's kind of where the tears are falling this year, where

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early it's those you know, receiver, tackle,

3:30

corner, and then as we get later in the draft, there's some

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really good depth at those other positions.

3:34

You mentioned, uh, wide

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receiver. We were talking to Bucky Brooks earlier

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this morning. Is there a potential

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as we move on in this next three or four years

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because wide receivers are so plentiful

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every year, and it's got to the point where every four,

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I mean every year, say it was the best wide receiver

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class that you're saying, could it eventually devalue

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the position.

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In the draft? I think so I do.

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And I think also when you look at how expensive it

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is to draft someone, especially in the top five

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picks, it's a lot of money that you're giving us

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someone right out of the gate. So it wasn't that

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long ago that there was a school of thought in

4:07

the NFL and teams were studying this of are

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we better off waiting for the second round because there

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were so many wide receivers coming out of

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round to aj Brown, Michael Thomas, you know, those

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guys were coming out of the second round and being great.

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Deebo Samuel was another one. So there

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was that thought process for a while. And

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then you know the Jamar chases come

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around, and that justin Jefferson's and Jalen

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Waddle, and I think what's happened

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is those players are just given such high grades

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by team because they're so talented that we're seeing

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those players push up the board. But I wouldn't

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be surprised if and maybe we even see that a little

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bit this year with some of the teams early in the round

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who have maybe they have a need at tackle and wide

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receiver. Take the tackle first because

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there's depth at wide receiver as opposed to Well's

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draft a receiver, and we'll get a tackle in the second round

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where there's not as much talent.

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And may be ready to contribute, if not be

4:52

great. Absolutely, I got you different

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positions. The Jaguars fans are thinking

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about Ryan

5:00

Nielsen coming to board. Corner has

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become a hot topic issue. People think

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they're going to go there out at seventeen. Tell

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me how strong it is around seventeen,

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and then if they decide to wait into

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second round or third round, if they don't have to ridlely

5:14

pick, just assess that

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in those two spots.

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Yeah, I think the great thing about corner at seventeen is

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you might be looking at the second corner in the draft.

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You know, Quinnon Mitchell from Toledo, who had a great

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senior Bowl, could be right there in a Strake

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Straw from Missouri, a player, he's my number fifteen

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overall player.

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I can love his ability. He could still

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be on the board there.

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So I think in round one a

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lot of people and I get torn on this too, how many

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corners actually go in the first round. It

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might be it might be four, you know, and those

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two are certainly right in the there and play at

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seventeen. You get into round two and it's

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you're you're kind of wondering who could fall?

5:46

You know, could of Kamari.

5:47

Lassiter from Georgia fall a little bit?

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Because we're going to see quarterbacks

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offensive tackles and wide receiver dominate

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the first round. Could that push a kool

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Aid mckisstry or a Kamari Lasser to the second

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round.

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I mean, it could absolutely happen.

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There's a school of thought that if you're gonna

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take inter your offensive lineman in

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the top twenty.

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Hed better be great.

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Yeah, Oregon

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kid Jackson, Powers Johnson, He's

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great.

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I don't.

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I would hate to put that label on someone. You

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know, he had one really really good year

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at Oregon. You know, he's battling a little

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bit of an injury in the pre draft process,

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so that that kind of makes our to evaluate. At

6:24

the Senior Bowl the day and a half you practiced,

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they were great, great days.

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I think for me, I just want to.

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See a little more consistency before I would put that label

6:32

on him. I think he could be a really really

6:34

good NFL starter, and he could play center

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or guard, so there's some versatility there. He's

6:38

a little bit of an outlier. You know, three hundred and thirty

6:40

four pounds, you're one of the biggest

6:42

centers in the NFL immediately at that size.

6:44

So there are some things that you really like. There's

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some things that are a little bit question marks too.

6:48

At seventeen, it feels

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like this is the year and you always hear every year whether

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it's X number of great players X number

6:55

here. But it seems from talking

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to people that at seventeen,

7:00

if they go corner center, they're

7:02

gonna get a good

7:04

player, maybe even defensive line there.

7:06

Yeah, absolutely, I think because we're gonna

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see quarterbacks get pushed up. You know, there

7:10

might be four quarterback There will be I think four quarterbacks

7:13

off the board by that point, potentially five. We're

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gonna see four wide receivers potentially

7:17

off the board at that point, maybe five offensive

7:20

tackles.

7:20

So that is gonna push down.

7:21

Maybe Byron Murphy, the d tackle from

7:23

Texas, so I think will be the first one of the first d tackle

7:26

off the board. Maybe he's still there at seventeen

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if we see runs at those other positions

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we were talking about. Corner, there's a very

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real world in which the number two corner in this draft

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is still available at seventeen. And then I

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do think, you know with JPJ the

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center from Oregon, also very

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very real possibility that he's there at seventeen.

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Give me a couple of third round corners

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and maybe in third rounders

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at other spots because they may skip

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the second round pick because really situation, the

7:57

potential for third round impact.

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Maybe at corner offensive line

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guys who could step in and play.

8:03

Yeah, corner, I think again, we'll see where

8:05

the run happens, sure at that position. Jarvis

8:08

Brownlee Junior from Louisville as a player

8:10

I really really enjoy watching. He's physical

8:12

with the line of scrimmage, but he's got the ability to run

8:14

and bail. He's just a little bit undersized. Mike

8:17

Sanders still from Michigan, probably going to be

8:19

an inside guy in the NFL and in

8:21

a nickel corner, but just a complete

8:23

playmaker. Anytime you watch Michigan play, he's

8:25

coming up huge in their secondary for them.

8:27

So those would be the two corners. I'd be pretty excited

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about.

8:30

Offensive guard Dominic Puney from Kansas,

8:32

who played left tackle for them. He's going to play guard

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in the NFL. Really really good athleticism,

8:37

His ability to get out and attack linebackers

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to play in space is phenomenal.

8:42

The Kansas run game.

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If you ever get bored and like watching run game, Kansas

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run game is fantastic.

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Man, He's a huge part of that.

8:48

Yeah, yeah, you might not, but if you

8:50

do, it's a long summer after the draft.

8:52

You obviously

8:55

you study a lot of minutia and a lot of players,

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but you also talk to people about the draft constantly.

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Where do you see the draft, Maybe

9:03

it's in scouting players how

9:06

it's going to come. Is there anything to

9:08

you that seems to be changing

9:10

that you're going to see some changes in

9:13

the next couple of years.

9:14

Yeah, I think you know, right now there's a really

9:16

big conversation happening about how much experience

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matters in the draft. You know, it used to be they

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draft the traits, you know, you draft that guy early,

9:24

but especially at quarterback, there's

9:26

been so many misses because you're drafting players

9:28

who just weren't experienced. And it's

9:30

sure they had big arms and they were really fast, but

9:32

then played a lot of football. And so I think that is even

9:34

carrying over now to offensive line play, especially

9:36

offensive tackle.

9:38

You want guys who have experience, who.

9:39

You've got a bigger window to see

9:41

what they can do. And it's why you know, players

9:43

like bow Knicks and Michael Pennix Junior are being

9:45

elevated this year because of that experience

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factor.

9:48

What are your thoughts on that.

9:50

I think it makes my job easier obviously. If

9:52

I can watch a guy who's played like bo Nix has

9:54

started sixty one games, that helps me do my

9:56

job, right his dad unfortunately,

9:59

So yeah, yeah, so I do think

10:01

that it helps us all to our job

10:03

the more information we have about a player. But you

10:05

know, if I were, especially a team that is a playoff

10:07

contender like Jacksonville, I want

10:10

guys who can come in and play right away. Sure, you want

10:12

upside and you have to draft those players

10:14

that you're going to develop, but I think, especially

10:16

you know, those core foundational positions

10:19

experiences is really hard to come by.

10:21

Matt Miller, You're a busy man and knowledgeable man. I

10:23

appreciate you sharing it with the Jaguars of

10:25

course listeners. Yeah, fantastic

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stuff. I appreciate you.

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Thank you,