Draft Season | Offensive Top 10s

Published Apr 10, 2024, 3:48 PM

John Schmeelk and Tony Pauline discuss the top 10 prospects at every position on offense coming out in the 2024 NFL Draft and answer questions from fans.

Chapters:

:00 - Quarterbacks

21:53 - Running backs

28:29 - Wide receivers

45:24 - Tight ends

47:27 - Offensive line

01:02:51 - Fan questions

Rafts now officially open. This is Draft season, brought to you by Moody's Decode Risk, Unlock Opportunity. Visit Moodies dot com to learn more. I am John Schmelck, joined as always by Tony Pauline. You can find all his written words. It's sports Keita, Tony. We are about two weeks until night one of the twenty twenty four NFL Draft Busy Show. Next two weeks, we have our top ten rankings at each position on offense this week. Next week we'll do defense, and we'll have two shows on the Monday and Wednesday of draft week, trying to figure out our final mock and just talking about the latest news and everything. You're hearing those shows. At least the first one will be a little bit shorter, but we'll get two for you that week. Then we'll have all our draft reaction as well. So are you like sleeping at all at this point?

Tony?

Are you surviving? I know this is basically like the sprint to the fit for you, and as at the Catholic you know what that feels like.

You go. Neither earthquakes, nor eclipses, nor volcanic eruptions on Twitter can stop us can stop me right now, because it's it's all forces moving forward, So you know, it's kind of it's actually kind of a downtime in the sense that all ninety nine point nine percent of my film work is done. The teams are going through final draft meetings now, so it's talking to people when you can, when they're willing to talk to you, to you know, exchange information, exchange opinions. So yeah, it'll it's gonna get kind of crazy the end of this week when the draft meetings end and then everything starts to come to the forefront.

But hey is in the barn, as the expression goes, right, so there's not much more extra to do. Unfortunately, you know, you do this all year round. I kind of jump in on a late I still have some work to do on the defensive, guys. I'm in pretty good shape offensive. I'm happy with where I'm at, but I have some work to do over the next week. But it should be fun. Not really pro Day's left, Tony, but guys that have been doing their workouts who are hurt previously in the process. Cooper Degene from Iowa worked out on Monday, and as most everyone suspected, his workout was pretty phenomenal.

I mean I didn't think it was out of sorts. I mean, you know, he ran, it was a good workout. He ran into low four fours. I think the fastest time that I heard was four four to three. I think the thirty eight inch first, I think ten what ten to four a broad I mean, those are good numbers. Those are not Olympian type numbers. I think the biggest thing that I've gotten from talking to people who were there and really talking to people about the gene over the past twenty four hours is you're starting to hear more and more that people believe he's going to end up as a safety. They don't think, you know, they're going to try and at cornerback first, they'll attempt to see if you can play the position. But more and more people start to believe that he will end up as a as a safety in the NFL. And I completely agree with that. I mean, as we talked about the past, to me, he's a little bit stiff, he's more opportunistic rather than a guy who's got great ball skills. He's better facing the action. The size I mean, I think, and we talked about this, I think when we had the guest on from PFF back in October, so about the gene potentially being moved from cornerback to safety on Sunday.

Yeah, and he did not do the agility drills, which I know some people are like, well, red flag to your point that maybe he's a little bit stiff. So just something to keep an eye on moving forward. But we'll see if he can get into that back end of the first round. I guess is that he will, but we'll have to wait and see when we get to Draft night on Cooper Degen. All right, let's do our top tens on offense here, Tony, and then we have some questions that we got from Twitter as well that we'll get to. Let's start a quarterback here, and this shouldn't be a surprise if you listen to the show much. You have Caleb Williams as your one. I don't know how much how many have to spend the night. We've talked about Caleb Baton, but you can give us your little thumbnail on him, and then you have Daniels over May in terms of two and three, and then you have a little bit of a gap after that before you get down to McCarthy. So why don't we get into that top three and why you have him ranked the way you do.

I think Caleb Willmans is the most dynamic. I think he's got a little bit of downside risk to his game, but as you like to say, the off platform throws, the ability to improvise. He's done it with a different set of receivers the past couple of years, even going from Oklahoma to USC, he's done it with completely different receivers and he's been very productive. Struggled a little bit at times last year, but it was a one man show at USC. As we talked about in the past. You know, he's gonna have to learn to go for being an arm thrower to really learning to throw in the pocket and using his legs and with proper footwork. That could be the downfall, But we'll see what happens. As far as Jaden Daniels is concerned, I've said time and time again, I think Jaden Daniels could turn out to be the best quarterback to come from this year's class. I mean, the guys played better and better and better in the past year and half. I mean he's just constantly improved. Yes, he had real good weapons at LSU, but he also made them very productive because of his play. He's smart, he's not reckless. He protects the football, he sees the defense, he makes all the throws, he uses all his weapons, and the reason I have him ahead of Drake May. You know, October November, I was kind of I don't think Jay Daniels is better than Drake May, But when I watched the film, I saw the improvement which he did not see from Drake May. I mean, May's got great upside. He's got an NFL body, he's got a big time arm, he makes good decisions, he can take a pounding. But it always concerns me when a quarterback basically played his best football a year ago and then enters the draft as opposed to say, getting a guy like Jay Daniels who's on the upswing of his game. And that's where we're at with Drake May.

Yeah, this reminds me of the way people talk about Weill Levis last year a little bit right, and people say, oh, May is dropping and falling. I don't buy that. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if teams that want Drake May or putting out we Oh yeah, Drake May not playing well, so we maybe slices to them in the draft, right but you know, to me, I think I agree with that. But I also think the situation around Drake May was completely different than Jadeen Daniels. Right Like, if you swap them and you put May with LSU and Daniels with May, and I have May ahead of Daniels, I have May to Daniel stream and I feel pretty good about that. I feel like you would have a people would have a very different evaluation if you had to see Daniels behind that North Carolina offensive line with those weapons, and you got to see May behind what's a great LSU offensive line. They're gonna have two offensive tackles that are gonna be I think your left tackle is gonna be a top ten pick next year, right, Tony. He's a really good player. And those receivers that they have on LSU.

I don't disagree. And I think that part of May's problem was he tried to do too much. Is the tim was crumbling around, but there's absolutely no doubt about it. But you just can't dismiss, in my opinion, how out stay Daniels was. Not only you know, in twenty twenty three. If some people go back and they watch our twenty twenty two podcasts, we were talking about how before he looked in the beginning, and then he really turned it on from mid season on and seemed that Alabama game when they won it over time because he ran the two point conversion in. It just seems like he's been on a constant upswing and I just see so much great improvement in his game. You can say that Derek Drake May has better upside, there's no doubt about it. But Jade and Daniels, and it's probably because I was not a big Jaden Daniels believer. But I think from where he was as a freshman at Arizona State, where he was more athlete than passer, to where he is today, I just love the entire the entire package.

Yeah, look, I'll just say this, and I love Drake May. I think his upside, to your point, is off the charge, his ability to move around, throw on the move, avoid the rush. I think his instincts are good. He is an NFL arm. He's willing to throw to the middle of the field into small areas, which you have to in the NFL. I think he's good at all of that. Daniels, I'll say this, his accuracy is better than May's. He's a more accurate and consistent throw of the football. I don't think he has as big of an arm, but his touch and accuracy on deep balls is phenomenal. You know, those slot phasey throws are great. Obviously, he's a faster and more explosive runner than May, but I think May is maybe a little bit better at avoiding the rush and throwing off scrambles, while Daniels, I think tries to run off of his scrambles a little bit more than May does. So those are the two things that I think, for me separate him. And I think May throws over the middle a little bit better than Daniels does. But look, I have both guys Tony as top ten picks on my board in terms of grades, I would be I think any team will be throwing to get either one of these guys, And I think you're right to me. Daniels, because of the the baseline accuracy and his speed in athleticism, has a higher floor. But I think Daniels, with some of the high end throws he makes, probably has a little bit of a higher upside.

And just he gets it between the ears, He protects the football, he doesn't make reckless passes, and just a constant improvement in his game. He's got to get a little bit bigger. I mean, he's penciled in, but he's got you want to see him get a little at a little bolt that frame which should come. I would just blown away by his film now.

No understandable. And I think what he bulked up the over two ten of his pro day, but I think most people think he played last year probably closer to two hundred or two five, right exactly. Yeah, and that for a quarterback. And he took a lot of hits too, by the way, when he ran. He's one of those guys that asked to watch him baseball tape and learn how to slot, otherwise he might not last that long at the NFL level. All Right, You got McCarthy at four here, Tony. And I think Daniel Jeremiah has referred to him as an acquired taste. And I did not think I was gonna love his tape heading before I started watching it, and I liked him more than I thought I did. And I thought his third and long stuff was really good. You know, you go in and you're thinking, all right, there's gona be a lot of check down. He's not at to do a lot. He's not throwing it a ton. Michigan plays defense, they run the ball, they don't take chances. But when McCarthy had to make some big plays, he did make them a decent amount of time. He just wasn't asked a lot. He never had to play from behind. You know, we talked about this with Mayow. He is this tremendous upside. I think McCarthy and teams have loved his you know, leadership and his knowledge is understanding of zone, call of coverages and stuff like that. Played in the NFL system in Michigan and the Harball all that is great. I'm just not sure I see the path for him to eventually become like that top eight quarterback in the league that's gonna carry a team. I think he fits well in a Shanahan system. I'm not gonna compare him to Purty. I don't think that's fair. But I do think he's gonna be a good quarterback in the NFL. I'm just not sure that star power is there.

Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, if you're gonna say, well, Jayden Daniels had these great receivers, had good offensive line, I mean McCarthy played behind an offensive line that went seven deep. Six of those guys are either gonna be drafted or signed at as PFA. They have a running back that's going to be a third round running back. They have a receiver that could go Roman Wilson in gold leg second round. Cornelis Johnson's going to be a Day three pick. But the thing is he played within the system and he did what was asked of him. And you mentioned the big plays. You know, he was outstanding against Ohio State for two years in a row, and that is the game that means everything to Michigan, even you know, compared to the National Championship game. But I agree with you. I mean, and somebody asked me this coming out of Michigan Crode about McCarthy's arm strength, and I've never been a big fan of his. He doesn't have the arm of Jaden Daniels or Drake may or Caleb Williams. And as I've said before, I think you know, the questionable throws that he makes on Saturday are going to be interceptions on Sunday, and that is a concern because now all of a sudden, he's going to be asked to make, you know, ten to fifteen more passes per game on Sunday than what he's used to making on Saturday. And of course there's the speed of the game, the Maxie, the confidence, the way he interviews is off the charts, and that's what teams love. I like JJ McCarthy, I just don't love him. And I think as a top ten pick, as early as he's very as as early as he's likely to go, and you know they're gonna throw him into the fire. If a team like he happens again at a top ten, which I think there's less than one percent chance that happens, and a team like Minnesota isn't traded to get him, or he lands with Denver, you know they're gonna throw him into the fire right away and that could backfire on him.

Yeah, Tony, if I'll be honest, if I'm sitting there and we'll talk about this in the mock draft a couple of weeks, if I could sit and pick, and I'm Minnesota or Denver or the Raiders, I could understand that if I think he's gonna be a good, solid quarterback. Maybe just on pure rankings, that still a little rich on my board. But you know, for a quarterback, I could understand putting that inflation on him and then picking him there. But to pass on a Juault or a Roma Dunsa or a Malik Name or Marvin Harrison Junior, even I'm not sure I can quite sell myself and get that far. And again I'm with you. I think he is a good intermediate arm. He's accurate on those you know, straight line velocity passes, middle of the field. He throws in the middle of the field, which I like a lot. There's not a lot of touch passes though when his deep ball can sell, it's very flat. So I think those are some of the things when you take a look at McCarthy, Yeah, go ahead.

It just just I'm looking at my board here. I mean, he's the twenty seventh ranked player on my board. So when you talk about passing on the Donesdays and the neighbors or the brock Bowers, Who's or Jared versus that, there's a ton of players that I believe are better prospects. But like you said, you know, the inflation factors, which is a great turn because he is a quarterback and quarterbacks are always over drafted.

Yeah, and again, I think he's a good player. I think he's gonna have a good NFL career. It's just a matter of when you're willing to pull that trigger versus your opportunity of drafting a different player at that point. All right, let's go to the next two quarterbacks, Tony, let's start Michael Pennis talking to people that do this. I Kurt Warner on the Giants Total podcast. For you folks, if you want to hear a thirty minute conversation about evaluating college quarterbacks and how freaking impossible it is, go listen to Kurt Warner talk about how a Hall of Fame quarterback says John, I don't know how to evaluate these guys, but not do an NFL thing. So it's a great conversation. Go check it out on the Johns Tottle podcast. And we have a bunch of other really good draft spots on that as well over the past couple of weeks. As talking NFL Draft, not Giants stuff. He'd liked the draft. Go check out the Johns Tottle podcast. A lot of great interviews on There and Tony. He loves Michael Pennicks, but he's like, look, he's a pocket passer. He drops back, he knows what he's looking at. He throws it down the field. He makes big plays down the field. He's accurate down the field. And Kurt Warner sees him as that old school pocket, big arm pocket NFL quarterback, and I get it, you know, I think he does see the field well. I think he does get the ball out quickly. He's accurate down the field. He's got a big time armed line, drives, touch, DROs, every type of throw you can you can make. I love it. Here are my red flas. I want to see if you agree with me and what your additional opinion is. I don't think he throws on the move very well. I think he could get pressure on him. He gets the ball out, but it's a lot of like oh no, and it's kind of like just kidding. He kind of flicks it out. Uh. He's a good athlete, but he's not a shifty athlete where he kind of makes people miss a lot in the pocket. And I think when his feet get unsettled, I think his accuracy does break down a lot when he can settle in there and make his throws. I think he's an accurate thrower, but when in the NFL, he's not going to have to see clean pockets as he had at Washington and one of the best offensive lines in college football, right I wonder if that type of consistency with the accuracy can stick when he has much muddier looking pockets in front of him at the NFL level. Not to mention the.

Medicals, you know, it's funny because you say he's a good athlete, but he's not elusive. You have to wonder how much of that inability to quickly move latterly is down to those injuries, you know, because those signals. If you've ever had knee or ankle or killies in you know that going in a straight line is okay, But when you start to move latterly, that's when things start to go heywire. I would agree he's a great vertical passer. He's got a huge downfield arm. I think that the danger in watching Michael Pennix with the cutups, and you break down and you watch every throw of a cut up, you kind of miss the flow of the game. And one of my problems with Penix is he's very streaky. He's very inconsistent. Sometimes you don't know what you're getting from series to series with Michael Pennix, never mind quarter to quarter or game to game, and that streakiness is something that is a concern with me. And you really have to watch the entire game. You can't watch the cutups. You've got to watch the flow of the game. And when he's on, he's on, But then he'll disappear and you'll see some of those wild throws that you talk about, and the offense will be stagnant. That is a big concern for me anyway. Never mind the age, never mind the injuries. And it's not that he's an old guy, it's just that these injuries plus the age reduces the upside. We talk about the great upside that Drake may has, you know, the upside that in my opinion, Jaden Daniels has well. Michael Panics really doesn't have that same sort of upside because of the age, because of the injuries, because there's just not that much room physically to grow.

He also isn't throw it into the middle of the field quite as much. A lot of perimeter throws on as tape Tony, I agree with you on that, and I think you saw it in the National Championship game, right when you play a really good defense in Michigan. There were throws in that game that he should have made and he didn't make it. The overthrow to Dounza on the right sideline where he throws it outside of dunes, he spins him around and he overthrows it. And there are the throws in that game that that can be made. Now, there are other throws that are really good, but I'm with you. I just think it's not quite to the levels of the guys. My guess is that he's gonna figure out a way to sneak into the first round. I don't know if it's gonna be in that top fifteen area, to the Raiders, the Broncos, a team that's desperate for a quarterback. I think it's gonna be a team trading back into the first round somewhere between twenty five and thirty two, where he'll probably go.

The other option would be if the New England Patriots or some team that us a quarterback makes a huge move down to collect a lot of picks and they make a move, huge move down with say Minnesota or something, and then takes him at the end of the first round. You know you mentioned that Washington game. It was also that pass he missed in the end zone early on, which could have helped set the tone of the game. And that's what I mean about his streakiness. That has been a concern for me on the college level, and it's gonna be an even greater concern on Sunday Football with Pennis.

I agree. Okay, let's roll through these last five. We spend a lot of time on quarterbacks. They're a big position. People want to hear about him. That's all. We spent more time and we'll go through the other position groups a little quicker, so you're not here for a ninety minute podcast. Oh Nicks, Oregon, Tony, you have him as your next guy. I'm with you. Good timing passer at it in the short and the intermediate range. It's funny like I watched his tape this year and he makes some deep passes down the field to Troy Franklin, who will talk about later. We both like him a lot, but I don't see that zip on the ball, but that we saw at Auburn. I just don't know if he has that raw arm talent that you're gonna need for him to be ultimately a high level NFL quarterback.

We didn't see at the senior ball and we certainly certainly didn't see it during combined workouts. And those are two big, you know, red check red flags for me. And love bone Knicks, love what's going on between the ears. Love his game management. But that's what I believe he is. He's a game manager, and that's okay. I mean, if you want to use it. You know, you talked about a Shanahan type of passer, you know, with JJ McCarthy. I think bone Nicks fits perfectly well in that sort of timing offense, especially since he does a great job of reading and making decisions, but the lack of farm strength. It's not a vertical passer, and that's what a lot of teams want these days.

For some reason, I just want to put him in Sean Payton's offense. I don't know what, Tony. I just want to slide him in there.

Right, You're absolutely You're absolutely right about that. And I think that you know, Denvers is a team that they don't get up they don't get a quarterback in the first round. I could see them moving up from round two to take to take bonus.

The problems, only they don't have a second round pick. And it's funny we've talked about and I said that before, and I looked it up this week and I'm like, I forgot that pick still going in the Russell Wills. So they'll have to figure out a way. You know what, though, the way Show and Payton worked in the stays, they'll just trade next year's one and they'll move up and second out to get it. Anyway with the way they do it all right. To round out your top ten quarterback, Tony Spencer, Rattler, Michael Pratt, Joe Milton, and Devin Leary. I like these names. I think, especially Rattler, Milton and Leary. You're going for the arm talent upside, and then Pratt is more of your game manager type.

Rattler, I mean, if you can get him back to where he was as a freshman in Oklahoma, you got a home run at times, you know, he's the prototypical you know, at times he looks like a world beater. Times he looks like an egg beater. As I like to say, you know, because you don't know what you're getting from him. But if you can get a coach that put it all together from you could have a starting quarterback. You know, Michael Prant, Joe Milton. It's like fire and ice. I mean there are opposite ends of the spectrum. Joe Milton. I mean he's got a huge arm. You saw it during the season when he was at Michigan, you saw at a Tennessee, you saw it a combine work at his brode But you don't know where the bull is going half the time, and he doesn't have a lot of experience, where Michael Pritt is a thinking man's quarterback and he's accurate, but he doesn't have the arm strength. If you could put those two together, just like if you could put Boone Nicks and Michael Pennix together, wow you got a top ten pick. Devin Leary. I mean, Devin Leary has not had a very good past twelve months. During his time at North Carolina State, he looked like a guy who was going to be a Day two pick. He struggled minily at Kentucky. He really didn't rebound well at the Senior ball or combine. You know, he's a late round pick. You had to take a roll of the dice up and like Spencer Rattler, try and get him back to where he was a couple of years.

Yeah, I'm with you, Tony. Let's jump the running back here. And this is a position. I don't think either one of us thinks are running backs gonna go in the top fifty picks. And these guys when I went through the tape this past couple of weeks to finalize my rankings, Tony, I just don't have much distance between them. Like, I'm just gonna list the guys that I have in my top tier, and there are and I'd be okay with any one of them. Trey Dent, Trey Benson, Ray Davis, Jonathan Brooks, Marshaun Lloyd, will I love Will Shipley. We haven't talked abou him much. I want to talk about him little bit. Blake Korum, Jalen Wright, if you want to speak, guy like Ray Aldrick Estime, like all these guys like, there's not much separating them from me. It's just a matter of what type of guy you like.

And I have all those guys I do have. Jason McClellan in there, although I'm told he's falling a bit. It's just the order which they're gonna come off. I think everyone kind of believes that Trey Bentson a flower steak will be the first running back off the board, probably in the very late part of round two. In those closing selections.

I would ask you so much about Antoni real quick. I looked when I watched him. I looked at his stats. He only had more than fifteen carries in three games this year. He's not an overly physical runner and powerful runner. In my opinion, I don't see how he's an eighteen carrier game guy in the NFL. I think he has to be a you know, ten to thirteen touch, fifteen touch guy, and he is to pair with somebody else. I mean, he's never really carried a load before.

Well, they had two really good backs at Florida State. The other kid decided to go back. They had a very average offensive line, and early on anyway, before he got injured, the offensers basically revolved around the quarterback, who was an RPO quarterback who did a lot of good things, sort of a sandlight cop quarterback, and really didn't need him short of the way that Michigan didn't need JJ McCarthy to throw the ball twenty to twenty five times a game. But he's got decent size. He ran incredibly well at the combine, and he shows a lot of speed on film. I mean you could see that burst through the hole and oh yeah, beat defenders into the open field. I think he's got a great amount of upside. You know, you'll say, you will say, well, he didn't run the ball more than the fifteen times gain it doesn't have a lot of carries A lot of times that's taken as a good thing because he hasn't a lot of mile John. You know, he's going he's got great skills, he's a good athlete, and he's going in, you know, with not a lot of mileage on the body, but with the fresh body, if you will. So he's gonna be able to hand the more or he should be able to handle more carries physically anyway, at the next level.

All right, So you your order, Tony, and then I'll intersperse a couple of comments here or there. You don't have to hit every one of these guys. We talked about him a bunch of Trey Benson won, Blake Korm two. You've talked about Blake Korm a bunch here, we know what you think about him. Jonathan Brooks at three. Curious what you're hearing from teams about the ACLUH Marshall, Marshall Lynch, Marshall wish they had Marshall Lynch Marshawn Lloyd at four and then Jalen righted five out of Tennessee. So why don't we stop there and give me a little bit on Brooks and what you're hearing about the injury, and then why you like Woyd and Wright?

Well, I mean, I hear Rooks should be ready sometime in July, may be ready for camp, and it'll be the determined this week in team meetings. You know they'll look at the X rays, to look at the MRIs. The fact is a healthy Rooks could turn out to be the best running back in this year's class. Barnett because he's got excellent size, He's a tough interior runner. He's got a lot of upside. Marshall and Lawd I think would be a perfect fit for the New York Giants. The way he runs, the way he catches the ball, out of the backfield. They didn't ask him to catch the ball that much at USC because it was so receiver eccentric, the way Caleb Williams likes to throw the ball. But he's able to do it. He's got an excellent build. He's very explosive. Jalen Wright I think could go higher than most people think. I mean, I have him, what's five on my board, six on my board. He could actually be the second running back selected. People love his explosion, love the way he basically can take it the distance, can run the daylight. They love his speed, he runs harder inside. Not a real big ball carrier, but a very solid ball carrier with an upside. And we didn't talk about will Shipley, but yeah, I mean Shipley's a guy had a tremendous broaday workout. I think he's a four to three to nine and a birded over forty inches. He plays to those numbers on the field. He's tough, break tackles on the inside. He is a terrific pass catcher of the backfield. I think Shipley I've heard fourth round. I have him going in the third round. I think he could be underdrafted and could be a real steal in this year's draft at the running back class.

Tony, we had never talked about Shipley before either off Era on. I agree completely. He's my sixth running back as well. I have Rae Davis, I love Ray Davis, Benson Brooks Lloyd, and then I have Estimate and Shipley. We'll get the estimate in a second look. I think Shipley he's a little undersized. I'm not sure he's gonna be, you know, a bruiser between the tackles, but he's shifty, he makes people miss, he's a great route runner, he catches the football. This is a modern day, three down type of back. I love will Shipley. I think he's gonna be really good pro by the way, super productive at Clemson. It's not like this guy wasn't a really good college football player either. He was phenomenal. So I have him there. Let's go down the rest of your list. We talked about Bucky Irving a bunch on this show. We've talked about Jace McClellan. Though you said, you hear he might not be he might be falling a little bit. Tony, what are you hearing about, Jason, Yeah, it.

Did not work out well. Just was just not very athletic. When I sent these into you, I had him as a potential fourth rounder. I'm hearing he goes lates at six round right now.

Okay, and then your last two guys running at your top ten is Ray Davis atak Kentucky and Audric Estime. You've talked about Estima a bunch here. I was actually thought I thought he was a little shiftier than I thought he was, again not that top speed, but I thought he's pretty elusive and he's powerful. As for Ray Davis, you have him bet nine Tony. I have him towards the top of my rankings here, and I just think he does I don't see a weakness. He does everything well except for maybe past protect. He can catch it, he can run between the tackles, he can run through tackles. He's quick. You know, maybe he's not a Trey Benson breakaway speed, but he has a decent top gear too. I just think Ray Davis is going to be a really reliable, good starting running back in the NFL that can do a little bit of everything.

I think he's more of a situational guy. For five nine combine five eight and a half, I don't know that that screams feature runner. To me, I think he's gonna be a good I like his skills, but I think, like just about every back in this draft, except for maybe Trey Benson, and except for maybe a Jonathan Brooks, you're looking at a rotational ball carrier.

Yeah, he is in super explosive. You're right about that, but I think he'll I think he'll get you those tough yards and you know, get you maybe four when you're supposed to get two things. Love that nature. All right, let's continue in our rankings here, Tony. I think we're we're moving along at a good pace now as we got past the quarterbacks. Don't forget Draft season is brought to you by Moody's Decode Risk Unlocked Opportunity. Let's go to the wide receivers where the money is made, Tony, and we're gonna do pass catchers here, and then we'll briefly go through a couple other tight ends as well, just because it's not a super deep tight end class and I don't want to spend too much time on tight ends. I going to be Day three picks. So let let's take this top four group and we're going to include Brock Bauers in this conversation. Your rankings, and I'm looking at the most recent ones right now, you have Marvin Harrison Junior as your top wide receiver. Then you have Bowers slotted in as your second highest graded guy, then Neighbors, then Roma Doonsday. Then we have a bit of a gap until we get down to the next player, and then we'll hit the rest of the wide receiver. So how did you order those top four and why?

Well, they're very close and I think I think the three guys Bowers, Neighbors, and Dunes, they have done well in the free draft process, although Bowers really hasn't run because of the hamstring issue. Where we are recording this on Tuesday, April ninth, Bowers on Wednesday, April tenth is supposed to work out for scouts, whether he does a full testing or just pass. He's definitely doing pass catching work. I was definitely gonna un routes. I don't know that he's going to run a uh, he's going to do testing. But the fact is this is as we've talked about before. I mean, he is a bit When it comes to Bowers, he is a big tight end who plays the position like he's a receiver. He gets downfield, he creates mismatches, he gets separation, but oh yeah, he's big enough to get up a man up against the defensive backs and come away with the can test to grab or come away with a tough catch in a crowd. And he's not a bad blocker. They didn't ask him to do too much inline blocking at Georgia, but when they put him in motion of when they pulled, pulled him across the line of scrimmage and asked him the block emotion, he did a terrific job. And I think, you know, you look at the Kansas City Chiefs who Travis Kelsey, you look at the you look at the Patriots with Gronkowski. You know there is that appetite for that type of player who is a bigger, playmaking, past catching tight end that just creates mismatches. Marvin Harrison is Marvin Harrison, despite the fact that he's refusing to do anything in the eat up to the draft. He is my number one prospect in this draft. He is a game controlling receiver, he's sneaky speed. Comes off a slightly disappointing season, but I think that was more so because of the play at Ohio State quarterback play at Ohio State than anything else. But he's a number one wide that as is potentially Melik Neighbors. I mean, Melik Neighbors is more explosive than Marvin Harrison. He's fast and the Marvin Harrison had a great road eight. He's exceptional running after the catch, and you know, he does a lot of things well. As I said in an article which was posted last week which caused a lot of mayhem on Twitter this week, you know, there are a lot of teams that have Elik Neighbors rated higher than Marvin Harrison. But there is some concern how Marvin Harrison would do in a big city market.

There iss not Harrison.

I'm sorry that elite Neighbors maybe how he would do in a big city market. There is some concern that Neighbors may be a little bit too high maintenance. And there are some teams that have Roma Doonsay rated ahead of Melik Neighbors. It's not broadbrush, it's all over the you know, one team, Some teams think he's better than Harrison. Some teams say they would rather have Roma Doonzay, who is probably not as game controlling as Marvin Harrison, but he's a game controller in his own right. He's not as explosive or a good route runner as Milik Neighbors, but he's probably you know, he's very good in that area in his own right. He basically takes some of the best of Marvin Harrison and some of the best of the Melik Neighbors and he puts it together and he's a very clean package. And he was a guy who, as we saw during the season when Jalen McMillan went down with that injury Washington and everyone's like, uh oh, roma doones, they stepped up and just took over. I mean, he was the reason that fourth down play against Washington State where he ran the reverse twenty three years is why you know Michael Pennis got to play in the National Championship Game. So all three of them are exceptional receivers, all four of them when you count in brock Bowers. There's no perfect prospect out there. And I think all four of them will be very good players. I think they will all be productive as rookies in the NFL.

And I think just and again, just so people understand, literally one hundredth of a point on Tony's grading system separates neighbors in a Dunesay, that's how close he has these two guys on his board. And they're not far away from Marvin Verison Junior, by the way, either. There's a little bit of a there, but not a lot.

It's two hundreds of a point between Bowers and elite neighbors.

Wow, so you got those, so you got Yeah, So you basically have four players within six hundreds of a point of each other, Tony, and those are all legit top ten worthy picks. Correct.

Absolutely, I mean absolutely, And if you if anyone disagrees, I'd like to know why, And don't tell me that what brock Owers is a tight end you get into canyon later. Brock Bowers is a playmaking tight end who's been dominant for three years and it was just an out standing prospect.

Thousand percent agree, Tony. I'm with you. I'll just real quick on those guys. Just from my perspective, Marvin Harrison, you just can't find a weakness. You know, maybe not the strongest yards after catch guy, I don't care. He's six ' four, runs like a guy that's five to eleven and runs unbelievable routes, great hands, he's awesome. You mentioned Laku ighbors explosive ability. He can take a ten yard slant and take it for a touchdown on any play. Bowers run after the catch is phenomenal. You can play him in the back, but you can play him in the slot, you can play him in line. He's not the biggest guy, but he's willing to block. Again, good hands, good route runner, really really good player. And then Roal madoonsday again, you use the word Tony clean. He's a clean player. Again, maybe not the most explosive guy in terms of the ability to separate and things of that nature. And you know, yards after catch maybe not certainly not neighbors category, but not elite. But boy, this guy's play strength, his ability to adjust the balls in the air is contested. Catch rate is off the charts. On believable. He's a really and he's a tough son of a gun. You know there's no diva in roma doons a when when you talk to people around that program and he played, he punctured along and broke ribs played two weeks later. He's a tough kid. I think teams are gonna love him, and then neighbors. I talk to people too, and a lot of people say, like, you know, he wasn't a five star recruit. He was a blue collar kid that kind of had the work his way up. So I think that appeals to people too. So again, I don't think you can go wrong with any of those four uh playmakers there in terms of drafted in the you know, top ten, top dozen picks in this year's NFL draft. All right, Tony, then you have a little bit of a gap. You have Brian Thomas. Then you have a little bit of a gap. You've done at Ady Mitchell, aded I Mitchell. Then you have a little bit of a gap. We'll get to your next group. So why Thomas and Mitchell next? And why Thomas ahead of Mitchell Because I I think in my final rankings here, I'm gonna have Mitchell slightly ahead of Thomas just because I think I've seen him do a little bit more as a rat runner. I think Thomas is more of your deep threat has to catch guy, though Mitchell has his own consistency issues with which I know you're going to talk about. So why do you have those two guys stacked up next? The way you do there you go.

It's the consistency. And at times when I watched Mitchell, he looked like he was going half speed. You'd like to see guys when when the play is away from him, they're they're playing hard. I didn't see it.

And Tony, he basically admitted at the combine he said, yeah, when I knew the ball wasn't coming to me, I didn't run that hard.

And you know, you want to see guys who work hard even when they're not involved in the action of the plays away from you know, a receiver. You're doing that to basically make the defensive back, cornerback think that you know the balls coming to you, or have the safety think, you know, I better keep an eye on this guy and distract the safety. I didn't see that. I also like Thomas the way he basically just exploded this year. He's tall, he's smooth, he's fluid, and the fact is this, when he ran the four to three to three at the combine, I don't think anybody expected it. Yeah, Mitchell ran faster than everyone thought. But you know, you go into the process, go into the combine, you think that Brian Thomas is a bigger possession receiver compared to elite neighbors. He ends up running faster than the elite neighbors did the pro day, and you look at the side, you look at the whole package. I just see tremendous amount of upside Brian Thomas, as I do with the Donnie Mitchell, who was a guy fell in love with when he was a true freshman at Georgia and just showed great play making skill I think. Granted, Mitchell was injured in twenty twenty two which held him back. He then transferred to Texas this year, and he was just one of a group of pass catchers that they had there with Xavier Worthy, with the winnington kid, who's could be a late round pick, with the Jatavian Sanders is going to be the second tight end off the board. So there was kind of a you know, there was a large group there, which I think hurt his opportunities. But I just think that really Thomas stood out this year, even playing alongside elite neighbors.

I'm with you. Then you have Tony. Your next three players are really stacked up here, all within one hundred a point of each other on your grading scale. Xavier Worthy, lad McConkie and Troy Franklin basically with identical grades more or less, Why do those guys kind of stand alone in that you know, first slash second round group? And give me a little scorecard on each one of those guys that we've talked about, all three a bunch.

Well, Xavier Worthy is the is the deep threat, he's the vertical receiver in this in this year's draft. You know, he showed it at Texas and then he goes to the combine and he runs a four to two to one. And we saw that John Ross, who I didn't think was as good a receiver as Xavier Worthy. What that four two two did for John did for John Ross? Ladd McConkie again, I mean, he's the more consistent version of ad Donnie Mitchell, who he took over for a Georgia. He's a great route runner, he gets great separation, and like Mitchell and like Ryan Thomas, he ran much faster than anybody thought. He's not super big, five eleven and a half hundred and eighty six pounds, he's not as fast as those guys. Ran a four to four where those guys are running a low four threes, but he just does everything well, and he's just so consistent and he's so reliable, and teams have a first round grade on Lad McConkie. I don't know that he's going to go in the first round, but if he doesn't go in the first round, he's going to go and within the first probably five to six picks in round two. Troy Franklin, Paul Guy terrific pass catcher. I mean he ran a four to four one at the combine when he was ill. He plays faster. Both Nick's goutt with found ways to get the ball to him. He was very consistent at Oregon. Hasn't had the best process in the run up to the draft, but he's done enough, I think to affirm himself in the top half of round two. Yeah.

Yeah, he's a little slight, Tony, And you mentioned your little breakdown in front of me that he has to improve his play strength a little bit. I agree with that, but I think people people don't realize that that. I agree. I think you're I think he plays faster than that four to four one. I think he plays just as fast if you watch him and Xavier Worthies Tape Tony to me in terms of speed. I don't see that much difference between the two when you watch on Saturdays. I think they're very similar. And I think Franklin's a hell of a route runner for a guy that's six, I'm not sure if he got the six three six two and a half. Maybe for a guy that size to come in out of his breaks as well as he does and change direction, that to me is why he's here and not in this next group Tony. And he's just a big playing machine with a quarterback. By the way, as we mentioned earlier, it's not like he is this big. He's not playing with Michael Pennix here. You know, he's playing with Bonix, which is a little bit different.

And the consistency is what you know. When the ball is thrown in his direction, he's catching it, and he plays hard and he's he's a feistyd receiver too. I mean he's not afraid he does a back down, he's not afraid of physical contact. He'll fight to come away with those contested grabs.

Yeah, and I think McConkie just a real quick I think he's just I think he might be the best route runner aside from maybe Marvin Harrison Junior. In this class. So he separates and we start at the senior ball right like people could not stay with him at the top of his route tree. Just really really good player. Now, I like how you stuck to your guns on this guy, Tony, because other people have seen him plummet a little bit on their boards. Maybe I've heard people talk about third round. You still have all the love for Jatavian Sanders. You have him right in this range for the draft as well. Why why are you staying strong on JT?

Because he's a playmaker. He ran four sixt' nine at the Combine, getting run again at the UH at his PRODA, He's got excellent size, he's got soft natural hands, he wins out for the contestant rows. He's a guy who on third and eight he's gonna be reliable receiver for you. He also shows the ability to get downfield, to make plays downfield for you. And again, I mean he was a main cog in that Texas offense that had a lot of pass catchers. I just let he's a big, fluid guy. He could go third round. I have him as a second round so I believe anything out of you know, pick number fifty He's going to be a real, big, excellent value.

All right, I'm going to go a little bit deeper on wide receiver here, Tone, just because it's such a good draft class. I mean, we we already went through eight receivers and we're not even to your second round grades yet. It's unbelievable. So, guys with second round grades on your board, you have Davonte's Walker out in North Carolina. We've talked about him a ton Jalen McMillan out of Washington, the love affair continues. I like seeing him in the second round. Roman Wilson, Keon Coleman, and then rookie Piersall from Florida, all with second round grades on your board, Tony real quick. I think of the second round guys, the guys the best chance to become like a true X is probably Walker, just because of his size, speed combination, though he has to polish some things up in terms of route running and catching the ball. Jalen McMillan a bigger guy, but I think he's more of a slot. He has some contested catch issues. Roman Wilson speed slot, really good player, vertical slot, good player. And again I think people talk about McCarthy having his numbers, you know, brought down because of the Michigan offense. Well, Roman Wilson, same deal. Key On Coleman. I see him as a kind of more of a big possession, contested catch guy. And then rookie Piersall, who I think can play inside and outside. He's over six feet. He tested off the charts. He's quick. He's a good route runner too. He was so good the senior ball. He was successful early and got the heck out of there. So to me, all those guys have different roles but can be really good players in the NFL. You can touch on any or all of them however you want to handle it.

Pierce All is one of the fastest rising receivers when I talk to NFL people that is moving up to draft boards. He could potentially be a guy that's selected within the first ten picks of round two. But he's going to go in round two, and a lot of it has to do with the testing. We knew he was a great receiver, very reliable, dependable hands, very consistent. You can mentioned the route running. Then he goes to the combine and he runs in the low four fours. Kean Coleman. I mean he is what he is. He's a bit one dimensional in the sense that he's a big possession wide out, an tested catch wide out. Didn't run the shuttles at the combine, didn't run the shuttles of the three ConA at during his proday, which is a concerned ran four to six to one. I mean, if you get him, he is your red zone threat. He is your guy that you know you're gonna throw the ball up to for the jump balls. He's your bigger possession wide out.

And Tony, trust me, if he was running those agility drills well in training, he would have he would have run them.

Of course. And you know there is a market phra there is a need for that type of receiver in the NFL. It's just not a huge attraction in the draft because you want the guys like the Roman Wilson's, like the Ricky Piersoll's, you know, who can separate through the routes, or the Devontes Walkers who was almost six foot two, and it is a vertical wide out.

No, I'm with you one hundred percent, all right. Just want to do a couple of honorable mentions here, Tony just because again it's such it's such a deep group. You have at the bottom of your list as a third round pick, Jalen Polk out of Washington. I know you've probably gotten higher on him as you've gone through this process on Polk and also a couple other guys out there that will probably be you know, if not gone in the second round, then they'll be third round pick. Xavier Leaguet at the South Carolina we've talked a lot about. I want to throw Malchi Corley into the mix out of Western Kentucky. He's a guy that I think showed he's a little bit more than a gadget guy at the Senior Bowl when he ran some more rats and I thought he did a nice job there. And those are the other guys that I think I would have in the list. You know, maybe you know Luke McCaffrey and Brendan Rice maybe a further down the road type of guys, but you know, any other wide receivers you think worth mentioning that maybe people are sleeping on a little bit.

No. I mean we mentioned sixteen of them and were barely out of the third round despite as well as the two tight ends we talked.

About yeah, absolutely and other league. Washington there too is a very productive guy. We talked a lot about the shrine game, all right, tight end really quick, Tony. We talked about the top two guys in this list. I'll just read the rest of your top ten and you can kind of hit on whatever kind of topics you want. Then we'll do the big boys on the offensive line. The wrap things up. You have third round grades on Bensonon and THEO Johnson, so not more of that fullback h back type. You know, versatile player can boom around that Kansas State THEO Johnson athletic Penn State tight end. You have Kde Stover as your long fourth round guy, and then you have a Jaheen, Ben tip Ryman, Devin Colpe, Jared Wiley, and then Tyler McLachlan as a fifth and sixth round players. Wiley McLaughlin, I know I have some wide receiver or receiving upside I should say pass catcher upside. Your overroll thoughts on the rest of those guys in the tight end class in general, I.

Think Wiley's a guy that will probably move up my board as he's one of those guys that I got to go back and watch him because to see why I have such a different grade compared to scout. So he's probably a guy that's going to probably move up to the fourth round. The interesting guy to watch that you didn't mention because he wasn't on the list is Johnny Wilson of Florida State. I've taught you know. Johnny Wilson, Florida State, sixty five and a half two and thirty round one pounds plaid receiver at Florida State. I think he's got like thirty five inch arms, played receiver well, ran faster than most people thought the combine.

And his agility was great at that high too. Is a Jody Joseph phenomenal.

But when you talk to teams six six and a half jr. Thirty one pounds, he's going to get bigger before he gets smaller, and more and more teams are projecting him to tight and which is where I had him for the longest time. Until I saw his testing, I was like, all right, well he should stay at receiver. But that's gonna be an interesting one on draft day to see what his name is announced, Maybe in the third round, maybe the fourth round. Is he announced as the receiver Johnny Wilson or is he announced as a tight end?

Yeah, getting him in the right situation, I think, with the right offensive coach to use him the right way, I think will be critical. But yeah, he to me is interesting too, Tony, because I could see him easily getting into the third round, or you know, maybe even back into the second if a team really has a role for him. But yeah, I think he's a really interesting player. I'm with you. Draft Season brought to you by Moodies, Decode Risk, Unlock opportunity. All right, finally the big Boys Tony offensive line. Let's get to it. You have twelve guys here that you listed, this is Garden tackle together. Then we'll kind of, you know, real quickly get into the rest of your list here. Olu fashion, Who still I love Tony? This is I love you? You stick to your guns. You still have him over Joe Alt give your fashion. I'm not gonna say propaganda because it's not propaganda, it's it's real.

Uh.

I'll just say this fashion. Unbelievable pass rusher in terms of his fluidian, his ability to pass protect. I think he's on the ground a little bit too much in the run game. To be honest with you, and that's the only thing that has me worried about him, I think is his anchor and his power will be fine. I think he'll get stronger. I think will be good at that. But why do you have fashion ahead of Joe Alton? Those are your one twos, and I.

Think Walt will be drafted first. He's been going first and all my mock dress. But the fact is this, I prefer those mobile, agile Jonathan Ogden type of left tackles. The guys that can easily slide out, the guys that have great lateral range, the guys that can get out to the second level, show the ability to readirect to linebackers or even players in the secondary, hit a moving target, and Vashano does that better than Joe Alt in my opinion. Who shows some stiffness. You said, go back to the Louisville game. Yeah, he's big, he's hulking. You know, he moves relatively well. The Shadows got small hands eight and a half inch hands, which some people have brought up that's gonna be a problem, they believe, because they've never been a very early pick a tackle that didn't have hands that are released nine inches. I just don't know how for Shadow, who was a terrific player at left tackle or Penn State on a very good offensive line, goes from this guy that people were saying was top five, top five, top five, and now all of a sudden, he's a mid first round choice. I just see too much talent there. I see too much outstanding ability and pass protection that I'm just gonna fall off this guy, like everybody else seems to have.

All right, So I'm gonna go through the rest of your tackles first, then we'll get to the interior guys. Tony, you have Tyler Fuanga as your third offensive tackle, Amarius Mims you as your fourth, Troy Foutanu as your fifth, then Tyler guiding, JC Latham, Jordan Morgan rounding out your first round grades. So just account of folks, that's eight first round grades. Tony has an offensive tackles. My order is slightly different, Tony, but the guy 're in the same group. I have Mims as my third best offensive tackle, and and this is the schmuck that you know three weeks ago said maybe he's a little overrated. Then I went back and I rewatched his tape and I'm like, oh my god, the guy's at brick wall. You can't get around him in pass protection. So I have him as my third guy right behind him, Jac Latham, I think he's really athletic for guy his size. He's got long arms. I have Fuanga after that, then followed Tanu, then geyten and I believe and I ended up on this and I went back and forth a lot. I actually have Kingsley Suamataia ahead of Jordan Morgan just slightly, with almost identical grades. At the very end of that first round. I have won two grades first second round grades on those two guys, so a little bit different than you. But Tony, if you need an offensive tackle, this is the draft to be picking between ten and twenty five because you're gonna be able to find one.

Absolutely, And I mean and then and then it falls off. I mean it's a yeah, there's a big fall off when you get scaffed to sue a Mattaya who may go a little bit later than people think. I mean, you mentioned Jac Latham. He moves well for a size. It's the size that concerns me. Three hundred and forty two pounds the combine he was probably closer to three to sixty during the season. You know, it's easy to block guys on Saturday and get your hands into him at that size than it is on Sunday. You look at the struggles Hevin Nil has had Amarus memes. I agree with you. I mean, you know, he's not just a brick wall. He moves relatively well. He's not a fluid his own blocking guy, but he moves well for a guy that's big, and he's got a lot of upsides. Only started eight games, but Tando's gonna be an interesting one. But Tanda could be a guy that I believe goes much earlier than people are thinking. People have teams have him on their guardboard as well as their tackle board. We saw him do a great job at left tackle for Washington. But he's six three and a half. Is he going to be you know the teams are they okay with a guy with that high at left tackle? I think it'll be a situation where you draft him as a left tackle. The worst case scenario you've got you push him inside the guard.

What I like about Tana Tony, he gets his leverage is phenomenal. He get is such good knee bend and he gets so low. I'm gonna mention that with with with with one of the guard centers we talk about too. But I just feel like and it allows him to move as well as he does because he's able to get such good knee bend.

And he moves incredibly well. I mean, he is quick out to the second level. He's able to get out on the third level and take players out on the in motion. And it's that ability to block emotion. Is his own blocker. Where is the a tackleror is the guard? Sort of the same situation with Jeorde Morgan a little bit taller at six foot five. There are some teams I know, like the Baltimore Ravens think that he can play right tackle. I don't know because we saw him get run over at times during the Senior Bowl. But he is very athletic. He is a terrific past protector in the Ficano mole. With the footwork, with the lateral range, with the ability to get out on the second level, you can get guys stronger. I mean guys like Feshano and Jordan Morgan, who need you know, becoming stronger is just a matter of being more dedicated in the weight room, getting in the weight training program. It's oftentimes impossible to teach agility, mobility, loosening up and not being stiff, which is why I put a premium on guys like Foreshadow, like George Morgan, agree.

One hundred percent. Then for your second round, guys Tony Roger Rosegard and Patrick Paul I have at the same exact way. Then we have mackam Calvis, who's coming off that big toe injury. Had a chance to talk to them down there at the Shrine game. And then I have not checked this name yet, so I'm gonna butcher it Kerin. I'm a god to Jay. Maybe I'm a god to Jay from Yale. H tell me about him a little bit, because we've talked about most of the other guys in this class.

Played left tackle at Yale, played four games this year before he tore quad muscle and was sidelined. So you know, when I was looking at him, I was thinking Ali Marpatt. If you remember Ali Marpatt, the kids from from with Hobart Hobart a Coup a couple of years ago who went to the Senior Bowl and blew it up. And that is the image I had for the Yale kid moving forward that was done after four games. Thirty six inch long arms, moves incredibly well, terrific past protector, good footwork, very unpolished. I think the injury really hurt his development and the inability to finish out the season in the IVY League then go on and perform at the at the Senior Bawl and participate in the Combine. He worked out last week and he just did position drolls for a little bit of time for her scouts. He's got a lot of upside. I think what's gonna happen is it's probably gonna fall in to day in the beginning part of day three. But you're just gonna have to harvest that talent, get him back to where he was in twenty twenty two, and just build on that. I mean, the injury should not be a problem. It was a torn quad. He probably could have done some testing, but decide not to because he wasn't really in that sort of shape rehabing from the injury. But he's got great upside, and you know, he's more like a Feshano or Jordan Morgan than he is a Fuega or a Mims with his game.

And let me just say I think Roger ROSENGARDN and Patrick Paul both have some very good upside. Paul, I'm not sure has the is ever gonna be his height, is gonna develop the power and put statue that you want. But he's certainly athletic and he's long. And then Rosenguard, I think is a much better athlete than people are giving him credit for. You tested well, you watch the tape. He moves well. He moved really well at the Senior Bowl Tony. I think his movement skills are better than some of the tackles that are ranked higher than him. And then, real quick, I want to ask you about Tyler Geyton. How quickly do you think teams think they can get him on the field, because I do think his hand usage and stuff like that is very raw. He's got a lot of fundamental stuff he still needs to get better. How quickly do you think teams believe they can get him on the field? And do they do? They think they can move him over to left tackle if they want to.

Well, he played left tackle for a while until he lost a job at Oklahoma. I think the bigger problem with the with Goeyton is the fire. I mean, which Tyler Geyton are you going to get. Are you going to get the guy that we saw at the Senior Ball who was terrific, or were you going to get the guy at Oklahoma who was benched to lost his job at left tackle. I mean it's a matter of Tyler Goyton should be starting by the second month of his rookie season if he applies himself. That's the issue with Tyler Goton. Tyler Goyton applied himself and we really played to the potential that he had. We'd be talking about Tyler Gouyt is potentially top twelve pick.

Agreed, All right, let's go guard center, Tony. The only guy with the pure first round grade you have on your board is Jackson Powers. Johnson, the center out of Oregon. I'm phenomenal at the Senior Bowl. You really can't find any games during the year that you know he played poorly, really, Tony, even the last two years. You know, maybe the only little knock I have on him is sometimes his short arms show up and he doesn't quite extend and latch on the guys. But he's a three hundred and thirty pounds center, that can power people. He recovers well even when he gets beat. I think he's an easy all day first round pick. My understanding is there maybe some medical things with him hearing some things, but other than that, in terms of his stuff on the field, Tony, this is an easy first round pick for me.

You would think, I mean, that's the way he should be. If it's not the Pittsburgh Steels, maybe the Miami Downphins. And he moves relatively well. We so I have the Senior Ball in the fact is he played where most guys are bailing on the Senior Bowl because of injuries. Jackson Powers. Johnson came to the injury, came to Senior Bowl injured and played two days and was dominant the first day of practice. And you know, here's the guy who went from guard in twenty twenty two, which he played well right guard in Oregon, moved to center, was a natural at the position, has got great upside, has got terrific size. I think he's a quick starter. You know, you mentioned he's my only He's the only guy that I have with the first round. Great. I do think Graham Barton is going to go in the first round. There's no doubt in my mind. The thing what Graham Barton is he's a left tackle of Duke who projects to guard who some people project the center.

I like him better at center, Tony. I'm not sure he has the power right now to play guard in the NFL, to be honest with you, but that's.

That projection, which is kind of a concern for me, because you know you're you're gonna project in the center. The guy's really, as far as I know, hasn't taken snaps in game competition. He did take He did snap during his protra he had the individual prote and he I'm sorry during to Douke pro day and he looked really good. But you know, snapping in shorts and a T shirt, Well, people watching different when you're on full pads and to's somebody on the other side who wants to run over you. So the projection with Barton is a concern. He's got the size, He ran incredibly, he tested incredibly well, and he looked good during pro day. If he can translate that onto the field, he is going to make everyone who thinks he's a first round pick a potential bottom third of round one choice at center look like a genius.

I also thought his twenty twenty two taper was better than his twenty twenty three tape to be honest with you, but again, good player. I think he will get picked in the first round with given his versatility, you have two pure second round grades Tony Christian Haines and Cooper BB. I watched Cooper b B again yesterday. Boy, I love Cooper BB. I think that's a safe second round pick. I saw him just toss some safeties and linebackers on the second level on some of his tape. That was a lot of fun. But he's big, he's strong. I know he didn't his bench press number wasn't great. I don't care. I see what I see on tape. He he's a people mover. I think he's a guy in a power runs game that can be really, really good.

His bench press number wasn't good, but he's got thirty one in charms, so you know, yeah, the bench tress number not a big deal. But when you're looking at a guy with thirty one in charms and you're right, I mean, the film is he's probably the nastiest blocker in this year. I mean, he's the guy who's always looking to bury people. I mean bury them, send them to China, you know, when he gets down on it, and he is a great run blocker, but it's the measurables and the thirty one in charms which is going to be a concern, which you know, Cooper beebe for the longest time people including myself, but maybe late first round, but those arms and everything else are going to push him down into the second round. Again, doesn't mean he's not going to be a real good player on Sunday. It's just that when you're drafting, you're looking at the film, but you're also considering these measurables. You know, go back to Keyon Coleman, the bigger possession receiver, and that just basically reduced This is your attractiveness on draft day.

Yeah, one hundred percent. I'm with you. All right, Let's go to your next kind of group. Here you have Hisay Adams as a two to three kind of borderline second round, third round guy, Zach Ziner, Javon Cohen, Brandon Coleman. I like Zach Fraser as more of a high second round pick. Tony I think he's one of those guys. He looks like a wrestler. He's got really good knee bend. I maybe the injury pushes them down for you. Why don't you kind of go through that real group real quick, and why you have those guys where you do?

And you could be right about Zach Fraser. From what I'm hearing, Zach Fraser could be off the board within the first ten to twelve picks a round two. There's no doubt about it. I see a guy who's smart, tough, mobile, very good on the second level. But I also see a guy that's got to improve his strength with the point of attack because sometimes he gets ragged doll and gets pushed around. Zach Ziner is gonna be an interesting one. The kid from Michigan. He could go third round, he could go fifth round. It depends on what teams see in those MRIs, in those X rays and where they project or when they project. He will be back to one hundred percent and ready. Remember he broke his leg and what the third quarter of that Ohio State game late in the season, the less regular season game wasn't able to play in any of the playoff games. But the Zenter is a When you watch the film, he is a dominant sort of Cooper Bebie type of drive blocking lineman who moves relatively well, who was not pigeonholed as a as a power gap blocker, you may be able to use him in his own blocking system. One guy that we kind of skipped over, who I think we both have grated very early was Christian Haynes of Yukon, who was sort of in that zach zinter moole. When you watch Christian Haynes, I mean he is a punch in the mouth kind of drive you off the ball type of lineman. Then he goes to the Senior Bowl, runs a five to all three and during position drills, you know, he looks like a two hundred and eighty pound offensive lineman. We went around the football rather than the three hundred and seventeen pound measure that we saw the past couple of seasons at Yukon and we witnessed at the Senior Bowl.

Now I'm with the one hundred percent Tony. Just to round out your list. Day three guys, you have Kingsley of Google Kan out of Florida, the Center, uh Setoa Lamia out of Knight's Butcheredda out of Utah. I think he's actually a pretty interesting player. I think he's got some upside. Ladon Ramson of Texas A and M and tannor Borderlini the very athletic center out of Washington. So now he is other centers too, like Bolimmer, Cedric van Pran comes in there, Tony, this is a pretty deep interior line.

Class should be Borderlini's Wisconsin, not not Washington.

Oh what I say, Washington, I'm sorry, Yes, Wisconsin.

Off all those badger fans people this weekend.

And he and he tested really well, by the way, but charges and he.

Plays like that too. He plays like an athletic zone blocking type of lineman. He's got to get stronger though, because he gets pushed around. He doesn't get a lot of movement run blocking. But again, you know, six four and a half three three pounds, you can get a guy in the weight room. You can get him to be stronger, just as long as he's dedicated to it. But it's tough to teach the movement skills, to teach the fluidity, to touch, teach the mobility if you can teach it at all.

All right, here we go a couple questions here, Tony, before we say goodbye. Steven Sperry. I saw your question via email. I will get to that next week. Should Malik Neighbors Tony be considered a slot or outside wide receiver?

Either or don't pigeonhole because you can do everything. I mean, you can line him up on the slot, you can line him up on the outside. You're gonna do whatever is best for your system. I don't think he's I think he can do either.

Or Michael Christopher Tony. If you're the Jets GM, no paycheck, just the responsibility. Do you take Rome or Neighbors if they're there at ten along with oulu Fashionu? Where do you go there? Wide receiver or tackle?

If I am the GM, I am taking the offensive tackle because I've always been a big left tackle guy. I've always been, you know. I thought they made a mistake taking Keshawn Johnson over Jonathan Ogden years ago when they had a chance to drafted what turned out to be a Hall of Fame left tackle. I'm taking for shadow. I think they take the receiver though, because they're in a win down Moode.

Is there a surprise pick in the top ten that no one is talking about?

I don't see it.

I mean I agree that.

You know, I don't think there's no way Panics or bow Knicks go in the top ten. I mean, I don't see I think the top ten. We may not know the order, but we may know the player, but we know the players, all right.

This question from at Leffie what teams could draft John Reeves Pump Plumbley on day three and how many snaps of game will Sean Payton give him as a rookie.

You know, listen, I like John Reeves Plumbley. His film is terrific. I don't think he's getting drafted. I really I hope he gets drafted. I don't think. I think he's gonna have to make it the hard way. I do think he can make a roster for either a timing offense or an offense that puts the quarterback in motion. He's got a decent amount of talent, but he's small. He's been all over the place. We saw him at the Shrine Game. He had his moments in the Shrine Game. I don't think he's gonna get drafted though.

At lar dude seventy four tony which offensive tackles? Do you have confidence that can play left or right?

Yes?

That you could dress in the first round.

Yeah, well, you know, we talked about Tyler Gotton that that would be a possibility. I don't agree with him. But some teams think that Jordan Morgan can play right tackle, that Joe Walt. Obviously, I think Joe Walt, you know, can play left tackle, but I also think he would be a terrific right tackle. So those three guys, Joe Alt, Tyler Goeyton if he gets his acting year, and not my opinion, but Jordan Morgan as well. And then of course Kingsley Shue Mattea, who played both positions incredibly well for BYU good one.

His his second part of this question, what second our wide receivers are smart enough to earn Aaron Rodgers trust and find the spot on the offense in your one?

Are we talking about receivers? Are we talking about Aaron Rodgers here? So? Uh, second round receivers. I would like Jaylen. I like Jayleen McMillan a lot. I think Jayleen McMillan fits that mold. You know, he's explosive, he's quick. Land McConkie is not going to fall down that far.

So I remember, I don't think Tony were recovering wrong. I don't think the Jets have their own second round pick, right, No.

They've got the second one, which I think is like forty nine or something like that. So that's that's what I'm thinking. That's why I say he's not going to fall down. I would say Jaylen McMillan, which with his ability to separate, uh Keon Coleman would all you know, because he likes the bigger receivers who catches the ball, well, key On Coleman would also uh uh fit that mold as well.

All right, final question, And I have no idea what this guy's referring to, so I'm just gonna throw it at you, and I hope I get a laugh at you on this one. At El lofton O six. Is that Tony Pauline on the ESPN clip where Jet fans of the draft were upset they passed on Warren Sap.

That was my That was my better looking brother.

All right, Tony, I don't wait.

Just just just for the record, just I know what he's talking about. Back then, I was not a Warrant Sap guy. I was a JJ Stokes guy, as a lot of people were. As the San Francisco forty nine ers were who quickly made the move up to get JJ.

Stokesly you like JJ Stokes, Huh?

I loved him. I thought he was All Tune Part two and he never panned out to be.

That Tony good stuff. My friend will talk to you next week.

What we do defense look forward to it. John.

For Tony Pauline, I'm johns sh milt. Thanks for joining us on this a little long Gate episode of Draft Season. We want to get all our rankings and comments on these players in and don't forget it was all brought to you by Moody's Decode Risk, Unlock Opportunity. Visit moodies dot com to learn more. For Tony Pauline from Sports Sports Keita, I am John sh Milk. We'll see you next time on Draft Season

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