Draft Season | New York GiantsJohn Schmeelk and Tony Pauline give their takeaways from all seven rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Draft is now officially open.
This is draft season. The twenty twenty four NFL Draft is in the books. It's all brought to you by Moody's Decode, Risk, Unlock Opportunity.
Visit moodies dot com to learn more. I am John Schmelk.
Join those always by Tony Pauline from sports Keto, where you can find all his written work. And by the time this is up, I'm sure there'll be something on there about a draft recap from Tony, so make sure you go check that out.
Hey, Tony, we're gonna recap the draft here.
We're gonna try to touch on all the teams in some way, shape or form if we can. But we'll go through guys that fell, guys that maybe went a little high. We'll go through teams we like, teams we didn't, and we'll try to get to as many teams as we can. Here as he recapped the twenty twenty four NFL drafts. And this is not our final episode before we take a little hiatus. Tony will have his twenty twenty five watch list coming your way in the second week of May. That'll be our final episode before break until the end of August.
So Tony, just give me your overall take.
Here.
We're finally at the end of the process.
You've gone through a ton of these What does it feel like for you to have a year of wark kind of in the books now as the twenty twenty four NFL Draft is all wrapped.
Up, I think the most fun part of the best thing is when I plug in a guy, like as I'm going, we're going through the draft tracker, I'm plugging in what selection they are, and when you get down to like one seventy nine or one eighty and it's actually the guy who's the one hundred and eighty selection in the draft is actually the one hundred and eightieth guy on my board. I'm quite happy, of course, when the you know, one hundred and thirty eighth player on my board is the sixty fifth player select, you know, I'm like, well, somebody's wrong here. We'll see what happens.
Yeah, absolutely, So why don't we start there, Tony? You and I were both a little surprised about some of the guys that fell in this draft that we weren't expecting. Why don't we go back and forth here? Why don't you go first with your first guy? That you were a little surprised fell a little bit.
Well, I think you got to go with a d Mitchell. I mean, a lot of people thought he was going to be a first round pick. He ends up in the late part of round two to the Indianapolis Colts. You know by now Chris Ballard's rant is a little bit viral, But I don't agree with the Chris Ballard. There's a reason why ad Mitchell fell as deep as he did, and a lot of lesser rated receivers were selected before him, And the fact is he didn't interview well. There were a lot of questions about him. He really hasn't improved his game since his freshman season, and every time I watched the film and I expected more, I kept going back to that freshman year at Georgia to justify. Okay, he's a late first round pick. But I think it was a combination of the four interviews and the less than expected results on the field is why ad Mitchell fell into the late part of round two.
Yeah.
I agree with the concept in general from Chris Ballard with unnamed sources and stuff put your name out. I agree with that, but Adi Mitchell is also a player and I love Eddie Mitchell. I had him as a as a as a borderline first round.
Guy here, so I'm a big Ady Mitchell fan.
But when he outright says in public at the Commine that I didn't run hard on plays, I didn't think I was getting the ball, that's not anonymous sources. That's the guy saying it at a press conference. Those are two very different things, all right. I'll throw two wide receivers out there, Tony, just to kind of stick with the wide receiver. I know you have another one as well that's really low hanging fruit that I'm one hundred percent behind, but I'll let you take him. I was surprised Devontes Walker got to the fourth round. I thought that was a little tardy vermim. I thought he was more of a third round pick. Then the league Washington going all the way in the sixth round. Now, I think he found a really nice landing spot in Miami. I think he's gonna do well in that system. But for a guy that was so productive, I know he's a little short. I know there's only one year of production. I thought he could have stuck into the fourth or fifth round.
Yeah, I think with my League Washington. I mean, remember the whole story. He had to come back to North Carolina if he didn't want to be away from home, so he had to be closer to home. I think that's a concern for some teams. He ends up with Baltimore, I mean, which is very close to home. So it was a great pick by Baltimore. Hopefully Walker was okay with it. As far as the Virginia receiver, I mean, he's explosive, he's incredibly quick. He's a great rut runner, but he's five 't eight, and I think a guy like that, if you watch I mean Todj's Washington, you know, was still on the board. Those shorter guys seem to have gotten pushed down a bit.
You're right, and then you have a receiver that to me went way too late. But I'll let you start and then I'll pile on.
Yeah, I mean Troy Franklin going in the fourth round. I made calls. I tried to figure out why he went so late. Somebody told me his pre draft process, specifically his combine workout really wasn't up to par. He was there at one hundred and seventy three pounds. He didn't catch the ball well, and they were concerned about that. And you have to be careful because when you watch the film on Troy Franklin, he plays like a top of the second prospect. He doesn't play like a fourth round prospect. He catches the ball well, he catches everything. He catches things in crowns. So if it is true, and the reason that precipitated Troy Franklin's fall was a bad combine one hundred and seventy three pounds when he had he had the flu. He came back at the pro day, I think he was I think he was one seventy eight at the combine, came back to Frod he was one eighty four, and he didn't catch the ball well in the gauntlet. You know that that is a dangerous thing. You got to are you are you basing your grade and your decision on what the guy did in shorts and a T shirt at the combine workout catching the ball, or are you're watching two years of out standing film or are you gonna based on two years of out standing film on Troy Franklin. Regardless, he was great value in the fourth rounds.
Yeah, he wound up with his college quarterback in Bonnicks with Denver, So I think that'll work out well for him, and it will work out well for the Broncos and Antony. This is not me taking a shot at the Commanders, but I think the Commanders and they'll be in my list of teams that I thought had a really good draft.
I cannot fathom when I did my.
Wide receiver rankings having Luke McCaffrey, and I like Luke McCaffrey. I think he's a chance to be a good player, but just picking him ahead of Troy Franklin, I just I can't wrap my head around that in any way, shape or form, especially.
Since you know, I would say that Franklin's as good a route runner and he catches the balls well and McCaffrey's not as fast. So I completely agree with you.
Okay, I'll go here. Peyton Wilson. Tony, he led in to the end of the third round. Now, there's no mystery as to why this happened. Obviously it has to do with the injuries he had all those surgeries. He doesn't have an ACL in one of his knees. According to a lot of the reports on NFL Networked during the draft, coverage. But look, even if he's a one contract player, Tony, to get him at the tail end of the third round in a pick in the nineties, even if he just gives the Steals five really good years, that's a heck of a pick.
Yeah, or even three or four years. I mean, there comes a point with a guy like that where the outweighs the risks, and the risks are completely medical. You know, we've known about him for a while. I talked about the shrine ball because they said there were gonna be some major concerns there. His teammates even said there were major concerns. But at what point in time do you say, you know, listen, the reward is greater the risk. And the Pittsburgh Steelers have had experience with this type of player that didn't have an ACL And you know, again he looks fine on film North Carolina say the past two years. But what you're looking at, and I've said this time and time again with the medicals, can they get to the second contract. We'll see if Peyton Wilson defies those odds and gets to a second contract.
You have another defensive play here, Tony, one that I was also surprised dropped as far as he did.
Yeah, yeah, Jayden Hicks, because the lead up to the draft everyone thought that Jayden Hicks was going to be the first safety taken, especially after his Pro day workout when he ran in the four four six When he ran four four six. Now, I somewhat understand it because he's a bit of a tweener two hundred eleven pounds and when you see Hicks, he's very good in a straight line, but he's not great sideline to sideline. He doesn't have that the range that Bullock of USC has, So your buys basically looking at him as his own type downhill safety that you can't play in traditional center field. Maybe you put a few pounds on him and you move up the field to linebacker. I still think he went much later than he should have, but I understand why he fell a bit, all.
Right, And then I'll wrap up this part of the show with two guys king Le Suama to Tony dropping to the end of the second round. I think from a talent perspective, I didn't have a ton separating him from guys like Jordan Morgan and Tyler Geyton, So I was surprised he got down there as far as he could. We thought the Chiefs might take him with their pick at the end of the first round. They got him with their pick at the end of the second round, So I thought the Chiefs.
I thought I had a really good draft, by the way, and they got good value there.
And then I'll throw Cooper Bebe in there, who I had a second round great on him.
Sounds like the Cowboys gonna play him at center.
He's gonna be a walking starter for them on the offensive line, and probably Bill haven't plug in there.
For ten years.
A couple of things Sue Matteia I had known the story in the lead up to the draft, and I was struggling where to put him his own people told me that he could end up as a late second round pick. There were a lot of maturity questions about Sue Mattea. Evidently, the story that I was told by people close to him was he pulled himself out of the last regular season game at BYU. He didn't want to play in that game, and BYU I believe they needed to win that game to have a chance to get in the Big twelve championship contest. He pulled himself out, he said he had an injury. BYU was it really changed off at him and the BYDU coaches basically threw him under the bus. So this is a possibility. They were preparing him for this possibility because the BYU coaches really just just did not give gave poor reviews to NFL coaches and NFL scouts, and when that happens, that's a bad thing. That's why he you know, he felt he felt the way he did.
And just to be clear, so people don't come at you, Tony, this isn't your reporting that he took himself out of the game and he wasn't hurt.
You're just telling the story that was told to you.
By his people. So it's not like you know some by his people who who I know very well. And and I went think asking where in late in round one he was going to go. I thought at the time the Dallas Cowboys could take him, and they were like, he may not go in the first round, he could go anywhere. He go as deep as as the fifty to fifty fifth pick, and then the story was laid on top. So it's not someone that had, you know, an ulterior motive here with his own people. But you know what, he ended up in a great spot. He ended up because he's going to be a start there and you know, if he just grows up and gets a little mature, he's gonna be outstanding tackled the next level. Cooper bb I think it was a combination. I love Cooper bb Well thirty one in Charms and it does twenty reps on the bench press. That's you know, bench press really doesn't mean that much, but when you are a shorter arm guy and you play that brand of nasty football, it's just not a good combination, all.
Right, Tony.
We try to keep a positive here, so I don't want to make this second list too long here, But guys that we were surprised how high they went. I'll lead off here just given all the off the field stuff that happened with him and the weight issues, I was surprised to and Andre Sweat remained in the top forty. Like if you look at his tape, I get it, he's that good of a player. I was just surprised that he was a high second round pick to the Titan to thirty eight.
The weight issues, the off the field issues, the partying, I was absolutely shocked that he went that early, to mean, because there was talk that he could he may not even be a second day pick. You may fall into the fourth round. I was surprised that Cayden Wallace was a early third round choice to Kaiden Wallace, the Penn State tackle, who was a sixty eighth selection. I liked Cayden Wallace a lot off the twenty twenty two film, but I thought he struggled a lot last year and I thought he really hurt himself last year. He's got the size, he's got the upside, he's a terrific power gap blocker. But I thought off of last year's film, especially compared to his junior tape, I thought, you know he is drest stock had fallen. Obviously I was wrong.
Two guys at the I'll even give you three, just real quick, Tony top of the second round that I was surprised. I was surprised, and I'm a big fan of this player. I like him a lot. I was surprised that Rukero went ahead of jerse On Newton by a pick, the Falcons trading up to get him again. Really good athlete. I think he has a lot of a great future ahead of him, but ahead in Newton was a surprise. I thought Jalen Polk was a tad early for me over other wide receivers like Ady Mitchell, a guy you mentioned in the previous segment, and then I would thought that Kamari Lassider, given that four to six at the Pro Day, I thought forty two was a little bit rich for him. Again, all good players, I thought they were all going to be Day two picks. I just thought top forty two picks maybe a little rich.
Do you think I'll disagree in a sense that with Lasseter anyway, because Lassiter ran four six to four five five, but he plays fast and he's constantly around the ball, where Pulk, while he's a good receiver, is more of a contested catch guy that I think should have been taken in Day three. I think I'm gonna break your heart. When I mentioned one of your guys, I thought Rinardo Green of Florida State was taken a bit early.
I was so happy Tony that my second round grade on him will I justified by the league.
I couldn't tell you how happy I was.
Here's the thing is, he's got terrific size, He's got terrific speed. But even when they were showing the highlights after he was selected, he's constantly face guarding. You know, they show these these great plays that he's making, but he's playing the receiver's hands, which leads me to believe that you better put them in zone or there's gonna be a lot of receptions made against him.
I thought, I know it was in need for them, I thought, and I thought they had a great draft. Otherwise, I thought mares the lea fao at a Notre Dame was a little bit early for the Dallas Cowboys.
He had been a round three as well. I was.
I was getting third round grades on him. In fact, I had him as a third round, third, fourth round in the lead up to the draft. So, I mean, the thing with him is he's intense, he's instinctive. And then he had a terrific workout and a terrific combine at a terrific prode and people really started to fall him. In fact, I informed his team that I was getting third round grades on I will say this not that he was taken too early, but I am happy to see that where Jermaine Burton went uh the receiver from Alabama, because I had him as a third round I was hearing about these character issues about him, but he's a terrific receiver. He's a vertical wide out with the room to grow, and he catches the ball very well. So I think that's a guy that a lot of people thought may have gone a little bit earlier than they expected. But I was happy to see it.
Yeah, Tony, I thought without the off the field stuff, I thought he was second around talent. To be totally honest with you and with you know, we'll see what happens with t Higgins. You know, maybe one more year there. You know, he could easily just step in and be the second wide receiver there. He could be their starting slow in Week one for all we know, given his his skill sets.
So I agree, I got to give it two more guys than that thought I went much earlier than they should have. Number one Mason Smith of LSU, mid second round choice. I mean, Mason Smith's best football was two years ago and when you want and he was injured last year, but when you watch him play this year, it was sort of that a d Mitchell. Yeah, if he's not involved in the action, he's not playing very hard. Once Block stayed locked with with Mason Smith, which was a concern for me.
And yeah, actually, Tony, I guess his best player then was three years ago, right, because he missed all twenty twenty two, played in twenty three, so his best ball was in twenty twenty one.
Three jasons ago, right, two years ago is what I said, right, So two years ago as far as twenty twenty three was what I'm talking about. Once block stays blocked the other guys, I thought, as I was rooting for this guy, but I thought Max Melton in the middle of round two was way too high, because again Max Melton was the guy who when you watched him as a freshman at Rutgers, I thought, Wow, this guy is going to be a first round picked, and then his game kind of leveled off. Even to regress a little bit, I didn't see any improvement in his game, and rather than seeing a consistent, shutdown cornerback at Rutgers, I saw a guy who showed flashes, a guy who did a lot of a face guarding, incredible athlete right upside. But I thought the middle of round two was very early for Max Melton.
And by the way, we've talked about why this happened, But I thought Jackson Powers Johnson was great value for the Raiders.
At forty four, I thought he was a first round player.
We talked on previous episodes why he dropped, Tony, whether it was personality stuff, injury stuff, whatever, the post draft process that you know, people got worried about with him. But I thought at forty four, I think he's a really good player and he's going to be a big help to the Raiders. Don't forget Draft season brought to you by Moody's Decode Risk, Unlock Opportunity. Visit moodies dot com to learn more. All right, Tony, I'll let you lead off. What were one of what was one of your favorite draft classes that you liked this year.
I gotta go with the Chicago Bears, who literally before the draft even started, they were winners based on the fact that you know, they had the first pick of the draft, based on that incredible trade last year. Then they get Caleb Williams. You know, I mean there's probably some risk there. It's not a guarantee, not because of Caleb Williams, but because of the fact that you know, it's the quarterback position and you never know what the quarterback position. They come away with Roma Doonza what eight picks later. So not only do they get you know they're hopefully the quarterback of the future, they get the player that you know the quarterback is going to be throwing the ball to. I think getting the Yale offensive tackle in the third round was good value. If Kieran Amadagaji had played the season, had performed at the senior balls, most people thought, you're looking at an Ali or possibly an Ali Marpett type of a small school lineman who could have gone in the second round. Austin Booker in the fun was terrific value and outstanding situation pass rusher. And I thought that Tory Taylor, where they took him in the fourth round, the punter out of Iowa, was great value. I think that Torry Taylor, the punter from Iowa that the Bears took in ROUNDH war is going to be an opening day starter for the team.
All Right, I am gonna cheat here, and I'm totally okay with that. I think the entire NFC East Tony did very well in this year's draft. The Cowboys needed two starters in the offensive line. They got one in Tyler Geyton. We'll see how he adjusts to the left side. That is going to be a factor here, and maybe it's gonna take a year, but I think long term he's got the skills to do it. Cooper bb we already mentioned he's going to be a plug and play starter for them on the inside. You know, he has to transition the center. He practiced there and never played there. We'll see if it works. I thought Marshawn neland was a good value for them in round two. We already talked about Leafou as well. I thought, you know, need and value met pretty well for them. I thought the New York Johns well with Molik Nighbors, they got a starting safety and Tyler Nubman in the second round, a guy they think they can start a corner. And Andrew Phillips a high end tight end, a high upside tight end, and Theo Johnson, who in that Penn State offense didn't have a chance to show that athletic ability, but he will in the NFL. Then you have the Commanders who had high volume. I mentioned I wasn't a huge fan of the McCaffrey pick, but Jayden Daniels, Jerson Newton and I know they already have two tackles that are good. I get that, but he was the best player left on the board at that point. Then they got Mike Santristill, who I really like. I know some people thought Ben Sonatt was a little bit rich, and around two I had a second round great on him, so I had no problem with that. He's gonna be a plug and play starter or a tight end. Brandon Coleman is kind of a high upside offensive lineman, guard tackle flexibility.
And then Luke McCaffrey.
So the Commanders had a lot of picks Tony, and I think they took pretty good advantage of those selections. And then finally the Eagles. Look, they get quitte on Mitchell late in the first round. They get Cooper dejen early in the second round to rebuild that secondary.
That's great.
J lox Hunt is a you know, flyers maybe the wrong word, but a developmental young defensive end that you know, kind of play in that Hassan and Reddick role for them. And you know me, I love Will Shipley and they got will Shipley late. And the addendum here is Tony, they added three picks in next year's draft, and in next year's draft. For the first time in a long time, the Eagles are slaved to have no compensatory picks, but they picked up three picks, including a Day two pick, in various trays they made up and down the draft over the last three days. So I thought the Eagles did a pretty nice job as well. I thought the whole NFC East got much much better today.
I do like what the Baltimore Ravens did. I usually like what the Baltimore Ravens do every year, so that's not a surprise. I was a little bit hot and cold on Nate Wiggins, but the fact that they got him at thirty I think was a solid choice. I love the selection of Roger Rosengarden, the offensive tackle from Washington late in the second round. Was told that they're pretty happy what they have it right right tackle, but I think at the very least Rose and Garden will compete for that starting job, or they can come inside the guard. I thought it desa Isaac lighton round three, another terrific pick, perfect fit for their system. They needed an Edgresher. He's a guy who I think will be moved in and out as a rookie. He could have developed into an every down defender. Devontes Walker in round four I thought was great value. We talked about that TJ Tampa, the cornerback from Iowa State. I think TJ Tampa in round four is actually better value than Nate Wiggins in round one. Long athletic does a great job making plays with his back to the ball. I think Rasheen Ali in the fifth round, the running back from Marshall, is a phenomenal complementary ball carrier to add to the Derek Henry signing. So you know, again for a team that is just looking for a few pieces and a few breaks to get to the next level, I thought they came away and they did a great job.
Yeah, and look they somehow figure out why you just sit there and pick and like TJ. Tamp is there and they are day three and Devonte's Walker sitting there on day three. The way that they can just somehow sit there and just wait for really good players to fall to them, Tony, it's really unbelievable. I want to highlight a team in their division. I thought the Steelers had a wonderful three days. Talk about understanding what you want to do as a franchise and drafting players to fit that identity, Tony. I thought they did that beautifully with their draft. They rebuilt their offensive line in one fell swoop Round one. Troy Fatanu dater, tackle doesn't matter. I imagine he's gonna be a tackle for them. Zach Frasier walking starting center. Mason McCormick's one of my favorite. In round four. I think he's gonna be a starting guard for them. We talked about Peyton Wilson as a steeling round three. Roman Wilson around three I think is good value Tony. I think he's gonna fit right into that Deontay Johnson spot with him getting traded to Carolina in the offseason.
And I like Logan Lee out of Iowa.
I think he can be a pretty good upfield, versatile defensive lineman that can move around a little bit. I thought the Steelers picked to their personality. I think they got some really good players in there. They fit some needs, and I just think, you know how the Steelers want to play, and this draft was just like a big exclamation point on the type of players they want and the way they want to play the game.
Yeah, at he's got a little guy to get a little bit stronger. I mean, Roman Wilson had a hinz Ward type of player, bocker.
He's a blocker too.
The interesting thing about Fatano is we're gonna have to wait and see down the road. Did they met looking at the rest of their draft? And it's kind of tough to do it because you did. I'm sure they didn't. I know they didn't think Zach Frazier was gonna be there in the second round. But watch Quinn Mitchell with the Eagles versus Foratanu with the Steelers. See how that plays out. Because they passed on Quinn Mitchell to get that interior offensive lineman, then they were able to come back around to get their center and then get Mason McCormick a round four, who you know, is a prototypical Steelers type of blocker, Steelers type of pick. So that'll be interesting contrast to watch over the next couple of years. I talked before about how you know the Ravens, they were a team that looks for needs a few pieces, yet they every year they pull off an outstanding draft. You gotta love what the Kansas City Chiefs did. I mean that this is why the Ravens and the Chiefs are competing for titles or winning titles every year. I mean the Chiefs flip flop with Buffalo and then take Xavier Worthy when everyone and their mother thought that the Buffalo Bills, We're gonna take Xavier Worthy for themselves. I mean, just to add another lethal threat down the field. He doesn't have to be a number one receiver. You line him up in the slot, you put him in motion before the snap of the ball. You line him up back off the line of scrimmage. You know what he did at the combine, and he plays to that speed. Talked about Sue Mattia, I thought getting Jared Wiley in the fourth round was great value of developing tight end who you know, when Travis Kelcey eventually retires, which is probably going to be sooner rather than later, you could stick him right in. Hunter Norzad who they selected in the fifth round. Hunting Nordzad is going to make their active roster this year as a backup interior offensive lineman and will eventually take over to be the Kansas City Chiefs starting center. I think Kamal Hayden was also a real good pick in the sixth round, has a high upside excellent size, good athlete, had an injury last year, which really, you know, stunted his development and pushed him down. And listen, when was the last time we saw a Tennessee player who was pushed deep in the draft because of an injury because of medicals that the Kansas City Chiefs selected and then went on to be an outstanding player and Tony.
They had so many picks you expect one of them to be a dud. I thought the Arizona Cardinals at a really nice job in this draft. Marvin Irison junior at four, that goes without saying. Darius Robinson at twenty seven, a big, versatile defensive end they needed that.
Melton was a little high.
At forty three. He was a little high for me too out of him and I think in the high fifties on my board. But good player Trey Benson around three I thought was good value for them. He'll be a good pairing with with their power back Connor. He's more of a speed guy. We talked about how much we liked Asa Adams at the Senior Bowl as a third round pick. Tip Ryman a blocking tight end and I think fits well next to Trey McBride with some upside as an athlete. Elijah Zoe Jones, A lot of people like him the corner out of Boston College. And then I like Xavier Thomas in round five. I know he's never met his potential and produced to that level of Clemson. He's an older prospect, but I think in round five it's worth the role the dice. We both like Christian Jones as a right tackle at the Senior Bowl. You know, he's not the most athletic guy, but I think he's a chance to play in this league and be at worst a really good swing tackle. So I thought the Cardinals, given their high volume of picks Tony, I think they did a pretty nice job. I didn't even mentioned Dadrian Taylor Denverson, the safety out of Texas Tech, So I think the Carlos should be pretty happy with the draft ball that they walked away with.
You actually didn't mention Tejuan Palmer out of UAB, who a lot of people don't know about it. I mean, he was a guy we saw at the shrine ball. He goes to six one and a half two and ten pounds, ran a four four five during his prot and strained a hamstring during his prote which he had to stop. I mean, this is someone that no one's talked about, no one really focused on. I mentioned that he was building momentum. I thought he was going to go in the seventh round. He ended up in the sixth round. Good for him, and that's the guy who I think can make the roster this year. I thought the Ragers did a terrific job. You know they basically I think they had a regroup when the Falcons surprised everybody and took Michael Pennix. So they regroup, and what do they do. They get a playmaker, a tight end. They get a guy that's gonna be another reliable pair of hands for rub Derek Carr and Brock Bauers. And I think playing indoors in Vegas is really going to benefit Bowers as just a terre past catching tight end who can get down the field, go over the middle, and he's a solid blocker. We talked about the Jackson powers Johnson earlier. I think DJ Glaze in round three may surprise people, but there's a lot of love for Gladze in the scouting community. He played left and right tackle at Maryland. I think He's a guy who's gonna compete for the right tackle job, could kick into guard the Cameron Richardson of Mississippi State, a big, tall, athletic corner in the Raiders mold has a lot of upside, needs a little work on his game, but again a year down the road, you're looking at a potential starting the corner. Tommy Eikenberg in round five, tough, nasty bit, athletically limited, but he's got great instincts and he's constantly flying around the ball. And then Dylan Loud in round six, the running back pass catcher out of the backfield, return specialist out of New Hampshire who had a terrific senior ran well at the combine. I mean you're sort of Swiss army knife, as you'd like to say. At the skill positions, you can use them as a situation on running back, you can use them as a third down back out of the backfield, you can line up on the slot. And with the different with the change in the return rules, I think gilan Wob will do a good job as a return specialist for the Raiders this year.
All right, I'll throw one more at you, Tony, and I'm probably all being maybe I'm being overly positive, but I had a lot of drafts that I really liked this year.
I thought the teams did a nice job. Bucks.
I thought Graham Barrn at twenty six is a really good pick. Chris Braswell at fifty seven, I thought it was a good value pick. They had two third round picks, got one of our favorites, Jalen McMillan, Tyke Smith, who's a plug and play nickel.
And then Bucky Irving in round four.
I think is a really nice running back in the passing game that'll really compliment ra Sean White pretty well. So I thought the Bucks they didn't have any They had one extra third in this draft.
They didn't have their fifth. I thought they did a pretty nice job.
Yeah, I'll go with one more as well. I thought the New Orleans Saints bield needs with good players. You know, they take Fluaga with the fourteenth pick, Gonna be a starter at right tackle. I'm sure they would have rather had for Shanu as a left tackle because Jaged Penning has not worked out there. But now they'll be you know, you'll have a starting right tackle Fuaga. You don't know when or if Ryan ram Checks is coming back. Wool Aid mckisstry at the top a round two. I think he's a starter. I've said nothing but good things about mckistory. Obviously he's fallen because of the Jones fraction, but once he gets healthy, he's gonna be dyning my player. They take Spencer Rattler in round five. I had him as a fourth rounder. A lot of people thought when that first well, his first six quarterbacks came off the board with the first twelve picks, the happiest guy on the face of the earth was Spencer Rattler because he was gonna hop in the day. Two didn't happen for obvious reasons, but he's got a tremendous amount of upside. Jalen Ford, the tough, instinctive linebacker from Texas, had hernia surgery right after his pro DAE, but he you know, he's a guy who I think can play inside, he could play outside, could if he's gonna He'll start off as a rotational player, could eventually develop into a starter. And then they come away with Christian Boyd from Northern ire a big defensive tackle that we saw dominate Shrine Bowl practices in the sixth round. He's got some technical things that he's got to work on. Boyd tends to play a little bit too high at times. Must do a better job consistently playing with leverage. But he's six ' two, he's three hundred and twenty pounds, he's quick, he's explosive, he's strong, and he's got an upside.
Yeah, and you know what, what the heck, I'll do one more, just because I think it is of the credit packers. Jordan Morgan first round good pick, Edrian Cooper second round, good pick, Javon Buller third round good pick, Marshawn Lighted fourth round good pick. I just think when you have four straight good picks the positions of need, I think you got to tip your cap to them as well. All right, Tony, we kind of already focused a lot on on the Falcons and the Penix decision in our last episode. If you guys want to hear about that, you can go back and talk about that. They also trade up for you know, a a row who we thought was a little bit early. So I think both of us Warren thrilled with what the Falcons did. Anyone else jump out to you in terms of drafts that maybe could use a little improvement.
I'll go number one with the Carolina Panthers. I mean, based on the fact that they gave away the first round pick this year, they got Bryce Young, who did not play as well as CJ. Stroud. I think that's one in the loss column. And then they move up one spot to get Xavier Legett. I don't understand that move. He would have been there. I don't think Buffalo's taking Xavier leget with that last pick in round one, which they acquired. They could have sat there rather than give away a pick, because this team needs a lot of players. Jonathan Brooks I picked fourteen in the fourteenth pick a round two. I like Jonathan Brooks, but the guy's coming off a knee injury. I think that was just very early for him. I think for a team that needs a lot of help and basically went in this with the bad optics of trading, where the first pick of the overall of the entire event, I don't think they did a good job at all.
All Right, I'm gonna throw out the Patriots Tony Yeah, because I thought that Drake May was a good pick.
You know, we all like Drake May.
I'm a huge fan of his, you know, and you know what, if he's gonna work out, nobody, Frankly is really gonna care about the other moves the Patriots made in this draft. So I understand that. But I mentioned I thought Jalen Pokes a little bit early. You mentioned you thought Kayden Wallace was a little bit early. I thought Leyden Robinson w in four round four was a little bit early. I thought the best pick was Javon Baker. I Frankly, Tony, I'll be honest with you. I Javon Baker ranked. I had a Jalen Poke on my board in round four, so I thought that was actually a really really good pick. And then they got Marcella's Dial and Joe Milton a little bit later on. But for a team that had so many hosts of phil and I think really needed some needle movers in this draft, I don't I don't see many on the list of players that they drafted.
They seem to have this affection for slow receivers because Jenlen Polk is a slow receiver. Is a good pass catcher, but he's a slow receiver. Javon Baker is a slow receiver. They don't seem to well want to put any speed on the field, which is kind of ironic because Drake may is a solid vertical passer.
I heard total they actually tried to draft Nick kill Harry again but the but the league wouldn't let them. No.
But any other teams that that maybe you weren't such a big fan.
Of No, you know, I thought the Jets did a They did a good job with the tenth pick. I thought they did a good round, a good job with the third round pick, ticking the receiver from Western Kentucky. And then all they did was just trade down, trade down, trade down. Today it's like, uh, you know, they wanted to have complete control of the late fifth, early sixth round. Eventually you got to select players. And then they took Jordan Travis, the rorner back out of Florida State, which was they took him in the fifth round, which to me was very surprising. I don't think even when he's a healthy player, he's worth a fifth rounder. Very good college player, r PO type of quarterback. But he reminded me of Todgeboard in the sense that when he throws the ball and you just don't know where it's going to end up. You know a lot of those great catches that Kean Coleman and Johnny Wilson were making was because Travis could not put the ball you know where it needed to be.
Yeah, And then you know, the Texans didn't have a first round pick, Tony, and I think they made a good trade to get that value out of the Vikings, so they'll have an extra, you know, second round pick lext Year, which I think was a good trade for them they got last year. I thought Blake Fisher and a round two for me was a little bit rich at pick twenty seven in round two.
I had more of a third, fourth round great on him.
And then both of us love Kaitlin Bullock as a ballhawk right as your free safety that's going to be ranging and read the quarterback and get picks. I went back and I watched this film again last week and and the tackling is just such a problem. Tony, I wonder about him as as the fourteenth pick in the third round, ahead of a guy like Jayden Hicks.
I get it. Kate's over and round four is fine.
Then they picked Jamalhill and Jaar Jordan, and Jordan as a running back. I know a lot of people like out of Louisville in round six, but they only have a ton of capital. But you know, the Texans draft didn't necessarily move me.
The only thing I'll say Bullock is he's got defensive head coach there, which I think will whip him into shape as far as the tackling is concerned.
Yeah.
Absolutely, All right, Tony, before we say goodbye, any other teams players, concepts, final thoughts on the draft that you want to bring up.
No, I mean there were a few surprises, I think, you know. I obviously Atlantas set the tone taking Michael Pennix. But after that, except for a few players here and there, and there wasn't anything crazy. It'll be interesting, you know. We'll have to wait and see how these turns out. We talk about what we like, what we don't like. It's just all on paper right now. You know. The fun will start the summer this season and two or three seasons down the road.
Yeah, I'll just throw a couple other teams out there, so if we have fans of those teams listening to us, So they got a little bit of a mention here. You mentioned the Jaguars, Brian Thomas Junior, I think is a good fit. After that, I like the Jordan Jefferson, Javon Forster late Broncos. We mentioned bon Nixon and Troy Franklin together. I think that'll be a fun combination. The linees did a nice job, I thought, Tony getting Terry O, Donold and Ennis Racket Straw. Then they went a little nuts late trading picks and in future years to move up to draft some like international guys. I thought was a little odd, but I love the Arnold and and and rayc a Straw picks for them. Colts late to Lotu and Ady Mitchell with their first two picks, Tannah Bordalini a little bit later, and Maclencalvas Frankly Tony I think as a developmental guy, Attackle who missed this year with injury, I think was was a pretty good pick too. And then you know, I talked about the Steelers kind of leaning into their play style the Dolphins as well.
Right, what are the Dolphins built around speed?
So they draft the fastest Edgeorgier they could find, the job Robinson, and then the fastest running back they could find in jaylen Wright, and then put them on the field, so I thought they kind of drafted to their style as well. So those are the teams that I just wanted to mention that we hadn't that I thought did a pretty good job.
One last team, you know, we talked about to and Andre Sweat with the Titans, But taking JC Latham with the seventh pick, I mean, this is a boomer Bus type of draft. JC Latham. I've talked about my concerns about him with the weight, with the size. Evan Neale was taking what Evaniel is what the sixth picks in the draft seven, you know, so basically the same area. I think those are some risky picks. Jarvis Brownlee in the fifth round, solid player, but still I thought there were better cornerbacks. I mean, I see the potential with Latham, with Sweat, Cedric Gray, Jarvis Brownlee, but I also see a lot of risk in those in that selection.
In those selections, seven hundred pounds worth of players, Tony with those first two picks, and I.
Don't mind it on the defensive line, but an offensive tackle, it's a red flag to.
Me, Tony, this has been fun. We got through the whole year. It's always good.
We'll have one more episode coming up in a week talking about Tony's watch list for next year so we can do some summer scatting. So ready to go when we come back in August. I know you're taking a little vacation. Enjoy that time off, folks. This will be our podcast for this week. Make sure you tune into it and check it out. Leave that five star positive rating on Apple Podcasts if you're an Apple podcast and check out if you're a Giants fan or other Giants podcast as well, like the Giants Tittle podcast Big We'll kickoff Live and all those other episodes.
We appreciate you being with us throughout this process. For Tony Pauline. I'm John Schmelk.
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