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Please subscribe, rate, and review if you're watching Bang That Like on YouTube. We've gotten another special installment today of our look back of the Jets twenty twenty four draft with the college scouts.
The draft is.
Full of stories and we've got three special ones today on wide receiver Malkai Corley, quarterback Jordan Travis, and defensive back Quantes Stiggers. The feeling going into the draft was the Jets would take a wide receiver early after selecting Penn State tackle Olu Fashionu in round one, GM Joe Douglas traded up in the third round to take Western Kentucky's Malkai Corley at the top of round three and four stellar seasons with the Hilltoppers, the five eleven, two hundred and fifteen pounders set the school record with two hundred and fifty nine receptions for twenty nine hundred and forty three yards and twenty nine touchdowns. He was Aaron Rodgers' favorite receiver in the draft. Scouting director John Carr, along with senior regional scout Jonathan Stiegel and national scout Don Green Here are going to provide us with all the background on a Yat King who saw things through at WKU.
I'll say that the guys did a great job that handled that area. Was Jonathan Stiegel was the primary there, with Dom Green being the national scout and then Phil Savage being the third look with Malachi, and each and every one of those guys were consensus with their grades what they had on him, and same thing with the character that they got on the young man. Being a former coach, this guy right here, I was super excited when I turned on the tape with Malachi.
He's tough, he's competitive.
You know, he has the ability, in my opinion, to play inside and outside, so he gives us some versatility. He love his play strength and what's been said by everyone, his outstanding run after the catchability. This guy has such great spatial awareness and he's so physical. Sometimes he's looking for to run through people as opposed to run away from them, and he's successful in doing those things. But he brings a competitive edge that I think will fit well within our wide receiver room. She's so super excited about Malachi. He was a favorite in the room as far as him being there or I think we moved up and for him to be there.
It was kind of a fired up moment for everyone in the room.
The key some of us scouts have been saying is conviction, right, Like, from the scouting staff to the coaching staff, this was a player that it's felt like everyone in the building had a feel for. We love the way the kid plays, we love him with the ball in his hands, we love his mentality. I know it's been documented. You know that, you know he'll run over a relative if he has to. Like it all goes back to what I said earlier that we want to get to know these kids, and we feel like Malachi is a kid that when the game is on the line, when the balls in his hands, he wants to win and that's what we want. And he's got that sense of urgency in his mind that he wants to be the best.
Well, what was Friday actually like as the weight increased for you guys as staff knowing that, Hey, listen, we like a lot of prospects for our next pick.
We really want Coreling.
Yeah, it's tough.
I mean we had, you know, a certain amount of receivers on the board that we really liked, and obviously Corley was in that list and some of those guys were taken there in the second round, you saw a slew of receivers started getting drafted there in the second after the first round guys went and so there was conversations on the phone with trying to get back there in the end of the second that maybe pick up a pick and get Malachi. And you know, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it worked out perfectly. Joe was very patient and talk to everybody. He made sure he exhausted all of his avenues before we decided just to wait for him at seventy two, which was our third round pick, and we were able to you know, make a good deal with Carolina to get the top of the third and get our guy. So there was a lot of conversations over the phone and everyone talking to everyone to see if we can move in and get our guy. But it worked out perfectly for us.
You know, going in there. The last couple of years, this guy's always made plays in that offense. You know, it's pretty unique. You know, he's got a lot of short targets and screen passes, but the guy's always making big plays off of those, either running over or running around guys. And when you get to see the guy You're like, Okay, this makes sense. I mean he's a well built receiver. I mean, the guy's built. He could play running back, you know, in the in the body sense early on, you know, like I said, you know, going in there in the past and watching from Bailey Zappi throwing balls to him to the quarterback this year, and I mean the guys at highlight film you know, watching him, he's just you get the ball in his hands, he's going to be productive, and he's so tough and competitive.
Well for a wide receiver. You know, I'm an old, old line guy. So I mean, you got to be able to catch. It's called wide receiver for a reason, right, So you got the ability to catch the football. But it's more than that. You gotta be able to run routes. You gotta be able to move inside outside as far as your alignment. So you got to have a great mental feel for the game, you know, and you got to be able to separate as a route runner. So your quarterback's got a good window to throw to. So but Malachi watched watch him, you know, about this time last year, started really digging into him. Really really fun player to watch because he's a. He's really physical, he's tough, he's strong, and he's really good as a runner after the catch. So he's the guy with a background and as a running back, and he was really fun to watch. He's one of the more exciting players to me this time last year heading into the ball.
How big of a week was it for him down at the Senior Bowl? As far as I know, he played Ohio State during the season, but for you guys, it's pro scouts to watch him against the bust of the bust.
It was big.
Like I stated before the offense State run, he doesn't run a lot of pro style routes, so putting him in the position to do that, he did good. I mean, he still has work to do because he hasn't done a lot of it, but you could see the speed, the strength of quickness in the hands. You know, hard league's physical, and he's not going to shy away from any of that. I mean, his mindset is to catch the ball and find the end zone and he did a good job of that, and I thought he had a good Senior Bowl week.
You know, people leave for whatever reasons, but you know, you each case is his individual, you know, from from the next You know, you can't really compare, but I would say that it does. You know, it leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy about a player's stability and loyalty when they've been you know, asked to leave and all that stuff, been hit with a lot of big time offers to leave, you know, so it kind of you get a better idea of the of the makeup of the kid and what's really important to him to stay somewhere, be really successful, be with his teammates, be loyal to those that have gotten to that point in his career.
Do you think this is a good spot for him when you look at the situation, like anybody wants to play with Aaron Rodgers.
I get that.
But as far as like the way the receiver room is set up with Garrett's versatility, Mike a traditional big acts you can go up and get it and stuff like that. You guys got some dup, But can you talk about like how you think Corey fits.
In with the group?
Absolutely?
I mean, you know, Garrett can do both inside and out, and I think Malachi will be able to do the same. You know, he'll need some more outside refinement. But having the versatility to do both is huge at this level. I mean, it just gives you more balance and a threat instead of just having one, you know, one standout guy, you know, adding Mike and having the size you know to play big and contested situations on the outside, and having Garrett and Malachi if they're all in the field, to work all levels of the defensive backfield.
It wasn't exactly a secret the Jets would add a quarterback in the draft.
The questions we all had was when and who.
In the fifth round, with the one hundred and seventy first pick, Joe Douglas grabbed Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis.
So Jordan Travis in the southeast, Andy Davis was the primary area of scout. Ja Mandalizi was our national scout there and Phil Savage was the third look for Jordan.
Okay, so you guys, we're going to be in the business for a developmental quarterback. Joe Douglas has emphasized that he'd love to have a quarterback factory here. You have a very good situation there with a future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers being your starting quarterback. You got Ty rod Taylor, an established guy behind him as well. You add a third to the mix here, can you speak to Jordan's evolution as a college player in Tallahassee great.
Value pick for us here in that fifth round. And you know, if he didn't get injured, he probably would have going to higher than where we selected him. Right, you're looking at a young man that changed the course of Florida State's football.
Right.
As far as he's a winner, he's been a winner everywhere he's been. He's a good leader, he's a competitor. You know, his athletic ability as a dual thread ability, being able to do things when on his arm, but his legs he shows good. He has a good arm, and he's accurate with his throws. And he's a good decision maker. You know, he took care of the football.
In forty nine college games, Travis hit on sixty two point one percent of us passes for nearly nine thousand yards with sixty six touchdowns and twenty interceptions. A dual threat at Florida State, Travis was a key to the seminals resurgence.
He sustained a serious leg injury against.
Northern Alabama in November, though area scout Andy Davis and National Scout Jamandalisi spoke about Travis's college journey and what's ahead.
Draft day itself.
Joe's really good about trying to keep us updated and what guys are in consideration, just for us to know, okay, we might be needed. And I would say with Jordan in particular, there was a lot of positive, positive comments, I guess from the coaching staff, from the personnel staff, Like I knew that if we were going to go quarterback, that would be a guy that was going to be in the mix. So I was, you know, ready, I's prepared and just excited that you know, when a time to pick one, it was, it was Jordan.
Yeah.
I think it's been said it's the most important position in all of professional sports. It's quarterbacks. So identifying guys that you know we can develop and sure there's gonna be guys going on day one, day you know, day two, those those guys are really good players, and we identify Jordan as a guy on day three that similar to Olu. You know, he's in a situation where he's able to learn under one of the best. But not only that, we feel like Jordan is built to learn.
You were in teleassy, what's the scouting report from the perspective of him on the field, and also then tangibles, because when you're targeting a guy at that position, you need a guy who can lead, who is a worker, who is well liked. I mean a quarterback position. You're going to ask for a lot from those dudes if you're bringing them in the building.
Yeah.
So Jordan, it's his stories unique, right. He started at Louisville, had some bumps in the road, goes to Florida State and it wasn't perfect early on, And to me, I look at that as it was an opportunity for Jordan to really go through some adversity and he came out on top. Mike Norvell does a great job down in Florida State, and he identified Jordan as a guy that could change their program and he did just that. And I think that was evident this year. You know, they went they went thirteen and OHO and you know when when Jordan got injured, it's one of those moments you kind of remember where you were when it happened, because I remember watching on TV and myself and Andy Davis were texting each other and just the you felt for the kid. You felt for the program because you kind of knew, like this was really going to hurt their chances. I personally felt they had a chance to win it all, and when Jordan went down, you knew they were going to get punished for it a little bit. But that just speaks to his value as a player. But also just seeing the crowd and seeing his team mates, you got a sense for the person, like how deflating it was, not just for his teammates, but the fans and even as a scout, I mean, you feel terrible for the kid, knowing all he had accomplished, but you know, he's a kid that you know brought them to the top. You know, Florida State was a team that had some kids come in from the portal at skill positions. Johnny Wilson and Keon Coleman and Jean Bell and Trey Benson, Like these are all skilled players that they came in from other schools and Jordan was the one that brought them all together and really got that offense rolling. So he's a kid like through the process you get to know him, and we got to meet with him at the East West Game. I know he came out of thirty visit. Coaches spent a lot of time with him, but like you feel like this kid's got the intangibles that if we're going to take a shot on a guy to learn under Aaron and Tyrod, this this is the guy.
Physically, the ceiling is as good as really Jordan wants to be. It's hard to really cap him because he is such a good athlete. I think the situation that he's coming into is excellent for any quarterback, but especially Jordan. You've got Aaron and then Tyrod, So for Jordan, I think it's a good situation. You can recover, sit back, learn from two excellent NFL vets.
I've been with the.
Jets since two thousand and one and covered every draft since then. The path of one quantest Stiggers to the Jets is on paralleled.
This is a defensive back who.
Never played it down to college football. He played in something called the Fan Control League, where seven players lined up on each side. He ultimately played in the Canadian Football League and then became draft eligible. Stiggers became a Jet in round five. Here's Director of college Scouting John Carr, Area scout.
Drew Morris, Senior regional.
Scout Jonathan Stiegel and National Scout Jay Manalisi. I'm the kid with the blue helmet.
Great story right here, I mean this one.
I think a lot of guys that were so when we made the call to him, the different people that talk to him on the phone when we.
Made our selection.
There were so many people higling this young man because of his story, right you know.
He I think he got overlooked some in high school. You know, he accepted an offer to Lane College in Tennessee, planned on attending there, and right when he had signed, his father was in a catastrophic car accident. Father later passed away that summer. You know, contest has a big family at home with a lot of siblings, and he felt he was the man of the house because he was the oldest of the siblings. So he needed to go home and work through things to help his mom out financially. So he did that. You know, he never complained. He did everything there to help out. And I think his mother just saw, you know, him still having the passion to play. So that's when she looked into the player Control Football, which is run by some former pro athletes, and he did that and he stood out a Canadian scouter coach had a tie down there with that and noticed them, so they gave him a tria, you know. Contest told me that, you know, he was going into camp, you know, and hadn't played, but he was making plays and he thought at one point they were going to cut him, is what they had told him up there. But he kept making plays and started starting and ended up winning the CFL Rookie of the Year.
And it worked out where, you know, he was able to get on the East West Shrine through the rules they said, he can you know, participate in the East West Shrine and be a draftaball type player.
I started hearing about quantest stiggers, probably from those guys and some rumblings around the NFL and probably December at the latest, like early January in terms of, hey, this guy was the defensive Rookie of the year, not really knowing the full story. Obviously, I'm a college guy. I got enough college guys to worry about, and our pro department is on the CFL guys. So then you come and say, okay, well this guy got invited to the East West Shrine game. Okay, well, I guess based on circumstances he's now in the college world. So we got to the East West Shrine game. I have the receivers as a cross check position, so I'm obviously watching the receivers a lot of one on ones, a lot of one on ones, and the guy in the Toronto Argonauts helmet is standing out a little bit at corner, you know. But I got a lot of receivers to watch. So probably day two, I go up to John Stiegel and he has the corners as his cross check position.
And I'm watching and I'm like, who is this guy in this helmet that I've never seen before? And They're like, that's the Canadian kid, and I'm like, okay. So I was kind of like all right, but then he kept showing up making plays and I'm like, well, this kid's pretty good, you know. And Drew Moore says to me, he looks pretty good. I'm like, well, he's the best here.
And then a little bit later, probably day three of that, I get a text, Hey, you're gonna be the primary on quantest stickers. Based on the fact that he didn't play college football. He doesn't really have a state that he falls into for any of us, right, So, because I have the CFL background. They assigned him to me. I've done a couple of the Canadian guys in the past and just being able to get information. So actually, luckily my buddy Vince, who's the assistant GM at the Toronto Argonauts, is at East West Shrine. Should I shoot him a real a quick text, Hey do you want to meet after practice? And luckily again he's staying at the same hotel as us, So after practice we meet down in the lobby and spend about an hour going over all the background on Quantes Stiggers. Obviously, his his story has been well documented in terms of how he got here and through the Fan Control League, and they're just sitting there like, wow, this is wild in terms of all the things that he's overcome and and everything. And it was amazing how strongly those guys in Toronto, the coaching staff there, the administrators there felt about Quantest Stiggers. I think you look at like Jeff albricks reaction after spending you know, a day with that guy when we had him in on a thirty visit, and that's the way that the Toronto Argonaut staff felt about that guy. So this is a guy who's been through so much adversity and has so much mental fortitude and come out the other side so much better for it that, you know, we look at a guy like that and hey, this guy is not going to fail, Like it's not in his DNA to fail. Like every opportunity he's had, he's made the most of it. So you got to love the story of Quantes Stiggers. And it helps that he's a really good football player as well.
When you're looking at that, because CFL play is totally different from the NFL play, right, and he had a lot of success there, and so obviously you want to see how's that translated into the to the league and transferring to the league.
And.
A lot of that you saw in the one on ones during the week, right and where he had to play press coverage, sometime you had to play off coverage, and you saw the feet, the quickness, the close the ball skills opportunities he made there. So it showed that he can do it on this level. He's covering guys that are going to have opportunities to play in the NFL, and he was a guy that kind of showcased in the game him as well, you know, just as far as his awareness, you have good eyed discipline, and so it really helped him for having a good week. And not only just the Jets, but I think all the other thirty one teams had a lot of interest.
In this kid.
I think he took up several visits, you know, in the month of March and April because of the traits that everyone else saw. So it really helped him at the East West Shrine and some of the good things that he did. But the one on ones was really big for us to be able to say, this guy can do it. He can do it on our life.
The kids from Atlanta, so they sent me to his workout at a high school on a Friday afternoon. Really it's been a really unique process. But the kids checked every box and Tony Odin got to work them out and fell in love with them, and all the way down to Bobby Mastrodi and Jeff Ulbrick. I mean, everyone just loves this kid and the story is unique. But to be honest with you, like, we don't we don't care where they came from. We just look at the player and we we evaluate them.
And oh, so this is interesting.
You said you worked them out at a high school.
Yeah, it was.
It was an NFL regulated workout, you know, being that he played in the CFL, I think there's some confusion on where legally we can work him out. But because he's from Atlanta, his agent decided to find a high school in Atlanta and they worked it with the Kennesas State and Georgia Tech Pro Days. And I didn't know anything about Quantes, you know, John and Drew didn't a lot of the leg work in John Carr and they said, hey, since you're going to Georgia Tech, why don't you swing over to this high school at three o'clock on a Friday. And that's where all the scouts.
What are you looking for at the workout?
Is?
This is after East West, It was after.
The It was during the pro day circuit in March, so it was after the East West. And you know, he didn't get to go to Combine because of his unique story, so this was his combine. So we you know, a bunch of other scouts in the league were there.
There's how do you do it? The work hut?
It was great, It was great.
He did good.
He was he was the only one there, so he uh, you know, we had to kind of make sure he caught his breath. I mean he he ran a forty, walked back to the start and ran a second forty. He didn't have like thirty guys in between. Yeah, but there's coaches there. I've never been to a pro day that they had at the high school, and I didn't even think about it. We actually school was still in session, so when we went to go do height and wait bench press, there's actually a gym class going on, and so we did that. We went out to the field. I think school got dismissed, so a bunch of the kids came out. It was it was really cool, you know, seeing the support that he had. But he had a great workout, caught the ball really well, moved around really well. I filmed it with my cell phone so I could get it back to the office and you know, coach Owden got to work out work him out separately as well.
You mentioned the call.
Everybody in the nation pretty much has seen it by now. Jeff Aulberg was getting an emotional on the line. You get Bobby Mustrodi get up.
There is what's happening.
Man, Man just just hit man. Really really enjoyed his poss going to get a super Bowl.
You fired up.
It's their mant crowd.
It was shaking.
You should man, right, you deserve this morment bit right, so well deserved, Like your story is so unique, so special. You're going to be an amazing part of this defense, this organization.
And I'm fired up, yeah, breaking out right now.
I'm about to cry. I'm about to cry.
You really impress a lot of people. I'm getting emotional now.
Uh.
Listening to you when haven't you and my office fillos fifteen minutes was incredible.
Uh.
And we're looking for you to do some good things for us here and join the team. You know, Defense is unbelievable, parocious. We expect you to come in and do a great job.
Brother, Yes, sir, man, that's the point.
I appreciate y'all, but give me this opportunity to breath of my career. Man.
Yeah, I promise you I won't regret it now. We ain't gonna regret you. Brother. We're really happy about this.
You come see me when you get here, right, Yes, sir, good luck, brother? Hey care bye.
Little Birdie told me that John Carr was telling am Stroda you got to get on that call.
So myself along with so many others because of you know, we have so you know, Eric, we have a lot of meetings prior to the draft, right and you know, we have a security meeting and to kind of go through guys and make sure that you know, we're not bringing in criminals to our football team.
And you know, Quantee was a guy that.
Nostrodi fell in love with and it's time that he spent with him, and like I said, I went through his story and that's he felt like, this guy.
Can handle anything after what he's gone through.
And so for us to be in that room and for him to be in there at that time, you know, myself, Joe Douglas, so many other people felt like you got to get on this call, right, you got to speak to this guy, and it was pretty special to see. You know, Bobby's been with us for such a long time. It's just organization and he loves this organization. He loves bringing in the right type of people. And so for him to get on there and get emotional, that was pretty cool.
The impact that he had when he came into are building on the thirty visit, and you see the reactions, like I said, from all of those guys, in the building where he's bringing guys to tears when we draft this guy, multiple people to tears in the draft room. Some of you guys saw on tape somewhere out in the hallway of that Like, is the most special part about quantest Stiggers. And I think you just combine like the person that he is and everything that he brings to the table, also with the aspect of, wow, this is a really, really good football player even without the story. So you take all those traits and then you put in the can't fail type attitude that he's always brought to his approach, and you see a guy who's going to be really successful.
It's about as unique as it gets. I mean, the feel good part of the story. I mean, this is something you know why I love scouting, you know, to be able to be a part of you know, some of these guys' stories and where they've come from and how they've gotten there. I mean, his is very unique.
What is it about this kid that really capture a lot of people in the organization as far as hey, we want this guy to be here.
I think I think that you know, I don't want to speak for Brick or Bobby, but I think it's the fact that this kid should not have been here, right, Like, he goes to Lane College twenty twenty, he ends up putting football because of you know, some personal things going on his life, and at that point in his life, I don't think the NFL was ever an option. Like it's just the odds. You know, that kid making it to the NFL, we're really you know, extreme. And then you know, he gets into this Fan Control League, and I think the Toronto Argonauts deserve a lot of credit because they're the ones that kind of found him. From the Fan Control League. He goes into the CFL. I don't think anyone knew of him at the time. He ends up being Rookie of the Year. So again, like I don't think he should have been in the CFL, but he gets there and he makes the most of it. I don't know that he should be in the NFL, but I have a feeling he's going to get here and make the most of it. Like the talent's there, there's no question, don't get me wrong. But like, just with his story and all that he has had to go through, the odds were against him. And here's a kid that came out on top, and I think people spend fifteen minutes and they hear the kid. You know what he's been through and how important this is to him to make it. It's hard to bet against the kid.
We hope you enjoyed the Scouts Eye on the Jets twenty twenty four draft class. There are a lot of people who contribute to this project on the content side, but also we'd like to salute all the Jet Scouts under Joe Douglas.
We only talked to a few, but they all
Played their part in the making of this class.